S12.E03: Qualifier 3

[Taeolas]

Week 3 of qualifiers.

 

Air date: Sept 21, 2020

[Taeolas]

So the Ring chase was swapped out for the Beehive, and the Ribs swapped for the balls. Glad the course has some variety still.

And man the Lunatic Ledges were insane tonight. I think they tightened them up from the last time since they seemed to lose momentum a lot faster than the last time. They took out a number of big names like Michelle as well. Campbell save on it was almost as good as Kevin Bull's cannonball alley save in his rookie year. The momentum loss kept him from hitting the power tower but he did get the Mega wall. 

The Ledges even gave Jesse a bit of challenge too; she almost fell like Michelle did. She was a bit low on the Ferris wheel, but she pulled through thankfully. But man, that was a lot of close calls. (She also got a bit screwed on the Ferris Wheel because one of the handholds was jammed).

I don't think Jessie will have much female competition on her stage's final run though. Michelle should have been there but Ninja Luck struck. 

 

All the times were 2-3 minutes (save for the Top 3), and Jesse's was still almost 4 minutes. But I'm sure she'll speed up a bit the second time through.

 

[Chaos Theory]

Disappointed they took out the ring chaser.  That is still my favorite obstacle in a long time and I would have loved to see Jessie Graff on it.

 

 

[saber5055]

Bootie! It was so fun to see him again. Then I remembered being the first ninja to run is never a good thing.

Dougie Fresh made me cry.

LOL at Matt saying about Kyle: "He's got some good hair."

Wow to Tage having 12 siblings. Nine of them are adopted. But still ... yikes.

It was good to see David The Godfather Campbell again. He rules. I was happy he made it up the Mega Wall. Looking forward to Moravsky next week. I hope he does well. It's kind of weird to see the old favorites disappear and new ones take over. I remember when Brett Steffensen and Kacy were the big deals.

[Lantern7]

Another fun night, especially with the hellbent rocker beating the Papal Ninja on the Power Tower. I find it funny it came down to those two. Also, I guess Sean Bryant has accepted the "Papal Ninja" nickname, even if it's a bit inaccurate. Does he really need a hook? He made Stage Three in back-to-back years, and he might have done it a third time if he didn't injure himself last year.

Is the course in each episode the same this year? I just want to ask.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Lantern7

[enoughcats]

14 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Is the course in each episode the same this year? I just want to ask.

Nope. 

They have started with the same obstacle. The wall is towards the end (see discussion above about Drew edited out of the first broadcast episode.)

[Lantern7]

8 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

Nope. 

They have started with the same obstacle. The wall is towards the end (see discussion above about Drew edited out of the first broadcast episode.)

I meant if it’s in the same city.

[Taeolas]

Yeah all the Ninjas are in St Louis for the entire event for COVID reasons. But they change the course up for each qualifier. 

I would've loved to see Jessie try Ring Chaser, but I don't mind it being swapped out. I suspect next week they'll swap out Lunatic Ledges and the Ferris Wheel for Weight for It and Slingshot, so that each of the obstacles has 2 qualifiers. 

[ClareWalks]

I'm not surprised that the Beehive was so easy for these folks, it's functionally identical to the Wingnuts which every ninja gym has now. David Campbell is a legend in the sport of ninja but he never really impressed me until that Mega Wall. He managed to get up there using just some sticky shoes and great stumble recovery. I don't think we've ever seen anyone stumble on the Mega Wall and still make it up before.

Dougie Fresh is an awesome dude. What kind of asshole vandalizes a gym?! I wonder if they ever caught the person(s) who did it.

Adam Rayl falling on the Ferris Wheel was SHOCKING. The guy's grip strength is legendary. I said when he started on it "this will be easy as hell for him," then he fell.

[saber5055]

15 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Campbell save on it was almost as good as Kevin Bull's cannonball alley save in his rookie year.

That was my POM Wonderful run of the night. So cool that Campbell figured a way out of his predicament. And speaking of Kevin Bull, I hope he will compete this year. Does anyone know how many qualifiers are scheduled?

