That's the first show for MJ in forever. Pretty fun cast, might have to subscribe for that. Interesting that Mark isn't on it, though.

Poor, sweet Ed. Seems like a fun guy, but man, what a terrible move. The real badass move would have been to volunteer to be the house vote and then call Logan down to the ring. Alas, the vets are still dominating. Any idea how many more episodes are left? Still 16 people left on the show.

Perhaps there is a purge coming


Admittedly I fell asleep halfway through this episode but woke up to see Kyle beat Ed, so that's something I guess.

Quinn said:

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Poor, sweet Ed. Seems like a fun guy, but man, what a terrible move. The real badass move would have been to volunteer to be the house vote and then call Logan down to the ring. Alas, the vets are still dominating. Any idea how many more episodes are left? Still 16 people left on the show.

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Yeah, I would've gone with Devin there over Kyle.

His choices were Cory, Kyle or Logan i thought. Devin was on the winning team. Him, Josh and the guy Tori is all over are on that team.

LisaMarie, in most cases Kyle winning over Ed would be a surprise but Kyle is undefeated in pole wrestling. I think the only right choice there would've been Logan if he wanted the best chance to win. He could've also picked Nelson or CT. He wanted to play it fair though. Logan was his friend, Cory already went in, CT and Nelson were on his team so he didn't want to call them down so Kyle was his only choice

Apparently he didn't know it was a pole wrestle before he had to pick his opponent. I still think he would have picked Kyle though because he had never watched the show before.

MavsAg said:

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Apparently he didn't know it was a pole wrestle before he had to pick his opponent. I still think he would have picked Kyle though because he had never watched the show before.

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How did he not know it was a pole wrestle elimination before picking Kyle? He was there upfront and saw a pole, everyone knew what kind of elimination it would be. I think he just didnt realize that Kyle is undefeated in pole wrestling eliminations, which is on him for not watching the show beforehand.

The pole wasn't out there when he has to pick his opponent. The edit just made it appear that way. Granted this is all from him when he was on Bananas' podcast.

Watching last weeks episode now. Kyle tells CT sorry for getting rid of two of your players and replacing them with me. Ct responds with, "yeah, its like trading two sports cars for a used pickup."

Great line.

Last episode was awesome! The show is so much better now that the vets are going after each other.

**** Spoiler****

I didnt like Cory this season and Im glad he got eliminated. I didnt expect Logan to put such a beat down on him like that, but wow he dominated that elimination. I bet CT is glad that Kyle is gone and Logan is on his team now.

Wow there hasnt been much action on this thread at all this season. I wonder why there doesnt seem to be much interest in this challenge. A lot of people on reddit are saying its a boring season and they stopped watching a few episodes ago. Too many rookies?

Anyone see yesterday's episode?

Spoiler alert-----

Ashley gets kicked off the show for breaking the rules. The word around Reddit and Twitter is that she was kicked off for getting in a verbal argument with Josh and outing him for being gay. Seems pretty silly to kick her off the show for that, but here we are.

I've been watching and mostly enjoying it, but there's not a whole lot to comment on. The vets dominated, the vast majority of the rookies were total scrubs, no hookups, only one fight, no real rivalries.
Is Josh gay? I saw the same comments on Twitter for why Ashley was gone.

Boring production-manufactured season so far. Still enjoyable enough but not a lot of juice.

Quinn said:

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I've been watching and mostly enjoying it, but there's not a whole lot to comment on. The vets dominated, the vast majority of the rookies were total scrubs, no hookups, only one fight, no real rivalries.
Is Josh gay? I saw the same comments on Twitter for why Ashley was gone.

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Apparently Ashley said something like "Josh, everyone knows you're gay" and Josh and Devin complained to production and got her kicked off the show.

Was wondering why Ashley disappeared mid episode. Thanks for the chisme.

I think kicking her off for that is dumb, but what's even dumber is not showing the fight. This is reality TV. Real World and The Challenge used to be shows where we got to see people from different cultures and background interact and learn from each other. Now we can't even show a fight which actually makes good television.

Yea whats even dumber is I dont think Josh is gay at all. He had a huge crush on Georgia, Nany, and was making out with that african girl this season. Josh shouldve just shrugged it off and not made a big deal about it.

Sucks because that Ashley/CT team had just won and was gaining momentum.

MavsAg said:

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I think kicking her off for that is dumb, but what's even dumber is not showing the fight. This is reality TV. Real World and The Challenge used to be shows where we got to see people from different cultures and background interact and learn from each other. Now we can't even show a fight which actually makes good television.

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Totally agree! Show the damn fight. Wouldve been the most entertaining part of the episode yesterday lol.

I'm liking the season so far. I was pulling for Cory to get further in the game but he was definitely on the bottom of the vet alliance so it was going to be a steep hill to climb to get to the end.

