S40.E02: The Era Invitational, Part 2

[AntFTW]

Quote

The Challengers arrive to the Arena to see classic, brutal eliminations from each era awaiting them; 16 people will fight in the sand, only 8 will return; the losers learn they will be sent off with a parting gift of karma for the remaining players.

Air date: August 21, 2024

[AntFTW]

[AntFTW]

So Amanda could have won on her second offensive round without giving Nia a second offensive round? Nia would have only gotten one offensive round to score a point? That seems unfair.

Johnny's explanation for throwing Cara into elimination might have been bullshit. I can't read minds... but it's not a bad reason. Waiting until Johnny and Laurel have power and when you're in the hot seat to say "let's put the past behind us" makes it less believable. It feels like you're only saying it when it's convenient to stay out of elimination. Cara may have been completely genuine in suggesting that they wipe the slate clean and start over, but her timing wasn't the best.

Cara saying "you're only mad because I beat you in the challenge" is hilarious. If I'm Johnny, I wouldn't give a fuck because Cara wasn't my competition. The rules weren't to beat Cara. I'd respond "you're only mad because you lost."

Theo ran through Paulie. Damn.

Why was I shocked when Kaycee came on my screen? 😂 I honestly forgot she was on this season.

Brandon pulled out this entire log... and I found that hilarious.

Karma vote??? Hmmmm 🤔 Advantages or disadvantages in the final maybe?

Edited August 22 by AntFTW

[mojoween]

Ew. There really was no reason for me to ever know what S&M games Paul and Cara play.

In the endless battle between Laurel and Cara Maria, I’m team CM every time, regardless of her terrible choices of sex partner.

Bye Amanda.  When you show your son this episode, do you edit out all the times you are a nasty bitch for no good reason?

”I’m going to shit in your bed like Amber Heard” bwah!

Is Kellyanne the mom to Brad’s babies or was that someone else?

[AntFTW]

40 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Is Kellyanne the mom to Brad’s babies or was that someone else?

No. That is someone else. I don't believe KellyAnne has children.

[bunnyface]

Brad's ex-wife and mother of his children is someone named Tori (don't remember her last name).  Not the Tori we have now.  I think she was a pageant person and (I thought) was kind of a bitch.  But I'm not sure he's a ball of laughs either, so...

[jsm1125]

Devin’s trying to convince us that Leroy played shady in Double Agents? What is he talking about??

Ugh, I want to like Laurel, but her Cara obsession is tiresome at this point. She can’t be both an anchor and someone she’s threatened by in a final!

[AntFTW]

I forgot to mention Katie. Katie was pretty scrappy in that Pole Wrestle. I found myself rooting for her and hoping for an upset.

Also, Ryan won his elimination but Cara and KellyAnne's elimination took up most of the air time. I'm glad Ryan won over Brandon. Let's fucking go Ryan!

Edited August 22 by AntFTW

[aghst]

The physical eliminations were mismatches, as is often the case.

Ryan lucked out, you could see Brandon was pissed that he got the one game where his weight and size advantage didn’t matter.

Paulie yapped before each Hall Brawl round, got pancaked both times.  CT thought Theo wouldn’t know how to use his size and weight advantage.  Looks like they suspected what the elimination games would be.

Derek was smart, got Mark to wear out trying to rip the pole from him and then made his move.  He probably wouldn’t have fared as well in the Hall Brawl or the ball thing.

We still don’t know what the rules for selecting people for the weekly eliminations will be as Bananas said.

Hmm both couples were broken up in the first elimination.

[Badlands]

They kept talking about what a great battle it was between Kellyanne and Cara. Too bad they had just spoiled the results during a commercial break preview when they showed a Cara scene that hasn't been shown yet. Idiots!

Kellyanne and Leroy are two of my favorites, so I was sad to see both of them go, although I preferred Cara stay just to stick it to the insufferable Laurel and Bananas.

How is Derrick so good at pole wrestling? Mark is not only far bigger than him, he's apparently an actual professional wrestler. I realize pole wrestling is far different (and real), but I though Mark would have the advantage.

