BY DC CUEVA
It's the Holiday Break and welcome back to DCBLOG's on-going coverage of The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines with this mini DC WRAP of this week's Episode 3. A half-hour ago on my DC SocialPulse diary of this very episode, my original plans were that I was going to cram all my coverage of this episode into one post for just this week. But into taking about those who want just the original, write-up part of our coverage or if you're accessing this site on your smartphone, I thought twice and is doing this 2nd post just for you all there. So, here we go...
So what do we make of this week in Challenge land? Our remaining competitors were no doubt given a big surprise once TJ announced a split down party lines between red and blue for the two teams being chosen by Cara Maria & Jamie that will have everlasting effects the rest of the way. Later, another scare when he told them that the competitors' & bloodlines fates will still be at stake as well, which will sure make this a whole new game. We had a big first team challenge that saw our teams go above water, saw a surprise of sorts in Red winning Blue and saw previews of diving at next year's Rio Olympics. Speaking of Brazil, our favorite member of Team MTV from that country added more to her fiery resume with yet another explosion when she finds out of sister Larissa being voted in. And after Jenna was voted in again, Tony was left lying on the ground just after he got back from the hospital to cure that bad fall.
WINNERS OF THE NIGHT
Well, because this fan was so hungry and actually hopped over to the kitchen to make a late night sandwich, I actually missed those last few minutes where Tony collapsed. But anyway, the rules here are is that if there's a big cliffhanger in any episode of the Trifecta, then that week's episode write-up is tabled over to the post covering the next episode. Thus, we're doing only one & a half-posts for this week - the 'Pulse article just posted and this mini DC WRAP. The Five Things to Know recap of Wednesday's most-notable moments will be moved to next week as an expanded Ten Things to Know recap as we'll look into Episode's 3 and 4 for you here next week as part of an expanded DC WRAP, and it's for good reason as well that we'll explain below.
But we do a couple a few Winners of The Night to share with you here in this one post for Week 3, so here they are...
- Candice: The brilliance of any Challenger is to be able to gut it out when something bad happens in any mission or elimination. While most everyone else has made news in the house, Candice has certainly made her mark at challenges much in the same manner that Leroy prefers to do the work out there, and this week she was able to still have a strong showing despite getting her lip busted when she collided with the platform 30 feet above water. Combine that with last week and she's an early front-runner for Rookie of the Season.
An additional side note to what we saw this week: of course, a story that will be touched upon here in the 2015 Debrief here will be of the Real World romance between Tony & Madison and her entry into motherhood. The status of both him & Shane on this Challenge is in jeopardy by way of both his fall in this week's mission and his collapse at episode's end. And of course, this comes on the heels of the hook-up he had with Christina in the first minutes of this season's premiere and the fight he had with Shane later on, which triggered hate in the direction of Tony & Team Eleven and support Madison's way. But before news of that surfaced to her and what would happen to them afterwards, a picture was tweeted during the episode of her kissing him in the hospital bed over there in Turkey. She flew from the South to be with him at his side, which reaffirms how popular they were in Chicago...it was a year ago this week that RW Skeletons premiered. Even with what's transpired, it's still good that there's still feelings for both as this saga continues.
As the newest installment of Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters this weekend, fans of Sci-Fi and action movies are pumped for not only this movie but also several big things coming in 2016. Last weekend, the first glimpse of Independence Day: Resurgence was released as the '90s epic returns for its sequel, while slated for next summer's blockbuster season include X-Men: Apocalypse. And a friendly reminder: Memorial Day Weekend 2016 is just over 150 days away.
