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A DCBLOG Discussion
WITH DC CUEVA & ANDREW KIRK
Tonight, Episode 2 of Are You The One? Season 5 goes down in the Dominican Republic, but as you prepare for what happens tonight in the Caribbean, welcome on back to DCBLOG for one last slice of 2016 with the second half of the 2016 Reality Debrief with myself and Andrew Kirk.
Before the premiere of that season this past week, we brought you Part 1 as the both of us discussed two of his biggest passions outside the MTV world -- Big Brother and Survivor, and even asked one another questions ourselves, as we embark on our fifth year of covering this exciting pleasure of reality TV. And a few days later, the last remaining piece of something that began last year was closed up when we did our last Wrap for Real World Bad Blood.
Now, Andrew and I have joined up yet again for Part 2 of the Debrief as we will shift to the primary focus of this site: the MTV Trifecta. We'll be recapping the year that was on The Challenge with the two seasons that aired last year of Bloodlines and Rivals III, and scratch the surface briefly of what awaits us in Invasion coming up next month, for which the ramp-up to it began in earnest last week. We'll also look back on the last AYTO season last summer, discuss our initial thoughts on Season 5 which premiered last week, and also Real World too.
The Cueva/Kirk Report continues next... See you on the other side of the jump.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As we begin, the last question posed in part 1 was related to Real World which Andrew asked me on there. Because of his frustrations with the show's past two seasons, we've decided that it's best that won't discuss it in-depth here - other than just a couple times here, but rather I'll let him air it all out separately. If you check out his latest YouTube video posted last week after the finale, it'll give you a better sense in detail of what got him frustrated with the show's direction and how he wants to turn it all around. Check out that video here, and I'll offer my own Real World thoughts after our AYTO chat. Now, let's dig in...
YEAR IN THE CHALLENGE
First, thoughts on what we saw in the two Challenge seasons this past year?
• ANDREW: "In three words, it was j ok for me just like with the real world I wasn't really excited with bloodlines or Rivals 3. Of course I watched every week with excitement but wasn't to amused for the most part."
• DC: "For me, we began to now see what the future of the show will be like. Yes, two notable veterans who are the backbone of all this won, but we started seeing those people who we feel might carry this show on with most of these veterans now calling it a day or at least taking a break. We'll be discussing them along the way but I feel this show will be in good hands going forward."
Well, the moment that defined 2016 in both The Challenge and the Trifecta was, of course, Bananas' Backstab on Sarah. Your thoughts on that controversial moment... it's no doubt our moment of the year.
• ANDREW: "People were shocked that he did but I wasn't at all cause Bananas has done it since he started winning challenges screwing people over."
• DC: "Well, got a lot to say, so bear with me... I'm not shocked either, but you pretty much knew this was gonna happen when T.J. gave them the twist. Production did everything they can to try to make a seemingly uninteresting final become more entertaining instead of just a yawner: everyone knew the vets were gonna win. But in the end -- and to be honest pal, the result and what went down on that mountain left a sour taste in so many's mouths. We still remember how Twitter erupted that night and I remember not being on there much the day after & watched Olympic soccer to take my mind off of all the negativity generated by that.
We obviously saw what happened there on that skyscraper on Exes 2 when she called his name out, and that really motivated Bananas - not only from that but also getting beaten by Cara & Jamie in Turkey. He might have had this in mind, but he really wanted to make up for getting eliminated early in two straight Challenges for the first time in his career and when he knew about that point system that would choose who would make the choice -- if he won, obviously he would break the internet... and sure he did. It was tough for us who follow this world to take in considering how cruel the move was and how he executed it and the way he went about that.
You talked to Sarah when we covered our first Challenge together... she was distraught the moment Johnny turned his back and you can't imagine what she felt there on the mountain and on the reunion. Like, she will never overcome that...it's sad that Sarah will now be remembered for what happened on Rivals III and all the bad luck she had prior to her win, plus her Real World too. Everyone who had hatred for Bananas now hate him even more because of this and on every season he does from here on out, they'll be against him. It actually gave me reason to write that long-form on him & Kasey on Thanksgiving to prove he's not the bad guy...But again, very shocking."
