The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 10 - "Feeling Used"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

The last few days have been crazy so, as per usual, I'm a bit late with this rant. However, I'm still posting this before the new episode comes out so... Better than the previous posts. Anyway, I guess I should just go into the episode and talk about how boring and exciting it was at the same time.

First of all, all the lead up to the elimination was pretty boring and predictable. I was wrong though about which Champ would come this episode, but I was still right about it being a guy. That made everything way more predictable, to be honest. The lead up to the daily challenge was mostly about Kyland and James (as if we didn't know already that they were at the bottom of everyone's list) and guess what?! They were both on the loosing Team and Kyland was straight away the choice of the winning Team. Which, if you really think about it, didn't make any sense! Horacio started with getting every one of them to say one name that they would not pick and no one said Corey's name as the person they want to keep safe so... Why not just pick Corey?! Seriously, going to Kyland made no sense but that just showed Kyland who he can trust (only Horacio and Zara). Then, as far as the actual daily challenge goes, it was pretty boring and, although I was rooting for the Orange Team (the one that ended up winning), I also despise a lot of the people in that Team. And, as much as it pains me to say, Jay is really going down on my list of my favourites. I really dislike what he's been doing this season and, as much as I want to say it's all due to Michele, I know it's Jay as well. So, at this point, the only people that I like are Kyland, Zara, Horacio and maybe Colleen. I like a good underdog.

Moving on to the Nominations, everything was up in the air but, at the same time, the choice was really obvious - James. They made it look like a lot of them were torn between James and Ed because Ed hasn't been talking game with anyone and then Ed started campaining to vote for Corey (which I'm all for) but, at the end of the day, basically all of them went with James who, believe it or not, I'm starting to like. He's not one of my favourites or anything but the guy is a genuine guy and isn't doing any of that politicking bullsh*t and I appreciate that about him. Plus, as I said, I like a good underdog and I just want all of them to team up and start gunning for Jay and Michele.

So, it was Kyland and James in the sand to possibly go in against... Darrell. I wish Darrell would have picked the Chaos in the draw but he got Kyland's name and thank god it wasn't a physical challenge. I know everyone wants to see physical challenges (I do too) but because I really wanted Kyland to win, I was really happy with the elimination. And I was even happier with the ending because Kyland won and not only he won against a Champ but he also showed everyone what he's capable of and I can't wait for him to go after Jay (which I'm pretty sure he will).

The episode ended with TJ telling them to gear up because they were going straight into a challenge and it looked like it was an eating challenge and I can't wait! They also showed CT in the preview but I doubt CT will appear in the next episode. There's still four champs left to show up and I think it will be a girls elimination next so maybe Laurel?! I'm pretty sure they'll leave Cara Maria and CT for last. I would love to see a double elimination though.

But I guess that's it from me. Next episode will air in about 24 hours so, in the meantime, let me know what you thought of this episode and who do you think will be the champ to show up next and I'll see soon (hopefully) with a new rant!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge | Season 39 Episodes 8 & 9 - "Struggling to Hold It Together" & "A Banana Split"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Here I am with another double The Challenge rant and, while the last episodes were great with Big T winning and then Devin winning... Well, these two weren't so great.

First of all, the way episode 8 started got me really scared. I knew, as I said at the end of last week's rant, that Kaycee was going to be the Champ, so I knew it would be a female elimination (it could be a double elimination tho) and Zara was featured a lot in the beginning of the episode. But I guess this time they tricked me. Zara was not up for elimination because, fast forward, her Team won the daily challenge.

The week's challenge was one of those where they had to lock an put nots and stuff in front of a place and after 30 minutes, the teams would switch and they had to undo what the other team did. Well, Jay obviously had experience in the matter and he won against CT in this same challenge so he thought he had it in the bag. On the other side we had Kyland who also thought he would be really good because he had also done the same challenge. Well, clearly one had more experience (aka Jay) but, on Kyland's defense, they all went straight to the chains and someone had to give up and, in this case, Kyland's team gave up on the chain and was basically that (along with some other poor choices) that cost them the challenge.

With this outcome, things didn't look good for Melissa and Big T against and guess what?! Melissa was the one picked by the winning team and Big T was the one picked by the rest of her own team. That didn't mean the rest were safe because Kaycee could always take out "Chaos" in the draw but, unfortunately, that didn't happen. She took out Big T's name and, in that moment, I felt really bad for Big T. I really wanted her to win but I knew the chances were slim.

The elimination was a good old pole wrestle and you can figure out what happened next. Big T did put up a good fight but Kaycee ended up winning and I'm sad for Big T and pissed at everyone else!

As far as the latest episode goes (episode 9) it was extremely boring! Everything about this episode annoyed me so much and I hated how everything turned out. The only thing that I liked was Zara being safe from elimination again, but even that was super unfair, because she was in the three people team and, on top of that, the people she was teamed with - Ravyn and Asaf - are the worst! Seriously, I hate Ravyn. And it's not even that she's a bad person, she's just so annoying, so lame, and her game is the worst! Seriously, everyone left is so annoying and all the players that I was rooting for keep going home. Last week it was Big T and now, spoiler alert, Melissa! So unfair! Not only they were the most entertaining but they were also the best players! The only ones left that are Champ material are Zara, Horacio and Oliva. And even Olivia has become a bit annoying with teaming up with the US. I'm so sick of them rulling the Season. Colleen should have gotten all the "lay ups" and Team up. They have to stop being afraid of the US Team! Because, once they're done with the UK, who's next? Colleen, Ravyn, Asaf... They are next so why not Team up? And now, with this whole thing with Melissa going home, I really want Kyland to go far in the game and go against the US! I love Kyland and Horacio's alliance because truly, they are the only two players left with integrity.

