S36.E06: From Theresa With Love

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

When rumors spread about Theresa's loyalties, she quickly becomes public enemy number one.

Airs January 21st.

[AntFTW]

Theresa still plays a scared game. Her game has not evolved at all.

Disgusting 🤮 

[Eolivet]

Well, that was right up there with "trying to play the podium as an immunity idol" in terms of strategy there, Jay. I know nothing about Theresa, but she had what Big Brother would call HoH-itis. Big T made it into a joke last week, but Theresa didn't have many people laughing this week.

On the other hand, I will say how refreshing it's been to have all the drama from game-related moves and rivalries, and not who's hooking up with whom. I feel like a prior season would've followed that Fessy/Gabby flirtation to its conclusion.

Has anyone else mentioned how distracting Kyle's veneers are this season? Maybe it's my HD. They're like Ross' glow-in-the-dark teeth from Friends.

[Craphole Island]

I think that Theresa made a good move, personally. It may be short-sighted and it probably wasn’t good for Jay but she made sure there was one less strong girl there. I appreciated that she actually made a move as I feel like everybody plays a scared game these days. 

There’s also a 0% chance that Ashley would NOT have voted in Theresa if she won IMO. I kind of think everybody’s a hypocrite. They’re just upset when these things happen to them. As far as I can tell, Theresa had no real ties to Kam and Ashley so I feel fine about this move.

[Lantern7]

I never get the politics on this show. Too many variables, too much history to research. I write down "People Mad @ J+T." then I put several question marks next to it. On the bright side, Ashley lost. Again. And there had better not be another return. Seriously, she should have been required to beat Kam twice.

And, once again, another person leaves the game. Something something Lio, small PSA box about mental health. I'm willing to bet TJ talked about that being okay with him because there's probably five minutes cut from last season where he ripped into Melissa for tapping out, neither one knowing she was pregnant. He's gotta play it safe. Gabby ends up getting Devin as a partner for the grueling mission, and I'm thinking Devin was wearing Crocs because he thought he had the day off.

Great job by Jay & Theresa for gutting it out. If Cory & Ashley passes them, it's a different ending altogether, and probably not a happy one. Biggest loser was Nam. Our German-Asian Turbo discovered that Lolo is all about the winning, and she's not shy into ripping into him. And Fessy is let down by Aneesa . . . but it's cool, since a. there was no consequence for finishing last, and b. Fessy kinda sucks.

No Josh this week! He looked like a big-mouthed bass at the Crater, but that was it. Cool!

I spend too much time on a Challenge group on Facebook. I see "Jay's Cam," I kept expecting women's underwear to be hanging from the lens. He's got great fans.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Lantern7

[aghst]

“Good day for the men ... to watch your partners compete.”

TJ being funny ... and being a bit of a dick.

Nothing wrong with eliminating a strong female competitor.  But the way they went about it was dumb.  Jay should have said he couldn’t make any promises and Theresa shouldn’t have gone around lobbying people to vote a certain way.  Then she tells Cam that she won’t blindside higher and proceeds to do exactly that.

She alienated both the vets and the rookies.

But CT is right, people lie all the time in The Challenge.

I thought the challenge was good and so was the elimination, as far as design.

Lolo too dramatic about finishing strong.  She may not be a distance runner but She should have dominated, though she had problems carrying the weight and clashed with her partner.

Aneesa saying it doesn’t matter this isn’t the Final.  Except Fessy and most other men will look not to end up with her if as anticipated the Final is an endurance contest.

 

[AntFTW]

1) This episode makes me question what alliances does Theresa have? This entire episode shows typical Theresa game moves with her playing both sides like she always does. It seems like Theresa’s definition of an alliance is that it’s only not saying a person’s name.

2) I find it kind of funny that Kam says that she hopes that Leroy seeing her in elimination gives him the courage to go down to get a skull... and she didn’t wanna go down herself.

3) These cast members are dropping like flies.

