S02.E02: Blurred Battle Lines

[AntFTW]

Quote

The challengers battle it out in a difficult water challenge; a new alliance is formed to target a veteran; romance blossoms between two teammates.

Air date: August 13, 2023

[Lantern7]

Thanks to golf running past 7 p.m., the episode will start at 10:13.

[DEL901]

18 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Thanks to golf running past 7 p.m., the episode will start at 10:13.

Except in Canada on CTV.  She episode is on time and they are getting ready to discuss how to vote.

[Lamb18]

46 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Except in Canada on CTV.  She episode is on time and they are getting ready to discuss how to vote.

Don't say what happens! It's just starting now Central time.

I missed this part last week. So the losing team's votes all went into the hopper? 

I wonder who Ameerah will play.

Rats, I like both Ameerah and Michele.

[Lamb18]

I guess I'm glad Michele is staying because it really pissed off Amanda.

This twist is like Lies, Spies, I think. The recent season where they had the Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby teams.

[Lamb18]

Paulie looks so stupid in his talking heads.

Why does Amanda think Fessy is worth fighting over? Unless he is just an excuse to pick a fight with Michele. I hate to think of her yelling at her little boy like this.

[jsm1125]

Ugh, I generally do quite like both Amanda AND Michele, and can’t believe fucking Fessy of all people is the cause of this 

[Lamima]

So close to having Tori out. Boo! Guess we need to see her and eyebrows hook up all season. Yick!

Tyler and Alyssa and who are the 3rd couple they showed in hot tub? 

And how are the males not getting picked when they get a lot of votes. Anything to save Bananas. BLAH!

[Lamb18]

Are all the women going to be voted off first? 

[Lantern7]

Looks like Jonna's rogue vote came back to hurt her. Seriously, though, would you expect anyone in that house -- or ANY Challenge house -- to do the math? Smoke comes out of Cory's ears when you ask him to use a multiplication table.

I've forgotten about Amanda. Is she always this nasty? for some reason, I'm siding with Michele-with-one-L against her.

Let's see . . . Fessy is still the worst guy to fight about, Josh's hair has gone really weird, and Sebastian is lovey-dovey for Tori. That seems right, since he looks like a bottle of Diet Jordan.

5 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

Are all the women going to be voted off first? 

Perhaps. The interesting thing about the format is that alternating genders is out the window, and that's pretty fresh. Problem is that now I have to wonder if Jonna's ball popped out on purpose so that Johnny wouldn't have to risk his neck. I mean, Jonna did have more votes, but the possibility of shenanigans always lingers around a BMP show.

Tyler's hair and hat still annoy me.

Survivor is the "greatest game ever played"? Man, fuck you, teaser. And was there one promo for the upcoming TAR?

Edited August 14, 2023 by Lantern7

[jsm1125]

1 minute ago, Lantern7 said:

Looks like Jonna's rogue vote came back to hurt her. Seriously, though, would you expect anyone in that house -- or ANY Challenge house -- to do the math? Smoke comes out of Cory's ears when you ask him to use a multiplication table.

I've forgotten about Amanda. Is she always this nasty? for some reason, I'm siding with Michele-with-one-L against her.

Let's see . . . Fessy is still the worst guy to fight about, Josh's hair has gone really weird, and Sebastian is lovey-dovey for Tori. That seems right, since he looks like a bottle of Diet Jordan.

Perhaps. The interesting thing about the format is that alternating genders is out the window, and that's pretty fresh. Problem is that now I have to wonder if Jonna's ball popped out on purpose so that Johnny wouldn't have to risk his neck. I mean, Jonna did have more votes, but the possibility of shenanigans always lingers around a BMP show.

Tyler's hair and hat still annoy me.

Survivor is the "greatest game ever played"? Man, fuck you, teaser. And was there one promo for the upcoming TAR?

Amanda often gets pretty nasty, but it’s usually against people that are generally intolerable (Camilla, Zach, Bananas) or became more intolerable (Cara Maria).

So this beef with Michele annoys me. 

[AntFTW]

Amanda is... really bad at this game! Maybe she'll prove me wrong if she wins, but I highly doubt she will.

