S33.E07: This Means War

[OnceSane]

Quote

The players on the US side start to worry that the UK alliance is growing too strong. Challengers’ fears are put to the test as they are blindfolded hundreds of feet in the air. One player reveals a secret attraction to their teammate.

Airs March 20, 2019.

[Neveragain]

Jenna you’re an idiot.  Shockingly, Wes, you are, too.  Why would you put in a team comprised of two Americans when the UK alliance is so strong and you just made them stronger.  Get rid of them first and then when they’re gone you can go after each other.  Cara is such a moron too, rooting for Americans to lose.  I don’t care who wins now.  Wes was the last of my favorites left but his reason for putting in Josh and Amanda was ridiculous and he is smart enough to know better. Only Nany was making any sense but no one would listen.  Jenna is so obsessed with her relationship with Zach that nothing else matters to her.  Stupid.  Now the UK will pick you off. I guess being upset by Amanda and putting her in is worth losing a million dollars to you 

[Jillibean]

Honestly? Good for Jenna. Even if it was a bad game decision—which I think is debatable—she took someone who has been personally unkind to her and others out of the game. Amanda saying she should have come to Jenna first about the bumble thing would have been nice if it had been initiated at any of the many other times when Jenna did not have power over Amanda going into elimination. Incidentally, I wonder if bumble is paying for all this excellent advertising or if they’re just benefiting from Zach being a bum.

I think Jenna is playing the game she always has—make as few waves as possible, hope to get to the end by floating by socially, and pick up whatever money she can in the final. Kam and Kyle are friends of hers. Cara and Jenna have never said each other’s names. She’s not going to blow up those alliances by voting for those teams. And I see the logic in the votes for Amanda and Josh from Wes. Looking at the teams that were left outside the tribunal, whoever went in was going to pick Amanda and Josh to go against—they are by far, on paper, the easiest team of the available choices. By voting for them instead of someone else who will likely beat them and come back, you don’t create a new enemy. 

Wes may say he’s targeting team Brit, but in reality he’s only targeting one team in the alliance and it’s the one that he probably believes he can beat if it comes down to it. I also think Wes sees Bear’s abrasive personality as a reason to justify targeting him without getting the other members of the U.K. alliance too upset. 

I’m really shocked that Davonne let Bear get his way on their vote. Granted, neither of them had an effective negotiation technique, but given how strong they both felt, I was really surprised that they ended up going with his choice rather than compromising on a team that was neither of their first choices. 

I really dislike Ninja. I find her so irritating. I get the sense that she’s thrilled to be paired up with an egocentric bully so she, too, can act like an egocentric bully and be validated by her partner for it. In addition to being unpleasant, she’s extremely boring, so I will hold out hope to never see her again.

[Coco88]

When it comes down to put up or shut up, Wes pulls the weenie move and doesn’t nominate a Brit.  Can you just shut up from now on, Wes.

[Lantern7]

Looks like the British Invasion is here to stay . . . which sucks, given how most of them are wankers. Well, except for Bear. He's basically British Puck. I heard he got $100K from BMP just for showing up . . . and he rewards them with his rudeness towards others and crap clothing. Seriously, he owes Puck money for copying him. Come to think of it, so does Paulie with Kenny. Think about it . . . New Jersey, athletic, zero humility.

I'm not going to squint at the possible choices Jenna could have made. If she wants to throw Amanda under the bus, more power to her. I think the biggest problem would've been if she and Josh won. Then Jenna & Gus would've had pressure on them in the next mission. But nope, they get beat, and they go into the night, with Amanda handing tissue after tissue to a sobbing Josh. If the British Invasion can't be foiled, I'm good with no Big Brother people in the game.

Another nicely-designed mission. Of course Bear has to taunt people who are more or less walking blind while suspended in the air. He's Bear, which means he's a fucking asshole. I know it's been done before, but he didn't add anything remotely original to his yelling.

1 hour ago, Jillibean said:

I really dislike Ninja. I find her so irritating. I get the sense that she’s thrilled to be paired up with an egocentric bully so she, too, can act like an egocentric bully and be validated by her partner for it. In addition to being unpleasant, she’s extremely boring, so I will hold out hope to never see her again.

I want to cut her some slack. On American Ninja Warrior, she's second-tier among the female competitors at best. Here, she could win $500K, and maybe even walk away with a cool $1 million. On ANW, only two people had achieved "Total Victory," and only one won the million bucks because the other guy was slower. She's a small fish in a big pond dumped into a much smaller pond. But yeah, I'm concerned that Paulie -- if not the show itself -- is rubbng off on her. My biggest fear is that she comes back to ANW as "Patient Zero," and that series becomes unwatchable in a few years' time.

[scrb]

Two good challenges again.