And I guess there's not a lot more to talk about when it comes to this episode. The daily was kind of unfair, Melissa being picked again was a joke, them not doing anything about the US alliance is also a joke and Melissa loosing made me so mad! Only rooting for Kyland and Zara right now. Even Jay has become a bit annoying, all thanks to Michele who, at this point, I just can't stand! Let's hope the next Champ makes up for everything (who I believe will be CT). Until then, let me know your thoughts on both these episode and I'm sorry for doing two episodes in one post again!

Love,

Daniela

The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 6 & 7 - "The Big Mistake" & "So Flip Floppy"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello everyone!

So, I told you that this next post would take a bit longer because I was going away on holiday and well... Turns out, when I got back home, a new episode was just about to come out so I guess I just figured the best way to do it was to talk about both episodes 6 and 7 in the same post, I hope you don't mind.

I kind of wished I was able to talk about them seperately because both of them were really exciting! So let's not waste any time and get to it!

Episode 6, as the name suggests, was all about Big T! Honestly, I don't know why everyone was targeting Melissa and Big T, I mean... I know they are both each others number ones but they're just two! What can the both of them do alone?! (in terms of voting and stuff) Seriously, I don't know, but this whole episode revolved around getting both of them up for elimination, to the point where in the daily challenge, the two teams that they were not part of, basically 'team up' in order to just not have them win! Even their own team (which had Jay in it) was sabotaging themselves so they could put Melissa and Big T up for elimination... I just think that's so dumb... Anyway... They got what they wanted and their team lost so, right away, even though Kyland was in the winning Team, they went with Melissa (he was obviously outnumbered) and then, for the house vote, as much as Melissa really tried to get the house to vote for someone else (either Ravyn or Nurys) the house voted Big T... It was expected but I had hope they could turn the voted around.

Well, at the end of the day, and with how everything turned out to be, I'm glad they did what they did because Big T gave them a show! 

This episode's mercenary was Kaz which, to be fair, and although she did win two challenges, she's not really a champ... I'm sorry Kaz but you haven't been around enough to be considered a Champ. To the point that, she did go against Big T and guess what?! Big T won! So that only proves my point! Kaz won two challenges yes but one of them was by seconds (Zara deserved the win, to be fair) and the second one was alongside with Jordan so... Anyway... What matters in the end is that the house wanted Melissa and Big T out so much that, at the end of the day, both of them stayed! You go Big T!

As far as episode 7 goes... That one was way more exciting!

Although they didn't know at the beginning, it was a male elimination day (as you would assume, to be honest) and there were a few people that stood out right in the beginning of the episode - Horacio, Callum and Emanuel. And you know what that means, right?! I was afraid that it meant Horacio was going into elimination because it's obvious that everyone knows he's a big competition, but I'm glad I was wrong - instead, his Team (alongside with Big T and Kyland) won and so they had to choose a guy to go into elimination, which they chose Emanuel. I like Emanuel but I was fine with their choice. Then, came the big drama of the episode.

No one was really talking about who was going to be the house vote, there was no big name but Corey was the only name that was floating around. For multiple reasons, to be honest, but because he had been talking to Big T and Melissa and being sort of part of their alliance, I wasn't really into him going into elimination... Well, that is when his true colors came out! Basically he straight up said in nominations that he has been lying to Big T all this time and that he wasn't part of their alliance and he was using that in order to get information to his true alliance - the US alliance - which is so shady because 1) there were conversations with Big T about her sexuality and stuff and that's just something you don't mess with and 2) he never said anything to the US alliance so... No one knew and it was only himself who decided to do that. Well, I'm happy that, in the end, he was nominated anyway because, now more than never, no one can really trust him, right?! I'm just sad that he didn't got what he deserved... Still, we got an hell of a show!

So, mercenary of the week?! Devin! And I can't believe how my love for Devin has changed over the years! I used to despise him and now I completely love him and was so happy to see him in this episode! I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to beat Corey (because, let's be real, I was really hoping Devin would go against Corey to send him home) but, of course, it had to be Devin to take out the third option in the Draw and guess what?! That meant Devin was the one to pick who he wanted to go against out of every guy! Everyone apart from Horacio and Kyland because they own the daily so they were safe. And if we know one thing about Devin is that, just like Bananas, he likes to stir the pot and, of course, he chose someone else! Big T did tell him to pick Corey but Devin wants to create drama and so he went with Michele's boo - Calum. That was seriously unexpected but truly, we should have seen that coming because Calum was really prominent in the beginning of the episode. 

Honestly, it was a really tight race and, for the first time this season, I was rooting for the mercenary, and thankfully Devin won! 

This really shook the house and I can't wait to see how this will afect the next episodes. From the preview, it looks like it will the Kaycee the mercenary and it also looked like there will be yet another fight between Melissa and Nurys and I'm team Melissa all the way so I hope I get to see Nurys in the sand going against Kaycee. Kaycee is a wild card so, depending on who she's going against, she has a big chance of winning but we'll see. If it is against Nurys I hope she wins, if it is against Melissa or Big T or Zara (which are my favourite girls) I hope she looses. Anyway, we don't really know if it is Kaycee either but it's what it looked like to me.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of these two episodes - were you rooting for Big T in episode 6? Or are you team US alliance? What are your thoughts on what Corey did? And how do you feel about Devin? Did he grow on you like he did with me? Tell me everything in the comments and I'll see you next week with a new episode!

Love,

Daniela

The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 5 - "Countdown to Chaos"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Ugh! Unfortunately I'm going to start this one on a bad note because I'm honestly so annoyed with this episode! Seriously, everything that could go wrong went wrong and, even though that made for a really exciting and thrilling episode, at the end of the day, the outcome is what matters the most and the outcome of this episode was just awful!

I don't know about you but, this season, there are a few people that I don't like but there are also a few people that I completely love - and one of those people is Ciarran. Ciarran, Zara and Jay are probably my favourites this season and I was gutted to see two of them do pretty bad and one of them going home. 