I was surprised how badly Paulie got wrecked by Theo. I was glad to see him go, though. Katie was really impressive, but she really didn't have much of a chance.

Edited August 22 by Badlands

[mojoween]

Cars Maria has been bullied in the past, and she’s not always good at speaking up for herself, but three episodes of Paul talking for her was quite enough.  Yes CM needs allies, but she still has Christoper.

*Tori* and Brad, thank you, I remember now.  That ended poorly, if I recall.

Edited August 22 by mojoween

[Jillibean]

I don't think Cara has caught up on the fact that Laurel has been firmly back in the hate camp since All Stars 4. But I'm sure she will soon. The faces Laurel is making at her alone are a dead giveaway.

8 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Devin’s trying to convince us that Leroy played shady in Double Agents? What is he talking about??

He's probably talking about Leroy sending his BFF  Wes in against him early, which Wes was very bitter about for at least a year to the point of doing multiple lives about it. 

I didn't really feel like Leroy was giving it his all in that elimination. I wonder if his goal was always to collect his paycheck and then head back home to his kids. 

I want to like Brandon, but his sportsmanship when losing eliminations doesn't seem great. I didn't like his confessional that he would have crushed Ryan in something physical. Yes, Ryan is smaller than almost all the other guys. We all know this. I don't think it's a point of pride to say you could beat him in a wrestling match. 

It did feel a bit like karmic justice to see both Cara and Paulie sent into elimination after wielding the power of their numbers so smugly on the last challenge they did together. Tough break for Paulie to get Theo, but that's also why you have to be more careful about making enemies of strong competitors on a show where you'll likely run into them (pun intended?) again. 

I think Cara has some assorted allies, but if she can keep her head on straight, she's also capable of winning multiple eliminations. I hope she makes it very hard for them to get rid of her. 

Did we know that Cara and Amanda get along now? I sometimes find Amanda entertaining but her hateful and shaming recent tweets have made it impossible for me to be sad she's gone. 

[bunnyface]

2 hours ago, Jillibean said:

 

It did feel a bit like karmic justice to see both Cara and Paulie sent into elimination after wielding the power of their numbers so smugly on the last challenge they did together. Tough break for Paulie to get Theo, but that's also why you have to be more careful about making enemies of strong competitors on a show where you'll likely run into them (pun intended?) again. 

 

Was it a tough break though?  Didn't he pretty much call Theo out at the table and tell him "let's settle this."  Well, it's settled all right.  I kind of think Theo could have got him in pole wrestle too, although that's always kind of a toss-up, and balls in, just because of his reach.  Not sure about the puzzle one.  

[AntFTW]

 

[AntFTW]

13 hours ago, mojoween said:

Bye Amanda.  When you show your son this episode, do you edit out all the times you are a nasty bitch for no good reason?

Damn.

[angelamh66]

Cara Maria and Bananas did bury the hatchet on his podcast so I can see why she might have thought they were on better terms. 

Aneesa just kills me...she gets so worked up that people want her gone but does absolutely nothing in the off-season to improve her stamina. She is good at a lot of stuff but she cannot run or do anything that requires long-term stamina. She is someone the producers love as a character on these shows so I can see why they bring her back, but her wide-eyed surprise at being put in the elimination is just mind boggling. 

I go through spurts of liking or respecting Laurel, but when she gets on one of her bitch trips toward Cara Maria she loses me every time. CM can be annoying at times, and I really did not like her power trip that one season with Paulie, but I will always be on her side when it comes to Laurel. 

[aghst]

Aneesa hasn't been on in several seasons.  So maybe harder to try to train, especially being older.

Also being heavier would make her more prone to injuries.

[AntFTW]

23 minutes ago, aghst said:

Aneesa hasn't been on in several seasons.  So maybe harder to try to train, especially being older.

Aneesa was on season 38. She made it to the final. Season 39 was all newbies.

28 minutes ago, angelamh66 said:

Cara Maria and Bananas did bury the hatchet on his podcast so I can see why she might have thought they were on better terms.

