S38.E10: Dancing on My Own

[shantown]

Quote

With the "Ride or Dies" now on opposite teams, friendship and loyalty are put to the ultimate test; a high-adrenaline challenge will separate the lions from the scaredy cats.

Airs Wednesday, December 14, at 8:00 pm eastern on MTV

[AntFTW]

1) Nelson, why are you like this? Nelson is over-dramatic and exhausting... and an idiot.

2) I'm not liking how they are executing the 'Ride or Die' concept. It makes eliminations a little pointless to me. The eliminated player sits in limbo, basically doing nothing, until their 'Ride or Die' is also elimination, if they are eliminated. Kaycee is probably going to last until the end therefore Kenny also will.

[DEL901]

Of course Fessy chose to go against the smallest, least experienced guy…because that’s what Fessy does.  

[aghst]

Daily was dumb, size/mass was the overwhelming factor, made for little suspense.

Was the Daily bad because the people who designed and chose it for this episode had a bad week or because of the movie tie in took so much time, TJ couldn’t explain a more elaborate game?  

Free tix to the premiere?  Cheap sponsor.

So the winning team wasn’t on the same page when they had to vote in.  

In previous seasons with teams, did they ever negotiate which members of the losing team would go to elimination like Tori tried to do with Jordan?

Devin and Jordan dodged a bullet that Kenny didn’t pull the safe dagger.

Hmm, so there will be some secret house again so they won’t know that the eliminated hasn’t gone home?

But teams are going to try to keep their best players while keeping the opponent team’s weakest player around.

So Kaycee and Kenny are going to be around.

How many ways will the prize be split?  Maybe Johnny will have another chance to take all the money for himself again.

[mojoween]

“The most handsome electrician on the planet” made me laugh.  Also Devin’s “I had no idea what I just said, but it sounded good”.

Sucks for Olivia that everyone on her team was rooting for the other guy.

Faysal is acting like he’s team captain, owner and GM and I don’t know how he doesn’t get hit more.

How is Nany fine?  She was seizing and unresponsive and then a little bit in the hospital and she’s hunky dory?

Jordan, Tori and Nurys is something I wish were happening somewhere far from my teevee.

[shantown]

Oh good, a twist on the twist. I know it's probably just that I've aged out of this show, but I really miss the days where there was a straightforward format. Individuals or pairs or teams that were individuals or pairs or teams that had to work together the whole way through. An elimination process that didn't change every few episodes. The "excitement" coming from anything other than talking heads about how twisted the game keeps becoming and how they're so surprised now. 

The theme for this season could have been kind of cool, and even this twist of the partner still riding after elimination could be cool, but I'm just so over it at this point that I can't muster up much energy to care. Maybe I just need to go rewatch the Inferno or something every Wednesday night instead!

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, shantown said:

The theme for this season could have been kind of cool

Ah! What coulda been...

That has been my complaint for almost every season after Final Reckoning, and my only exception was season 34. "It could have been better if they did [XYZ]." The teams concept in WOTW2 was done right. Teams remained as teams throughout the whole season, with a nice twist of the elimination winner getting to switch teams only once no matter how many times they won an elimination.

Edited December 15, 2022 by AntFTW

[ImpinAintEasy]

Oh great, so nobody is eliminated. What was the point? Another twist just for the hell of it? 
 

The daily could have been good if the teams weren’t so lopsided. Although, we found another potential weakness for Jordan. He isn’t that big, and while he overcame size differences vs Darrell and Josh in the past, he wasn’t able to against Chauncey. That had to bruise his ego a bit. 
 

I just can’t with Kenny. He should never have been on this show. And judging by his lack of screen time this season, the producers know that. 
 

I hope these dailies are designed fairly and not just to reward strength, but I doubt they will be. 

[LaurelleJ]

I feel like Jordan is hooking up with Nurys because he wants to, but the main motivation is to get under Tori's skin for revenge. Tori and Fessy are in the house, so he is getting them back. I think Tori was 100% right on that. 

 have decided that I'm riding with team Moriah all the way. This challenge was no doubt going to the other team though, and everyone knew it. I forgot that for half a second, and I was rooting for Chauncey even though I meant to root for Jordan. It was great that Horacio was able to beat Bananas, and Fessy vs. Kenny wasn't even fair. Neither was Fessy vs. Horacio. Fessy was so cocky, like yes bananas couldn't beat Horacio but I could. Amber and Tori play sword fighting was funny. Nany looked terrible in the water, I felt so bad for her. My attention span is short though, because when she came back in the house I had already forgotten what happened. 