I'm just going to take the cat out of the bag (is that how the saying goes?) and say it - yes, Ciarran was sent home. And, to me, the worst part of it all is that he was sent home by Jordan of all people. But honestely, I saw that coming. There were a lot of talk in this episode not only about Ciarran but also about the fact that they suspected (Jay did) that the vets could come into play as mercenaries or something and Ciarran mentioned that he didn't know who Jordan was. Well, I guess, at the end of the day, that beat him the ass. If he knew who Jordan was he would have known about his mental games and would have been more prepared. But the thing is, he was expecting to go against Asaf and then they switched everything with The Draw because yes, The Draw is back. It's actually a lot! This Chaos section introduced a ton of different things and I guess I'm going the other way around and starting with the last things but yes, The Draw is back and, in this case, it's the Champ that does The Draw, and in there are three names - the person voted by the winning pair/team/person, the one voted by the house and someone/something else that we don't know what it is yet (but I'm eager to find out what it is!). In this case Ciarran was the one voted by the house and Asaf was the one voted by the winning pair - and there comes the second thing that annoyed me about this episode - the winning pair was Corey and Ravyn *eye roll*.

As I said, there aren't a lot of people that I don't like in this season but Ravyn is one of those people that I really don't like and I just can't wait for her to go home. Unfortunately, this wasn't it but with this new twist of the Champs, if she ever goes into elimination, I'm sure she'll be sent home. But, as far as the actual daily challenge goes, it was a pretty interesting one, and one that not a lot of people were good at, which was surprising and well, the outcome of it all you already know...

I guess the only things left for me to mention are the fact that, from now on, they don't win any more money and that each week the challenge will play in a different way - this time they were paired together but sometimes they could be put into teams or sometimes it can be an individual challenge so... Chaos. Oh and, not only Jordan sent Ciarran home but also, in doing that, he got 10,000 $ out of their final prize so now they have less tham 300K as their prize, and if they keep loosing eliminations they'll be out of money which make the game more interesting. Now they have to think about sending into elimination strong people in order to keep their prize money. However, that means not sending anyone home and so having more competition. It really is an interesting touch to this game. We'll see how things will play out.

Next episode I'm sure it will be a girls elimination so, as of now, I only want Zara to stay in the game. I would love to see her beat someone like Cara Maria or Laurel but I would rather keep her in the house and her having a better chance at winning this season because let's be honest - someone who's strong deserves to win this season, we can't have a lay up win this season and become a challenge champion, that just doens't sit right. Let's hope someone like Zara or Horacio or even Ed wins this season, someone that you can see has all the atributes of a Challenge Champion.

Anyway, these are my raw thoughts on this episode - thrilling, yes, but so damn annoying! And I'm actually so sad that one of my favourites (if not my favourite) went home... But yeah, let me know what you thought of this episode and what is your opinion on all the new rules to this second part of the gam? Tell me everything in the comments and well, next rant will come a bit later because I'll be travelling so I'm already warning. Okay, I'll talk to you then!

Love,

Daniela

The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 3 & 4 - "It's a Matter of Semantics " & "I'm Coming Out"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Sorry I took a bit longer but last week two episodes came out and I had to watch them both before posting my thoughts - and that took a bit longer than I thought it would. Anyway so, because I watched the episodes in two seperate occasions, I don't remember very well episode 3 so I might not touch in some things but let's get to it.

Overall, I would say both of these episodes were kind of lackluster. Granted, I saw spoilers for both of them but both eliminations were kind of meh and, most of all, they didn't end the way I wanted - mainly the one in episode 3. However, what did happen was that they won money in both daily challenges! Wow!!!

The challenge in episode 3 was kind of an easy one so I had more hopes of them succeding, but the one in episode 4... Honestly, I really didn't think they would get all the money. Swimming and doing puzzles in 15 minutes?! Seemed impossible... But they did it and I'm happy about that.

What I'm not happy about is with the outcome of episode 3. Ravyn was finally called out for her bullsh*t and she freaking picked Jujuy to go against and honestly I really thought Jujuy could pull this one out but, unfortunately, Ravyn won and we'll have to deal with her another week...

And as far as the elimination in episode 4 goes... The same didn't happen because I wasn't exactly rooting for anyone in particular (Hughie or Kyland) - on one hand I like Kyland more as a person but I would love for Hughie to show them that he's not that weak so I would be happy with either of them winning. Kyland ended up winning which made me sad for Hughie but okay...

What I'm kinda mad about is the fact that Team UK sucks at voting - instead of all of them voting for one person, they burn votes on each other, afraid to piss off someone, and that always ends up with them loosing their numbers over and over again.

Anyway... Next episode Chaos begins and that's when the good stuff will start! I'm really curious to see how these eliminations will go - will they still pick someone? Is that someone who picks which champ to go against? Do they only pick someone after knowing which champ it is? I'm really curious to get the answers to all of these questions! But, it looks like Jordan will be the Champ in the next episode (as far as the guys go) but I didn't catch who the girl was so, we'll see.

And that's it for these two episodes. Let me know your thoughts on both of them and who were you rooting for in both eliminations. I'll talk to you later.

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 2 - "Two Lungs, One Heart, Can't Lose"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Episode 2 of Season 39 of The Challenge and... I'm not impressed. This looked like it would be an interesting daily challenge (and it was!) but, spoiler alert, they f*cked it up again.

I guess I'll just jump straight into it and talk about the daily - It was kind of hard, I'll give them that, but with the right strategy I believe they would be able to pull it off.  Unfortunately, too many people wanted to take the ropes and be the leader that it ended just falling apart (literally). The only upside was that, for each ball that they got in, they would get some money so they ended up getting 6.000 dollars more, but not the 50K they would get it they finished the challenge.

Then, after that, came the drama of the nominations/deliberations.

Basically the two guys that didn't do their parts in the daily challenge were Hughie and Chauncey, which, for some reason, they just agreed it would be a guys elimination day. It does make sense after last week, but no one disagreed with that, there wasn't even a conversation about that but okay... 