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| Credit: @madiwadi2by4 & @t_raines33 |
#DCExtraTime
REAL WORLD MEETS STAR TREK
Two pieces of DC ExtraTime this week. First, last year here, we kicked off the countdown to Real World Skeletons with Bruno's brother meeting Angelina & Deena from Jersey Shore. Now, we've got another notable celebrity meeting to showcase for you here: this one - both a Real World original and an member of a pop culture phenomenon about to mark a golden milestone.As the newest installment of Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters this weekend, fans of Sci-Fi and action movies are pumped for not only this movie but also several big things coming in 2016. Last weekend, the first glimpse of Independence Day: Resurgence was released as the '90s epic returns for its sequel, while slated for next summer's blockbuster season include X-Men: Apocalypse. And a friendly reminder: Memorial Day Weekend 2016 is just over 150 days away.
For fans of Star Trek, those who follow the voyages of the Starship Enterprise can look forward to two things to mark the iconic franchise's 50th anniversary. First, there's the release of the movie Star Trek Beyond next July with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto & Zoe Saldana - the 13th movie in its history. And second sees the return six months later of Star Trek to the small screen in the franchise's sixth TV series, which will have its home on CBS All Access, the Tiffany Network's OTT offering.
When The Challenge last made it to Turkey for Battle of the Seasons II, and similar to what we have with KellyAnne on Bloodlines this season, we had another veteran return following a long hiatus in Trishelle. The Vegas OG teamed with Alton from Season 12, along with Nany and Dustin from Back to Vegas, and despite plenty of drama that occurred within the team, she & Dustin made it to the final and finished 2nd. There was what happened on Rivals II when a fight with other 1st generation Challenger Aneesa saw her quit and led to Sarah being sent home too. And of course, memories of her in the hot tub with Steven and Brynn in the Palms is an indelible moment in Real World & MTV history. We also can't forget about her and The Miz on the Inferno as well.
With all of this Sci-Fi frenzy taking place, Trishelle picked the ideal time to post a TBT picture on Instagram from 2008 of her meeting George Takai from the original Star Trek from when they starred in the low-budget comedy flick Ninja Cheerleaders. She played one of the cheerleaders/stripper students of a ninja sensei being played by the man who's best known to fans as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman on the TV show and the franchise's first six movies. Outside of his journey with Captain Kirk, Spock & the crew and numerous appearances on TV & movies over the years, Takei has become a social media icon with millions of followers on the social nets, as well as a social activist too as a proud gay man.
Trishelle's caption reads, "That time George Takai and I were besties #tbtuesday #tbt #ninjacheerleaders #onset #filming #startrek". You might not have won $125,000 in Turkey, but you certainly have a friendship with a pop culture icon that is certainly priceless. Thanks for sharing that pic girl and hope all's well with you.
By the way, this week filming of Real World Season 31 wrapped up in Las Vegas, where I was when the roomies' stay began the first weekend in October, but I didn't spot cameras or the cast while I was in town. It is the show's 3rd trip to America's pleasure capital (and hometown to TJ Lavin, two Brandon's from AYTO2 & FM 2 and of course Leroy), and as we told you during AYTO3, it's taking place in Downtown near the Fremont Street Experience, inside city limits. And like the past two seasons there will be a twist, but word is that there's a competition element implemented for the first time, following the lead of its MTV Trifecta cousins and CBS' Big Brother as well.
Will there be another hot tub threesome? Will someone wreck the beautiful suite? And what crazy will await us when TV's reality icon returns to America's pleasure capital? If the strong attention from both public interest and viewership the past two trips are any indication, we should be in for a doozy in the new year. And of course, DCBLOG will be covering Real World 31 as well as Challenge 28 and AYTO IV, among other things here in 2016.
And that will bring to an close this week's posts for Episode 3 of The Challenge - Battle of the Bloodlines. Again because of this week's TBC, a more-detailed review of this week's episode will be carried over to an expanded Ten Things to Know recap for next week's Episode 4 edition of DC WRAP. So with that and this bite-sized WRAP out of the way, this does give me all the time I need to work on something very special here on DCBLOG just in time for Christmas.
