MavsAg said:

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That had to be one of the easiest finals ever. No eating, they basically had a campout at night, and the second day all they did was the climb/puzzle. It was also horribly set up. The whole first day didn't matter because everyone started at the same time on day two. Hell, Kaycee was rewarded for finishing behind on day one because she got to pick CT for day two!

They need to stop bringing in so many rookies from overseas and get some pot stirrers back on the show.

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Totally agree. It seemed like the producers just kind of threw everything together and put that final together at the last minute. Very underwhelming.

Just now got around the the finale. I love the Challenge but boy how underwhelming that final was. It seemed like an incredibly easy hike with a chance to get some good sleep in the middle. I'm ready for Bananas to be back.

I don't think I've seen a tough final since CT and Wes won together on Rivals 2. They've all been super underwhelming the last several seasons especially

El_duderino said:

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I don't think I've seen a tough final since CT and Wes won together on Rivals 2. They've all been super underwhelming the last several seasons especially

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I think the last tough final was the last time Bananas won, whenever there was that crazy blizzard that hit. I read the producers had to cut the final short because the blizzard was more powerful than they thought. That one looked crazy.

The final that turbo won seemed pretty tough. Was that also the one where they had to ride bikes through the sand between all the checkpoints? That one was also nuts

Agreed. That was WOTW1. They had to run over massive dunes. I think Wes said that was his hardest final.

Perhaps I missed this but was there some sort of penalty for Nelson not being able to complete the swim?

And I agree about the final being pretty lame. It also makes for uninteresting TV to just watch people hiking basically. I figured CT would win but you never know. I'm glad for Kaycee. You just know the producers were salivating for the whole Nany/Kaycee forced elimination competition too, such drama. Nany seems like she's really matured and that's nice to see. She hasn't thrown cup of noodles on anyone in a few seasons now!

Have you guys started All Stars 2 yet?

We started it a few weeks ago and had no idea that it wasn't done. We're ready for the finale tonight though!

It's been another great season. Great to see some more old faces and some people still living up to their reputation (Tina, Casey).

Oops. Apparently the episode is tonight

The Challenge: All-Stars 3 premiers May 11

Plus, The Challenge: CBS??

Quote:

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Internationally, the streamer will launch "The Challenge: Argentina," "The Challenge: Australia" and "The Challenge U.K." Each will be available to stream on demand in their respective markets. A new series, "The Challenge: CBS" will air this summer on CBS a first for "The Challenge" featuring reality TV titans from the CBS universe facing off against one another. After all four seasons air, the winners from each will then face off in a global competition on Paramount Plus, titled "The Challenge: War of the Worlds."

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https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-challenge-spinoffs-cbs-paramount-plus-1235182559/

In


If MTV can't generate enough cast for the show over and over without it getting stale, it makes sense to expand the "universe". I remember when they first started bringing in people from outside RR/RW I was not into it but I quickly changed my mind. I'm hoping this will be a good expansion.. They need personalities though, not just athletes. We still need the drama.

As someone who grew up on RW/RR Challenges literally 20 years ago, at a time when CBS ruled the television ratings roost with like 6 different CSIs that pulled in 30M viewers a week, the says sooooooo much about the landscape today.

Also both Challenge All Stars seasons on Paramount+ have been quite fun, and Real World Homecoming LA was A+, so more please.

Did the All Stars Season 2 have a Reunion episode? Didn't see anything on Paramount+

Is anyone watching Ride or Dies? I think they have a pretty good cast this time around, though there are always too many teams. By far the strongest rookie teams that I can remember.
Michelle and Jay have handled the last two weeks terrrrribly. It's okay to throw in good teams and vets, but the way they approached it made them enemy #1 of the entire house. I think Survivor players play a paranoid game, and it's not helpful for the Challenge.

Quinn said:

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Is anyone watching Ride or Dies? I think they have a pretty good cast this time around, though there are always too many teams. By far the strongest rookie teams that I can remember.
Michelle and Jay have handled the last two weeks terrrrribly. It's okay to throw in good teams and vets, but the way they approached it made them enemy #1 of the entire house. I think Survivor players play a paranoid game, and it's not helpful for the Challenge.

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I had no idea there was a new season until I read your comment. I don't watch much MTV anymore but I have seen zero commercials or advertisement for this season. Seems odd.