[Jillibean]

Wow, Jay really screwed that one up. As far as I can tell, the move benefited Theresa to some extent (I think she’s underestimating how vindictive Kam is and how politically powerful she can be), but didn’t benefit Jay at all. In fact, it would have been better for Jay (not Theresa) to not win the challenge at all. He was in a pretty good spot, IMO. I think part of the intrigue is this game is that it’s an individual game masquerading as a partner game. Jay fell into the trap of being loyal to his partner, probably because he genuinely likes her and feels attached to her, at the cost of his own individual political standing in the house. And I think she played him like a fiddle. Nothing he agreed to do, from organizing the vote against Cory, to sending in Kam, to not giving Cory a heads up, benefited Jay. I think in his position, I would have done a “Well Cory, I PROMISED THERESA that I WOULDN’T TELL ANYONE,” wink wink nudge nudge. At least then Cory would feel like he had been acknowledged and given loyalty, while Jay could still have plausible deniability that he didn’t tell Cory.

Can someone help me with the math on Kam’s ten elimination wins? I’m counting 3 from Vendettas, 3 from FR, 1 from WotW1 and 1 from this, and I have no idea where the additional two are from. I don’t remember her going in at all during WotW 2. 

10 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Has anyone else mentioned how distracting Kyle's veneers are this season? Maybe it's my HD. They're like Ross' glow-in-the-dark teeth from Friends.

YES. My sister and I made this exact same reference. They’re absolutely blinding and I can’t look directly at them. 

[Eolivet]

12 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

Jay fell into the trap of being loyal to his partner, probably because he genuinely likes her and feels attached to her, at the cost of his own individual political standing in the house. And I think she played him like a fiddle. Nothing he agreed to do, from organizing the vote against Cory, to sending in Kam, to not giving Cory a heads up, benefited Jay. I think in his position, I would have done a “Well Cory, I PROMISED THERESA that I WOULDN’T TELL ANYONE,” wink wink nudge nudge.

Jay basically reenacted his entire Survivor game last night: stabbing an ally in the back who would've furthered his game, and blind loyalty to someone because he liked them as a person, where he refused to take the hint they had no interest in helping him in the game.

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

Nothing wrong with eliminating a strong female competitor.  But the way they went about it was dumb.  Jay should have said he couldn’t make any promises and Theresa shouldn’t have gone around lobbying people to vote a certain way.  Then she tells Cam that she won’t blindside higher and proceeds to do exactly that.

Yep. The strategy was solid but they played it terribly. 

3 hours ago, AntFTW said:

These cast members are dropping like flies.

Yea really. Is this the most people who had to leave ever?

[MMLEsq]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

Lolo too dramatic about finishing strong.  She may not be a distance runner but She should have dominated, though she had problems carrying the weight and clashed with her partner.

Lolo appears very high maintenance.  Plus, pitching that little fit just looked like she was trying to deflect blame (from her to him) for their poor performance.  She's lucky that Nam seems quite tolerant.  

I have a horrible memory -- and it doesn't help that I've been running old episodes of The Challenge on Pluto TV in the background lately while I'm working.  Is this where it stands now with the Golden Skulls?

Men:  Kyle, Fessy, Devin

Women:  Kam, Aneesa (Natalie's skull is back up for grabs)

[joanne3482]

9 hours ago, aghst said:

Aneesa saying it doesn’t matter this isn’t the Final.  Except Fessy and most other men will look not to end up with her if as anticipated the Final is an endurance contest.

Except there's nothing saying the final will be a partner game. Last time the end run was individual with a female and a male winner.

[Lantern7]

Once again . . . I don’t get why Jay & Theresa are now targets. Someone walk me through it.

45 minutes ago, MMLEsq said:

Women:  Kam, Aneesa (Natalie's skull is back up for grabs)

For maximum yuks, say it like Jeff Probst. “Natalie’s skull is back. Up. For grabs!”

