S38.E20: Reunion Part 1

[shantown]

Quote

Maria Menounos is back and so are the dreaded daggers.

Airs Wednesday, February 22, at 8:00 pm eastern on MTV

[AntFTW]

Spoiler

 

Reunion promo clip from the Challenge twitter

Edited February 21, 2023 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

This was probably the most entertaining reunion I’ve watched in a long time. All that drama and tension in the reunion should have been sprinkled throughout the season.

[jsm1125]

What I so want someone to just flat out say at a reunion: Devin, Tori, Aneesa, Faysal, Kaycee and Nany are part of a friendship group outside of the game and are never going to vote for each other. And it doesn’t make the politics very interesting to watch, like during the days of Johnny, Evan, Kenny and their hanger ons.

Ugh, Laurel and Michele as allies could have had potential. 

Veronica looked…off to me at the reunion.  But I so loved her calling out Bananas for being historically terrible to women. Wonder if she was thinking of Hannah Teeter when she was talking about the Dirty 30 era?

Edited February 23, 2023 by jsm1125

[aghst]

Only thing I can recall is Nurys bragging about her golden pussy.

These players get made up and try to get notice, yapping at each other or having some fake emotional moments like them being happy about Ambers pregnancy.

 

The Challenge must be big time to fly almost the whole cast to London, very expensive city.  Do these reunion episodes get as high ratings as the regular episodes?

 

[Jillibean]

10 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Veronica looked…off to me at the reunion.  But I so loved her calling out Bananas for being historically terrible to women. Wonder if she was thinking of Hannah Teeter when she was talking about the Dirty 30 era?

Yes, that would have been Hannah whom she was strongly implying she saw him cheat on after Dirty 30. Veronica also engaged with Morgan on twitter to support her after Morgan went public about their breakup. So I think Veronica is very well positioned to argue that Johnny isn’t good to romantic partners.  
 

And Johnny was so all over the place trying to get her to stop, first telling her not to say anything, then saying she could say whatever she wanted. It made him seem guilty as heck. Which we all know he is. 
 

Nurys should maybe speak to a doctor because I don’t think what she was describing sounds healthy. 

[Midwestern Lady]

Veronica looked different and her vibe was weird to me.  I always laugh at Darrell's laid back vibe.  I am a Darrell fan.   Laurel and Michelle paired up in a future Challenge event would be so much fun to watch.  

  Did Jay and Kaycee go to the same hat store?    

[sara416]

I'm going to sound like a Boomer here, but these women have WAY TOO MUCH makeup on! I wouldn't have recognized Olivia if she wasn't sitting with Horacio. They all looked better when they were running the final, exhausted and make up free. And was anyone else just waiting for one of Tori's boobs to pop out of that shirt? It didn't really seem to fit right. 

[angelamh66]

Aneesa looked fantastic. Tori looked like she had been dipped in spray tan. And I still don't know why I need to care about Nurys and David. He was on the show for a minute. I don't yet care about them and may never. 

Jordan... never apologize to Fessy for anything. Ever. 

Michelle is overwrought and I can see why she annoys people but I cannot help but root for her to actually do what she says she needs to - which is make decisions and own it. Stop worrying about everyone's feelings because none of them are worried about hers. I still think she can be a powerhouse in the Challenge if she comes back and gets emotionally stronger. 

[mojoween]

Michelle still couldn’t explain why she voted for Laurel though and it was making me squirm on her behalf.

Tori’s shirt was beyond heinous.  Amber’s bump was adorable.

[Jobiska]

6 hours ago, angelamh66 said:

Michelle is overwrought and I can see why she annoys people but I cannot help but root for her to actually do what she says she needs to - which is make decisions and own it. Stop worrying about everyone's feelings because none of them are worried about hers. I still think she can be a powerhouse in the Challenge if she comes back and gets emotionally stronger. 

And Tori, who had talked a lot during the season about working on her own self and issues, seemed to be honestly affirming of Michele saying all that.  

