Challenge 35: Total Madness

**Vil** · 2020-06-11 13:41

Oh man, they indeed cut a confessional of her calling herself a badass.

There's plenty cut that is no big deal, but besides having none of the setup/scheming for the blindside, I think they needed some context for Melissa being so upset (although it was only like 2 weeks ago when they finally brought up that she and Kyle are super close), and Josh once again being the one to take more heat than anybody else. But hey, part of that is because he actually has a shred of sincerity, so gets caught on the backpedaling apology tours, and people will try to intimidate/bully the guy.

The episode was cut down to 64 minutes (recording time). I think it might have taken only about 6 minutes of extra scenes to accomplish what they should have and that could have been confessionals by people other than Dee.

**Byrd** · 2020-06-11 14:24

Someone uploaded some of the Dee-leted scenes from last night's episode, since it aired in full in Canada. Haven't watched it yet. I don't plan on re-scoring the episode unless there's three votes for it.

**Moss** · 2020-06-11 15:51

Such a stupid edit by MTV. They cut some pretty vital stuff that would've made the Rogan turn even better

Mattie got a tough draw with that elimination but I feel like she has been underwhelming all season despite her physical advantages. Weren't her and Kyle killing it during their duo season? Idk maybe just a bad edit for her now

The competition designers really need to get their shit together on the rules. Either make it explicit that you can't team or leave it vague and allow people to get creative. Anything else is bogus. It's a game about scheming and there are plenty of other individual challenges where some of form of teaming is allowed much less encouraged. Think of all of those mud pit challenges where guys would make deals on the spot to help in exchange for alliance

I can see why you wouldn't want teaming on this tank challenge, but just make it clear instead of invalidating most of what we just watched. Wtf is the point of that.

The elimination challenge was a realllly good design and would freak me out as a claustrophobe. I have to give Dee props, she responds well to adversity and shows out in eliminations.

Originally Posted by Xno Kappa

As someone who’s complexion would get him killed if he said the wrong thing to an officer, and is also married to a southeast Asian wife, this kind of saddens me to be honest. The girl clearly needs some help.

Agree. It's been pretty obvious ever since she took Rogan right back despite him using and betraying her last season. She's dumb as a brick and has emotional issues. Might be better for her in the long run to get out of the reality business but who knows.

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**Byrd** · 2020-06-11 16:28

Originally Posted by Moss

Might be better for her in the long run to get out of the reality business but who knows.

I think it's better for the mental health of every person on the planet to get out of the reality TV business. At least, out from in front of the camera.

**Vil** · 2020-06-11 16:53

Nah. She and Kyle didn't kill it. I'm not saying they were bad, but there were at best the 6th best team on the season. One of the tribunals they made was 100% Kyle, and the individual one she made was a slide puzzle, which was something she timed out on a few episodes later. She and Kyle would probably be top dogs if they were doing this pre-S30. They probably peak at tier 2 now, and though the Challenge does bring in fresh fodder, it's because it's needed since they're also adding people into the top tier.

**Moss** · 2020-06-11 17:13

Originally Posted by Byrd

I think it's better for the mental health of every person on the planet to get out of the reality TV business. At least, out from in front of the camera.

Lol that's fair. I think it's more destructive to some personality types more than others however.

Originally Posted by Vil

Nah. She and Kyle didn't kill it. I'm not saying they were bad, but there were at best the 6th best team on the season. One of the tribunals they made was 100% Kyle, and the individual one she made was a slide puzzle, which was something she timed out on a few episodes later. She and Kyle would probably be top dogs if they were doing this pre-S30. They probably peak at tier 2 now, and though the Challenge does bring in fresh fodder, it's because it's needed since they're also adding people into the top tier.

Ah yeah she is shit at puzzles and unless youre dominant physically (which she isn't) that's a pretty big weak spot

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**Byrd** · 2020-06-12 12:19

Today is Diem Brown's 40th birthday.

**Vil** · 2020-06-17 22:08

That episode was more like what I would have expected. Still a bit awkward like "My vote's for Kyle" - (offscreen voice) and stuff like that, but no massive plot holes seemed apparent that were needed for the progression of this episode.

I love and hate that main challenge. The concept as a competition is really good, but can they do that without nasty as hell metal objects? How the hell did I have nobody even make it to the second phase of that?

Fessy really has Josh figured out and while I do get Josh's process of wanting to know where everywhere stands, it's not the season for that or the stage in the game where you should be worrying about that.

Early on for most of the season, I was thinking that everyone would be fine and there'd be enough eliminations for everyone to get a chance or a purge for a final skull. But then this episode, there's Fessy talking about how some people may want to rely on that but what if there isn't one. While at least Kyle showed willingness to volunteer this time, the way they've been portraying Josh, I'm really wondering if he might get frozen out. I worry about Nany for that too.

Where did all of Nelson's hair come from?

I liked that elimination, and am kind of disappointed Josh didn't get sent in because I can only imagine that dude flopping around on that.

Huge stock up for Fessy this episode.

**Byrd** · 2020-06-17 23:55

I have now lost four contestants in four consecutive weeks. That sucks.

Thoughts:

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Standings:

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Scoring this Week:

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Contestant Scores to Date:

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**Xno Kappa** · 2020-06-18 00:09

This Dee shit has completely screwed my game over.

**Moss** · 2020-06-19 23:31

I think the Dee edit is overboard and stupid. I get it if you want to take out some of her confessionals but you're really going to switch to the same static wide shot 5 times to avoid showing her at all? Jesus, you'd think she murdered somebody instead of making a tasteless Twitter joke

Just strikes me as some fake-woke 55 year old white guy MTV producer that has no idea how to handle the situation. "The blacks will hate us if we even show her face!!!"

