Last night’s episode dragged on – twice as long as it needed to be, but showed us a pretty sweet catering set-up!
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Making a Challenge of MTV's The Challenge
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies – Episodes 2 & 3
Sorry for the delayed post, adulting is hard, guys.
Continue readingThe Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies – Episode 1
Wednesday was the debut of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies.
The “daily” or as we call it, “regular” challenge, saw foreign-born competitors choose an opposite-sex American to unlock from a cement block pile, run a safe to a specific location and unlock said safe with a code from the blocks.
Long-time veteran Aneesa knew that the colored letters and numbers on the cement blocks would matter. Her and Spanish partner Logan memorized, ran and unlocked first, winning the regular/daily challenge (10 point each). T.J. was impressive and dropped his first “You Killed It” of the season (10 points each).
Although this is Smashley’s 9th season and Nany’s 11th, neither of them used their time waiting for a partner productively and came in last place. Unfortunately, that doesn’t have any consequences in the game…. except for being embarrassing.
Since the show is following the theme from Double Agents, the winning team of Logan and Aneesa are considered The Agency (5 points each), which is this season’s term for the winner circle/power couple.
The house partied with Aneesa giving what used to be the Bananas “welcome toast.” We saw that Nelson and Smashley are together romantically in some form (surprise!). They made out (10 points each). We saw Nany and Kaycee look like they are moving towards more than friends, but their hugging, rubbing and kissing were vertical and closed mouth, so no points. Finally, we see that Amanda, who is a mom now but seemingly single, finds Fessy annoying, but attractive enough to make out with (10 points each).
In strategy discussions, the veterans decide that for now they need to be in an alliance with each other, knock out rookies and then they can turn on each other. There’s concern about a Survivor alliance, but we don’t see if the rookies (many of whom are Survivor alum) have come together for any meaningful game plans.
The house deliberates and sits together to vote for who will go into elimination. Due to some stupid list drama that I don’t care about, Michaela became a target. Michaela and partner Renan are voted into elimination.
At the elimination site, known this season as The Lair, The Agency (Aneesa & Logan) learn they may choose any individual male and female to compete. Caught off guard by this twist, Aneesa & Logan choose Corey L. (presumably because his partner Emy was heated in arguing over the list at deliberation) and Michele (also a rookie who spoke during deliberation).
The elimination game is called “Back Me Up” where both teams begin strapped together by their backs in the center of a platform. The first team to drag or push their opponents down their respective ramp of the platform wins. Corey L. is the MVP and pushes him and Michele to victory (25 points each).
Now the victorious Corey L. and Michele can choose anyone to be their new partners (except for The Agency). Partners don’t really mean much, as they don’t have to compete in elimination together, nor stay together if they win.
Without telling us why, which I believe is unnecessary and annoying, we are informed that Nam had to go home. This is likely due to Covid, but again, obnoxious that MTV will let cast members go without telling the viewers why. Nam is replaced by Ed from some shape show.
| The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies – Episode 1 Scores | |||||||
| Players | Winning Regular Challenge (5-15) | The Agency (5) | T.J. “You Killed It” (10) | Elimination Win (25) | Survives the Episode (5) | Making Out (10) | Player Weekly Total |
| Kaycee | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Logan | 10 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 30 | ||
| Kelz | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Lauren | 5 | 5 | |||||
| CT | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Michele | 25 | 5 | 30 | ||||
| Emmanuel | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Jeremiah | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Tori | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Corey | 25 | 5 | 30 | ||||
| Tommy | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Michaela | 0 | ||||||
| Cory | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Smashley | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||||
| Hughie | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Bettina | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Kyle | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Fessy | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||||
| Berna | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Priscilla | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Devin | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Nam | 0 | ||||||
| Aneesa | 10 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 30 | ||
| Josh | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Esther | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Renan | 0 | ||||||
| Tracy | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Tacha | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Gabo | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Big T | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Nelson | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||||
| Nany | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Emy | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Amanda | 5 | 10 | 15 |
Excel Scoring Spreadsheet –
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies – Scoring System
We now present the scoring system for the upcoming Season 37 of MTV’s The Challenge.
| Action | Points |
| Winning Final Challenge | 150 Points |
| 2nd Place in the Final Challenge | 85 Points |
| 3rd Place in the Final Challenge | 40 points |
| Power/Winners Circle/Tribunal | 5 Points |
| Winning Regular Challenge without having to participate in the challenge (instead of 10) | 5 Points |
| Winning Regular Challenge | 10 Points |
| First Place in a Team Regular Challenge (instead of 10) | 15 Points |
| Winning 3 Regular Challenges in a Row | 15 Points |
| Winning Elimination Challenge | 25 Points |
| T.J. “You Killed It” | 10 Points |
| Being kicked off the show for something other than an injury. | 100 Points |
| Throwing a Drink at Someone | 10 Points |
| Producer or Security Interaction | 10 Points |
| Refusing to participate in challenge or elimination | -10 Points |
| Blatent Crying (Limit 1 per episode) | 10 Points |
| Blatent Physical Attack or Fight | 25 Points |
| Making Out | 10 Points |
| Coitus (or pulling over covers in bed) | 20 Points |
| Coitus Threesome | 50 Points |
| Quitting the Game | -25 Points |
| Backstabbing | 10 Points |
| Survives the Episode | 5 Points |
| Survives the episode means the player appears in the entire episode. That means losing in a purge or a begining of the episode elimination due to cliffhanger does not yield points. | |
| Blantent crying is obvious and occurs for long enough that Rachel and Mix consider it crying. Limit one per episode. | |
| Blatent Physical Attack or Fight is an obvious attack or fight in which all participants are awarded points for a significant, and seemingly harm-causing punch, slap, shove which causes players to be held back and/or producer interaction. | |
| Backstabbing means a player explicity promises (looking for the words “I promise” and/or handshake, pinky swear not to vote in a player to elimination and then proceeds to vote the player into elimination. These actions MUST occur in the same episode so that we may hate any and all cliffhangers more than we already do. |
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies
Double Agents – Mid-Season Thoughts
Hello out there!