[snarts]

11 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Once again . . . I don’t get why Jay & Theresa are now targets. Someone walk me through it.

Because they didn't pick a side (vets vs. rookies)?  Or they picked the wrong side?  Or because they won a competition? :)

I agree with CT, all the anger is comical.  It's a competition for money, of course people are going to be deviously self-serving. That said, neither Theresa or Jay helped themselves by directly lying to people. There was no need for Theresa to tell Kam she wouldn't send her in without her permission or for Jay to tell Corey that he was safe on the bus ride to elimination.

[Eolivet]

30 minutes ago, snarts said:

That said, neither Theresa or Jay helped themselves by directly lying to people. There was no need for Theresa to tell Kam she wouldn't send her in without her permission or for Jay to tell Corey that he was safe on the bus ride to elimination.

That's it, basically. Blatantly lying to supposed allies. The show made the point of including Kyle talking to Jay and saying, "hey, if you're going to throw me in, give me a heads up" and Jay saying, "no dude, you're safe" and Cory talking about the elimination and Jay sitting there, saying nothing (and then apparently winking at him on the bus). For anyone who watched Survivor, Kyle and Cory played the role of Michaela here. Genuinely shocked to be stabbed in the back by someone they were aligned with.

Theresa sounds like she had some success in prior eliminations (with Nany, for example). And now she has Ashley out of the house and Kam has a gold skull. But @Jillibean nailed it when she said the elimination did nothing for Jay, who's pissed off two former allies, one who needs a gold skull and an easy match-up.

I mean, even JOSH had Jay in his sights for a physical elimination, and Jay was able to wiggle out of it through his social game. That's all gone now. And if Josh knows Jay is a layup for an easy gold skull, then everyone does. Jay's shown the whole house he has no loyalty to any side (so he can't benefit your numbers) and he's an easy match-up ... so why wouldn't you vote him in?

Jay made such a bad move, he made Josh look insightful. JOSH!

[AntFTW]

Why exactly was Ashley Theresa's only target? Ashley has largely avoided eliminations in seasons where she made it to the final, but isn't that great at eliminations and she was politically weak this season. I think that's why Theresa targeted Ashley, because she's politically weak this season (may have answered my own question).

I don't think that targeting Ashley was the best move to make while Theresa had power. I think Kam would have been at peace with going in as long as she was given a heads up. By not giving Kam that heads up she was absolutely going in, she burned that bridge... not that it really was a bridge there because Kam doesn't trust Theresa, but now she's on Kam's radar.

Who is Theresa's alliance that Theresa would storm the gates of hell for? Who is willing to take Theresa to the end? Who is willing to put in work to make sure Theresa isn't a target other than Jay?

3 hours ago, snarts said:

Because they didn't pick a side (vets vs. rookies)?  Or they picked the wrong side?  Or because they won a competition? 🙂

I agree with CT, all the anger is comical.  It's a competition for money, of course people are going to be deviously self-serving. That said, neither Theresa or Jay helped themselves by directly lying to people. There was no need for Theresa to tell Kam she wouldn't send her in without her permission or for Jay to tell Corey that he was safe on the bus ride to elimination.

Yup... and telling Kyle that he would get a heads up.

[ImpinAintEasy]

Ashley has the greatest gap between elimination and finals performances. She is arguably the best female in finals and one of the worst at eliminations. She can run for days and is good at puzzles. But eliminations rarely feature either of those elements. I love her and will miss her commentary, but she didn’t deserve to win. 
 

Kam is almost the polar opposite to Ashley. She’s a beast in eliminations, but has yet to perform well in a final. She is a great player and is due for a win. She just needs to close the deal. 

[mojoween]

The amount of people who cannot count to 38 in fifteen minutes is astounding.

Theresa is trying to win!  Call the church elders!

I mean, here’s the thing.  I am not a fan of Theresa.  I will never be a fan of Theresa. And I know politics are part of the game, but Lolo’s indignant bitching at Theresa for daring to try to win was ridiculous.

