Challenge 37: Spies, Lies and Allies (Aug 11, 2021)

**Moss** · 2021-08-09 16:57

Originally Posted by Xno Kappa

I feel like this dude is going to have an amazing one or two episodes before being eliminated lol.

He definitely looks like a character hahaha

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**Vil** · 2021-08-09 21:33

I didn't have Devin joining the Big Brother Alliance on my bingo card.

Good move giving these people dossiers on the Americans, because out of 14 (?) rookies, only a few really seemed to have an idea what's going on there. Them asking Kyle for advice is hilarious because he's just as likely to troll them as he is to give them actual help. Likewise, my guy Corey asking Tori to tell him everything he needs to know about The Challenge. Dude, ask anybody else.

**Moss** · 2021-08-09 22:22

Nelson "Kongming" Thomas, the Great Strategist, when asked what's up with he and Fessy:

"I have a lot of hate in my heart and a BURNING DESIRE FOR REVENGE"

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**Moss** · 2021-08-09 23:24

Originally Posted by Vil

I didn't have Devin joining the Big Brother Alliance on my bingo card.

Good move giving these people dossiers on the Americans, because out of 14 (?) rookies, only a few really seemed to have an idea what's going on there. Them asking Kyle for advice is hilarious because he's just as likely to troll them as he is to give them actual help. Likewise, my guy Corey asking Tori to tell him everything he needs to know about The Challenge. Dude, ask anybody else.

Yep, loving the dossiers and "pick your partner" angle

Looks like casting did an amazing job with the international cast, love the diversity

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**Byrd** · 2021-08-10 00:23

Ok, this Global Activation show was definitely worth a watch.

Thoughts:

Spoiler: show

**Xno Kappa** · 2021-08-10 12:07

Originally Posted by Byrd

Ok, this Global Activation show was definitely worth a watch.

Thoughts:

Spoiler: show

Kyle and to a lesser extent Nam was absolutely trying to steer everyone in the wrong direction for partners. That shit was hilarious lol.

CT looking the fittest he’s been in awhile.

Michele is going to be interesting as hell how she navigates the game. Loved her on Survivor.

Gabo comes across as someone who peaked in high school in his small little bubble fuck town and is completely ignorant of the world. Dude is in for a rude awakening.

Also looking forward to how the gymnast/acrobat chick does. Don’t think there’s ever been someone with that skill set which should be crazy useful for challenges.

**Vil** · 2021-08-11 20:52

Great premiere, but holy crap did my eyes bug out when I could have been down to 4 freaking people in the house after a single episode.

Didn't get to wrap my head around most of the teams so far. Might have to give a rewatch this weekend. Kyle carrying the chain while he leaves the safe for Amanda is peak Kyle. Nelson screaming at the safe while it beeps because he didn't understand how to do it and is locked out is peak Nelson. Ashley having a total meltdown and finishing last, yeah.

See MTV? It isn't hard if you go to somewhere where the weather doesn't suck. Even though Kaycee/Nany's a pre-existing thing, there was like more coupling going on this single episode than like any of the recent seasons. Esther seeing the drama and asking "Why did I pick Messy Fessy?"

Michaela with a goddamn list. That's a risky move for someone like Laurel to try, let alone a rookie, especially someone who's already got eyes on her. The Survivor crew being super quick to throw each other under the bus was actually kind of impressive, though it remains to be seen if that was just dealing with a combustible situation. The concept of some big plot to get out TORI of all people is laughable. I don't know where she'd rank overall out of the ladies, but just from the veterans I'd think she's closer to Nany than the clear top 3. The deliberation chamber was the sort of Challenge silliness that I'd hope for. Not a category, but Logan wins best deliberation attire.

The Lair, a good looking elimination arena. The twist, I'm iffy on. It's a great twist. As a normal format, I'm thankful as someone who spent his first pick on Ashley, but it's very likely to be exploitable and fast. What I've wanted for a long time was just the two teams sent in, but then have them do eliminations individually, and the two winners are the team going forward. Kind of did that a couple years ago, but ended up with same team (Kyle/Mattie) anyway.

Aneesa, who will always talks about being supportive of representation and all that... kicks off the season by sending the only gay black man into elimination despite him doing nothing wrong. Logan voting Michele at least makes some sense since she's possibly involved in this and he doesn't want to vote Emy, but idk. Aneesa sucks. Corey picking her "best friend" as his new partner is certainly a choice.