It's part 2 of DC FORUM's Reality Debrief 2015 with Andrew Kirk and me. The both of us waited for just after this week's finales of both Survivor: Second Chance and The Voice to bring you this year-end recap. We'll review those shows and their final outcomes, but our principal focus is on Are You The One? Season 3, Tony's Real World Skeletons season and everything else that occurred this year in the shows both of us get to cover. We'll discuss all of them plus hand out our year-end awards and more, so watch for that early next week or during the Christmas holiday.
And in case you missed it, on Tuesday I posted a DC ExtraTime feature on the epic Challenge elimination battle between Zach & CJ from Battle of the Seasons II, so check that out. So while you wait for the latest edition of The Cueva/Kirk Report to come your way here, there's plenty of discussion among fellow webcast hosts & bloggers, and here's your road-map for all of them...
● Before he joins me again for the Debrief, check out Andrew (@CSUGradAKirk) and all of his Trifecta coverage on YouTube, SpreeCast, BlogTalkRadio and the BTRTV blog. On the ladder, he gave his predictions on who would be on teams Red and Blue before the episode, so check that out and all of his must-listen interviews with Team MTV throughout this run on those sites (it's now been four years since his first podcast when Challenger Brandon was his 1st guest).
● Check out the MTV RHAP on Rob Has A Podcast with two of the best in the business: Brian Cohen (@BusDriversRoute) and Ali Lasher (@LashsTweets). As this is being posted, due to other things they've delayed doing this week's podcast 'til later this weekend, but do check out previous shows here & YouTube before that show is posted there, plus find out who scored the most points and who leads the leaderboard in the fantasy point totals at Brian's Bus Drivers Route blog.
● There's Ace Nichols (@AceNichols33) and her recaps, and it's a must to check out her recap of this week's episode here. And check out who does the intro to most every one of her video blogs as well. Also view all of her other recaps on her YouTube channel as well too.
● AfterBuzz TV (@AfterBuzzTV) is again covering The Challenge with hosts Jesse Janedy & Roxy Striar discussing Bloodlines. And as co-host Nicolette Gaona is taking time away from the ABTV mic, this week the hosts are joined by special guest Kingsley. Hear what they have to say here, plus all other after-shows from past seasons of the Trifecta, at www.afterbuzztv.com.
Finally, something we forgot to mention in our EP 2 posts here last week was a link to a podcast of interest to both Challenge and sports fans. A big story in sports media this year was Bill Simmons' much-publicized exit from ESPN and the cash-strapped Bristol Big Wigs' shutdown of his magnum opus, the Grantland sports & pop culture site. Last week, The Bill Simmons Podcast looked at The Challenge and reality TV with GL export Juliet Litman & co-host Chris Ryan, which you can listen here. Of course, the boss man himself covers all things sports there, which includes a chat with the USWNT's Abby Wambach just before her final match earlier this week on SoundCloud.
Again, be sure to follow DCBLOG and all my social platforms for full MTV Trifecta coverage: Pulse diaries, Wraps, dedicated ExtraTime posts and all. This site is home to "The Blogosphere's Most Unique and Insightful MTV Show Coverage," providing you a unique angle of this Challenge season and the MTV world like no other site can with the quality & comprehensiveness you expect.
In addition to being where you can experience my live tweets of Bloodlines every Wednesday at #DCChallenge, my live tweet hub DCNOW @DC408DxNow has a good holiday stretch ahead. Tonight, I've got live boxing to tweet with action in New York, plus UFC in Orlando too. Next Thursday, we'll have a special Christmas edition of DC Playlist with hits & holiday music for your gatherings, followed the next day by a big, all-day NBA Christmas Day extravaganza. Follow my DC Instagram for holiday pics and of course on Twitter - both at @DC408Dxtr, plus Tumblr.
For now, thanks for reading and until we talk to you here in a few days, have a safe & great weekend and of course, Happy Holidays.
