S38.E11: Nelly: Ride (or Die) Wit Me

[shantown]

Quote

Nelson finds himself frustrated, powerless, and paranoid that he has no voice on his team; Nurys worries that her relationship with Jordan will alienate Tori and place a target on her back; TJ's favorite challenge sends the players spinning out.

Airs Wednesday, December 21, at 8:00 pm eastern on MTV

[shantown]

Producers would never have done it, but I wish all the trivia questions had been about their partner! Show who really is a ride or die! I do appreciate that a lot of the questions were at least related to the theme.... until Johnny got a random math question at the end.

[DEL901]

Casey missed on Adam and Eve?   Adam and Eve?   Of all the easy questions that were missed, and there were a lot. It was a sad, sad showing for so many.  Heck, even Nelson got two questions right.  

Amber was hella impressive in elimination.  

[AntFTW]

The most entertaining thing Kaycee has said in all of her 4 season: "Shiitakes"

I thought the elimination was pretty good.

This was probably the most boring trivia challenge rig I have seen... ever. The best trivia rigs are the ones where the players are scared shitless.

[aghst]

3 hours ago, shantown said:

Producers would never have done it, but I wish all the trivia questions had been about their partner! Show who really is a ride or die! I do appreciate that a lot of the questions were at least related to the theme.... until Johnny got a random math question at the end.

It was the one that won it for his team too.

How about that?

The questions about the ride and dies were the hardest, though for the young players, probably questions about 40 year old movies probably were difficult.

3 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Casey missed on Adam and Eve?   Adam and Eve?   Of all the easy questions that were missed, and there were a lot. It was a sad, sad showing for so many.  Heck, even Nelson got two questions right.  

Amber was hella impressive in elimination.  

Yeah that seems dubious.  Did some of these players really flub up some of these obvious questions on purpose?

For a change, the women were about the same size. Often the Pole Wrestle, like the Hall Brawl, are big mismatches.

Maybe Amber is more active but she also had a good strategy, was going to make Nurys do all the work and then rip it from her when she was tired.  The people rooting for Nurys told her to twist and do all these things, make her the one burning up the stamina.

Tori was initially not even pretending that she wanted Nurys as the direct vote because she was messing around with Jordan.  Even after the little convo, Tori said she didn't blame her.  Then in the Zone, she said it's not a personal vote.  Yeah sure.

And Nany showed her true colors.  Moriah is eventually going to find out Nany had a deal with both her and Amber, who already knows Nany made a separate deal with Moriah.

Not much they can do though, Moriah's team seems likely to keep losing.

 

[Midwestern Lady]

8 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I thought the elimination was pretty good.

This was probably the most boring trivia challenge rig I have seen... ever. The best trivia rigs are the ones where the players are scared shitless.

The elimination was the only thing interesting in this episode. Amber is a warrior and Nurys was tough.   The trivia challenge was a snooze fest.   I kept waiting for it to be more.   

[Jillibean]

It's glorious how dumb these people are.

So let me start by saying that I have not been a Tori fan, at all, in recent seasons. And I'm still not. I think she's attention-needy and affected and immature and tends to think with her lady parts. But man, do I feel bad for her. I really think Jordan's behavior is gross. First, he starts things up with Nurys not just in front of her, but after they had done a few cozy things together themselves and had soul-searching conversations about their relationship. And then when she reacts the way anyone would in that situation--maybe better than some of us would--he paints this narrative of Tori as "angry" and "explosive" and "a powder keg." Dude. He did something extremely upsetting and then brought out the sexism in calling her emotionally volatile when she became upset (and let us recall that he confronted her about it, not the other way around). Does anyone remember the time Jordan held Wes hostage with a salami? The fact that he's going on about what a loud angry unreasonable person Tori is is rich to begin with, and then you add in the fact that he is the one provoking her! And yes, Tori has behaved badly in the past and admitted as such--but 1) Jordan wasn't on the show when she was flirting with Fessy and 2) HE broke up with HER. I really enjoyed Jordan on All Stars 3 and I thought I was happy to have him back here, but man, he is still fully capable of being a real jerk. And a sexist one at that, who is way too busy being smug about how awful Tori is to see that he is being so, so much worse. 

