S01.E07: What About Your Friends?

[peachmangosteen]

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On a dusty highway, the All Stars tackle their most intense challenge yet. A decades-old friendship is shattered when a veteran player makes a game move. Four All Stars battle it out in the final elimination of the season. 

Airs May 13th.

[AntFTW]

Dang it! Kendal grew on me. Sad to see her go.

[Cherry Cola]

I assume it's heat of the moment, but if Jisela is willing to end a friendship over who Aneesa picked, she isn't a very good friend to begin with. 

Mark is my favorite. Seems calm, cool and strong. I want him to win. 

[shantown]

I'm curious as to the reasoning why they rushed the second half of the season. You had 4 single player eliminations, 3 paired eliminations, and then the remaining 12 people all go to the final - more than half the cast. Did they realize partway through filming they were only getting like 8 episodes so just moved up the timing of the final? Did some cast only sign on if they were assured of going to a final? I like Aneesa but her (and others) bragging about how "It's been 10 years since I've made a final" or "It's been 12 years since I competed last and now I'm going to a final" is a little much. Accurate, sure, but when 12 people make a final it's got an asterisk by it, IMO. As much as I like a lot of the cast and want them all to win, it is a competition show and so I also want to see some people go home! 

[zscore]

They had to do a shorter season because it's the only way to get some of these people to come back. Most of them have families/other obligations and cannot be away for that long.

[snarts]

1 hour ago, zscore said:

They had to do a shorter season because it's the only way to get some of these people to come back. Most of them have families/other obligations and cannot be away for that long.

I get that, but like shantown mentioned, didnt they know that going in? To have 12 people going to final is ridiculous, they should've had double eliminations from the start. The pacing is all wrong. 

Plus, I hate Jisela & Aneesa. Oh, and Big Easy too. Sad to see Kendall go home. 

If the final is anything like the typical multi-day endurance race, I predict half won't make it to the end. 

P.S. Jisela ruins the aftershow. STFU & let others speak. Love how KellyAnne got bored & started playing with her dogs! 

Edited May 14, 2021 by snarts

[Michichick]

I have a real soft spot for Aneesa and I don’t know why. But it made me happy to see her get to the final, even though it’s a huge group in the final. Now she will gas out and fail but maybe she’ll shut up with her constant whinging about always getting cut right before the final and how she just wants a chance.

[Lantern7]

As much fun as this edition has been, I think it might be best to file it under "Test Season." There are a lot of kinks to work out . . . like how Kendal could get dragged into the Arena and go home. Maybe she'd get a second chance to try and boot Jisela? Also, Jisela got to advance even though she didn't climb the "ladder." I know she was hurting, but at least make Easy take her up to the top.

One good thing: at least we can have a mission on a speeding semi and not have anyone get hurt enough to leave the game. Progress!

Mark and his crown. *sigh* I mean, it doesn't trigger me like Eric Fucking Nies and his fucking jump rope. And if Mark hadn't pushed hard for an "OG" Challenge, those people wouldn't be in a sweet pad in the mountains of Argentina. Also: no masks. So maybe I should let Mark's chest-beating slide? This one time?

Fun fact: aside from Sarah Greyson, no one from Campus Crawl has competed in three or more eliminations without leaving. I'm guessing hatchets have been buried a long time ago with Sarah and her former cast mates, but I'm very tickled.

Wall Quote: “Once you go messing with my money, you go messing with my emotions.” Had to search my recaps. It was from Melissa in BOTS1. Awesome. If BMP ever takes requests on art for future seasons, how about someone sketch her and Amaya celebrating winning Sargent Says?

[funnygirl]

21 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Mark and his crown. *sigh* I mean, it doesn't trigger me like Eric Fucking Nies and his fucking jump rope. And if Mark hadn't pushed hard for an "OG" Challenge, those people wouldn't be in a sweet pad in the mountains of Argentina. Also: no masks. So maybe I should let Mark's chest-beating slide? This one time?

That jump rope gave me one of many RW/RR lines that I quote to this day.

From Battle of the Sexes (2, I think?): Coral telling Eric to "worry about your jump rope and yourself!" 

[Jillibean]

20 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Mark and his crown. *sigh* I mean, it doesn't trigger me like Eric Fucking Nies and his fucking jump rope. And if Mark hadn't pushed hard for an "OG" Challenge, those people wouldn't be in a sweet pad in the mountains of Argentina. Also: no masks. So maybe I should let Mark's chest-beating slide? This one time?

It's interesting--I feel like one of the reasons Mark was so well-liked and respected originally was because he was so humble. He was great at challenges, but he didn't feel the need to constantly call attention to that. He was lowkey, mellow, and let his actions speak for himself. Now that he's older, he's acting much more like he has something to prove than he ever did at the height of his challenge career. He talks about how he's pure muscle, gives press about how he could beat Fessy, needs everyone to know he never actually lost an elimination, etc. I don't love it. Unless he actually does beat Fessy somehow, in which case all is forgiven.

