S38.E18: The Hours

[shantown]

Quote

An injury threatens one pair's fate in the game, a gruesome feast brings out the competitive eater in one player and the tensions between a Ride or Die pair leads to an explosive argument.

Airs Wednesday, February 8, at 8:00 pm eastern on MTV

[AntFTW]

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by AntFTW

[Lantern7]

FYI: Tomorrow night’s episode is sixty minutes long, not ninety.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Lantern7

[AntFTW]

I hate eating challenges. 🤮

[jsm1125]

Was it really Jordan’s fault that Aneesa injured herself? People get injured on flat roads constantly, who’s to say she wouldn’t have twisted her ankle had they not tried to take a shortcut?

[AntFTW]

7 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

Was it really Jordan’s fault that Aneesa injured herself? People get injured on flat roads constantly, who’s to say she wouldn’t have twisted her ankle had they not tried to take a shortcut?

Well, all we have is what did happened so I'd say he's partially to blame. He knew the partner he had and that she was a little slow on runs and wanted to take a slight shortcut on uneven terrain.

On the other end, she could have chosen to stay on the flat surface despite her partner's urging her to veer off course.

Edited February 9, 2023 by AntFTW

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I hate eating challenges. 🤮

Like I said, I think the franchise is propped up by a Puke fetish community. On the other hand, this was what ran through my head: “🎶vomit on his jersey already . . . Teege’s spaghetti. . . 🎶”

Next week should be fun. Going to an event in the city to watch the finale, wondering how far Horacio & Olivia could have gone if it wasn’t for her accident. At this point, a triple disqualification is probably the best ending, even if BMP decided to give the money to Fessy and What’s-Her-Name.

At least the soundtrack has been on point. “Last Resort” is a fitting song for any finale.

[aghst]

Doesn't seem like Devin and Tori got enough of a lead for finishing way before the others.

Didn't they each start just a couple of minutes later after Devin and Tori left to run towards the cars?

In any even the eating challenge flipped the game or at least that day's results.

Then they all run towards the helicopter.  Presumably Banany goes on the copter first?

Nany says her knee hurt but seemed okay the next morning running and pushing the car.

 

[mojoween]

Other than Aneesa’s gross ankle that was a nothingburger of an episode.  They could have cut out almost the entire vomiting challenge and had the ep be two hours rather than dragging this out.

[Jillibean]

9 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Was it really Jordan’s fault that Aneesa injured herself? People get injured on flat roads constantly, who’s to say she wouldn’t have twisted her ankle had they not tried to take a shortcut?

It wasn't. Rolled ankles happen, and while it might have been a bit more likely to happen on an uneven terrain than on a road, it's ultimately not anyone's fault that Aneesa caught her foot the wrong way on a stick. 

What IS Jordan's fault is his attitude and behavior once Aneesa's injury occurred. That was a lot of ugliness in a relatively short period of time. Just because Jordan ran a final on a fractured knee (and still won) doesn't mean anyone else should want to or have to run a final while injured. I get the sense that he didn't believe her until he saw how bad it was when the medic was working on it. And, let's be honest, Aneesa was never going to win this final. But watching her be verbally abused while she moved herself along on her injured ankle to the point where she looked as low as I have ever seen her on two decades of this show was rough.

The contrast between Tori and Devin and Aneesa and Jordan was so stark and I have to imagine the editors highlighted those moments on purpose. Devin, who is the self-proclaimed brains of the operation and very proud of it, took Tori's feedback on both puzzles and gave her credit. Jordan told Aneesa she was wrong and there was no pattern. Tori told Devin not to speak to her a certain way and when she returned he apologized. Aneesa told Jordan not to speak to her a certain way and it had no apparent effect until a day later when he became one with the forest or whatever.

And through all of it Nany and Johnny provide comedic hijinks as they yell at each other and help each other like a couple who has been married for forty years. I hate him, but I'll give him credit--he doesn't lambast Nany for making mistakes. They yell at each other and bicker and keep going. I've actually really enjoyed the partnerships this season. In some ways it's more fun to watch people who get along in real life work together than people who dislike each other. It comes with history and connection and a different set of pressures. Which is maybe why Jordan and Aneesa are such a mess; they're clearly a "stunt cast," and don't have anything like the foundation the other teams in the final have.

In conclusion, Tori, please date Devin instead of Jordan. 

[AntFTW]

33 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

What IS Jordan's fault is his attitude and behavior once Aneesa's injury occurred. That was a lot of ugliness in a relatively short period of time. Just because Jordan ran a final on a fractured knee (and still won) doesn't mean anyone else should want to or have to run a final while injured. I get the sense that he didn't believe her until he saw how bad it was when the medic was working on it. And, let's be honest, Aneesa was never going to win this final. But watching her be verbally abused while she moved herself along on her injured ankle to the point where she looked as low as I have ever seen her on two decades of this show was rough.