- I AM DC
When The Challenge last made it to Turkey for Battle of the Seasons II, and similar to what we have with KellyAnne on Bloodlines this season, we had another veteran return following a long hiatus in Trishelle. The Vegas OG teamed with Alton from Season 12, along with Nany and Dustin from Back to Vegas, and despite plenty of drama that occurred within the team, she & Dustin made it to the final and finished 2nd. There was what happened on Rivals II when a fight with other 1st generation Challenger Aneesa saw her quit and led to Sarah being sent home too. And of course, memories of her in the hot tub with Steven and Brynn in the Palms is an indelible moment in Real World & MTV history. We also can't forget about her and The Miz on the Inferno as well.
 |
| Courtesy: IG @TrishelleC |
Trishelle's caption reads, "That time George Takai and I were besties #tbtuesday #tbt #ninjacheerleaders #onset #filming #startrek". You might not have won $125,000 in Turkey, but you certainly have a friendship with a pop culture icon that is certainly priceless. Thanks for sharing that pic girl and hope all's well with you.
By the way, this week filming of Real World Season 31 wrapped up in Las Vegas, where I was when the roomies' stay began the first weekend in October, but I didn't spot cameras or the cast while I was in town. It is the show's 3rd trip to America's pleasure capital (and hometown to TJ Lavin, two Brandon's from AYTO2 & FM 2 and of course Leroy), and as we told you during AYTO3, it's taking place in Downtown near the Fremont Street Experience, inside city limits. And like the past two seasons there will be a twist, but word is that there's a competition element implemented for the first time, following the lead of its MTV Trifecta cousins and CBS' Big Brother as well.
Will there be another hot tub threesome? Will someone wreck the beautiful suite? And what crazy will await us when TV's reality icon returns to America's pleasure capital? If the strong attention from both public interest and viewership the past two trips are any indication, we should be in for a doozy in the new year. And of course, DCBLOG will be covering Real World 31 as well as Challenge 28 and AYTO IV, among other things here in 2016.
ANOTHER LIFE CHANGER: EVAN'S TAKEN
Finally, though was lost a little bit amidst the holiday ferver and the early stretch of this Challenge, DCBLOG wants to extend well wishes to yet another MTV Trifecta castmate on a life-changing moment. If you know your Challenge well, you know about Evan Starkman: we saw him debut on Fresh Meat with Kenny 10 years ago this winter, forged that lifelong bond with Mr. Beautiful and Johnny Bananas, and won a couple Challenges as well.
We haven't seen him on a Challenge since the first Rivals, but now it's about certain that we won't see Evan again donning that uniform, and it's for good reason. Two weeks ago while they were on a trip overseas, he went on a beach with his girlfriend Rachel, went on two knees and proposed. Yes, she did say "I Do" right there on the sand, and just after Jessica from AYTO Season 1 & her man exchanged vows last month, now Evan joins those who are about to get married in the new year.
Evan's IG caption reads: "'If you have someone you think is the one,don't just sort of think "okay, let's make a date, let's plan this and make a party and get married". No - take that person and travel around the world. Buy a plane ticket for two and travel to places that are hard to go to and hard to get out of. When you you come back to JFK if you are still in love with that person, get married!' @rachaelkari we didn't quite make it back to JFK but thank you for being my travel buddy and making me the luckiest guy in the world!" Congrats to the both of them on their engagement.
In addition, Evan has become a businessman in working for a New York-based company called The Bait Shoppe, which is a full-service boutique experiential agency that conceives marketing campaigns, experiences and product launches with big-name companies. The firm has worked with Rihanna at this year's NY Fashion Week, Old Navy's 20th Anniversary, launching Pop Chips with Katy Perry and XBOX on Modern Warfare. He has gone on to bigger and better things.
In addition, Evan has become a businessman in working for a New York-based company called The Bait Shoppe, which is a full-service boutique experiential agency that conceives marketing campaigns, experiences and product launches with big-name companies. The firm has worked with Rihanna at this year's NY Fashion Week, Old Navy's 20th Anniversary, launching Pop Chips with Katy Perry and XBOX on Modern Warfare. He has gone on to bigger and better things.