Anyway... So everyone was split between Hughie and Chauncey and basically there are two teams now . US VS UK - so the US wanted to vote Hughie (sort of) and the UK just didn't. At the same time, the US were the ones to talk about Chauncey and, honestly, it was just a big mess that ended up being even bigger when Chauncey started talking during deliberation. He really did dig a hole for himself and the only thing that "sort of" saved him, was Ravyn putting into the Brits heads that Chauncey could only pick fromt he people who voted him in, which ended up being bullsh*t. It would be a cool twist, but no! So, at the end of the day, Chauncey was indeed the one to go into elimination and he chose to go against James because both him and Ciarran burned their votes.

I gotta say, I was half-half when it comes to who I was rooting for in that elimination. I was sort of rooting for Chauncey just because I think he's a good guy, but I was okay either way (him staying or leaving) and well... In the end James won and Chauncey went home to Amber and his daughter.

This episode was a little lackluster but, there's only 5 days 'till "Chaos" starts (aka the vets come into play) which I would say in about 3 episodes they will appear, and, from the preview, it looks like there will be a big fight and I miss a good argument/fight so I'm excited for that. Oh, and I don't think they'll get the money next week either so... But we'll see.

Let me know what you thought of this episode - of the whole drama, the whole situation with Hughie and Chauncey and do you think they'll get the money next week? Tell me everything and I'll see you in my next rant!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge | Season 39 Episode 1 - "Teamwork Makes The Perfect Work"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello everyone!

Here we are with a new Season of the main show and I was super stoked for this season and... It kind of disappointed me...

The whole theme of this season was getting a new champion (someone that has never won before) and in order to do that they would have to go against the already champions (aka CT, Cara Maria, Tori, etc...). Well, it is that indeed but, there's way more to it.

Basically this season will play in three phases - Control, Chaos and Conquest. Right now we are in the "Control Phase", where they all play as a team and the daily challenges are played so they can win more money for the final prize. Later on in the season they will play as individuals (Chaos) and lastly they will have to face the Champions (Conquest) and that's what bothered me the most - the exciting part, them facing the Vets, is only happening later in the season, and that was a little frustrating. However, I was indeed happy to only have returning faces that never won.

Some of the main "characters" this episode were Ciarran, Big T, Jessica, Berna, Callum, Michele and Horacio - all of them for different reasons.

Ciarran because he was the leader in this first challenge - which they failed; Big T because, apparently, she's the mastermind this season; Jessica because she screwed up in deliberation; Berna because she was Berna; Callum and Michele because or romance; and Horacio because everyone loves Horacio and he was the only one that voted differently in the Arena - because yes, this season they only vote in the Arena.

Speaking of Arena... Jessica was the one voted (by basically everyone, even herself) and, plot twist - the one going into elimination chooses her oponent and she chose Big T. I was rooting for Jessica before she picked but once she said Big T's name I changed my mind. Big T is one of my favourites and no one goes against Big T! And although people say Big T is weak, she got the job done and she won against Jessica.

Overall, this episode was a bit weak, but there's a lot of people in the house and the promos were kind of misleading so maybe I'll change my mind in the upcoming episodes. As of now, I'm rooting for Big T (obviously), Jay, Zara and Ciarran (I liked Ciarran). But honestly, there are a ton of other players that I like (Colleen, Horacioo, Olivia, ...) and I liked this group overall so I'm excited for that.

So, let me know what you thought of this first episode and this new "format", as well as who are your favourites so far and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Daniela

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 14 - "The Pursuit of Glory"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Here we are with the last episode of Season Two and OMG! I'm actually so happy with this outcome!

If you've read my previous post you know who I was rooting for the most (if you know me well, you also kno who my all time favourite is) but you also know that I would be happy with almost all the guys winning (apart from Fessy) and that the girl I wanted to win the most was Desi! Well, I got everything that I wanted!

But let's rewind a bit and talk about each section of the final.

First of all, this final took place in two days, which is kind of "easy" for The Challenge standards. Second, although it was an interesting touch, the first day was full of what they called "Trials", in which they had to complete 4 challenges that focused in different areas - Intelligence, Strenght, Strategy and Eating (it was nice that they added the eating one because I think that's a Challenge staple and they haven't done eating challenges as much lately). All of this also dealt with penalties and they could gamble if they could win one of the trials and if so they would win advantages for the second day. Long story short, basically everyone got 1 minute head start, apart from Bananas who got 2 minutes, Chanelle who got -1 and Cory who got -5 minutes, which really took a toll on him.

Second day was the one that I consider "the real final", with them going up a mountain and having checkpoints in the middle. And those checkpoints were the ones to determinate who would win, because the first one made Fessy loose the advantage he had and then, on his own fault, he went the wrong way so he had to go back and by the time he got to the 2nd checkpoint he was the last one so he was eliminated. And basically the same thing happened to Tori (minus the going the wrong way and whatnot).

So, after the second checkpoint, those who were able to "win" that checkpoint got a "car" to ride in till the next checkpoint, and everyone but Bananas got that advantage (Michaela didn't want to wait so she just decided to walk all the way which, ultimately, cost her the final because she felt sick and had to give up).

With all of this, there only remained people that I liked and I'm so happy that Chris and Desi won! Obviously I would like to see Bananas win, but Chris really deserved it and I can say confidently that Chris just became one of my all time favourites and I can't wait for him to be in the main show - I think he can beat a lot of the usual players and the Vets (heck, he beat Wes!).

And I guess that's basically it for this Season of The Challenge: USA. Let me know what you thought of the final (personally, I thought it was kind of easy, but I liked that it wasn't a pairs thing and the weight being personalized to each person was good as well) and what you thought of the Winners! I'll see you in a bit with the First Episode of the new main The Challenge Season!