Nam can't catch a break with this show, can he? I think Byrd watched The Circle. What's Ed's story? I tried watching that when it was brought up here, but I made it like 15 minutes and don't really remember anything other than the show's concept.

Random thought: Nany and Gabo is such a terrible team, lmao. They're not threatening enough to be targeted and not strong enough individually to want to peel someone away. May they be a disaster forever for many many episodes.

**Byrd** · 2021-08-12 00:04

Originally Posted by Vil

Aneesa, who will always talks about being supportive of representation and all that... kicks off the season by sending the only gay black man into elimination despite him doing nothing wrong.

I think she was expecting Logan to follow her lead and vote in Corey's partner, Emy.

Originally Posted by Vil

Nam can't catch a break with this show, can he? I think Byrd watched The Circle. What's Ed's story?

I did not watch The Circle. I once watched a movie called Circle (not the Emma Watson one), which was pretty solid, but not what you're looking for.

Moss, I assume you want to pick up Ed since you lost Nam for no reasons? You can also hold on to that first pick if you want, although I don't see why you would want to.

Originally Posted by Vil

Random thought: Nany and Gabo is such a terrible team, lmao. They're not threatening enough to be targeted and not strong enough individually to want to peel someone away. May they be a disaster forever for many many episodes.

Oh yeah, they're going to be a beautiful disaster.

Thoughts:

Spoiler: show

Standings After One Episode:

Spoiler: show

Scoring Notes:

Spoiler: show

Challenger Scoring to Date:

Spoiler: show

And what is going on with Lauren? We haven't seen her in any capacity. I think she's getting the Eddie treatment, maybe she leaves shortly and gets replaced with Amber B.

**Vil** · 2021-08-12 02:21

Logan told her he didn't want to vote Emy, so the idea of just putting the one team in doesn't mean much to me anyway. She prefaced her votes talking about the Michaela/Survivor drama, so then... just send in Tommy & Michele then. Maybe there's just a bunch of missing pieces.

At this point, I'm not sure how I feel about Emy. The chaotic energy that she brings is a good thing right now, but I'll wait a couple weeks for her and to see how I feel about things this past episode.

Now that you mention it, I remember you posting about that movie. Maybe I just happened to see the show on a recommendation/new releases whenever that was. I figured "maybe it'll be sort of like Solitary" but the only thing that they really seemed to have in common was the people all being in isolation from one another.

Why do they need to change the Agency/Tribunal/Council term ever season? Same with elimination arena?

Look, I agree with you about the names in general. However, my head canon is also that these are TJ's own ideas for names of things and nobody cares enough to tell him no. "The Agency" is pretty low effort, Teej! Dude's off to a good start with a Ferrari and motorcycle for his superfluous personal vehicle tally.

My first instincts were that this format is maybe ok to throw in as an actual twist, or one of many options, but there's a lot of ways that this could turn into a broken format fast. Agency sending in a top contender with the worst option for a partner? It's like people getting screwed by a bad swap on Survivor, but worse.

**Byrd** · 2021-08-12 11:10

Originally Posted by Vil

My first instincts were that this format is maybe ok to throw in as an actual twist, or one of many options, but there's a lot of ways that this could turn into a broken format fast. Agency sending in a top contender with the worst option for a partner? It's like people getting screwed by a bad swap on Survivor, but worse.

I could absolutely see this happening. If the Agency sees a Hall Brawl, time to throw in CT and Big T. CT isn't going to lose (most likely), but Big T will, and if they're a team, there's a 50% chance that Big T will have the tie-breaking round.

**Xno Kappa** · 2021-08-12 11:24

Originally Posted by Byrd

I could absolutely see this happening. If the Agency sees a Hall Brawl, time to throw in CT and Big T. CT isn't going to lose (most likely), but Big T will, and if they're a team, there's a 50% chance that Big T will have the tie-breaking round.

Hopefully they allow the team to choose who goes for the tie breaker or else this is going to get dumb real quick.

We’re probably going to see a few thrown games too.

