S38.E04: O'liv'n on the Edge

[shantown]

Quote

A terrifying challenge is a must-win for a Ride or Die pair after their public betrayal paints a massive target on their backs. At-risk players plot an elaborate plan with the winning pair to keep themselves safe.

Airs Wednesday, November 2 at 8:00pm eastern on MTV

[AntFTW]

1) Nelson finally wins a daily challenge. He gets to start a new losing streak! They played "Bounce Back" after Nelson's and Nurys' daily win 😂🤣

2) Tori and Jordan... in bed together 👀

3) Jordan said that Nelson may be a mastermind. No no, Jordan! Olivia may be the potential mastermind. Nelson is still an idiot.

4) I must have missed the instructions on the daily challenge because I didn't know that winner would be the team that hung onto the rig the longest and also got the flag. I thought getting the flag the quickest was the goal.

[Lantern7]

Damn. Tommy made a move last week . . . and he wound up going out in the most humbling way possible. I'm sure he and Analyse are nice people . . . but seeing Tommy struggle to lift her weight while Kim effortlessly kept Colleen up? Sad, man. Kid needed a hug. I know that Kim offering advice wasn't meant to be a flex, but it just added to the humiliation. And then Teege had to comfort him afterward. Damn. Guy probably had to stay in bed moping for a few weeks. I swear, I'm not making fun of him. Dude needed a hug. He wound up in the wrong Zone against the wrong person. In a game that that, the only ones I could see hanging with Kim are CT and Turbo. And maybe Darrell.

Bright side: Olivia's plan worked . . . though isn't that similar to a move in Big Brother? Where someone get nominated for eviction that isn't meant to go home? Whatever . . .she and Horacio stayed in the game. Once again . . . when I see her interviews, it looks like she got worked over by two giant bees.

Nelson won! Do you believe in miracles?!? YEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!! I don't think he and Nurys improved their odds, but it's great he got the monkey off his back.

[aghst]

The Daily looked cool.  However, was it only two teams which had the female hang and the male jump and those were the only two teams which retrieved the flag?

If only two teams did it that way, it would be suspicious.  Also of course we don't see the timer on screen so we have to accept that the team they name as the winner did in fact win.

As for the elimination, little guy gets a physical challenge requiring upper body strength.  Everyone knew Tommy and Analyse were going in no matter what, so the choice of the game basically determined that they were going to be eliminated.

And I wouldn't put it past the producers to secretly tie up the board so Tommy couldn't life his partner at all.😄

[ImpinAintEasy]

Okay, I’m not going to badmouth the rookies this week. Kim and Colleen are adorable. So is Horacio. 
 

I can’t believe only 2 or 3 teams thought to have the male jump. They didn’t even have to remain holding on once their partner jumped, so the strength wasn’t that important. Had the show not made a big deal of it, I wouldn’t have known Nelson hadn’t won a daily in forever. Good for him. 
 

All of the people hooking up(or trying to, in Laurel’s case) set to the tune of ‘Love Shack’ was funny. It’s nice to have more light hearted stuff like that as opposed to the politicking and arguing every once in a while. 
 

[AntFTW]

35 minutes ago, aghst said:

The Daily looked cool.  However, was it only two teams which had the female hang and the male jump and those were the only two teams which retrieved the flag?

Didn't Tori hang from the rig and Devin did the jump? or am I misremembering?

[DEL901]

4 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Didn't Tori hang from the rig and Devin did the jump? or am I misremembering?

Yes, they did too and just missed the flag.  I was saying from the beginning to do it this way.  You needed your partner to swing towards the flag…it would be easier for the guy to use his strength to swing the woman rather than vice versa for most teams.  

[Racj82]

6 hours ago, aghst said:

The Daily looked cool.  However, was it only two teams which had the female hang and the male jump and those were the only two teams which retrieved the flag?

If only two teams did it that way, it would be suspicious.  Also of course we don't see the timer on screen so we have to accept that the team they name as the winner did in fact win.

As for the elimination, little guy gets a physical challenge requiring upper body strength.  Everyone knew Tommy and Analyse were going in no matter what, so the choice of the game basically determined that they were going to be eliminated.

