S03.E03: Treehouse of Horror

[AntFTW]

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The gloves (and clothes) are off at the muddy "Playing Dirty" challenge as the All Stars wrestle to control who gets voted into the Arena. The newly formed Treehouse alliance makes major moves to crush players who stand in their way. A pair of shocking surprises threaten to completely change the game.

Air Date: May 18, 2022

Edited May 18, 2022 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

I don't dislike Kailah or anything but I need Kailah to take her ass back to the flagship show.

[Lantern7]

At work, will go over later. Only good news for me regarding Tina and Jemmye leaving is that maybe -- just maybe -- Cynthia comes back. But I doubt it.

I thought Syrus was born weighing over 200 lbs. and he had that beard. Kid picture threw me for a loop. Sorry to see him out.

[snarts]

9 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I don't dislike Kailah or anything but I need Kailah to take her ass back to the flagship show.

My dislike grows with every age related comment she makes.  Know your audience...

Just me or was Mark missing from the entire episode? I started doubting whether he'd won the last arena.

I want to root for Kendal but she just so damn flighty. 

[AntFTW]

2 minutes ago, snarts said:

My dislike grows with every age related comment she makes.  Know your audience...

I dislike the age jokes as well. Everyone's having a great time and enjoying the show and then Kailah comes with her snarky old people comments. I'm loving this season but she's giving me new-school flagship Challenge vibes. Even Jordan is being super chill and going with the flow.

9 minutes ago, snarts said:

I want to root for Kendal but she just so damn flighty. 

Both Kendal and Kelly Anne need to keep up. As much as I also liked fun-time reunion "LEGENDS NEVER DIE" Challenge, that is not what this season is. There are more new school players who have been on recent seasons of the flagship show, and they play like new school players. Everything is politics. Kendal and Kelly Anne seemed to have not gotten the memo.

[Legalbeagle421]

I hope Jonna’s husband’s not watching because the MJ obsession ain’t it

[ljenkins782]

14 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Both Kendal and Kelly Anne need to keep up. As much as I also liked fun-time reunion "LEGENDS NEVER DIE" Challenge, that is not what this season is. There are more new school players who have been on recent seasons of the flagship show, and they play like new school players. Everything is politics. Kendal and Kelly Anne seemed to have not gotten the memo.

Kendal and KellyAnne are both not that bright. Nice people, but not the sharpest tools in the shed. And Kendal seems to struggle with basic logic in a way that almost makes me concerned for her and her children's well-being. Like that challenge where she stepped off the playing field and then claimed not to understand the rules and her bizarro explanation was just mind-bending.

Like, this isn't a battle of the sexes competition, right? Why was she trying to "help the girls" and then help Wes and then randomly helped nail her own coffin by choosing MJ out of nowhere. And Jordan asking her to sabotage him and giving her that easy out since she was struggling so hard, why not take that outreach? She's just so strange.

A for effort on the editors' part for trying to make that elimination suspenseful...however, when there are a finite number of sandbags and they start to pile up on the ground as Syrus misses over and over, it's completely obvious when you're looping back to an earlier part of the competition. There would be 15 bags on the ground and then suddenly back to 2 and then back to 10. And it was obvious what MJ was doing, he was weakening the perimeter so he could knock out the center in one big swing, but they made it seem like he was just dicking around. 

Not sorry to see Tina or Jemmye go and I'm so sick of the silly nicknames. First the Palace, now the Treehouse...so stupid.

[luckyroll3]

Very interesting info from Wes regarding Yes on twitter. I didn't see a All Stars Media thread, so I posted in the regular Challenge Media thread. 

[ljenkins782]

17 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

Very interesting info from Wes regarding Yes on twitter. I didn't see a All Stars Media thread, so I posted in the regular Challenge Media thread. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting from that thread, but it was a bit of a nothingburger. I could hear Wes' overeager, overdramatic voice through all those posts, but altogether it amounted to Wes trying to make something out of nothing. So Yes reached out to say hello and that people had been telling him he and Wes had a lot in common and then he didn't end up liking Wes when the game was on? Just doesn't seem like a big deal.

[lasu]

5 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

. So Yes reached out to say hello and that people had been telling him he and Wes had a lot in common and then he didn't end up liking Wes when the game was on? Just doesn't seem like a big deal.

If I'm following correctly, things happened in the opposite order. Yes heard a podcast with Johnny and Wes, and didn't like Wes's style of play. THEN he reached out to Wes to say hi, without ever giving any indication he didn't like Wes, until they were on the game and Yes was trying to get him in elimination. Which would be a bit of a skeevy thing to do while claiming integrity the whole time. 

