S37.E01: The List

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

TJ’s agents meet during a high stakes mission that will have a massive impact on the game. Love is in the air at headquarters, but some new romances may spell danger in the game. A scandalous list emerges and threatens to expose a strong player.

Airs August 11th.

[mojoween]

Who the fuck is Ed?  Swear to hell I thought it was John at first and I was all set to get mad.

Oh Michaela.

Nelson, I love you, I’ve always loved you (I KNOW) but if you are going to Smashley I have to break up with you.  Which I am fine with, because I have already moved on to Kelz.

Oh my god Kyle I adore you so damn much.

Speaking of god, “Thanks God!” “Of course!” made me laugh right out loud.

Show you thought you were so cute getting my hopes up you were sending Ashley home from the jump but we all saw your preview and knew she wasn’t leaving.  NOT COOL.

[AntFTW]

I like Michaela. Her game needs to improve. She brought her Survivor game, which didn't help her, to The Challenge. She wears her emotions on her face. I wish it wasn't her and Michele in elimination.

Tommy, Tommy, Tommy! He came in like a sniper during that deliberation.

This was a good first first episode. I enjoyed the daily challenge and the elimination game. There was good drama; pure speculation and wildfire rumors, my favorite! Michaela tried to check everyone's facts. That's the wrong strategy. Michaela should have known from her time on Survivor that the truth doesn't matter at all. They don't really care what the truth is as long as the rumor points the finger at someone else. You're just a convenient scapegoat.

On 8/11/2021 at 10:10 PM, mojoween said:

Nelson, I love you, I’ve always loved you (I KNOW) but if you are going to Smashley I have to break up with you.  Which I am fine with, because I have already moved on to Kelz.

Well... Nelson is an idiot 😁

Edited August 13, 2021 by AntFTW

[Lantern7]

Looks like this will be an interesting season. Of course, something almost always leads it to mediocrity at best.

Last season, I felt the injuries and early departues kneecapped Double Agents. BMP sticks to the spy theme, tweaking the formulas and bringing in way too many new people. The good news is that some of them look like keepers. Especially Emy. She looks like she'd want to go to the Hot Topics that Cara Maria frequets, but she's funny. Of course, that means she'll probably break my heart. Gabo looks like a total doof and he's from the Polish version of Jersey Shore, but he had a few good lines. Hughie, on the other hand? During the deliberation, someone told him to shut up, and my first thought was "He's probably used to that."

I didn't get the drama about THE LIST. So . . . Michaela made a list of alliances and everyone got huffy about it? I'm thinking it's her lot to be shut down on reality shows . . . and anytime a female contestant from Survivor gets screwed, Jeff Probst pitches a tent. I did find it funny that this is the third season where a rookie from Survivor wound up winning the first elimination. So . . . yay, Michele?

If you're impressed that Tommy won Survivor, just remember that season (Island of the Idols) was crap.

"The Lair" was also crap. Going to two-on-two was logical, but this one was basically four people bound together writhing around. Michele & OtherCorey win. The winners were from different teams, but I don't think communication was needed in trying to push the opponents off a ramp.

Man, Nam cannot win. I think he's out between he tested positive for COVID. Well, that or he had night terrors thinking of being Lolo's partner last season. Replacing him is some doofus from The Circle. From the two minutes I saw him, I'm thinking he and Emy will get along quite well as partners.

Anyone else hoping for a reboot of BTCT? Well, it's a long season. Maybe we'll get that one more time. And CT can't dump her for Kam this time!

ETA: I forgot that this is the second straight season Aneesa won the first mission. Unlike Fessy, Logan looks like he can appreciate her.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Lantern7

[TiffanyNichelle]

Well this is going to be one helluva chaotic mess of a season and I am ready for it! I thought just having Devin in the house was going to create a lot of chaos but instead the rookies started imploding right away. I have never seen it that bad. The eliminations is also going to create way more chaos too. Finally no more good competitors getting screwed over because someone is mad at their partner.