I thought about that too because I listened to them. I get the feeling that that podcast episode was probably recorded after they filmed.

Edited August 22 by AntFTW

[Jobiska]

18 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Ugh, I want to like Laurel, but her Cara obsession is tiresome at this point. She can’t be both an anchor and someone she’s threatened by in a final!

And she can't both be tied to Laurel, dragging her down, and someone that isolates herself!  Laurel makes no sense.  CM shoots herself in the foot socially a lot of times, but I prefer her a million times more than Laurel and Bananas.  And I'd definitely rather be tight with CT than with Laurel and Bananas.

I like Nurys and Horacio together, but this "you need a wife" thing was a little much.  

I kind of like the freeze frames before commercial, but some of them are much more compelling (Derrick flipping Mark--I was afraid for Mark's neck!) than others (KellyAnne viewed from the side working on her chains).  

I'm one of the few that hate Hall Brawl.  And Jenny salivating over it was a little much (I need a new phrase--I'm using this one a little much).  

I wonder how they picked the 5 players that the losers had to rank?  

[AntFTW]

They should have had Knot so Fast as one of the games instead of Hall Brawl. They could have saved Hall Brawl for another day.

Edited August 22 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

If there was ever a season to have a redemption house, this was the season to do it. When the eliminated players were left in the elimination arena (or whatever they're calling it this season), I briefly thought we could be getting a redemption house.

Edited August 25 by AntFTW

[AntFTW]

[AntFTW]

 

[millennium]

Hall Brawl, Pole Wrestle, Balls In ... this feels like home.  

Almost.

Wes, Sarah, Nani, Zach, Jenna, Kyle ... not the same without you guys.

It sucks to have lost Paulie so soon.   I hate Paulie, but he would have kept things interesting.   The kumbaya attitude he displayed in his last appearance seems to have vanished.   Paulie Classic appears to have returned.   Too bad it was cut short.

Maybe the single best thing about this season is that it does not include Jay Starrett.

 

 

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, millennium said:

Maybe the single best thing about this season is that it does not include Jay Starrett.

I think no Fessy rates pretty highly too..

[millennium]

10 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I think no Fessy rates pretty highly too..

Yes!  Funny, I somehow forgot Fessy/Faisal/"the Decider" existed until you mentioned him.  

I was sorry to see Nurys go.  She's a scrapper but was apparently overwhelmed by Olivia's lips.

[Lantern7]

Prediction: The karma votes and "target" thing will wreck this season worse than losing such memorable players right away. BMP can't help itself . . .  they excel at adding bell and whistles that really aren't needed.

Where does Paulie getting laid out stand with the hardest hits in show history? That was brutal. Also funny because it was Paulie. Dumbass.

[jsm1125]

On 8/25/2024 at 9:44 AM, millennium said:

Hall Brawl, Pole Wrestle, Balls In ... this feels like home.  

Almost.

Wes, Sarah, Nani, Zach, Jenna, Kyle ... not the same without you guys.

It sucks to have lost Paulie so soon.   I hate Paulie, but he would have kept things interesting.   The kumbaya attitude he displayed in his last appearance seems to have vanished.   Paulie Classic appears to have returned.   Too bad it was cut short.

Maybe the single best thing about this season is that it does not include Jay Starrett.

 

 

I think Jenna and especially Wes and Nany were asked, but likely turned it down. Wes and Nany probably have automatic spots on a season for the foreseeable future should they want them. 

[millennium]

16 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

I think Jenna and especially Wes and Nany were asked, but likely turned it down. Wes and Nany probably have automatic spots on a season for the foreseeable future should they want them. 

The way Zach tells it, he has been blackballed from the show by a certain production person he had a disagreement with, said production person vowing "That kid will never be on this show again."   If that is true, I would be surprised if Jenna came back to the show without him.   I know she has done that in the past, but to return while her husband is banned?   I kinda doubt it.

And Wes broke my heart by "retiring."

Edited August 28 by millennium