Not a fan of Lolo either so perhaps I am not the best judge, heh.

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

The amount of people who cannot count to 38 in fifteen minutes is astounding.

Theresa is trying to win!  Call the church elders!

I mean, here’s the thing.  I am not a fan of Theresa.  I will never be a fan of Theresa. And I know politics are part of the game, but Lolo’s indignant bitching at Theresa for daring to try to win was ridiculous.

Not a fan of Lolo either so perhaps I am not the best judge, heh.

I think plays the same game every season she's on. She never picks a side that can successfully carry her to the end. She's always willing to throw away the people that would align with her. She made a move and it worked but it was in such sloppy Theresa fashion.

As a comparison to Ashley, the three times Ashley's been to a final, she was lucky enough to have an alliance willing to take her to the end. For both of her wins, she had the same exact alliance.

Theresa made it to a final one time and that's because production brought her back to replace someone after she was eliminated. Theresa plays the same game that gets her tossed into eliminations. Even though they have to go in at least 1 time to get a skull, Theresa folds under pressure and that gets her sent home every time... and I see that repeating itself this season.

Maybe I'm wrong and she'll take home the win this season.

Edited January 22, 2021 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

Ashley has the greatest gap between elimination and finals performances. She is arguably the best female in finals and one of the worst at eliminations. She can run for days and is good at puzzles. But eliminations rarely feature either of those elements. I love her and will miss her commentary, but she didn’t deserve to win. 
 

Kam is almost the polar opposite to Ashley. She’s a beast in eliminations, but has yet to perform well in a final. She is a great player and is due for a win. She just needs to close the deal. 

Ashley is unique to me. Before we get to the "best female in finals" part, I think she's been one of the best at getting to finals by pure politics alone.

Edited January 22, 2021 by AntFTW

[BK1978]

On 1/20/2021 at 10:34 PM, Craphole Island said:

I think that Theresa made a good move, personally. It may be short-sighted and it probably wasn’t good for Jay but she made sure there was one less strong girl there. I appreciated that she actually made a move as I feel like everybody plays a scared game these days. 

There’s also a 0% chance that Ashley would NOT have voted in Theresa if she won IMO. I kind of think everybody’s a hypocrite. They’re just upset when these things happen to them. As far as I can tell, Theresa had no real ties to Kam and Ashley so I feel fine about this move.

Exactly and this is why this is laughable.  Everyone needs a skull to advance but they are upset when they do not control the opportunity to get it.  Then they bitch about someone throwing them into a challenge that they needed to do anyway. 

Kam came across as being really entitled in this episode. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by BK1978

[MaggieG]

8 hours ago, BK1978 said:

Exactly and this is why this is laughable.  Everyone needs a skull to advance but they are upset when they do not control the opportunity to get it.  Then they bitch about someone throwing them into a challenge that they needed to do anyway. 

Kam came across as being really entitled in this episode. 

Yes! I cannot stand her Killah Kam schtick. It's so annoying. Ashley, Kam, Kyle and Cory acted so indignant, how dare you throw us in, you've made an enemy for life but given the opportunity they would all do the same thing. Do they still not realize that you have to go in? I think Tori was the only one who realized that. Kam and Kyle both have skulls now so they're good. 

[RedbirdNelly]

another week with people upset to go in even though they know they have to go in--and another week with a person in power who could use the opportunity to get a skull themselves who does not but focuses on a strategy that is designed to result in a strong player getting a skull

I would love to see someone go home with no opportunity to compete for a skull. That would change the dynamic on the next season. 

 

[joanne3482]

43 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I would love to see someone go home with no opportunity to compete for a skull. That would change the dynamic on the next season. 

After last season when basically they had enough skulls to ensure everyone who made it to the end had one I was hoping that with only 5 up for grabs this season we would see this occur. It would be awesome if once the 5 were won the game was over and everyone without one would get sent home, oh and if a person with a skull was sent down and lost, their skull was basically forfeited so now there would only be 4 available. It won't happen, but goodness it would shake their game up for next season. Otherwise, what's the point of the skulls or of limiting it to only 5 this season? 

