S04.E09: Waiting for a Star to Fall

[AntFTW]

Quote

With time running out to earn a star, one player sets their sights on reclaiming what was stolen from them; an All-Star finds himself caught between two warring allies.

Air date: May 29, 2024 on Paramount+

[Badlands]

Laurel sure talks a tough game, yet was too afraid of losing to Cara Maria to try to get her star. I hope she doesn't get another chance. It was such a poor game move as well to vote Cara in and let her get a star again. I would suspect that Leroy isn't the only one who will be upset with Laurel going forward. Hopefully, they block her from getting a star.

It was amusing that Flora talked about Cara being like a child and a cry baby and then she ran to tattle on Cara for calling Nicole an idiot and then literally cried during the challenge. BTW, is calling someone an "idiot" on the Challenge a terrible insult now?

 

 

[AntFTW]

Why was there a women’s elimination again? 🙄

This was an okay episode. Cara had the better strategy. It’s time consuming to go back and forth getting the balls at the end of the cage. Even though it’s a slow start, it saves time in the end when it counts.

I didn’t care for the daily challenge and the elimination game. They weren’t very exciting to watch. The drama in this episode wasn’t all that great either.

Edited May 30 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

I'm sad to see Kam go. That's mostly because I think she's been playing the game the hardest out of the people remaining. Kam was willing to take big swings and I appreciate that in game play, and I wish the others would also take big swings. I feel like everyone else is just sitting in the background.

The game has pretty much been Cara and Kam. Now that Kam is gone, they make me almost want to have Ayanna back. Cara needs to a new enemy so that we can have a decent season for the remaining episodes.

Edited May 29 by AntFTW

[WInterfalls]

Disappointed in Laurel that she was too scared to go down and face Cara. She talked a big game but didn't back it up. I hate Nicole so much she is the absolute worst. Cara isn't even allowed to have a conversation with anyone else or she's a bad person? Nicole has no room to call anyone else a terrible person. And Flora is online saying she adores Nicole which she cannot be trusted as a good judge of character. 

I don't know what Jay thinks he is doing here being allies with Nicole and Cara. There is no strength in your allies fighting against each other all the time. 

[aghst]

Laurel wanted a physical elimination where she could use her size and strength advantage over the other women.

Cara would have had a good chance of beating her because this was about fitness.

It’s understandable that Kam didn’t want to walk that narrow plank and jump repeatedly into the water from height.  She rationalized that as long as Leroy made the Final, they had a good chance at the money.

Avery is trying to carry the burden for providing for both her younger sister and brother.  Wonder what happened to their parents.  No other extended family?

 

I suspect that there will be at least one more chance for those without stars.  They talked like this was the last women’s elimination week and that there would be just one more elimination for men.  If that is the case, those without stars would just go home, many not having had the chance to go to elimination?

[angelamh66]

I found it to be the height of irony that Laurel said Cara doesn't realize how she comes off to people. While that may be true of Cara, it is also very much true of Laurel who has behaved pretty horribly over the years. I go back and forth on both of them, but this season I am pulling for Cara because the reasons people keep coming up with to target her are absolute garbage. I have respect for the people who just say they are afraid to run a final against her. 

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, aghst said:

If that is the case, those without stars would just go home, many not having had the chance to go to elimination?

Praying this is how it goes because it'd be hilarious.

4 hours ago, angelamh66 said:

I go back and forth on both [Laurel and Cara], but this season I am pulling for Cara because the reasons people keep coming up with to target her are absolute garbage. I have respect for the people who just say they are afraid to run a final against her. 

+1

Edited May 30 by peachmangosteen

[luckyroll3]

I also have a love/hate relationship with Cara Maria. She is very annoying and with a tiny amount of self-awareness. There were many times this season when I was yelling at the TV for her to just stop talking. Yes, they are full of it and it may not be fair and whatever else. But you said it once, now just move on. BUT, I love that she always stands up for herself. She strikes me as someone who has always been picked on, not just on The Challenge, but in life in general. Probably because she's just weird (which I don't mind!). And she stands up for herself and doesn't back down; I can appreciate that. Also she has people like Nicole, who went out of her way to go pick a fight with Cara Maria then had the nerve to tell Cara to keep her name out of her mouth. Ma'am, she wasn't talking about you until you came over and interrupted her conversation to make it about you. And it's rich hearing Nicole of all people calling someone else a terrible person. 

