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 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.

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.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 11 - "Home Of The Brave"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

So here I am for the final episode of The Challenge: USA, and what an episode this was! I was sort of afraid that, because they were putting everything in just one big episode (the final daily challenge, final elimination and actual final) that it wouldn't be as exciting or it would be kind of messy. Well, it actually pretty great and had so many things and twists that I was not expecting!

Let's get the first part of the episode out of the way and talk about the first thing that I wasn't expecting!

First of all, this last daily challenge was an overnight one, which doesn't happen that often on the challenge. They usually have an overnight bit in the actual final, but not an overnight daily challenge - and certainly not one this close to the final. In a way, I thought it was perfect that they did this so close to the final because it was the perfect tast of the final. Besides that, it was also super surprising the outcome of it all. Tyson and Domenick tied for first place and, because there wasn't a tie breaker, they ended up both winning, alongside Sarah - this last bit really not what I wanted... And on top of that, Angela lost and went straight into elimination. Again, not what I wanted...

When it comes to the nominations, we knew this would be between Alyssa and someone from Sarah's alliance - it was Cayla. Tyson picked Cayla, Sarah picked Alyssa and Domenick ended up being the tie breaker and he went with Alyssa. I actually thought it would go Angela's way (aka not Alyssa) but it kind of worked in her favor because this elimination was a Pole Wrestle and, let's be honest - Alyssa was the easiest to beat, which was exactly what happened.

Moving on to the actual final, as soon as they got the place where the final would happen, Ben was imediatly disqualified because of a medical injury, which was so unfortunate! As you knew, he was my favourite to win and have him go home right away, without even starting the final... It was really sad.

Then, not even 30 minutes into the first leg of the final, Enzo quits... And because he was paired with Desi, Desi was disqualified as well, which was awful! I felt so bad for Desi and I felt so mad at Enzo - this is why all the girls wanted to send him home. I admit, I was rooting for him last episode, but after this... I really regret it, honestly! I'm sure David would've done better - at least, in this first part of the final.

But let's move to some nice things. I was so surprised to see Danny win multiple of the legs and, for a long time, he was ahead in terms of points. Tyson ended up almost catching to him but Danny did great most of the time and I so surprised with that! Then, we get to the overnight part of the final and things take another turn!

I kind of forgot to mention but, because Ben was DQed, one girl had to be alone each leg of the final. In this overnight bit it was Angela. The challenge basically was to carry a bunch of dirt and one person would do that while the other would sleep, and then they would switch. Well, because Angela was alone, she couldn't switch. With that in mind, she decided that she would take the least amount of points and just went to sleep. In the moment I kind of thought that was a nice strategy, but then I started thinking and, the thing is - she didn't sleep a bit and kept moving dirt, no. She just basically 'gave up', and that ended up biting her in the ass. The next morning, when TJ arrived, he told Angela that she basically quit and so, she was DQed. That was another surprising moment but I guess it makes sense. I was just kind of bummed because I also sort of wanted her to win.

Well, like there wasn't enough people out of the game, when it got the the individual bit and they had to actually climb the mountain (and do some puzzles as well) things got pretty grim and Tyson, Domenick, Justine and Cayla quit! I was shocked honestly! Mainly with Tyson because he was so head and he talked such a big game and then... He just quit. I was also surprised with Cayla because, as soon as she got to the Sudoku, she got really excited because she was good at it, but I guess the cold was just too much and she wasn't able to do it... Everything about this final really was so shocking to me! Either the final was really hard, or these people just weren't prepared for a final.

In the end, Danny and Sarah were the only one to actually finish the final. therefore The Winners! Danny winning was great, actually! I never really thought he was going to be the one winning (I always thought it was going to be Tyson, honestly) but I was super happy with that! The same can't be said with Sarah winning. I just don't like her... So I'm not going to say anything else.

So I guess that's it from me. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this season and with this final and I can't wait to see all the other versions of this from all the other countries! Plus, Season 38 of the main show is coming back in October so... A lot more rants are coming so, stay tuned!

Let me know what you thought of this final, the winners and the season overall and I'll talk to you very soon!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 10 - "Pleadges of Allegiance"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

I know I'm super late with this rant but I had such a busy week last week that it was completely impossible for me to watch the episode. But I'm here now so let's get to it.

This is the last episode before the final so it was a little bit surprising the fact that this was just a normal male elimination week. I really thought it would be either a male and female one or they would do a Purge - which they haven't done in this season yet. But I was wrong.

