S39.E14: Don't Let TJ Decide

[shantown]

Quote

The end of Chaos is near and with alliances on the brink of collapse, a grueling minifinal awaits.

Airs 1/17 at 8pm on MTV

[mojoween]

No Chris.  You win that fair and square.  Don’t let those hypocritical assholes make you feel badly.

Shut.  The fuck.  Up Jay you sniveling fuckhead.  Please Nurys and Olivia turn your backs on him for good.

[LaurelleJ]

Another week of watching live! I always like to predict who is going in based on who they focus on in the episode. Early editing makes me think that Jay and Asaf are in jeopardy of going in now. The editors seem to have really focused on showing more of the political decision making side of the game. It would be more interesting if the so-called dominating alliance wasn't so boring. 

First glance, I think it's between Kyland's team and Horacio's team. Either one of those is good. I just hated that Michele was on Kyland's team, so I worried about her blowing the challenge. The strategy of doing multiples of 39 was a smart one.  Puzzles remain the great equalizer. The devastation when I thought that Jay's team won. Thank goodness TJ didn't blow the horn. Kyland's team is safe, but Michele is in that group and no way will they vote Jay. 

As much as I hate it, yes if it is Horacio then the house is forced to pick someone else. If they didn't vote Horacio, he would most likely be the house vote. Kyland had no chance in that huddle anyway. After all this time, now Olivia is saying she should have stayed in her alliance with Horacio?? I quit. The title makes me think that they come to a tie, and then TJ decides who will be the nominee. That's cool, or CT picks chaos and lets TJ decide who will come down. In either case, my vote is JAY! I cannot stand this dude. 

I love CT, he's my favorite RW/RR/Challenge personality ever. CT is carrying the chaos stick!! Yes, CT sends Horacio back. Asaf??!!! WTF is this??? CT, I'm disappointed. I bet TJ is too. That's not chaos. That's confusion. Ridiculous for Jay to pinpoint Nurys as the problem. 

Kyland being so practical about people crying about Asaf leaving, saying it was because he was connected, was an interesting way to look at it. I'm glad he's gone, bye. 

[Lamima]

Was tired of Asaf being Jay's puppet so, Yay he's gone! Another one I am tired of is Coleen. Hope they get her out next.

[jsm1125]

Was Asaf’s social game really that on-point? Practically all of the remaining players crying over his elimination was interesting.

Ugh, I want to root for Jay and Michelle this season, but they’re making it nearly impossible. Michelle essentially blaming Horacio for Jay not wanting him around, and Jay getting pissed at only Olivia and Ravyn (who kept their vote steady), rather than Corey and Ed for burning their vote, were…choices.

Ravyn and Corey have a low-key amusing dynamic.

Berna is getting practically no air time. 

[AntFTW]

Well, I'm satisfied. ☺️

Good for Ed! Catching on that a tie was nothing but good for him.

Edited January 18 by AntFTW

[DEL901]

Adam and his arrogant bragging at the beginning of the episode…he practically dared the Challenge gods to put him in.   If it couldn’t be Jay, Asaf was a good second choice.   

[bunnyface]

Well, CT broke my heart by not snapping Jay in half.  But I'm glad Asaf is gone, so I guess that's some consolation.

Looks like CT is working on his dad bod again.  (I say as I sit on my couch with a warmed over Krispy Kreme.)  I hope he works on that before season 40 and makes a triumphant return.  And snaps Jay in half.  You may be sensing a theme.

Edited January 18 by bunnyface
Real grammar helps

[Lantern7]

Well, that's over with. CT comes in with a mandate to destroy, he chooses Asaf over settling the score with Jay, and he kicks Asaf out of the game. Now what?

The season is exhausting. The deliberation was fun, but the whole "TJ gets cross with the players" thing has gotten so old. Ed gets smart and forces a deadlock. I'd be okay with him winning, except he hasn't gotten a huge edit. He's basically Cohutta, only he's not country. Does that make sense?