[shantown]

As for the "Is it cheating to help someone who's in an elimination?" question - I still say no. I think it's part of the social/politics part of the game. I think it's always been a part of eliminations to help your alliance or show loyalty to friends, going all the way back to wearing someone's extra jersey or team colors to which side of the arena people would stand on. As long as they don't jump down into the arena and do it for them I think shouting out directions is fine. 

I get why Michelle is mad - not only was no one shouting helpful directions to her, it was also interfering with her ability to hear her partner... so I'll have to rewatch to see if she was one of the vocal "NO!" responses to if it was unfair to Turbo. Can't have it both ways!

[MaggieG]

Ugh Laurel and Jakk. 

Everyone being happy for Amber was fake to me because they treated her so poorly all season. I'm not sure if it's something with the editing but Amber has always seemed nice to everyone so I've never understood people's issues with her. It seems like jealousy to me

I don't even care that much about the whole Nurys/Raven/Johnny drama but I'm kind of on Raven's side. She wasn't getting the emotional support from her partner and that's important in the challenge. Nurys was very mean girl in that moment. But also, Johnny is a fuckboy and Raven needs to stop with him. And then it seemed like she kinda slut shamed Nurys. So in conclusion, they all suck.

[joanne3482]

3 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Everyone being happy for Amber was fake to me because they treated her so poorly all season. I'm not sure if it's something with the editing but Amber has always seemed nice to everyone so I've never understood people's issues with her. It seems like jealousy to me

Amber & Chauncey were interviewed by Tori and Aneesa for the Official Challenge Podcast. She called them out for their treatment of her. Part of their excuse was that because of all of the years of doing the Challenge it was rare to come across someone without a hidden agenda and who who wasn't playing a character in the show so their reaction to her was based on their assumption that everyone is basically sketchy and coming from Big Brother enhances the sketch factor. I've forgotten the rest of their 'logic.'  It's been a few weeks since I listened to it, but I feel like they apologized to her, which she accepted. We'll see how that actually translates to a future challenge if she ever goes again.   

[AntFTW]

15 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Amber & Chauncey were interviewed by Tori and Aneesa for the Official Challenge Podcast. She called them out for their treatment of her. Part of their excuse was that because of all of the years of doing the Challenge it was rare to come across someone without a hidden agenda and who who wasn't playing a character in the show so their reaction to her was based on their assumption that everyone is basically sketchy and coming from Big Brother enhances the sketch factor. I've forgotten the rest of their 'logic.'  It's been a few weeks since I listened to it, but I feel like they apologized to her, which she accepted. We'll see how that actually translates to a future challenge if she ever goes again.   

On the podcast episode recapping this reunion, Tori says she got closer with Amber while filming World Championships. 

[bunnyface]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:21 PM, joanne3482 said:

Amber & Chauncey were interviewed by Tori and Aneesa for the Official Challenge Podcast. She called them out for their treatment of her. Part of their excuse was that because of all of the years of doing the Challenge it was rare to come across someone without a hidden agenda and who who wasn't playing a character in the show so their reaction to her was based on their assumption that everyone is basically sketchy and coming from Big Brother enhances the sketch factor. I've forgotten the rest of their 'logic.'  It's been a few weeks since I listened to it, but I feel like they apologized to her, which she accepted. We'll see how that actually translates to a future challenge if she ever goes again.   

What a weird bit of Regina George Mean Girl reasoning.  We assumed you were awful, so we treated you awfully, so really it's your fault for not being awful and being hurt instead.

[AntFTW]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:39 PM, MaggieG said:

I don't even care that much about the whole Nurys/Raven/Johnny drama but I'm kind of on Raven's side. She wasn't getting the emotional support from her partner and that's important in the challenge. Nurys was very mean girl in that moment. But also, Johnny is a fuckboy and Raven needs to stop with him. And then it seemed like she kinda slut shamed Nurys. So in conclusion, they all suck.

