S01.E06: Brave New World

[shantown]

Quote

Resentment, distrust, and uncertainty linger in the aftermath of a chaotic nominations. Some competitors soar while others crash down at the Rocketman challenge. A scorned player destroys an alliance to protect themselves and their partner.

Available April 5 on Paramount+

[AntFTW]

Ok, I didn't expect Kiki and Darrell to pick Ben and Kaycee for elimination. I expected them to pick one of the Aussies. For the same reasons that Darrell says they picked Ben and Kaycee (for trying to manipulate the Aussies), the same can be said about Yes and Emily. Both Troy and Kiki know that Emily got Kiki thrown into the first elimination to force Grant's hand to vote for Kaz and hoping he wouldn't budge.

I liked Wes and Zara as a partnership. I thought they were really good together. This elimination was just the worst possible elimination that Zara could get. Zara is dyslexic so she can't do the math, and I don't think she would have beat many of the other women in the house with holding the weights up. Unfortunate luck put her up against Kaycee. Along with Kaycee, I think Sarah, Tori, Emily, Kaz and Jodi probably would have done better  in that also. I'd maybe even throw KellyAnne in their among them.

Luckily for Kaycee, she had Ben because we all know Kaycee is not good at math.

I didn't have much of an opinion of Zara on The Challenge UK, but I liked her here on this show. I wouldn't mind seeing her on a future Challenge. Her and Wes made an entertaining pair.

Lastly on the elimination, Wes gave a good gracious speech as he exited. Good for him! Nobody likes a bad sport.

---

Then onto the daily challenge, Grant jumps onto the inflatable in a weird way and he misses the target, and damn near misses the whole inflatable. He slides right off the thing just like butter on a skillet, injuring himself in the process.

Justine leaps over and clears those crossbars like a pole vaulter. From what we were shown, I think Justine was the only person that was launched from the inflatable and didn't touch the crossbars (other than Jonna LOL).

Then, Yes and Emily goes up. I watched The Challenge Australia and learned that Emily was an Olympic swimmer so I expected her to be good but DAYUM! SHE. WAS. A. DOLPHIN! Emily went out and got her puzzle piece and swam back to shore. Then, went out to Yes and got his puzzle piece and swam back to shore, and then, went out a third time to get yes and go back to shore. That kinda made me chuckle.

KellyAnne and Tristan win the daily challenge. What a turn of events from being nominated into elimination and then winning a daily challenge.

---

Then, we get to the political drama. Tori, Danny, and Sarah are having a chat because it seems like things aren't going well for this USA-Australia alliance. Danny wants Jordan (and Kaz), and Ben (and Kaycee) out of the game. However, Tori will not voting for Kaycee or Jordan. Johnny (and Justine) and Theo (who is tied to Sarah) also will not vote for Jordan, and I assume it's because Theo, specifically, is looking out for Kaz. Tori and Johnny won't vote for Kaycee so that means Ben is off the table. They won't have enough votes for Jordan nor Ben, so there's no need to throw shots at people when you know you will miss.

That, effectively, leaves out everyone in the USA team and the single pair in the UK team (it's only Jordan and Kaz eligible for nomination for the Brits). That only leaves the Australians and the lone Argentinian team.

Johnny then walks into the conversation. Sarah says she's fine with whatever plan they come up with... but my spidey sense says that'a fucking lie... because Sarah has an alliance that she would rather protect, and in this moment, that alliance conflicts with her partner's (Theo) alliance.

Sarah says she wants to know "the idea" or "the path." Johnny said that the mistake he has made before is looking too far forward, and I agree with him. Sarah has played Survivor three times. Survivor is a tough game to win. As much as you want to plan a little bit into the future, the game forces you to play one step or one move at a time. Sarah knows this. The Challenge is the same way. The game forces you to always worry about surviving just one more day. Ultimately, I just think Sarah was sort-of stalling to figure out how does she wiggle her alliance through surviving this vote.

---

Amber taking the lead in the vote... interesting.

I'm glad Amber and Troy struck back against their fellow Aussies. Emily and Yes (and Grant) aren't playing with the other Aussies. They're playing with the Americans.