The daily challenge was an interesting one. It looked fairly easy but, somehow, only one person could finish it. It was sort of hard to strategize for this one, I'll give them that. But ultimately, the winners used the best approach (which was also my first thought when I tried to think what would I do myself) - just put the initial pins in the bottom, for the feet and then go from there. And so, the only one to finish was Angela and the guy that got the fardest was Ben - a nice pairing. I also gotta say that this solidified Angela as a great competitor, for me. Up until now I really thought she just got lucky in that first challenge and then people made a huge deal about her, but she has won a few daily challenges and this one was just amazing what she did so... I'm on board with her winning the game (for the girls).

Anyway, moving on to the nominations... The guy that got last place was David, so he went straight into elimination, and Ben and Angela's choice was pretty obvious - Enzo. He's the only one (apart from David) not in their group. However, Ben is good friends with Enzo so he didn't want to send him. Well, ultimately, it was the right choice, so Enzo it was. That didn't mean I wasn't rooting for him though... 

And as far as the elimination goes, it was kind of a hard one and it went for 5 rounds and it was visible that they were so gassed out. It was tied for a long time but Enzo got it in the last round and yeah, he won! That's not the best case scenario for Ben and Angela, but it was what I wanted so... I'm happy with everything that happened in this episode.

The next one, as I said, is the final but there's also a female elimination so... I don't know how that's going to work but I'm curious. I hope Sarah goes home and I hope Angela and Ben win the whole thing. I wouldn't mind Tyson either, but I think I prefer Ben.

I know the episode is out already so, no spoilers. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, let me know who you want to win and I'll talk to you pretty soon with that final episode!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 9 - "Nevertheless She Persisted"

Spoiler Alert!

Hey everybody!

Here we are with a brand new The Challenge: USA episode and this one was pretty exciting. Not because major things happened, but because I had no idea the route that this would take and that was exciting!

First of all, let's talk about that daily challenge! It was basically one of those kids games - 4 in a row, or something - but they had to get the pieces that were hidden around in a stadium and they could block people with their pieces. And that was what drove this whole episode, to be honest!

This week was a female elimination week and it was all about Sarah getting the money to qualify for the final. And, turns out, she and the other girls (apart from Angela and Alyssa) were working together. However, they didn't create the right plan. I guess all of them wanted to win and that's why no one was really trying to take a shot at Angela or Alyssa. Alyssa and Angela, however, were set on not letting Sarah in and they spent the whole daily challenge sabotaging Sarah - which worked in the end. Sarah went straight into elimination while Desi and Danny won - which was nice. I liked Danny in this episode.

Of course all of this didn't sit right with Sarah and, obviously, she wanted to go into elimination against either Angela or Alyssa. The thing was, Danny and the Survivor boys are working with Angela and Alyssa, so that created some tension.

Well, ultimately, Desi decided to save herself and they didn't go with either of the two girls. Instead, they sent Cashay, who they thought was the smarter choice.

Ultimately, what they wanted was for, whoever they sent, to get sent home so that person wouldn't tager them and... They made the right move because Cashay lost.

I must admit that I was sort of rooting for Cashay, just because I'm so tired of Sarah, but I also want Danny and Desi to be safe (as safe as they can be) so I'm happy (sort of) with the outcome.

And well, I don't have anything else to say about the next episode because the preview didn't give much away so... We know it will be a men's elimination week and that's about it.

Let me know your thoughts on this episode, as well as some predictions and I'll talk to you later this week with a new rant!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 8 - "Independence Day"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new The Challenge: USA rant! A little later than usual but, hopefully, you're still interested in my thoughts.

So, I'm gonna get straight into the episode and say that, for once, I was right about the direction the show was taking. Yes, now it is an individual game and I'm actually pretty excited about that! However, they caught me off guard because, this week, was a men's elimination day and I thought they would still do the female and male elimination... Guess I was wrong. Also, this means that the season will have more than 10 episodes, which I'm not mad about.

Well, because now they're playing as individuals, there's a lot more than can do in terms of challenges. This week's challenge wasn't the hardest one - the daily challenge was just running in a floatie of sorts and who got the keys from one point to the other the fastest would win. The twist was that there would be people throwing water at them, but that sort of didn't matter because some of them didn't do it because they wanted certain people to win (or at least to help them). I actually really thought Tyson was going to win this one because it looked like he did it pretty fast but I was wrong - Ben won and, honestly, I should have seen that coming because they really focused on him in the beginning of the episode. As for the girls, Angela won which I'm not mad about. And going straight into elimination was Enzo, which was a little unfortunate because he got injured and that's never fair... But that's the game.

As far as the deliberation goes, it was pretty interesting. First of all, Angela came up with a strategy to protect herself and Alyssa, to make an alliance with the Survivor guys - but only the guys! I guess that's an interesting way to play the game, she was already working with Tyson so it makes sense. With that said, that excludes the Survivor girls - Sarah and Desi. And speaking of Sarah, she's so desperate to get some money to be able to go to the final that she was willing to go against a guy which yes, it would be something never done before but I'm pretty sure that's against the rules and, honestly, it just feels like she's trying too hard to show that she's strong. Well, if she's that strong just win a daily challenge!