I like Nurys a lot, but getting in between two people who used to be engaged was always going to lead to trouble. I agree with Tori that it was insensitive--but in a game involving politics, it was also just a bad move. Then she goes to apologize and talk it out with Tori only when she is in danger of going into elimination, the finally snots about Tori's personal vote. I mean, what did she expect? I would have done the same thing. Why burn bridges with other people when Nurys has clearly shown that Tori is not someone she is interested in playing the game with? And I can't help but notice that Jordan is the second man on this season that Nurys has hooked up with despite the man having a messy situation with someone else on the show who came in with romantic history with that person. I think Nurys still thinks she's on Ex on the Beach, and she got an unpleasant wakeup call. 

Finally, my god Olivia. Why even bother wearing a shirt at that point?

 

[AntFTW]

In this scene with Nurys being in the hot seat, all I could imagine was "what if this was Laurel being stared down by 8 people?" and imagine her laser-eyed stares.

Edited December 23, 2022 by AntFTW

[bunnyface]

That any of them missed any of those trivia questions is sad.   But then, Jordan has to spell Aneesa's name and Bananas has to do simple math?  WTH?    Trivia is also my favorite challenge, but probably for a different reason than TJ.  I just like to see how dumb these people really are.  They never disappoint.

[MMLEsq]

Some (most?) of the questions weren't even trivia -- they were basic knowledge (a math problem? and an easy one to boot) or personal knowledge about their partner.   

I could probably give Jordan a pass on the spelling of Aneesa's last name, but Fessy was so off on how many siblings Moriah has that it makes me wonder if they're just passing acquaintances -- they're certainly not "ride or die"s.  Which makes me wonder:  were the questions specifically drafted for each person?  If the spin had landed on Devin, would he have been asked how to spell Tori's last name (Deal)?  If the questions were not random, then it seems a little unfair because, arguably, some of the questions were so easy (Adam and Eve, even though Kaycee inexplicably got it wrong) and some were harder (the two singers on "Empire State of Mind," for example).   

Edited December 22, 2022 by MMLEsq

[AntFTW]

Just now, MMLEsq said:

I could probably give Jordan a pass on the spelling of Aneesa's last name, but Fessy was so off on how many siblings Moriah has that it makes me wonder if they're just passing acquaintances -- they're certainly not "ride or die"s.

From listening to Fessy on The Challenge podcast, it sounds like that's exactly what they are. IIRC, he said he "partied" with Moriah like 10 times.

[LaurelleJ]

Right at the top of the episode, Fessy is lying about how he cannot afford to lose any of the women on his team. Stop lying, you can afford to lose Aneesa. Counting down to when they plot to throw a challenge to get rid of her. Nany is a vet but I still think she's the weakest woman on that team, even with two rookies. 

I will never understand why people act like Amber can't be trusted, or say that they don't like her. She does nothing too bad. I always try to guess who is going into elimination based on editing. Editing suggests that Amber is going in, and maybe Nurys. 

If there was a challenge that Moriah's team could win, it's this one. I can't believe they missed some of these questions. My community would like to have a word with Chauncey for not knowing the Williams sisters question. Bonnie and Clyde, Elsa and Anna, Adam and Eve??? I'm embarrassed for them. 

Deliberations should be easy. Nurys and Amber are the strongest women, and Nany and Moriah are the weaker women. Do you what you have to do to keep Nany and Moriah. I think that if Nurys would be the main vote, Nany would save Amber, and Moriah would save Nany because of Bananas and Fessy in her ear. Big surprise, Fessy wants to nominate Amber. He's never going to get over the hurt of her winning after being rid of him. I actually believe it's a good game move for Tori and Aneesa to pick Nurys. The fact that she is hooking up with Jordan is just a bonus. But come on Jordan, don't act like it isn't good strategy. You know it is. 

Moriah saving Nany effectively weakened her own team, but I expected it because I think Bananas and Fessy talked her into it, not only because Bananas likes Nany and Fessy hates Amber, but because it's the best game move for plotting against the rival team. First impression, I expected Amber to win this elimination. Loved the song choice of misery business during the elimination. Jordan clearly can't help one teammate over the other so he tells Nelson to tell Nurys what to do. I'm so glad that Amber won. Nurys said that Amber had people telling her what to do, but I think she would have lost without the help anyway. Plus you knew what was coming to adjust accordingly. 

