S36.E20: Reunion Part 1

[peachmangosteen]

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TBA

Airs April 28th.

[Lantern7]

"Hey, I'm NFL star Vernon Who Cares. Tonight: part one of the Reunion special! We got an audience! We got Challengers! But most importantly, we got Fessy, and we are gonna drag his sorry ass all night!!!"

Yeah, I get how that can be a grind, but nobody deserves it more. Well, maybe Ashley. She lost in the Crater! Twice!! If Natalie didn't have to leave the game, Ashley would be at home, trying to convince her dolls that she's a badass. She probably also tells them he can buy and sell them at any time.

I'm trying to remember the episode through FB posts I made. I still think Devin is trying too hard to become the new Johnny. The only laugh I got from him was the backstage roleplay with Aneesa, where he was channeling Fessy. "I can't kiss you! I'm an introvert!" Even if Devin planned that ahead of time, that was still hilarious.

Josh is probably one of the biggest winners of this first part. He got dragged, but it wasn't as hard or as long as Fessy. But there's always next week.

So. Much. Cleavage. So much. That is an observation. 😇

Good thing Big T was via satellite. If she had come in person, she would've been hospitalized from excessive hugging.

Hi, Nam! Dunno why he got to pop up, given he only spoke once or twice. It's weird to not have Wes involved in any way.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Lantern7

[TiffanyNichelle]

They really built this whole reunion around everyone's issues with Fessy. Even CT came out looking ok when they talked about him dumping Big T versus every time they brought up anything regarding Fessy. He couldn't defend himself at all and the snipe about Gabby's boyfriend was so uncalled for.

I loved the Devin stuff and reminded me of why some of the fun got sucked out of the show after he was eliminated. Kyle tried but he was too slimy and not as self-aware as Devin is.

[DEL901]

One difference between Fessy and CT...CT owned when he has been a jerk and apologized, showing sincerity and contrition.  Whether these were true or for television, they were a smart choice.   It is like when CT got partnered with Big T.... he made the best of it and worked hard to support her...of course, then he dumped her terribly, but he owns it.   Fessy has never, ever owned that he could be less than perfect.   

[Jillibean]

Wow, Leroy and Kam stole the show for me. Their love story is really beautiful, and seeing how emotional Nany was over it made it even more genuine.

That's the outfit Ashley chose? Really? That was...something. She also has a pattern of having really unfortunate hair choices at reunions. 

8 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

They really built this whole reunion around everyone's issues with Fessy. Even CT came out looking ok when they talked about him dumping Big T versus every time they brought up anything regarding Fessy. He couldn't defend himself at all and the snipe about Gabby's boyfriend was so uncalled for.

 

Yup. I get that Fessy is an easy target because he's so defensive, but every single segment involved Fessy. I don't like Fessy, but I also really don't care about him, so that was disappointing. Other than being egocentric, he has nothing interesting to offer. He's not smart, contrary to what he might think, and he has no wit or humor or cleverness. It was pathetic to see him matched up against people like Devin, CT, and Tori who can run verbal circles around him while he comes back at them with all the verbal ingenuity of an elementary school student. The snipe against Gabby's boyfriend was gross and she appeared really shocked and angry. 

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

One difference between Fessy and CT...CT owned when he has been a jerk and apologized, showing sincerity and contrition.  Whether these were true or for television, they were a smart choice.   It is like when CT got partnered with Big T.... he made the best of it and worked hard to support her...of course, then he dumped her terribly, but he owns it.   Fessy has never, ever owned that he could be less than perfect.   

Really EVERYONE owned their stuff and apologized other than Fessy. CT, Nelson, and Devin all agreed with criticism against them, apologized, and made light of it. Even JOSH did that. Fessy is clearly incapable of doing that. He's also, and I can't emphasize this enough, not smart. MTV seems to be pushing the narrative that he's the new villain., but I don't think they realize that you can't build something from nothing. Fessy is a mean, dumb, narcissistic block of wood. He's no Wes. He's no Bananas. He's no Emily Bailey, the original villain. Stop trying to make fetch happen, MTV.

I honestly didn't even register that people like Jay or Amber M were there until fifteen or twenty minutes in. Why bring someone to the reunion when you have so little to say to them? And why was Jay dressed like he was going to an emo surf club?

Edited April 29, 2021 by Jillibean

[AntFTW]

I don’t really have much to say about the reunion. Reunions are my least favorite parts of Challenge seasons.

