S01.E11: Home of the Brave

[peachmangosteen]

Airs September 14th. Season finale.

[Michichick]

I freaking love Danny, so I’m thrilled that he won. Sarah, ugh. Not so happy to see her win it.

What a disappointing load of quitters. And Angela was a big baby complaining that her quit strategy didn’t pay off. Enzo didn’t get to continue on after quitting the swim challenge. What made her think she could quit the dirt challenge and still keep competing?

Edited September 15, 2022 by Michichick

[bunnyface]

I was rooting for Angela, but she did that to herself.  

I still intensely dislike Sarah, but good on her for finishing.

I am trying to convince my parents this isn't a real Challenge, it's more like Challenge Lite.  Like Jeopardy and Celebrity Jeopardy.  They don't seem to believe me since everyone quit.  Real Challengers wouldn't have quit.

[LadyChatts]

Two hours and a whole summer of Wednesday’s wasted on seeing one of the weakest and whiniest women win.  Luck played a big role in her victory, but given her edit all season, I'm guessing TPTB didn't like her winning, either.

I was really rooting for Tyson/Angela.  Had they not mixed up partners every week they probably would have taken it hands down.  Kind of sorry they did that after all given this outcome.  I’m okay with Danny/Kiki winning.  He was so much more fun and outgoing than he was on Survivor.  Similarly, Desi was so different on here than she was on Survivor.  I was also sorry she lost thanks to getting stuck with Enzo (who finally proved he isn't the big bad challenge competitor he thought he was).  Guess he needs his Cody or Brigade to be successful.

I don’t know that I’ll watch whatever Paramount+ thing  Danny and Sarah are going to compete on until I know Sarah gets her ass handed to her.  Curious if CBS will bring this version back or not.

Edited September 15, 2022 by LadyChatts

[DEL901]

I was always neutral on Angela and actively disliked Sarah, but Sarah didn’t quit even when she thought she was last and I can respect that. As for Angela, no you aren’t being punished for strategy.  You have to finish every leg.  You didn’t.  Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.   You can go whine with quitter Enzo.  I felt bad for Desi.  He was such a big baby.  Did he think the final would be easy?

And very happy for Danny!

[Michichick]

It seemed really unfair that Desi got knocked out after Enzo quit. Why couldn’t they just have two women pair up, or have two women run each leg solo?

[bunnyface]

1 minute ago, Michichick said:

It seemed really unfair that Desi got knocked out after Enzo quit. Why couldn’t they just have two women pair up, or have two women run each leg solo?

I agree.  The others got to run solo legs, she should have been allowed to try it also.  But technically it was a team challenge at that point.  Still sucks for her.

[healthnut]

My biggest complaint is why not bring back David when Ben was out? I know on the Challenge they’ve done that before like when Nia was removed in one of the Battle of the Exes. 

Definitely felt bad for Desi and would’ve preferred she could’ve gone on and we could have a girl pair. 

No sympathy for Angela, she calls it strategy, I call it a quit. I’m shocked that many people quit. Did they have proper cold weather gear? I’m very interested to hear exit interviews tomorrow. This definitely hasn’t been a great edit for Sarah but major kudos to her digging deep (a la Jeff Probst) and getting it done. Especially when she thought she was dead last. And mad respect to Danny.

I haven’t seen every season of the Challenge but it seems like most of their finals have been pretty nice climates. Have they had a final in this much snow? 

Edited September 15, 2022 by healthnut

[KeithJ]

I’m fine with Danny winning but Sarah just strikes me as a terrible human being.  She’s petty, vindictive, and nowhere as great as she thinks she is.  She pretty much only won because everyone else quit.  I liked Angela but she 100% did that to herself but I’m a bit confused on the rules.  Did you have to finish every challenge or just try to finish?  The last place teams on two of the challenges “timed-out” and didn’t have to finish them.  Angela could have just dogged it if she didn’t have to finish.
 

Desi really got screwed.  I know it’s a team challenge (which I really don’t think any part of the final should be) but when you get eliminated because your partner quit, that’s not right.

[jsm1125]

I thought the final was an absolute mess from start to finish.

What was the point of flying Ben to the start of the final when he had already been medically DQ’ed?