I would be very interested to see if Jordan and Nurys keep in touch after the show. 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by LaurelleJ

[mojoween]

Faysal’s hatred for Amber is so gross.

If we’re going to have to watch people boringly spin around in circles, it’s much better if CT is calmly eating cookies while doing it.

The whole ep felt boring to me and I resent Faysal for making me giggle with “I’m not even Christian and I knew that” about Adam and Eve.

[Lantern7]

Cut to Katie: "Oh, so NOW they make trivia less dangerous! Thanks, assholes!!!"

I was fading fast last night, but that was due to the four slices of Papa John's I had for dinner. The season is boring, though. A part of me is hoping that the over-saturation of The Challenge would lead to the franchise's demise because it's not that exciting.

I would never have thought Nelson would outlast his ROD. At least Nurys has hope of staying in the game. If this was a few seasons ago, being Nelson's partner would suck.

4 hours ago, AntFTW said:

In this scene with Nurys being in the hot seat, all I could image was "what if this was Laurel being stared down by 8 people?" and imagine her laser-eyed stares.

At least two of them would've bailed out. "Is that a phone ring- .  . .yeah, that's a phone call. For me. I'mma just take that and leave you guys to it. Please don't murder me, Laurel."

[Jobiska]

It's not like Tori's vote would have made a difference in whether Nurys went in--it was obvious that most of the team agreed she was going--so Jordan and Nurys can stop it with the "uh huh, not personal, suuuure" interviews.  I mean, whether it was personal or not, whether Tori voted that way or not, Nurys was going in.  So shut it!  

(I'm not a huge Tori fan, and as JilliBean says above she has a lot of faults, but this demonizing of her is just not cool.  And at least she seems like someone who tries to work on her faults, which I do respect).  

I wonder what would happen if there were a tie between two out of several--would TJ tell them to work it out between the top two, or have a revote for just those two, or what?  Whatever is messiest is whatever MTV would pick, of course.

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, Jobiska said:

It's not like Tori's vote would have made a difference in whether Nurys went in--it was obvious that most of the team agreed she was going--so Jordan and Nurys can stop it with the "uh huh, not personal, suuuure" interviews.  I mean, whether it was personal or not, whether Tori voted that way or not, Nurys was going in.  So shut it!  

It's like he's rubbing salt in the wound. It's not fun to watch. I talked about it a couple episodes ago now but Jordan should have stayed out of Tori's bed if he was going to be cuddled up with Nurys. He played with her feelings and is acting like she has no legitimate reason to be upset. Jordan not owning up to his shit is frustrating to watch. Tori was very clear that if he was going to cuddle up with Nurys, he shouldn't have gotten into her bed and shouldn't told her that he loved her because it was fucking with her head... and Jordan's attitude is "none of that counts because we're not together and you're just throwing a hissy-fit right now."

Edited December 22, 2022 by AntFTW

[ImpinAintEasy]

The elimination was good and both women really fought hard. Amber at this point is probably 2nd behind Kaycee physically/athletically for the women. I don’t know why all of the men wouldn’t want to work with her every season. 

Tired of the Jordan and Tori drama. It feels a bit contrived. This hasn’t been an impressive season from Jordan. Granted, he’s been with a terrible partner and now team, but he failed individually the last 2 dailies. 

At least the trivia challenge didn’t involve players giving others strikes. The game was won or lost on their own merits. I can’t believe how easy the questions were and how many were missed. Also, it just reinforced how stupid the season’s concept is. The vast majority of the teams were not actually “ride or die”.

I’m ready for the game to switch up. Moriah’s team has no shot if they couldn’t win trivia. 

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

Amber at this point is probably 2nd behind Kaycee physically/athletically for the women.

...but 1st specifically in endurance. Running long distances, Amber appears to be unmatched.

I'm curious how Nurys would do. I think she had shown herself to be a pretty good competitor this season despite being attached to "Scuba Nelly."