[luckyroll3]

This was a great strategic play by Jay and Theresa, but they failed majorly on the execution.  They both needed to shut the fuck up and stop with the campaigning and promises to everyone. You can't blindside anyone if you're discussing your plans with everyone!  All they were doing was digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole with everyone. It was just dumb. 

On 1/20/2021 at 10:34 PM, Craphole Island said:

There’s also a 0% chance that Ashley would NOT have voted in Theresa if she won IMO. I kind of think everybody’s a hypocrite. They’re just upset when these things happen to them. As far as I can tell, Theresa had no real ties to Kam and Ashley so I feel fine about this move.

Totally agree that Ashley wouldn't have hesitated throwing Theresa in. Ashley wasn't even in the house a full 12 hours before she started bad mouthing her. But all of a sudden she's up Theresa's ass and how dare Theresa make a move on her. Oh please!  They all were so quick to admit that Theresa wasn't in their alliance and that she needed to go, yet they all expected her to have some loyalty to them. Hypocrites indeed. 

On 1/21/2021 at 6:33 AM, AntFTW said:

2) I find it kind of funny that Kam says that she hopes that Leroy seeing her in elimination gives him the courage to go down to get a skull... and she didn’t wanna go down herself.

I said the same thing. Kam didn't volunteer or beg to go in. She had no intention of going down. Now she's some sort of inspiration for Leroy. <insert eyeroll> I generally don't mind her, but this Killa Kam shit has gone straight to her head. 

[aghst]

Bill Simmons and David Jacoby does The Ringer podcast after each episode.

They said Killa Kam is 10-1 in eliminations but hasn't done so great in the Finals that she's managed to reach.

Since this is Leroy's swan song and they actually featured him in commercials for this season, maybe they do want to script Leroy and Kam going out on top with a win.

But if they win it, why wouldn't they keep doing the Challenges?

[AntFTW]

25 minutes ago, aghst said:

Bill Simmons and David Jacoby does The Ringer podcast after each episode.

They said Killa Kam is 10-1 in eliminations but hasn't done so great in the Finals that she's managed to reach.

Since this is Leroy's swan song and they actually featured him in commercials for this season, maybe they do want to script Leroy and Kam going out on top with a win.

But if they win it, why wouldn't they keep doing the Challenges?

I think Kam would continue. I understand Leroy’s decision to make this his last season. He’s been doing these Challenges for quite some time now.

If Leroy takes home the win, it would be the perfect last season. The perfect end to this chapter in his life.

[Jillibean]

On 1/21/2021 at 12:58 PM, Eolivet said:

That's it, basically. Blatantly lying to supposed allies. The show made the point of including Kyle talking to Jay and saying, "hey, if you're going to throw me in, give me a heads up" and Jay saying, "no dude, you're safe" and Cory talking about the elimination and Jay sitting there, saying nothing (and then apparently winking at him on the bus). For anyone who watched Survivor, Kyle and Cory played the role of Michaela here. Genuinely shocked to be stabbed in the back by someone they were aligned with.

Theresa sounds like she had some success in prior eliminations (with Nany, for example). And now she has Ashley out of the house and Kam has a gold skull. But @Jillibean nailed it when she said the elimination did nothing for Jay, who's pissed off two former allies, one who needs a gold skull and an easy match-up.

I mean, even JOSH had Jay in his sights for a physical elimination, and Jay was able to wiggle out of it through his social game. That's all gone now. And if Josh knows Jay is a layup for an easy gold skull, then everyone does. Jay's shown the whole house he has no loyalty to any side (so he can't benefit your numbers) and he's an easy match-up ... so why wouldn't you vote him in?

Jay made such a bad move, he made Josh look insightful. JOSH!