You talked to Sarah when we covered our first Challenge together... she was distraught the moment Johnny turned his back and you can't imagine what she felt there on the mountain and on the reunion. Like, she will never overcome that...it's sad that Sarah will now be remembered for what happened on Rivals III and all the bad luck she had prior to her win, plus her Real World too. Everyone who had hatred for Bananas now hate him even more because of this and on every season he does from here on out, they'll be against him. It actually gave me reason to write that long-form on him & Kasey on Thanksgiving to prove he's not the bad guy...But again, very shocking."
Before that, there was what happened with Cara Maria and her dealing with everything that she had to go through to get her first Challenge title on Bloodlines. Do you think the drama she had tainted that win?
• ANDREW: "Glad she finally got the monkey off her back and I have a good feeling if she continues to do challenges I can see her getting 1 or 2 more catching up the Evelyn and Veronica who I think are tied for the most female wins."
• DC: "Again, you talked to her on Rivals II and we've seen her deal with a lot of drama aside from being the great competitor and personality she is. Bloodlines brought all of what she had to go through into more light, starting with she was on that van appearing to make out with Tom and then having to deal with the aftermath. And I pretty much knew that she would be in for a lot more when Abram came walking in as that replacement. We didn't know until that season that their relationship wasn't all that rosy as they made it appear and I thought that they were together from all of those posts, but again it wasn't to be. She performed greatly during the season and deserved to be atop the podium in Berlin, but the drama overshadowed her first win and it did take some of the glitter off of her achievement. She does have plenty left in the tank to get a few more of these."
Someone who made a really strong impression on us was Ashley. It wasn't the case on her original RW Explosion season but she really came into her own element on Rivals III. Is she now a new one to watch?
• ANDREW: "1."
• DC: "When we first saw her in the Bay, she did leave a not-so-good impression because of how she acted there though she did leave just before the exes came which was a good thing. But it seems she's been tailor made for The Challenge and from seeing what we saw in Mexico, Ashley made quite a splash and she & Cory did gel... It was, as I say, a bad night in the jungle that cost them. She did post pics of her getting set for what had ahead there before going out for this and I think Ashley will be someone to keep an eye out on as we figure out who will carry this thing forward."
You talked to Tony during his Real World, and we've seen him get sent home by medivac on Bloodlines after getting into a fight with Shane, then ejected again for his fight with Camila on Rivals, and he's had two babies in between. Quite a year for him, right?
• ANDREW: "Quite a year indeed joked on reality radio podcast that before season 30 challenge he's going to get the other Skeleton girl pregnant lol."
• DC: "When we saw him in Chicago, he was that outgoing guy who found love there and I thought him & Madison we're going be the next long-term romance of this franchise. Obviously it wouldn't be the case but there's something about him and girls that makes for some entertaining TV to watch, right? We saw him and Christina get into that bathroom doing whatever they did there, then gets into a fight with brother Shane all in the same Bloodlines premiere. And on Rivals, his temper led him to that fight with Camila and both got the heave-ho, plus he hooked up with Jess. A lot of people got on him for that, for him cheating on Maddy knowing he was gonna become a dad and then getting close to Alyssa after. And of course, he has two babies which has brought some happiness to his life. Quite a person Tony is."
Last year also saw what we likely see as the curtain call for some Challenge icons in Sarah, Wes and Nany. Provide some parting shots on them.
• ANDREW:
• DC: "Wes has been mastering this political game for many years and although what we've seen from him have at times been sketchy, Ginger's been a top competitor who hasn't always been at the top but does deserve HOF status. It's a big loss for the Challenge, but certainly a plus for all of those entrepreneurs over at Betablox in KC and in OKC who won't have to worry about where their lead investor is at when he's not in either city preaching his word. For Nany, she's been a great person overall both competitively and outside of that and will be missed; she's now focusing on that new job with skin care. And for Sarah, obviously this was not what she had planned to have her Challenge career end on such a sad & brutal note. But she has had a good time being on these shows and she does have that one title and things won't be as empty as it would be had she not won Exes 2."
Looking ahead to now... the Hot Stove buzz has been of what lies ahead on Season 29, and now it's been now revealed in Invasion. We'll obviously discuss all of this in depth later, but just your initial thoughts on what awaits us there Feb. 7.
• ANDREW: "Season 29 is going to be a blast we got Darrell coming back which I'm stoked about, CT who I've never thought we'd see after Diem's passing and Shane who most of the casuals won't have a clue who that is and maybe with him coming back that'll lead to the really old school challengers I'm talking bout ones that were on pre Fresh Meat 1 that we haven't seen will come back."
