S31.E07: Pulling the Strings

[OnceSane]

Quote

When the mysterious and offensive notes continue to circulate the Challenge house, they cause a stir among the female competitors and the culprit finally gets revealed; when four Challenge legends return, the game turns upside-down.

[Drogo]

When the mysterious and offensive notes continue to circulate in the Challenge house, it causes a stir amongst the female competitors and the culprit is finally revealed.

[CaliforniaLove]

It doesn't seem to me like those notes are really doing anything other than making them wonder who did it. What is the "chaos" Bananas thinks he created?

[RandomWatcher]

I thought it was amusing how Natalie was throwing shade at Victor being voted AFP

[angelamh66]

It remains so frustrating to watch people fall in line with fricking Bananas. He picks the damn troika and nobody says a word. Except Shane. Because he knows he is screwed. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

Of course it was John with the notes. It was stupid and juvenile, that screams him. I just didn't see him getting his sister to write them out for him. Girl, why?

Veronica's broken finger, ouch! I feel bad for her. I don't understand why Veronica was the one immediately voted into the elimination when Kam was the reason why their team had that penalty.

I don't like Nicole but man I laughed so hard when right after confirming that she was in the Troika she told Shane she was putting him in. And she made that happen, lol. "Yeah, we're on the same team but I still hate you so bye."

I am all in on Devin. He's what Corey thought he was, lol. I bet he and Wes teaming up would maybe do some damage to John's game. Natalie was full of shit. "OMG I don't know how to play both sides. OMG I'm not in an alliance with John even though I got him get rid of my Vendetta for me. OMG." Who is she trying to kid? I liked that Britni said her denying she was in an alliance with John would be like Britni doing the same with Brad. You're together. He's got you. Everyone knows.

I wish Abram was one of the people to come back. He would scare everybody.

[RedheadZombie]

Dear Shane and all of the other reality show whores:  The possessive of "I" is "my" not I's.  Where has this come from?  I never heard it until a few years ago. Is this a Millenial thing?

[Lantern7]

From last week's thread:

On 2/6/2018 at 10:27 PM, TiffanyNichelle said:

John is the one totally doing the notes. If not him then it's Nicole Z.

Once again, I feel stupid for not considering that. @TiffanyNichelle deserves a prize, even if the culprit was obvious in retrospect. Of course it was Johnny. In many ways, it's always fucking Johnny. And he usually gets away with it. Of course he would have the presence of mind to have his sister write the notes, because somebody from the crowd would have recognized his handwriting. Also, his idiot cousin probably can't read or write. And he's looking to make a buck from this shit. Oh, and he planned it with the help of Mark Long, which . . . Mark? Give it up. Look, I get that he's fit as hell and probably more normal than half of any cast, but helping out Johnny? Saaaaaaaad. And how the fuck is this any different from Jon Dalton's Dead Grandma Play on Survivor: Pearl Islands? There was no reason for either one. Johnny wanted to stir shit, and he couldn't wait until girls' heads were turned so he could chuck pillows toward them.

Wow, we almost had a full episode tonight. Brad beat Victor in the Ring . . . I'm good with that, because fuck Big Brother. Then we get a stupid mission, more twists, and the arrival of the Mercenaries. I like "Heavy Hitters" better, but I'm good with that. Jordan takes Shane out . . . Shane is like Homer Simpson in that astronaut episode, where everybody had a Employee of the Month award except him. And Sarah is the inanimate rod. We end on Aneesa vs. Veronica . . . best coin flip outcome this season. I'm surprised Teege didn't call out Rachel to really make things interesting. Oh, and Joss draws Derrick, and he totally underestimates "The Diesel." Somebody's going back to England in several casts.

ETA: Forgot about Veronica's busted finger. I don't like her, but I don't want to see people in pain. Well, maybe the Gauntlet/Inferno Veronica.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Lantern7

[RedheadZombie]

I wonder if Veronica's finger is dislocated as well as broken.  "Floppy" sounds like more than a break.  Girl had a ton of adrenaline flying if she didn't notice the problem until she looked at it. 

[scrb]

So do the Mercenaries get grenades if they win?

Ridiculous how they picked the teams.  The previous challenge it was suppose to be random.  Why not have consistent rules?

It's almost as if production wants to do whatever they can to keep Bananas in the game as long as they can.

They must really believe he helps with the ratings.

[Jwd]

never mind lol

Edited February 14, 2018 by Jwd

[dangwoodchucks]

11 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

Of course it was John with the notes. It was stupid and juvenile, that screams him. I just didn't see him getting his sister to write them out for him. Girl, why?

