S13.E06: Semifinals 1

[Lantern7]

New venue (Los Angeles), ten obstacles.

As much as I dig the show, why show the first semi when we’ll have to wait three weeks for the second? Maybe spend ten minutes on the teens trying to convince adults to buy alcohol for them.

Bonus: Top two finishers go to the Power Tower. Winner gets a do-over if they fuck up in Vegas.

*sigh* One of these little pischers plays old-school arcade games. And he’s got braces. Make me feel old some more! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Edited July 20, 2021 by Lantern7

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

*sigh* One of these little pischers plays old-school arcade games. And he’s got braces. Make me feel old some more! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

And he feels "unique" for playing them! Why, when I was his age....👵🏻 

[Lantern7]

Law Ninja “commercial” FTW. And he finished the course!

ETA: Abel Gonzalez got WWWA despite finishing.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Lantern7

[SunnyBeBe]

Are you all able to view this show on NBC without audio issues?  I’m having trouble on my tv and iPad. It’s so bad, it sounds like a foreign language.    It’s on all NBC live shows.  No other network has this difficulty.  I’m trying to figure out if it’s a local problem or what? I’m live streaming, logged in with my cable account.  It’s like this on Firestick and Roku.  And my iPad!

Edited July 20, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Lantern7]

8 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Are you all able to view this show on NBC without audio issues?  I’m having trouble on my tv and iPad. It’s so bad, it sounds like a foreign language.    It’s on all NBC live shows.  No other network has this difficulty.  I’m trying to figure out if it’s a local problem or what? I’m live streaming, logged in with my cable account.  It’s like this on Firestick and Roku.  And my iPad!

It’s been good for me tonight.

[SunnyBeBe]

1 minute ago, Lantern7 said:

It’s been good for me tonight.

Thanks.  I’m frustrated.  I’m not sure where to start.....oh well.  There’s always something it seems.  

[Lantern7]

Daniel Gil remembered that he’s Daniel Gil, getting the fastest time of the night. It’ll be him and Law Ninja on Power Tower.

ETA: Whoops, I spoke too soon. Daniel got hung up, and Brian Burkardt got the Safety Pass.

Man, the women did not fare well. Zhanique flamed out early, and she got the third women’s slot.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Lantern7

[ams1001]

I'm not the only one who laughed when Gil missed that bar on the Power Tower, right?

I mean, I don't dislike him, but I'm kind of over him.

And Lawyer Ninja's lawyer ad was funny so I was rooting for him.

[EllenB]

Yay, Burkhardt! Burkhardt? Anyway, I'm a huge fan of anyone who beats Yucko Gil.

[Frisky Wig]

It’s really annoying and frustrating how they don’t show the full runs of people who hit the buzzer. I don’t want to see clips of so-and-so running the course with Matt or Akbar saying “and he became our third buzzer of the night!” But we do. Because they need time to show someone else’s (allegedly) tragic/inspiring/interesting backstory only to have that person fall in the water on the third obstacle. 🙄👎🏻

[SophiaD]

I enjoyed that more than I thought I would.  I don't mind Daniel Gil as much as some do, although I think he's a bit much.  I did like the lawyer ninja's ad and was happy to see him win the Power Tower.

It really helped that the teens were just one category of competitors tonight, not completely dominant.  I also liked tonight's teens - the trombone player is a badass, and Isaiah and Isabella Wilkerson were really awesome.  She really is incredible.  It also helped that Tianna Webberley made it through, as she is one of my favorites.

I also thought the gentleman from Guam was amazing.  It was nice to see how happy and pumped he was to be going to Vegas.  Very sad to see Sam Sann and Jonathan Horton go out.  

I agree it's completely obnoxious to not show the entire run of the finishers.  What the heck did Abel Gonzalez ever do to them?  He's an incredible, high-level athlete.  They've been doing that forever in favor of endless backstories and useless filler and I wish they'd stop.  

[EllenB]

Prepare to get hit over the head with tragic backstories, because that's what the Olympics coverage has become on NBC.

"This is the inspiring story of Jack Flash, who overcame the monumental struggle of having a hangnail when he was fourteen. Stay tuned to find out how he managed to turn his life around."

"Anna Banana's grandmother's cousin's friend's daughter broke her leg last year, but brave Anna is here to dedicate her hurdle jumps to her suffering, um, er, connection! That's it, connection!"

Nah, I'm not cynical.

[DEL901]

10 hours ago, SophiaD said:

I enjoyed that more than I thought I would.  I don't mind Daniel Gil as much as some do, although I think he's a bit much.  I did like the lawyer ninja's ad and was happy to see him win the Power Tower.

It really helped that the teens were just one category of competitors tonight, not completely dominant.  I also liked tonight's teens - the trombone player is a badass, and Isaiah and Isabella Wilkerson were really awesome.  She really is incredible.  It also helped that Tianna Webberley made it through, as she is one of my favorites.