The elimination deliberations were very good and funny all the way around. I enjoyed getting to see Kenny more this episode, and I like him. I wasn't expecting him to  volunteer himself. It made sense though, he was likely going in no matter what. Anyone who was not Kenny would pick him. If Kenny was the pick, he would pick Horacio. Everyone would likely beat Kenny, unless there was a crazy elimination like CT vs. Jay. 

Editing suggested that either Jordan or Devin would pull the safe dagger because of the trust talk they had at the beginning of the episode. Horacio is the king of eliminations. My initial thought was too bad Kenny goes home because this episode made me like him, but oh boy, another ride or die twist, yay. 

[AntFTW]

22 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

 have decided that I'm riding with team Moriah all the way.

Same. It's impossible for me to ever root for Nelson. I can't help it. For any team Nelson is on, I have to root for the opposing team.

24 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

I forgot that for half a second, and I was rooting for Chauncey even though I meant to root for Jordan.

LOL!

33 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

I feel like Jordan is hooking up with Nurys because he wants to, but the main motivation is to get under Tori's skin for revenge. Tori and Fessy are in the house, so he is getting them back. I think Tori was 100% right on that. 

Oh yea! That whole Tori-Fessy thing did happen. That completely slipped my mind.

35 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

The elimination deliberations were very good and funny all the way around. I enjoyed getting to see Kenny more this episode, and I like him. I wasn't expecting him to  volunteer himself.

I was not expecting Kenny to volunteer himself either. It ruined my desire for drama 🤣

38 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

It made sense though, he was likely going in no matter what. Anyone who was not Kenny would pick him.

Yup. The editing in this episode gave Kenny no hope. It was either Kenny or Horacio being voted in by the group. Horacio having no attachment to any vets on the team made him the easy vote. I was hopeful for an upset though.

Other than Kenny volunteering himself, the episode was predictable. Everyone played it safe. Fessy's team didn't take the big swing and throw in Jordan or Devin (really just Jordan).

46 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

My initial thought was too bad Kenny goes home because this episode made me like him, but oh boy, another ride or die twist, yay. 

...a bad twist at that.

47 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

Everyone would likely beat Kenny, unless there was a crazy elimination like CT vs. Jay. 

I think if there was an elimination that Kenny could have won, this one was an okay one for Kenny. I felt like this elimination was an even playing field.

[Jobiska]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

I think if there was an elimination that Kenny could have won, this one was an okay one for Kenny. I felt like this elimination was an even playing field.

Agreed.   Always hard to tell for sure, but he had really caught up and closed in on Horacio by the end, and I didn't think it was fair of TJ to imply Horacio blew him out of the water.  They were both on the last door and well into the wrenching by the end.

I'll say one thing about the twist, it is at least a more interesting and dramatic twist than "I'm feeling friendly, so here are some vets."  (eyeroll).

[AntFTW]

6 minutes ago, Jobiska said:

Agreed.   Always hard to tell for sure, but he had really caught up and closed in on Horacio by the end, and I didn't think it was fair of TJ to imply Horacio blew him out of the water.  They were both on the last door and well into the wrenching by the end.

I hate that people keep acting like Horacio and Olivia didn't have help throughout all of these eliminations they were in.

[LaurelleJ]

22 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Of course Fessy chose to go against the smallest, least experienced guy…because that’s what Fessy does.  

I'm over Fessy thinking that he is the best competitor just because he is the largest. 

10 hours ago, mojoween said:

Faysal is acting like he’s team captain, owner and GM and I don’t know how he doesn’t get hit more.

Of all the daily challenges that he could have won, he had to win this one. Now he thinks he is running the game because he sit he captain of the presumed winning team. Ugh. 

6 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Ah! What coulda been...

That has been my complaint for almost every season after Final Reckoning, and my only exception was season 34. "It could have been better if they did [XYZ]." The teams concept in WOTW2 was done right. Teams remained as teams throughout the whole season, with a nice twist of the elimination winner getting to switch teams only once no matter how many times they won an elimination.

The most exciting format for the teams coming back after elimination is the battle of the exes 2 season where they competed in separate eliminations with the other eliminated teams, where Nany and Bananas dominated everyone and we able to come back into the game before Sarah and Jordan sent them into elimination. 

6 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

I hope these dailies are designed fairly and not just to reward strength, but I doubt they will be. 

 I really hope so too. I twill be very boring to just watch Moriah's team get smaller ever week. At the same time, the smaller the team gets, the stronger it gets, and that's something that is always overlooked in the game. Yes with Kenny going home they lose a person, but they do get stronger. 

[Drogo]

I was coming here to write everything @mojoween said.  Devin is killing it in these confessionals.  ”He’s like a carpenter. Or an electrician.  The handsomest electrician on the planet.”  I like them gassing up Horacio because he seems like a genuinely nice guy and good sportsman.  
 