Throughout all of her losses on The Challenge, it seems like she has learned nothing! She'll say all day long that she's not there to be liked and to make friends, and that she's there to win this money for her son... but an overwhelming majority of The Challenge is the social politics. She makes her path to the prize money much harder than it needs to be. Being liked and making friends can make getting to a final a heck of a lot easier. She never chooses the path of least resistance.

Additionally, she holds a grudge even when it's bad for her game. She can't put her dislike or hatred of someone aside for any reason and for any amount of time, not even for a greater chance of winning $250K at the end of it.

As far as I remember, they don't show any interviews of Amanda's thoughts regarding the vote, but it should be obvious to her that they're targeting the vets, of which she is one. They all voted in lockstep for two vets. I feel like that should have rung a bell in Amanda's head that maybe they're also targeting her because she's a vet. After the house vote reveals that Jonna received the most votes, that's math that Amanda should have been able to calculate. If the Jonna goes into elimination against Tori, who is the next (and last remaining) woman of the vets on the target list?

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I've forgotten about Amanda. Is she always this nasty? for some reason, I'm siding with Michele-with-one-L against her.

Yes, Amanda has always been that nasty.

9 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Amanda often gets pretty nasty, but it’s usually against people that are generally intolerable (Camilla, Zach, Bananas) or became more intolerable (Cara Maria).

So this beef with Michele annoys me.

I find Amanda just as intolerable.

Sometimes it's hilarious! It never makes any sense.

Edited August 14, 2023 by AntFTW

[jsm1125]

Wait, Tiffany considers Alyssa Lopez an alliance member? Didn’t they beef last season of The Challenge? Even after the season? 

[mertensia]

Yes. Get rid of the veterans first. That would be my plan, too.

[aghst]

Luck of the draw on which elimination game?

Jonna had no chance in a physical game with Tori, who's bigger and stronger.

The first game, Michele seems more athletic, just a little more active than Ameerah.

Anyone who's watched these shows, especially the last few seasons when vets were outnumbered should have a clue that vets still won the votes.

Maybe these CBS reality "stars" have been paying attention a little bit.  They didn't have to make an argument, they just piled on the vets name in the Green team deliberations.

The Daily was kind of fun.  Not sure why many of the challengers kind of sat in the middle instead of trying to get across as fast as possible as Johnny did.  The longer you take, the more tired they're going to get.

It didn't seem like nobody was trying to push or knock competitors off their poles, because they were holding on for dear life to their own pole.

 

 

[Badlands]

That's the way to do it! The non-vets had a plan and stuck to it. I love how they listened to Wes and then just disregarded what he was trying to sell them.

Most villains are at least somewhat funny or entertaining on occasion. Amanda is not one of those people. I don't know why they give her so much air time. It's just really boring mean girl nonsense.

[mojoween]

Ameerah getting bounced from reality shows way earlier than she thinks she should be is always going to be hilarious to me.

The MTV vets are so funny - “don’t take it so personal that I voted for you” “I am absolutely taking it personally that you voted for me HOW DARE YOU”

Edited August 14, 2023 by mojoween

[choclatechip45]

The fact anyone would align with Alyssa S after her season of a big brother is hilarious. She will just tell everyone your plans.

[bunnyface]

Always amusing that the vets are so offended that anyone would dare to make THEM play the game also and not just breeze through to the end. 

The sooner they can shush Amanda the better.    

[AntFTW]

1) I didn't care for the elimination game that Michele and Ameerah played. It just seems a little basic.

2) I had to watch the first episode again to understand the concept of "The Hopper." There is no alternating between genders. The random name that gets pulled from the hopper goes into elimination and that name also decides whether it's a male or female elimination.

I like the randomization of it. I like that there is no guarantee of safety for anyone that get a vote. It leaves open wider possibilities of screwing up someone's plan.

It really takes a hammer to the idea of 'burn voting' in this method of choosing elimination opponents.

Now, that brings me to the vets. If all of the 4 remaining vets could have gotten on the same page about who to vote in, that would have increased the chances for some other individual to go in. However, even the vets aren't on the same page even they're trying to save each other.