Love,

Daniela 

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 12 & 13 - "Revenge Amongst the Ruins" & "The Treason for the Season"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Here we are, once again, with me reviewing two episodes in one post. I swear I don't do this on purpose but so much has been happening and it's hard to know what to prioritise. Anyway, somehow, things end up working for me because, again, there's a connection between these two episodes again. But let's start with episode 12.

This was that episode where they go like a "mini final" and, although this one was more strategic, this still took them a long time and involved both strength, endurance and brains, and yes, they had some help, but the winners were Chris and Desi! For once Chris didn't have to worry about going into elimination and he could make his moves. They didn't make such big moves because they didn't want to stir the pot so much but still, they decided to nominate Josh and Michele. The intent was always to be a girls elimination, so Josh's nomination was just something to mess with him, because Fessy was certain Chris was going to nominate him, but no!

As far as the votes fo, nothing surprising - Cassidy got the majority of the votes and she went against Michele and, surprisingly, after everything, I was rooting for Cassidy, just because Michele has been pretty  shady and she's starting to be super annoying. Thankfully she was the one to go home so we got what we wanted for this episode.

Moving on to episode 13, this one was intense! Not only this is the last episode before the final, but there was a ton of drama and truly surprising momeents! I mean, not so surprising for me because, unfortunately, I came across some spoilers so I knew one fo the people that went into elimination. But rewinding a bit... You're wondering what's the connecting bit between the two episodes? Well, Chris winning! I was so happy he won again. It's amazing how Chris went from being so annoying to being my favourite to win the whole season because, yes, from winning the daily challenge he was in the final! So happy! Oh, and for the girls, Michaela won... Not the best but fine. The cool thing came after, in the nominations, with them picking Fessy and Cassidy. Poor Cassidy can't catch a break but Fessy being there, so cool! Unfortunately, it was a Hall Brawl and the possibility of Fessy loosing that was like 1%, which didn't look good for my boy Bananas who, in the end, was the one who got the most votes. Seriously, I don't know what these girls were thinking, I get the boys wanting to get rid of him but the girls?! You would rather be paired with Josh than with Bananas in the final?! Really?! Thank god not only I had seen spoilers but also Josh got one vote because yes - Josh went against Fessy! (Oh, and Cassidy went against Channelle, who was also the one to get the most votes).

Sadly, this season's Hall Brawl was kind of lame, with them having Shields and a puzzle in the end after getting through, which basically defeated the purpose of going through the Brawl... Anyway... The outcome wasn't the best with Channelle and Fessy winning but I don't know if the other way around would be better so... I'm just happy that Chris and Bananas are in the final and I'm rooting for either one of them to win (for the boys). As for the girls, I want Desi to win. I don't mind the other girls (I think Michaela is too cocky tho) but I like Desi the best and I want her to win. So let's  see...

Let me know in the comments what you thought of both these episodes - were you happy that Chris won twice? Who are you rooting for int he final? And I'll talk to you next week with the final!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 11 - "Slippery Business"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new rant, this time a proper individual one. And, I'm actually so excited about this one so let's not waste any time and get to it!

As it was shown in the preview last week, this week we had a physical challenge - a wrestling challenge. The only thing different was that they all needed to be covered in oil (which made for some really fun montages) and it wasn't a one-on-one match (like I thought it would be). Instead, it was played in two heats - a women's heat and a men's heat - and they all fought "together". That didn't really mattered when it came to the boys (surprisingly, they were pretty "tamed"), but the girls... Damn! They fought hard and they were really nasty to each other (as girls usually are).

For the most part, I was happy with the winners - Michaela won for the girls and, my favourite, was Cory winning for the boys! Everyone was afraid to go against Fessy and Fessy really thought that he had it in the bad and, guess what?! You didn't win, which again, I was really happy about!

Then, the nominations were a mess.

It's getting to that point that everyone is thinking about the final and the boys want to run with good girls but the girls want to eliminate their competitions and, in the end, Michaela and Cory just had to compromise - Michaela chose the guy (Tyler) and Cory chose the girl (Cassidy). And then the voting...

Again, it was pretty much split between Tori and Chris, but not really. Tori only got 3 votes so, as you could imagine, Chris went into elimination, again, against Tyler. It was really bittersweet because I do like Tyler more but, with all that has been happening to Chris, I'm starting to root for him! Poor guy can't catch a break! And at this point I don't think they want to get rid of him "just because". I think they're starting to see him as a real threat and want him out for that.

Well, they didn't get it, yet again and, unfortunately, Tyler was the one to go home (right after Alyssa going last week, funny). At least it was an elimination that, not only he had a chance at winning, but also it was a timed event so, until they both finished their rounds, we didn't know who had won.

Anyway, it looks like the final is right around the corner and people need to start making bigger and smarter moves. It's just a matter of time until these Vets have to go against each other, and I hope that happens in the next episode (I just hope, if it ends up being Bananas, that he wins - no matter who he goes against).

But yeah, that's it from me. Let me know what you thought of this episode - were you a fan of the wrestling challenge? What are your thoughts on Chris right now? Tell me everything and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 9 & 10 - "Enemy of the State" & "A Less Perfect Union"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

I know, I did it again... I'm sorry but last week was so crazy that I wasn't able to watch the new episode until this week and then I didn't have time to write my rant so, yet again, I'm reviewing the last two episodes in one post - I hope you don't mind. And if you think about, it actually makes sense to do it this way, because both episodes follow a 'story' and a 'pattern' and makes sense for me to talk about them together.

So, as far as episode 9 goes, it was all about Chris. And in a way, episode 10 was as well, but I'll get to that.

Episode's 9 main challenge was kind of anti-climatic. Initially, they all had to jump on a trampoline to do some math and then only the first three girls and three guys to get the math right would go onto the next round. So that alone was kind of lame. And then, the second part, although more adrenaline based, it was pretty obvious who was going to win - Fessy for sure because of his height and then Tori, by a lot. And next the nominations and elimination were kind of predictable - they went with Cassidy and Chris because they wanted to lower Survivor's numbers and then the Chris paranoia and just sinking ship started.