And I wouldn't put it past the producers to secretly tie up the board so Tommy couldn't life his partner at all.😄

People keep disputing this on here but i really don't think you can rig shows like you are claiming when money is at stake. It's illegal. Even if it isn't, that is a lot of accusations for something so simple. Tommy was weak. It was two rookie teams. No one really cares which one of them went home enough to rig it.

It made sense for most teams to think that the man holding was smarter. In theory, it would be easier for the woman to jump on and the guy not lose control. It also makes sense for the first team to break that to be Jordan and Aneesa because she's probably heavier. Or harder to catch anyway.

[AntFTW]

8 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Didn't Tori hang from the rig and Devin did the jump? or am I misremembering?

3 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Yes, they did too and just missed the flag.  I was saying from the beginning to do it this way.  You needed your partner to swing towards the flag…it would be easier for the guy to use his strength to swing the woman rather than vice versa for most teams.  

Ok, just checking. I knew I remembered 3 teams that had the women hang from the rig and the men did the jump, but I wasn’t entirely sure.

What was crazy to me was Veronica doing the jump and Darrell hanging from the rig because Veronica is really short and probably wouldn’t get that far, and therefore wouldn’t create enough momentum to get to the flag. Even though it’s understandable because Darrell is afraid of heights, they would have had a better chance if Darrell did the jump. Although, if he did the jump, he probably would have been too afraid to reach for the flag.

Also it looks like (Moriah?????) was the only woman to do the jump and give her partner, Faysal, enough momentum to grab the flag. Seemed like it to me, at least.

Edited November 3, 2022 by AntFTW

[mojoween]

Hot Kim’s grandma taking a stray yikes.

Olivia wears her false lashes during the daily challenge.  Seems excessive.

Olivia’s plan was a good one, but it feels like some people should have put two and two together that Nelson was trying to save Olivia?  No?

[mojoween]

Oh also the fact that Faysal was apparently not even a thought for Nelson to throw in, considering their history, is surprising.

And TJ is softening up in his old age, no? He was so sweet with Tommy, not that TJ can’t be nice.

[joanne3482]

1 minute ago, mojoween said:

And TJ is softening up in his old age, no? He was so sweet with Tommy, not that TJ can’t be nice.

Tommy didn't quit. TJ respects that. He could have given up and said I can't do this and walked off but he didn't. He kept moving differently and trying to adjust his stance to lift her up but just couldn't do it.

I do wonder if Tommy and Analyse aren't similar enough in weight to have made this difficult if not impossible for him. By no stretch of the imagination am I trying to say she's heavy, but when you add the board or whatever she was laying on, he didn't have the body mass to counter balance her. It was so easy for Kim because he is physically bigger than Colleen. I know it is possible for smaller people to counter balance larger people in things like rock climbing (although I confess I don't understand it). It just seemed like based on the angles of the pullies and the added weight of the platform she was laying on as well as the stickiness of the mud he was never going to get her up no matter how hard he tried.  

[AntFTW]

I'm usually good at remembering names on this show because I'm just drawing a bunch of blanks on these rookies.

I still couldn't remember which one was Tommy was until the elimination. I just couldn't match the name with the face until they announce them at the elimination.

My brain looking at the nominees:

[aghst]

Rookies in the Challenge may as well be wearing red shirts all the time.

The few who make it past 1 or 2 seasons can wear other colors.

[Jobiska]

When Nurys had her hair back in a simple ponytail (in the deliberation room or whatever they are calling it) she looked like a cross between Nany and Kaycee.

Toward the end there was a talking head of a woman with blue eyes and long dark hair.   I couldn't tell who it was!  Maybe Olivia with dark hair, filmed later?  

[LaurelleJ]

Usually one of my gripes with the editing at the beginning of this show is that it's kind of easy to tell who will end up in the elimination round. This time I can honestly say I had no idea who was going to end up as the final 2. Thanks editors. I had a feeling that Nelson was going to win a daily soon though, because that has been foreshadowed since the first episode. 

The scenes with all the hookups. This was the first time in however many years that I have been watching the challenge that I thought that with the all those people living in there, working out and doing challenges, the house must smell awful. 

Rookie and vet relationships. I still don't understand why Amber doesn't get support from the vets in the game and has to align with the rookies each season. Fessy gets slightly more respect, but he's a loser. Why?? And Fessy and Aneesa are close? I just remembered that they were partners for a while in one of those seasons where you could switch partners, but he dogged her. 