Veronica's broken finger, ouch! I feel bad for her. I don't understand why Veronica was the one immediately voted into the elimination when Kam was the reason why their team had that penalty.

I don't like Nicole but man I laughed so hard when right after confirming that she was in the Troika she told Shane she was putting him in. And she made that happen, lol. "Yeah, we're on the same team but I still hate you so bye."

I am all in on Devin. He's what Corey thought he was, lol. I bet he and Wes teaming up would maybe do some damage to John's game. Natalie was full of shit. "OMG I don't know how to play both sides. OMG I'm not in an alliance with John even though I got him get rid of my Vendetta for me. OMG." Who is she trying to kid? I liked that Britni said her denying she was in an alliance with John would be like Britni doing the same with Brad. You're together. He's got you. Everyone knows.

I wish Abram was one of the people to come back. He would scare everybody.

John sitting there beaming like he just accomplished something fantastic because he played yet another middle school prank...ugh. And production devotes part of two episodes to it. Sick of seing BMP make this the John show.

Brad was going to throw the time crunch against the other team anyway, Kam was just an excuse. He said it was because she had the least amount of reason for voting for him last challenge, but even if she had voted for Nelson, Brad still would’ve gone into elimination so he just would’ve picked someone else to aim it at. I don’t know why they went after Veronica, but they could’ve gone after Britni since her boyfriend screwed them. Devin needs to rally these girls, not one of them voted for Leroy. They need to pick off John’s butt buddies.

Abram as one of the mercenaries would’ve been great. Is this elimination a one-off thing for them?

Tony and Kyle had a good idea about putting Nelson in against Joss to get rid of one strong player and get their money, and as it turns out they could’ve possibly gotten rid of two strong players. But instead Nicole gets her way and a weak player is gone. 

Good for Devin calling Natalie on her BS, seems she’s not fooling anyone with her act. And of course she heads to John to tell him Devin is picking on her. I like that Devin’s not afraid to put a target on his back. The response he got from John reminded me of how Wes could get to John so yeah, Wes and Devin teaming up on a challenge would be great. Lol at Jemmye and her Nutella during the kitchen scene.

[scrb]

Didn't they show Laurel as one of the mercenaries in the previews last week?

So maybe there are more to come?

Guess they wouldn't bother to come up with a name for these surprise elimination challenge combatants unless they plan to have more of them?

[luckyroll3]

These people are such dumdums.  Why did they let Johnny dictate the Troika with two-thirds of the folks who were in the previous troika?!?!?!? And why wouldn't they toss in people who are in opposite sex alliances (Natalie and girl banging Brad whose name escapes me right now because i can't stand her)?

[CaliforniaLove]

2 hours ago, scrb said:

Didn't they show Laurel as one of the mercenaries in the previews last week?

Yes, I've seen Laurel on the previews...they're probably saving her for when Nicole gets nominated for the ring. 

[scrb]

49 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

These people are such dumdums.  Why did they let Johnny dictate the Troika with two-thirds of the folks who were in the previous troika?!?!?!? And why wouldn't they toss in people who are in opposite sex alliances (Natalie and girl banging Brad whose name escapes me right now because i can't stand her)?

Maybe some objected at the time but they hand waved it away and B-M didn't bother to show the debates.

I think Shane was on the winning team?  If he had any idea that they would put him in if they won, he could have sabotaged it so that they didn't win at all.

[RHJunkie]

Natalie, you can just go. You automatically make my 'hope you fail miserably' list after pulling the 'bully' card just because your ass got caught in a lie...a stupid lie no less. And then acting like she's dumb to the game and still trying to figure it out - wasn't the girl on Big Brother? Big Brother has the exact same strategy. The only difference is that The Challenge has more intense competitions. And then Johnny lecturing Devin for picking on a girl? LMAO, aside from him picking on the women anonymously with his shit talking notes, isn't this the same guy that gave hell to Cara Maria, Sarah and other women? Even if Devin was picking on Natalie, why are you calling out behaviour in someone else that you're guilty of yourself? 

Was hoping that Brad wouldn't come back. I hope Britni doesn't stick her neck out for Brad. This is the second time already that Brad has put Britni in the line of fire. Her team could have easily voted her instead of Kam - in fact that would have made more sense. Brad using his grenade on Kam for saying his name during nominations was a BS excuse - it's not like her vote made any difference. He was going in anyway. 