I agree that this system needs some ironing out--what I think would be better would be if instead of the nominated person getting to pick anyone and they have to accept, there could be an incentive for the non-nominated winner of the elimination. So for instance, when Katie went in, she could pick LT and if he loses he goes home, but if he wins he gets an advantage in the next challenge, whereas Katie just gets to live another day. And then if no one accepts, it becomes a random draw excluding anyone who has already previously been in an elimination, which would bring strategy in--players would have to decide when they think the odds are best for them to "volunteer" so they don't get stuck going in when they don't want to. Or something. I liked the idea in theory, but it really worked out unfortunately for Kendal in practice. 

The fact that Yes basically talked himself out of an elimination by being articulate, genuine, and just the right amount of guilt-inducing shows just how much intelligence and a strong social game can make a difference in this game when employed well.

Jisela did a live last night and said she and Kendal are friends now. Apparently she's still very angry at Aneesa though, as evidenced by her twitter. I don't really get it, to be honest. First of all, your friendship can't be that great too begin with if you're that upset over something like this. And it isn't even like Jisela wanted a specific person because she believed that person would be easier to beat--it was all about Jisela's rules for what was most "fair," which no one should feel  obligated to abide by. And her "fair" rules didn't even make sense! Jisela wanted it to be someone who hadn't been in an arena yet. Fine. But then she also excluded Derrick because Derrick "would have won if Mark hadn't won," which Derrick was only too happy to jump onboard with. It seems like she just came up with a few contrivances to put the spotlight on the people she personally wasn't good friends with. Like, "Let's say people who haven't been in yet because that takes Alton and Mark out of it. Oh wait, I like Derrick. Let's say people who haven't been in yet and who also didn't almost win but not actually win today's challenge specifically." 

[funnygirl]

Jisela definitely overreacted with Aneesa. It was a mens elimination and Nehemiah was who Easy wanted, why it was up for debate at least where Jisela was concerned didn't make sense to me. I like that Yes pointed out Nehemiah's hypocrisy. 

 

[Racj82]

Jisela really only wanted to save Alton. That's where her fair bullshit came from. So, i really don't know why she was so mad.

[Lola82]

It stinks that this season is so short but I’m happy to cancel my Paramount subscription as soon as this ends.

I don’t remember Jisela from previous challenges but she was a pain this episode. This was the drama queen bullshit I don’t like from the usual challenges. She did next to nothing at the elimination and I feel bad for Kendal who did so well the whole season...I felt her when she said this challenge reminded her about who she was before she had to become a responsible adult.

[Duke Silver]

Way late to the game in asking this, I presume, but what in the fuck has Jisela ever done in The Challenge to warrant her having so much sway and arrogance about same?  I clearly am missing something, because it seems the cast seems resigned to her having some level of power that I just can't understand.

Also, agree with Yes:  Nehemiah saying "I've been in the pit and everyone needs to earn their way to the final!"  Then picking Kendal who's been in elimination multiple times...super hypocritical.

[ljenkins782]

On 5/14/2021 at 8:31 PM, Jillibean said:

Jisela did a live last night and said she and Kendal are friends now. Apparently she's still very angry at Aneesa though, as evidenced by her twitter. I don't really get it, to be honest. First of all, your friendship can't be that great too begin with if you're that upset over something like this. And it isn't even like Jisela wanted a specific person because she believed that person would be easier to beat--it was all about Jisela's rules for what was most "fair," which no one should feel  obligated to abide by. And her "fair" rules didn't even make sense! Jisela wanted it to be someone who hadn't been in an arena yet. Fine. But then she also excluded Derrick because Derrick "would have won if Mark hadn't won," which Derrick was only too happy to jump onboard with. It seems like she just came up with a few contrivances to put the spotlight on the people she personally wasn't good friends with. Like, "Let's say people who haven't been in yet because that takes Alton and Mark out of it. Oh wait, I like Derrick. Let's say people who haven't been in yet and who also didn't almost win but not actually win today's challenge specifically." 

LOL, you're telling me that "Well, Derrick would have won except that Mark won" isn't a rational explanation? 

I mean, maybe it's semantics but it seems like a more compelling argument would be "Derrick was in 2nd place so I feel his performance warrants a pass." It's still bullshit, but at least it sounds better than calling someone an "almost-winner, if not for that other guy"

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It's interesting--I feel like one of the reasons Mark was so well-liked and respected originally was because he was so humble. He was great at challenges, but he didn't feel the need to constantly call attention to that. He was lowkey, mellow, and let his actions speak for himself. Now that he's older, he's acting much more like he has something to prove than he ever did at the height of his challenge career. He talks about how he's pure muscle, gives press about how he could beat Fessy, needs everyone to know he never actually lost an elimination, etc. I don't love it. Unless he actually does beat Fessy somehow, in which case all is forgiven.

Somewhere around the Robin/Jodi era, Mark ceased to resemble the original Road Rules version of himself that had shown up consistently on several challenges. Before that, he always seemed like the no-drama, laid-back guy who happened to be athletically inclined and great at the tasks, but I guess it was around the big 4-0 where he was suddenly knee-deep in the drama, hookups, and scheming. Mid-life crisis, maybe?  At this point, he's trying to prove that age is just a number and going way overboard. 