The contrast between Tori and Devin and Aneesa and Jordan was so stark and I have to imagine the editors highlighted those moments on purpose. Devin, who is the self-proclaimed brains of the operation and very proud of it, took Tori's feedback on both puzzles and gave her credit. Jordan told Aneesa she was wrong and there was no pattern. Tori told Devin not to speak to her a certain way and when she returned he apologized. Aneesa told Jordan not to speak to her a certain way and it had no apparent effect until a day later when he became one with the forest or whatever.

I felt that the biggest way they highlighted the absolute shit show that Aneesa and Jordan is was during the puzzle in which Aneesa saw the pattern and Jordan absolutely refused to listen. Sure, Aneesa can’t run a few feet without taking a break but the one thing she’s not-so-bad at is puzzles. That was one of the times she would be a helpful teammate and he just refused to let her be helpful.

[mojoween]

47 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

What IS Jordan's fault is his attitude and behavior once Aneesa's injury occurred.

That snappish “now I see why it’s been 13 years” made me want to fly back in time and slap him.  That was beyond the pale.

John rolls with Nany, but she is too high-strung to return that favor.

[Lola82]

Omg the death stare Johnny gave when he saw the ice cream course was everything. 

[MaggieG]

I had to look away whenever they showed Johnny and Nany eating. That was disgusting.

I'm rooting for Devin and Tori at this point. 

I did laugh at them putting subtitles for the cows.

[aghst]

I think Aneesa's lack of fitness and weight made it more likely she'd turn her ankle or get injured in another way.

NBA teams do what is called load management to limit the amount of minutes their star players play.  They cite research showing that fatigue leads to more injuries.

These are the most fit people on earth but they know there's a threshold where fatigue makes them movement less stable and that is when injuries occur.

When you're tired and you can't plant your feet as you run in a consistent manner, that is where you can roll an ankle.

The uneven terrain doesn't help but it could also happen on flat surfaces if fatigue makes your feet not land consistently as you run.

Jordan's attitude probably didn't help though.

[shantown]

I give Aneesa huge props though for continuing to push through (and push a car) with the ankle injury. When they showed it all purple and swollen it looked like it would be very painful to keep walking on. And then Jordan outright ignoring her when she was pointing out the correct solution to the puzzle! She kept her cool much better than I would have. 

The teamwork of Tori/Devin and Johnny/Nany does make me enjoy this "ride or die" theme. After all the seasons with exes or rivals it's nice to see pairs that really do have a solid, positive connection to each other. And I do think it is contributing to their success.

Honestly, I'd be happy with any team that wins. I'm actually invested to see how it all turns out - I can't gauge if arriving to the campsite first is really giving much of an advantage at all. Will it all come down to a final footrace up a mountain to the finish line? Or will time really come back to be that much of a factor? Right now it seems like they are loosely counting the "100 hours" as a total time it takes all groups to complete, not necessarily as a "100 hours from start to finish" thing. But again, hard to tell from the editing.

[aghst]

If Olivia didn't get injured, likely they would have ganged up on Olivia and Horatio, try to hurt them like they did with the sling shots and the bola task (drinking the shake) or they wouldn't have cooperated on the puzzles like Aneesa and Jordan did with Banany.

Because they're younger and likely to outrun them.  Also it's safer to hurt or freeze out relative unknowns rather than vets with whom you may have relationships outside the game or maybe potential allies in future seasons.

However, I think the thing that makes them good for the final, their fitness, probably makes them vulnerable for the mass food eating tasks, probably would have really hampered them.

 

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, shantown said:

I give Aneesa huge props though for continuing to push through (and push a car) with the ankle injury. When they showed it all purple and swollen it looked like it would be very painful to keep walking on. And then Jordan outright ignoring her when she was pointing out the correct solution to the puzzle! She kept her cool much better than I would have. 

I give her props for that too. I'm a pretty in-shape person but if I sprained my ankle, I'm not doing shit. I'm not running. I'm not pushing a car. I'm not doing any of that. I'm sitting on a dirt road and crying if I need to. My partner would have just had to be mad at me so that they go ahead and get over it.

Edited February 10, 2023 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, shantown said:

Honestly, I'd be happy with any team that wins. I'm actually invested to see how it all turns out - I can't gauge if arriving to the campsite first is really giving much of an advantage at all. Will it all come down to a final footrace up a mountain to the finish line? Or will time really come back to be that much of a factor? Right now it seems like they are loosely counting the "100 hours" as a total time it takes all groups to complete, not necessarily as a "100 hours from start to finish" thing. But again, hard to tell from the editing.