I was happy that Aneesa won the first challenge and she got a good partner (for the moment) who is willing to support her but I also know how it goes with Aneesa. Eventually he will turn on her and/or she won't try and just kind of give up halfway through. Girl, stop doing these challenges. Get a gig co-hosting with TJ or something.

I don't know why Aneesa was so hyped about putting Emy against Michaela when really the best bet was Michele since Michele was ready to throw Michaela away as soon as people started coming for her as part of Michaela's plot, which she obviously was. Also never ever put shit in writing. Wow, talk about a rookie mistake, lol. Especially after all that stuff about how the Survivors were so good as playing the game, Nope!

It took me most of the episode to realize that Emy reminded me a little of Belou. I wonder what she's up and if she had anymore kids.

There are way too many newbies for me to know everyone's name right away. But on the bright side, so many people means less screentime for Josh. It took a while before I realized he was on this season. And how many gross hook ups were happening in just this one episode. Nelson and Ashley? What? Ew. I do like that Nelson is still holding a grudge against Fessy because Fessy sucks.

I'm disappointed that Nam is gone already because I like him and wanted to see him do well with a partner who wasn't Lolo. That Ed guy came in with a lot of energy. I'm reserving judgment on him.

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by TiffanyNichelle

[BK1978]

I saw Nam at the start of the episode and was like, "Oh cool Nam is back."  Then I did not see him and thought, "Wait was that a hallucination?  Did I really see him?"  When they arrived at the challenge I scanned the crowd to see if I could pick him out but it was to no avail.  Therefore I thought I did not see him.  Then T.J. broke the news and while I was happy for my own sanity, I was bummed that he was out once again.

Not going to lie, I really like Amanda.  Yes she is as Kyle said the Spawn of Satan, but I just dig her and I find her entertaining.  It was good to see her back.

Also, Kyle was grown on me.  When he first showed up I was not a fan, but over the last few seasons I find him to be funny.  He also seems to be the only regular from the UK crew that shows up over and over again.

[peachmangosteen]

I already hate almost all of these people lol.

[Jobiska]

12 hours ago, mojoween said:

Who the fuck is Ed?  Swear to hell I thought it was John at first and I was all set to get mad.

I have never been so happy to see some bouncy miscellaneous bro-type dude I don't recognize as when I figured out it wasn't John.

I have no guess as to what "The Circle" is (will look up; all the rest are more self-explanatory even if I don't watch them, e.g. 12 Dates of Christmas, which sounds like a Hallmark Movie, various "shores," etc.) but he's from my area (Conshohocken is just north of Philly), so I'll watch him with mild interest.  But oh, I wanted to see Nam do well!

Kyle picking up some discarded boxer briefs and SMELLING THEM and saying they were Devin's, and then Devin doing that strip tease birthday present with the leopard print Speedo?  aaaack I basically mostly like Devin except when he carries his assiness too far, but I don't want to see or think about the smell of his undies etc.  

Never liked Michele on Survivor--don't hate her but I wish Michaela hadn't gotten all self-defensive and hence guilty-looking.  

[AntFTW]

3 minutes ago, Jobiska said:

Never liked Michele on Survivor--don't hate her but I wish Michaela hadn't gotten all self-defensive and hence guilty-looking.  

She couldn’t help it. It’s her personality. I think that’s why she lost on Survivor both times she played.

[AntFTW]

Just watched the Aftermath and Amanda revealed how the “the List” became a thing.

[kassandra8286]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

2 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Never liked Michele on Survivor--don't hate her but I wish Michaela hadn't gotten all self-defensive and hence guilty-looking.  

She couldn’t help it. It’s her personality. I think that’s why she lost on Survivor both times she played.