Amber and Troy aren't really playing with anyone. Troy came into the game with the Aussies so by default, he just went with them but Grant and Emily aren't really playing the game with Troy and Kiki.

Considering that Danny and Sarah can't compromise with their partners with who they really want to target, it's believable to me that Danny and Sarah would be willing to throw in Amber and Troy and Benja and Jodi. These are two pairs that seem to be floating around, not really aligned with anyone.

Benja and Jodi, once again, get the most votes, and followed by Yes and Emily. I hate that Jodi is the easy scapegoat or burn vote. Jodi called it early that she didn't want to be on a team that's already on its way out the door.

The only thing that is saving Danny from getting more votes is the fact that Tori is his partner. The only thing saving Sarah is the fact that Theo is her partner.

---

Then we get to the elimination where Grant and Jonna go home because Grant is injured with saves Tristan and KellyAnne from having to having to say a name, and Benja and Jodi or Emily and Yes from having to go into elimination.

---

Hopefully, after this episode, we get a normal format of daily challenge, politics and bullshit, and then elimination all in one episode.

Edited April 6, 2023 by AntFTW

[Lamb18]

Hey guys, 84 x 8 is 672. I did that one in my head.

Wes had a nice good-bye speech.

[shantown]

I went back and watched Emily's swim a second time because it was just so damn impressive!

[Lamb18]

Emily was awesome, towing Yes as she swam back to shore.

[AntFTW]

2 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

Emily was awesome, towing Yes as she swam back to shore.

She basically did three laps. She got her own piece and swam to shore; went out to get Yes, but grabbed his piece and swam to shore; and then went back out for Yes and swam back to shore.

[lasu]

I'm no Johnny fan, but...did he do something wrong and I missed it? It seemed like he was being reasonable. They were looking for long term commitment and Johnny said he's learned not to play that way, and then Sarah started freaking out? I should admit that while I'm no Johnny fan, I really don't like Sarah at all, and this was her at her most self-serious. 

I'm becoming vaguely concerned that Danny actually doesn't know what partnerships are. 

[AntFTW]

23 minutes ago, lasu said:

I'm no Johnny fan, but...did he do something wrong and I missed it? It seemed like he was being reasonable. They were looking for long term commitment and Johnny said he's learned not to play that way, and then Sarah started freaking out? I should admit that while I'm no Johnny fan, I really don't like Sarah at all, and this was her at her most self-serious. 

Not that I saw... unless they cut something from the conversation that we didn't get to see.

I didn't think that warranted the reaction he got from both Sarah and Danny. I didn't quite understand how they believed they were made to feel "stupid" from anything that Johnny said.

[aghst]

Bad elimination game for Wes and Zara.  He said the equations weren’t hard but he didn’t go for the red weights until after Ben put a pair of red weight on Zara.

he really messed up the Daily by skipping the shake and his performance in the elimination.

The Rocketman Daily was really cool to watch and they used slow mo to show the launched challengers flying through the air.

Yeah Justine was the only one to clear the highest bar but at one point TJ said “reach the bar” so I’m not sure they had to clear the bar without touching it to get the time subtracted.

It seemed like Grant was trying something different and got himself and his partner in trouble with a risky move.

I understand why Yes was the only male to get launched, because Emily could swim the greater distance from the back faster than anyone else who swam the shorter distance.  But she wasn’t heavy enough as ballast to launch Yes high or forward and he wasn’t a fast swimmer.

 

Bananas tried to gaslight Sarah — something about how newcomers should learn the ropes from vets, as if he wasn’t trying to further his own agenda but help newbies, who are competing against him for the top prize.

She basically shut him up and negated his responses and gestures.

it was great.

 

I don’t know how Amber got everyone else to vote with her.

looks like the largest alliance is no more because of Grant being eliminated.

 

 

[MMLEsq]

I'm thrilled Grant is gone.  I watched his season of Love Island Australia and never liked him on that.  Especially when it came out afterwards that he had been lying the whole show.  https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/12124742/love-island-australia-grant-secret-girlfriend-tayla/  I find it fitting that his last name is Crapp.