Yeah really stupid votes.  Nobody should have any illusions that it’s the UK vs. everyone else.  Jenna denied Amanda a chance to advance.  Big whoop, Amanda and Josh aren’t real contenders in this game.

Denying competitors instead of strategizing to win for yourself is a loser’s mentality.  That’s one reason she’s never won money.

Wes didn’t fool anyone with his vote so he should have voted for what he wanted.

The only thing saving Cara is that she has a UK partner, probably the best athlete, and Paulie protecting her.

But her partner will vote for Paulie over any UK member.

Josh trying to do it too fast probably wore himself out.  Also didn’t take time to think when they had a big lead.  He tried to stay up by wedging his legs apart to the sides of the ramp but that was only going to go so far.

I thought his height would help them but the  the mismatch between his height and Amanda’s height probably mad it hard to keep the bar level.  Ultimately both of them would have to stay up with their upper body strength and kind of pushing on the sides with their feet to have friction.

Anyways, even if they survived, they would be one of the first teams targeted by the UK teams.  Josh isn’t a very good athlete and he’s also emotionally weird.

[strippedhalo]

Wes - you in trouble, girl! On the plus side, you and Dee are doing well at the daily missions, and we know you can handle yourself in an elimination.

14 hours ago, Jillibean said:

I really dislike Ninja. I find her so irritating. I get the sense that she’s thrilled to be paired up with an egocentric bully so she, too, can act like an egocentric bully and be validated by her partner for it. In addition to being unpleasant, she’s extremely boring, so I will hold out hope to never see her again.

Saaaaaame. She is so much like Paulie in the way she talks and acts (minus the temper tantrums... so far).

I didn't have a problem with Jenna picking Amanda and Josh. While I personally would have preferred a different team to go home, Amanda has been a dick to Jenna since the first Challenge they were on together, I think. I also found it interesting ("interesting") that even after Jenna tried to tell people that she was playing her own game and not Zach's (by picking Amanda instead of Cara), Amanda kept trying to change Jenna's mind with the "what would Zach want you to do?" argument. Which... did not work out for Amanda.

I think Ashley is my least favourite Brit. Bear is by far the most obnoxious, obviously, but Ashley just seems unpleasant. This opinion may be influenced by the fact that his facial hair and overly-muscled physique kind of creep me out, but I also just don't have time for the type of personality that he showed in this episode.

Turbo continues to be adorable. Has Nany always had those teeth?

Edited March 21, 2019 by strippedhalo
I had additional thoughts.

[Pixel]

Until this episode, I always thought Josh was gay. I don't know why, but I just assumed it when he was on Big Brother as well. I couldn't even tell you where or why I got that idea, I just thought it. So I was shocked a little bit when he started hitting on Amanda.  His awkward overtures to her were making me super uncomfortable. You could see that Amanda was trying to nicely rebuff him, which kind of tells me that in real life she's probably not as much of an asshole as she is on the show. I genuinely felt for her discomfort at his efforts to "romance" her.

[Cherry Cola]

Gus and Jenna would be a really cute couple.

So glad Josh is gone. One of the most annoying BB players ever! 

[SarahC]

40 minutes ago, Cherry Cola said:

Gus and Jenna would be a really cute couple.

I was thinking the same thing. They are adorable together and Gus is a huge step up from meathead Zack...who is very attractive, but treats women like shit. 

[Eolivet]

One of the more interesting parts of this episode I thought came at the beginning, when Wes was talking about the U.K. alliance and essentially assuring ... Kyle's participation ("I hate England.") in trying to take them down. This confused me, mainly because I couldn't tell who was in the room (Kyle, Mattie, Dee, Nany, Turbo, Amanda and Josh?) Yet Paulie doesn't have a U.K. partner, but Cara does. Does this mean Paulie and Ninja are de facto in the U.K. alliance (which is really a U.K. rookie alliance, if Kyle's not in it).

Paulie and Cara almost seem to exist outside the alliance, just as nebulous "threats." I'm just curious where their loyalties lie (other than with themselves) if it comes down to U.S. vs U.K.

[Jillibean]

5 hours ago, Cherry Cola said:

Gus and Jenna would be a really cute couple.

Totally agree. They seem pretty well matched mentally and get along really well. And he seems kind and respectful. And I bet he has a crush. Jenna, open your eyes girl!

She’s been talking forever about moving in with Zach in Michigan, first “in January,” then “in the next few weeks,” then “in a couple of months.” Now it’s practically April and she hasn’t moved anywhere. She seems to have such a comfortable life at home in LI with her family and her friends and her nannying. It’s a shame that she’s planning to give all that up to move in with Bumbling Zach. I’d love to know if he ever offered to move to Long Island (he totally didn’t.)

[RHJunkie]

I didn't mind Jenna's vote. Amanda and Josh are not the biggest competition in the game but this plays right into what Jenna's game has always been - stay under the radar. With Zach out of the house, she can't be used as collateral so she can afford to use personal reasons to vote in Amanda and doesn't have to worry about anyone in the house coming after her for it.