Good episode otherwise, really liked the elimination. I have no idea how Cory was able to remember his buttons unless it was really obvious which light they lined up with

If ever there was better evidence of how much a crapshoot drafting these people is, 2 of our top 4 scorers weren't drafted

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**Byrd** · 2020-06-25 01:26

Good episode. Challenge Bae survives! Will be very curious to see if her pregnancy shows up this season, getting very late for it.

Whole lotta Bayleigh going on that episode. I wonder if Dee was more prominent in the original edit.

Thoughts:

Spoiler: show

Scoring:

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Contestant Scores to Date:

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Standings:

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**Moss** · 2020-06-25 02:41

Really good episode. Bayleigh is going to have to develop some thicker skin to last longer but I found myself rooting for her during this episode.

I am legitimately impressed that two people can be that flirty without going beyond a cheek kiss. Maybe it's easier for two women? Idk

It's funny to think about how impactful those "random" team assignments ended up being for this week and going forward. Nany was basically guaranteed a slot from that.

Hopefully the challenge gods match Bayleigh and Kaycee against each other

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**Xno Kappa** · 2020-06-25 12:30

I’m honestly tired of Nany. She’s not even good television anymore. She’s just obnoxious and I find myself wanting to fast forward whenever she’s talking. Her schtick is old. She doesn’t do shit every season besides trying to avoid everything altogether.

**Xno Kappa** · 2020-06-25 12:34

Also, lol:

**Moss** · 2020-06-25 13:54

Originally Posted by Xno Kappa

I’m honestly tired of Nany. She’s not even good television anymore. She’s just obnoxious and I find myself wanting to fast forward whenever she’s talking. Her schtick is old. She doesn’t do shit every season besides trying to avoid everything altogether.

Agree. She has her "holier than thou" air from being a vet and is one of those people that gets super sensitive whenever anything game related goes against her

And she isn't even good. Melissa is feisty buy let's be honest, she's not one of the stronger girls in the house. Imagine if Mattie had that elimination instead of the sand crawl. Nany got to chill the entire challenge and then get a favorable elimination at the end and still lost to a little pregnant blonde

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**Byrd** · 2020-07-02 00:14

Decent episode. Feel bad for Aneesa.

Standings after Episode 14:

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Notes:

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Contestant Scores to Date:

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**Vil** · 2020-07-03 00:30

Yeah, they may not partner up. May be forced rotation. May not be (some recent seasons have been imbalanced). There's a lot of unknowns for the rest of the season/final but here's one thing that is known... it's silly when you've got people crying about how Aneesa may slow them down in a final, when the girls could all be thinking that about most of these guys in certain facets. Somehow Nelson is one of the few people to come out of this episode looking good with the Aneesa situation. Then, his line at the tribunal about "I know I'm a loser..." lmao. Side-note: I think I miss Rogan. Or maybe it's that the Dee situation has cut all of his rotten scenes and we're left with just fun Rogan.

I'm kind of curious as to why Jenny went along with it. Voting Aneesa rather than Melissa I understand but how about the other options? Is it just a case of willing to go along with what people she's working with want? It's hard to really see a lot of upside for her, unless it was just clear that Dee wasn't happening and Aneesa was the only one that they could agree on. How about why none of the girls were brought up as an option for the 3rd for Tribunal? /shrug

Somewhere ~20 years from now when Cory is about to send his daughter on her 1st season of The Challenge, he'll be telling her about that ungrateful English lady that he gave a free red skull to. I think they were probably scraping the bottom of the barrel here with a story to tell this week. Thankfully that was a double round because I can't imagine how they'd fill time if it was just the guy's elimination seeing as it was treated as a foregone conclusion who would be going into it.

Main challenge would have been good if people actually cared about it and/or believed there were really stakes. Night challenges are rare and usually a treat, but that didn't really serve a purpose being at night, unless they expected it to go til dawn? Did they run out of elimination concepts this season? Sure this and the one CT lost were different sort of things, but it's kind of the same principle. Oh well, it's a good challenge.

**Vil** · 2020-07-08 21:00

Man, that hallway was tiny! Jenny in round 2 was just an dominating performance.

Now that everyone has red skulls, nobody is going to want to go into elimination >>> Both guys volunteered. Ok, obviously there's other circumstances, but that's still funny to me. I think we've missed a lot of Rogan stuff because of Dee. I totally understand Bananas/Kyle being the tight pair, but I just assumed this whole time that he was with them, and then there were the other 3 guys on the other side. He's probably more a threat for the final than any of those other guys might be, but I just got the vibes that it was more than that and we haven't seen it.

How the hell was that girls vote so messed up like that? I think they showed a flashback to something, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I'm glad that this episode actually felt like a normal late season episode.

This season I think we've got a little bit of everything from Nelson. Finally got to see the fun side of him again the past couple weeks, and then asking them to vote him in over Cory? This was the guy that was all "but I apologize every time!" early this season when constantly treating the women like crap.

Amazing showing in the main challenge by Nelson and Kyle.

**Moss** · 2020-07-09 00:30

I don't know how that elimination is legal, you're basically asking for concussions. They could at least use full face shields and have mouth pieces but alas

I've already made this point but as close as the result was, I'm not a fan of the hall brawl. They have to use a million cuts since it goes by quickly and it's really fucking annoying to watch. Just show it from like 2 angles and cut once or twice

I think it would be better with a wider hallway to allow for more strategy for smaller players. Kinda felt bad for Dee, she's arguably the second best player left after Jenny and maybe Kaycee but she had no chance

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Thread: Challenge 35: Total Madness

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