CT probably earned more than $10,000 for his troubles. He got to flex, he showed that he knows basic math (or at least what a prime number is), and he complimented the current crop of competitors, even though they've been sorely lacking. Good luck with The Traitors! I don't have Peacock, but I've heard good things!

Thinking about it, does giving CT the choice due to deadlock make for fair play? It's not like he could single out any of the women, and they helped with the tie. And, of course, Asaf got help . . . which is weird, since a few players were sick of him. Why is Kyland shouting advice? Asaf and his friends have made his life miserable throughout the season. Isn't losing $10K worth it if one of the heads of the hydra is chopped off and the stump burned?

I'm not looking forward to Jay flailing about. He's such a snot about strategy, and he thinks he's a bigshot in a game where the tables can turn at any moment. He's gotten so bad, I've seen people online wishing Rogan would come back to ring Jay's bell once again.

Does anyone know how many episodes we'll be getting? Given that the Reunion has been filmed, I don't think we'll have to wait long . . . but it's going to be hard to narrow the field from fifteen players. Maybe we get 2-4 eliminations, leading to thirteen or eleven competitors running the final?

"Danger Close" is this show's version of "Fetch." You can't tell me different. Shut up, Lavin.

ETA: The mission was okay, and the right two guys won when they really needed it. Kyland has been a magnet for abuse, and James would probably be even familiar to CT than Asaf. And you would've had the potential of CT hearing about how Moriah is cheating on Johnny with James.

Edited January 18 by Lantern7

[angelamh66]

I wonder if all those people will still be upset over Asaf going home once they see his smug ass interviews talking about how he’s playing everyone. I’m happy to see him go. 

[AntFTW]

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Another week of watching live! I always like to predict who is going in based on who they focus on in the episode. Early editing makes me think that Jay and Asaf are in jeopardy of going in now.

I thought Jay for sure. He just seemed tense throughout the first parts of the episode. Then the icing on the cake is when they showed his interview toward the end of the mini final, and he was just too cocky. That’s when I really thought “this seems like his downfall.”

Kyland wins the daily so their one primary target is off the table. The winners choose Horacio for elimination so he’s off the table for the house vote. James would have been next after those two, but he wins with Kyland so he’s off the table. Their three scapegoats are now off the table and they have to choose one of their own. I felt like this episode, they’d finally have the numbers for a vote on Jay, and I thought this was what they were leading to in the first half of the episode. 

Then, Ed and Emanuel’s names gets floated around. I didn’t know who was higher on the priority list between Ed, Emanuel and Corey but I’m actually surprised that they would vote for Ed before Corey.

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

The editors seem to have really focused on showing more of the political decision making side of the game. It would be more interesting if the so-called dominating alliance wasn't so boring.

This group isn’t giving me much drama. The most exciting thing they’re doing is… well… playing the game.

i feel like all the drama left with Melissa.

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

First glance, I think it's between Kyland's team and Horacio's team. Either one of those is good. I just hated that Michele was on Kyland's team, so I worried about her blowing the challenge. The strategy of doing multiples of 39 was a smart one.  Puzzles remain the great equalizer. The devastation when I thought that Jay's team won. Thank goodness TJ didn't blow the horn. Kyland's team is safe, but Michele is in that group and no way will they vote Jay.

I agree that guessing with multiples of 39 was a smart one. I had to give them credit for that one.

Michele played Survivor twice. Both times she played, she had a challenge with a puzzle similar to this. The concept of the puzzle was the same, making several stacks from these differing-height pieces to make each stack the same height. She won the challenge with that puzzle both times she played it. It was her mastery of that puzzle that delivered her the win, because (if my memory serves me correctly) she was the dead last person to get to the puzzle on the Survivor. However, she figured out the puzzle faster than everyone else.

If any of her teammates watched Michele’s seasons of Survivor and they saw that puzzle, they’d have a good educated guess as to whether she was throwing it.

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

As much as I hate it, yes if it is Horacio then the house is forced to pick someone else. If they didn't vote Horacio, he would most likely be the house vote. Kyland had no chance in that huddle anyway.

Yeah, he’d be the easy house vote for sure. Horacio is the only easy vote. Either the winners were gonna get the easy vote or the house was going to get the easy vote.