[BK1978]

I am surprised that Victor did so poorly during challenges on this show.  He was the challenge beast on Big Brother, in fact he was voted out and had to beat four or five people (I cannot remember exactly how many it was and I am too lazy to look it up) in challenges in order to get back into the game.

I was a huge fan of Natalie on Big Brother, on here not so much.  Of course she understands how to play the game, she had some very good instincts on Big Brother.  RHJunkie is right the strategy is very similar on both shows, so to see her play the victim was just annoying.

[Rebecca]

On 2/13/2018 at 10:48 PM, RedheadZombie said:

Dear Shane and all of the other reality show whores:  The possessive of "I" is "my" not I's.  Where has this come from?  I never heard it until a few years ago. Is this a Millenial thing?

Shane is “old” (born in ‘83) and I’ve heard it a lot from many ages so don’t think it’s only Millenials, but it’s annoying.

John is going to be 45 and still winning these most of the time because everyone just falls in line and lets him season after season. It’s amazing it’s still going on. I know he’s good at the competitions too but you’d think since he’s closer to 40 than 30 some of these 22 year olds could team up and beat him finally!

Edited February 15, 2018 by Rebecca

[RedheadZombie]

3 hours ago, BK1978 said:

I am surprised that Victor did so poorly during challenges on this show.  He was the challenge beast on Big Brother, in fact he was voted out and had to beat four or five people (I cannot remember exactly how many it was and I am too lazy to look it up) in challenges in order to get back into the game.

I was a huge fan of Natalie on Big Brother, on here not so much.  Of course she understands how to play the game, she had some very good instincts on Big Brother.  RHJunkie is right the strategy is very similar on both shows, so to see her play the victim was just annoying.

I wasn't surprised.  BB comps are child's play next to Challenge comps, and whereas Victor was the most physically fit on BB, he's just one of many on here.

[strippedhalo]

16 hours ago, scrb said:

I think Shane was on the winning team?  If he had any idea that they would put him in if they won, he could have sabotaged it so that they didn't win at all.

It wouldn't have mattered, because the Troika put him on their own team specifically so that if they lost, they could vote him directly into the elimination. (Not that Shane knew that.)

 

9 hours ago, BK1978 said:

I am surprised that Victor did so poorly during challenges on this show.

I don't think he did that badly during the actual challenge missions - he was the only person on his team to complete the swimming challenge and he finished first in his group in the hashtag challenge, and I think was solidly middle of the pack in the others.  Definitely not dominant like he was on BB, but not terrible. His strategy for this elimination wasn't great, though, and even if he'd followed Brad's lead, I think Brad's larger body mass still would have gotten him the win.

I'm sad Victor got eliminated because now I don't know who to root for. Devin? That seems wrong, although I do enjoy his hatred of Natalie. Kailah? She hasn't done anything yet this season. Oh, Kyle. I can root for Kyle for now. Maybe Leroy if he actually starts playing.

[Peper81]

5 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

I wasn't surprised.  BB comps are child's play next to Challenge comps, and whereas Victor was the most physically fit on BB, he's just one of many on here.

I also think Victor's strategy wasn't a good one.  He wasn't getting nearly as much water out of his tank as Brad.  I'm not sure why he didn't change up what he was doing and copy Brad.  It was clear it wasn't working for him.  I had hoped the breaking of the glass at the bottom was going to be harder and Victor would be able to make up some ground but it appears it was relatively easy to break.  

Ugh, I HATE Natalie on this show.  I really can't remember whether I liked her or not on Big Brother because I can't see past how much I dislike her on here.  I'm glad Devin called her out and wouldn't let her just lie to his face.  It seemed everyone in the kitchen was in agreement.  I don't think he was mean to her about it; he just wasn't going to let her lie to his face and go along with it.  In many ways, she is doing what Victor was doing by trying to be friendly to everyone except Victor is actually a nice guy and was probably sincerely trying to create friendships.  Natalie has no interest beyond her own.  Her running to John and crying about how Devin's tone is different when talking to her versus when John is around was complete crap and just proved Devin's point in the first place.  I hope Devin is able to continue to get under John's skin and hopefully he'll get some traction going and get John and Natalie thrown into an elimination. 

I wish Brad and John and Natalie and Britni were thrown into an elimination together and whoever wins would then be out on the next elimination.  I can't stand either of those couples.  I'm beginning to think I'm not going to like the Cara Maria and Kyle romance either.  I'm not sure why all these people think they are secretly running the show when they are lockstep with what John wants them to do.  