This was the perfect challenge for Darrell as a welcome back to the game, haha. They did my man dirty. I love the old school pair of Darrell and Veronica, but if it were Darrell and Rachel, I would have fainted. I didn't think about it until Kim did it, but swinging back and forth before your partner jumped was an excellent strategy. I wonder if they were actually allowed to do that. 

Nelson's plan was good, but he is lucky it all went well for him, because I really thought there was going to be a monkey wrench in the plan. I knew Tommy and Analyse were going in. To the broadway fans on here, Analyse looks like a young Idina Menzel to me. I really thought that Horacio and Olivia were going to save Kim and Colleen, to further drive the rookie-rookie pair alliance and keep up appearances, but it shocked me when they saved Darrell and Veronica. I didn't want them to go, and they probably would have won that challenge anyway. 

Kim and Colleen are funny and adorable, so I wanted them to win, especially when TJ asked them how they were feeling about having to be in the elimination round. I felt so bad for Tommy, but at the same time I'm laughing at Kim saying this is all I have to do? Hold her up? Should I dance? LOL. 

The drama will come once the rookie numbers are down and the vets have to start turning on each other. 

[LaurelleJ]

7 hours ago, Racj82 said:

It made sense for most teams to think that the man holding was smarter. In theory, it would be easier for the woman to jump on and the guy not lose control. It also makes sense for the first team to break that to be Jordan and Aneesa because she's probably heavier. Or harder to catch anyway.

Before they got up there I thought that mostly everyone would have the males hold the bar because they thought they could hold on longer, and I thought that the only two pairs who wouldn't do that would be Devin and Tori since he would probably think that it's easier for the man to push the woman harder and farther, and Jordan and Aneesa, because Jordan shouldn't have to hold the bar with one hand. 

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

Oh also the fact that Faysal was apparently not even a thought for Nelson to throw in, considering their history, is surprising.

And TJ is softening up in his old age, no? He was so sweet with Tommy, not that TJ can’t be nice.

At first I was angry that Nelson didn't take a swing at Faysal, but then I thought that there's a better chance that he would win again and remember that, so best for Nelson to leave him alone. 

Also I think TJ is softening, but he is also not a fan of quitters. It would have been easy for Tommy to stop trying and just say I can't do it, but he kept trying, so TJ likes when the people have a lot of heart. 

[aghst]

Darrell said of Veronica that they've known each other a long time, won a Challenge together, explaining why Veronica is his Ride or Die.

Then "she gets the job done."

What a ringing endorsement.😄

The thing is, the people holding onto the bar were tethered and when they let the bar go, they dropped maybe a foot.  That might have helped with Veronica jumping if Darrell was a half foot to a foot lower.

[mojoween]

3 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Toward the end there was a talking head of a woman with blue eyes and long dark hair.   I couldn't tell who it was!  Maybe Olivia with dark hair, filmed later?  

Could it have been Moriah?  Faysal’s partner?

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, LaurelleJ said:

Before they got up there I thought that mostly everyone would have the males hold the bar because they thought they could hold on longer

I thought the same after rewatching. They thought the guys would hang on longer.

Apparently, I didn’t listen to the rules at all. Originally, I thought the men had to be the ones hanging from the bar until I saw Jordan and Aneesa switch roles.

[shantown]

15 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

All of the people hooking up(or trying to, in Laurel’s case) set to the tune of ‘Love Shack’ was funny. It’s nice to have more light hearted stuff like that as opposed to the politicking and arguing every once in a while. 

This and the group around the fire were my favorite parts of the episode, because it's so nice to see all the various relationships actually exist and grow. For a season called "Ride or Dies" I need them to show me that these people actually care about each other! It makes me way more invested in all of them (and therefore the show) to see some personality and fun and friendship.

Side note - who all was around the fire? I saw Tori, Jordan, Jay, Darrell, a woman in a black hoodie (Veronica?), Michelle, Faysal, Colleen, a woman in a yellow hoodie (Nurys?), a woman in a black sweater (Nany?), Johnny Bananas, Faysal, Colleen, and Jakk. Can anyone fill in the unknowns?

[Unclejosh]

According to the most recent official podcast, when Veronica came in she tried to spread the rumor that CT and Cara were coming in next which shook up a lot of people with some even threatening to quit if they came on. LOL.

They couldn't keep it going long but that must have been funny to see. Of course they wont show any of this.