• DC: "We have something nice coming up here. I know that you began to tout this season when the forums began to unearth this, and I'm also looking forward to Invasion too. When we last had a newbie-based season five years ago, it was tailor-made for us two as we gained our stripes covering this thing. Now with this cast, it has both those that we have gotten to know over the years before coming onto this cast, and those who we've looked at as part of this new generation. Ultimately, those vets the people love and love to hate will create havoc on the newbies, and one vet is one of those underdogs who's trying to get his first win. And there's a bunch of new twists that will make this a bit more entertaining both drama wise and game wise, and should be a treat to watch, cover and discuss in the next few months."
• • •
AYTO SEASON 4
There was a lot of drama taking place but much of it centered around a guy that we'll only refer to on here as The Wolf. Thoughts on him?
• ANDREW: "he started the season great first three episodes he was very liked and I liked how he treated Kaylen. Then without getting crazy into it, his edit went further downhill than any other male MTV reality star that I've seen."
• DC: "Honestly man, it was hard also to watch Giovanni and seeing what we saw from him. You know me, I won't publicly call out people for their on-air actions but to give you unbiased thoughts on him: he played Kaylen and hooked up with Francesca and other girls. When Kay and him discussed the marriage thing with Ryan Devlin, we all thought it was gonna be Amber & Ethan all over again. But Kay & Gio took this to a new level that pretty much he was going to be the guy that people didn't like, as you alluded to there. You might say it's not a pretty sight when there's a person who's a ladies man who also has to show some behavior that will frustrate a lot of viewers."
Something that I know had you riled up on Twitter was the behavior we saw with him and some of the guys this past year, with Peter who we just saw there in Seattle, and also on Challenges too. Elaborate on those tweets.
• ANDREW: "I just can't stand that BMP and lighthearted cast these guys who think they're the shit excuse my language there. Like I get casting gentlemen all around would be boring but the ones mentioned above took it way to far on how they treated there respected interests "
Now for that gameplay: After a good start, they were stuck at four all this time. And then after the blackout, they closed things out with two straight Truth Booth matches -- and in my mind, that was the difference in them winning. Agree?
• ANDREW: "They played the best since season 1 built really strong connections off the bat with Cameron and Mikayla and Sam and Alyssa. It worked."
• DC: "Yeah, it was sitting on that patio that wasn't pretty for most of that season, yes, in seeing all the drama that took place there and them not going anywhere where that number was the reason why they had trouble sleeping after those matchups. But again, the nature of this is that you can come back from a deep hole like what we've seen here since Season 2 and come back. After try #8, they brought everyone together and went, 'Listen, we got only two tries to go from 2 lights to 10. If we can look for the right couples to put into the booth and figure out the right plan to get us to the jackpot, we'll get it.' And they put Prosper & Emma in, then Cam & Julia: both get the same message and, I always say that if you get into a groove late you'll win the whole thing. It happened with Team 21, it happened with Season 4."
AYTO SEASON 5
NOTE: Because of the both of us being busy, there's actually not much time to squeeze in a cross-talk on Season 5, but I do have thoughts on Season 5 and last week's premiere.
On anticipation of Season 5...
• "As I always say, it's gonna be an interesting season, but now with 22 people and them must get to 11 beams to win, it should make for some much more intriguing TV than what we've seen here the first four seasons. It's one thing to deal with the 11th girl or possibly adding or losing money, but having two additional castmates they sure have upped the ante for Season 5. Seeing Ryan Devlin's RT of initial possible matches being multiplied ten fold, it opens up all the possibilities of who might be matched up among the 11 girls and 11 guys. I left Seattle satisfied a little more than you because of how I see it a little bit differently than you, but now it's onto the good stuff. And when there's a lot of great people and the chemistry they'll have with a show we've fallen in love with since it started, it is indeed time for something refreshing and there's sure to be a lot of fun there in the Caribbean."
On having twenty-two castmates and how the house should adjust to strategy:
• "I like how they're now making it more tougher with the additional couple. We know Season 1 made this game feel like child's play, Season 2 having to deal with Christina, the blackout penalty & love at first sight incentive last two seasons. If any castmate from this season didn't watch past seasons and saw how those casts strategized how to crack the code, obviously they would be foolish to even be on this. Now they have to find out from the get-go of, 'How will we get to 11 beams?' Seeing how these people handle who they'll pair up with at challenges and at matchup and who they'll vote for in the Truth Booth is gonna be under a deeper microscope by having those two extras and that will be something to watch."