On the whole Ashley getting kicked out, my first thought was maybe she was speaking some truth to whatever she said but who knows. I think MTV is protecting their people the best way they can. It sounds like it's just a move to get Ashley out of the game. I doubt Josh or Devin are really that bothered by it to the point that they wanted her kicked off the show. I compare it to times when you have a people egging someone on to hit them so they can get kicked off the show.

While it may be good TV at the moment, you know it would be bad for Ashley as she would probably get cancelled and get a lot of unnecessary hate from social media (more than she probably already gets) I don't think MTV wants her to be on the blacklist of alums they can't bring back on another season.

emoney said:

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I'm liking the season so far. I was pulling for Cory to get further in the game but he was definitely on the bottom of the vet alliance so it was going to be a steep hill to climb to get to the end.

On the whole Ashley getting kicked out, my first thought was maybe she was speaking some truth to whatever she said but who knows. I think MTV is protecting their people the best way they can. It sounds like it's just a move to get Ashley out of the game. I doubt Josh or Devin are really that bothered by it to the point that they wanted her kicked off the show. I compare it to times when you have a people egging someone on to hit them so they can get kicked off the show.

While it may be good TV at the moment, you know it would be bad for Ashley as she would probably get cancelled and get a lot of unnecessary hate from social media (more than she probably already gets) I don't think MTV wants her to be on the blacklist of alums they can't bring back on another season.

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She tweeted after the episode that she was in the wrong and broke the rules. She sounded ok with her punishment.

I'm liking the season but rarely have time to watch it when it airs so I usually get to it on the weekend...but sometimes I don't and then I'm 2 episodes behind, repeat ad nauseum lol and then I forget to come talk about it here.

Cory Cory Cory...he has the muscles but that's it. He never succeeds. The rope elimination with Logan was so poorly executed by Cory. He starts off bragging how he will use strategy and let Logan tire himself out, but then proceeds to just tire himself out! So dumb. Someone on reddit reminded me that Logan is a surfer. That requires so much balance and I'm sure that helped him. People sometimes question contestants that aren't "traditionally" athletic, such as contestants that are dancers or surfers but in reality those types of activities require so much body control and balance that it could help them so much in competitions like the Challenge. Muscles aren't everything.

About Ashley...I'm having trouble imagining what she said is so much worse that they don't want to air it or even talk about it. I read that she isn't even going to be in the reunion. There have been so many egregious things aired on the show, it is curious what went down that they are being so mum about.

Also felt so bad for Big T and everyone basically telling her not to choose their team. Awkward.

LisaMarie said:

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I'm liking the season but rarely have time to watch it when it airs so I usually get to it on the weekend...but sometimes I don't and then I'm 2 episodes behind, repeat ad nauseum lol and then I forget to come talk about it here.

Cory Cory Cory...he has the muscles but that's it. He never succeeds. The rope elimination with Logan was so poorly executed by Cory. He starts off bragging how he will use strategy and let Logan tire himself out, but then proceeds to just tire himself out! So dumb. Someone on reddit reminded me that Logan is a surfer. That requires so much balance and I'm sure that helped him. People sometimes question contestants that aren't "traditionally" athletic, such as contestants that are dancers or surfers but in reality those types of activities require so much body control and balance that it could help them so much in competitions like the Challenge. Muscles aren't everything.

About Ashley...I'm having trouble imagining what she said is so much worse that they don't want to air it or even talk about it. I read that she isn't even going to be in the reunion. There have been so many egregious things aired on the show, it is curious what went down that they are being so mum about.

Also felt so bad for Big T and everyone basically telling her not to choose their team. Awkward.

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Agree about Cory. He is basically Leroy. Good enough to get far every season and make the occasional final, but not good enough to win the entire thing. He doesn't have too many people left in his alliance anymore besides Nelson.

Seems like how many friends you have on the show matters more than anything, look at josh and Nany this season. They haven't done anything at all but are safe because mostly everyone likes them.

I feel bad for Big T but she puts herself in those situations. She doesn't seem to train very hard or work on her game at all. She is not very good at all and don't know why they keep inviting her back every year.

People say this about Cory and I don't get it. He can make the final but not win it but can't you say that about most of the guys on the Challenge minus CT? Most players are good at some things and bad at other things. Cory is similar to Kaycee, Fessy and other strong players in that he is good at physical/speed comps and struggles with puzzles/mental comps. Devin is the exact opposite where he is a whiz at mental comps but not so much on physical comps. The only close to complete player on the challenge is CT. While it is only his first season, Logan also seems like someone who could be a close to a complete player. I think the only thing he has struggled with this season is the language barrier.