I have conflicting thought about Ravyn not getting the support she needed, and it's not Ravyn that's giving me conflicting thoughts but it is because she's a part of it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Ravyn needed support from her partner, but Johnny shouldn't been that person giving the support because he's a fuckboy... and yet, he was her partner (and I assume the only person she knew coming into the game) and therefore was the only person available for her to get that support.

To make this less complicated, they should have never been partners. They are bad for each other.

I didn't like that she slut shamed Nurys, especially because Nurys' sex life or love life had nothing to do with the discussion. Nurys having a sex life doesn't devalue her opinion on this topic so it felt like it came out of left field... but I understand that Ravyn may have felt attacked by both Nurys and Johnny at the same time, and felt he need to fire back at the most convenient thing.

Edited February 27, 2023 by AntFTW

[Lantern7]

In regard to filming the Reunion in London . . . I'm hoping some of them were able to bring family members with them. Specifically, I'm thinking of Kenny and Darrell. Especially Darrell. Imagine him pointing stuff out to his kids. "Aright, this here's Big Ben. I ain't ever seen a Ben that big! Hell, I don't think I even know a Ben, period." Also, is it safe to let a pregnant woman fly? Or is it a situation where it depends how pregnant she is?

I'm guessing Turbo will pop up via satellite next week, grousing about crowd participation while sharpening actual daggers, as I figure he often does. I know most of us have turned on him, but he's right . . .  minimum, helping people is poor sportsmanship. Also, look at Jay & Michele's exit. There's no way they could have overcome Jordan yelling at the top of his lungs. It's a no-win situation. Jay is a Golden Retriever posing as a human being. You think he could "step to" Jordan? I'm thinking that as impressive as Horacio's five wins were when his butt was on the line, two of them might be worthy of asterisks. I keep saying there should be a way to prevent participation beyond asking the crowd to shut up, but I know that's never gong to happen.

Jakk still reeks of trying too hard. I saw people on Facebook saying that Laurel wasn't fear-worthy. I think that she is, at least as a competitor. In her personal life? Who's to say? I can imagine Nicole trying to memorize escape routes any time she was in the same room as Laurel, and that was back when they were kindasorta a couple.

On 2/23/2023 at 9:45 AM, Midwestern Lady said:

 Did Jay and Kaycee go to the same hat store?    

"Smurfs Apparel"? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Also, the "Out of Context" guy did a poll about wardrobe choices, with Kaycee nicknamed "Papi Smurf." At least the hats haven't been run into the ground like Fessy's chains and turtleneck sweaters. Anytime I see him in that, I think of one line from "I Just Had Sex" by Lonely Island and Akon. I cued it up to the relevant part, but the whole song is fun.

I forgot there was another Johnny. I knew about Kenny, but not otherJohnny.

Here's this week's "Out of Context":

 

[aghst]

London hotels are at least $250 a night.

Well depending on the time of the year of course.

So doubtful MTV picked up the bill for the cast to bring their families and stay longer than needed to film the reunion.

[Lantern7]

4 hours ago, aghst said:

London hotels are at least $250 a night.

Well depending on the time of the year of course.

So doubtful MTV picked up the bill for the cast to bring their families and stay longer than needed to film the reunion.

It's nice to dream that they'd do the veterans right. And Kenny, if Kaycee qualifies for Favored Challenge status. He'd be a good plus-one after Nany, and he'd probably bail out if they got extra smoochy on each other.

[millennium]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:39 PM, MaggieG said:

I don't even care that much about the whole Nurys/Raven/Johnny drama but I'm kind of on Raven's side.

For a minute there I thought I was watching some other show I'd never watch.  

i thought Nurys was beautiful during the season.   Overly made-up at the reunion, boasting about her vagina, she seemed hopelessly basic.  Even so, why would she waste herself on Nelson?

Speaking of make-up ... Laurel?   Did Jakk do that to her?