I'm sorry, but I am laughing so hard at Kam trusting Laurel, the most wishy washy person ever. They should have put Cara and Flora (or Veronica) down. That way, if Laurel got her physical/head-to-head, she could have replaced Flora/Veronica, but if it was something she was worried that she couldn't beat Cara in, she could have competed against Flora/Veronica and easily taken the win. Yes Cara would still be there, but she is still effectively blocked from securing a star, at least for one more day. Throwing in Kam when there were other choices was just idiotic. 

[AntFTW]

3 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

I'm sorry, but I am laughing so hard at Kam trusting Laurel, the most wishy washy person ever. They should have put Cara and Flora (or Veronica) down.

Now you mentioned Veronica, something I realized while watching this episode, and made me chuckle a little bit, is that Veronica has been really skating by this whole season. She's been keeping her head down and causing no problems... and she still has this star that was given to her and no one has taken it yet.

She finessed her way out of that elimination with Nicole and other people have pretty much been doing the work for her.

[WInterfalls]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

Now you mentioned Veronica, something I realized while watching this episode, and made me chuckle a little bit, is that Veronica has been really skating by this whole season. She's been keeping her head down and causing no problems... and she still has this star that was given to her and no one has taken it yet.

No one wants to take Veronica's star because she's no threat in a final. I'm fairly certain if Kam had won that elimination she would have taken Nicole's star not Veronica's. If it's me I'd rather have Veronica in the final than Nicole or Cara. 

[AntFTW]

13 hours ago, WInterfalls said:

No one wants to take Veronica's star because she's no threat in a final. I'm fairly certain if Kam had won that elimination she would have taken Nicole's star not Veronica's. If it's me I'd rather have Veronica in the final than Nicole or Cara. 

Especially after Laurel left her hanging, I wouldn't blame Kam for stealing Nicole's star if she had won.

[Cherry Styles]

I don't enjoy Killa Kam the player, but I do love Kam and Leroy together.  I think they are sweet.   

Laurel is just gross and so is Nicole.  They act like middle schoolers. 

Yay Cara!

[LaurelleJ]

Laurel ending the episode by saying that there should be an opportunity get a start and she will do whatever it takes to get one was ridiculous. She had this on a silver platter. Throw in Veronica vs. Flora. See what game it was, pick whether you think you could beat Veronica or Flora, and take out the other. Win, get Veronica's star. Or maybe Laurel's plan all along was to eliminate one strong player and she would rather look like a coward that went back on her word to get one of her two competitors out. 

I agree if Kam had won, take Nicole's star for revenge. Give it to Averey. 

It's been said a lot, but the musical selections for this season have been outstanding. 

Edited June 2 by LaurelleJ

[Jobiska]

I do like Kam and Leroy together--though I would myself not discuss future procreating on camera, I did get a laugh out of Leroy saying something about making a sibling for King, and Kam agreeing, and Leroy saying "I was joking," and Kam saying "I wasn't!" and Leroy's face when she said that!

[ljenkins782]

On 5/31/2024 at 7:39 AM, luckyroll3 said:

I also have a love/hate relationship with Cara Maria. She is very annoying and with a tiny amount of self-awareness. There were many times this season when I was yelling at the TV for her to just stop talking. Yes, they are full of it and it may not be fair and whatever else. But you said it once, now just move on. BUT, I love that she always stands up for herself. She strikes me as someone who has always been picked on, not just on The Challenge, but in life in general. Probably because she's just weird (which I don't mind!). And she stands up for herself and doesn't back down; I can appreciate that. Also she has people like Nicole, who went out of her way to go pick a fight with Cara Maria then had the nerve to tell Cara to keep her name out of her mouth. Ma'am, she wasn't talking about you until you came over and interrupted her conversation to make it about you. And it's rich hearing Nicole of all people calling someone else a terrible person. 

Yeah, Cara created a lot of her own problems with her outsized reaction to being nominated by Brandon/Leroy/Kam/Jasmine. It's natural to be upset or feel betrayed, but she just took it to such a level that it painted a bigger target on her back. And honestly, if getting a star is required and one of the only ways to get one is to compete in an elimination, it's not even that bad a thing.

BUT, if it's a battle between Cara and Nicole, I'm team Cara all the way. Nicole has zero redeeming qualities that I can see. 
 

Quote

 

I'm sorry, but I am laughing so hard at Kam trusting Laurel, the most wishy washy person ever. They should have put Cara and Flora (or Veronica) down. That way, if Laurel got her physical/head-to-head, she could have replaced Flora/Veronica, but if it was something she was worried that she couldn't beat Cara in, she could have competed against Flora/Veronica and easily taken the win. Yes Cara would still be there, but she is still effectively blocked from securing a star, at least for one more day. Throwing in Kam when there were other choices was just idiotic. 