It’s been a fun and enjoyable season with a lot of strategic planning and good challenges in front of the beautiful Icelandic backdrop. Unfortunately, MTV has kept the episodes at an elongated 90-minute run time even as half of the cast has been eliminated, quit, left for injury, or been eliminated again after coming back because someone left for injury.
Thoughts from a fan perspective:
- The editing this season has been awful. The most recent example was cuts to Darrell one piece away from solving the Tena gram and then continuing to show him and Devin try to solve the puzzle in what we now know was not a chronological sequence. The sport of the game is lost with this choppy editing. CT seemed to solve his puzzle quickly, but we didn’t get to just see him do it in “real time.” Leroy seemed really fast upside down on the pole, but we can’t be fully impressed because we didn’t just get to watch him shimmy and scoot to the end in back as one shot.
- Now that we see old seasons on streaming services, isn’t it amazing that we used to get the trifecta of terrific (challenge, drama & deliberation, elimination) in merely 30 minutes! Really makes you feel like seeing a conversation at the gym between Leroy and Kaycee about how well they are doing is fluff and/or foreshadowing that they will win it all.
Thoughts from a fantasy points perspective:
- T.J. is back on “You Killed It”! Yay!
- Because Smashley (the first to be eliminated) came back, no one was a total bust with 0 points for the season.
- Where is all the hooking up? Did Kam & Leroy only agree to do the season if MTV didn’t show them doing the coitus? Has Nany lost her groove?
- We eliminated -100 for quitting and Lolo deserved that. Lio didn’t. So I guess it’s a wash.
- Fessy and Aneesa won the first two challenges, and haven’t won since. They were so close to the winning three challenges in a row bonus, missed it, and no one has repeated consecutively since.
- Fessy is still leading the points by player with 170.
See the points by player breakdown so far below:
Double Agents: Ep 1
Yes, give me that “Blue Monday” New Order song from my birth year to play to me and start this season.
We’re playing for $1 million, according to our trusty host T.J. Lavin, introducing us into “Mission Discryption” challenge 1. Run up to the hill, get the code, bring it back down. Good luck with the crashing into each other…. GO!
Lolo smokes the girls to get to the baton code thing, but did she memorize the pattern properly? Very quickly this comes into a girls heat of who can read the rubber band color order the best and plug it in the right way. Aneeesa ends up winning (10 points).
Guys heat is a pile on/crazy mess, but the rookie finalist from last season, Fessy wins (10 points).
Aneesa is deemed the top agent, because she finished fastest, so she gets first pick at her pairing of “double agent” and chooses who i think is the overall #1, Fessy.
Quickly, T.J. says, “go ahead and stand next to a partner.”
And we get:
Cory & Tori (thank you , more rhyming names, please, Theresa & Jay, CT ducks Kam, Nany & Kyle pair up, Nicole & Devin pair up, Wes grabs Natalie, Darrell grabs Amber B., Lio goes with Gabby, Josh grabs Kam, Leroy goes with Kaycee, CT scoops up Smashley, Big T ends up with Joseph, Lolo goes with Nam, Amber M. & Nelson end up together, and Liv pairs up with rookie Mechie.
Now the rules are laid down: Elimination winners get skulls. Only 10 skulls are available. If you get a skull, you gotta hang onto it.
At voting, CT gives me Jesse Pinkman, vaguely recommends the rookies and then the individual voting begins. Wes, Smashley and other vets go for rookies Gabby & Lio, while Kam, Cory, and many rookies aim at CT & Smashley.
Aneesa & Fessy (the tribunal?) see the “votes” and then leave.
At the elimination “crater” we see that CT & Smashley are “compromised” agents. Fessy & Aneesa deny themselves the opportunity to play for their win against the champions and they instead opt to send Wes & Natalie into elimination…. but it’s a female elimination, so it’s the girls playing Operation Fire Escape.
It’s close, it’s tough, but the rookie Natalie wins (25 points).
As a winner-winner chicken dinner, Natalie gets to choose whatever partner she wants. Will she stick with Wes? Will she grab CT? Will she go for someone else????? Ahh!!!!!!
We Have Been Finally Reckoned
War of the Worlds logo
Sorry, friends, we will not be running a fantasy league, posting scores or blogging about The Challenge Season 33: War of the Worlds.
THE CHALLENGE FINAL RECKONING – Reunion Part 1
The Challenge Final Reckoning – Zach, Amanda, Shane, Nelson, Kam, Smashley, Hunter, Bananas, Tony, Jozea & Da’Vonne – Reunion Part 1
As I wrote after Vendettas, I hate this two-part reunion format. I watched the season. I don’t need any recap stuff. Every argument brings out the trashiest aspects of the whole show.