I thought a better Zone Twist would’ve been “Vote someone on the other team into elimination, their RoD (on your team) competes with them and maybe they both get eliminated. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Drogo

[aghst]

12 hours ago, Drogo said:

I thought a better Zone Twist would’ve been “Vote someone on the other team into elimination, their RoD (on your team) competes with them and maybe they both get eliminated. 

Yeah I was thinking of that too, they have to be careful whom they send down because he or she can call down anyone, including those on the winning team.

I guess they plan at least a half dozen more episodes this season, which has all been 90 minutes so they've filled it with all the politicking and non-competing drama, like the hookups and such.

So they can't whittle down the teams too quickly.  You figure the Final will start with at least 6 or 8.

[RedbirdNelly]

I hate lopsided teams (unless I happen to really hate everyone on the weaker team). Of course, as soon as we get lopsided teams we get a daily that is mostly strength. Is Fessy being given a script to make him as unlikeable as possible? 

The more you know Kenny the more he seems like a nice guy but a non-character. 

I was hoping for some twist where winners pick somebody on the loser team but they get to pick whoever they want to go into elimination against. Watching lopsided team get destroyed is not fun.

[AntFTW]

On 12/15/2022 at 8:52 PM, LaurelleJ said:

The most exciting format for the teams coming back after elimination is the battle of the exes 2 season where they competed in separate eliminations with the other eliminated teams, where Nany and Bananas dominated everyone and we able to come back into the game before Sarah and Jordan sent them into elimination.

Yes! That was great! It completely blew up the house. That was done right.

I rewatched that season recently because I couldn't remember how Johnny and Nany got back into the game. I had completely forgot that they had the "Exile" where the eliminated people could win their way back into the game. I remembered them being eliminated by Leroy and Nia, and I remember them coming back. I just couldn't remember why they came back. They didn't show the "exile" parts that much. They gave brief glimpses and that was all.

[LaurelleJ]

18 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Yes! That was great! It completely blew up the house. That was done right.

I rewatched that season recently because I couldn't remember how Johnny and Nany got back into the game. I had completely forgot that they had the "Exile" where the eliminated people could win their way back into the game. I remembered them being eliminated by Leroy and Nia, and I remember them coming back. I just couldn't remember why they came back. They didn't show the "exile" parts that much. They gave brief glimpses and that was all.

That elimination was crazy. Nia beat Nany and then Leroy flew through it. I still remember Wes jumping up and down celebrating. 

[lasu]

There is one, let me repeat ONE, way this could play out in an incredibly satisfactory way.  It seems like the partners are going to be reunited if one or both make it to the final.  That's my guess anyway.  But, they are being super sneaky about it, so no one has a guess about that, and they have put each pair in a position to be against one another, on separate teams.  So what they are really doing is testing how ride-or-die people are, because it's nothing to be loyal to someone whose fate is exactly your own.  Now, Fessy has already done Moriah dirty with the teams, and is clear he thinks he owes her nothing; he sees it the other way around.  Please, please let him do her more dirty.  Please, please let him be the reason she gets voted out, and let him be a complete dick about it, and then be super smug all the way to the final, only to find out he's partnered back with her.  Then she's mature, and competes her best with him, and they win.  Oh please let it happen, because you have to know where I'm going with this...then let it somehow be up to Moriah if they split the money, and she gives him double middle fingers and walks away a millionaire.  I would restart smoking if something that satisfying ever happened on this show.  

All that said, this is what I think is going to happen (I'm spoilering it even though it's 100% speculation)

Spoiler

I think the general idea of what I laid out above will happen (and maybe Moriah will refuse to work with Fessy, causing another frustrating loss he can blame on someone else), but I think it's going to come down to a Banany win, with Johnny getting to decide, and splitting the money with Nany.  I have to believe they will really test the whole "ride or die" concept, and what better way?  This also gives Johnny a HUGE HUGE redemption arc and hero edit, while further sticking to Sarah, as this will "prove" he wouldn't have fucked her over if she hadn't sent him down the season before.  I think he would have taken Sarah's money no matter what, but now he is way more financially stable than he was then, likely got a giant appearance fee for this season anyway, and honestly, there's no better narrative bookend to his story.  He will come out of this basically not sacrificing anything he couldn't afford to lose, while looking like he's completely gone on a hero's journey to become a bigger and better person.  Honestly, it's narrative gold.

[Lantern7]

On Facebook, someone said the twist is as boring as Kenny. I just find it unnecessary. I guess BMP can't run a season in a straight line for 19-odd episodes. Also, part of me thinks they're trying to bury Bloodlines because Cara Maria won it with Cousin.