And that will bring to an close this week's posts for Episode 3 of The Challenge - Battle of the Bloodlines. Again because of this week's TBC, a more-detailed review of this week's episode will be carried over to an expanded Ten Things to Know recap for next week's Episode 4 edition of DC WRAP. So with that and this bite-sized WRAP out of the way, this does give me all the time I need to work on something very special here on DCBLOG just in time for Christmas.
It's part 2 of DC FORUM's Reality Debrief 2015 with Andrew Kirk and me. The both of us waited for just after this week's finales of both Survivor: Second Chance and The Voice to bring you this year-end recap. We'll review those shows and their final outcomes, but our principal focus is on Are You The One? Season 3, Tony's Real World Skeletons season and everything else that occurred this year in the shows both of us get to cover. We'll discuss all of them plus hand out our year-end awards and more, so watch for that early next week or during the Christmas holiday.
And in case you missed it, on Tuesday I posted a DC ExtraTime feature on the epic Challenge elimination battle between Zach & CJ from Battle of the Seasons II, so check that out. So while you wait for the latest edition of The Cueva/Kirk Report to come your way here, there's plenty of discussion among fellow webcast hosts & bloggers, and here's your road-map for all of them...
● Before he joins me again for the Debrief, check out Andrew (@CSUGradAKirk) and all of his Trifecta coverage on YouTube, SpreeCast, BlogTalkRadio and the BTRTV blog. On the ladder, he gave his predictions on who would be on teams Red and Blue before the episode, so check that out and all of his must-listen interviews with Team MTV throughout this run on those sites (it's now been four years since his first podcast when Challenger Brandon was his 1st guest).
● Check out the MTV RHAP on Rob Has A Podcast with two of the best in the business: Brian Cohen (@BusDriversRoute) and Ali Lasher (@LashsTweets). As this is being posted, due to other things they've delayed doing this week's podcast 'til later this weekend, but do check out previous shows here & YouTube before that show is posted there, plus find out who scored the most points and who leads the leaderboard in the fantasy point totals at Brian's Bus Drivers Route blog.
● There's Ace Nichols (@AceNichols33) and her recaps, and it's a must to check out her recap of this week's episode here. And check out who does the intro to most every one of her video blogs as well. Also view all of her other recaps on her YouTube channel as well too.
● AfterBuzz TV (@AfterBuzzTV) is again covering The Challenge with hosts Jesse Janedy & Roxy Striar discussing Bloodlines. And as co-host Nicolette Gaona is taking time away from the ABTV mic, this week the hosts are joined by special guest Kingsley. Hear what they have to say here, plus all other after-shows from past seasons of the Trifecta, at www.afterbuzztv.com.
Again, be sure to follow DCBLOG and all my social platforms for full MTV Trifecta coverage: Pulse diaries, Wraps, dedicated ExtraTime posts and all. This site is home to "The Blogosphere's Most Unique and Insightful MTV Show Coverage," providing you a unique angle of this Challenge season and the MTV world like no other site can with the quality & comprehensiveness you expect.
In addition to being where you can experience my live tweets of Bloodlines every Wednesday at #DCChallenge, my live tweet hub DCNOW @DC408DxNow has a good holiday stretch ahead. Tonight, I've got live boxing to tweet with action in New York, plus UFC in Orlando too. Next Thursday, we'll have a special Christmas edition of DC Playlist with hits & holiday music for your gatherings, followed the next day by a big, all-day NBA Christmas Day extravaganza. Follow my DC Instagram for holiday pics and of course on Twitter - both at @DC408Dxtr, plus Tumblr.
For now, thanks for reading and until we talk to you here in a few days, have a safe & great weekend and of course, Happy Holidays.
- I AM DC
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