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.

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 2 - "Blurred Battle Lines"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new The Challenge episode and thank god this ones was back to the usual format! Yes, we did have the elimination from last week's episode but we also had a full challenge and another elimination in this episode, so basically this was a double elimination episode (kind of).

So, where to start?! Well, I guess the first elimination was kind of anticlimatic because the vets sort of got what they wanted, however, Michele was the one to be picked by The Hopper so it was her against Ameerah. The game was a different one but kind of lame and, int he end, Ameerah went home. There was, however, a plot twist - TJ revealed that when you win an elimination, you can choose to switch teams and take someone else's spot (so a switch up) but Michele decided to stay in the Red Team.

Moving on to the week's challenge, it was a pretty fun one, above water, with them trying to get from one platform to the other and where a bunch of people failed. I do have to highligh some people such as Bananas (of course) - he showed why he's the biggest challenge legend/winner/vet - Desi was one of the few to get across and she not only did it once but she did it twice and they had to give Amanda some spotlight (even though I don't want to give her the attention because I  really dislike her). In the end, the Green Team won and that made for a huge plot twist this season. For once the rookies are teaming up and because they actually have an advantage in numbers over the Vets, they were able to go through with their plan. 

The Green Team went with Bananas and Tori for their picks (and it was actually pretty funny to see Wes trying to change his mind but being outvoted by everyone) and, somehow, everyone else was able to give Jonna a bunch of votes and so she was the one picked by The Hopper - that meant two vets against each other, which was exactly what they wanted. And although I sort of like Tori (I like her as a person, but as a competitor she gets on my nerves most of the time), I was rooting for Jonna. Unfortunately, Tori showed them why she's so feared (Jonna really had no chance) and she won, sending Jonna home... 

After winning Tori also decided to stay on the Blue Team so... So far nothing changed.. 

And that's basically it for this episode. There's no real big preview for this week because what we saw was a rundown of the whole season, but I'm liking where this is going with the rookies teaming up and trying to take down the vets - this will be make us see who really are strong vets and who isn't, which is also fun. I'm excited and I can't wait for the next episode (I still want Bananas to win tho... Team Bananas all the way!).

Let me know your thoughts on this season so far and who are you rooting for the most, and I'll talk to you very soon!

Love,

Daniela

The Challenge: USA | Season 2 Episode 1 - "The Riskiest Season Yet"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Long time no see right?! Well, since the last episode of The Flash ended there just hasn't been any new shows that I would like to cover here on the blog nor there hasn't been any new episodes of The Challenge - until now!

That's right, The Challenge is back - and back with their spin-off The Challenge: USA. And this new season is extra special because they brought some inforcements. (Well, I guess their last season didn't have a lot of views so they had to bring players over from the MTV version - aka The Vets). Of course I'm thrilled with this because it means my favourite is back - Bananas! And let's be honest, a season with Bananas in it is always more fun. However, surprinsingly, throughout this episode I found myself rooting mostly for the rookies and 'underdogs', which is interesting.

The downside of this season though is that it also brought back a ton of my least favourite players - Josh, Fessy, Amanda and even freaking Paulie is back... Ugh!! Seriously, a lot of these players are insufferable and I can't stand a lot of them, I'm just hoping that a lot of the new ones are good and interesting enough to overshadow all of these people that I don't like. But enough talking about the players, let's get to the actual game!

Everything started with picking Teams and, unfortunately, I have to talk about the players again because somehow all of the Teams have at least one of those guys that I don't like, which makes it really hard to root for one Team in particular. And the worst part is that Bananas' Team is the worst, with both Josh and Paulie in it... Ugh! I guess, as of now, I'm mostly rooting for Desi's Team, which only has Amanda out of the people that I don't like (it also has Wes in it but honestly, I'm okay with Wes now... He has become more of a joke to me, the fact that he's just so good at everything). 

Anyway, after picking Teams and getting into the house and having a welcoming party, it was time for the first challenge - a pretty standard one with them carrying some heavy statues and solving some puzzles. Basic. 

Team Blue ended up winning which is not awful (even though I hated what Tori and Cory did after the challenge, when it was time to nominate people from the other teams). And speaking of nominations, the twist of this season - the loosing Teams will vote for who they want to go into elimination but the votes will be secret! Honestly, I just loved that twist! That not only keeps the game from being rigged but also allows people to make bolder moves, which is what we like to see in the game! And that's what Jonna did right in this first episode - they all agreed to vote for a guy on the opposite team but guess what?! Jonna voted not only for a woman but also someone from her own team - Michelle. I sort of like Michelle but I have to stick with Jonna because that's how you play the game and that's why I really want the rookies to, for once, succeed in sending the vets home, or at least try, because I feel like most of the time they're just afraid to do something, and with secret votes, they don't need to be afraid. It is revealed at the end though, that we do find out who got votes and how many, but you never find out who voted for who, so you just have to keep your mouth shut and play your game in a smart way.

And that's basically what we got in this first episode. We only see who the winning team nominates - Ameerah and Luis (who are voted because Tori and Cory manipulated everyone) and the episode ends after TJ revealed who got voted and how many (out of the other two teams). 

A new episode will air tomorrow so you'll have another rant pretty soon and hopefully there's more twists and turns! 

As of now, let me know what you thought of this episode - the cast, the twists and how the game has been played so far. Tell me everything in the comments and I'll talk to you really soon!

Love,

Daniela.