[ImpinAintEasy]

B-Rad with the winning return to an elimination! Woo-woo! LOL. It’s been tough to root for him with Britni being connected at the hip, but I still can’t root against him. He appears to be anti-Bananas, so at least there’s that. 

 

I laughed so hard at Tori being called a legend. Aneesa at least has been around long enough to make you forget she has never won a challenge. I guess if they really wanted to eliminate every competitor they would have payed Emily,Ev,Laurel, and Rachel to come in and crack skulls. 

 

Jordan and Derrick are certified legends. No problem there. Derrick vs Joss looks like it will be brutal. I love Diesel, but will be rooting for Joss to stay. He seems like a decent dude and has made me question my sexuality more than once. 

 

The note writing stuff was boring and pointless. But hey, John needs his screen time. 

 

Devin is a very poor man’s version of Wes. Too bad he’s not much physically. He needs to visit Bananas’ and Brad’s juice dealer like Tony did. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

16 hours ago, RHJunkie said:

Natalie, you can just go. You automatically make my 'hope you fail miserably' list after pulling the 'bully' card just because your ass got caught in a lie...a stupid lie no less.

I'm annoyed that "bully" is the new go-to from the newbies anytime they get into a disagreement with anyone on the show. As soon as they can't get their way in an argument (or in Natalie's case can't lie their way out) the other person is a bully.

You want to see a bully, Natalie? Watch any footage of John from The Island until now.

[toodywoody]

Devin, Iove you. Wish Wes was here to truth talk Natalie's bs.

[mojoween]

Fuck off Natalie.  You are not half as cute as you think you are and in a competition of my favorite things, you rank just below cleaning the litter box.

Victor nooooooo!  Come back!  These people suuuuuuuck.

Tony says he’s just going to follow John because duh.  His head is so far up John’s ass that he can tell what John ate three weeks ago.  Tony is not capable of original thought.

I have never seen a more punchable face than Tony’s.

Britni my god.  Have some damn self-respect.

[Steph619]

Johnny was so proud of himself for his little pink notes. He really hasn't caused any disturbance other than annoying the girls in that room. Speaking of Johnny, I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the whole thing with the way that most people are letting him run the show yet again. 

I actually like Devin and I agree that he and Wes would be great together. Devin is one of the few people who doesn't kiss up to Johnny and I liked that he called Natali out.

Since when did Tori become Challenge royalty? She's only participated in one season along with that crappy Champs vs Stars show and she didn't win either one anyways.

[sabretooth]

Quote

I actually like Devin and I agree that he and Wes would be great together. 

I would watch the hell out of a show with Wes and Devin just annoying Bananas. 

And FFS, Bananas is selling pink hoodies with 'Note-torious' on them. I give the man credit for his hustle, but this doesn't do much to dispel the notion that his entire life revolves around this show. 

[peachmangosteen]

On 2/14/2018 at 2:18 AM, scrb said:

It's almost as if production wants to do whatever they can to keep Bananas in the game as long as they can.

That's exactly what it is.

I stopped watching awhile back, but I kinda missed it so I came back for Dirty 30. But that season sucked and this season is even worse. I feel like I need to just give up on it for good.

[MaggieG]

I had to laugh at Shane being excited to go against Jordan because he's his "celebrity crush"

[OnceSane]

33 minutes ago, MaggieG said:

I had to laugh at Shane being excited to go against Jordan because he's his "celebrity crush"

Ditto.  Jordan's a celebrity?  Dude, get out more.

I knew Johnny was behind the notes, no one else cares that much about being a dick.

[Rebecca]

On 2/17/2018 at 2:39 PM, sabretooth said:

And FFS, Bananas is selling pink hoodies with 'Note-torious' on them. I give the man credit for his hustle, but this doesn't do much to dispel the notion that his entire life revolves around this show. 

That’s...pathetic. It’s not a thing. I’d be surprised if he sold even 10 of those. No one would even get the reference.

[MMLEsq]

On 2/13/2018 at 11:48 PM, RedheadZombie said:

Dear Shane and all of the other reality show whores:  The possessive of "I" is "my" not I's.  Where has this come from?  I never heard it until a few years ago. Is this a Millenial thing?

Doing a rewatch of past seasons, including this one.  I realize very few of the challengers are mental giants, but "my" is basic elementary school grammar.  On that note, I cringe every time Tony says, "So, we're in agreeance?"  In Tony's case, I think he's trying to sound smart, and, yes, agreeance is technically a real word, but it's an obsolete word.  Just says "we're in agreement" like a normal person.