3) The CBS players are doing what they're supposed to do by targeting the MTV players. I applaud their game play. They're all on the same page. They're organized. They're doing what you'd expect the MTV players to do.

4) I liked the daily challenge. One the poles broke on the rig, and I was wondering if they would resolve that... but it didn't matter at the end of the day because the green team took an overwhelming lead.

5) Watching Josh failing at the daily challenge was hilarious! The editors know what they're doing. They play this loony-tunes kind-of soundtrack and a slow-mo clip of Josh just sliding down this pole to his doom.

6) Green wins and now we get to the vote. The CBS players targeting the MTV vet players is the smart move, but it's also the easiest move. The vets are the common enemy for the Survivor, BB and TAR alums because it keeps the target off of Survivor, BB or TAR alums. It's the easiest idea to corral people behind.

Watching Micheala make her points in the deliberation, makes me think she finally learned from her previous losses. If anyone has watched Michaela on her two Survivor seasons and one Challenge season she did, Michaela wears her thoughts on her face. Even when she says nothing, you can read her face and body language like an open book. She didn't have any type of poker face. That seems to have changed.

Watching Michaela give her points in the deliberation, I thought to myself "that's pretty good bullshit. That's good, believable bullshit. Uh huh. You don't want them to have that insider's "insight" on their team. Mhm."

It's really an individual game. The "green/green/red strong" is pure bullshit. Tori doesn't want to go in so she votes for a guy. Johnny doesn't want to go in so he votes for a girl. Cory votes for Dusty for reasons. Jonna voted for whoever she voted her. If the vets want to increase the likelihood of someone who is not a vet being picked from the hopper, they should have put 4 votes on one name. In order for that to work, Tori or Johnny would have needed to show some willingness to do the elimination. In that case, choose the easiest opponent (whoever they believe that to be).

Also, I'd like to see where Josh and Fessy stand in all of this because the narrative is the old MTV vets vs the newer CBS rookies. Who are Josh and Fessy throwing their votes on?

21 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Tyler's hair and hat still annoy me.

Josh's hair annoys me. He needs to do something with this.

11 hours ago, bunnyface said:

Always amusing that the vets are so offended that anyone would dare to make THEM play the game also and not just breeze through to the end. 

12 hours ago, mojoween said:

The MTV vets are so funny - “don’t take it so personal that I voted for you” “I am absolutely taking it personally that you voted for me HOW DARE YOU”

From the looks of the trailer, it seems like that is not exclusive to the vets. **looking at Tiffany** 👀

Edited August 15, 2023 by AntFTW

[aghst]

At some point, they will break up the teams probably.

Though they have to let this whole defection thing play out a bit to see how it affects the dynamics of the game.

[Unclejosh]

Amanda is one of the nastiest messiest drama queens in the show's history it is just that most of the time, she is going against people that a lot of fans are either sick of or outright hate so she somehow has fans and people supporting her.

You take her exact words and actions and apply it against someone who is well liked and most of her fans would turn on her in a second.

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Unclejosh

[mojoween]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

**looking at Tiffany** 👀

I know she won America’s Favorite Houseguest on BB but that wasn’t due to my vote.  She is messier than she would ever admit to.

[aghst]

55 minutes ago, Unclejosh said:

Amanda is one of the nastiest messiest drama queens in the show's history it is just that most of the time, she is going against people that a lot of fans are either sick of or outright hate so she somehow has fans and people supporting her.

You take her exact words and actions and apply it against someone who is well liked and most of her fans would turn on her in a second.

 

She's managed to appear how many seasons without really threatening to win or even survive many eliminations.

She does that by being loud and antagonizing some of the vets.  That must get her noticed enough by the producers to keep casting her.

She can't really believe she's got a chance to win, even if she made the Final, she isn't outrunning and out-lasting anyone else.

[KeithJ]

If the vets know that the CBS players are gunning for them, why would Tori not switch to a team with two other vets on it?  I would think that would give them a better chance of winning challenges and not nominating other vets.