Desi got shafted, big time.

I’m not entirely convinced production gave Angela a heads up that stopping a specific leg of the challenge meant that she would be DQ’ed from the whole final. Why else would she have not just sucked it up?

[AntFTW]

This Final had everything I loved, ABSOLUTE MISERY!

YES! I want overnight finals. In the cold. In the rain. In the snow. In the desert. All night torture!

I want them barely hanging on! YES!

I want all the bitching! I want all the complaining! Music to my fucking ears!

I didn't expect damn-near everyone to quit though. Wow!

They would not last on the flagship. On the flagship, Sarah would have lost because almost no one quits in the Final on the flagship. Danny would have had a fighting chance.

For a minute, I thought Danny was gonna be the only one to finish and perhaps he would have gotten the entire half-a-mill all by himself.

21 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

Desi got shafted, big time.

22 minutes ago, KeithJ said:

Desi really got screwed.  I know it’s a team challenge (which I really don’t think any part of the final should be) but when you get eliminated because your partner quit, that’s not right.

29 minutes ago, healthnut said:

Definitely felt bad for Desi and would’ve preferred she could’ve gone on and we could have a girl pair. 

Yeah! Desi got screwed. She didn't really get to compete.

This guy has a fucking life jacket. He was not going to drown. His head is above water. He should have calmed his ass down!

Edited September 15, 2022 by AntFTW

[Lantern7]

So much to say, but I have to get up early tomorrow. All my opinions boil down to this: The Challenge USA should not get a second season.

Between Enzo fucking over Desi, Angela not getting some sort of leniency for electing not to kill herself on the overnight task, most of the players slowly dying in the cold trying to play Sudoku (or "Sah-Doo-Doo" if you're Darrell), and Sarah getting a win by default . . . fuck everyone but Danny and Cayla.

And fuck TJ Lavin especially. This is all he has. He knows that he's been hosting The Challenge since 2005/2006, and he's only the second most-known alternative sports guy on MTV after Rob Dyrdek. I bet it eats him up some nights.

Even if you're into bagging on those that quit, I think the lesson learned is that most of those people couldn't handle a finale. The usual gang of idoits on the "regular" series are too used to that crap. Seriously, why end things on Sudoku in the freezing cold? That's a game where you have to start almost from scratch if you paint yourself into a corner. If it was warmer, maybe there would've been more finishers. But it was cold as hell, they were shivering trying to solve the puzzle . . . it was way too much. And Sarah got extra money because of it.

Sarah . . . I hope she gets wiped off the map in the world finals. She's needy, she's entitled, and those aren't the worst things about her. (I can't get into the specifics here, but it's gruesome AF) And she just lucked into a six-figure payday because damn near everyone else burnt themselves out before the end.

The victory of Danny "Mr. Kiki" McCray is the only bright spot to a dismal season and a crap finale. I wish him the best of luck.

There's more I can say, but I need to turn in. What a fucking disappointment this series turned out to be . . . but I can't say I was surprised.

[bunnyface]

18 minutes ago, healthnut said:

I haven’t seen every season of the Challenge but it seems like most of their finals have been pretty nice climates. Have they had a final in this much snow? 

They've had finals where they climbed a mountain in a blizzard, they had a final in Iceland where they had to do a type of polar bear plunge in freezing water.  They haven't all been a picnic.

[Michichick]

34 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Between Enzo fucking over Desi, Angela not getting some sort of leniency for electing not to kill herself on the overnight task, most of the players slowly dying in the cold trying to play Sudoku (or "Sah-Doo-Doo" if you're Darrell), and Sarah getting a win by default . . . fuck everyone but Danny and Cayla.

I agree with your conclusion (fuck everyone but Danny and Cayla). Why should Angela have gotten any leniency for not doing the overnight task? She quit and that’s no different than what    Enzo, Tyson, Dom, Justine, and Cayla did. Quit a task = disqualified.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Michichick

[choclatechip45]

That was a mess.

I thought Angela was kind of smart at first, but I can see why they considered it a quit. 

I can't believe everyone besides Danny and Sarah quit. I can't stand Sarah but she deserves props!