It was too much Fessy.

CT looks like he did on Rivals 2. Good for him!

Gonna miss Leroy on the Challenge.

I’m holding out some hope for a “Shit They Should’ve Shown” episode but that hope is fading away.

[RedbirdNelly]

my main takeaway was how bad Fessy is at this. He tries for a joke? about Gabby's boyfriend--perhaps that was meant as a joke. It wasn't good, it wasn't well delivered. 

this did remind me of how I missed Devin. He brings the good sarcastic commentary. 

Small Amber still seems kind of clueless about things. I'm not endorsing mean behavior but she seems to expect a level of respect as a competitor without ever demonstrating her skillset. Just because you are cast on a show doesn't mean people need to assume you are a solid player. 

[TresGatos]

Lord help my taste levels but I liked Josh's shirt and Fessy's trousers. Not together, but still.

It looks like Ashley is wearing Michael Jackson's last nose. From certain angles she looked like Madam from Waylon and Madan fame. 

CT looked great. 

The Challenge seems to have made Jay very, very bitter. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

3 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Small Amber still seems kind of clueless about things. I'm not endorsing mean behavior but she seems to expect a level of respect as a competitor without ever demonstrating her skillset. Just because you are cast on a show doesn't mean people need to assume you are a solid player. 

Yeah, like I feel bad that she felt picked on by Aneesa and Tori but also I didn't care as much as she wanted me to, if that makes sense? So what if Tori apologized in your DMs. An apology is an apology right? As long she honestly meant it and the two of them squashed it, who cares if the whole world didn't see it? It's not like the Challenge fandom was whipped into this frenzy of outrage over Amber's treatment as a rookie that all unproven rookies (who hadn't done much in the challenges anyway) get. Like take your apology and move on.

Also was Tori drunk because she seemed all over the place?

Forgot to mention before that CT was looking really good. Good bye dad bod. I hope whatever was going on with him and the wife is better now.

2 hours ago, TresGatos said:

The Challenge seems to have made Jay very, very bitter. 

The last two challenges haven't really worked out for him have they?

[UniqueHandle]

Dear Cory - No on the hair. 

Dear Fessy - no on EVERYTHING. You are not the greatest of all time. Impossible. You haven't even made it to the winners circle. Sit back, grasshopper.

 

 

[MaggieG]

I'm laughing at production telling them to dress like spies. I didn't even realize all the black turtlenecks and the fact that Devin and Kyle were wearing matching shirts.

Biggest shock of the night was Josh and Devin going on vacation together

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, TresGatos said:

The Challenge seems to have made Jay very, very bitter. 

Seriously. And, shallow alert, uglier.

3 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

Also was Tori drunk because she seemed all over the place?

I wondered this as well. I also noticed that her body looked amazing lol.

[AntFTW]

9 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Small Amber still seems kind of clueless about things. I'm not endorsing mean behavior but she seems to expect a level of respect as a competitor without ever demonstrating her skillset. Just because you are cast on a show doesn't mean people need to assume you are a solid player. 

To me, it sounded like small Amber was mixing up respect for her competitive abilities and respect for other personal qualities. When someone calls her a bad competitor because she hasn't proven herself to be good, she would take that to also encompass other qualities outside of her competitive abilities... and get salty about her perception of what was said and demand an apology.

[lilabennet]

I think Amber M blew things out of proportion for attention.  I, for one, would find a private apology more sincere and a public apology more likely to be issued to score points in some way, especially among reality TV "stars".

[AntFTW]

10 hours ago, MaggieG said:

I'm laughing at production telling them to dress like spies. I didn't even realize all the black turtlenecks and the fact that Devin and Kyle were wearing matching shirts.

Biggest shock of the night was Josh and Devin going on vacation together

I never really picked up on the black turtlenecks throughout the season. The only person I noticed wore a turtleneck throughout the season was Kam that one time that she had one on.

Edited April 30, 2021 by AntFTW

[Zima]

5 hours ago, lilabennet said:

I think Amber M blew things out of proportion for attention.  I, for one, would find a private apology more sincere and a public apology more likely to be issued to score points in some way, especially among reality TV "stars".

I was coming here to say the same thing!  Public apologies rub me the wrong way, because they are usually done for show, not for sincerity. 

 

18 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I don’t really have much to say about the reunion. Reunions are my least favorite parts of Challenge seasons.