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

The title makes me think that they come to a tie, and then TJ decides who will be the nominee. That's cool, or CT picks chaos and lets TJ decide who will come down. In either case, my vote is JAY! I cannot stand this dude. 

I didn’t even read the title. I didn’t even know the title of the episode until your post made me curious 😂

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

I love CT, he's my favorite RW/RR/Challenge personality ever. CT is carrying the chaos stick!! Yes, CT sends Horacio back. Asaf??!!! WTF is this??? CT, I'm disappointed. I bet TJ is too. That's not chaos. That's confusion.

I’ll allow it 😂

I got tired of looking at him.

12 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Kyland being so practical about people crying about Asaf leaving, saying it was because he was connected, was an interesting way to look at it. I'm glad he's gone, bye. 

But… I mean… he’s right though. Everyone should notice how connected this dude is to know he was playing all of them… well, at least playing the side not aligned with Jay.

Edited January 18 by AntFTW

[aghst]

12 hours ago, angelamh66 said:

I wonder if all those people will still be upset over Asaf going home once they see his smug ass interviews talking about how he’s playing everyone. I’m happy to see him go. 

Yeah I don’t even remember him on his previous season but apparently close to Jay.  I thought he lived in Israel?

In any case he was cocky despite not having done anything.  Has he won a Daily or won an elimination?  Maybe just being high in the dominant alliance gave him all this bravado.

But the other guys are also cocky or at least talk big games.

Horacio may run faster than anyone else but he’s not figuring out puzzles so he’s unlikely to be a big threat in the Finals unless the distances to run are so long that he can lap everyone else.  His team went from way out in first to last because they couldn’t figure out the combo.

Kyland and James being on the winning team meant the alliance was going to take a big blow.  Ed and Immanuel had been voting with Jay and Michelle.

And Michelle goes up to Horacio and asked why he was against her?

Bitch, you won the Daily and voted him in!  Your #1 wants him out, that’s why he salty!

The poli-dicking must be powerful.  Moriah and Nurys are riding for their new boyfriends, whom they’ve only known for a minute.  Even if pissing off their alliance.

 

Looks like Conquest is coming but they will still be voting in people to eliminations so Asaf’s loss means it may not be as one-sided as before.

TJ said numbers will be going down fast so double eliminations are coming.

CT not only had a gut, he looked pasty.  Not sure he’s going to be able to deal with the endurance part of the Challenge that well.  Must want to come back meaning he burned through a good bit of his earnings.

Edited January 18 by aghst

[joanne3482]

Upon further reflection, I think I'm glad CT took down Asaf. 1. He was very annoying. 2. It really screws with Jay's "game." I'm kind of looking forward to all his chest thumping bravado about his #1 going home. It being all the girls' fault is 100% the standard misogyny this show thrives on. Ed burned his vote. Kyland burned his vote too, right? I can't remember who the other one was who voted for Cory. But I think it was Kyland so that burn doesn't matter. None of the other guys changed their votes. Why were the girls expected to change theirs? 

[kassandra8286]

12 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

Ed burned his vote. Kyland burned his vote too, right? I can't remember who the other one was who voted for Cory.

Cory voted for himself. Kyland didn't get a vote. Cory's on the bubble with Jay, he basically said in this episode that he's only sticking with him for now because Michele has been advocating for him. Now that Jay is pissed at Michele and Cory helped secure Asaf's fate with his burned vote, I expect to see Cory be the next of Jay's alliance to go if they're in a similar position as this episode. Ed and Emanuel will be pushing hard for it of course 

I just hope, now that teams are done so presumably only one daily winner will have safety, that the other side will be able to finally send Jay's smug mug home. I'm at the point where I can't stand looking at him.

[AntFTW]

7 hours ago, aghst said:

CT not only had a gut, he looked pasty.  Not sure he’s going to be able to deal with the endurance part of the Challenge that well.

He’s won the game before looking just as pasty with a gut. His endurance was still pretty good.

If he returns, I guess we’ll find out.