[Jules1]

I was surprised so many quit, but I guess that’s easy to say while watching from my couch. I was actually rooting for Justine to finish, and was shocked Tyson and Angela (kinda) quit. Can’t stand Sarah, but good for her for finishing. And yay Danny!

[Artsda]

That was really shocking, the amount of quitters was insane. They couldn't do the real one. 

Poor Ben. 

Angela quit, she claims it was strategy but the rules were quit and you're out. She wanted everyone else to exhaust themselves and she just gets beauty sleep and rest and climb the top? No, not fair. Which is a shame because she did so well all season long and to lose it like this was just sad. 

Which brings us to Enzo, poor Desi she came so far and to lose because of her partner was sad to see. Especially when the girls wanted Enzo gone for this same exact reason.  He should never be cast again and he should  be ashamed of himself. 

Tyson quitting surprising.

Congrats to the 2 winners!

[AntFTW]

21 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Tyson quitting surprising.

Tyson was being a follower in that moment.

He saw Justine and Dom quitting so he followed the herd. He quit because they quit. They gave him the affirmation that he was looking for, and he was looking for it.

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, healthnut said:

No sympathy for Angela, she calls it strategy, I call it a quit. I’m shocked that many people quit. Did they have proper cold weather gear? I’m very interested to hear exit interviews tomorrow. This definitely hasn’t been a great edit for Sarah but major kudos to her digging deep (a la Jeff Probst) and getting it done. Especially when she thought she was dead last. And mad respect to Danny.

Yeah, I have a feeling a lot of the interviews are going to shed a very different light on what happened.

I am curious what Sarah will say about her edit this season.  Because considering she won, she really got one of the worst ones of anyone.

[AntFTW]

35 minutes ago, Jules1 said:

I was actually rooting for Justine to finish

So was I. Justine grew on me throughout the season. I had no thoughts on whether or not she would win but I was rooting for her at least finish.

[aghst]

OK, the Daily could have been totally rigged.  Angela might have agreed to get herself stuck on one puzzle.

And they tell us that Dom and Tyson tied, just have to take their word for it.  I did like the design of it but it definitely would allow for producer manipulation.

For the elimination, they have two women with one of them being the smallest there against the tallest one, not necessarily the strongest but easily overmatched for Alyssa.  So of course they bring out the Pole Wrestle.

In the Final, the first day legs were creative and kind of fun with different teams.  But it was going to come down to the second day because of double points.

Maybe the producers didn't anticipate Ben not being able to go and then Enzo tapping out so early.  At the beginning, there was sun and they were at lower elevations.

Tyson should have run away with it but the puzzles held him back.  In fact it came down to the puzzles.  Sarah fell behind because of the hex puzzle and then 3 competitors quit at the Sudoku stage.  I think part of it was the weather, with the snow and sleet and they weren't processing the puzzles well enough so they quit.

For all we know, by the time Sarah got up there, it wasn't as miserable weather-wise.  In fact she took shelter before completing the nex puzzle.  So maybe she wasn't dealing with the cold and wet weather as much in doing Sudoku.

I find it hard to believe that she didn't know that others had quit.  Surely she could see the partial puzzles, only one other person completed it so she would have seen all the uncompleted puzzles if nothing else.

Angela may have done it for awhile but since the Final was only 1 hour we may not have a good sense of how much dirt she moved before deciding to go to sleep.  Makes it appear like she filled a few barrels and decided not to do any more.  Unless she injured herself, she would have no problem getting up the mountain.  The problem would have been the puzzles slowing her down or making her give up like the others.

I would have liked to have seen Justine or Cayla win.  I don't mind Sarah winning.  OK with Danny winning, didn't want to see Tyson win, the way he was boasting about crushing everyone else's souls by getting up the mountain so much faster.

Danny had the good fortune of having practiced Sudoku.  But it's interesting, Tyson is skinny and could ascend faster than anyone while Danny was slower, being more muscular and carrying more weight.  Yet when it got cold, maybe the extra weight helped him endure it better than the skinny ones.

[mojoween]

Kiki!  Drink!  Kiki on camera with bonus Zoe!  Make it a double.

I am so freaking happy Danny won.  That Survivor twist was bullshit and screwed him over and I was also upset about it and am so happy he changed his mind about never doing a reality show again.  I love him.  He would have won even if Tyson finished so Tyson and Dom bailing only screwed themselves out of money.