It was too much Fessy.

CT looks like he did on Rivals 2. Good for him!

Gonna miss Leroy on the Challenge.

I’m holding out some hope for a “Shit They Should’ve Shown” episode but that hope is fading away.

I'm going to miss Leroy too. I may or may not cry next week when we say our final good-bye to him. 

Also, I thought the same thing about CT!  The dad bod is GONE, and he grew his hair out a little. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I always thought he looked his best when he had longer hair. 

Here are some other VERY shallow observations:

Cory looked good in those tiiiight pants, but I wasn't feeling his hair lol.

I actually liked Ashley's SUPER EXTRA outfit. 

Tori looked like she put on at least 20 lbs. 

Nany looked great. 

The Amber who won the final is soooooo gorgeous.  I was disappointed that we didn't get to hear more from her about the final, but maybe that's coming next week? 

[Jillibean]

17 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

Yeah, like I feel bad that she felt picked on by Aneesa and Tori but also I didn't care as much as she wanted me to, if that makes sense? So what if Tori apologized in your DMs. An apology is an apology right? As long she honestly meant it and the two of them squashed it, who cares if the whole world didn't see it? It's not like the Challenge fandom was whipped into this frenzy of outrage over Amber's treatment as a rookie that all unproven rookies (who hadn't done much in the challenges anyway) get. Like take your apology and move on.

Also was Tori drunk because she seemed all over the place?

Forgot to mention before that CT was looking really good. Good bye dad bod. I hope whatever was going on with him and the wife is better now.

The last two challenges haven't really worked out for him have they?

I agree--I didn't like Aneesa's attitude of dismissing it and saying "well, I know I'm not mean," because I don't think she gets to be the judge of whether or not her actions were mean. But Amber M came off as very entitled and full of herself with no reason to be all season, so I couldn't feel bad for her. And sticking up her nose at Tori's DM apology was silly. They're not friends, and also, Tori wasn't wrong about her. She wasn't a strong competitor and she was very easy to eliminate. I would say it was a desperate last bid for a return invitation, but sadly I think she's really just like that. I go back and forth on Tori but I give her credit for being the bigger person and sticking to her apology even though Amber was being pretty ungracious about it. 

As for Jay...he had a strong rookie showing in terms of being memorable. He couldn't have really thought he was going to go far, especially knowing that Bananas was going to want him out ASAP. I don't know what his expectations were for this season, but he made a much smaller splash. I think he could have gone a lot further if he had reined Theresa in from her reign of terror. He also was just really unlucky in which elimination he got. I think he could have done well in the ring-grabbing/puzzle one or the speed one. 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Jillibean

[Jillibean]

4 hours ago, Zima said:

 

Here are some other VERY shallow observations:

Tori looked like she put on at least 20 lbs. 

Tori has definitely put on weight! She's been documenting it on instagram. It's all muscle; she has said many times that she doesn't care what the number on the scale is, only that she's the strongest she's ever been. I think her elimination this season really threw her (I'm sure along with the upheaval in her personal life) and she seems to have really found purpose through getting stronger. 

Oops, sorry, I don't know how that ended up being two posts instead of one. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Jillibean

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, Zima said:

Tori looked like she put on at least 20 lbs. 

Definitely. Mostly in her face and ass lol. She looked great.

1 hour ago, Jillibean said:

I agree--I didn't like Aneesa's attitude of dismissing it and saying "well, I know I'm not mean," because I don't think she gets to be the judge of whether or not her actions were mean.

Yea, I found that really annoying. And even though I think Amber M. was blowing that whole thing out of proportion, I do find it interesting that Aneesa was disparaging another competitor's abilities when she gets butthurt about people doing that to her.

[AntFTW]

6 hours ago, Zima said:

Tori looked like she put on at least 20 lbs. 

Tori did mention on The Challenge podcast that she’s been bulking up, training to put on some muscle.

She also noted that the clothes she was wearing was uncomfortable and tight because of the weight she’s put on.

[lasu]

2 hours ago, Jillibean said:

I agree--I didn't like Aneesa's attitude of dismissing it and saying "well, I know I'm not mean," because I don't think she gets to be the judge of whether or not her actions were mean.

This actually cracked me up, Aneesa was like, Um, I know me better than you, and I can vouch for me.  She vouched for herself!  Classic.  I shall employ this technique going forward.

Boss:  You don't seem like you are doing the same level of work.