[AntFTW]

7 hours ago, aghst said:

And Michelle goes up to Jay and asked why he was against her?

Bitch, you won the Daily and voted him in!  Your #1 wants him out, that’s why he salty!

I assume you mean Horacio.

[bunnyface]

The other thing that bugs me about Jay, other than his face, personality, hair and entire being, is that if he was so worried about his "game" he could have made one, any little one concession to the other side and kept himself safe.  Instead, he just sat back and smugly assumed he was safe, then started crying when his "game" was in jeopardy.  Any. Little. Concession. would have helped.  But he assumed he didn't have to do anything.  And he still ended up being safe ultimately.  But still carried on like a child.  

[AntFTW]

2 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Ed burned his vote.

I wouldn't say Ed burned his vote. Ed voted for Jay to create a tie, which saved Ed.

Corey burned his vote on himself so that there wouldn't be a tie. Ed capitalized off of Corey's vote and forced a stalemate again.

2 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Kyland burned his vote too, right? I can't remember who the other one was who voted for Cory.

Kyland couldn't vote because he had won the daily challenge.

Ed voted for Jay and Corey voted for himself. Everyone else voted for Ed and Emanuel, creating a 5-5 tie.

[aghst]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

I assume you mean Horacio.

Yup.

[joanne3482]

17 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

I wouldn't say Ed burned his vote. Ed voted for Jay to create a tie, which saved Ed.

But he originally voted for Emmanuel. If he had voted for Emmanuel again, wouldn't that have saved Ed because Emmanuel would have been the house vote? I can't remember if Cory voted before Ed or after Ed. I guess technically Ed's vote wasn't burned, but definitely in violation of their overstuffed alliance. Yet I don't remember Jay coming down as hard on either Ed or Cory about it. Just the girls. (I confess this show is like a Hershey bar to me. I enjoy it while consuming it but basically forget everything about it less than an hour later. This is especially the case because often Challenge logic makes no effing sense.)

[AntFTW]

4 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

But he originally voted for Emmanuel. If he had voted for Emmanuel again, wouldn't that have saved Ed because Emmanuel would have been the house vote?

You're right. I forgot that Corey's original vote was for Ed, so the final vote would have been 6 votes for Emanuel and 5 for Ed.

Hmmm... 🤔 Maybe was also trying to get himself and Emanuel out of the hot seat? If that was the reason, I guess it worked.

16 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

I can't remember if Cory voted before Ed or after Ed.

I think on the revote, Ed voted last to create the tie. I remember Ed sat there and thought about it, and then cast his vote for Jay 🤔

My only guess there is that he was also trying to save Emanuel from being nominated.

18 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

(I confess this show is like a Hershey bar to me. I enjoy it while consuming it but basically forget everything about it less than an hour later. This is especially the case because often Challenge logic makes no effing sense.)

It's easy to forget when you have a boring cast. I rewatched the last half of the episode again, basically from the house vote and on from there.

[Neveragain]

I love CT since forever but I thought that was such garbage.  I would have loved to see him repay Jay for bearing him.  Or a least give Horacio a fight bc through no fault of his own he keeps sliding out of eliminations and everyone should want him out because he’s a huge threat.   Either of those might have been epic to,watch.  Calling out Asaf to come down seems very producer driven and wasn’t rewarding the way the other events would have been. Let’s see what Conquest brings.  At least apparently it will put an end to these maddening team dailies on a season where there’s one individual winner. 

[joanne3482]

1 hour ago, Neveragain said:

Or a least give Horacio a fight bc through no fault of his own he keeps sliding out of eliminations and everyone should want him out because he’s a huge threat.

I did appreciate that in a call back to his own challenge history he decided to not call Horacio down. To me that was a classy, adult CT. 

[LaurelleJ]

15 hours ago, AntFTW said:

But… I mean… he’s right though. Everyone should notice how connected this dude is to know he was playing all of them… well, at least playing the side not aligned with Jay.

Kyland was definitely right. It was just the editing. The people are all up there boo-hooing and then here comes Kyland's practical VoiceOver like yeah, he was connected. The contrast made me laugh. 