Fuck Sarah.  She won by default.  Which, a win is a win and she wasn’t a quitter, but whatever.  Big ol’ asterisk for her.

That slide puzzle must have tipped something in Angela’s brain because she was a totally different competitor in this episode than she was all season. 

[Badlands]

Well, that was a disaster of a finale!

The consensus seems to be that these people couldn't compete with the "real" challenge. However, I'm not so sure many of the regulars could have finished the Sudoku. Many of those people aren't the brightest crayons in the box. I'm also not sure if there were any finals where they had to use their hands in the bitter cold.

I understand Angela's thinking in that in the previous legs, the last place team/person timed out and automatically got the 2 points. They should have made the rules clear. Enzo obviously had to be eliminated because he didn't even make it to the end of the leg. Speaking of which, it was ridiculous that Desi was eliminated. Just let two women run together! It was already nonsensical that one woman had to go alone on each leg. They should always keep the last person or two close by (in this case David) in case of a situation like this.

I was glad to see Danny win, but Sarah is just insufferable. Kudos to her for finishing, though.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Badlands

[DEL901]

7 hours ago, Michichick said:

It seemed really unfair that Desi got knocked out after Enzo quit. Why couldn’t they just have two women pair up, or have two women run each leg solo?

7 hours ago, bunnyface said:

I agree.  The others got to run solo legs, she should have been allowed to try it also.  But technically it was a team challenge at that point.  Still sucks for her.

Yeah sucks for Desi, but TJ made it very clear from the start…..what one person does impacts the team….even a team of one, Angela.   

Tyson can’t be much of a Challenge fan.  Puzzles are a big part of things….part of why CT has been so dominant lately.   And maybe Angela can comfort herself that she wouldn’t have won anyway, due to the Sudoko.   She also probably ensured she wouldn’t get invited back.  

[snarts]

That was an absolute shit show. From the daily to the final, it was a mess. 

Also, completely unfair to women to have to run one leg solo, especially considering that that legs were not equal. Swim & solve a puzzle on your own, fine, But memorize or eat/carry/shovel alone, much more difficult. The single person finished every leg last and that allowed the others most rest. Bullshit.

They should've medically disqualified Ben before the final and/or brought David back to run it. Minus that, they should've made the entire final individual rather than use that stupid algorithm to create pairs. 

Edited September 15, 2022 by snarts
David not Danny

[seacliffsal]

I fell asleep for the part of the episode in which everyone quit (getting old...) so missed that drama (which I would have like to have seen).  Makes sense now why Sarah had so many confessionals throughout the season.  However, I had to laugh when she has been telling us all season about how tough and competitive she is only to have her state that she had never previously won an individual challenge in all of her seasons on Survivor (yet she continually criticized the women who were winning the challenges this season).  

I now understand why some of the competitors wanted to eliminate the weaker players throughout the season-and I agree with that strategy.  

I think the entire finale should have been individual.  Although I agree that Angela quit, it does seem a bit unfair that her solo leg was the most physically challenging (other than the final run to the top) and that all of the other teams had rest time for the contestants while their partner was working.

Now that I have seen the show I don't think I need to watch it again.  The big advantage for me to even watch this season was knowing many of the contestants so if they had a season in which I didn't know very many contestants I would just not be that interested.

[AntFTW]

6 hours ago, aghst said:

And they tell us that Dom and Tyson tied, just have to take their word for it.  I did like the design of it but it definitely would allow for producer manipulation.

It’s a pretty straightforward game. Each color tire is a certain amount of points. At the very least, I would think the competitors would know how many points they have and if they do, it doesn’t leave much room for manipulation. If they were not keeping track of their own points, they were playing the game wrong.

That is… unless the players are full of shit too.

[AntFTW]

3 hours ago, Badlands said:

The consensus seems to be that these people couldn't compete with the "real" challenge. However, I'm not so sure many of the regulars could have finished the Sudoku.

When they can’t finish a math or a puzzle checkpoint, they usually time out at some point and they are allowed to move on, similar to how Justine timed out on one of the checkpoints and she got to move on with everyone else to the next checkpoint.

