S40.E20: Reunion Part 1

[AntFTW]

Quote

Four eras of icons clash one last time on the Reunion stage. Laurel and Cara set the record straight. Bananas calls Devin out for being a hypocrite. Surprise guests shake up the Reunion and the targeted flip the script on their targeters.

Air date: January 15, 2025

[bunnyface]

Okay, I don't know that I'm going to watch this, but just the idea of Bananas calling anyone else out for hypocrisy is mind-blowing...ly stupid.  

[peachmangosteen]

Laurel is truly something else. What an odious person. I never want to see her again.

Tori was so fun here. She was cracking me up left and right. I don't know about her gushing over Johnny though. Embarrassing really.

I'm over Devin. He's the new Johnny/Wes for me. And he's gonna be on every fucking season, too. I need another break from this show lol.

[MMLEsq]

Aneesa suggesting that Jenny was lucky to beat her was laughable.  

Less Amanda, please.  Announcing "the queen has arrived," while strutting in....?  Um, queen of what exactly?  //rhetorical//

Couldn't they have edited all the Nehemiah-getting-stick stuff out?  🤢

Dipping my toe in the shallow end of the pool:  Michele looked beautiful.  

[peachmangosteen]

11 minutes ago, MMLEsq said:

Aneesa suggesting that Jenny was lucky to beat her was laughable.

I didn't read it that way at all. She was saying Jenny is so good that's it's amazing that she came close to beating her.

About Aneesa though, I wish she'd stop doing this show/they'd stop casting her. She just isn't bringing anything anymore. Although, I suppose the same could be said for most of the people who use this show as their job lol.

Edited Thursday at 03:49 PM by peachmangosteen

[AntFTW]

This reunion was actually kinda funny.

8 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't read it that way at all. She was saying Jenny is so good that's it's amazing that she came close to beating her.

That is how I interpreted Aneesa as well.

[jsm1125]

I wonder why CT, Tony, Kaycee, and Horacio weren’t at the reunion?

I think this was Avery’s first ever reunion. 

I’m so beyond tired of Bananas. I wish the other players would largely ignore what he says or does, as he’s just attention-seeking at this point. 

[MMLEsq]

5 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't read it that way at all. She was saying Jenny is so good that's it's amazing that she came close to beating her.

I just went back and rewatched it because I'm not always paying 100% attention, so I thought maybe I got the context wrong.

Aneesa said to Rachel, "Maybe I do need to be more selfish.  Maybe I need to hold more grudges.  You did what you had to do in that moment and that's probably why you won this show and I didn't."  That's what initially planted the seed for me watching the reunion that Aneesa was touting her own abilities...perhaps too highly.  It suggests that Rachel only won because she somehow acted in an underhanded way and also suggests that Aneesa believes she could have won the whole thing.  After seeing the types of activities required during the final challenge, I think Aneesa would have been at a real disadvantage with anything athletic.   

Then, she said, "...I have to reframe it....that Jenny almost lost to me.  Because it kept me up at night and proved to me all of the things that I'm capable of.  More than I actually thought I could.  So, though it was upsetting to leave early, it was so powerful for me."

So, I can see how you might have interpreted it a different way.  Although, I still don't hear it as "wow, I almost beat Jenny, who's so good."  More like, "yeah, I'm really pretty fantastic," which -- great for her self-esteem -- but still a little delusional, I think, if she believes her Challenge-winning abilities are right up there with athletes like Jenny.  Aneesa does okay in some of the challenges, but I can't remember a season where she came close to winning it all in any of the last 10-15 seasons (if not longer), except for All-Stars 1, where she was in in the Final, but came in 9th, although, again, my memory might be affected by my general dislike of her.     

[mojoween]

No break before the new season?  At least Survivor gives us a couple of months.

Amanda has no shame, huh?

John sucks as a human, but his hair does look nice like that.

No Nurys either, right?  I kinda want her and Laurel to bring their Twitter feud to the reunion.

Laurel is the most unaware person on the planet.

[aghst]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't read it that way at all. She was saying Jenny is so good that's it's amazing that she came close to beating her.

About Aneesa though, I wish she'd stop doing this show/they'd stop casting her. She just isn't bringing anything anymore. Although, I suppose the same could be said for most of the people who use this show as their job lol.

Wasn't there some Daily challenge which required a lot of running and she held up reasonably well?

She's not going to out swim or outrun anyone but if they design a challenge or a Final with reasonably paced puzzles so that running or swimming long distances isn't the biggest determinative factor, she might not be as uncompetitive as many think, though she's obviously not getting any younger.

No other woman wants to go into elimination with her though they will happily send her into elimination either to send her home or send someone else home.

 

3 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

I wonder why CT, Tony, Kaycee, and Horacio weren’t at the reunion?

I think this was Avery’s first ever reunion. 

I’m so beyond tired of Bananas. I wish the other players would largely ignore what he says or does, as he’s just attention-seeking at this point. 

It seems like he's friendly with most of them, despite what he does in the Challenge.

That's how he lasts so long whenever he competes, he gets "friends" to protect him and will shame them for betraying a "friend" if they vote him into elimination.