Exactly this. To be clear, I have no problem with lying and deceit in the challenge house. I agree with CT, and Johnny, and Ashley (ironically), and everyone else who has pointed out that this is a competition for money. However, the point is you lie and backstab to advance yourself in the game and get yourself closer to winning the money. You have to be artful about it, because this isn’t a one and done game. The same people play season after season, and you can’t get very far in this game without alliances, especially if you”re a smaller guy like Jay. My problem with what Jay did is that I think he was in a better position to advance before he won the challenge and made this move than he was after. He backed his partner on a strategy that benefited her, but that didn’t benefit him at all. Prior to winning, Jay seemed to be flying a bit under the radar. He had people who liked him  and wanted to work with him, like Cory and Fessy and other CBS people, the rookies seemed cool with him, and vets like Leroy, Kam and friends seemed to not really be targeting him at all. Now he has backstabbed an ally unnecessarily, angered the Kam and Leroy contingent, and sort of raised everyone’s collective awareness of him. As so many people have said, you have to vote for someone in this game and any excuse will do. Jay just handed a whole bunch of people an excuse to vote for him, gift wrapped and on a silver platter. And for what? How does Ashley leaving benefit HIS game?

I agree that making a big production out of going down to elimination is silly, if expected. But I don’t blame Cory for being annoyed that someone he thought was his ally in the game lied to him about whether he was being sent in when he didn’t really have to.  It’s the little moments that build trust, in my opinion, more than the big moments. I felt the same about Fessy choosing not to share the fact that the double agents are privy to the vote with his alleged alliance. 

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Jillibean

[Jess14]

20 hours ago, mojoween said:

The amount of people who cannot count to 38 in fifteen minutes is astounding.

Theresa is trying to win!  Call the church elders!

I mean, here’s the thing.  I am not a fan of Theresa.  I will never be a fan of Theresa. And I know politics are part of the game, but Lolo’s indignant bitching at Theresa for daring to try to win was ridiculous.

Not a fan of Lolo either so perhaps I am not the best judge, heh.

Yeah, Lolo is awful. I can’t stand her. I hope she’s the next woman to go. Nan needs a new partner asap.

I thought Teresa made a decent move for herself in the short term. With the rookie women on her side, she has the numbers. However, I just can’t root for Theresa. I think she would act every bit as indignant as Kam and Ashley did if she got thrown in after being promised otherwise. 

On the other hand, Jay screwed his game for no reason. I don’t see why he felt the need to do all that lying. Just say, “We assumed it was a girl’s day, so I let Teresa take the lead.” It’s not like he was lying about things that may not come to light - he knew Cory/Ashley were the house pick and knew Teresa was thinking of sending in Kam. Just dumb to lie about that.

I’m really surprised that the vets keep picking each other off. While Tory went about it in an obnoxious way, she’s right that the strategy for someone like Teresa should be to go in against someone like Amber M and get her skull. Yeah, she may have taken out Ashley, but Theresa still has no skull, and she just gave one to somebody (Kam) who she wouldn’t want to face in an elimination!

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, Jess14 said:

I’m really surprised that the vets keep picking each other off. While Tory went about it in an obnoxious way, she’s right that the strategy for someone like Teresa should be to go in against someone like Amber M and get her skull. Yeah, she may have taken out Ashley, but Theresa still has no skull, and she just gave one to somebody (Kam) who she wouldn’t want to face in an elimination!

So am I! Considering there were so many rookies, I would think the vets would trim down those numbers. If I recall, Wes had the same idea of throwing the rookies in (because it got the target off of his back). Meanwhile, I think the rookies this season are doing well for themselves and calling their own shots. The rookies aren't mad at taking a shot at Ashley. Theresa used that to her advantage rode the wave that they had a common person that the rookie girls can agree on.

Edited January 22, 2021 by AntFTW

[Jobiska]

CT is cracking me up with his interviews--"what did you expect?" and I think last time it was "so and so's in trou-ble!" about Fessy and I think Tori.