3 hours ago, Badlands said:

I'm also not sure if there were any finals where they had to use their hands in the bitter cold.

There have been plenty.

In the cold, in the rain, and in a sweltering desert. The conditions on the MTV show have been brutal before just like this one. This final is how they look on the MTV show as well.

[AntFTW]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Fuck Sarah.  She won by default.  Which, a win is a win and she wasn’t a quitter, but whatever.  Big ol’ asterisk for her.

Agreed.

She won. A win is a win. I would put a fat asterisk by her name also. She was competing against herself for the last two checkpoints and all she had to do was finish.

[AntFTW]

3 hours ago, Badlands said:

I understand Angela's thinking in that in the previous legs, the last place team/person timed out and automatically got the 2 points. They should have made the rules clear. Enzo obviously had to be eliminated because he didn't even make it to the end of the leg.

I think the difference is that Angela didn't time out. She stopped before the checkpoint was over and/or before time was up, just like the Enzo did. Had she kept going and eventually timed out, that's different. However, like Enzo, she stopped in the middle of a checkpoint.

[DEL901]

I thought I heard TJ say they adjusted the amount of sand Angela would have to shovel based on her being a team of 1.   As for why others were allowed to continue after timing out….I’m okay with people who didn’t quit and kept working until the time out pound continuing.  Angela clearly didn’t pay attention to TJ and what he said about quitting.  

[KeithJ]

5 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I thought I heard TJ say they adjusted the amount of sand Angela would have to shovel based on her being a team of 1.   As for why others were allowed to continue after timing out….I’m okay with people who didn’t quit and kept working until the time out pound continuing.  Angela clearly didn’t pay attention to TJ and what he said about quitting.  

Yes, they did adjust the amount of sand Angela had but it was still unfair to make any of the women run a leg by themselves because the legs just weren't evenly balanced.

[AntFTW]

Just now, DEL901 said:

I thought I heard TJ say they adjusted the amount of sand Angela would have to shovel based on her being a team of 1.

I'm not sure who mentioned it, but I think Angela did say she had less sand to move than everyone else... which I assume it was because she was alone.

2 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

As for why others were allowed to continue after timing out….I’m okay with people who didn’t quit and kept working until the time out pound continuing.  Angela clearly didn’t pay attention to TJ and what he said about quitting.

Agreed. I thought the rule on quitting was pretty clear.

At the very least, sit by the wheelbarrow and move a single scoop of sand every once in a while until you time out. She quit before completing or timing out.

[bunnyface]

8 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I thought I heard TJ say they adjusted the amount of sand Angela would have to shovel based on her being a team of 1.   As for why others were allowed to continue after timing out….I’m okay with people who didn’t quit and kept working until the time out pound continuing.  Angela clearly didn’t pay attention to TJ and what he said about quitting.  

Yes, even Angela said she had less sand.  And then quit.  I don't like Sarah but I don't think she deserves an asterisk.  She finished.  Period.  The others quit.  Period.  They didn't keep trying to see if they would time out.  They quit.

However, I do think (hope) Sarah will be eaten alive in an international challenge, if those are real Challengers and not like this version.

[AntFTW]

1 minute ago, bunnyface said:

However, I do think (hope) Sarah will be eaten alive in an international challenge, if those are real Challengers and not like this version.

I think they will be people similar to this show, people who aren't used to The Challenge and have never done one.

Since it's international, it's possible that they haven't watched the show at all or just a couple of seasons.

[Lantern7]

16 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

I think they will be people similar to this show, people who aren't used to The Challenge and have never done one.

Since it's international, it's possible that they haven't watched the show at all or just a couple of seasons.

I've seen the cast lists. None of the usual idiots seen in prior seasons.

A "mid" female regular Challebger can beat Sarah. She's not that great.

I think Tyson might be Jordan, only with less talent and two functioning hands.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Lantern7

[Shorty186]

What made it more ridiculous is that Angela didn't consider it quitting. She was "opting out." Of course she would think that.

I also think that Sarah's win is a legit win. The others may have been physically ahead of her, but she beat them mentally by not quitting. 