[AntFTW]

23 hours ago, Unclejosh said:

Amanda is one of the nastiest messiest drama queens in the show's history it is just that most of the time, she is going against people that a lot of fans are either sick of or outright hate so she somehow has fans and people supporting her.

You take her exact words and actions and apply it against someone who is well liked and most of her fans would turn on her in a second.

 

Every cast member has a faction within the fan base that hates them. Some are more hated than most, like Camila or Zach.

Personally, I have such a deep dislike of Amanda. She's a bully. Remember when she helped to spread the rumor that Jenna hooked up with Bruno on Invasion, and Amanda acted so offended when Jenna confronted her about it. Everyone remembers when she infamously wished that Cara's horse died.

Everyone cheers her on when she goes on Zach, because no one likes Zach but she's just like him. She's a bully like he is and she's just as stupidly stubborn as he is.

I despise Camila's time on The Challenge and I'm grateful she's moved on to her post-Challenge life. However, Amanda is the only person that has ever made me side with Camila. Amanda had been such a bully to everyone for the entire season, and then in comes Camila, who claps back at Amanda (also on Invasion) - which made for good TV because that was one of the most hilarious Challenge fights ever IMO.

I can't help but think about @luckyroll3's "irrational drama" description because Amanda's drama particularly is 99.99% irrational. One of the most irrational things I've heard Amanda say is the reasons she lists for not liking Tori. It was from one of the reunions (maybe season 37?). The reason she said she doesn't like isn't because Tori has wronged her in some way. In a nutshell, she said she doesn't like Tori's life decisions. Tori offered to resolved whatever conflict they have but that's impossible because the only reason there is a conflict is because Amanda views Tori in a poor light. The only person that could resolve that irrational conflict is Amanda.

Edited August 15, 2023 by AntFTW

[luckyroll3]

18 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Throughout all of her losses on The Challenge, it seems like she has learned nothing! She'll say all day long that she's not there to be liked and to make friends, and that she's there to win this money for her son... but an overwhelming majority of The Challenge is the social politics. She makes her path to the prize money much harder than it needs to be. Being liked and making friends can make getting to a final a heck of a lot easier. She never chooses the path of least resistance.

Amanda is a pain in the ass and so damn irrational. Yet, I can't help but like that she refuses to play the social politics part of the game. Watching Tori kiss her ass after Green's win was so fake and so cringeworthy. Do you really think you're going to change AMANDA's mind, Tori?!? Like, have you met her? But I can't stand when any of them do it especially when they've been talking shit about or fighting with someone, but all of a sudden switch up when that person earns a position of power. 

18 hours ago, AntFTW said:

As far as I remember, they don't show any interviews of Amanda's thoughts regarding the vote, but it should be obvious to her that they're targeting the vets, of which she is one. They all voted in lockstep for two vets. I feel like that should have rung a bell in Amanda's head that maybe they're also targeting her because she's a vet. After the house vote reveals that Jonna received the most votes, that's math that Amanda should have been able to calculate. If the Jonna goes into elimination against Tori, who is the next (and last remaining) woman of the vets on the target list?

Amanda knows no one is gunning for her. Despite her performance on this episode, all of the other women know that Amanda is the one they want to go against if they are chosen for elimination of if they make it to final. If Amanda was smart (I don't think she's dumb, but I know she's not proactive at all), she would have been secretly training athletically and doing her puzzles at home before coming back, and allow everyone to keep underestimating her. 

What the fuck is going on with Josh's hair??? Also, watching him slide off that pole was hilarious. And I'm very grossed out that people on the show find him attractive. They've probably haven't seem him crying like a baby yet. 

Very glad to see the "Rookies" going after the Vets and sticking to their plan to get them out when they have the numbers. The rookies the past few seasons have also come into the house with the numbers but several would immediately jump ship with some half-hearted promises from Vets, often promises that were not even kept. Sad to see Jonna leave, cause I love her as a competitor, but I'd be happy if Tori got thrown in every single time. 

Every time I see the blue team, I keep wondering why the leader chose Cory as her first pick.....