[Taeolas]

8 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

That was my POM Wonderful run of the night. So cool that Campbell figured a way out of his predicament. And speaking of Kevin Bull, I hope he will compete this year. Does anyone know how many qualifiers are scheduled?

 

Next week is the last qualifier, and I saw no mention of Bull. he either wasn't invited or couldn't make it. I don't know if his condition puts him in an "At risk"category, so he may have decided to pass this year to minimize any health risks for him and his family. 

Or he could show up next week anyway, and he just wasn't quite star power enough to get a mention in the "Next week..." promos. 

[ClareWalks]

Kevin Bull will compete next week. One of the ninjas in his trio is a local to my area!

[Chaos Theory]

16 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Is the course in each episode the same this year? I just want to ask.

No,  they switch out obstacles every week.   The last two weeks they had a really fun one called “The Ring Chaser”.  This week it was missing which I found disappointing because I would have loved to see it Jessie Graff could have caught the ring.

 The location is the same though

[Vermicious Knid]

No one on the production team found it ironic Matt and Akbar keep talking about safety and social distancing, while being practically shoulder-to-shoulder? And did they have to get a different cowboy ninja because no Lance Pekus?

No episode next week, Stanley Cup finals.

[Lovecat]

4 hours ago, saber5055 said:

That was my POM Wonderful run of the night. So cool that Campbell figured a way out of his predicament. 

My husband said the same thing!  We miss that dorky sponsorship.

5 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

No one on the production team found it ironic Matt and Akbar keep talking about safety and social distancing, while being practically shoulder-to-shoulder?

Typical men, overestimating measurements of length or distance.  6 inches is not the same as 10, gents, and 3 feet are not the same as 6!

[Swenson]

I like the competition..... let's have more of it.   Because making me endure a five minute backstory, then have to be intoduced to their family members..... then they fall in the drink on the second obstacle..... not a good way to keep me interested.

Jessie Graf is a good athlete.... I'll leave out the "she's a WOMAN athlete part and therefore not heap special praise just because of that.   And her failure at the Titan Games exposes the fact she's not superhuman.  Or least the fact that a good ninja doesn't translate to being a titan.  Likely would be the same for a titan trying to be a ninja.....just different skills.

Edited September 23, 2020 by Swenson

[Rosenrot]

Another great episode. Love Jessie, Najee and the honorable Mr. Campbell (WTF was that leap on the Lunatic Ledges?? Awesome!). R.J. Roman is one of my all-time favorites and I'm SUPER happy he won the Tower - especially against Bryan whom I don't especially care for.

Those honeycombs just made me hungry.

After how many years do you guys think a Ninja becomes a "veteran"? Am I the only one who thinks it's a bit silly when Matt and Akbar say things like "a three-time veteran"? 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Rosenrot

[eel21788]

On 9/21/2020 at 10:10 PM, enoughcats said:

(see discussion above about Drew edited out of the first broadcast episode.)

I'm so thankful that I will never have to hear about "The Real-Life Ninja" who is really a used car salesman again. I just wish they had severed ties with him before they gave him a million dollars on a do-over. 

[ClareWalks]

37 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

I'm so thankful that I will never have to hear about "The Real-Life Ninja" who is really a used car salesman again. I just wish they had severed ties with him before they gave him a million dollars on a do-over. 

The Real-Life Pervert

[enoughcats]

Last night, I watched the beginning of this episode (which I had missed) just to see the guy from South Carolina. Thanks to Primetimer, I saw that he was on.

Then I fast forwarded through Episode 2 and had a really strong and uncomfortable case of deja vu and I was back in last summer.  What I grew to hate then, came back with Ep 2 and 3 of this season.  

I enjoy watching amateurs compete. they are hesitant when they shouldn't be and they are cautious and I identify with them.  Then along come the bulldozers on speed who breeze through the course as if it were nothing. My (self defined) sense of fairness says the two groups shouldn't be in the same competition. What to do?  what to do?

I came up with an idea that would never, ever work, but riddle me this, fellow ANW addicts.

Golf has handicaps. (ANW has similar kind of handicaps to get women past the initial everybody-same route first stage.) 