I'm confused at what they're winning at the end of each checkpoint. I can't tell if they're competing for overall time to be counted at the end or just for an advantage at the next stage.

For the last couple of finals, I feel like at each stage or checkpoint that they were just competing to win an advantage at the next stage. Then, at the final stage for the money, it's just a foot race to finish first. I feel like that's what is happening on this final but I'm not sure.

Separately, I want it sooooo bad for Nany that I'm willing to see Johnny win an 8th time. I'd like to see Tori win but Devin, not so much.

[tinderbox]

I understand the winning pair will split one million dollars.  Will the second and third place teams win any money at all?  I remember runners up on other seasons did take home a lesser dollar prize.  Thank you.

[DEL901]

7 minutes ago, tinderbox said:

I understand the winning pair will split one million dollars.  Will the second and third place teams win any money at all?  I remember runners up on other seasons did take home a lesser dollar prize.  Thank you.

It hasn’t been announced.  Two seasons ago, TJ told them the breakdown at F8.  Last season, the winners got to decide if they’d give the 2nd and 3rd place couples any money.  Sometimes, one member of the winning couple gets to decide to keep everything.   We still don’t know how it will work and neither to the contestants.  

[LaurelleJ]

This wasn't the most entertaining episode. That swamp looked disgusting, it can't be safe. TJ continuing to laugh at their pain is hilarious. Good on Tori and later Aneesa picking up on the pattern recognition for the puzzle. 

When they showed the cars my first thought was they would be driving in the final?? Then TJ said he didn't put motors in the ars. He's so wacky, and he cracks himself up which cracks me up. Who thinks of this stuff???

Spaghetti and bread. Well at least it's not bull testicles. Carbo loading. I was looking at the spaghetti hoping it was at least coated with something like olive oil so they aren't just eating plain cooked noodles. More puking, yuck. Are there no focus groups telling them that people don't like to watch puking? Nany puked in Bananas pocket, now that was funny. The close up of Nany's face when TJ brought out the ice cream was hilarious. I'm with Aneesa, I hate chocolate ice cream. Smart of Nany to make it a milkshake. 

Maybe I'm not paying enough attention but it seems like winning the checkpoints isn't giving enough of an advantage. I guess I will see next week. Even though Bananas and Nany pulled into the lead, I still think this is Tori and Devin's final to lose. 

[AncientNewbie]

I'm not big on the extended vomit scenes, but I'll give them credit for some parts of the spaghetti checkpoint. There were good shots of various horrified expressions, either from the food or from Johnny's new pocket contents. Like I've said before, I have an inexplicable soft spot for Nany, even after all these years, so watching her be a beast was well received in our house. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by AncientNewbie

[AntFTW]

Nany thinking Johnny was serious about feeding him the food in her mouth and chewing it for her was kinda funny.

21 hours ago, Lola82 said:

Omg the death stare Johnny gave when he saw the ice cream course was everything. 

The death stare was hilarious. Everything was fun and games until the ice cream came out.

Edited February 10, 2023 by AntFTW

[Midwestern Lady]

I wish they would show finishing times.  I didn't understand the timing of the car push because they were all right there together for the most part.     

[angelamh66]

I feel compelled to share that while that might have been the first time TJ saw anyone puke in someone's pocket, it is not the first time that has happened. I was a child and the flower girl in a family wedding. I was sick that day but powered through for the most part. Once it was ok for us to leave the reception, my dad picked me up to carry me out of the reception. We stopped at the bride's table to say goodbye. Cue me puking everywhere.. including in the pocket of my dad's suit jacket. Good times. 

Back to the show... I do wonder how Horacio and Olivia would be doing at this stage. I still think they were built for this kind of thing and would be hanging in near the lead with a definite shot at a win. Oh what could have been... 

 

[DEL901]

A friend’s “vomit pants” story is epic.   I’ll spare you the set up, but…. Girl was over served at a bar. Girl goes into washroom to pee.  Girl sits down on toilet.  Girl realizes she has to puke.  Girl looks down and can see porcelain between her knees.   Girl decides that if she spreads her knees further, she can puke into the toilet without standing up.  Girl was wrong and puked into her pants.  

I was wondering how Fessy would have handled this eating challenge…he doesn’t like weird stuff and would have had problems at the bolo challenge…but spaghetti, bread and ice cream?

[bunnyface]

4 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I was wondering how Fessy would have handled this eating challenge…he doesn’t like weird stuff and would have had problems at the bolo challenge…but spaghetti, bread and ice cream?

Whatever happened, it would have been his partner's fault.

[AntFTW]

5 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I was wondering how Fessy would have handled this eating challenge…he doesn’t like weird stuff and would have had problems at the bolo challenge…but spaghetti, bread and ice cream?

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

Whatever happened, it would have been his partner's fault.