Is this one twice a week? I'm so confused.

[AntFTW]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

Amanda is a pain in the ass and so damn irrational. Yet, I can't help but like that she refuses to play the social politics part of the game. Watching Tori kiss her ass after Green's win was so fake and so cringeworthy. Do you really think you're going to change AMANDA's mind, Tori?!? Like, have you met her? But I can't stand when any of them do it especially when they've been talking shit about or fighting with someone, but all of a sudden switch up when that person earns a position of power. 

I found it cringeworthy as well, but on the other end, I understand because that's the game. It was kinda funny though.

The funny thing is out of all the people on this season, I think Tori is the one of the likelier ones to have Amanda's back if it meant surviving in the game.

If they are targeting the vets, and the vets have to assemble like the Avengers, and that target gets on Amanda from the CBS players, Tori is one that will likely put aside her differences for the sake of surviving in the game. She will save the war with Amanda for another day. Amanda, on the other hand, seems like she will not do that. I just can't understand why, even if it means Amanda survives another day.

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

Amanda knows no one is gunning for her.

For now, because there are bigger fish to fry. The other five (and now four) vets are a shield for Amanda at this point. If the CBS players are looking at the other four, they're not looking at her. If they are successful in getting the other vets out, she becomes the easy scapegoat. It seem like Amanda fits in with anyone else as far as game play. She seems to be on an island of her own. She is nobody's #1 as far as I could tell.

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

What the fuck is going on with Josh's hair???

I know!!!! He needs to do something with it. He looks homeless.

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

Very glad to see the "Rookies" going after the Vets and sticking to their plan to get them out when they have the numbers. The rookies the past few seasons have also come into the house with the numbers but several would immediately jump ship with some half-hearted promises from Vets, often promises that were not even kept.

I think the difference this time around is that many of these rookies seemingly know each other already. It's easier to divide and conquer when they don't know each other.

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

Every time I see the blue team, I keep wondering why the leader chose Cory as her first pick.....

On 8/14/2023 at 6:26 PM, luckyroll3 said:

Is this one twice a week? I'm so confused.

Yes. Every Thursday and Sunday. I assume because of the strikes in Hollywood. I was confused by the twice a week too.

Edited August 16, 2023 by AntFTW

[aghst]

I think they said twice a week for the first 3 or 4 weeks.

Then once a week.

[jsm1125]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Every cast member has a faction within the fan base that hates them. Some are more hated than most, like Camila or Zach.

Personally, I have such a deep dislike of Amanda. She's a bully. Remember when she helped to spread the rumor that Jenna hooked up with Bruno on Invasion, and Amanda acted so offended when Jenna confronted her about it. Everyone remembers when she infamously wished that Cara's horse died.

Everyone cheers her on when she goes on Zach, because no one likes Zach but she's just like him. She's a bully like he is and she's just as stupidly stubborn as he is.

I despise Camila's time on The Challenge and I'm grateful she's moved on to her post-Challenge life. However, Amanda is the only person that has ever made me side with Camila. Amanda had been such a bully to everyone for the entire season, and then in comes Camila, who claps back at Amanda (also on Invasion) - which made for good TV because that was one of the most hilarious Challenge fights ever IMO.

I can't help but think about @luckyroll3's "irrational drama" description because Amanda's drama particularly is 99.99% irrational. One of the most irrational things I've heard Amanda say is the reasons she lists for not liking Tori. It was from one of the reunions (maybe season 37?). The reason she said she doesn't like isn't because Tori has wronged her in some way. In a nutshell, she said she doesn't like Tori's life decisions. Tori offered to resolved whatever conflict they have but that's impossible because the only reason there is a conflict is because Amanda's views Tori in a poor light. The only person that could resolve that irrational conflict is Amanda.

Didn’t Jenna eventually admit the Bruno hookup really did happen?

I know Amanda is a pain in most people’s ass, but I do think she’s one of the least entitled vets out there. 

[AntFTW]

2 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

Didn’t Jenna eventually admit the Bruno hookup really did happen?