• "With these big casts of newbies we always have here, it's always hard to think of who might be favorites off the top before this begins. We I have some good vibes from Kam; she promised in her SnapChat intro that she will bring it on just like what we saw with Simone on Season 1 and she should be fun to watch. Being someone who shares an ethnicity with, personally I'm also looking forward to watching Shannon, and we have someone from the Bay on in Hannah. From an athletic standpoint, Derrick is a former basketball player, Jaylen is a former footballer and Hayden is a hardcore hoops fan, so you'll be in good company there. And I'm sure the Latin audience will be behind Ozzy and Carolina, and hip-hop will be repped again by Andre. Overall, the cast is really good it's hard to pick any one that stands out -- the beauty of this is the cast as a whole."
On perfect matches and what to watch...
• "There's a lot of people to choose from that it's hard to come up with who could be matches because the possibilities are all over the place, but I think there's a vibe among the guys who call themselves Team Chocolate in Derrick, Edward & Jaylan, and Kam, Alicia & Tyranny. I wouldn't be surprised if the aforementioned Ozzy & Carolina hook up, and there's a lot of New Yorkers and Philly on this group that they could get close.
But something to keep your eye on is who might be that couple who think they're matches but get shut down by the Truth Booth or even at matchup but not get over each other. You've seen it with Shanley & Chris T., Brandon & Christina, Devin & Kiki and Kay & Gio, among others. Again, my thing here is... "If you're not a match: get over it and play this game by trying out someone else even if the one you're seeing gets jealous of you. You can sacrifice a love affair temporarily for the sake of winning your cast money just as we saw with Stephen & Julia and see other people just for the game, you can get back together after this ends. If you can't do that you'll be in trouble." It's something that might drive me nuts whenever we've seen that and I won't be surprised if we see that happen again here. Keep your eyes open for that."
On how to follow up predecessors...
• "We've had the chance to cover this from the beginning, and I was first to get on board before the Originals began that ride three years ago; and we've had a strong rapport with some of these people too. We always think, how will Season 2 follow up Season 1, and then for Seasons 3 and 4? They did for Season 2, maybe not much for Three though they've made quite a splash since, and Season 4 improved greatly. After what we just went through in Seattle and what we saw last year, I have some good expectations for Season 5."
• "We've had the chance to cover this from the beginning, and I was first to get on board before the Originals began that ride three years ago; and we've had a strong rapport with some of these people too. We always think, how will Season 2 follow up Season 1, and then for Seasons 3 and 4? They did for Season 2, maybe not much for Three though they've made quite a splash since, and Season 4 improved greatly. After what we just went through in Seattle and what we saw last year, I have some good expectations for Season 5."
How will you rank the cast's chances of going 10 for 10: Easy, Difficult or Harder?
• "I don't need any other explanation other than option 3. It will be hard."
On who might be couples after last week's premiere...
• "After we saw Hayden & Gianna get that dreaded message, I did the poll of who might be matches from among three that I saw have some good vibes. Since that ended in a tie, from the two top finishers I think Kathryn & Ozzy would be the wise choice compared to Michael & Gianna, but I would've also preferred Joey & Carolina over that 2nd choice."
• "After we saw Hayden & Gianna get that dreaded message, I did the poll of who might be matches from among three that I saw have some good vibes. Since that ended in a tie, from the two top finishers I think Kathryn & Ozzy would be the wise choice compared to Michael & Gianna, but I would've also preferred Joey & Carolina over that 2nd choice."
On the two extra twists, and how it may affect gameplay...
• DC: "My thoughts: I like those twists. A lot of fans think there's a sort of conspiracy theory that the past three seasons always crack the code late... by adding these two extra twists to the extra couple we've discussed here earlier will make this entire run something to keep an eye for, and also sort of even the playing field to the possibility that they could leave broke.
For the trade-in, this will give the group something to think about of whether, 'Do we want to save ourselves from having a weak couple go in and add that $150K to the stash and hope they're not a match?', or 'Let's go for it with who we feel is a good choice, and see if they go to the suites.' It's what happens there with those deliberations right as the couple heads to the 'Chamber of Lasers' as I will call it, which should make for some more entertaining and intriguing TV than what we've had previously...it's gonna be a team game. And for that blackout twist, it's harsh and something I might not agree with, but it's gonna make these kids try to play this game more smart because, you know, Season 2 had got knocked down 2 times, then Three had one early and Four had theirs late and they all came back. Now with this twist, this game becomes more uncertain and brings about that chance that they could get 10 lights but not the 11th at that last try. We will see about that."