Chris got really pissed and started throwing 'shots' at everyone and making deals and it all just didn't sit right with anyone so it was pretty obvious that he was going to be the one that they all would target, therefore most people voted for a guy and, at the end, the one to go against Chris was Sebastian, again because of the Survivor thing.

In this case it was pretty easy to be rooting for someone - Sebastian was one of my favourites this season, unfortunately, Chris did send him home... And well, he did the same on episode 10.

This week's episode, as I said, followed a pretty similar formula, although the main challenge was way more interesting and we did get a new winner - Michaela. I really liked to see her so afraid and still doing it and winning at the end. Unfortunately, for the boys, Fessy won again... 

Anyway, moving to the nominations, I knew something was about to go down. However, Michaela was pretty tamed and she didn't make big moves like I thought she would. It sort of makes sense because they're really close to the final and she didn't want to piss anyone off (like Tori, for example) but she could've gone with Michelle because, at the end of the day, eventually, they'll have to go against each other (the Survivor girls) but not yet... Instead, for the girls, they went with Alyssa - the easy choice. And, as you can expect, for the guys was the same, and the same guy as it was last week - Chris. But now it's when things get interesting!

Chris is really down because he's once again down in the sand because yeah, I completely forgot to mentions that this is a double elimination week so both Chris and Alyssa are definitely going into elimination, so he's pretty down about that so he decides that if he's going down, might as well be against a big player and he mentions Wes. Not everyone is on board with that - only three players vote for Wes - but, surprisingly, Josh does vote for Wes saying that he has no shot against him in a final (which is definitely true) and guess what?! Even though Tyler was the one to get the most votes (9 in total) Wes is the one to go against Chris. As for the girls, Cassidy got most of the votes and she was the one to go against Alyssa.

Surprisingly, for this elimination, I was rooting for Chris and Alyssa. Alyssa was an obvious choice just because I don't really like Cassidy, but Chris is odd but I would just like to see a Rookie send Wes home which... It did happen! Yes, Chris send Wes home which was shocking but also took away the spotlight from everyone else because Wes made sure to make a speech about this being his last challenge. Honestely, I doubt that but okay... 

So Chris won and, for the girls, unfortunately, Cassidy won... It wasn't by a lot, Alyssa actually gave her a good fight, but yeah... 

Now, I doubt the guys will target Chris again (it also depends on who wins the next challenge) but Cassidy will probably be the choice again. But one thing's for sure, the final is really close and the preview promised us some really cool challenges, one in particular with all of them fighting, like hand-to-hand combat and that looked sick and I'm very much looking forward to that.

But yeah, that's it from me for this episode. Once again I'm sorry for doing this like this again, I hope it's fine with you, and don't forget to give me your thoughts on the past two episodes - what are your thoughts on the Chris evolution? Did you feel the same as I did? Tell me everything in the comments and I'll speek to you next week!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 8 - "Independence Day"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!!

Slightly later than I anticipated but still in time to fully discuss the latest episode so, let's get to it!

To be completely honest, I don't have a ton to say about this episode. A lot happened and a ton of things were things that made me happy, but there wasn't any big drama nor any big dilemmas when ti comes to nominations and voting, it was all pretty straightforward... But let's talk about the daily challenge.

Now that the game is played as individuals, not only it got a lot more interesting but it's way easier for me to root for the people that I like, because they're not attached to other players that I do not like. So for this one, which was a swimming/diving challenge, I was fully rooting for Bananas and... Guess what?! Bananas did win for the boys, which I was stoked about! And for the girls, Tori was the winner, which all of that only proves that the Vets are Vets for a reason. However, there was a difference between Bananas and Tori - while Bananas gave the other players in his heat some sort of hint/help, Tori gave them nothing so... That kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth and supports my 'dislike' for Tori as a player... She's good and she's strong, but I don't like how she plays the game.

Anyway, after that came the nominations and both Bananas and Tori were pretty set on a guys elimination day and wanted someone from Big Brother to go home, so they went with this season's couple - Tyler and Alysa, which was kind of sad because I like Tyler. I think he's genuinely a good person and plays a fair game (also he's a pretty good player and super underrated). 

Then the rest of the house had to vote and it was pretty obvious that everyone wanted a guys elimination because the votes were torn between Sebastian (the Big Brother people voted for him) and Monte (the Survivor people voted for him) and, at the end, Monte was the one to go against Tyler. For me, that was good because I also like Sebastian and I didn't want to have to choose between the two for them but Monte was a bigger threat to Tyler, so I was afraid for him. Luckily it wasn't a physical challenge (not a one-on-one physical challenge) it was more about patience and strategy and that gave Tyler a better fighting chance. However, that elimination must have been so hard to watch because they had to redo that pyramid countless times and that must have been so furstrating (for those who where playing as well as for the ones that were just watching). Well, but at the end Tyler did win and I was super happy about that! And that's basically it.

There wasn't anything super major in the preview for the next episode so I don't have anything to theorize about. let's just see what else this new individuals game brings - I'm excited.

Let me know what you thought of this episode and who were you rooting for and I'll talk to you later in the week!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 6 & 7 - "A Really Good Looking Underdog" & "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Love"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

I know, I'm soooo late with this ones, that's why I'm putting both episodes in one post - it just makes more sense to keep them together and I'm pretty sure you're not that interested in my thoughts on episode 6. Regardless, I'm going to talk about it and I'm going to start with ir right away.

Honestly, I don't have a lot to say about it, which is actually kind of great. This was the Trivia episode and I guess that was pretty exciting!