Anyway... Lastly, we have to talk about the elimination which was Hall Brawl - my favourite! On top of that, Enzo went against Leo which let's be honest, it was pretty obvious that Enzo was going to win (even injured), which was what ended up happening at the end.

To finish it all Leo didn't even say goodbye to everyone, which was really childish.

Next episode it's a girls elimination and I'm super curious to see how everything goes down because 1) we saw in a preview for the remaining of the season that Desi ends up winning one of the daily challenges so, maybe she can win this one 2) Sarah talked a lot about beating Angela in the preview for the next episode and 3) we also saw in the season preview that there will be a pole wrestle so I'm curious to see if it's a girls pole wrestle, which would be really exciting!

I'm not necessarily rooting for any girl to be honest (maybe just Cayla) but I really want to see Angela and Sarah face off and, hopefully, Angela beats Sarah because I'm just so tired of Sarah talking such a big game! 

But that's it from me. Let me know what you thought of this episode and what you thought of Leo's actions at the end of the episode and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 7 - "State Of The Unions"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new The Challenge: USA rant and, once again, I was wrong about my predictions. I mean, I was right when it came to Sarah and Tyson being paired in this episode, but not about everything else... Those previews really are misleading. But yeah... Let's talk about the episode!

I'm not going to get into the pairings because there's still a lot of people in the game and I don't think a lot of it is relevant. What is relevant for this episode is that Domenick is out for the big trio - Angela, Tyson and Kyland - and guess what? Yes, him and Cayla win the daily challenge! It was actually a really fun one and I was actually rooting for Sarah and Tyson but I was happy for Cayla (not so much Domenick though...).

We actually didn't spend much time on 'drama' in this episode, just a little thing with Leo wanting to leave because of some problems at home but he didn't leave. Next, we jump straight into the deliberation.

Alyssa and Leo were the pair straight into elimination and, honestly, their opinion didn't matter much here. Cayla and Domenick were set on one of the big three. There were pros and cons for each like they wanted to send in Tyson also to help Sarah get some money to qualify for the final, but they didn't want them to win - Domenick wanted to send one of them home so I guess that was a no for Sarah and Tyson. Then, it was between Angela/Enzo and Kyland/Kyra, and they had all the reasons to send Angela and Enzo but, ultimately they went with Kyland and Kyra.

I gotta be honest - I was rooting for Kyland and Kyra. I'm not a huge fan of Alyssa nor Leo. And it was actually pretty tied that elimination. It was a mix between physical and trivia, so that was fun! Well, ulimately, Alyssa and Leo won, so Domenick got what he wanted. 

Not much else to talk about this episode honestly. Oh, just a little twist at the end - TJ says he's tired of the algorithm so what that means?! My prediction is that, from now on, it's going to be individuals. And I think that for two reasons: 1) there's not a lot of episodes left so they wouldn't pair different people now just for 3 episodes or so and 2) because we see in the preview for the remaining of the season that there's a hall brawl and a pole wrestle, and those are eliminations that you can't do as pairs so... It's going to be interesting from now on! I'm really curious to see who are the people doing those eliminations because those are my favourites and they are pretty physical!

But that's pretty much it from me. Let me know what you thought of this episode and who were you rooting for - Alyssa/Leo or Kyland/Kyra? Tell me everything in the comments and I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 6 - "A Civil War"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello people!

Back with a new The Challenge: USA rant and this was an interesting one!

First of all, we saw a lot more of some players that have been laying low this whole time, such as Enzo and David. Actually, the episode starts with them having some conversations about wanting to stand out but, at the same time, trying to lay low and not create any drama. So, of course we knew what that meant - one or both of them were going to be a big part of the episode. Then, I was really surprised that, after everything that happened last episode, we didn't see much of Tyson in this one and no one took a shot at him. Granted, he almost went into elimination because Kyra couldn't finish the daily challenge but they got lucky and Enzo and Justine couldn't do it either so they were the ones going straight into elimination. And well, since we're already on the daily challenge topic let's get to that.

As I said, Enzo and Justine were the ones going straight into elimination. As for the winners, it was between three teams - Desi/David, Alyssa/Danny and Domenick/Angela. Well, as you can guess, David and Desi were the winners (just proving that the beginning of episodes always hint at what's going to happen later on). I was actually okay with both things, the winners and the losers because I couldn't see anything really major and no one that I liked going home. I was wrong.