That said, I love Wes's dumbass.  Of course he's going to love using sabotages, duh. Wes is unapologetically gleeful in his love of this game, and it makes him fun for me to watch, not in small part because his plans almost always backfire and get him out of the game. 

Also not loving the ageist comments. I'm guessing the viewing demographic of this show versus Original Flavor skews a wee bit older than she thinks.

Tina probably had her best edit ever. She came off very likeable and self aware, and I was sorry to see her go due to injury.

Which, final thought, this isn't the direction I was hoping this show would go. I wanted something that might lure back some oldies who know they aren't going to be able to compete on Original Flavor. Too many people are getting injured, and who wants to deal with that when they have no shot of actually winning, and now they have to go home and add rehabbing their bodies to already full schedules? I've said it before, I didn't want All Stars, I wanted Old Stars. 

[ljenkins782]

3 minutes ago, lasu said:

If I'm following correctly, things happened in the opposite order. Yes heard a podcast with Johnny and Wes, and didn't like Wes's style of play. THEN he reached out to Wes to say hi, without ever giving any indication he didn't like Wes, until they were on the game and Yes was trying to get him in elimination. Which would be a bit of a skeevy thing to do while claiming integrity the whole time. 

That said, I love Wes's dumbass.  Of course he's going to love using sabotages, duh. Wes is unapologetically gleeful in his love of this game, and it makes him fun for me to watch, not in small part because his plans almost always backfire and get him out of the game. 

I don't know, A. I don't trust Wes enough to tell a full truth and B. I don't really get what Yes' motivation would be. He already won $500k on the first season after having been out of the game for 20 years with no real ties to anyone. It just feels like one more story Wes is telling to make himself the center of everyone's attention. 

Or maybe not, maybe he's telling the truth, but it still feels like the most minor of transgressions on a show where we've seen people literally trying to unclip safety harnesses, assaulting each other, and backstabbing them at the eleventh hour to get the money. I guess I was expecting more of a scandalous move.

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Which, final thought, this isn't the direction I was hoping this show would go. I wanted something that might lure back some oldies who know they aren't going to be able to compete on Original Flavor. Too many people are getting injured, and who wants to deal with that when they have no shot of actually winning, and now they have to go home and add rehabbing their bodies to already full schedules? I've said it before, I didn't want All Stars, I wanted Old Stars. 

I have to wonder if this had been the brainchild of anyone other the Red-Faced Hulk Mark Long, if the challenges would have been of a more forgiving nature on older bodies. I imagine that at least part of his initial thought process was that he's physically stronger than a lot f people his age and those a bit younger, so this idea could have netted him $500k if he made the challenges physically difficult. It didn't work out that way, but that may have been a motivator at first.

But the injury potential is very high and I can see that making some of the folks from the way back seasons wary of participating.  And it makes the endings a bit suspense-less, as there obviously people there wouldn't make it through a physically grueling final. The final mission of Challenge 2000 was skydiving into a bullseye and while that has an element of danger and potential for injury, it also has an element of chance that allows for anyone to win. Granted, that was in the days before elimination rounds, but I still think a similar type of finale would be nice, they could battle through the eliminations to get there, but then the grand prize would be wide open for anyone.

[Cherry Cola]

They contestants are dropping like flies. 

When TJ is saying the rules for a comp, and the camera pans to Sylvia, she always looks so scared! 

I agree, Kailah can go back to the other challenge. 

Brad in his 70's get up looked like he was straight out of a 70's rock band. It was hilarious. 

[millennium]

For me, Yes is a definite no.    His ego seems to have swelled alarmingly in the short break between seasons (unless the show advised him to become a villain). 

They should mix up the cast more rather than bringing back the same faces season after season.   I suppose it's partially a case of Covid convenience but come on ... enough.  

Wes never disappoints (well, except for that elimination in the original Challenge where he was undone by Georgia's "sing-songy").   I think he's more relaxed in this environment so he can luxuriate in his preposterousness.

I sorely miss the club visits.  The theme parties are ... pretty lame.   Especially as the cast members try to convince us they're having the times of their lives mugging for the camera.   Zero spontaneity.   The uncontrolled club visits are where a lot of the Challenge magic happened.   The drunken bus ride back was fertile ground for mayhem: "It was pasta!"   Bad wigs and ill-fitting costumes don't cut it.