I've watched the first 3 episodes. They're all really good. At first I was worried because there were no old school cast members on there and then the surprises start coming, it made the season a lot better.

LOL at Fessi's name change/unchange.

I didn't realize this had started up either if it wasn't for the fact that I was watching re-runs of previous challenges.

I'll binge watch and catch up soon enough.

From looking at the ratings, this one hasn't been watched as much. The highest rating thus far has been the lowest rating for Spies, Lies, Allies.

GrayMatter said:

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I didn't realize this had started up either if it wasn't for the fact that I was watching re-runs of previous challenges.

I'll binge watch and catch up soon enough.

From looking at the ratings, this one hasn't been watched as much. The highest rating thus far has been the lowest rating for Spies, Lies, Allies.

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Its been a pretty good season so far, has some big names. Not sure why its not getting the ratings that it usually does.

I agree, I've enjoyed it. The nominating four teams thing has been a good way to stir up some drama and show the competence and incompetence of some players and teams.

It's overall a good season and I like that winning teams have to nominate 4 teams for possible elimination. There seems to be something missing, though, and I think my wife clued in on it.
There's no real villain or crazy drama. Bananas is pretty even-keeled this season and isn't beefing with Devin. There's no Bear, no Paulie/Cara, no Wes. Kailah and Turbo were gone early. Jordan is cleaning up his image.
Fessy could be the closest thing to a villain, but he's just not charming, smart, or good enough to be one; he's just annoying. They tried to paint Jay and Michelle as villains but I like them (lol at how bad they played those two weeks they had power).

Horacio and Olivia are great for rookies and I hope they stay around for a while.

I wonder if they ditch the partners soon and go solo.

Johnsy3 said:

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It's overall a good season and I like that winning teams have to nominate 4 teams for possible elimination. There seems to be something missing, though, and I think my wife clued in on it.
There's no real villain or crazy drama. Bananas is pretty even-keeled this season and isn't beefing with Devin. There's no Bear, no Paulie/Cara, no Wes. Kailah and Turbo were gone early. Jordan is cleaning up his image.
Fessy could be the closest thing to a villain, but he's just not charming, smart, or good enough to be one; he's just annoying. They tried to paint Jay and Michelle as villains but I like them (lol at how bad they played those two weeks they had power).

Horacio and Olivia are great for rookies and I hope they stay around for a while.

I wonder if they ditch the partners soon and go solo.

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Bingo! There definitely is something missing this season, I think its the lack of a true villain like you said.

Jay is kind of annoying but hes kind of grown on me.

Im hoping for a Nelly T victory. He seems to be playing the game smart this season. I think this could be his year.

Good point on the lack of a villain. I will say that I am surprised every time Jordan does another interview in which he says something nice - I keep on waiting for that explosion and heel turn!

I will say that while there has always been cheering and coaching in eliminations, the two times the Vets helped Olivia and Horacio win were over the top. That was way too much throwing of the game for me.

Quinn said:

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I will say that while there has always been cheering and coaching in eliminations, the two times the Vets helped Olivia and Horacio win were over the top. That was way too much throwing of the game for me.

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Yea I feel like there should be some eliminations where the crowd isnt allowed to help the challengers.

Good episode last night. Some general thoughts:

Gotta feel for Tori while she watches Jordan flirt/cuddle with that one girl. She thought they were rekindling things and Jordan had other plans. Heartbreaking when she had that talk with Jordan.

I cant stand Fessi but he seems pretty determined this season. It might be his year to win a final. But still cant trust this guy. Even after Nelson did him a solid by saving him, he still picks Bananas over Nelson on his team!

Bananas doesnt seem to have the same killer instinct this season as he usually does. His heart doesnt seem in it.

Its weird watching a challenge season without CT.

Shocked Moriah picked Jordan over Bananas, especially since her and Bananas are hooking up. I know Jordan is a beast but does he really have more respect than Bananas the GOAT right now?

The new teams shakeup will make things pretty interesting. The preview of the 2nd half of the season looks really good!

The thing with picking Jordan is not being stuck with Aneesa on your team. I agree with Bananas, he's way too chill this season (so far) - he must feel comfortable with his relationships and making the final. Fessy is annoying and I hope he loses. I LOVED when he talked crap about CT (last season?) and CT ended up winning.

Johnsy3 said:

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The thing with picking Jordan is not being stuck with Aneesa on your team. I agree with Bananas, he's way too chill this season (so far) - he must feel comfortable with his relationships and making the final. Fessy is annoying and I hope he loses. I LOVED when he talked crap about CT (last season?) and CT ended up winning.