IF ANW had a time handicap based on years of competition, with a personal age multiplier and maybe even a height multiplier.......the rookie might just , well, you know, inspire a lot of other rookies out there. 

[Taeolas]

I don't really see the need to introduce "rookie handicaps" into the competition. Sure the more experienced ninjas can blow through the course. But even the rookies can often put on a good challenge depending on how they prepare. And the rookies of today are often those experienced ninjas of tomorrow who are blowing through the course. 

Sometimes the Rookies even surprise everyone (like Kevin Bull's famous handling of Cannonball Alley in his rookie run). 

Plus, as we've seen many a time, "Speed Kills (runs)". Every season there are many of the veterens whose runs end suddenly because they went too fast and missed a critical step and failed out. 

 

Generally speaking, it feels like the show tends to have a good balance; rookies are regularly making it to the finals, and vets have incentive to go faster, which can often make them flare out early giving more room for rookies. And the rookies are returning and becoming new veterens to be someone new rookies aspire to. 

[Richness]

I was so heartbroken when Campbell got stuck on the Lunatic Ledges. And equally thrilled when he figured it out. I agree with Taeolas that move ranks right up there with Bull's upside down move from years ago. Graff continues to be super. I was also impressed by rookie Herrington that was the first to finish the course. Bravo young man!

[RedbirdNelly]

I love the show. I love how it's the same course for anyone running it (no women's version; no rookie version). I like how some people are former athletes but others have no athletic background. I like the positive, supportive vibe. I even don't mind the backstories (as long as it's not over done and please do not re-show a backstory in the next round; once per person is fine). In short, thank goodness this did not get cancelled by COVID.

My only issue is when I watch while running on my treadmill I sometimes almost fall off it if I start trying too hard to help my contestant with a lot of "lean English." Without realizing it, I start leaning to the right trying to help them make that dismount.

As for backstories, Jessie's should have included footage of her upside down/hero pose move in the all star competition. Just beautiful.

[mlp]

What happened to Michelle Warmke?  My TV had a glitch just as they announced she got married and, by the time I got it corrected, her run was over.  Who did she marry and which obstacle did she fall on and why?

[RedbirdNelly]

1 minute ago, mlp said:

What happened to Michelle Warmke?  My TV had a glitch just as they announced she got married and, by the time I got it corrected, her run was over.  Who did she marry and which obstacle did she fall on and why?

got tripped up on the lunatic ledges--lost momentum and could not make the last jump

[ClareWalks]

3 minutes ago, mlp said:

What happened to Michelle Warmke?  My TV had a glitch just as they announced she got married and, by the time I got it corrected, her run was over.  Who did she marry and which obstacle did she fall on and why?

 (It's a short vid)

She married the guy that she had recently started dating last season, and they're going to try for kids after this so she might take a year or two off from ninja. 

[SophiaD]

I hope that wasn't Michelle's last run.  That would be a sad way for such an impressive career to end.  

Overall, it was a good show.  I really do not like the cheesy, brotastic machismo of the Towers of Power - and, of course, their third was another macho dude.  God forbid they should bring a kick-butt woman firefighter as part of their team.  Everything else was fine.  Jessie Graf was her usual amazing self, no one who finished got bounced out of the City Finals, and David Campbell was smart and very impressive to respond as quickly as he did.  

That new rookie kid was amazing and he does look like he's around 12.  Nineteen???  Really?

Sorry that they aren't having enough episode next week, but I appreciate the warning.  

[ClareWalks]

I feel bad for the young-looking dude. Imagine being a 19-year-old man with the normal urges to date, and trying to GET a date looking like you've barely started puberty. 

[Ilovepie]

On 9/22/2020 at 10:52 AM, saber5055 said:

That was my POM Wonderful run of the night. So cool that Campbell figured a way out of his predicament.

I said the same thing in my head. I think that was the most exciting run since Jamie Rahn lost his shoe and finished stage one without it a couple years ago. I cheered twice in one run - once when he leapt to the platform after losing all momentum, and when he got up the Mega Wall. Just awesome!