Yeah, sigh. This is only my second time watching the Challenge - I tuned into last season for Natalie, so of course she gets targeted in the very first episode and even though she survived that left shortly thereafter as we know. I was so excited to see Michaela was going to be on this season, I just love her. I didn't realistically think she would make it far since a) she's a rookie and b) she's not very adept socially, but I didn't expect her to flame out so spectacularly right off the bat, lol. Then I thought, well she's such a badass at physical challenges, surely she can beat out whoever in the elimination round and last one more week, but OF COURSE it ended up being some team pushing contest and she had a weak ass partner. Oh well, at least now I can watch the rest of the season and not be stressed, lol.

Ugh, Tommy. What is he even doing on this show? 

[ImpinAintEasy]

I’m happy to see that there are no skulls. It was a good idea, but ultimately it failed. I’m not a fan of switching partners. I wish the team that finished last automatically went into elimination. Or the team that was nominated got to choose their opponents. 
 

Emy is a star. She seems like a future regular. Her swearing on her music career made me laugh. 
 

Gabo the Polish meathead is hilarious. 
 

I liked Michaela her first season of Survivor. She is a very strong competitor and would have been tough to beat in solo eliminations. But her gameplay has never been her strong suit. I’m not sure she’ll ever be able to succeed on this show. But I hope she comes back. 
 

 

[AntFTW]

4 hours ago, Jobiska said:

I have never been so happy to see some bouncy miscellaneous bro-type dude I don't recognize as when I figured out it wasn't John.

Now that you mention it, he does bounce around like Johnny with his chest up and arms out pretending to have more muscle mass than he does.

[shantown]

2 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

I’m happy to see that there are no skulls. It was a good idea, but ultimately it failed. I’m not a fan of switching partners. I wish the team that finished last automatically went into elimination. Or the team that was nominated got to choose their opponents. 

I definitely like this season's method of setting up who is in the elimination challenge better than last seasons. I was really hoping when TJ said the winners would form "The Agency" that there would be multiple teams deciding who goes in (ie, the inner circle on BOTS1 - "This game is UGLY!")

[TiffanyNichelle]

I forgot to mention that everyone is together during the deliberation. The last couple of times the winning team isn't there when they all hash it out. Giving them only 20 minutes makes me wonder if the past deliberations went on too long and the producers just wanted them to get on with it already. That also gives people less time to really think about who else they may vote on. It's quick, it's immediate, and best of all everyone is voting in the same room so you can see who is voting for you. Bonus, we don't have to watch them go into a room alone and do a bullshit speech about who they are voting for and why.

[Jobiska]

2 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

Emy is a star. She seems like a future regular. Her swearing on her music career made me laugh. 

Oh, thank you, I couldn't catch what she swore on!

[aghst]

The rookies should be conspiring, if nothing else for self preservation.  The first 4 in elimination were all rookies.  The vets plan to whittle down rookie numbers until they have numerical advantage.

It’s so obvious since that happens every season.

But what does Emy do narc on Michaela.  Who likes a narc?  Not to mention self defeating to be fighting other rookies when they’re all prey.

However I think many of these rookies aren’t doing the Challenge to win the game so much as get exposure on their first season, to become a regular and then try to join the vet alliance and then really compete for the money.  After they did these other reality shows, they just want to keep their TV appearances going.

Once again, the daily challenge is way more interesting than the elimination.  Really, just pushing your opponent off the ramp?  Mainly comes down to mass and strength, it wasn’t even visually interesting.  At least hall brawl, you see the collision and it’s over quick.

Season previews show a lot of cool looking daily challenges so maybe they’re trying to save money for the Lair.  While it’s more atmospheric to do it at night with the fancy stage, I’d rather see eliminations more along the daily challenge vein.

Hell they could have had the two teams repeat the daily challenge with the safes and breaking the bricks and it would be more interesting to watch, more suspenseful.

 

[MaggieG]

On 8/11/2021 at 10:10 PM, mojoween said:

Who the fuck is Ed?  Swear to hell I thought it was John at first and I was all set to get mad.

Oh Michaela.

Nelson, I love you, I’ve always loved you (I KNOW) but if you are going to Smashley I have to break up with you.  Which I am fine with, because I have already moved on to Kelz.