It seems like the intense cold caused the others to have trouble thinking. Dom, Justine and Tyson looked like statues at one point, not even facing the puzzles. And Cayla decided to sit on the freezing ground for some reason. I think Sarah experienced the same, but earlier in the rain. 

I also thought it was ironic that the last 2 people who qualified for the final were the ones who won. I think Danny was really smart keeping a steady pace the whole time, unlike Tyson running up the mountain.

I honestly feel like this finale was written just for me. Angela loses a challenge, has to face Alyssa in elimination. Angela quits. Tyson quits. The only sad part is that Desi didn't get a real chance. I wonder if the producers had a hand in who would be saddled with Enzo in leg 1. I just don't see that happening to Angela/Sarah.

[AntFTW]

28 minutes ago, Shorty186 said:

I honestly feel like this finale was written just for me. Angela loses a challenge, has to face Alyssa in elimination. Angela quits. Tyson quits. The only sad part is that Desi didn't get a real chance. I wonder if the producers had a hand in who would be saddled with Enzo in leg 1. I just don't see that happening to Angela/Sarah.

It was the abacus "algorithm."

Edited September 15, 2022 by AntFTW

[aghst]

They gave them rain gear but maybe it wasn't insulated.  Maybe no layers either for the snow and sleet.

They might not have had good footwear either.

And definitely no gloves.

Again, it looked like there was more freezing rain when the first group got to the Sudoku than when Sarah finally reached it.

[Never Again]

45 minutes ago, Shorty186 said:

What made it more ridiculous is that Angela didn't consider it quitting. She was "opting out." Of course she would think that.

I also think that Sarah's win is a legit win. The others may have been physically ahead of her, but she beat them mentally by not quitting. 

Agreed.  Angela may be a beast at a lot of the challenges, but you can’t just decide to get some rest and take the last place points.  That is quitting.  Quitting means you’re done, goodbye.  Whether she thinks she’s above the rules or just didn’t pay attention, she deserved to go just like Enzo did

Agree about Sarah as well. I don’t love her but I don’t hate her. I like that she helped Cayla get unstuck from the mud.  I like that she did not quit even though she thought she was last.  Clearly Sarah doesn’t have any of the charm that Danny has (I love him!) but I don’t think it’s fair to say yay Danny and boo Sarah. They both won bc everyone else quit.  Yes I agree Danny apparently was winning regardless, but you never know if things will change (remember Johnny pulled out that last minute win by walking in the steps CT made in the snow) So I give credit to both of them for being the ones that got to the top and won it

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, Never Again said:

Agree about Sarah as well. I don’t love her but I don’t hate her. I like that she helped Cayla get unstuck from the mud.  I like that she did not quit even though she thought she was last.  Clearly Sarah doesn’t have any of the charm that Danny has (I love him!) but I don’t think it’s fair to say yay Danny and boo Sarah. They both won bc everyone else quit.  Yes I agree Danny apparently was winning regardless, but you never know if things will change (remember Johnny pulled out that last minute win by walking in the steps CT made in the snow) So I give credit to both of them for being the ones that got to the top and won it

My internal list is very petty. It has lots of asterisks by many winners' names on the MTV show.

Sarah won. A win is a win no matter how it comes. I would have liked to see the entire cast or most of the cast compete rather than quit. Everybody quit. I am genuinely shocked that I am literally saying that everybody quit (Desi not included).

I love miserable finals. I want to hear all the bitching, nagging, complaining, and shivering and pruning hands. I would have preferred to see them persevere through all of it because they came all this way and did all the checkpoints and gave up on the last checkpoint. At that final checkpoint, it became a toss-up on who would win for the women and I got excited by the idea of a Cayla upset or a Justine upset.... just to have everyone quit and leave it all in Sarah's hands.

I like Sarah. This show and her edit didn't do her any favors though. I could say that producers gave her bad edits but they can only work with what is given to them, and Sarah gave them enough to not look so great.

Edited September 15, 2022 by AntFTW

[twilightzone]

Desi got screwed and should have been given a chance.  But please, please STOP casting Enzo on these shows.  Him on BB All-Stars was bad enough.

Good for Danny and Sarah.  They deserved it.  Leo said that Sarah got the villain edit, but he really likes her.  It was cool she helped Cayla, even though she didn't have too.