14 hours ago, aghst said:

Horacio may run faster than anyone else but he’s not figuring out puzzles so he’s unlikely to be a big threat in the Finals unless the distances to run are so long that he can lap everyone else.  His team went from way out in first to last because they couldn’t figure out the combo.

Exactly. He is screwed unless there are time limits on the checkpoints, so he will have always have to book it. 

[AntFTW]

Also, I have to give an honorable mention to what I thought was the funniest moment in the episode, which was Ravyn being so confident and so wrong with her math and Corey correcting her.

If I followed Ravyn's logic correctly, it seems like she believed there were 15 squares, and the number she came up with was 225. Corey calmly explains that the number they're looking for has to be greater than 390 because 10 squares * 39 = 390, and there are more than 10 squares... like duh! right?

Then ravyn goes "ooohhh, it's 1,000" 😭😂🤣 😭😂🤣 😭😂🤣

Then she yells out "40 * 10 is 4,000"  😭😂🤣 😭😂🤣 😭😂🤣

Edited January 18 by AntFTW

[jsm1125]

I was fine with CT not picking Jay as his opponent. That “rivalry” never actually existed, and I’m annoyed that the show pretended that it did. 

[Jobiska]

That water that they were pulling the chests out of looked so pretty.  

I am getting so sick of Jay.  Not as much Michele, though I'm not keen on her, but she speaks more intelligently and doesn't gloat quite as much.  How the heck old is Jay, who made a mocking face when Kyland was speaking?  So immature.  Jay also is starting to remind me of a howler monkey with how he extends his lips while "wooo"-ing.  

Did Horacio get a cut on the side of his head (where the hair is shaved close) in one of the challenges?  there are bare/scabbed spots (I think maybe things have been shown out of filming order--shocking, I know--because today at the pool it looked scabby and at some other time it looked paler, like it was further healed).  But who knows.

I was sure there'd be a height component when Horacio said he did the high jump.

"What's a prime number?"  hoo boy.  The faces on Kyland and Ed when they realized that nothing they had called out to Asaf made any sense to him at all.  

I'd seen the promos with CT holding the mace before, and I didn't realize it would actually be pertinent to his episode.  

Producers:  "Hey, CT!  Open your eyes a little wider!  Stare like a maniac!  Great!"  

[DEL901]

I liked that the boards with the math problem were turned so the peanut gallery couldn’t see them.   Poor, dumb, over confident Asaf.   Doesn’t matter how good or stealthy your social skills are if you can’t win.

[ImpinAintEasy]

I think Ed,Michelle, and Kyland are the favorites to win right now. I know it’s difficult to read the edit on this show, but Jay’s is not favorable for a win. IMO. 
 

I really like Ed. I would not mind him being a semi-regular contestant if this show continues. I’m pretty sure he has a real job, so we’ll see if he continues to appear. 
 

Asaf is a prime example of one of the problems with newer contestants on this show. He’s not being authentic. He’s clearly playing a character and being over the top cocky and making grandiose statements and trying to create drama in an attempt to be cast for future seasons. 

[Duke Silver]

Yeah, Ed is one of the few cast members who is capable AND doesn't actively annoy me.

I think I'd like Horacio as a person; I know I like him as a competitor, but I don't think he has it in him to actually play the game to win it.  His stubbornness helps him as a competitor, but it isn't very game savvy.  Plus he doesn't have the logic/analytical skills of Ed/Kyland types.

Michelle really annoys me, but I agree, she's the most likely female winner, IMO.  Zara can run forever, and though slight of build, sure seems very physically strong.  Not sure she has the brain power though.

[AntFTW]

1 hour ago, Duke Silver said:

Zara can run forever, and though slight of build, sure seems very physically strong.  Not sure she has the brain power though.

I believe Zara is dyslexic so that may present a challenge for her at the equalizer checkpoints of a final, assuming she has no partner.

[aghst]

If only one person is winning the prize money, not sure how they could make them work with partners or as part of teams in the Final.