Oh my god Kyle I adore you so damn much.

Speaking of god, “Thanks God!” “Of course!” made me laugh right out loud.

Show you thought you were so cute getting my hopes up you were sending Ashley home from the jump but we all saw your preview and knew she wasn’t leaving.  NOT COOL.

Kyle can be so obnoxious and so hilarious. I died at him saying it would be better if he passed Ashley and Amanda and just walked straight into the ocean. 

[LaurelleJ]

I love Logan already. He seems super sweet and reminds me of all the men that I have met from Spain that I love. Glad Anessa's partner seems nice. Let's see how long they will stay partners.

Wow I have been disconnected from the challenge world because I was super surprised to see Fessy and Amanda getting together. I just knew it was going to be all about Fessy and Tori. Ashley and Nelson?? So weird and random. I love Nancy and Kaycee together though.

I felt so bad for Nam, poor guy can't get a break. I felt bad for Cory L as well, that wasn't even his fight and he had to face elimination because his partner was stirring up trouble. Thankfully he won. The only reason his partner wasn't called down is because Logan pulled an audible because he was chosen to go first. Had Anessa went first for the women, it would have been a different story. But I'm glad that Cory has a new partner in Tori. I also thought that Ed was Johnny bananas at first running in. 

Since you can pick individuals as opposed to teams, that changes the strategy up a lot, so you can't rely on being tied to a well connected vet. And you can go in to change your partner much easier without putting your partner at risk. I'm excited about the new season. 

[Inga]

I could not stand Mykayla on Survivor! And i had suffer through her twice, so when i saw her in here i was so annoyed. Although it did seem like she’s matured a lot, I’m glad she’s gone. 
i don’t dislike Michele, other than her voice and the way she talks (i can say that, I’m from NJ too) but I’m interested to see how she does with Devin.
I love Aneesa, but I see once again she has done nothing to get herself in shape to be taken to the end. History will repeat itself this season. 
i can’t stand Amanda, so she is perfect for Fessy.

When Ed was coming in, i thought it might be Wes…

[RedbirdNelly]

I assumed with the way they filmed Ed coming in, it would be someone we were supposed to know and be excited about-not dude from a show no one has heard of.

Glad to have the show back. I need one guilty pleasure back. I wish they filmed stuff so that it was easier to see what the players see and know exactly what the rules are. I often am not sure on what is allowed  etc. 

I wasn't surprised Maleka didn't last. I forgot who Tommy was despite watching all seasons of Survivor.

I also thought "Aneesa, glad to see you; glad you won, but do you think you have a shot at finishing a final?" It doesn't look she has worked on her endurance.

[shantown]

35 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I wish they filmed stuff so that it was easier to see what the players see and know exactly what the rules are. I often am not sure on what is allowed  etc. 

Yes! I watched this show a lot back in the day and watched last season, so I mostly understand the format and how this season is going to work. There are times when I'm a bit confused - like when did all the international challengers decide who they were partnering up with? Or did they just decide based on who was still available when they ran up? Were the US challengers told anything? I like some of the snarky commentary but it's always commenting on what we've already been shown - would love more from challengers on how they heard the instructions, how decisions were made, etc. They keep going on and on about how this is a social/political game, but then give us very little background on the politics being played.

I'm a little less salty this year about there being so few actual Real Worlders on the show, I know they heyday of the RW/RR Challenge is past (or has moved on to All-Stars). I kind of like this idea of a "Battle of the Reality Stars" setup they have. I don't get why they have one guy there who starred in a Hallmark Christmas movie though? Were they that desperate for participants?

[Jobiska]

11 minutes ago, shantown said:

I don't get why they have one guy there who starred in a Hallmark Christmas movie though? Were they that desperate for participants?

It's apparently a reality show that sounds like a Hallmark movie.  12 dates of Christmas on IMDB

[RedbirdNelly]

I would like to understand what the players are told/what the rules are better--that way I can better judge when they are being idiots vs. would I be able to figure that out , etc.