Edited September 15, 2022 by twilightzone

[Evenshorter]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

They gave them rain gear but maybe it wasn't insulated.  Maybe no layers either for the snow and sleet.

They might not have had good footwear either.

And definitely no gloves.

Again, it looked like there was more freezing rain when the first group got to the Sudoku than when Sarah finally reached it.

Cayla had gloves at the Sudoku. I wondered why Tyson had none, and then lo and behold, Cayla had gloves. They showed someone else with them as well, was it Sarah?  Can't find a pic of it though.

[Shorty186]

I thought I remembered Tyson with gloves on the floor. I had no idea why he took them off to do the sodoku.

[Lantern7]

Something I forgot to mention last night: the fact that half of the final women’s Arena was decided in part by two guys can only be described as “classic Challenge.” There should have been some sort of tiebreaker between Tyson and Dom.

According to Tyson (yeah, I know), the Sudoku part of the final basically told players to “finish the pattern.” Apparently, the rules were not posted, so anyone unfamiliar with the game was at a disadvantage. Also, the players that quit did so because they were freezing, so the placement of the puzzle was crap as well. As recycled as challenges are on Survivor, the production people would have made considerations. BMP just wanted them to suffer, and the ending was shit.

What have the ratings been like? I hope the series doesn’t get renewed. It’s obvious Teege was not ready for network TV. I’m also mad new promos were shown for Survivor and The Real Love Boat, as well as Rob Mariano and the secret celebrity home renovation show . . . but we got the same commercial for The Amazing Race. Typical CBS.

2 hours ago, twilightzone said:

Come on, Desi deserves another chance.

No, she does not. Well, not on a BMP show. If she wants to return to Survivor or do TAR, I wouldn’t have an issue with that. She’s too smart for the likes of Big Brother.

The return of The Algorithm reeked of producer meddling. Better idea: line everyone up by how much money they banked. Person with the biggest number picks his/her partner, followed by the top earner from the other gender. Repeat until you got pairs. Do it again for each leg based on points totals, enforcing the “can’t repeat partners” rule. That’s logical . . . but no, let’s have Teege crank a prop where the teams have already been decided. 🙄🙄🙄

I hope Desi bawled out Enzo. A punch upside his head is the least he deserved.

[aghst]

Desi said she was a fan of the Challenge and dreamed of being on it.

So it did suck that she didn't get a chance to try to compete in the Final.  Well she got half a chance and Enzo ended it quickly.

She might be invited back, she's not bad to look at.  Same with Justine.

But they are low-drama.

If they ever got on the regular show, they'd probably have to pretend to be interested in some guys to get air time, maybe make out a little.

Or just be loud or whatever.

I think CBS and Paramount are desperate to produce content for Paramount + so they went heavy on the reality shows, not just The Challenge and the various spinoffs but other MTV reality shows like Jersey Shore.

So I can see them trying to do The Challenge USA for another season or two.  Worse comes to worse, they can make it a Paramount + exclusive and not air it on CBS.

[AntFTW]

4 minutes ago, aghst said:

She might be invited back, she's not bad to look at.  Same with Justine.

But they are low-drama.

If they ever got on the regular show, they'd probably have to pretend to be interested in some guys to get air time, maybe make out a little.

I wouldn't mind watching them on the flagship show, but they are low-drama.

I'm with you. I would imagine that if there is any drama for them, it has to deal with a cuddle-buddy.

[bunnyface]

I haven't listened to it myself, so I can't vouch for it, but apparently Tyson's podcast points out how the whole finale was kind of hinky.  Of course, the Challenge itself has been kind of hinky (Bananas), so shouldn't be that big of a surprise.  But I always hope for better.

[seacliffsal]

OK, I know that I'm giving this show way too much thought, but because Ben was willing to participate and it was the show that made him leave, does he at least get to keep his money as he didn't quit?

[AntFTW]

9 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

OK, I know that I'm giving this show way too much thought, but because Ben was willing to participate and it was the show that made him leave, does he at least get to keep his money as he didn't quit?

I think they have to complete the final to keep the money, so I don't think so. Even though he was willing, he didn't get to complete the final and gets no money.

Edited September 15, 2022 by AntFTW