48 minutes ago, SophiaD said:

I hope that wasn't Michelle's last run.  That would be a sad way for such an impressive career to end.  

Overall, it was a good show.  I really do not like the cheesy, brotastic machismo of the Towers of Power

Ditto and Ditto.

I also should say I cannot recognize Thomas Stillings with short hair and without the genie pants. Also, he looks better with long hair. I am glad his wife is doing well after her surgery.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, ClareWalks said:

I feel bad for the young-looking dude. Imagine being a 19-year-old man with the normal urges to date, and trying to GET a date looking like you've barely started puberty. 

Yeah, but when he's 60 and looks 40, he won't get ragged (so much) for dating a 20-year-old.

[mlp]

5 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

 (It's a short vid)

She married the guy that she had recently started dating last season, and they're going to try for kids after this so she might take a year or two off from ninja. 

Thanks, ClareWalks!  I looked for a video but didn't find one for some reason.  I've always liked her - and her dad.  And I see that I spelled her name wrong.  😞  

[dvr devotee]

Who was the guy in the lower right corner of the "supporters monitors" when Jessie Graff ran? They introduced her dad with family in one, and mom with family in another, but made no mention of who the guy was. He looked like one of the ninjas, sorta like Sean Bryan but I don't think it was him. The guy looked like he could have been in the building, as he was standing in front of a red cement block wall.

And upon googling, it turns out Jessie has a husband, though she's kept his identity a secret for some time now (apparently Dreschel was asked if they were a 'thing' back in 2018, and he said "no, she's married," and apparently this past April Jessie mentioned her husband during an Instagram live or something similar.) Maybe that's who it was?

I'm really glad Adam Rayl made it through. 

I also was glad that RJ won the power tower so his team got through, but was sorta bothered that he didn't shake Sean Bryan's hand after he won. I don’t think it was necessarily a deliberate snub, but in a sport where everyone is super-supportive of everyone else, not seeing that sportsmanlike behavior really stood out to me.

[ClareWalks]

It is unusual that Jessie has never mentioned having a husband (or boyfriend for that matter) on the show, if only because you'd think he'd be there as a support person or mentioned as one in the video packages of their lives. Maybe he's in the witness protection program.

11 minutes ago, dvr devotee said:

I also was glad that RJ won the power tower so his team got through, but was sorta bothered that he didn't shake Sean Bryan's hand after he won.

They're probably discouraged from physical contact with each other especially when they don't have masks on. Because COVID. And insurance.

[dvr devotee]

3 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

They're probably discouraged from physical contact with each other especially when they don't have masks on. Because COVID.

Oh, duh. I'm a dumbass. Good call!

[ClareWalks]

12 minutes ago, dvr devotee said:

Oh, duh. I'm a dumbass. Good call!

Sometimes I forget which shows were filmed before COVID and which were filmed after, don't worry about it 🙂

[JenMD]

2 hours ago, dvr devotee said:

Who was the guy in the lower right corner of the "supporters monitors" when Jessie Graff ran?

That was Brian Kretsch, he's a veteran ninja.  He's competed in the previous 11 seasons of the show but didn't make it to St. Louis.

[saber5055]

21 hours ago, dvr devotee said:

Who was the guy in the lower right corner of the "supporters monitors" when Jessie Graff ran?

That mystery guy led to me an extensive search for Jessie's husband. For some reason, I was disappointed she has one. If the show had said that was Brian, I wouldn't have gone to all that research trouble and be bummed about a husband. I guess I liked Jessie's image of not needing a man to be the best she can be. (Sorry guys!)

21 hours ago, dvr devotee said:

I also was glad that RJ won the power tower so his team got through, but was sorta bothered that he didn't shake Sean Bryan's hand after he won. I don’t think it was necessarily a deliberate snub, but in a sport where everyone is super-supportive of everyone else, not seeing that sportsmanlike behavior really stood out to me.

I was really bothered by this. He could have acknowledged Sean was there on the platform with him at the finish, like with a "Yo, dude, nice run (even if you lost)" finger point, or a one-sided high five or ANYTHING. Instead, Sean got one big gigantic snub and RJ made it all about him. Poor sport IMO.

