News about casting for Season 37 has been POPPIN’ since Saturday — check out all the updates on the spoiler-free megathread here. That, coupled with even fewer responses this week (plus only an hour-long episode) means the write-up might actually be short and not so sweet this week.
Part of the reason for that is I failed to share the survey link on Discord, so mea culpa 💀
Player of the Week
- Amber — 42
- CT — 40
- Leroy — 22
- Kaycee — 15
- Big T — 13
- Kyle — 7
- Nany — 4
- Kam — 3
with zer0 votes for Playas Cory & Fessy
Excellent. I voted Amber for PotW, and I’m so happy people had some sense. She & Kyle would’ve won the mission if it had better design. That is — if a team didn’t have the opportunity to go twice, which is a ridiculously unfair advantage (like Johnny in that one daily on Invasion).
Not to mention, this mission allowed for people to team up together — namely Kam/Cory helping out Nany/Fessy and Leroy/Kaycee. Reminds me of the footrace HOH comp that Christmas won when she had a broken foot. Boring and icky.
Not to mention, Amber won her second elimination this season — the only person to do so — and picked a partner whose alliance and intimidation factor will protect her into the final. She’s also the last newbie left, and she made the final. Hats off to you.
CT wasn’t picked by either Amber or Nany as a partner and therefore got a free pass to the final. Did he do anything to make that happen? Not at all. And he also betrayed his only ally left, in Kyle, and for what?? It was still Kyle/Amber vs CT/Big T. Ridiculous. Those 40 votes are boondoggle.
Leroy & Kaycee won a fifth mission this season, which is legit impressive. Would they have won if they only got to play offense once? Probably not. Would they have won if Kam/Cory didn’t give an alley-oop? Not at all. Still, credit where it’s due — they are looking threatening going into the final.
Then there’s everyone else, who pretty much achieved nothing this ep. Kam/Cory didn’t play for themselves. Fessy/Nany continue not working well together (at least, Nany tells us that in confessionals, but didn’t they perform well in “Global Domination?” I think they did). Nany picked Kyle for the final — for what reason? Fun? What.
Oh, and Big T was resolutely beat in Hall Brawl and goes home right before the final… Despite her subtitled comments earlier in the season (“I will make the final and beat CT in it”) edgically telling us that she went all the way. Hm. What to make of that 🤔 I honestly don’t know.
Best Social/Political Game
- Kam — 37
- CT — 31
- Leroy — 28
- Nany — 22
- Kaycee — 14
Kam stays in control with loyal allies in Leroy, Nany, and Kaycee. Provided one of those teams won, none of them would’ve seen elimination. This stranglehold they have on the game is impressive but boring.
CT actually had poor social game this ep, seen in Nany picking Kyle instead of him because she has more with fun with him. But voting for Kyle did make political sense, since the competitors didn’t know what happened in a tie. So I understand the votes, even if the result was the same (his team vs Kyle’s team in the Crater).
Best Edit
- Big T — 62
- CT — 32
- tie with Kyle & Amber B — 15
5) Leroy — 9
For a seventh week — and the second consecutively — Big T secures the Best Edit. We saw her train for the final and put up a good fight against a much bigger girl in Hall Brawl. She someone went from first boot on War of the Worlds 2 to becoming the breakout star and new fan favourite. Looking forward to seeing you on the next couple szns, Tula!
CT trained Big T — and in so doing, showcased his expertise as to what expect in a final, something we haven’t seen from other competitors — and somehow became Rogue this episode, with a straight shot to the end.
Amber got second in the mission, won the elimination, and had a lot of screentime besides. It’s a shame she’s so dreadfully boring, because she has made it all the way on her first season and could’ve become the star — if only she had some charisma and excitement 😪 Oh well, I guess that’s what you get when you cast a pre-jury houseguest who was only on TV for a couple weeks 6 whole years ago. Honestly, what was production thinking?
Kyle also did well in the mission and had a bunch of confessionals. Love him. And then Leroy actually won the mission, but for some reason got fewer votes? Don’t really get it, but he is so laid-back that it also isn’t captivating.
Biggest Misplay
- Nany — 79
- Kyle — 30
- Fessy — 12
- CT — 11
- Amber B — 6
Nany had the chance to pick CT as a partner for the finals — someone who has won thrice before, or five times if you count the spin-offs — but instead went with Kyle, who she already complained about earlier this season because she doesn’t work well with him. What a bonehead.
People on reddit explained how this might actually be a great move — because in all likelihood, Kyle goes into the next elimination and Nany gets a better partner (namely CT or Leroy) — but?? She could’ve just had that better partner this episode. So it makes no sense to me. Stay losing, Nan.
Kyle got voted into the Crater and then was selected to be Nany’s partner. Not sure how any of this is a misplay, as the former was bound to happen and the latter was out of his control. So the 30 Kyle votes — explain yourselves?
People are always gonna vote Fessy because he’s edited to be the love-to-hate villain and people swallow it hook line and sinker. All he did this episode was move at a fast pace in the mission, which Nany complained about. Yet… Didn’t they get first place in the first heat? So, how is that a misplay?
Similar to Nany, Amber chose someone besides CT for her partner. Is this a misplay? No. Fessy has a strong alliance and none of the men want to see him in elimination, so the chances are high they won’t get thrown into the Crater.
And then CT cut Kyle’s throat, so those are his 11 votes, I guess? Who cares.
Ep Rating & Fave Moments
This ep was rated a 5.86 — the lowest yet. Why? Well, it was chalky, with the results seemingly preordained. You could’ve guessed what would happen — and that’s exactly what transpired, just like Shea Coulée winning All Stars 5.
The mission had poor game design that unfairly advantaged Kaycee and Leroy. The voting was perfunctory, and the elimination wasn’t close at all.
My least favourite moment was learning that there is yet another mission next ep before the final elim. I was certain this ep was so short because it would end on a cliffhanger Security Breach: the second double elim of the season. Then Kyle and CT would face off in Hall Brawl, which would take up the first 10 minutes of this week’s ep, with the remaining 80 being the whole final.
And that’s why The Challenge All Stars started when it did, with only one week overlap with Double Agents, to lure in new viewers before S37 ends.
But nope! This season stays interminable, and All Stars is airing simultaneously to DA, just like RPDR13 and UK2, which underlines how inferior the original szn is. I’m bored and annoyed.
But anygay — what did people like? Probably not much LOL, but let’s see what the survey said. Oh, turns out I was right:
- Nany picking Kyle and CT getting a free ride to the final
- Big T training montage
- Comp wins for KC, LR, AB
Oh and then my personal favourites: “it only being an hour and ending early”; “Us being one episode closer until this season is over”; and “When my cat found one of those silly hands and brought it to me because he wanted to play with it. That’s was the best moment from this episode”
Honestly, same.
Back or Buh-Bye?
109 votes, or 75% of respondents, say yes to Big T on S37. Thirty-one say maybe on S38, and only 6 grumps saying they don’t want to see her again. I guess that fan favourite edit really worked, eh? 😉
Results are here. See you next week for the penultimate write-up j’suppose!
🌞