Me:  Listen, I know me, and I can tell you right now, I'm a hard worker.  I can vouch for me.

Boss:  Oh, shit, my bad.  Carry on.

CT is looking great.  And I'll say he was 97.5% fine with his apology, but I did catch at one point he started to push back on what Big T was saying.  I do think he was genuinely sorry and embarrassed about his behavior, but I also don't think he wanted to have his feet held to fire for too long.  He wanted to really get to the point where he was forgiven and went back to his "I'm such a loveable a scamp!" bit. There was just a hint of it, but it was there.  I'm a fangirl, but I still caught this.

God, Fessy.  His leggings looked awful.  What a self-serious pompous ass with absolutely no sense of humor.  Absolutely none.  I can think of few other contestants who I can say had this deep level of self-importance, lack of self-awareness, and just plain dumb and unfunny.  I'm honestly trying to think - Johnny, Wes, Zak, Devon, Frank, even Kenny & Evan.  I may deeply dislike some of those people (and no matter what I think Evan is worse as an actual human being), but they have all had moments of self-awareness, self-deprecation, humor, and intelligence.  Fessy's level of thin-skinnedness has no redeeming values.  I don't enjoy him.

Fessy is the epitome of having a privilege and thinking you earned it - being born on third and thinking you hit a homer.  All Fessy has done is be the recipient of genes that make him above average large.  He was given a genetic advantage, a privilege, and he thinks it makes him better than others.  What I would DEARLY love to see is a physical competition where they neutralize the size difference - like you have to pull a percentage of your body weight.  I don't think he would do well.  Even look at Kaycee, I feel like proportionally, pound for pound, she would destroy him, as would a lot of the fit smaller contestant with way more hunger to win.  Fessy is used to things being easy for him because he can run over smaller contestants.  I'd love to see him in a truly even match.

Is Devon a try hard? YES.  Do I care?  NO.  At least someone is trying, and I lol'ed when he yelled at Fessy that Fessy was the same amount of good as himself, and it was clear he meant it as an insult.  I appreciate someone who can take themselves down in service of taking down a greater evil.  Self-awareness and intelligent humor will take you far with me. He's no Wes, but he's as close as we are going to get without Wes on the screen.  

[RedbirdNelly]

I meant to add the reunion added support to those who have posted about how boring Kaycee is. I don't watch BB so I can't weigh in there but she was basically non-existent at least for episode one besides telling us about her knee. Not that she has to take over the show but she does just melt into the background. 

[Eolivet]

On 4/30/2021 at 8:12 AM, Jillibean said:

He couldn't have really thought he was going to go far, especially knowing that Bananas was going to want him out ASAP.

Jay set himself up to have a huge rivalry with Bananas on the Ex on the Beach Reunion, but it never made sense why Bananas would have a problem with him. Morgan pretended to like Jay, and then went off to The Challenge and pursued Bananas. Bananas is the victor. Jay is the loser. Does the windshield have a rivalry with a bug?

I think Jay is massively insecure in this company, and it comes across in how he presents. Fessy with his styled jackets and tailored pants. Cory in his suit. CT in his well-fitting father figure cool. Kyle in his button-down shirt. Even Josh looking somewhat put together (for Josh). And Jay with the backwards cap at age 32, looking like Joey from Friends when Joey tried to be nineteen. I half-expected Jay to interject, "Playstation is whack" in the middle of the reunion.

[mojoween]

“Josh what’s 10x 9!?” will always be funny.

Cory could maybe have gone up a size in his suit as his jacket and pants were doing yeoman’s work.

Nelson is still so so hot.  Goddamn.

I love that nearly every clip they showed of Faysal made him look foolish and he tried to downplay it every single time.  I’m actually excited for next week to see him again bag on CT, who 100% backed it up.

[Jillibean]

19 hours ago, Eolivet said:

Jay set himself up to have a huge rivalry with Bananas on the Ex on the Beach Reunion, but it never made sense why Bananas would have a problem with him. Morgan pretended to like Jay, and then went off to The Challenge and pursued Bananas. Bananas is the victor. Jay is the loser. Does the windshield have a rivalry with a bug?

I think Jay is massively insecure in this company, and it comes across in how he presents. Fessy with his styled jackets and tailored pants. Cory in his suit. CT in his well-fitting father figure cool. Kyle in his button-down shirt. Even Josh looking somewhat put together (for Josh). And Jay with the backwards cap at age 32, looking like Joey from Friends when Joey tried to be nineteen. I half-expected Jay to interject, "Playstation is whack" in the middle of the reunion.