But he's able to turn up the charm and get others to help him.  Because I have very dim memories of the early challenges but it seems like Evan and Kenny basically helped him win those seasons.

 

 

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

No break before the new season?  At least Survivor gives us a couple of months.

Right. Like let people miss the show. The seasons already drag on for way too long and then there's just another one literally right after. Like I said, I need another break lol.

5 hours ago, MMLEsq said:

I just went back and rewatched it because I'm not always paying 100% attention, so I thought maybe I got the context wrong.

Aneesa said to Rachel, "Maybe I do need to be more selfish.  Maybe I need to hold more grudges.  You did what you had to do in that moment and that's probably why you won this show and I didn't."  That's what initially planted the seed for me watching the reunion that Aneesa was touting her own abilities...perhaps too highly.  It suggests that Rachel only won because she somehow acted in an underhanded way and also suggests that Aneesa believes she could have won the whole thing.  After seeing the types of activities required during the final challenge, I think Aneesa would have been at a real disadvantage with anything athletic.   

Then, she said, "...I have to reframe it....that Jenny almost lost to me.  Because it kept me up at night and proved to me all of the things that I'm capable of.  More than I actually thought I could.  So, though it was upsetting to leave early, it was so powerful for me."

So, I can see how you might have interpreted it a different way.  Although, I still don't hear it as "wow, I almost beat Jenny, who's so good."  More like, "yeah, I'm really pretty fantastic," which -- great for her self-esteem -- but still a little delusional, I think, if she believes her Challenge-winning abilities are right up there with athletes like Jenny.  Aneesa does okay in some of the challenges, but I can't remember a season where she came close to winning it all in any of the last 10-15 seasons (if not longer), except for All-Stars 1, where she was in in the Final, but came in 9th, although, again, my memory might be affected by my general dislike of her.     

It sounds like she's basically saying "Jenny is so good and yet I almost beat her so I shouldn't think of myself as not good enough," which I personally have no problem with.

I still wish she'd stop doing these shows though.

Now, someone who came off conceited as hell here (outside of all the reuglars that always do lol) was Rachel. Like girl, calm down lol.

[bunnyface]

16 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Right. Like let people miss the show. The seasons already drag on for way too long and then there's just another one literally right after. Like I said, I need another break lol.

Maybe this next season is just SO GOOD (ahahahahahahahaha) that they can't wait to show it.  Unlike the season they sat on for two (?) years because it was so awful.  

I myself will not be there because I refuse to watch anything with Frank on it (a stupid and loose personal line I admit but here we are).  So if he goes early I  might peek in.  But I will be taking the needed break.

[Jobiska]

On 1/16/2025 at 11:33 AM, mojoween said:

John sucks as a human, but his hair does look nice like that.

Definitely tons better than his usual look.  Unfortunately we got one of his other "usual looks" when he turned around and showed his (fortunately suit-covered) butt to the camera.  What is it with him and butts and toenails...Poor Maria Menounos did nothing to deserve him blowing toenails everywhere.  What a brat (J, not Maria).  

Poor Nehemiah.  

[Lantern7]

Another season ends, another reunion shown over three hours in two weeks, and it could just as easily aired for sixty minutes. Thanks, MTV!

I was going over stuff online today, and I was reminded that Amanda was on the cast. My feeling is that MTV needed some sizzle, grabbed Amanda from her house, quickly went through the nearest Frederick's of Hollywood, then dropped her off at the studio.

On 1/16/2025 at 9:17 AM, peachmangosteen said:

I'm over Devin. He's the new Johnny/Wes for me. And he's gonna be on every fucking season, too. I need another break from this show lol.

You might not like this . . . after the premiere of All Stars: Rivals, Devin will be on Ridiculousness.

On 1/16/2025 at 11:33 AM, mojoween said:

No break before the new season?  At least Survivor gives us a couple of months.

Technically, the new season is All Stars: Rivals. Different franchise. This time, it'll be run on MTV and not just on Paramount+.

[peachmangosteen]

7 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

You might not like this . . . after the premiere of All Stars: Rivals, Devin will be on Ridiculousness.

Doesn't surprise me. Thankfully, I don't watch lol. He better not start infiltrating other shows I do watch like Johnny and Wes. I know he will though.

[LaurelleJ]

Not too many notes from the reunion, just that Laurel continues to be insufferable. What a miserable person, so rude and condescending. I wouldn't be sad if this was her last season. I used to be a fan, but never again. 

It's been a while since I was super in tune with the antics of the cast outside of the show on social media and such. Was Johnny really that torn up about how things went with Moriah? Was the consensus that she really was using him for the show? The dynamic between Devin/Bananas/Tori/Michele was interesting yet annoying. Less of that. I'm surprised that when they talked about the couples that they didn't mention Brad and Emily, or maybe they haven't gotten there yet. 

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

Was Johnny really that torn up about how things went with Moriah?

I'm gonna guess no lol. I don't think Johnny is really capable of truly caring about someone besides himself tbh. He's probably just torn up about looking like kind of a chump.