[Duke Silver]

Tommy saying (about he and his partner lying to Horacio & Olivia prev episode) "the truth is somewhere in the middle"..??  Wut?  No man, no.  You lied. You got called out for it.  Own it.  And him insisting throughout the show that he and Analise are "honest people"?  Again, wut?  Gotta show your work here bro'.

I mean, they at least made an impression, I guess.  Good for him for not quitting during the elimination, but quit saying you're honest when we've got tape showing you're not.

[MaggieG]

17 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Nelson's plan was good, but he is lucky it all went well for him, because I really thought there was going to be a monkey wrench in the plan. I knew Tommy and Analyse were going in. To the broadway fans on here, Analyse looks like a young Idina Menzel to me. I really thought that Horacio and Olivia were going to save Kim and Colleen, to further drive the rookie-rookie pair alliance and keep up appearances, but it shocked me when they saved Darrell and Veronica. I didn't want them to go, and they probably would have won that challenge anyway. 

Kim and Colleen are funny and adorable, so I wanted them to win, especially when TJ asked them how they were feeling about having to be in the elimination round. I felt so bad for Tommy, but at the same time I'm laughing at Kim saying this is all I have to do? Hold her up? Should I dance? LOL. 

The whole time I kept thinking that Nelson/Olivia's plan is going to blow up in their face and somehow Olivia and Horacio were going to end up in elimination again. I think they saved Veronica and Darrell because those two actually went to them and talked to them about it, they showed it. Olivia mentioned that Colleen and Kim never talked game to her so it made sense them saving V and D. I'm so happy to see Darrell, he's one of my favorite challengers. He doesn't get involved into the drama too much and he's hilarious in his talking heads.

I also laughed at Kim just chilling while Tommy struggled. Devin saying "Kim's having an espresso."

What's crazy is that during the challenge, it looked like Analyse got pretty close to the flag. They probably would have been able to catch it if Tommy wasn't doing an "I'm the king of the world" arm stretch.  

[millennium]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:59 AM, mojoween said:

And TJ is softening up in his old age, no? He was so sweet with Tommy, not that TJ can’t be nice.

I think I have positivity poisoning.   This show reeks of toxic niceness.   Happy fireside gatherings.  Jordan and Tori just cuddling.  Opponents being encouraging during Elimination.   Players crying.   TJ praising crying.  Jordan reacting like Tommy getting a humiliating comeuppance was instead the triumphant completion of some kind of personal vision quest ... 

WTF?

I've been re-watching The Ruins this week.   Talk about an alternate reality between then and now.

At least TJ's remarks at the end of Elimination had a bit of an edge.   Reminded me of that time Jordan demolished Josh in the tug of war.   TJ told Josh, "good job, you went up against a beast," etc.  Then when Josh left the arena, TJ looks at Jordan and says, "I had to say that to be nice, but man, you smoked him."

In this episode, TJ gives Tommy the pep talk, then after he and Analyse trot off, TJ turns to Kim and says, "I think Colleen could have been doing the pulling and you would have been fine." 

18 hours ago, MaggieG said:

They probably would have been able to catch it if Tommy wasn't doing an "I'm the king of the world" arm stretch.  

I was thinking "Peter Pan" on Broadway.

Why can't they film this show in a tropical location anymore?  I miss pools and bikinis and tropical drinks and sunburns.   I hate seeing everyone coming into the Elimination all bundled up.   I don't want to think about being cold.  Jordan looked like he swiped some local grandmother's babushka to stay warm.

[millennium]

After posting above I listened to the latest installment of Bananas' podcast covering episodes 3 and 4.  Jordan was his guest.    Some funny stuff, especially a story Jordan tells about seeing Turbo again.   But my biggest takeaway is that characteristic Challenge drama is happening in the house, but it appears the finished product we see is being sanitized by the editors.   Two weeks ago Nany and Bananas described a few heated scenes with Turbo that never made it to air; this week, Jordan and Bananas mentioned a major argument between Raven and Nurys we didn't see (also not shown: Veronica tripping on her way into the Zone when making her first appearance with Jordan).