[AntFTW]

5 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Right at the top of the episode, Fessy is lying about how he cannot afford to lose any of the women on his team. Stop lying, you can afford to lose Aneesa.

LOL!

5 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Counting down to when they plot to throw a challenge to get rid of her. Nany is a vet but I still think she's the weakest woman on that team, even with two rookies. 

Not gonna lie... that's drama that I'd like to see 👀

5 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

I will never understand why people act like Amber can't be trusted, or say that they don't like her.

I will never understand it either. Amber has never done anything wrong to them. They cut her loose when it was convenient for them and expected her not to be mad about it.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

My community would like to have a word with Chauncey for not knowing the Williams sisters question.

I'm kicking Chauncey out of all of the communities for not knowing the answer to that.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Bonnie and Clyde, Elsa and Anna, Adam and Eve??? I'm embarrassed for them. 

The only one I wouldn't have gotten right was the Frozen question. My answer to was "Elsa and somebody else." Elsa is the only name I remember from Frozen.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Deliberations should be easy. Nurys and Amber are the strongest women, and Nany and Moriah are the weaker women.

Umm... I'm iffy on Moriah being the weaker woman, at least physically, because she looks soooo fit. She looks like she would crush any of the other women in this elimination.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

I think that if Nurys would be the main vote, Nany would save Amber, and Moriah would save Nany because of Bananas and Fessy in her ear. Big surprise, Fessy wants to nominate Amber. He's never going to get over the hurt of her winning after being rid of him.

I thought the editing suggested that Nurys was going in. I felt like they spent the whole episode building up Nurys' stature in the game so that meant they were going to tear that down by going into elimination.

I didn't quite understand why Nany would choose Amber. That threw me off. What connection do they have that Nany would choose Amber to be safe?

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

I actually believe it's a good game move for Tori and Aneesa to pick Nurys. The fact that she is hooking up with Jordan is just a bonus. But come on Jordan, don't act like it isn't good strategy. You know it is. 

I agree. I thought it was a good game move on their part. It just so happens that Nurys is hooking up with Jordan. Nurys, I think, has proven herself to be a decent competitor on The Challenge... which is honestly shocking to me. Watching her from the previous shows, I would never have thought that she would a good Challenger.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Moriah saving Nany effectively weakened her own team, but I expected it because I think Bananas and Fessy talked her into it, not only because Bananas likes Nany and Fessy hates Amber, but because it's the best game move for plotting against the rival team.

I think Fessy may have thought about the best game move in regards to saving Nany. For Johnny, I think the personal relationship outweighs the game. Also, Fessy is still aligned with Kaycee, and obviously teamed up with her, and he wants Kaycee at the top of her game, and that may mean keeping Nany safe.

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Jordan clearly can't help one teammate over the other so he tells Nelson to tell Nurys what to do. I'm so glad that Amber won. Nurys said that Amber had people telling her what to do, but I think she would have lost without the help anyway.

I thought Nurys would have lost regardless too, but to my surprise, Nurys put up a hell of a fight.

[DEL901]

I don’t know why they didn’t like her the first season other than she was a rookie….none of the rationalizations seemed to make sense, but now I think it is at least in part jealousy on the women’s part since she won in her rookie season.  

[AntFTW]

9 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I don’t know why they didn’t like her the first season other than she was a rookie….none of the rationalizations seemed to make sense, but now I think it is at least in part jealousy on the women’s part since she won in her rookie season.  

They didn't dislike her in Amber's first season... kinda. She was useful to them. Kaycee and Fessy were friendly with her up until Amber found out she was at the bottom of her Big Brother alliance. Then, they acted like they were so offended because Amber got upset about being thrown into elimination and confronted them about it.

After that, they (more specifically Fessy) seemingly never tried to mend the fences with her. He talked about it on The Challenge podcast once before. On Spies, Lies and Allies when Josh tried to include Amber in the BB alliance, Fessy said he thought Amber was still holding a grudge from the previous season, so even though Josh said not to worry about Amber, Fessy still worried about Amber. Even with Josh trying to repair the alliance and get them to talk and work together, Fessy never talked to Amber to smooth things over. Fessy never talked game with her or anything. He never tried to repair that "relationship" with her. He didn't see the need to. Therefore, Amber has just been an easy target for him. It's like "we threw her in, she whined about it, we didn't like that so eff her from this point on."