I do agree that this season is more about social game than anything for most of them. What has benefited those two the most is Nany being with Kaycee (although Nany has always been a really good social player) and Josh joining forces with Devin which has been huge for Josh's game in my opinion.

emoney said:

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People say this about Cory and I don't get it. He can make the final but not win it but can't you say that about most of the guys on the Challenge minus CT? Most players are good at some things and bad at other things. Cory is similar to Kaycee, Fessy and other strong players in that he is good at physical/speed comps and struggles with puzzles/mental comps. Devin is the exact opposite where he is a whiz at mental comps but not so much on physical comps. The only close to complete player on the challenge is CT. While it is only his first season, Logan also seems like someone who could be a close to a complete player. I think the only thing he has struggled with this season is the language barrier.

I do agree that this season is more about social game than anything for most of them. What has benefited those two the most is Nany being with Kaycee (although Nany has always been a really good social player) and Josh joining forces with Devin which has been huge for Josh's game in my opinion.

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Well not just CT but Wes, Bananas, Jordan, Darrell, Cara Maria, Ashley and the dozens of other males and females that have won finals. Theres only a few people that consistently make it to the final but never win. Leroy and Cory are two names that come to mind. From memory, Cory has made it to 3 finals and Leroy had made it to 5.

Can't STAND Ashley. Glad she's gone. The REASON she's gone may be weak sauce, but Devin and Josh were BRILLIANT in using it to get rid of her (IF that is the reason).

pdc093 said:

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Can't STAND Ashley. Glad she's gone. The REASON she's gone may be weak sauce, but Devin and Josh were BRILLIANT in using it to get rid of her (IF that is the reason).

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Part of me thinks Devin might be gay as well. Maybe thats why he reacted so harshly when Ashley said that to Josh. Hes single but you never see him flirting or hooking up with any of the girls on the show. Him and Josh went on vacation together. You never know.

I love Ashley. She's crazy but she makes great tv and is actually a solid competitor. With the exception of Amanda no girl remaining is really interesting.

Might be!
Still think it was a brilliant move to do what he could to carve Ashley out.
I'm rooting for him, CT, and Kyle. As well as Kaycee and Emy.

MavsAg said:

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I love Ashley. She's crazy but she makes great tv and is actually a solid competitor. With the exception of Amanda no girl remaining is really interesting.

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I agree, I like Ashley as well. I think Emy is entertaining too.

Yeah, I meant the players that have been on the Challenge this season and lately. I'm not sure if the other players mentioned will be back on the Challenge but I guess it's too early to tell but it seems like when you get on the All Stars franchise, maybe it's like moving them to a different division to make room for newer blood in the Challenge series. I think that's why Jordan and some others who aren't going to be asked back on the Challenge on going to be on an All Stars series. I know Mark Long has mentioned that after a few All Stars Seasons, maybe having a Challenge vs All Star type season.

I'm pulling for Tori and CT this season. I get not picking CT if you are going to be in the duel but I don't get why the guys are scared to put in CT when they can't be picked to go against him. Maybe the girls are just winning the vote since they could be CT's partner in a Finals situation.

emoney said:

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Yeah, I meant the players that have been on the Challenge this season and lately. I'm not sure if the other players mentioned will be back on the Challenge but I guess it's too early to tell but it seems like when you get on the All Stars franchise, maybe it's like moving them to a different division to make room for newer blood in the Challenge series. I think that's why Jordan and some others who aren't going to be asked back on the Challenge on going to be on an All Stars series. I know Mark Long has mentioned that after a few All Stars Seasons, maybe having a Challenge vs All Star type season.

I'm pulling for Tori and CT this season. I get not picking CT if you are going to be in the duel but I don't get why the guys are scared to put in CT when they can't be picked to go against him. Maybe the girls are just winning the vote since they could be CT's partner in a Finals situation.

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I think it would be really cool if they did a winners only season for season 40 like Survivor did. Wouldn't be as big of a cast, but would make for a really fun game IMO.

There's definitely a good mix of things this season that are leading to its series-low ratings.
- production prioritizing fire and loud explosions over good comps (although there have been some great ones this season compared to some recent seasons)
- production not showing footage of drama/fights like they used to
- over used spy theme. I'm so sick of hearing "compromised, " "agent," "handler," etc.
- the cast

The biggest thing is the cast. Yeah, we're missing some heavy-hitters like Bananas, but where are these rookies coming from? Not only do the rookies outnumber the vets, but they're from shows we have no background on. We obviously used to know the rookies coming in because of RR/RW and that helped us buy in to them quicker. I'm not saying I hate all these rookies; it'll just take time for us to get to know them and cheer for them.

I say all that to finish with: I still and always will love The Challenge

Not to mention the fact that for half of the rookies they don't even speak English as their first language. That's on a knock on them either. How are they supposed to be interesting and entertaining when they don't speak the language all that well?

Not to mention they're at a huge disadvantage in the game politically if they can't understand or speak English well.