Sarah and Danny can go any time as well.  

[shantown]

15 hours ago, lasu said:

I'm becoming vaguely concerned that Danny actually doesn't know what partnerships are. 

14 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Not that I saw... unless they cut something from the conversation that we didn't get to see.

I didn't think that warranted the reaction he got from both Sarah and Danny. I didn't quite understand how they believed they were made to feel "stupid" from anything that Johnny said.

Sarah's reaction during the Team USA conversation was so over-the-top to me. Like many, I am no fan of Johnny, but he seemed like he was actually trying to help the team he was on and I didn't perceive it as overly condescending the way Sarah was making it out to be. He may have alliances with people not on team USA (which... so do Sarah/Danny), but I took it as a "Hey, right now we're at a stalemate so let's figure out how to get through this nomination and worry about the final when we get closer to the final." I did not understand why Sarah took such offense and then started mocking him. 

And Danny was even more over-the-top at the nominations table. Yes, Danny, I do think you think you're special! You certainly want to act like you're in charge, but then you start yelling at Theo when he says you're up next to make a nomination. Aren't they technically on the same team? Really the entire nominations process was a mess. Why didn't they just go around the circle in order? Or vote by secret ballot if they don't want to speak before someone else. Such dramatics from some of them, really mugging for that camera time maybe. I did laugh when Jordan was like "Tori just say my name so we can move on" but then Danny sat there all smug that he got that vote in. 

I get that Danny/Sarah are worried about their alliance with Grant being injured but there was no need to act so panicked and lash out at people who you're on the same team as! 

 

[aghst]

Danny isn't mentioning his wife much this season.

But he's a lot more combative.

Pretty much challenged Theo to fight him if he didn't like what he was saying.

[AntFTW]

19 minutes ago, aghst said:

Danny isn't mentioning his wife much this season.

But he's a lot more combative.

Pretty much challenged Theo to fight him if he didn't like what he was saying.

He didn't face much opposition on USA. There wasn't much for him to combat on USA. Unlike The Challenge USA, he's being challenged here and pushed into directions he doesn't want to go. That didn't really happen on USA.

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, shantown said:

Jordan was like "Tori just say my name so we can move on" but then Danny sat there all smug that he got that vote in. 

At least Danny finally got his vote for Jordan LOL

[shantown]

I know you've gotta have a certain sort of temperament to want to be on reality tv, competition based or not, but I have to wonder what some of the more normal/quiet MVPs think of all this - Benja or Troy or Justine. Are they watching this all as bewildered as the audience? I hope they're at least getting some good entertainment, lol.

[luckyroll3]

Whew, that elimination vote was 

Since when can you skip your turn to wait to see how everyone else voted?!?!?

 

[AntFTW]

15 hours ago, aghst said:

I don’t know how Amber got everyone else to vote with her.

Amber didn't get anyone to vote with her. It's the other way around, she voted with them. She hopped on the train that already leaving the station.

15 hours ago, aghst said:

I understand why Yes was the only male to get launched, because Emily could swim the greater distance from the back faster than anyone else who swam the shorter distance.  But she wasn’t heavy enough as ballast to launch Yes high or forward and he wasn’t a fast swimmer.

I think that was a reasonable risk they took to have Yes launched because Yes is the weaker swimmer. Everyone is the weaker swimmer compared to her LOL but do whatever is necessary to give Yes the shortest amount of swimming distance, and launching him was the only way to do that.

15 hours ago, aghst said:

Bananas tried to gaslight Sarah — something about how newcomers should learn the ropes from vets, as if he wasn’t trying to further his own agenda but help newbies, who are competing against him for the top prize.

He said that in the interview but not in the conversation with Sarah. I don't think he said anything in the little bit that we were shown to Sarah that would be gaslighting. Sarah was asking him and Tori for something they can't reasonably give.

21 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Whew, that elimination vote was 

Since when can you skip your turn to wait to see how everyone else voted?!?!?

 

I loved it!