[LaurelleJ]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Umm... I'm iffy on Moriah being the weaker woman, at least physically, because she looks soooo fit. She looks like she would crush any of the other women in this elimination.

I would rank Amber, Nurys, Moriah, and Nany in that order, so I call Moriah weaker because she's in the bottom 2. I gave the edge to Amber because she's a vet and Nurys is a rookie, but I still think as a rookie Moriah is in better shape than Nany. 

 

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I didn't quite understand why Nany would choose Amber. That threw me off. What connection do they have that Nany would choose Amber to be safe?

My best guess is that it had to do with vets sticking together, because if Amber were main vote and either Moriah or Nurys pulled the safe dagger, each would save the other rookie. Once it was established that Nurys was the main vote, Nany was completely safe because she knew both Amber and Moriah would save her if she didn't pull the safe dagger. I wish Nany had pulled the safe dagger though, because she would have picked Moriah to appease Bananas, and Fessy by way of Kaycee, and Amber would have been pissed. 

[AntFTW]

40 minutes ago, LaurelleJ said:

I would rank Amber, Nurys, Moriah, and Nany in that order, so I call Moriah weaker because she's in the bottom 2. I gave the edge to Amber because she's a vet and Nurys is a rookie, but I still think as a rookie Moriah is in better shape than Nany. 

 

My best guess is that it had to do with vets sticking together, because if Amber were main vote and either Moriah or Nurys pulled the safe dagger, each would save the other rookie. Once it was established that Nurys was the main vote, Nany was completely safe because she knew both Amber and Moriah would save her if she didn't pull the safe dagger. I wish Nany had pulled the safe dagger though, because she would have picked Moriah to appease Bananas, and Fessy by way of Kaycee, and Amber would have been pissed. 

I thought that Moriah would have went to Amber before she went to Nany because her and Amber seem like they have a tighter relationship BUT at the same time, Amber is politically useless. Her and Chauncey are on an island of their own. They don’t really have many allies. Politically, it’s a smarter move for Moriah to save Nany over Amber.

[Drogo]

Jordan’s a little shit who no one should be inviting into bed.  That’s all. 
 

Also we’re missing the “Nelly: Ride (or die) Wit Me” from the episode title which makes it punny.

[shantown]

12 hours ago, Drogo said:

Jordan’s a little shit who no one should be inviting into bed.  That’s all. 
 

Also we’re missing the “Nelly: Ride (or die) Wit Me” from the episode title which makes it punny.

Fixed that, thank you!

[AntFTW]

I just randomly thought about the fact that we don’t get Challenge bus drama anymore. Like Cara cheating on Abram with Tom at the back of the Challenge bus; like Tony cheating on his baby mama by kissing Camilla on the bus; like Cara and Aneesa arguing on the bus; like Cory body slamming Tony as soon as they got off the bus.

No Challenge bus drama at all anymore.

[jsm1125]

Was it just me, or did Nelson say “bottom of the potem” instead of “totem” in a confessional?

[Unclejosh]

I think I read that as soon as she left the show Nurys told Jordan she was into someone else and peaced out.  Sounds like it was just a showmance for her. Nothing serious and he was there to pass the time.

[Jillibean]

I can't decide whether or not Moriah seems like a good competitor. She has endurance, for sure, but she seems about as bright as Fessy. 

On 12/22/2022 at 10:43 AM, MMLEsq said:

Some (most?) of the questions weren't even trivia -- they were basic knowledge (a math problem? and an easy one to boot) or personal knowledge about their partner.   

I could probably give Jordan a pass on the spelling of Aneesa's last name, but Fessy was so off on how many siblings Moriah has that it makes me wonder if they're just passing acquaintances -- they're certainly not "ride or die"s.  Which makes me wonder:  were the questions specifically drafted for each person?  If the spin had landed on Devin, would he have been asked how to spell Tori's last name (Deal)?  If the questions were not random, then it seems a little unfair because, arguably, some of the questions were so easy (Adam and Eve, even though Kaycee inexplicably got it wrong) and some were harder (the two singers on "Empire State of Mind," for example).   