For the trade-in, this will give the group something to think about of whether, 'Do we want to save ourselves from having a weak couple go in and add that $150K to the stash and hope they're not a match?', or 'Let's go for it with who we feel is a good choice, and see if they go to the suites.' It's what happens there with those deliberations right as the couple heads to the 'Chamber of Lasers' as I will call it, which should make for some more entertaining and intriguing TV than what we've had previously...it's gonna be a team game. And for that blackout twist, it's harsh and something I might not agree with, but it's gonna make these kids try to play this game more smart because, you know, Season 2 had got knocked down 2 times, then Three had one early and Four had theirs late and they all came back. Now with this twist, this game becomes more uncertain and brings about that chance that they could get 10 lights but not the 11th at that last try. We will see about that."
• • •
FORUM: PERSPECTIVE
REAL WORLD IN 2016
Now, some brief Real World thoughts from just me. As I say, I have no problem with watching any of the shows and will always be supportive of them 100%. And also, it's the only show that has that documentary feel with no competitive element embedded into its system (despite what we had in Vegas earlier last year)... it's basically the closest the Trifecta can get to Teen Mom, True Life and old-school Real World's of years past. So, what about my thoughts on Real World this past year?
It was sort of hit and miss for the two seasons we saw this past year and the first week of this year. I liked the Ex-Plosion and Skeletons seasons a bit more among the twist seasons because we didn't know what the cast in San Francisco got themselves into until the exes flew in, and the seven in Chicago gelled a bit more and only dealt with their twists one-by-one instead of having to deal with them all throughout the season like what we just saw in Seattle.
For Go Big or Go Home, the same kind of racism that's cast a shadow on this country the past year was prevalent and had a hand in the two fights between CeeJai and Jenna that left a bad scar on that season...it was obviously hard to watch everything take place between those girls as well as all the Twitter beefs that took place among both that cast and the recent one too. But there was also some personal drama that really stuck out to me more: CeeJai opening up about the worst day of her life in losing her parents to tragedy, Chris bravely going to his old Salt Lake hometown to resign from the Mormon church after what they did to his LGBT allies, and the sane one of the group Sabrina meeting her biological mom on the finale. The twist itself might've been done a little more better, but then again it's Sin City -- they should go all in in this city of fun, right?
And for Bad Blood, during the first few weeks of the season I was feeling it... maybe not to much towards the end but being faithful I watched wire-to-wire and left, as I wrote above, a little more satisfied than GBGH. Being that this was a large cast, there were a few who didn't get as much airtime in the midst of all we saw there and I see Andrew's point that they should max the house occupancy at 7-8 people. Jordan really stuck out as the favorite of the house because of her not dealing with drama as much as most everyone and became that pillow for those who were crying to lean on. At times, it was hard to see what transpired with Jenn & Peter that sometimes you couldn't sit still watching them argue, but then again they did emerge from this a couple. And when what happened to Theo and Kassius it made you think did production make poor judgement to send the former home when the other should've left? And as it was above, I also liked how they again spotlighted their personal struggles and brought to light the Black Lives Matter movement.
As I stated here in Part 1, there's that part of me who agrees with Andrew that they do need to fix and revamp the show to keep it relevant while not be something that would be stale to viewers who expect something fun and exciting out of the Trifecta. I recommended to whoever from BMP might be reading this to come up with a small twist instead of something big that doesn't completely twist the format around like what we saw the past two seasons. For that, do keep some of what makes the show unique in the storytelling, being able to put whatever millennials like us are going through on screen, and harken back to what made old-school RW seasons as great as they were. If they can give more emphasis on the pure & simple nature of the first 28 seasons of the show -- just as what we saw at times this past year -- but also come up with a small twist that doesn't intrude on the show's original philosophy, then they'll be okay.
At day's end, Real World will remain my first love and the basis of how I approach covering this ecosystem to all of you. Hopefully, the show doesn't go away (which would also mean that talent pool would also be stalled somewhat) but let's hope things improve for Season 33. Tell me what you think below in the comments.
Now, more Challenge chatter, from just me.