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I think Bananas doesnt care that much anymore and he is just doing it for the fun now. He has made enough money from the challenge, he has a pretty successful career outside of the challenge, and he is the undisputable challenge GOAT with 7 wins. CT is next at 5 wins, and I doubt he will ever catch Bananas at his age. Bananas has nothing left to prove.

By the way, I read CT is going through a pretty nasty divorce. I wonder if thats why he isnt on this season. Sounds like his ex wife is trying to squeeze every last cent from him, so he will probably have to keep appearing on future challenges to pay that alimony! His ex wife seemed pretty horrible whenever MTV filmed their wedding special, no surprise their marriage didnt work out.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-challenge-cara-maria-sorbello-not-surprised-ct-tamburellos-divorce-turned-nasty-claims-production-told-years-ago-that-lilli-was-awful.html/

Jordan is a f***ing animal. Is he a top 3 male competitor of all time? He's definitely top 5.

Dang no one is really talking about this season, even though its a good one! Some thoughts about last nights episode:

Devin's plan worked out perfectly. I thought he was for sure going to put in Bananas. But he was able to take out Fessi, and built some goodwill with Bananas for future seasons. Its hilarious to see Devin's brain working when he's scheming up some mastermind plan of his lol.

Devin, Bananas, and Wes are going to be a problem (in a good way) if they all work together on the next season.

Bananas is taking a page out of CT's playbook this season: dont ruffle any feathers, get along with everybody, lay low, no big moves, don't get thrown into any eliminations (except for this episode), and coast to the final. That's exactly how CT made it to the final his last few seasons, and it seems to be the best strategy. Wes should take note.

I thought for sure Fessi and Moriah would beat Bananas and Nany, but Fessi was just too damn big for that rope lol. Fessi is going to win one eventually, it just wasnt his time.

Nany is really stepping up this season. Love to see her do well. She seems to have matured a lot compared to her previous seasons.

The final looks absolutely brutal. I think they said it would be 100 hours, so endurance is going to be key here. I dont think theres a favorite here, everyone looks pretty evenly matched with the exception of Jordan and Aneesa. Not sure if Aneesa has the endurance for a final like that, but we all know Jordan is going to get the most out of her.

Johnsy3 said:

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Jordan is a f***ing animal. Is he a top 3 male competitor of all time? He's definitely top 5.

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Jordan has won 3 finals, and appeared in 3 others (including this season). I would say he is definitely top 10, probably somewhere around top 5-ish. If he wins this final, then he will be be in that top 3-5 category.

Jordan is top 5 easy for me by calling Tori a Terrorist.

TajMaballer said:

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Jordan is top 5 easy for me by calling Tori a Terrorist.

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LOL that was hilarious!

I agree with most of this. Anessa's running is the only obvious weakness of the teams, but it's clearly not going to be half marathon race final like they used to do. I do miss the old school finals as I'm not a big fan of how they break it up into segments and give points for winning different parts.

Good for Devin with that plan working out perfectly.

That elimination was a good example of how they don't do a good job of testing out the challenges. It was a cool concept, but might have been impossible for Fessy bc the rope wasn't taut enough and the bars were too small.

I've been enjoying this season. It's been fun. That was a very hard elimination. I'd be curious to see the actual elapsed time spent there.

I've missed Messy Fessy. Faysal just isn't the same draw.

Quinn said:

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That elimination was a good example of how they don't do a good job of testing out the challenges. It was a cool concept, but might have been impossible for Fessy bc the rope wasn't taut enough and the bars were too small.

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The thing is Moriah also had a hard time figuring out the strategy. She wasn't able to complete it either and she is smaller than Bananas. I think her and Fessi could've completed it but they weren't going at it the right way. There was some skill and technique being used by Bananas and Nany. Nany was looking at Bananas and copying his strategy.

boogieman said:

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I've been enjoying this season. It's been fun. That was a very hard elimination. I'd be curious to see the actual elapsed time spent there.

I've missed Messy Fessy. Faysal just isn't the same draw.

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Agreed. I will never call him Faisal or however you spell it lol. He feels so entitled to winning a final but just can't put it all together. He acts like a spoiled brat sometimes.

Speaking of entitled spoiled brats, anyone miss Josh this season lol?