I think I read that they kissed but nothing beyond that. The rumor was that it was more than that IIRC. 🤔

[Unclejosh]

I think they may have made out but Amanda was spreading the rumor that he was fingering her on the plane or something like that. Which they both claim is false as far as I know.

She only did it to fuck with her relationship with Zach.

[susannot]

So glad that Jonna is out.  I can't stand to look at her false eyelashes.

I like the Survivor women:  Desi, Michaela, Cassidy, and Michele.  They are all naturally pretty and don't wear caked-on makeup like the Challenge Vet women.

I've only recently started watching this and have no investment in the vets except that I think they're all arrogant assholes and that my girl Michaela and all are right to vote them out asap.

[aghst]

Has Jonna won any season other than the All Star seasons?

She won twice there, the seniors tour as it were.

Then they brought her back to the regular tour and now the expanded tour.

But I don't think she's won has she?  She's great with puzzles, figuring things out under pressure but he's not going to out run, out swim or out wrestle anyone.

[AntFTW]

4 hours ago, KeithJ said:

If the vets know that the CBS players are gunning for them, why would Tori not switch to a team with two other vets on it?  I would think that would give them a better chance of winning challenges and not nominating other vets.

I can see where it would give her a little cover (not much though), but only in the event that her team wins. It really assumes that she would win more challenges on the green team. The only other team she could go to build numbers for the vets is the green team with Wes and Amanda, someone she dislikes, because it has two vets on it and she could've made it three. If green team wins, there would be no other vet women to vote for. They would have no choice but to vote one of the CBS women into elimination.

12 minutes ago, aghst said:

Has Jonna won any season other than the All Star seasons?

No. She had never gotten to a final before All Stars.

I don't think she'll do the flagship show. I think she said they take too long to film.

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm liking the hopper. I normally root for vets simply because they are known characters and I normally have no reason to cheer for newbies I don't know. But it had gotten really predictable along with alliances made off show, etc. Too much not rocking the boat. This makes it less predictable and you can't scare newbies into voting with you.

[millennium]

On 8/13/2023 at 11:25 PM, Lantern7 said:

Fessy is still the worst guy to fight about, Josh's hair has gone really weird, and Sebastian is lovey-dovey for Tori. That seems right, since he looks like a bottle of Diet Jordan.

Fessy is useless AF.   I don't know why they keep bringing him back.   From day one he has added absolutely nothing to the show.   The only thing more mystifying is why all these women keep throwing themselves at him, especially after the whole world saw him leave Kaycee hanging in the final of Double Agents.

I think Josh is seeing Nelson's stylist these days.  Before, he always looked and acted like an oversized toddler.   Now he just seems sleazy, especially when he does the confessionals wearing those neo-Miami Vice suits.   He looks like he spends his nights trying to get into The Roxbury.

Sebastian has an incel/stalker vibe.   It's cringe watching him pursue Tori.

On 8/13/2023 at 11:25 PM, Lantern7 said:

Tyler's hair and hat still annoy me.

I don't follow whatever show he comes from, so I was flummoxed that his ex is Angela.   Did she lose a bet?  Pull that stupid hat down an inch further and he's Dumb Donald from Fat Albert.

On 8/14/2023 at 12:41 AM, mertensia said:

Yes. Get rid of the veterans first. That would be my plan, too.

Get rid of the vets and there's no show worth watching.   A line-up consisting of Tyler, Monte, Luis, Chris, the Alyssas, Tiffany, Cassidy, etc. would probably retain fewer viewers than the Paint-Drying Channel.

 

On 8/14/2023 at 8:59 PM, susannot said:

So glad that Jonna is out.  I can't stand to look at her false eyelashes.

I like the Survivor women:  Desi, Michaela, Cassidy, and Michele.  They are all naturally pretty and don't wear caked-on makeup like the Challenge Vet women.

I would have enjoyed an Elimination featuring Jonna's false eyelashes vs. Amanda's. 

Desi, Cassidy and Michele are all quite pretty, but Tori shines brighter, IMO.   I think Amanda wears a lot of make-up to cover her amazing freckles. 

Edited September 3, 2023 by millennium