It was really weird to me that the Challenge seemed to draw attention to its own lack of caring about the concept for this season by showing just how little some of the people they cast as "ride or die" teams know each other. I mean, we might have speculated that Moriah and Fessy barely know each other, but now we know for sure because the show TOLD us. I don't get it.

Tori's last name is actually spelled Dehel. She changed it to Deal as her sort of "stage name." So that question actually could have been quite difficult, if only because Devin wouldn't know which last name they meant. But unlike some of these other teams, I do imagine Devin knows the spelling of both Tori's real and fake last names. They seem to have become very close. I sort of wonder why she doesn't date HIM. 

[millennium]

On 12/22/2022 at 1:50 PM, Lantern7 said:

A part of me is hoping that the over-saturation of The Challenge would lead to the franchise's demise because it's not that exciting.

Two words: alcohol restrictions.

No alcohol, no excitement.   80% of all memorable Challenge scenes can probably be attributed to intoxication.   Now though, nobody is getting "over-saturated" in that sense.   Bananas has complained that they are limited to something like two drinks now (his complaint seemed to be more on the order of "I'm a 40-year-old man and they're telling me how much I can drink" rather than from a desire to drink copious amounts of alcohol.)  But think about it -- when's the last time we saw somebody drunk on The Challenge?

On 12/23/2022 at 1:06 PM, AntFTW said:

I just randomly thought about the fact that we don’t get Challenge bus drama anymore. Like Cara cheating on Abram with Tom at the back of the Challenge bus; like Tony cheating on his baby mama by kissing Camilla on the bus; like Cara and Aneesa arguing on the bus; like Cory body slamming Tony as soon as they got off the bus.

No Challenge bus drama at all anymore.

See above.   Plus, I don't believe they go to actual bars anymore.   For the past couple seasons they walked ten feet from the Challenge House to a prop bar in a tent where they would all pose and pretend for the camera that they were having the time of their lives, an act that got cringier every week as the number of remaining players dwindled.   This season they may be in a real bar but it appears to be closed off to the general public so they still put on that "look at all the fun we're having by ourselves" routine.   The Challenge filming environment is very controlled now, with Bananas saying you can't even use the bathroom without asking permission from production or if you stray ten feet out of the proscribed filming zone -- for example, beyond the perimeter of the Challenge House yard -- a team of security guards swoops in.

I keep hearing viewers voicing suspicions that the show is "scripted."   Maybe it just seems that way because 99% of the spontaneity we all used to love has been stripped from the show, probably by MTV liability lawyers. 

On 12/22/2022 at 8:05 AM, Jillibean said:

And yes, Tori has behaved badly in the past and admitted as such--but 1) Jordan wasn't on the show when she was flirting with Fessy and 2) HE broke up with HER. I really enjoyed Jordan on All Stars 3 and I thought I was happy to have him back here, but man, he is still fully capable of being a real jerk. And a sexist one at that, who is way too busy being smug about how awful Tori is to see that he is being so, so much worse. 

I have always admired Jordan, but his "I'm just finding some comfort in another person" explanation is disingenuous.  He's not even doing a great job of kidding himself.   He's punishing Tori for her relationship with Fessy.   True, Jordan wasn't on the show when Tori flirted with Fessy.   And they weren't physically together when Tori had her vacation fling with Fessy.   But it all happened as they were just breaking up and the pain was still raw.  It was the nail in the coffin, so to speak (IIRC, Jordan and Tori officially split when she got back from that vacation).  So yes, Jordan wasn't on hand personally for Tori's hijinks (although she now describes Fessy as a terrible mistake she can't take back) but he was subjected to it through social media, etc.   And he's there now, and Tori's there now, and so is Fessy, and how can Jordan not be thinking about that?   Despite their protestations, I think Jordan and Tori are still in love but there's too much pain and pride and stubbornness in the way.   It's sad to see, really.

 

On 12/25/2022 at 3:19 PM, Jillibean said:

They seem to have become very close. I sort of wonder why she doesn't date HIM. 

Because Devin's gross?