I wish the show and the players would quit dragging age into the show.   These folks are not old.  Not by a long shot.  The very fact that they're out there taking part in this is testament to their vitality.   By referring to  themselves as "old" they contribute to the kind of casual ageism reflected by Kailah (whom I can't stand, although I'm not sure which turns me off more -- her entitled attitude or her ugly-ass sleeve tattoo).

Sorry to see Cyrus go.   I'm not sure why he didn't get that his timing was almost 100% off.   Pleased that Kendal was spared.  The circumstances of Jemmye's departure were unfortunate but I would be a liar if I said I was disappointed to see her go.   She adds nothing to the Challenge, never has IMO.

Edited May 22, 2022 by millennium

[Jillibean]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:41 PM, snarts said:

I want to root for Kendal but she just so damn flighty. 

Kendal seems to have major, major difficulty making decisions in the game and thinking under pressure. It seems like basically everyone likes her in theory, and outside the show, but are constantly befuddled by her strange choices in the game and then her subsequent difficulty explaining why she made those choices. And I don't get it, either. Jordan literally told her to put it on him. Knowing him, he would have seen it as a fun challenge. 

On 5/19/2022 at 11:50 AM, Legalbeagle421 said:

I hope Jonna’s husband’s not watching because the MJ obsession ain’t it

I have no idea what's true, but there were a lot of rumors that things happened between Jonna and MJ during or after AS2, and that Jonna and her husband were separated for a while, possibly during the filming of this season as well. And I think the editing is sort of subtly hinting at it also. Jonna seems pretty bitter over Kendal's sabotage for someone who is theoretically just a  "friend" and former partner. However, whatever might have gone down, Jonna and her husband are back together now. 

 

On 5/20/2022 at 3:47 PM, lasu said:

If I'm following correctly, things happened in the opposite order. Yes heard a podcast with Johnny and Wes, and didn't like Wes's style of play. THEN he reached out to Wes to say hi, without ever giving any indication he didn't like Wes, until they were on the game and Yes was trying to get him in elimination. Which would be a bit of a skeevy thing to do while claiming integrity the whole time. 

That said, I love Wes's dumbass.  Of course he's going to love using sabotages, duh. Wes is unapologetically gleeful in his love of this game, and it makes him fun for me to watch, not in small part because his plans almost always backfire and get him out of the game. 

Given the fact that Yes is a loud and proud feminist and supporter of marginalized people, I can easily imagine that he can't stand Johnny and what Johnny represents when he's on television.

The thing with Wes is that he likes to be a master manipulator (according to him) but he really seems to struggle when people use that game against him or don't want to work with him. We saw it last season with Leroy and Kam, and here it is again with Yes. He seems to take it personally in a way that someone who has been on reality tv as long as he has really shouldn't. Watching his absolute internet meltdown over his "best friend Leeroy" (because many people don't know how to spell their best friends' names) after Double Agents, seeing him now do basically the same thing over Yes makes me think Wes needed more time off. He needs to stop bringing receipts to show that people weren't being forthright or were lying to him. It's a game. 

Also, I could easily believe that Yes was put off by the podcast but had heard good things about Wes and was waiting to meet him to actually judge him. And then met him. 

Edited May 21, 2022 by Jillibean

[millennium]

1 hour ago, Jillibean said:

Also, I could easily believe that Yes was put off by the podcast but had heard good things about Wes and was waiting to meet him to actually judge him. And then met him. 

He could have saved himself some trouble and just checked out the poster:

 

 

(KellyAnne reportedly couldn't identify that shape in the background.)

Edited May 22, 2022 by millennium

[jsm1125]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:41 PM, snarts said:

My dislike grows with every age related comment she makes.  Know your audience...

Just me or was Mark missing from the entire episode? I started doubting whether he'd won the last arena.

I want to root for Kendal but she just so damn flighty. 

As Blanche Deveraux would say “Grandma Hollingsworth always said I was a little flighty. Or was it a little floozy?”

I’m surprised that Kelly Anne hasn’t become a better political player in the decade plus she’s been on these challenges. 

[aghst]

This one had the best elimination so far but they're all based on strength and endurance aren't they?

The crawl brawl with the women didn't get physical between the women but it was grueling caring that weight on your hands and knees.

Some more variety would be nice, emphasizing agility, speed.  Maybe some puzzle element as well.

Among the Daily Challenges, the one with the swinging was good too.

Where are they suppose to be?  That oceanside villa is insane.  But seems isolated so they can't go into town and go to a bar or club, which is responsible of B-M I suppose but it might be something imposed by the host country or city.