When it came to the deliberation, Enzo and Justine didn't give any names so it was up to Desi and David alone to pick someone to go against Enzo and Justine. They had a lot of options, actually. They thought about making a big move and sending either Kyland or Tyson, but at the same time the safest options were Leo/Cayla and Derek/Shannon because of the alliances and, out of everyone, I prefered them to choose Kylan and Cashay but they didn't do that. Instead, they went with Shannon and Derek and, as you can imagine, yes, they lost. It was really unfortunate because not only they give their all (and Shannon was injuried) but also because it literally came to the stacking of the tires that kept falling off... It was really unfortunate. But, in the end, I was really happy with their performance and I was really surprised with Shannon because she did pretty good! Unfortunately, they were sent home and, once again, I'm left with not a lot of people to root for.

There's not a lot more to talk about when it comes to this episode and I'm really curious to see what happens in the next one because we have already started repeating partners (Angela was partnered with Domenick again) and we see on the preview that Sarah and Tyson are going to get paired so... That's going to be super interesting! Also, little theory, but I think, based on the preview, that they are going to win the daily challenge (Sarah and Tyson). Not much else to add to that, honestly, but based on their conversation about someone wanting to volunteer, I think they are the winners and they have to pick a team to go into elimination.

But that's it from me. Let me know what you thought of this episode, were you surprised that Enzo and Justine won? Who were you rooting for? Tell me everything and I'll see next week with another rant!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge: USA | Season 1 Episode 5 - "In Tyson We Trust"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello everyone!

Yes, back with a new The Challenge: USA rant (this time on time) and, in a way, this was a juicy one!

Right away, how they were paired was pretty juicy, mainly because Sarah was paired with Leo, who she talked a lot of sh*t in the last episode. On the plus side, Cayla was paired with Derek and honestly, this episode just made everyone really like Cayla.

She was already one of my favourites, based on previous episodes, but this one just solidified how much I like her and, at this poin, she might be my favourite in this season. She's that type of person that, not only does great in challenges - we have seen that in the elimination she won but we also saw that in this episode - but she's also a great person! And even when she tries to talk game and strategy, she does it in such a nice polite way that I'm pretty sure everyone would do whatever she wants, and I love that about her! Well, as long as she stays truthful and doesn't backstab anyone. I love a good backstab but I tend to root for the people that don't usually lie.

Since we're on the topic of her doing great at in this episode, let's talk about the daily challenge. I've said this before but I'm really impressed with the challenges they have come up with in this spin-off. Not only daily challenges but also eliminations, and this daily challenge was pretty different and really intense!

Usually we see this type of challenge, where they have to go back and forth to see a puzzle on land (aka running). Well, in this episode they did that but swimming, which sort of makes it worse (there's a good number of people that still don't know how to swim). So it was really interesting to see who did good in this challenge and that shows who will, most likely, go further in the game. As I said, Cayla and Derek did amazing! They were in first place for most of the challenge but then, somehow, Tyson and Cashay got all the way from 8th place to first and yes - Tyson won once again! This really solidifies him as the strongest player in this game! However, he sort of made the wrong move here when it came to choosing who to go against the last place - Cinco and Azah. 

Because Cashay won, Cinco told Azah not to pick anyone to go against so Cashay wouldn't have anything to create drama with, and that's what they did. At the same time, because Cashay is from Love Island and Tyson is from Survivor, Cayla and Derek were sort of afraid that they would pick them (since they're from The Amazing Race and Big Brother) so that's when Cayla went to Tyson and talked game with him, sort of throwing Ben under the bus. I didn't really like that because I kind of like Ben, but I can understand her and she's not really backstabing anyone so... It's all good for now.

Well, turns out that little talk did help Cayla! However, because Ben was paired with Justine and Justine is friends with Cashay, she didn't want to throw them into elimination. Instead, they went with Sarah and Leo, and this is where Tyson kind of f*cked up.

Not only he showed that he's not really part of the Survivor alliance (at least, he's not afraid to betray them) but also Sarah and Leo came back (therefore sending Cinco and Azah home) and that's going to create a lot of drama in the next episode. And from the looks of it (from the preview), I think there won't be alliance's from now on anymore. At least, that's sort of what someone said, so that's going to be interesting to see how the game develops.

Post all of that, I'm still rooting for Cayla and Derek and, honestly, I kind of like Tyson as well so... We'll see. I did like Sarah in the beginning but I did not like how she handled her win (the elimination) and how she talked about Leo in her confessionals so... I'm not rooting for her anymore. But that's it from me!

Let me know what you thought of this episode and who are your favourites so far and, is it too early to talk about winners? I personally really think Tyson is going to win... Based on all his wins, it really looks like it, but let me know your thoughts and predictions and I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Daniela.