Edited November 5, 2022 by millennium

[AntFTW]

52 minutes ago, millennium said:

After posting above I listened to the latest installment of Bananas' podcast covering episodes 3 and 4.  Jordan was his guest.    Some funny stuff, especially a story Jordan tells about seeing Turbo again.   But my biggest takeaway is that characteristic Challenge drama is happening in the house, but it appears the finished product we see is being sanitized by the editors.   Two weeks ago Nany and Bananas described a few heated scenes with Turbo that never made it to air; this week, Jordan and Bananas mentioned a major argument between Raven and Nurys we didn't see (also not shown: Veronica tripping on her way into the Zone when making her first appearance with Jordan).

So… all the good stuff that we watch for, they take it out and give us stale episodes? Typical

Edited November 6, 2022 by AntFTW

[millennium]

31 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

So… all the good stuff that we watch for, they take it out and give us stale episodes? Typical

It's like they're trying to distance themselves from the shitshow of the past in a bid for respectability, which probably seems a wise business move to TPTB, especially as they try to expand the franchise globally as a sports competition show.   Bananas and his guests often complain about the new restrictions in the house, including limited access to alcohol.

The fake nightclub still really bugs me.   Particularly when they insert some jazzed-up footage of speeding down  a highway between the time the players leave the house and the time they enter the club.   Like we're supposed to believe they traveled somewhere instead of walking the ten feet from the front door to the fake club. 

[aghst]

Buenos Aires can get plenty hot but they chose to go there in the winter.  Or maybe it was our spring, which would be their fall/winter.

Challenge USA was filmed in BA, maybe they did that around Dec/January, which would be their summer.

[millennium]

Perhaps my biggest WTF? moment in this episode was the "let's all say one thing we're grateful for" segment.  I get that it was started by Jakx, whom I consider an unwelcome guest (I'm not even sure Laurel gives a shit about him -- she's all about Horacio), but why didn't production conveniently lose it on the cutting room floor?   This syrupy, saccharine goo is NOT what I watch The Challenge for. 

What demographic are they targeting?  The Hallmark Channel audience?   I thought they were aiming for the 18-25 demo but they don't stand a chance of holding those viewers with sappy bullshit like this.

[jsm1125]

17 hours ago, millennium said:

Perhaps my biggest WTF? moment in this episode was the "let's all say one thing we're grateful for" segment.  I get that it was started by Jakx, whom I consider an unwelcome guest (I'm not even sure Laurel gives a shit about him -- she's all about Horacio), but why didn't production conveniently lose it on the cutting room floor?   This syrupy, saccharine goo is NOT what I watch The Challenge for. 

What demographic are they targeting?  The Hallmark Channel audience?   I thought they were aiming for the 18-25 demo but they don't stand a chance of holding those viewers with sappy bullshit like this.

Weren’t Analyse and Tommy part of a gratitude circle in their season of BB as part of their largely unlikable large alliance? 

[millennium]

On 11/5/2022 at 8:30 PM, AntFTW said:

So… all the good stuff that we watch for, they take it out and give us stale episodes? Typical

Update for the sake of accuracy: In a recent MTV Official Challenge podcast hosted by Tori and Aneesa (just listening to those two laugh is worth tuning in), Bananas elaborated on his clash with Turbo and stated the cameras were not present when it occurred, although other players witnessed it.

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

Update for the sake of accuracy: In a recent MTV Official Challenge podcast hosted by Tori and Aneesa (just listening to those two laugh is worth tuning in), Bananas elaborated on his clash with Turbo and stated the cameras were not present when it occurred, although other players witnessed it.

I listened to that episode. That's the episode, I think, where they also mentioned that Turbo got mad at his partner for swimming faster and climbing the ladder than him on that heights-over-water challenge they did. That's the mess I'd like to watch.

Edited November 9, 2022 by AntFTW

[aghst]

What kind of a pussy chicken lets a woman swim and climb a ladder faster than him?😄

[millennium]

48 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

I listened to that episode. That's the episode, I think, where they also mentioned that Turbo got mad at his partner for swimming faster and climbing the ladder than him on that heights-over-water challenge they did. That's the mess I'd like to watch.

Exactly, let's see all the bad behavior!   Tori, Aneesa and Bananas all agreed episode 1 didn't remotely resemble The Challenge they knew, that it seemed more like an episode of Love Island.    I also laughed when Tori and Aneesa were WTF over how out of place Michelle's tearful plea to Nany seemed in Episode 2.  I think Aneesa said she was wondering, "Are they lovers?"