 

I love that their grand plan of stealing Cara's star and blocking her from competing to get another one lasted ONE day. Of all possible scenarios, this one might have been the dumbest. Gave Cara her star back with very little time left to go and while Kam was a strong player, she's also fairly recently post partum and not in the physical shape of Nicole or Laurel at the moment. 

I'm curious how the final episodes are going to be structured and how many other opportunities there will be to get stars. I'll die laughing if this is it for women earning stars and Laurel blew her shot. At this point, none of the current star-holding men are really aligned with her so she's not gonna get handed a star if only the men are competing.

[Tatum]

On 5/31/2024 at 6:39 AM, luckyroll3 said:

They should have put Cara and Flora (or Veronica) down. That way, if Laurel got her physical/head-to-head, she could have replaced Flora/Veronica, but if it was something she was worried that she couldn't beat Cara in, she could have competed against Flora/Veronica and easily taken the win. Yes Cara would still be there, but she is still effectively blocked from securing a star, at least for one more day. Throwing in Kam when there were other choices was just idiotic. 

The minute Kam heard she was likely going to be voted in, she should have figured there was a decent chance of Laurel backing out. Otherwise, there would be no reason to not have Cara vs Veronica. I assume no one would agree to vote in Flora because she's this year's elected layup and everyone once in awhile Veronica pulls out the upset (physically I mean, she pulls out the upset in voting politics pretty much every season).

 

It was a punk move for Laurel to swear up and down she would replace Kam, but even if Kam had realized Laurel wasn't trustworthy, I am not sure she could have done much to stop it. Nicole was going to vote whatever way Laurel wanted, Jay was willing to vote which way Nicole wanted, and there was zero incentive for Averey to vote in either Veronica or Flora, two contestants she could most likely easily beat. Laurel lied not because she needed Kam's blessing, but because she was too chicken shit to face an earlier confrontation with Kam. Laurel can only confront people when she's got someone egging her on. During Free Agents, she picked a fight with Cara and everyone took Cara's side and Laurel went off and cried alone until she finally returned with her tail between her legs and grudgingly apologized.

 

I think Cara is genuinely good person who happens to be extremely annoying. She is also weird, but I actually like that about her.

[Tatum]

On 6/2/2024 at 7:14 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Yeah, Cara created a lot of her own problems with her outsized reaction to being nominated by Brandon/Leroy/Kam/Jasmine. It's natural to be upset or feel betrayed, but she just took it to such a level that it painted a bigger target on her back.
 

I love that their grand plan of stealing Cara's star and blocking her from competing to get another one lasted ONE day.

Right? She always does this by taking these votes so damn personally, as though these people all conspired the best ways to screw her over instead of merely voting in a way that benefits their own game and not hers.

 

And I am amazed at the stupidity of putting Cara in an elimination round if you're trying to block her from a final, especially this late. Laurel is pretty arrogant about another shot at a star coming and I really hope she's wrong.

[AntFTW]

13 hours ago, Tatum said:

And I am amazed at the stupidity of putting Cara in an elimination round if you're trying to block her from a final, especially this late. Laurel is pretty arrogant about another shot at a star coming and I really hope she's wrong.

Well... the only way to block her from a final with certainty is to throw her into elimination and send her home. Keeping her in the game means there is always a possibility of her getting a star. She could win a daily challenge and throw herself down or someone could steal a star and give it to her.

Laurel could have switched things up and taken Cara's spot and competed against Kam. Kam was on the The Challenge podcast and, to summarize, she was saying that she couldn't sit around in limbo, that she either needs to get a star or go home to her baby because she feels like she's wasting her time if she's not progressing. I'm trying to understand how Laurel doesn't also feel that way. Where is the sense of urgency?

Edited June 5 by AntFTW

[Tatum]

2 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

Well... the only way to block her from a final with certainty is to throw her into and send her home. Keeping her in the game means there is always a possibility of her getting a star.

True...but clearly Laurel wasn't confident she could beat her or she would have taken Kam's spot, so it seems keeping her out of elimination when possible was the next best thing. Cara's got a pretty strong record in eliminations and no one really seems to want to face her in them.

 

4 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

Kam was on the The Challenge podcast and, to summarize, she was saying that she couldn't sit around in limbo, that she either needs to get a star or go home to her baby because she feels like she's wasting her time if she's not progressing.