It was sort of hit and miss for the two seasons we saw this past year and the first week of this year. I liked the Ex-Plosion and Skeletons seasons a bit more among the twist seasons because we didn't know what the cast in San Francisco got themselves into until the exes flew in, and the seven in Chicago gelled a bit more and only dealt with their twists one-by-one instead of having to deal with them all throughout the season like what we just saw in Seattle.
For Go Big or Go Home, the same kind of racism that's cast a shadow on this country the past year was prevalent and had a hand in the two fights between CeeJai and Jenna that left a bad scar on that season...it was obviously hard to watch everything take place between those girls as well as all the Twitter beefs that took place among both that cast and the recent one too. But there was also some personal drama that really stuck out to me more: CeeJai opening up about the worst day of her life in losing her parents to tragedy, Chris bravely going to his old Salt Lake hometown to resign from the Mormon church after what they did to his LGBT allies, and the sane one of the group Sabrina meeting her biological mom on the finale. The twist itself might've been done a little more better, but then again it's Sin City -- they should go all in in this city of fun, right?
And for Bad Blood, during the first few weeks of the season I was feeling it... maybe not to much towards the end but being faithful I watched wire-to-wire and left, as I wrote above, a little more satisfied than GBGH. Being that this was a large cast, there were a few who didn't get as much airtime in the midst of all we saw there and I see Andrew's point that they should max the house occupancy at 7-8 people. Jordan really stuck out as the favorite of the house because of her not dealing with drama as much as most everyone and became that pillow for those who were crying to lean on. At times, it was hard to see what transpired with Jenn & Peter that sometimes you couldn't sit still watching them argue, but then again they did emerge from this a couple. And when what happened to Theo and Kassius it made you think did production make poor judgement to send the former home when the other should've left? And as it was above, I also liked how they again spotlighted their personal struggles and brought to light the Black Lives Matter movement.
As I stated here in Part 1, there's that part of me who agrees with Andrew that they do need to fix and revamp the show to keep it relevant while not be something that would be stale to viewers who expect something fun and exciting out of the Trifecta. I recommended to whoever from BMP might be reading this to come up with a small twist instead of something big that doesn't completely twist the format around like what we saw the past two seasons. For that, do keep some of what makes the show unique in the storytelling, being able to put whatever millennials like us are going through on screen, and harken back to what made old-school RW seasons as great as they were. If they can give more emphasis on the pure & simple nature of the first 28 seasons of the show -- just as what we saw at times this past year -- but also come up with a small twist that doesn't intrude on the show's original philosophy, then they'll be okay.
At day's end, Real World will remain my first love and the basis of how I approach covering this ecosystem to all of you. Hopefully, the show doesn't go away (which would also mean that talent pool would also be stalled somewhat) but let's hope things improve for Season 33. Tell me what you think below in the comments.
#DCExtraTime
MORE FROM ME...
Now, more Challenge chatter, from just me.
On Jenna...
• "Something that emerged last year was Jenna, where we saw Barbie Beast go through what she went through on Exes 2, and then respond by going to two straight finals and cashing. The site Complex wrote on their RW finale wrap last week that when we last had a double cast on Explosion, there was no hint of what Jenna would be aside from being Jay's ex and her now overtaking him in popularity in becoming a Challenge fixture. She got over what happened with him in the Bay and then over in Norway fairly quickly and came to Bloodlines with a lot to prove. Well, she has one of the best seasons anyone's had in elimination to earn her way to the final, and she & Brianna got off to that lead in the first leg in Berlin and toughed it out to finish that. Yes, we'll say that they were carried into the final because her partner was also Bananas' cousin but they finished 2nd and that's a clear indication that Jenna is for real. There is belief that she's closer to a Challenge win than most of us at first, and her time should be coming up."
• "Something that emerged last year was Jenna, where we saw Barbie Beast go through what she went through on Exes 2, and then respond by going to two straight finals and cashing. The site Complex wrote on their RW finale wrap last week that when we last had a double cast on Explosion, there was no hint of what Jenna would be aside from being Jay's ex and her now overtaking him in popularity in becoming a Challenge fixture. She got over what happened with him in the Bay and then over in Norway fairly quickly and came to Bloodlines with a lot to prove. Well, she has one of the best seasons anyone's had in elimination to earn her way to the final, and she & Brianna got off to that lead in the first leg in Berlin and toughed it out to finish that. Yes, we'll say that they were carried into the final because her partner was also Bananas' cousin but they finished 2nd and that's a clear indication that Jenna is for real. There is belief that she's closer to a Challenge win than most of us at first, and her time should be coming up."