The thought of them randomly casting some guy from a Hallmark movie cracks me up. That would be great. It is weird to cast people from shows that seem to have been watched by no one. 

[AntFTW]

17 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Kyle can be so obnoxious and so hilarious. I died at him saying it would be better if he passed Ashley and Amanda and just walked straight into the ocean. 

I like Kyle. He’s hilarious. Kyle knows he’s on reality TV and he’s there to put on a good show and be invited back next season.

When Kyle doesn’t like his partners, he makes it known that he wants another partner. He’s not like the others that pretend to like their partners. Kyles likes the girls he’s been partnered with in a personal capacity but he doesn’t keep it a secret if he believes his partners aren’t good for his game.

IIRC, on the after show, Kyle said he wanted any of the Survivor girls. The problem is that Kyle didn’t look through any of those files that were provided and had no idea who any of Survivor girls were and what they looked like. He told Nany he didn’t want her again and Amanda told him there were no Survivor girls left and he, apparently, believed that and stuck with Amanda. 😂

Edited August 14, 2021 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

On 8/12/2021 at 1:20 PM, kassandra8286 said:

Ugh, Tommy. What is he even doing on this show? 

I’m liking Tommy so far. I thought nothing of him on Survivor, even though he won.

Tommy in that deliberation backing that bus up and putting Michaela right back under it was all I needed to see to know that he has potential in this game. I hope this one deliberation isn’t the highlight of his season.

[aghst]

Kyle joins the "I got to feed my kids" brigade.

🙄

 

Like he wouldn't be back on the show even if he didn't have a kid.

In a year or two, Corey's going to be talking about "I got to pay for my kids' college."

 

 

 

[Eolivet]

If you need me, I'll be over here chuckling to myself about the Vevmo posters who lobbied so hard for Michaela to be cast, only for her to be "flung" at the very first challenge. They must be rending their garments over such a spectacular flame-out. And that she learned absolutely nothing from her Survivor "counting out the seashells" plan.

At least they didn't send her home because she's "so intelligent" this time.

And I love that they fixed the "infiltrate and steal" twist, ostensibly by eliminating the skulls. I'm hopeful there will be a lot more partner-switching this season, which makes for more interesting teams (versus Everybody Wants Fessy/Nobody Wants Cory last year).

I also lament the return of the "pretty" headquarters: more like a beach house and less like the Prague bunker or the Iceland college dorms. These people don't need to be pampered, they need to be tortured! For my amusement!

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, Eolivet said:

And I love that they fixed the "infiltrate and steal" twist, ostensibly by eliminating the skulls.

…and making both partners go into the elimination, instead of just one with people having to figure out whether it’s a guy or girls day.

[aghst]

How are they going to handle things like Hall Brawl which is one on one?

It would be cool if they designed eliminations with 2 on 2 games.

 

 

[AntFTW]

17 minutes ago, aghst said:

How are they going to handle things like Hall Brawl which is one on one?

It would be cool if they designed eliminations with 2 on 2 games.

 

 

Normally, when a guy-girl pair goes into elimination and it’s a hall brawl, they will have a girls round and a guys round with it being something like best 2 out of 3. If it’s a tie breaker 3rd round, they flip a coin (or some other random thing) to decide whether the girls or guys will play the tie breaker round.

[AntFTW]

I meant to comment earlier that while Ashley was screaming “TWO TIME CHAMPION HERE!” to sell herself, I just imagined “BIG FAT TARGET THERE!”

Ashley is a walking target in the Challenge house.

 

As a side note, their pool is FUCKING SICK! They have two pools and the big in-ground pool that looks like a beach is AMAZING!

Edited August 15, 2021 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

I just wrapped up the Challenge podcast for this episode, which features Michaela.