I don't remember much about Teresa, like Jay but think he's a poor strategist, but boy, when they were grinning about their plan working--they have such amazing contagious smiles!

Lolo:  "Nam doesn't communicate!"  Also Lolo:  harangues Nam endlessly and doesn't let him get a a word in edgewise.  Poor guy.  He's too nice for this show.  

TJ:  I'll put up with Phil on The Amazing Race doing awkward "fakeouts" because it's Phil ("I'm sorry to tell you....you will have to keep on racing!").  Saying "especially for the guys...."  Yell swear jump around from all the Challengers "...because you'll have to watch your partners fight it out."  Too silly.

Speaking of fighting it out, that was one Crater or whatever it's called that probably looked amazing in real life but I found it frustrating--watch them swing in a tiny arc, watch their hand reach out, no overall view....an overhead camera of both setups would have been cool.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Jobiska

[aghst]

9 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Yes! I cannot stand her Killah Kam schtick. It's so annoying. Ashley, Kam, Kyle and Cory acted so indignant, how dare you throw us in, you've made an enemy for life but given the opportunity they would all do the same thing. Do they still not realize that you have to go in? I think Tori was the only one who realized that. Kam and Kyle both have skulls now so they're good. 

Maybe some of it is from conditioning in previous Challenges, since the strategy was to always avoid getting thrown into eliminations.

But some of it could be schtick, to be dramatic.

I can see Kyle not being happy but if he had to defend his Red Skull, the best thing would be to either channel that anger to prepare or get over it and get ready.

Imagine if they just threw in the worst performers of the challenge and people could see how each performer was doing, so it's never a surprise who wins.  Then there would be no drama of the deliberations and votes, which is not what MTV wants.

Of course there would be more drama during the challenges themselves.  But MTV isn't interested in the drama from actual competition.

[shantown]

On 1/20/2021 at 10:12 PM, Eolivet said:

On the other hand, I will say how refreshing it's been to have all the drama from game-related moves and rivalries, and not who's hooking up with whom. I feel like a prior season would've followed that Fessy/Gabby flirtation to its conclusion.

Aneesa's grossed-out face was the only good thing about that throwaway scene!

The daily challenge seemed something that would have been a final back in the day - distance running, carrying heavy objects, having to complete checkpoint puzzles (not to mention an unclear path). I don't know if it's because I've missed the last like 10 seasons or because I've been watching episodes from like 20 seasons ago recently, but this seemed like A LOT for a regular day challenge.

[BK1978]

I wonder if the Nam thing was something to do with being from Germany.   I mean I only speak English (Some would argue that I hardly speak English correctly) but he has to speak at the very least two if not more languages (A lot of Europeans I have come into contact with can speak four or five languages).  When I get yelled at I sometimes get flustered so to be yelled at in your non-native language has to be tough to process.  Then you add on a grueling challenge on top of it, I really do not blame him for having lack of communication with Lolo.  Plus from what little they have shown of him on the show, he seems like a very easygoing guy who might just want to avoid confrontation. 

Or he could be intentionally fucking with her, which is probably something I would do but he does not seem to be the malicious type.

In regards to Kam, like @luckyroll3 said, I tend to not mind Kam.  The Killer Kam stuff can be annoying but I watch wrestling and I always kind of viewed that as her gimmick.  But after this season I am starting to wonder if it has become more of a gimmick and she is going Cara Maria on us.  I hope not but who knows.

I thought Kam said that Leroy's back was basically shot.  If that is the case I highly doubt he would be back again win or lose.  As someone who occasionally gets pretty bad back pain, it is no joke.  Two years ago around Thanksgiving time I was in bed for about a month or so.  Then right as my back started to feel better it seems like lockdown started.   So while most people hated 2020, I hated 2019 and 2020.