For once, they were able to do the Trivia challenge in group and it didn't matter who answered, so that was an advantage. However, it didn't matter much because they were still pretty bad at it, but that's what we like to see. What was impressive though was how some people were able to stick to that glass, in particular Alyssa S. and Tiffany. Unfortunately, neither of them were able to get the win for their Team and yes, it was another Blue Team win. That was great for my fave - Bananas - but it created a whole thing with Wes.

Basically this whole episode was about how Wes is becoming a father and this will most likely be his last season. Well, as soon as that became a huge plot point of this episode, I knew he would most likely say, and that was kind of unfortunate because he went to elimination against Dusty.

I don't care what anyone says but I liked Dusty. I saw a lot of comments saying he was anoying but I liked how a super fan he was (and obviously he was a good ally for Bananas).

Anyway, as you can probably tell, Wes went indeed into elimination and against Dusty, and they made it look like Dusty would win for sure and guess what?! Wes won and Dusty went home. Kinda sad about that but super happy that he took Chris spot in the Blue Team and now, finally, the Vets have a chance, so I'm excited about that.

Well, I guess that's it for episode 6 so let's move into episode 7.

When it comes to the daily challenge of episode 7, it wasn't a super inventive one, like they have done in the previous episode and honestely, I thought it was kind of rushed. To be honest, this whole episode felt kind of rushed and a bit lifeless. I felt like even the producers were tired of the Blue Team winning (because yes, they won again) and they just moved on with everything because it was all so predictable. And I guess it says a lot about the episode when the most interesting thing that happened was Bananas and Wes' plan to get Tyler and Alyssa S to kiss, which was both funny and cute at the same time.

So the votes went as expected, with the Vets now running the Blue Team, they got what they wanted (Tyler and Michaela) even though their plan all along was to send Michaela against another strong Survivor girl and Tyler was just the sacrificial lamb when it comes to the boys.

As I was saying, the votes went that way, the votes from everyone else sort of went the say they wanted as well, and Michaela indeed went into elimination - but against Tiffany (which I was already expecting because of all the attention she got in the beginning of the episode).

Honestly, the elimination was really hard to watch because I felt like the producers were mocking Tiffany for not being able to get any point, and I just felt bad for her. And yes, she lost and Michaela won and, when she thought she was going to wreck havoc in the Blue Team... Plot Twist!

From now on it's an individual game and I'm really happy with that! Now everyone has to show how strong they are and they can't hide behind a strong team. Love it!

So, let me know what you thought of this past couple of episodes, did you feel bad for Tiffany? Did you prefer the Teams game? Tell me everything and I'll see you tomorrow!

Love,

Daniela 

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 5 - "Operation Hat Trick"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

New week, new The Challenge rant. Unfortunately, this episode wasn't nowhere near as good as the previous ones. I'm not saying it was bad, because it wasn't, but it just wasn't as eventful. It was interesting the fact that the Vets got the grip on the game, but I guess that is the same reason why this wasn't as exciting - it was more of the same and, let's be honest, I was having a lot of fun seeing the Vets tremble and kind of be afraid of the Rookies. But back to the episode... 

The thing that I was the most excited about this episode was the plan that the Vets had to trick the Rookies and... Well, it was kind of anticlimatic. It was interesting the whole lead up to it, though... 

So the Green Team won the daily challenge. It was surprising but, for once, they did what Wes thought was the best and, guess what?! They won! Actually, I would do the same. In that case, and having in mind that they had less weight to carry (and even if they had more players/weight, I think I would still do what they did) the smartest way to complete this challenge was to just skip the puzzles and power through till the finish line. Not only it was easier for them (because of what I stated before) but I also think that you can power through easily in a physical way than mentally - in a puzzle if you struggle you get really frustrated and it gets to a point where you just can't think anymore, while in a run/carrying stuff, if might hurt, but I think you can always find it in you to push a little further. Anyway, they powered through and they won the daily. And that's when Wes worked his magic. He was able to turn the game around and make the fight be Survivor against Big Brother instead of the Vets vs the Rookies, which is genious! With that, he was able to get both Chris and Cassidy in possible elimination - both from the Blue Team and both from Survivor. And next comes the great plan that the Vets had (that was fun, but it wasn't as big as I thought it would be).

Because they didn't want to get in between the two groups (Survivor and Big Brother) they decided to pick names out of a hat to pick who they would vote for, and they wouldn't tell each other either, that way no one could point fingers at anyone - smart. But of course, Bananas being Bananas (and even though he was the one to come up with this 'plan') he decided to not do what they set out to do and just voted for Fessy. I don't exactly know what his intent was, but it was fun either way. In the end it really didn't matter because the Hopper picked a girl, and guess what?! The only vote that Alyssa L had, Tori's vote, made her the one to go into elimination against Cassidy.

Honestly, I didn't care really who won this elimination. I was sort of rooting for Alyssa, just because Cassidy kind of got on my nerves this episode with the whole Wes thing (and also because of her little romance with Josh, which I just don't get).

Well, in the end Cassidy won and of course she stayed in the Blue Team.

Not much else happened and the preview for next episode wasn't that exciting either but it's Trivia week! And you know that's my favourite! So, only for that, I'm excited about the next episode. Also, it looks like they will make a move next episode (the Vets, I mean) so let's see whaat they cook this time.

But that's from me for this episode. Don't forget to let me know your thoughts on it and what are your predictions for the next episode? Tell me everything and I'll talk to you pretty soon!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 4 - "Double Crossed and Sidewiped"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new The Challenge rant and this was a juicy episode! A lot happened so let's just jump straight to it!

First of all, to which Team did Bananas' switch to? Well, it was sort of anticlimatic but it was what everyone thought would happen - he switched with Cory to the Blue Team. Sort of made sense (after that whole 'fight' they had) and after how this episode ended (I'll get to that in a minute) it looks like the Blue Team is the one to make it to the final so... I believe we'll see a bunch of people switching to the Blue Team.