"Playstation is whack!!" 😂 Jay definitely seems like he's stuck at age 24, and it sort of works for him, but he very much comes off as a good-time guy and not the guy you ask to pick you up at the airport, because you would totally wake him up by calling after he failed to respond to any of your texts saying you'd landed, then show up 55 minutes late completely hungover and wearing a dirty shirt.

As for Bananas and Jay, I agree about the bug/windshield, but I also think Bananas a) was very invested in making sure Morgan never came up in regards to Jay which was easier to do if Jay wasn't there at all, and b) probably felt he owed Jay one for raking her over the coals at that EotB reunion because whether or not she deserved it, that's his girl and everyone involved seemed to be aware that he did it as a challenge audition (obviously effectively so, but I can see why it would grind Johnny's gears). I also have to come to my girl Morgan's mild defense in saying that I do think she really liked Jay as a person, just maybe not as a romantic partner, and I don't think she was the one doing the pursuing on the challenge. I think Bananas likely had his sights set on her as his next rookie fling from the moment he saw her and then accidentally fell in love with her. 

On 4/30/2021 at 10:45 AM, lasu said:

God, Fessy.  His leggings looked awful.  What a self-serious pompous ass with absolutely no sense of humor.  Absolutely none.  I can think of few other contestants who I can say had this deep level of self-importance, lack of self-awareness, and just plain dumb and unfunny.  I'm honestly trying to think - Johnny, Wes, Zak, Devon, Frank, even Kenny & Evan.  I may deeply dislike some of those people (and no matter what I think Evan is worse as an actual human being), but they have all had moments of self-awareness, self-deprecation, humor, and intelligence.  Fessy's level of thin-skinnedness has no redeeming values.  I don't enjoy him.

I completely agree. All those other people listed are much smarter and funnier than Fessy, and most of them had at least some awareness of being in on the joke of themselves or developed some (Evan being a possible exception). Zach, as much as I hate him, gives extremely entertaining commentary. And they all, to at least some extent, are interesting to watch on TV. They bring something. Fessy is just a large personality void who not only has no interesting qualities himself but actually makes people less interesting when they get sucked into his storylines. He might have been a good choice for Big Brother--and indeed, he delivered on that show by giving us "who flipped" completely unintentionally--but I think he's a poor casting choice for the challenge. Same for Kaycee. I don't mind her, but she is very boring. I think they were fooled into thinking she was interesting her first season, when really Nany and Bayleigh are interesting and she was also there. 

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Fessy is the epitome of having a privilege and thinking you earned it - being born on third and thinking you hit a homer.  All Fessy has done is be the recipient of genes that make him above average large.  He was given a genetic advantage, a privilege, and he thinks it makes him better than others.  What I would DEARLY love to see is a physical competition where they neutralize the size difference - like you have to pull a percentage of your body weight.  I don't think he would do well.  Even look at Kaycee, I feel like proportionally, pound for pound, she would destroy him, as would a lot of the fit smaller contestant with way more hunger to win.  Fessy is used to things being easy for him because he can run over smaller contestants.  I'd love to see him in a truly even match.

Such a good way to describe Fessy and I would LOVE to see them do something involving a percentage of body weight. Survivor uses that format constantly as an equalizer and it lets you see how relatively strong the big men actually aren't relative to some of the lankier guys and women. He really seems to think that being a big football player makes him a challenge god. Has he met Zach, particularly Old Zach? Not only is he Fessy's size, but he actually played professional football (not in the NFL, but still). And Zach has only won one challenge and has a very iffy elimination record because there are actually other things involved. And yet could probably beat Fessy in a Hall Brawl. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Jillibean

[Unclejosh]

Regarding Zach, I could be wrong or was misinformed, but I think even his combine numbers were better than Fessy's.  If not at least comparable and NO ONE considers Zach one of the best or even elite on the challenge.  In fact of all the challengers in the GOAT conversation, only CT is big. The others are all smaller.  Well Mark is huge too but he is not in the GOAT conversation but the next level down in my opinion. And Fessy is no Mark.

That should tell him something but Fessy is so narcissistic he can't see it.  

[AncientNewbie]

I wanted to see so many more people and hear about the things we hadn't seen, but watching Fessy get dragged for 90 sort of was worth it.