Edited December 27, 2022 by millennium

[DEL901]

Just a thought on the complaint above that they don’t go to bars anymore:  Covid 19.

[aghst]

What would they do if some players came down with it?

Maybe mild or no symptoms but presumably still infectious?

TAR sent a team home when they came down with it, even though they don't share living and sleeping spaces like they do on The Challenge.

If someone developed symptoms like fever, fatigue, uncontrolled coughing -- which are still considered mild symptoms -- that could be inopportune if they had to do something strenuous on a particular day.

People aren't scared of going out to bars and restaurants full of strangers but if their temporary roommate was visibly sick with the above symptoms which could impede their performance for a Daily or elimination, they might not want to share the room with that person.

 

 

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

See above.   Plus, I don't believe they go to actual bars anymore.   For the past couple seasons they walked ten feet from the Challenge House to a prop bar in a tent where they would all pose and pretend for the camera that they were having the time of their lives, an act that got cringier every week as the number of remaining players dwindled.   This season they may be in a real bar but it appears to be closed off to the general public so they still put on that "look at all the fun we're having by ourselves" routine.   The Challenge filming environment is very controlled now, with Bananas saying you can't even use the bathroom without asking permission from production or if you stray ten feet out of the proscribed filming zone -- for example, beyond the perimeter of the Challenge House yard -- a team of security guards swoops in.

I keep hearing viewers voicing suspicions that the show is "scripted."   Maybe it just seems that way because 99% of the spontaneity we all used to love has been stripped from the show, probably by MTV liability lawyers. 

28 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Just a thought on the complaint above that they don’t go to bars anymore:  Covid 19.

Even before the COVID seasons. I don't think we got any Challenge bus scenes on WOTW and WOTW2. The last I can recall at this very moment (because my memory isn't all that great) is from Dirty 30. We got Cory body slamming Tony when they got off the bus on Final Reckoning, but that was more "bus-adjacent" than on the actual bus.

Edited December 27, 2022 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

24 minutes ago, aghst said:

What would they do if some players came down with it?

Maybe mild or no symptoms but presumably still infectious?

IIRC if someone had it, they got kicked off the show. Didn't they say Nam came down with it, I think on Spies, Lies and Allies, and that's why he was on the first episode and then disappeared?

[Jillibean]

23 hours ago, millennium said:

I have always admired Jordan, but his "I'm just finding some comfort in another person" explanation is disingenuous.  He's not even doing a great job of kidding himself.   He's punishing Tori for her relationship with Fessy.   True, Jordan wasn't on the show when Tori flirted with Fessy.   And they weren't physically together when Tori had her vacation fling with Fessy.   But it all happened as they were just breaking up and the pain was still raw.  It was the nail in the coffin, so to speak (IIRC, Jordan and Tori officially split when she got back from that vacation).  So yes, Jordan wasn't on hand personally for Tori's hijinks (although she now describes Fessy as a terrible mistake she can't take back) but he was subjected to it through social media, etc.   And he's there now, and Tori's there now, and so is Fessy, and how can Jordan not be thinking about that?   Despite their protestations, I think Jordan and Tori are still in love but there's too much pain and pride and stubbornness in the way.   It's sad to see, really.

 

 

I absolutely think so too. There seem to be so many feelings there, and there's clearly such a draw between them. That's why I think it was foolish for Nurys to involve herself. It reminded me a lot of Jodi/Mark/Robin or Diem/CT/Anastasia. Why would you want to insert yourself in between two people, both veterans of this show, who not only have a history but who still have very strong feelings even post-relationship? I wouldn't be surprised if Jordan decided to pursue Nurys in part to prevent himself from getting back together with Tori. 

Quote

Because Devin's gross?

Well yes, but...isn't Tori sort of gross, too?

[AntFTW]

40 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

Jodi/Mark/Robin

Whoa whoa whoa! There was a Jodi, Mark and Robin love triangle?

[Jillibean]

12 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Whoa whoa whoa! There was a Jodi, Mark and Robin love triangle?