Anyway... Moving to the weekly challenge, it was a fun one (as you can see in the banner) and, surprisingly, the Green Team was getting ahead (they were pretty much tied with Red) and the Blue Team had no chance at winning, to the point that, in the funniest part of this episode, they decided to throw the last round (aka not having a chance at winning) in order to prevent the Green Team from winning. And when I say this was the funniest part of the episode I mean the part where Bananas just throws his disks to the ground and pretends he just accidentally dropped them. Bananas being Bananas.

In the end, they got what they wanted - Green Team lost and Red Team won - and of course, because the only reason they won was because the Blue Team decided to play defense, they decided to not send any of them into elimination and only focus on the Green Team, and that's when the big arguments started.

Because this was a double elimination week, they knew that both people they nominate will go into elimination, so there was no way to save a guy or a girl, and that just fired up Josh. I have to sort of give him props because he really fought for Wes and Amanda (when all the rookie girls wanted to send both of them into elimination) and he actually won! Can you believe that?! I mean, he was willing to go into Stalemate and possibly go into elimination, and Chanelle from the rookie alliance was willing to do the same but the remaining of her alliance wasn't so Josh ended up getting his way and so Desi and Luis went into elimination. From this point on the only thing left for Desi to do was control who she's going against so she went behing Wes' back and asked everyone on her Team to vote for Amanda - who ended up having 9 votes and yes, she went into elimination against Desi. As for the boys, it was pretty split but because Chris was the one to think of the defense strategy, the Green Team went with Chris and he was the one to go against Luis.

The elimination was a physical one, which is what we love, and it was a good fight. Chris and Luis were almost a good match but Chris was clearly stronger and he ended up winning, but the big even here was Amanda vs Desi which you don't need me to say who I was rooting for, right?! And here the match wasn't as even because you could tell Desi was stronger than Amanda but Amanda put a damn good fight that I almost thought she could be Desi, but that didn't happen. Desi ended up winning and now comes the 'switching teams' part. Obviously Chris stayed with the Blue Team and guess what?! Desi also went to the Blue Team and sent Alyssa S to the Green Team. 

And now the Blue Team looks stronger than never and Wes better hurry up and get to an elimination so he can switch to that team because otherwise he will keep loosing (just saying). Actually, from the preview for the next episode, it looks like the Vets will come up with a crazy plan (to do what I didn't understand) so I'm curious to find out what it is and if it is a way to get Wes to the Blue Team, I don't know... 

Well, this was episode 4 of The Challenge USA (season 2). Let me know what you thought of this episode - do you agree with Bananas going to the Blue Team? Should he have switched with someone else? What do you think is the crazy plan that they're trying to do in the next episode? Tell me everything and I guess I'll talk to you pretty soon!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 3 - "Civil War"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back again with another The Challenge rant and this one was so exciting! I mean, it was exciting because it ended well, because if it haven't gotten my way, I would probably be here complaining about it... But that's not the case so let's focus on the good things and let's talk about all the events that took place in this episode, because there were a lot!

First of all, let's talk about the weekly challenge. This was a mix of swimming, endurance and memory challenge, so it was perfect to see who's good at what and to find out a bit more about these rookies (because, let's be honest, there are a bunch of them that we still don't know a lot about). 

It was intense and, at the end, it was a pretty tight race but it all came down to Team Red and Team Blue. Both Teams got the same number of flag right so it all came down to time and, unfortunately, Blue Team won again. This was great dor Tori though, but wasn't great for Bananas who, spoiler alert, was nominated again by the Blue Team. And because the last two eliminations were female eliminations, they were pretty set on sending a guy home this time - perferably Bananas. And here's the situation - I'm loving that the Rookies are finally teaming up and being able to nominate and send some of these Vets home but, let's be honest, I'll always be a Bananas' girlie and I never want to see him sent home, so I'm in this weird spot where I'm so happy for the Rookies but let's not touch my boy Bananas. Well, that didn't happen this time... Tori tried to not get any Vets nominated but Alyssa really shut her up with one of the best parts of this episode, where Alyssa just told Tori that not everything was about her and that was priceless! The look on Tori's face and Fessy even giggled a bit! That was iconic! But moving to the nominations from the other Teams... Well, again, this is when you see who has been doing this for a long time... Although Bananas' was pissed at Cory and Fessy for voting him in, he also accepted the fact that he would be the one to go into elimination, so the only thing to do was get the best opponent and perferably someone from the other Team (Green Team) so all of Team Red decided to vote for a guy on Green Team (and even Amanda joining in because, obviously, she being the girl nominated from the Blue Team, she didn't want to go into elimination, so she basically decided to sabotage her own Team - classic Amanda).

So, moving to the actual elimination, we find out that one person did vote for a girl (which I'm so curious to see who voted for Chanelle and it would've been so shocking and funny if the only girl voted in was the one chosen by the Hopper) but all the other votes went towards guys - Josh, Paulie, Tyler and Monte. Bananas' sort of wanted Monte, to make a big statement but I figured that wasn't going to happen. As soon as I saw that ball come out I knew it was Paulie - he was just the center of this episode and I've been watching The Challenge long enough to know that who they focus on will most likely go into elimination - and that's what happened. Bananas vs Paulie, something that we've been wanting to see for a long time. And the actual elimination was down to Power of Will because it was a version of that game that Bananas' did before against Natalie where they had to keep their arm up for as long as possible.

Well, I guess you can guess who won - Bananas of course! It was a little bit of luck as well but I don't care, I'm just happy that Bananas' staying and cliffhanger - is he going to switch teams?! Of course he is, he said it right at the end of the episode and... That's it. The episode ends like that and we'll have to wait till Sunday/Monday to find out to which team he's going to and who is he switching places with. I'm excited!

Overall, I've been pretty pleased with this season. There was a change in the game with the Rookies finally doing something, the Vets are still showing them why they're vets and there's new games and eliminations that are pretty interesting so... Let's keep this going! In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on the season so far and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Daniela.