S14E05: Qualifiers 5

[Lantern7]

Quote

The qualifying rounds continue in San Antonio., with ninjas across the country taking on the world’s most challenging obstacle course; competitors as young as 15 take on seasoned veterans in this first round of competition from the Alamodome.

[Lantern7]

I’m getting Challenge nudges . . . first for the Romanian guy doing vampire camp (not as cringe as Emanuel, but still), then Asaf the Israeli Ninja was the first guy out of Total Madness. Natch, he got WWWA and I don’t think he’s going to Los Angeles.

The kid that followed the “vampire” completed the cause AND conquered Mega Wall.

Lance Pekus with the mustache doesn’t work for me.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Lantern7

[ams1001]

45 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Lance Pekus with the mustache doesn’t work for me.

Yeah, no thank you.

Maddie's little one is adorable but he doesn't look too happy with all that screaming behind him (I typed that about two seconds before he started screaming himself...and he wasn't cheering for mom; poor little guy). 

[enoughcats]

I'm about to start my watch with my two important buddies: Mr. Mute and Mr. Faste Forwardy. 

How many more prelims are there going to be?  We haven't yet seen "the Kid" have we?  or his mentor Mr. His Hair is bigger and wider than mine?  The Old Timers are passing on, like the Disney movie (back when they only made one a year) where the dinosaurs were exiting stage right  in a reddish brown glow  

Maybe we could have a Seniors' Tour? Where finesse beats speed?

[ams1001]

11 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

How many more prelims are there going to be?  We haven't yet seen "the Kid" have we?  or his mentor Mr. His Hair is bigger and wider than mine? 

Semifinals start next week.

I don't recall seeing The Kid, or Mr. Hair (took me a minute to figure out who you meant 😆). Just did a (very) little googling and found some speculation on reddit that Daniel isn't competing because he won't get the covid vaccine, but I don't know if it's true. Couldn't find anything on The Kid. (But I didn't look too hard.)

[SophiaD]

Meh.  It was fine, I guess, but I'm still un-enthused about the new direction.  SO many finishers got the WWWA treatment, and, again, more backstories.  On the plus side, I do think they were handled more sensitively in years past, and, as I said last week, are doing a service for people, especially kids, watching.  They're doing a good job engaging with tough themes without shying away from them, with the occasional dose of quirky.  

It was a bummer to not see David Campbell do a full run.  He's earned it after all of those seasons!  We're missing a lot of previous top ninjas, too.  Abel Gonzalez.  Tremayne Dortsch.  Nick Hansen.  Sam San.  I suppose that's normal in a show that's run as long as this has, but it was kind of a bummer.  On the plus side, we didn't have to endure the bro-tastic Towers of Power, so that's something.  Can't say I missed the Speedo Ninja, either, or some of the other odd ones from years past.  

Speaking of which, it looks like the Power Tower is back next week, for the semis.  I was very glad to see Tianna make the semis.  I hope she manages to make it through to the finals.  

[Vermicious Knid]

Finally, someone talking about their faith who isn't Christian. And it looked like one of her daughters may have gone through chemo but they didn't turn her package into a sob story. It hadn't even occurred to me until tonight there was nothing mentioned about Lance Pekus before. He made it through but fell and his protege hit the buzzer. Maybe it's time to ride off into the sunset. Hope to see the Yu'pik Ninja again next year. No Mr. Hair? Hah!

[ams1001]

3 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

It hadn't even occurred to me until tonight there was nothing mentioned about Lance Pekus before.

Did they say anything about his wife? I found myself wondering how she was (but I wasn't fully paying attention).

[Good Queen Jane]

By my count, 27 women made it through to the semi-finals, and only five of them didn't qualify in the top 30.  And several of the best women from the past didn't even make it through! It is definitely time to eliminate the special category for women. 

[enoughcats]

About Lance Pekus: he did make it in the top 25.  Somehow his family story has been one I've followed for many years, and I wondered how his wife was doing.  I did wake up for his story and his wife had a pretty smile on her face as she was at home, surrounded by family (his kids) and maybe extended family as well. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Yeah, they only showed her on the video feed. Traveling is probably too hard on her.

[MsVixen]

I was disappointed that Ryan Stratis and Kevin Bull didn't compete this year.  I only saw Ryan during on a screen in the first or second episode.  Also, Meghan and Island Ninja weren't seen.

I wonder if the Pandemic is causing some of this.

[SophiaD]

22 hours ago, MsVixen said:

I was disappointed that Ryan Stratis and Kevin Bull didn't compete this year.  I only saw Ryan during on a screen in the first or second episode.  Also, Meghan and Island Ninja weren't seen.

OMG.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Since the women's championship was broadcast so close to the Qualifiers, I thought we'd maybe seen Meghan and I had pandemic brain.  I hope she's okay.  

I'm not sure if we saw the Papal Ninja, either.  

[MsVixen]

2 hours ago, SophiaD said:

OMG.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Since the women's championship was broadcast so close to the Qualifiers, I thought we'd maybe seen Meghan and I had pandemic brain.  I hope she's okay.  

I'm not sure if we saw the Papal Ninja, either.  

I thought I saw the Papal Ninja on the last show but there are so many new faces.  The Papal could have made it and his run wasn't shown.

[Rickster]

1 hour ago, MsVixen said:

I thought I saw the Papal Ninja on the last show but there are so many new faces.  The Papal could have made it and his run wasn't shown.

Papal Ninja and another old timer that I can’t remember were on the last show. Each got less than the usual WWWA treatment, maybe 20 seconds?  I believe he made it to the semis.

[mlp]

1 hour ago, Rickster said:

2 hours ago, MsVixen said:

Papal Ninja and another old timer that I can’t remember were on the last show.

Yes, they showed the runs of Sean Bryan and another ninja, Nick Hanson I think, side by side.  Both of them hit the buzzer.

[Terrafamilia]

On 7/11/2022 at 7:49 PM, Lantern7 said:

then Asaf the Israeli Ninja was the first guy out of Total Madness.

He also competed on season 12 of So You Think You Can Dance and season 14 of Worst Cooks in America.

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, Terrafamilia said:

He also competed on season 12 of So You Think You Can Dance and season 14 of Worst Cooks in America.

He also wound up making the cut for the semis. I'm guessing we'll get his backstory before he runs. Also . . . man, he gets around reality TV. I don't think anyone remembers him on The Challenge; when a fan thinks of Jay taking someone out via elimination, it's usually that upset win against CT.

On 7/14/2022 at 6:50 PM, MsVixen said:

I was disappointed that Ryan Stratis and Kevin Bull didn't compete this year.

Yeah, what happened to Kevin? Is he okay?

On 7/11/2022 at 10:16 PM, ams1001 said:

Semifinals start next week.

I don't recall seeing The Kid, or Mr. Hair (took me a minute to figure out who you meant 😆). Just did a (very) little googling and found some speculation on reddit that Daniel isn't competing because he won't get the covid vaccine, but I don't know if it's true. Couldn't find anything on The Kid. (But I didn't look too hard.)

Given what we found out about Drew Dreschel, a prominent competitor refusing the vaccine is the least worst thing to hear. And now, because I am a huge wuss, here is a horrific observation in spoilers . . .

Spoiler

I guess if we hear "Daniel Gil" and "grooming" in the same sentence, it'll probably involve his hair. Or maybe his wife's.

On 7/11/2022 at 9:38 PM, ams1001 said:

Maddie's little one is adorable . .  .

Indeed . . . but "Beckham"? As a first name?