Oh my gosh, it was amazing. On Gauntlet II, Mark and Robin were already broken up, but they had had a "real" relationship off the show and there were obviously still a lot of feelings there. Jodi had apparently hooked up with Mark sometime after the break-up and off the show in what seemed to be, on his end, a short term fling, and on her end, a meaningful romance. So Jodi basically cracked under the pressure of watching Robin and Mark be all loving and caring toward each other during a bar night and confided in Beth about the dalliance. Beth then gleefully ran to Robin and told her Jodi and Mark had hooked up. When Robin said, "I knew that already," because Mark had told her, Beth pressed on to say that Mark had told Jodi that he loved her, and Robin then flipped out at that specific part. So then Robin confronted Mark and they got into a big drunken argument over whether or not Mark had told Jodi he loved her, with the main point being that of course he doesn't love her, while Jodi sat around ignored and crying, a secondary character in the argument that was about her. And then Mark punched the bus they were on. Just to bring this back around to bus drama that no longer happens.

With regard to that: cast members have said that the reason bus drama was "cancelled" is that it's hard to film on the bus and the cast got so good at covering for each other that the crew was missing some major stuff (for instance, the cast would sing songs so that MTV wouldn't be able to air any of that footage), so they instated a rule that the cast had to sit silently during all bus rides. And the the pandemic happened, and they started building the "bar" on their own property. But in terms of the last time cast members were actually allowed to go to a bar with people in it that they could socialize with...maybe Bloodlines or around that era? 

[Miss chi chi]

Olivia’s strappy tops are NOOOT flattering.

[Lantern7]

1 minute ago, Miss chi chi said:

Olivia’s strappy tops are NOOOT flattering.

I find myself in disagreement. 😈 👿 👿

[millennium]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:31 PM, Jillibean said:

Well yes, but...isn't Tori sort of gross, too?

Physically, I think Tori's a beautiful young woman.   In terms of hookups, she's as gross as any of them in the Challenge House.   It's  almost incestuous how they jump from player to player, not only in the closed environment of the show while in production, but in the off-season, too.   Ashley, for example.  I've always liked Ashley but it's pretty common knowledge that she's been with Nelson on and off over the past couple years.   When I heard that, all my Smashley love just kind of ... curdled.   Nelson?   And then Tori with Fessy ... wtf?   Fessy is one of the top 5 most boring Challengers of all time.  Now Bananas is with Moriah.   He had her on his podcast following this episode.    I tuned in but didn't last 20 minutes.   Listening to Moriah talk is like listening to paint dry.   Vapid, unintelligent and maddeningly uninteresting.   I don't get it.  Bananas is a smart guy who likes to banter.   How can he stand it?   And how many Challengers has Jordan gone through?   Sarah, Laurel, Tori, Nia, Nurys ... when Jordan got the call for All Stars he was on vacation with Georgia ...  Don't these folks know anyone in the real world? (no pun intended)

[DEL901]

4 hours ago, millennium said:

Physically, I think Tori's a beautiful young woman.   In terms of hookups, she's as gross as any of them in the Challenge House.   It's  almost incestuous how they jump from player to player, not only in the closed environment of the show while in production, but in the off-season, too.   Ashley, for example.  I've always liked Ashley but it's pretty common knowledge that she's been with Nelson on and off over the past couple years.   When I heard that, all my Smashley love just kind of ... curdled.   Nelson?   And then Tori with Fessy ... wtf?   Fessy is one of the top 5 most boring Challengers of all time.  Now Bananas is with Moriah.   He had her on his podcast following this episode.    I tuned in but didn't last 20 minutes.   Listening to Moriah talk is like listening to paint dry.   Vapid, unintelligent and maddeningly uninteresting.   I don't get it.  Bananas is a smart guy who likes to banter.   How can he stand it?   And how many Challengers has Jordan gone through?   Sarah, Laurel, Tori, Nia, Nurys ... when Jordan got the call for All Stars he was on vacation with Georgia ...  Don't these folks know anyone in the real world? (no pun intended)

It is the same in the Bachelor world.   They may not hook up with anyone but the lead during the show due to the gender imbalance (exception is Bachelor in Paradise which has multiple of each gender that changes week to week  and a lot of hooking up), but they all go to Bachelor events and get togethers and do a lot of dating/hooking up.