After watching the after show and listening to the podcast, my full understanding is that:

1) the house target was going to be Emy and Corey L per Amanda on the aftershow

2) The house plan for the vets was to put Survivor vs Survivor (within their rookie vs rookie plan). Obviously, they show on the episode that everyone was worried about Survivor players, which Emy's original show is Survivor Romania.

3) Amanda tells Emy that it's likely that she will be the house vote and that Emy needs to bring some dirt on another player to shift the tide from her to someone else (after show)

4) To shift the finger to Michaela, Emy spreads the gossip about the list and its contents (after show)

5) Per Michaela's podcast interview, there was a list but as she said on the episode, it was only a list of teams. Michaela said the list as described by Emy and cosigned by Tommy is a lie. Tori said what really made her believe Emy was the fact that Tommy cosigned what Emy was saying. Once Tommy cosigned what Emy said about the list, people started to believe Emy.

Michaela also said that she felt bad after watching the episode about calling Michele out because she saw that her perception of the events that led to her getting voted into elimination were wrong. Also, Michaela said that it made no sense that she would have targeted Tori because after the first challenge, she told Tori and Aneesa that she wanted to work with them both, and Tori and Aneesa seemingly forgot all about that.

6) Aneesa and Logan were going to vote Emy and Corey L, which I think it obvious to the viewers. What they don't show is that when Aneesa originally voted, she said both Emy and Corey L's names. Once Logan switched gears and voted for Michele, she wasn't gonna argue with him about it to keep herself safe.

Edited August 17, 2021 by AntFTW

[Jillibean]

 I know that the way Kaycee and Nany came about wasn't exactly kosher, but I can't help it--I like them together. The guy who picked Nany because he wants to hook up with her deserves whatever he gets.

On 8/14/2021 at 10:08 PM, AntFTW said:

I meant to comment earlier that while Ashley was screaming “TWO TIME CHAMPION HERE!” to sell herself, I just imagined “BIG FAT TARGET THERE!”

Ashley is a walking target in the Challenge house.

 

As a side note, their pool is FUCKING SICK! They have two pools and the big in-ground pool that looks like a beach is AMAZING!

Ashley's ego can't tolerate that someone might not select her. Unless she gets a stacked cast, I don't see how Ashley ever wins again. She's vulnerable in eliminations, she's a headcase, and she's a target.  

14 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I just wrapped up the Challenge podcast for this episode, which features Michaela.

After watching the after show and listening to the podcast, my full understanding is that:

1) the house target was going to be Emy and Corey L per Amanda on the aftershow

2) The house plan for the vets was to put Survivor vs Survivor (within their rookie vs rookie plan). Obviously, they show on the episode that everyone was worried about Survivor players, which Emy's original show is Survivor Romania.

3) Amanda tells Emy that it's likely that she will be the house vote and that Emy needs to bring some dirt on another player to shift the tide from her to someone else (after show)

4) To shift the finger to Michaela, Emy spreads the gossip about the list and its contents (after show)

5) Per Michaela's podcast interview, there was a list but as she said on the episode, it was only a list of teams. Michaela said the list as described by Emy and cosigned by Tommy is a lie. Tori said what really made her believe Emy was the fact that Tommy cosigned what Emy was saying. Once Tommy cosigned what Emy said about the list, people started to believe Emy.

Michaela also said that she felt bad after watching the episode about calling Michele out because she saw that her perception of the events that led to her getting voted into elimination were wrong. Also, Michaela said that it made no sense that she would have targeted Tori because after the first challenge, she told Tori and Aneesa that she wanted to work with them both, and Tori and Aneesa seemingly forgot all about that.

6) Aneesa and Logan were going to vote Emy and Corey L, which I think it obvious to the viewers. What they don't show is that when Aneesa originally voted, she said both Emy and Corey L's names. Once Logan switched gears and voted for Michele, she wasn't gonna argue with him about it to keep herself safe.