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The fact that Yes basically talked himself out of an elimination by being articulate, genuine, and just the right amount of guilt-inducing shows just how much intelligence and a strong social game can make a difference in this game when employed well.

I remember I used to think Yes was a bit of a himbo back in his original season and Challenge 2000. He seemed like a sweet, handsome, artsy kid who wasn't too bright, but I definitely misjudged him. He's obviously matured a lot too, but if he was a Mathlete, he was always smarter than I gave him credit for.

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Way late to the game in asking this, I presume, but what in the fuck has Jisela ever done in The Challenge to warrant her having so much sway and arrogance about same?  I clearly am missing something, because it seems the cast seems resigned to her having some level of power that I just can't understand.

Also, agree with Yes:  Nehemiah saying "I've been in the pit and everyone needs to earn their way to the final!"  Then picking Kendal who's been in elimination multiple times...super hypocritical.

 

Jisela's weapon has always been attitude and confrontation. She gets up in people's faces and intimidates them so they won't notice that she can't compete. I think her first challenge was Battle of the Seasons, where she wasn't much of a factor in the challenges, yet sucked up a lot of airtime with her yelling. I remember the final 6 teams did the reunion show and all of them expressed surprise and annoyance at Jisela's airtime, Timmy was like "was she getting paid per syllable??" 

I felt terrible for Kendal going home the way she did. Besides having had to survive more eliminations than anyone else, this particular elimination doesn't seem like it gave her much of a chance to help herself get to the end. If Jisela could sit on the ground and watch Easy build a ladder, it's not enough of a 2-person challenge to send both team members home.

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As much fun as this edition has been, I think it might be best to file it under "Test Season." There are a lot of kinks to work out . . . like how Kendal could get dragged into the Arena and go home. Maybe she'd get a second chance to try and boot Jisela? Also, Jisela got to advance even though she didn't climb the "ladder." I know she was hurting, but at least make Easy take her up to the top.

Totally agree. The twist was interesting, but as I said above, this last challenge was unfair to one half of the team, which happened to be the women. Jisela didn't even have to finish the ladder and Kendal was basically left watching Nehemiah build that ladder wrong when she could probably have done a better job with the climbing.

Syrus busting his ankle sealed his and Beth's fate, had this last challenge been fairly constructed, Jisela's knee injury would have done the same for her and Big Easy. 

[Zima]

On 5/13/2021 at 9:02 PM, snarts said:

I get that, but like shantown mentioned, didnt they know that going in? To have 12 people going to final is ridiculous, they should've had double eliminations from the start. The pacing is all wrong. 

Plus, I hate Jisela & Aneesa. Oh, and Big Easy too. Sad to see Kendall go home. 

If the final is anything like the typical multi-day endurance race, I predict half won't make it to the end. 

P.S. Jisela ruins the aftershow. STFU & let others speak. Love how KellyAnne got bored & started playing with her dogs! 

I don't really care for Aneesa, but damn if i didn't want her to go in against Jisela and beat her ass in a physical elimination after the tantrum she threw in this episode. The entitlement was off the charts for both women, but for Jisela to say that she's no longer friends with her...she was acting like a fucking toddler. 

That elimination was complete bullshit. Everybody should have had to climb to the top. The fact that Jisela could just lie there on the ground and "win", then act super cocky about it after the fact really made my blood boil.

Oh well, it will be fun to watch her struggle and ultimately lose the final. At least there's that. 

[ljenkins782]

Couldn't help but notice that in the opening footage of the most recent episode, which was clearly filmed as Big Easy and Jisela returned to the house after the elimination, not only was Jisela no longer limping, she was jumping up and down. Wonder if she was giving herself an excuse for losing and then realized after the fact that she didn't even need to participate in completing the ladder. Otherwise, that's one hell of a quick-healing injury.

[peachmangosteen]

I 100% figured she was faking it lol.

[funnygirl]

2 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I 100% figured she was faking it lol.

She didn't fake it. She said on the Challenge Mania podcast this past week that she's having knee surgery on Thursday and that it's going to take her out for 6-9 months.

So we can count her out for season 2 of All Stars. 

[peachmangosteen]

5 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

So we can count her out for season 2 of All Stars. 

FANTASTIC!

[UniqBlue69]

On 5/25/2021 at 6:31 PM, peachmangosteen said:

FANTASTIC!

Lol! I can understand the dislike for Jisela but I'll always have a spot for her. She was actually why I got into Road Rules because I flipped on MTV and saw her on that casting special and found it so refreshing to see a person of latino descent on my TV who wasn't on one of my grandma's telenovelas on Univision. Plus, I think she's totally hot (I'm a gay male but I'd hit that haha).

[lasu]

On 5/25/2021 at 6:25 PM, funnygirl said:

She didn't fake it. She said on the Challenge Mania podcast this past week that she's having knee surgery on Thursday and that it's going to take her out for 6-9 months.

After seeing her on the reunion, I'm firmly in the "she's faking it" camp.

[peachmangosteen]

38 minutes ago, lasu said:

After seeing her on the reunion, I'm firmly in the "she's faking it" camp.

Same. I'm sure her terrible knee injury will be all healed up and she'll be ready for season 2. Ugh lol.