I also thought the gentleman from Guam was amazing.  It was nice to see how happy and pumped he was to be going to Vegas.  Very sad to see Sam Sann and Jonathan Horton go out.  

I agree it's completely obnoxious to not show the entire run of the finishers.  What the heck did Abel Gonzalez ever do to them?  He's an incredible, high-level athlete.  They've been doing that forever in favor of endless backstories and useless filler and I wish they'd stop.  

I agree with your whole post!

Question…is it just me or did they save most of the vets to the second semifinal so they will cannibalizes each other and ensure there is room for a lot of teens?

[enoughcats]

13 hours ago, ams1001 said:

And Lawyer Ninja's lawyer ad was funny so I was rooting for him.

It was excellent, and then the decision to root for him or Gill.  Well, decision isn't the right word, more like he hasn't got a chance against Gil, but maybe, just maybe. 

After Gil looked so much like a spider climbing the tower, as if he does that every day. Hey, maybe he does? 

15 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I don't mind Daniel Gil as much as some do, although I think he's a bit much.

IMO karma would be Gil's hair getting in his eyes and sticks there because he's sweating.  Last week one of the children didn't have her long hair tied in a pony tail, it got in her eyes, she lost a couple of seconds flipping it out of her eyes, and that hand slipped off one of the next obstacles. 

Gil's hair isn't flipable, it's just there, making him look like a mushroom in profile.  He doesn't need that to stand out from the crowd. 

Quiet, calm concentration could be his friend.

[ams1001]

6 hours ago, enoughcats said:

It was excellent, and then the decision to root for him or Gill.  

I wonder if the 'ad' is on youtube or facebook...I missed a few of the disclaimers on the screen because it went too fast. I do not want to watch the whole thing on demand again just for that.

Edit: I wrote that earlier while I was at work and unable to look; just searched and so far not finding it. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by ams1001

[VartanFan]

Quote

Yay, Burkhardt! Burkhardt? Anyway, I'm a huge fan of anyone who beats Yucko Gil.

I wanted to sing to the angels.  I can’t stand the new wave Jim and Tammy Faye.  So happy he got hung up on the power tower.  

The 9th obstacle seemed tough-ish, but not as bad as the 9th obstacle in previous years that is usually “AN UPPER BODY GAUNTLET!” (TM Matt)

[TimothyQ]

‘The Kid’ Owadi with his porn-stache needs a new nickname. 

[Dottie D]

I used to love tuning into ANW, but the increasingly overdone backstories has caused me to watch less and less, especially when competitor's runs aren't shown in their entirety.  What's up with that?!

Daniel Gil - instant channel changer.  Never liked him.

[CrazyDog]

I haven't watched all the episodes this season, as it's harder to get invested in the teens. I get that the show is trying to bring forth the next generation of competitors, but until I see them a few times, they're forgettable. I enjoy their run and then watch for the next vet.

And as others have said, the backstories on those who don't go far is really frustrating.

Gil is amazingly good, but he's never been a favorite. There is just something really fake about him, IMO. Happy to see someone else kill it on the tower.

[realdancemom]

I thought Gil sounded smug in the interview before the power tower.  Glad he lost.

[VartanFan]

13 hours ago, Dottie D said:

 

I used to love tuning into ANW, but the increasingly overdone backstories has caused me to watch less and less, especially when competitor's runs aren't shown in their entirety.  What's up with that?!

 

I can’t recommend the DVR enough for this show.  I ffwd everything but the actual runs.  Decreases the time investment.

[Quilt Fairy]

I almost stopped watching with 5 minutes left because I though Daniel Gil was a lock to win the Power Tower and I don't care for him.  So glad I changed my mind and got to watch him lose - badly. 

[dvr devotee]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:00 PM, VartanFan said:

I can’t stand the new wave Jim and Tammy Faye

Amen! Perfect description of Daniel and Abby.

So far I'm enjoying Daniel being just a little off his game this year. He didn't get to the buzzer in qualifiers, now he got badly hung up on the power tower. Couldn't happen to a more smug competitor.

Oh, except for his protégé, Kid Owhadi. I was so glad to see him fall so early (second obstacle?) back in qualifiers.

Edited July 23, 2021 by dvr devotee
Did not complete my thoughts!

[enoughcats]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:59 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I almost stopped watching with 5 minutes left because I though Daniel Gil was a lock to win the Power Tower and I don't care for him.  So glad I changed my mind and got to watch him lose - badly. 

The part of the Power Tower that he couldn't do:  wasn't that one of the things that was new and that he couldn't have practiced in advance.  

Something as simple as "they always set up with our taking right turns on this obstacle and all of a sudden, we have to dismount to the left"  could be a real obstacle  to those who train a lot.