[ImpinAintEasy]

I’m assuming they would have had an elimination between the 3rd and 4th place teams had Olivia not been injured. And supposedly they edited out two legs of the final this episode, but even so, what is the point of going hard and pushing yourself before the final stage if  90 seconds is the only lead you get? 
 

They need to make the final a straight up race held over 1 day. Whichever team or person finishes all of the legs first wins. No condensing a 30 minute lead on one leg down to 30 seconds on the next one. 
 

I think Banany is going to win. Whatever.  What’s an 8th title at this point? You can’t convince me this shit isn’t at least tilted in their favor, if not out right rigged. If it means Nany retires, at least that’s some consolation. 

[snarts]

What's the point in finishing any of the legs first if it's just doing to be footrace on the final day?  Go slow and avoid injuring yourself or gassing out. If I were a contestant, I'd be annoyed with the lack of defined rules. So easy for production to influence the outcome by playing to their faves strengths on the final winner take all day. Heck, I feel like they're making it up as they go along.

This was such a filler episode unless you're into puke porn. Making the finals longer and longer only makes them less exciting and enjoyable to watch. Wake me up when we have a winner.

[AntFTW]

4 minutes ago, snarts said:

What's the point in finishing any of the legs first if it's just doing to be footrace on the final day?

I don't know but that's how they've been doing it. I guess we'll see an elimination on the next episode , which I expected initially but that expectation dropped after Olivia was medically DQed.

In seasons 35, 36 and 37, the final leg for the money was just a footrace to finish first. Each leg before that was just for an advantage like being safe from elimination and/or picking someone to be in elimination, for a head start of a few seconds on the next checkpoint, or having the option of picking a new partner. I'm guessing the same thing is happening this time.

[aghst]

In some other Finals, they did say there would be a point system depending on how they finished each portion or leg.

I think based on that, this was where Ashley got more points than her partner and was given an option of taking all the winnings, not split it.

Of course they never showed how the points were adding up.  At the end they just said Ashley had more points.

So The Challenge always had this potential for shenanigans because of the lack of transparency.  The challengers either go along with whatever TJ says or maybe they're told something more off camera than the viewer ever see.  

Really it's old technology to show individual or team cumulative times on screen, or points or whatever.

They've been doing this for 40 years now so if they wanted to ,they could always display how the different challengers stand at different parts of the Final.

They don't show it in the Final or in the regular episodes with the Daily and eliminations.  Well in some eliminations, they will have elapsed time when it involves both challengers doing something which takes a long time for one of them to give up, like say a tug of war or something, some brief displays of time elapsed.

But it's easier to manipulate results without transparency.  Not saying they are manipulating results but it's so much easier for them to do so, with viewers having no idea where the challengers stand relative to each other after say 50 hours or 75 hours or going into the final few hours.

If they were playing favorites, it would be easier to make some older players more competitive in Finals which has long running and swimming portions.  So if there were real fit 22-year olds going up against 40 year olds who smoked or something, they don't show the times.  

[AntFTW]

21 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

I think Banany is going to win. Whatever.  What’s an 8th title at this point?

Imagine that! Hell freezing over. Pigs flying. Nany becoming a Challenge Champion, ending her 500-year drought.

Sometimes it takes a while. It took CT like 8 seasons to win. It took Cara Maria 7 or 8 seasons to win. It happens.

Edited February 12, 2023 by AntFTW

[falltime]

Watching all that vomit. Watching banany eat

Their horrified faces when the ice cream came out.😆

[jsm1125]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Imagine that! Hell freezing over. Pigs flying. Nany becoming a Challenge Champion, ending her 500-year drought.

Sometimes it takes a while. It look CT like 8 seasons to win. It took Cara Maria 7 or 8 seasons to win. It happens.

It also took Brad, Paula and Sarah Rice 8 seasons to win as well. Nany and Aneesa, on the other hand, are in double digit challenges already. 

[AntFTW]

6 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

It also took Brad, Paula and Sarah Rice 8 seasons to win as well. Nany and Aneesa, on the other hand, are in double digit challenges already. 

One thing this made me think of and chuckle at was a moment when Jenn and Paula were arguing, and Jenn says to Paula something like "you're on your 6th season. Win one!" That was funny coming from Jenn because Jenn was on her 5th season, and also had not won.

I think that was on Cutthroat.

Edited February 12, 2023 by AntFTW

[angelamh66]

22 hours ago, AntFTW said:

One thing this made me think of and chuckle at was a moment when Jenn and Paula were arguing, and Jenn says to Paula something like "you're on your 6th season. Win one!" That was funny coming from Jenn because Jenn was on her 5th season, and also had not won.

I think that was on Cutthroat.

Oh Jenn… she was the queen of riding coattails to get far in the game. She sucked though.