The Challenge | Season 40 Episode 5 - "An Era Tradition"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello everyone!

Isn't it weird that we took a break for one week?! I was very busy last week so I wasn't going to watch the episode on time, but then I found out that, because of the VMAs, we didn't get a new episode, which was good for me because now I can watch it right after airing and can discuss it with you all. Unfortunately, not only this wasn't the best episode when it comes to the outcome but also I came across some spoilers before watching the episode so I already knew who was going into elimination, which isn't ideal.

So, I'm going to try and get to the point.

From the preview last week we saw that something was about to go down with Era II - Laurel throwing the challenge so Emily would go into elimination. Well, it wasn't that obvious in the episode (mainly because they didn't loose) but she definitely did, and that got them second place therefore Emily not safe from elimination. Who got safe were Olivia and Kyland which I loved! What I didn't love though (and I know I'm getting everything mixed) was when that whole drama happened between Laurel and Cara Maria that Kyland sort of took Laurel's side. C'mon Kyland, I expect more from you! And speaking of Laurel and Cara Maria, this episode wasn't even about them and they became a big part of it. Personally, I'm so done with Laurel. I'm so glad that she's the target of Era II next week and, even though I don't want Bananas to go home, I really wish they would go straight into elimination.

But, rewinding a bit, Era IV won the daily challenge and honestly, that was so surprising! I was also surprised that Era I lost again and this time CT was on the line.

I'm not gonna lie, the spoiler that I saw was that Emily and Tina were going into elimination, therefore Nehemiah and CT were going as well and because my sister saw some other spoilers she let it slip that this wasn't the best episode and I understood right away that CT was going home - and he did.

Honestly, it was a pretty close elimination (as far as the guys go) so I can't really be mad at anyone in this situation. It's really sad that we won't have any more CT Pro Tips though...

Now, let's talk about the women's elimination because that one was shocking! Anyone would put their money on Emily knowing that she was going against Tina - no matter which challenge it would be. Well, Tina just went there and completely smashed that elimination and sent Emily home. Well, that's the easy version. The rumor that has been going around (again) is that the production sort of rigged it. How was it possible for her to completely smash those nails and take all of them basically at once when neither Emily nor either of the guys could do it?! And they tried! So something smells fishy here. I did want Emily to win just to piss Laurel off, but I've been enjoying having Tina around and poor Rachel couldn't be the only woman on Era I. Era I is dropping like flies and that doesn't look good for the future of the challenge. We always say that the OGs are the best ones but right now, it's not looking that great. I still have my money on either Derrick or Kyland to win the whole thing, and right now, Derrick is looking stronger, apart from what we saw in the preview for next week. 

We didn't get much from that preview but we saw what looks like a 'mini-final' type of challenge (with a lot of running and obstacles and whatnot) and it looks like Derrick got pretty injuried and they were mentioning a broken leg?! I don't know but I don't like it.

Anyway, at the end of the day, I just hope Derrick is fine and that Laurel goes home because I just can't take her bullsh*t anymore!

And I guess that's it from me for this episode. I'm sorry if this rant was a bit all over the place but I tried to cover all the main events in the episode (I didn't touch on all the hook ups yet, but I will in my next post). In the meantime, let me know what you thought of this episode - do you agree that the production did something to Tina's nails so she would win? Tell me everything in the comments and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Daniela.

The Challenge | Season 40 Episode 4 - "My Trivia Era"

Spoiler Alert!

Hello everyone!

Back for another episode of The Challenge Season 40. Unfortunately, this wasn't as good of an episode. I mean, it didn't end that badly, but a few things p*ssed me off a little bit. And I guess I'll just start with that.

I already knew going into this episode that something was about to go down with Horacio. I've heard rumors that Horacio was going to retire from The Challenge partly because he wants to focus on his Football carreer and partly because he feels like his elimination was rigged. Well, when I've heard about this, I had no idea that he was going into elimination in this episode but after, while watching this episode, I figured this would be it. So, not only this episode wasn't that big of a surprise but also it was rigged. 

So, backtracking a little bit... I was actually super stoked for this episode because it was Trivia Day! And I love me some trivia. I don't necessarily love when it's only about The Challenge, I like real trivia about the world, but that's fine. This one though was fully about The Challenge but it was played in a points format so it was interesting. I was a bit let down that Era IV finished last (having in mind that Kyland is on that Team, but I guess he's more well rounded on world stuff and not so much on Challenge stuff) and that meant that both Horacio and Jenny were going into elimination right away. And that's where my suspicions about him going home in this episode started.

Then the game went on for quite a while with both Era II and Era III being tied and having to fo into Sudden Death. Ultimately Era II won which meant Bananas was safe but also meant Laurel was safe, and I despise Laurel! I've always disliked Laurel but now I dislike her so much to the point that I'm becoming a fan of Cara Maria! Like, that's how much Laurel has been p*ssing me off in this past seasons.

Moving on to the 'deliberation', obviously I wanted Jordan and Nia to go into elimination because I don't necesarily like either of them and I quite like Derrick and Aneesa, and Johnny was all for sending Jordan into elimination but Laurel wasn't having none of it and Bananas didn't want to pull a Tony so he let Laurel decide so... Derrick and Aneesa it was.

(I honestly really wanted Bananas to say f*ck you to Laurel and send themselves into elimination against Horacio and Jenny, I was pretty confident that Bananas could win against Horacio, but knowing now what the elimination was, I'm not so sure)

This made things a lot more difficult for me in terms of who I was rooting for because, if you have been reading my posts, you know that both Horacio and Derrick were on my TOP 3 of who I thought could win (along with Kyland). But ultimately I was rooting for Jenny and I guess I was rooting for Horacio just because I didn't want the rumors to be true but... Guess what?! They were!

So the woman's elimination was pretty tight but Jenny ended up winning in the end, but the man one was even closer, to the point that when they finished, they didn't know who won. To me, it was clear that Horacio had won, but you already know what the outcome was. Derrick ended up winning and now I totally agree with Horacio saying that this elimination was rigged. It was clear that Horacio had won, and if they wanted us to believe otherwise they should have done a better editing job! Like it was totally visible that Horacio got all those things in place first and that Derrick had one missing in the corner like, what the hell?!

Anyway... I'm happy for Derrick because I also like him but this left a bitter taste in my mouth. And after seeing the preview for the next episode... It just made me really mad.

Oh, and I totally forgot to mention - again, they had to choose targets so the targets they chose were the following - Era I: CT and Tina (both volunteered); Era II: Emily (volunteered) and Nehemiah; Era III: Tori (Volunteered) and Devin; Era IV: Olivia (Volunteered) and Kyland. So my takeaway with this is that men are scared of CT (basically) and that all the woman are way more confident than the men. Also, this lineup isn't as strong as the previous one but it also doesn't have as many players that I like so I guess I'm hoping Era IV wins the challenge and that Era II and Era III go into elimination... I do like Emily and CT and Tina is funny (so that's why I don't want them to go into elimination) but the only one that I really like is Kyland so I hope he's safe.

And I guess that's it from me for this episode. An episode that wasn't had bad when it comes to its outcome but one that really made me bitter for what they did with Horacio.

Don't forget to let me know your opinion on this whole Horacio thing and I'll talk to you next week with a brand new episode.

Love,

Daniela