Maybe in the early stages so that they eliminate whole pairs of contenders, like go into the Final with 8 or 10 and then the bottom 4 or 6 is eliminated and only 4 or 6 run for the flag.

[joanne3482]

2 hours ago, aghst said:

If only one person is winning the prize money, not sure how they could make them work with partners or as part of teams in the Final.

I feel like there were a couple finals where the individuals were forced to work together periodically. I think there was one where a person arrived at a task but had to wait for the next person to arrive to do the task. 

 

4 hours ago, ImpinAintEasy said:

I’m pretty sure he has a real job, so we’ll see if he continues to appear. 

Someone said something about being an engineer this episode and I thought it was Ed. 

[Jobiska]

20 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Someone said something about being an engineer this episode and I thought it was Ed. 

Challenge wiki says he has an Ivy League degree in engineering; his Instagram says he's an "entrepreneur."  

[AntFTW]

20 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Someone said something about being an engineer this episode and I thought it was Ed.

It was Ed. Ed said he is an engineer.

[peachmangosteen]

On 1/17/2024 at 9:33 PM, mojoween said:

Please Nurys and Olivia turn your backs on [Jay] for good.

PLEASE! He showed his ass to them so much in this episode. They're fools if they continue to play for him.

On 1/18/2024 at 1:06 PM, AntFTW said:

My only guess there is that he was also trying to save Emanuel from being nominated.

Yes, he said so in a confessional. He said he didn't want to see Emanuel go in. Playing for the alliance again. Boring and stupid.

On 1/19/2024 at 1:38 PM, ImpinAintEasy said:

I really like Ed. I would not mind him being a semi-regular contestant if this show continues. I’m pretty sure he has a real job, so we’ll see if he continues to appear. 

He's maybe the only person left I genuinely like but I almost don't want him to ever appear again because this show manages to make most people who were once likable into monsters.

[Lamb18]

I don't remember which season Asaf was on, but he was the first person eliminated. I knew he was sunk when he asked if a number was a six or a nine. It didn't matter because neither is a prime number.

I liked Jay and Michele in other seasons, but now can't stand their arrogance and entitlement. 

Nice to see CT again! He's my favorite.

[AntFTW]

21 minutes ago, Lamb18 said:

I don't remember which season Asaf was on, but he was the first person eliminated.

He was on season 35, first person eliminated. I think it was Jay that beat him if I recall correctly.

[millennium]

On 1/18/2024 at 9:58 PM, Jobiska said:

How the heck old is Jay, who made a mocking face when Kyland was speaking?

Jay is 34 years old.   I know this only because I looked it up during the episode to answer my own question, "How many more years will we have to endure this annoying piece of shit before he ages out?"

I saw a sci-fi movie once -- I think it was John Carpenter's The Thing -- where the heroes kill a shape-shifting alien who can pretend to be anyone.   As the dying alien writhes in agony, its face keeps changing in a montage of all the people it has impersonated.   If Jay were to find himself in a similar plight, I imagine his face would morph from Devin to Bananas to Wes to Emy and all the other players he's desperately trying to be (and failing miserably) every episode (I threw in Emy because she was annoying AF, too). 

The only reward I took from this episode was seeing Jay's upper face go hypertension beet red in the moments before and after it became clear that CT was giving him a pass.  Never have I seen anyone go that red on this show -- not even Abram when he worked himself up into a nosebleed.   I guarantee you that when Jay literally broke down in over-the-top tears during Asaf's departure, that wasn't about Asaf.   It was the flood of relief from realizing that only in his nightmares would he have to face CT again.

The elimination didn't seem like much of a challenge, but at least CT won.  Two weeks in a row of watching old friends fail would have been too much.

 

 

Edited February 6 by millennium

[aghst]

How many seasons of reality TV has he done.  Did he win money on Survivor?

[joanne3482]

On 2/6/2024 at 2:18 AM, aghst said:

How many seasons of reality TV has he done.  Did he win money on Survivor?

He's done 1 of Survivor, 1 of Ex on the Beach, and now this is his 4th Challenge. I don't think he won any money on Survivor. Unless they are always earning money the longer they are on the show.