I think the big question is whether Horacio will get shoved into the Zone for the fifth time. I think five is the record for eliminations; Derrick went 4-1 in Gauntlet 2, Wes & Casey won all five in Fresh Meat, and Sarah Greyson won all five AND won alongside her RR teammates. Granted, "Hanging Upside Down On a Trapeze" isn't as daunting as "Destroy Walls And Hit The Buzzer First," but it still counts.

I think Horacio got lucky. I have a mental image of him disassembling all the doors and smashing all walls, getting to the buzzer . . . only to find Turbo smoking a cigarette and looking at his watch, since he got there much quicker. Oh, Turabi. Why did you have to be an asshole? Horacio looks like he could be a regular, but I haven't memorized what he looks like.

[AntFTW]

The description of this week's episode made be chuckle. I hope it lives up the hype.

3 hours ago, lasu said:

Now, Fessy has already done Moriah dirty with the teams, and is clear he thinks he owes her nothing; he sees it the other way around.

I really hate this. His attitude is "I'm the reason you're here. I'm the reason you've gotten this far."

I just wanna scream at my TV screen like "MY GUY! YOU TWO WERE PARTNERS! YOU WERE LINKED! YOU DIDN'T DO HER ANY FAVORS! YOU WERE PLAYING FOR YOURSELF, WHICH CLEARLY MEANS YOU HAD TO ALSO PLAY FOR HER!"

3 hours ago, lasu said:

Oh please let it happen, because you have to know where I'm going with this...then let it somehow be up to Moriah if they split the money, and she gives him double middle fingers and walks away a millionaire.

LOVE IT! Let it be because Fessy didn't want to do an eating challenge that put him slightly behind Moriah.

On 12/18/2022 at 8:37 AM, LaurelleJ said:

That elimination was crazy. Nia beat Nany and then Leroy flew through it. I still remember Wes jumping up and down celebrating. 

Before rewatching, I remembered Nany struggling and being stuck on the log and Leroy flying through that thing.

I'll rewatch those old seasons a million times over. Exes 2 is one I always skipped because I didn't want to watch Diem get sick again. Then, I just said 'fuck it' because my curiosity got the best of me in trying to remember how Nany and Johnny got back in the game.

[lasu]

18 hours ago, AntFTW said:

LOVE IT! Let it be because Fessy didn't want to do an eating challenge that put him slightly behind Moriah.

Oh yes.  Yes, please.

[Unclejosh]

Fessy might just be the most overconfident in respect to his actual abilities out of any challenger since Danny from Austin. I mean Fessy is clearly better but he is not elite and never will be. He thinks just because he is big and was a collegiate athlete (which many Challengers have also been, some at a higher level than Fessy) he just assumes he is better than everyone. It is so delusional.

When CT said to Wes in their hours long Rivals fight that he couldn't stop him and he was better than him and he would smoke him, it was real and true. Every single person who heard or saw that agreed with CT because he had proven his ability before.

Fessy has never done anything to impress me athletically. Yes he is a good athlete but he hasn't done anything that someone else hasn't done previously and or better.  I mean you have feats by Landon, Alton, CT, Jordan, even Wes back in the day which amazed both the cast and the viewers.

Can anyone name anything Fessy has done besides hurt smaller people than him in strictly size based challenges? Hell Latarian on All Stars hurt people in Pole Wrestle and it was way more impressive to me due to the size of each challenger being closer. Tyler is even bigger than Latarian and he got smoked and hurt.

Even after being proven that he couldn't beat Bananas in a final previously, he still doesn't understand why Bananas does good. Like him or not, he is very good, maybe the best ever in dailies and one of the best in finals.  Same with CT, calls him old and done and CT goes on to win the next 2 back to back. I guarantee he still thinks he could beat him. Even if Kaycee hadn't gotten hurt, no one was beating Amber and CT in that final.

The entitlement without anything to back it up is all time narcissism in my opinion. Which is probably why he keeps getting brought back to be honest. Production loves their braggadocious douches.

[lasu]

19 hours ago, Unclejosh said:

Can anyone name anything Fessy has done besides hurt smaller people than him in strictly size based challenges?

Not only is the only thing he's ever done, he also played dirty in his hall brawl against Nelly.  He thinks he has talent when all he has is size.  He's the worst.  And he doesn't seem to understand he's never going to win, because he can't seem to make it past the eating portion.

Also, CT going to town on Wes is still one of the funniest things to me ever, especially because Wes so readily admitted he was the one who opened that can of worms.

[Unclejosh]

Yeah Wes wanted CT to try and hit him to get him out. He admitted as much.  Unfortunately for him CT was smart enough to keep it verbal.  It was funny the next morning when Wes was trying to act like nothing happened and CT was still pissed.