I am not sure I like the star stealing aspect, as it doesn't really reward the people who volunteer to go in to elimination and get their stars, knowing they could easily lose them. It actually benefits those who sit around and go in to elimination at the last possible chance. I hate when contestants make the final without ever going in. I also hate when the same person is nominated for eliminations over and over. I wish there was a cap on that- like, 3 times in the elimination, and then you are ineligible after that.

[AntFTW]

5 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Cara's got a pretty strong record in eliminations and no one really seems to want to face her in them.

The same applies to Laurel. It was a pretty even-handed elimination that Laurel could have reasonably won. Whether Laurel decided to replace Kam or Cara, I think she should have taken the chance. She clearly believes she has more than enough opportunity and also that people won't try to block her from getting a star.

19 minutes ago, Tatum said:

but clearly Laurel wasn't confident she could beat her or she would have taken Kam's spot

Sure, but you can't do both plans. One has to take priority, and sending Cara home took priority. Based on what we're shown, Laurel was confident until she got to elimination. By that time, it's too late to block Cara. Cara had already been voted in. If they wanted to block Cara, Laurel would've had to know before Cara was voted in that she wasn't confident.

Also, I'm thinking that blocking Cara can only work for so long. Eventually, one of the star holders will have to be sacrificed and thrown into elimination if they want to continue to block Cara. If Cara wants to go into elimination, which star holder is going to be willing to go into elimination instead?

[Tatum]

2 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

Sure, but you can't do both plans. One has to take priority, and sending Cara home took priority

But that leads to a lot of potential for backfiring, as was played out, since Laurel chickened out of her plan at the last minute, leaving CM with a star, Laurel without a star, and Leroy and Kam, two strong players, pissed at Laurel. The game isn't over yet, but if Laurel wasn't willing to see her part through, I think keeping CM out of elimination this round would have been the better choice.

 

Of course, this could all be moot, as there may be more chances for stars and Laurel could still get one (and CM, had she not gotten one this time, could potentially still have gotten one), but I am operating under the comments that the cast members made that this was potentially the last female elimination. On The Island, cast members who did not earn keys stayed in the game but could do nothing but watch the 8 finalists sail off, knowing they had no chance to win but were still on the show.

[AntFTW]

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

Of course, this could all be moot, as there may be more chances for stars and Laurel could still get one (and CM, had she not gotten one this time, could potentially still have gotten one), but I am operating under the comments that the cast members made that this was potentially the last female elimination. On The Island, cast members who did not earn keys stayed in the game but could do nothing but watch the 8 finalists sail off, knowing they had no chance to win but were still on the show.

One scenario I always hoped to see was people being sent home because they can't compete in the final.

When they did the skulls on seasons 35 and 36, they had too many skulls that it gave too many opportunities to everyone to get a skull. By the time, they got down to 8 players, everyone left had skulls so tell "your time is up. You don't have a skull so you can't compete in the final."

Now, it's 6 stars so I'm hoping we get to see some people sent home because they don't have a star and can't compete.

For season 36, if you watched it, they had Lolo Jones and people were blocking her from getting a skull. She chose to quit but if she stuck around, they would have happily voted her into elimination because everyone else would have had a skull. They wouldn't want to risk themselves going home after they got their skulls. She would have became an easy vote to throw into elimination. I think the same here would apply to Cara if they had blocked her.

[Tatum]

42 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

For season 36, if you watched it, they had Lolo Jones and people were blocking her from getting a skull. She chose to quit but if she stuck around, they would have happily voted her into elimination because everyone else would have had a skull. They wouldn't want to risk themselves going home after they got their skulls. She would have became an easy vote to throw into elimination. I think the same here would apply to Cara if they had blocked her.

Was that the woman from the Olympics? I did feel sorry for her, but she had a bit of a flounce vibe going on. At the time when she left, she didn't know there would be no chance of her getting in. She could have stuck it out a little longer.

 

With The Island, Johnny and Co. were very successful in keeping Ev locked out, but they had the advantage of not doing dailies so there was no way for Ev to force her way in. However, right before the final, Teege announced that everyone who didn't have a key would be competing for the final spot, and whoever had their key stolen that last time would have no way to get it back. The look on Johnny's face was freaking priceless, especially since Ev was by far and away the best competitor left who did not have a key. I might have to go back and watch that scene.

[AntFTW]

21 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Was that the woman from the Olympics?

Yes.

21 minutes ago, Tatum said:

At the time when she left, she didn't know there would be no chance of her getting in. She could have stuck it out a little longer.