**Vil** · 2021-08-12 11:58

I don't think giving either team a choice is a great idea, and flipping a coin is kind of lame. They should do what they did for that pseudo pole-wrestle daily that CT threw because he knew that Big T wouldn't win, and the spinoff did with the tug of war. Both people on the team win, or it goes to the next round. Oh, terrible idea for Hall Brawl? Hall Brawl is a trash idea anyway. Ultimately, I hope that they manage to stick with things that are some sort of teamwork/coordination with partners with different roles.

**Headspace** · 2021-08-12 13:21

Not gonna be able to watch the first two weeks but four people sent home in the first episode?

**Byrd** · 2021-08-12 13:33

Originally Posted by Headspace

Not gonna be able to watch the first two weeks but four people sent home in the first episode?

Just three people. Lost two to elimination and one to (presumably) COVID.

**Moss** · 2021-08-12 17:12

WHY NAM WHY

Yes I'll take this guy Ed that the shows acts like I should already know for some reason "lol it's Ed!"

...who?

I'll withhold judgement on The Agency voting individuals twist but right now I don't see what it adds to the game.

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**Byrd** · 2021-08-18 23:42

Thoughts:

Spoiler: show

Scoring:

Spoiler: show

Challenger Scores to Date:

Spoiler: show

Standings:

Spoiler: show

**Moss** · 2021-08-19 02:05

Ughhhhhh that's so depressing and not because he was on my fantasy team

Huge loss to the season to not have Kelz around

But you mentioned it Byrd, Kelz really fucked up by not throwing a name out. He should've called out Josh so the rookies would know where to aim their votes. I think there were plenty of players that aren't with the josh/Fessy alliance that would've gone that way

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**Vil** · 2021-08-19 07:57

I don't really agree. He seemed like he knew that he was going in no matter what. Sure, he got eliminated, so we can say now "what did he have to lose?" but making enemies in there could have given him an even worse matchup in there, or had he won, trouble when returning to the house. I'm not saying that people should just roll over and die, but I think it's a wake-up that they ought to start getting organized. Maybe I forgot/missed it, but there was 0 talk about anybody besides Kelz between the challenge and deliberation.

While people ought to be more brazen, there's likely a decent amount that are content playing the "partner game" rather than looking out for themselves/rookies in general, especially since individuals can be backdoored. It's just a big ask, expecting to get so many people on the same page and remember, this was several days after there was a load of drama/rookies throwing each other under the bus. I don't expect there to be a lot of universal trust.

But anyway, neat elimination, lame main challenge. That wasn't as bad as the "helicopter swim" last season, but considering they had a car for TJ's entrance (is this going to be a thing all season? Is it the same car or a new one?) and the obligatory superfluous explosions, the flash/substance ratio isn't far off from that one. A second episode where people were *gasp* having fun?

2 episodes down and 2 people gone that we very well may see again. Agent Ed seems like a good addition.

I should be happy about having a full team still, but what a mess it is outside of... Kyle. I have 3 out of 4 of the rookies that are on all-rookie teams, a girl teamed up with JOSH, and two girls fighting over Nelson. At least there's drama potential, but after the deliberation when Fessy and Esther were talking about who to throw in, dude just basically listed off nearly my whole team.

**Moss** · 2021-08-19 11:17

Josh is already calling him out, so what's the harm in saying he should be thrown in instead?

Then Fessy has to gamble throwing in Kelz against his friend

But yeah it's all hindsight, I'm just salty Kelz is gone because he's smart and a good foil for the BB alliance. They were smart to target him

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**Byrd** · 2021-08-19 11:20

Originally Posted by Moss

Josh is already calling him out, so what's the harm in saying he should be thrown in instead?

Then Fessy has to gamble throwing in Kelz against his friend

But yeah it's all hindsight, I'm just salty Kelz is gone because he's smart and a good foil for the BB alliance. They were smart to target him

For sure. They were also smart to talk Josh into being the "point man" in coming after him, because then in the (fairly likely) event that Kelz comes back, he becomes Kelz' most likely target and not the rest of the alliance. Although I think Kelz would likely have seen right through that.

I definitely hope Kelz comes back. Same with Michaela. Don't care much about Tracy or Renan. Will be curious to see if they bring Nam back, and they're obviously not bringing Lauren back.

Thread: Challenge 37: Spies, Lies and Allies (Aug 11, 2021)

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Challenge 37: Spies, Lies and Allies (Aug 11, 2021)

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