Dee instructing Wes not to laugh had me going, haha. I was disappointed that Wes didn't target a Brit but at the same time, they're still devils that the vets still haven't totally figured out. I don't mind if they buy themselves a little more time to plan their next move but they have to pull the trigger at some point or risk their entire game. I would have definitely called it a cowards way out if we were talking about the same exact players, playing the exact same game they do every year.

I just can't help but be entertained by Bear and I think it's because it's actually refreshing to see someone on this show who is a shit disturber and truly embraces the role. He's completely transparent about it even though he knows it puts a target on his back but he's such a cocky SOB he probably thinks being a target isn't a big deal because he can beat anyone. To be fair, after he gave up on Day in that one challenge, I really underestimated him as a competitor but he's held his own in two challenges so far to fight off elimination and to win power in the house.

Maybe it's easy for me because I don't know Ninja's resume but girl can fuck the hell right off. Hope she walks away with nothing. Bear's reasoning made perfect sense and that's a target they put on their own backs by winning so many challenges. I feel bad that it exposes Day's game but also, Paulie is a garbage human being and as much as I enjoy Day, I have no respect for her friendship with someone like Paulie. So go on Bear, target away. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by RHJunkie

[peachmangosteen]

The only people left that I actually like are Turbo and Day so I need them to somehow become partners so I have a team to truly root for. I guess I'll just root for Turbo/Nany since I'm just meh on Nany as opposed to hating her and Day/Bear since Bear actually entertains me tbh. Oh, and I kinda like Mattie but I absolutely can not bring myself to root for a team involving Kyle.

I second the sentiment that Ninja sucks. Another person I hate, and it seems to be an uo, is Dee. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by peachmangosteen

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Why does Josh sound like he’s talking with marbles in his mouth or like his tongue is too big for his mouth? 

Why is Cara so obsessed with Amanda? “Satan”? Really. Jesus Cara you’re fucking embarrassing. 

Also can’t believe Nany is so attracted to Hunter. Yay beer goggles!

Edited March 22, 2019 by MVFrostsMyPie

[crookedjackson44]

Any episode in which Amanda gets the boot is a good one in my book.

[RHJunkie]

On 3/22/2019 at 1:18 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Why does Josh sound like he’s talking with marbles in his mouth or like his tongue is too big for his mouth? 

Why is Cara so obsessed with Amanda? “Satan”? Really. Jesus Cara you’re fucking embarrassing. 

Also can’t believe Nany is so attracted to Hunter. Yay beer goggles!

I think filming the last Challenge together, they got into an argument in the house to which Amanda said something to the effect 'I hope your horse dies'.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Hey Cara, you know what would work better? Indifference. Also a different shade of color on your head.

[CottlestonPie]

On 3/21/2019 at 2:40 PM, Cherry Cola said:

Gus and Jenna would be a really cute couple.

I'm outing myself here by admitting I watched Floribama Shore, but I ADORED Gus on that show.  He is not perfect by any means, but I went in prepared to hate him and he quickly became my favorite cast member.  He really does seem like a stand-up guy and I was worried he was almost too pure for The Challenge.  He's extremely emotional and cries easily and I was afraid he'd be eaten alive.  I said before this season even started that Gus and Jenna would make a fantastic couple and I was over the moon when they ended up being paired together.   Also, fun fact:  He's a model for romance cover novels (but not for much longer if he keeps beating up his face lol)

[Zima]

On 3/25/2019 at 9:25 AM, CottlestonPie said:

I'm outing myself here by admitting I watched Floribama Shore, but I ADORED Gus on that show.  He is not perfect by any means, but I went in prepared to hate him and he quickly became my favorite cast member.  He really does seem like a stand-up guy and I was worried he was almost too pure for The Challenge.  He's extremely emotional and cries easily and I was afraid he'd be eaten alive.  I said before this season even started that Gus and Jenna would make a fantastic couple and I was over the moon when they ended up being paired together.   Also, fun fact:  He's a model for romance cover novels (but not for much longer if he keeps beating up his face lol)

I watch Floribama Shore too, and I absolutely ADORE Gus. I was the same way, thinking I would hate him because of his TOO good of looks, assuming that that would make him cocky, but I was wrong. He is such a sweetheart. 

Am I missing something? I don't get why everybody hates Ninja Natalie so much. She's a good competitor, and she seems normal enough to me. Is she a little cocky? I guess, but not anymore than any of the men, and no one seems to have a problem with them. 

[peachmangosteen]

I hate probably like at least 70% of the men this season lol.

[RedheadZombie]

Am I missing Bear's brilliance?  I'm pretty sure pretending to shake someone's hand only to pull back was hysterical a few decades ago, but currently it's a trick played by toddlers.