I didn't listen to the podcast but I did watch the after show and see a Live with Michele, Ashley and Amanda, and the consensus seems to be that The List was real--it was a list of the alliance they wanted to form and which teams they thought could be pulled in. Apparently Michaela quickly wrote another list to show Aneesa that only had the teams on it. Also, allegedly what happened with Corey L is that when coming back from the second quarantine (which was obviously edited out), not everyone was let back in the house at the same time initially. Someone complained that it wasn't fair that the people in the house had gym access while the people still under observation in isolation didn't, which led to gym access being blocked for all. People believed it was Corey who complained, which is how he ended up being targeted. 

[AntFTW]

49 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

Apparently Michaela quickly wrote another list to show Aneesa that only had the teams on it.

I imagine she would have had to write a list of 30+ contestants really fast. From the episode itself, Michaela showing everyone the list seemed to be a rather impromptu moment when Big T suggest to Michaela that she show everyone the list quell the rumors.

49 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

The List was real--it was a list of the alliance they wanted to form and which teams they thought could be pulled in.

I think this is true. I think that aligns with Michaela’s version of events if I’m recalling correctly. I think Michaela said herself that she was talking with other first time players and telling them not to just sit around and be targets, but be proactive.

I didn’t see the Live but it seems to me that Emy’s version of the list with categories of elimination targets, who they can trust, and who they don’t trust seems to be slightly incorrect based on Amanda’s, Michele’s and Ashley’s consensus, which their consensus to me is just a list of teams. It was a list of teams they can possibly trust but not with categories of people to target or people they don’t trust? Correct me if I’m interpreting that in the wrong way.

50 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

I know that the way Kaycee and Nany came about wasn't exactly kosher, but I can't help it--I like them together. The guy who picked Nany because he wants to hook up with her deserves whatever he gets.

I feel like Kaycee will break Nany’s heart. I wonder on the launch episode if they let people choose who they wanted to be in the car with or if production chose for maximum drama. I’m wondering how they ended up in the same car getting close and lovey dovey with each other.

[aghst]

Again, they should have had a list.  If not a physical one, a plan in their head, to pick off the vets, as they are doing to the rookies, first weakening the Survivor cast members and then thinning the rookie numbers enough.

Everyone just jumped on Michaela like she was the gazelle which couldn't keep up with the pack and the hyenas all pounced on the straggler.

The vets probably agreed until they eliminated all the rookies since rookies got pretty far, much further than many vets, in the previous season.

Rookies are always at a disadvantage since they come in cold and the only people they know are the vets or maybe one or two others from their other show.  So they don't have a chance to organize or come up with a pact like the vets have done.

Vets probably have a good idea of which ones are cast so they're probably on some group chat saying I got invited.  The rookies have no way of communicating with each other before they arrive.

But again, I think a lot of rookies are just happy to be there, hoping this could become a regular gig.  They may not have high expectations of contending for the prize, just want to get on the gravy train, maybe make ties so they become vets themselves.

 

 

[AntFTW]

5 minutes ago, aghst said:

Again, they should have had a list.  If not a physical one, a plan in their head, to pick off the vets, as they are doing to the rookies, first weakening the Survivor cast members and then thinning the rookie numbers enough.

Michaela was saying something to this effect, which is how the list came into existence. Per Michaela's podcast interview, she was telling the other rookies don't just sit around and be targets for the vets. The vets did a perfect divide and conquer strategy. Emy got scared and threw Michaela under the bus rather than rallying with Michaela and the other rookies.

8 minutes ago, aghst said:

Everyone just jumped on Michaela like she was the gazelle which couldn't keep up with the pack and the hyenas all pounced on the straggler.

Lol! I love this analogy. I was thinking of the saying "if a bear is chasing you, you don't have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than the person next to you"... and I was thinking Emy knew she wasn't gonna be faster than Michaela so she tripped Michaela to ensure she gets away. Lol

[AncientNewbie]

I love this stupid show so much. 

Good preview episode and first episode, which I watched together. 

I'm surprised every episode when CT skates by without being the target, given his history and lack of strong permanent alliances.