Exactly. She left before she could ever find out. Eventually, she would have had a turn if she stuck it out. They couldn't block her forever.

21 minutes ago, Tatum said:

With The Island, Johnny and Co. were very successful in keeping Ev locked out, but they had the advantage of not doing dailies so there was no way for Ev to force her way in. However, right before the final, Teege announced that everyone who didn't have a key would be competing for the final spot, and whoever had their key stolen that last time would have no way to get it back. The look on Johnny's face was freaking priceless, especially since Ev was by far and away the best competitor left who did not have a key. I might have to go back and watch that scene.

I want that to happen this season. These seasons are too long. They give everyone the opportunity to get the thing that's needed.

Wasn't there less people being eliminated in The Island? I know that in order to get a key, it wasn't required that someone go home. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. 🤔 With this All Stars, someone always has to go home when another is getting a star.

I barely remember The Island, but I loved it. The format of the game was great.

Edited June 4 by AntFTW

[Tatum]

7 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

Wasn't there less people being eliminated in The Island?

 

Someone did go home each time. But there was no daily mission- you just voted three people to go head to head. The winner got a key, and the two losers had to stand in front of the room and argue why they should be given the second key. The one who did not receive a key was then sent home.

 

Johnny Bananas, Paula, Kenny, and then later Johanna, Derrick, and Dunbar rigged the votes so that each time, someone in their alliance was in the head to head with either a poor athlete or an unpopular contestant, basically ensuring if they didn't win the key, they would win the vote to stay. Once all keys were handed out, there were several rounds where people could steal keys. However, Teege made it clear that the final round, the person whose key was stolen would have no recourse. Dunbar, Johanna, Colie, Dan, and Kelly Anne were all left behind. Bananas and Kenny did some fast talking to get Ev to take Dunbar's key instead of Bananas'.

 

I LOVE the idea that you have to compete in the elimination rounds to get to the finals, but this cast was absolutely brutal. The bullying of KA, Ev, Tonya and Robin was nearly unbearable to watch.

Edited June 4 by Tatum

[AntFTW]

3 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Someone did go home each time. But there was no daily mission- you just voted three people to go head to head. The winner got a key, and the two losers had to stand in front of the room and argue why they should be given the second key. The one who did not receive a key was then sent home.

 

Johnny Bananas, Paula, Kenny, and then later Johanna, Derrick, and Dunbar rigged the votes so that each time, someone in their alliance was in the head to head with either a poor athlete or an unpopular contestant, basically ensuring if they didn't win the key, they would win the vote to stay. Once all keys were handed out, there were several rounds where people could steal keys. However, Teege made it clear that the final round, the person whose key was stolen would have no recourse. Dunbar, Johanna, Colie, Dan, and Kelly Anne were all left behind. Bananas and Kenny did some fast talking to get Ev to take Dunbar's key instead of Bananas'.

Then they ditched Paula for Ev. 😂

6 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I LOVE the idea that you have to compete in the elimination rounds to get to the finals, but this cast was absolutely brutal. The bullying of KA, Ev, Tonya and Robin was nearly unbearable to watch.

Agreed. Happy they matured and grew out of that. When Cara came on the show, it was brutal for her.

[Tatum]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

Then they ditched Paula for Ev. 😂

 

You know, as much as it warmed my heart to see Bananas' panic, Dunbar's barely contained rage, and Paula's devastation. I kind of wish they would have raised the issue that even if Ev had not gotten that last key, Paula likely would have been bounced. Right before Ev took the last key, it was Dunbar, Derrick, Johnny, Kenny, and Paula. 5 in the alliance, 4 spots. Dunbar could sail, and Derrick was chosen over Paula in the final that happened- does Paula really think woman hating Johnny would have picked her over Dunbar or Derrick?

[Lantern7]

Not much that I can add. I feel that the biggest thing that ruins The Challenger is Challengers. Or maybe I’ve hit a point of no return for Nicole, and that’s soured me on this season in general.

I’m thinking nobody is going to scramble for stars until Teege says “danger close.” They’re like Pavlov’s dogs in that way.

Has anyone’s reputation taken as many hits as Laurel’s? She probably knows that we’re never getting Hall Brawl (or anything remotely dangerous) in elimination, so she passes on potentially losing to Cara Maria. I hate to say it, but the Killbot looks far too human. Do we blame it on age or on Nicole?

I’m still not ready to pull for Adam. I am accepting that Steve will probably depart the game with little fuss kicked up. I know he’s weird, but he’s still my people. Does that make sense?