[Mikita]

1 hour ago, BK1978 said:

I wonder if the Nam thing was something to do with being from Germany.   I mean I only speak English (Some would argue that I hardly speak English correctly) but he has to speak at the very least two if not more languages (A lot of Europeans I have come into contact with can speak four or five languages).  When I get yelled at I sometimes get flustered so to be yelled at in your non-native language has to be tough to process.  Then you add on a grueling challenge on top of it, I really do not blame him for having lack of communication with Lolo.  Plus from what little they have shown of him on the show, he seems like a very easygoing guy who might just want to avoid confrontation. 

Or he could be intentionally fucking with her, which is probably something I would do but he does not seem to be the malicious type.

In regards to Kam, like @luckyroll3 said, I tend to not mind Kam.  The Killer Kam stuff can be annoying but I watch wrestling and I always kind of viewed that as her gimmick.  But after this season I am starting to wonder if it has become more of a gimmick and she is going Cara Maria on us.  I hope not but who knows.

I thought Kam said that Leroy's back was basically shot.  If that is the case I highly doubt he would be back again win or lose.  As someone who occasionally gets pretty bad back pain, it is no joke.  Two years ago around Thanksgiving time I was in bed for about a month or so.  Then right as my back started to feel better it seems like lockdown started.   So while most people hated 2020, I hated 2019 and 2020.

A lot of Americans can barely speak English. Kudos to you for knowing more than one language. I felt bad for Nam as Lolo was berating him. 

I love Kam, she's just trying to entertain and show her confidence. I see nothing of Cara Maria in her. Thank goodness!

[Zima]

On 1/20/2021 at 10:12 PM, AntFTW said:

Theresa still plays a scared game. Her game has not evolved at all.

Disgusting 🤮 

Hmm, it seems to me  that she's playing the opposite of a scared game if she's willing to piss people off by strategically getting them eliminated. 🤔

On 1/21/2021 at 1:53 AM, aghst said:

 

Aneesa saying it doesn’t matter this isn’t the Final.  Except Fessy and most other men will look not to end up with her if as anticipated the Final is an endurance contest.

 

I agree. That was not a good look for her. I mean, we all know that there's no way she will be able to compete well in a final anyway, but still. 

On 1/21/2021 at 6:33 AM, AntFTW said:

 

2) I find it kind of funny that Kam says that she hopes that Leroy seeing her in elimination gives him the courage to go down to get a skull... and she didn’t wanna go down herself.

 

I thought the exact same thing. She got thrown in, and was mad about it. It's not like she bravely volunteered. Lmao, shup up, Kam.

On a shallow note, I loved Kam's hair and makeup in her talking heads this episode. 

 

[AntFTW]

4 hours ago, Zima said:

Hmm, it seems to me  that she's playing the opposite of a scared game if she's willing to piss people off by strategically getting them eliminated. 🤔

 

I think Theresa would have pissed people off either way because she still plays in the middle. She never chooses a side. I think she's a floater. She hops to the people that will "save her" in the moment... and for now, I think that's the "rookie" girls.

It doesn't help that I'm not much of a fan of Theresa. I've never liked the way she plays and I've always thought she played in the middle.

I don't fault her for taking a shot at Ashley. I'm always for taking the shot but I thought targeting Ashley was not fully thought out because Ashley was in a weak position. I also thought the move was sloppy. Nobody's mad at Theresa, specifically, for targeting Ashley. The "rookie" girls would love to get Ashley out. The reason Cory was mad is because he's packaged with Ashley and it could've been him in elimination. Kyle was mad because he's packaged with Kam and it could've been him in elimination. Leroy's mad because Theresa sent Kam down.

Basically, she pulled the same move that Big T did. Big T didn't catch any flack for that. Big T targeted a pair of women that are clearly not on her side, and want her and her "rookie" alliance gone. Big T has chosen a side and people that she's gonna play the game with.

People are willing to align with Theresa and play the game with her... but when they need her, she doesn't show up. Theresa stays ambiguously in the middle. This is the part about Theresa's game I never liked and is what I believe is a scared game.

Edited January 25, 2021 by AntFTW