[Lantern7]

Conclusions from this episode: Wes isn't a genius, and KellyAnne got a hold of a monkey's paw. How else do you explain Grant completely missing the target on the blob AND injuring himself in the process? A partner getting injured might be the only way to send Jonna home these day.

I don't keep track of the alliances. Not getting a reason to hate Danny. He has a good pile of goodwill from Challenge USA AND he tore into Jeff Probst when he revealed the hourglass twist in S41. Not kowtowing to Probst is a sign of awesomeness, even if viewers didn't get to see that.

On 4/5/2023 at 7:19 PM, Lamb18 said:

Hey guys, 84 x 8 is 672. I did that one in my head.

Yes, but do you know eight times nine?

Edited April 9, 2023 by Lantern7

[AncientNewbie]

Quite possibly only Sarah Lacina could make me root for Bananas...I suspect editing tomfoolery, but from what we saw, Johnny was just being Johnny and it went south. I do find an interesting dynamic there that both Survivor and Challenge have a heavy political (or polidickal, if you're Ashley Mitchell) element, but different "endgame" when it comes to alliances...Survivor, absent the idols and advantages of late, is largely a numbers game for getting to the end. Stay on the right side of votes and be tight with your people and you're largely safe. Challenge has less impetus to be openly cuthroat, as the reins of power easily change hands based on daily wins and the victim of a vote-out may still save themselves by winning a challenge. There are a lot fewer Pagongings and much more webs of shifting alliances. So I'm more likely to side with Johnny on this, because I have no doubt the Survivor players think their skills directly translate given their success on Survivor and Challenge USA. 

Or that's my armchair analyst five minute version, anyway...

Also, we got the version of Genius Wes that overthought his way out of the show again. I had hoped he'd play it smarter after his return to All Stars and judge the risks a little better. There's a range out there about what makes a competitor I want to see, between modern day Wes, who just wants to get back to his day job, and modern Brad, who seems to be selling plasma for money when not on tv and would probably kill someone to get paid...

[shantown]

30 minutes ago, AncientNewbie said:

both Survivor and Challenge have a heavy political (or polidickal, if you're Ashley Mitchell) element, but different "endgame" when it comes to alliances...Survivor, absent the idols and advantages of late, is largely a numbers game for getting to the end. Stay on the right side of votes and be tight with your people and you're largely safe. Challenge has less impetus to be openly cuthroat, as the reins of power easily change hands based on daily wins and the victim of a vote-out may still save themselves by winning a challenge. There are a lot fewer Pagongings and much more webs of shifting alliances. So I'm more likely to side with Johnny on this, because I have no doubt the Survivor players think their skills directly translate given their success on Survivor and Challenge USA. 

I haven't watched Survivor in probably 20 years, but so I remember next to nothing about how Immunity Idols and all that worked. The Challenge has had a few seasons way back in the day with a Lifeshield where someone could be saved but it was always awarded publicly. So I think you're right - the Survivor folks are used to secret saves and secret votes, and much of the Challenge (this season) is all out in the open. There's no last minute saves, the nominations table is all out in the open, even the winners have to announce who they're saving and who they're sending in. Johnny was giving smart advice, to not openly rock the boat until you have too. 

[millennium]

Hate Sarah. 

Hate.  Her.

I don't know why Sarah, Danny and Ben are getting so much camera time.   There are other, more interesting, less fucking-entitled individuals in the House.   Sarah's aggressiveness towards Bananas was over the top, meanwhile Danny's ego seems to have suddenly been activated like a sleeper cell.    Can't stand either of them.   Sarah must think we've all forgotten that the only reason she won her season was because everybody else quit. 

Grant Crapp?   LOL.    I laughed when he missed the air bag and jammed his knee.   He never seemed like a nice guy.  Just a few minutes before that he was griping about "fucking TJ."    Don't take care.  Hope to see you never!

As a huge Wes fan, I was mystified by his foolish decision to take the penalty, and by his decision to only go for the easier, less consequential math problems.  Haven't been this disappointed since his surrender to Devin in elimination.   As for his goodbye speech, I think it was less about good sportsmanship than trying to leave a favorable impression on newer players he may want to work with in the future.