Edited September 26, 2020 by saber5055

[ClareWalks]

25 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I was really bothered by this. He could have acknowledged Sean was there on the platform with him at the finish, like with a "Yo, dude, nice run (even if you lost)" finger point, or a one-sided high five or ANYTHING. Instead, Sean got one big gigantic snub and RJ made it all about him. Poor sport IMO.

We saw an edited version though. Who's to say he didn't say anything to Sean after he initially cheered with his team? After all they did a synchronized jump off the tower together. 

[enoughcats]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:47 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

no Lance Pekus

Hasn't his wife been ill several of the past years?

[mlp]

18 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

Hasn't his wife been ill several of the past years?

^^^Lance Pekus.  I was wondering about him myself.  His wife has MS so she's high risk wrt Covid.  Maybe he decided participating and possible exposure would be too risky.  I'm just speculating as I really have no idea.

[saber5055]

18 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

We saw an edited version though. Who's to say he didn't say anything to Sean after he initially cheered with his team? After all they did a synchronized jump off the tower together. 

If so, he got edited to be a self-centered d*ck. That's unfortunate if the show chose to display him that way.

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

If so, he got edited to be a self-centered d*ck. That's unfortunate if the show chose to display him that way.

"Self-centered dick." Wow.

[TimothyQ]

I don’t get the RJ situation. I mean, people are competitors. He just came off an awesome win and was hyped up. Does his first responsibility have to be automatically congratulating his opponent? The ones we’ve seen hug in the previous episode seemed to be friends. Maybe that not the situation with RJ and Sean. I didn’t take that as being dickish at all. 

[VartanFan]

I was excited for little boy blue.  It was great.

A few early endings - Michelle, Rayle, JJ Woods.  

I’m still annoyed by the whole Nick Hansen thing - gets up the megawall but the extra time costs him his spot in the city finals - especially because they’re ALL in the same city for qualifiers.  I know there are a few swaps on obstacles but it just seems shitty that in the two other qualifiers so far, the top 12 included people who didn’t even finish the freaking course.  Hansen not only finishes but makes the Mega Wall his bitch and....nada.  I’m super grumpy about it.  

[Vermicious Knid]

They don't balance the obstacles well sometimes. One of the recent seasons they had over 30 finishers in one city and like, 3 in another. They really should be of equal difficulty in the same slot.

[Taeolas]

Sadly, even after all this time, Obstacle design still isn't an exact science. 

Often times, an obstacle works and is at a good difficulty level when tested in isolation. But when they get it on the course in conjunction with the other obstacles, it's a Ninja killer. A climbing obstacle like the Matterhorn(? I think that was it a few years back) is likely fine with fresh Ninjas. But put it as the 5th obstacle after a number of climbing/upper body tasks, and even the best Ninjas may not have enough strength left to complete it. 

Remember too that the order we see the courses is not the order the courses are done. A city course's qualifiers and final runs are done within the same few days (sometimes with some tweaks between the qualifier and final, if they want to adjust difficulty). But if Atlanta is filmed after LA, they can't adjust the LA difficulty based on the Atlanta results. 

Even this year, with everything filmed in St Louis, I suspect the Qualifier and Final stages are still done back to back. So the second week course we saw might be tweaked to be a hair more difficult; but they can't use that knowledge to tweak the first week course. (or maybe they could since that may have been bumped up to hide Drew's power tower; but that's a very special case)

[saber5055]

14 hours ago, VartanFan said:

I’m still annoyed by the whole Nick Hansen thing

I'm right there with you, and agree with everything you said. I'm hoping for a wild card or something so Nick gets to compete. I'd think anyone who makes it up the Mega Wall should just auto get to the finals.

[mlp]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I'd think anyone who makes it up the Mega Wall should just auto get to the finals.

I agree.  Anyone who makes it up the Mega Wall has obviously had to complete the course to get there so he or she should have precedence over someone who fell or a woman who is included because she's female even though she may not have completed the course.