On Cory...
• "Someone we've eyed on having great things happen here has been Cory, who we saw him & Mitch go to the final and had it not been for a shock Rivals III jungle loss would've been in the final again. When we first saw him on the Ex-Plosion premiere in her park flexing, I thought he was made for the spin-off that he went on Real World to eventually join TJ & co., though he had a lot of drama with dealing with Jenny, Brian and his ex with ironically the same thing that we just saw with Tya. So it was no surprise that he came to strong expectations in his first go, and though it did take some time and being fairly sane, he & Mitch eventually found their stride competitively, won the last two missions to get into the final, won that last leg to make things more interesting. I agree that it was a bad night they had in the jungle that cost them on Rivals, otherwise we'd have a different feeling about that season. And along the way, Cory's had the chance to get close to Aneesa on Bloodlines and he was sure lucky to have Chey in the Mexico pad. Competitively, he's got it all and he should win one of these."
• "Someone we've eyed on having great things happen here has been Cory, who we saw him & Mitch go to the final and had it not been for a shock Rivals III jungle loss would've been in the final again. When we first saw him on the Ex-Plosion premiere in her park flexing, I thought he was made for the spin-off that he went on Real World to eventually join TJ & co., though he had a lot of drama with dealing with Jenny, Brian and his ex with ironically the same thing that we just saw with Tya. So it was no surprise that he came to strong expectations in his first go, and though it did take some time and being fairly sane, he & Mitch eventually found their stride competitively, won the last two missions to get into the final, won that last leg to make things more interesting. I agree that it was a bad night they had in the jungle that cost them on Rivals, otherwise we'd have a different feeling about that season. And along the way, Cory's had the chance to get close to Aneesa on Bloodlines and he was sure lucky to have Chey in the Mexico pad. Competitively, he's got it all and he should win one of these."
On Leroy...
• "For Lean Body, this wasn't a good year: two straight times he was sent home due to injuries by his bloodline & then himself. It was painful to see him get snake bitten by what we saw from him. When TJ announced that Candice had her toe injured and couldn't continue, it was shocking and I thought to myself 'It's just bad luck, he'll be back.' But to see Leroy get injured on the very next one, it was very tough to see. He will come back from this when he gets the call again for it and if what we saw on Exes 2 is an indication of this, we will say he is gonna be the guy who will be the power player if JB decides to finally call it day or at least take a break."
On Team Princess... Devin and Cheyenne
• "A lot of people will say that they got lucky to get the return trip back to the show after what happened with Camila & Tony and also that they got to go to the final without going into the jungle again. But I do see your point that they brought them back on because she had developed a chemistry with Cory that emerged during that season, and that Devin had that feel of being the villain on his AYTO season in the same way Bananas has been for a long time. We all thought that this group would not complete the final, but when we saw him become a good teammate to her they really did prove their worth in the final and earned more of our respect."
On the disturbing trend of players & roommates leaving early...
• "An unfortunate trend that we and other fans have had to sit through has been of those who've been booted for aggressive behavior, injuries and personal matters. Aside from who we've discussed, there was what happened with Brandon when he had to bolt because of his girl back home. Sure, TJ and from fans socially got on him deservedly so, but when I talked to him while was in Vegas a year or two ago he was actually out of town with her, which proves how loyal he is to her. Of course, we just got off of a Real World where nearly a third of the entire house had left by the time the rest of the group flew out of Seattle. The first one was obviously Mike and him having to bolt after the racism thing which would've gotten worse for him and was the 2nd straight time he did that; we were flabbergasted at what happened with the 2nd in Theo, the fourth was deserved for Peter and #3 was for personal reasons with Tya. Again, not a good thing."
On which newbies who stood out last year...
• "For the bloodlines, someone I forgot to mention in my poll was Cara Maria's partner Jamie, and of how that although his cousin had just about all of the spotlight he really proved himself, especially when they beat Bananas in the dome and then him killing the food checkpoint in the final. We got to see Nicole on that season in Turkey and she really came into her own on Rivals and with Nany now retired I see her coming back later. For Team AYTO, when we saw Dario in Turkey he rubbed people the wrong way but on Rivals he was close to the final and improved his image also, should be someone to keep an eye for."
• "For the bloodlines, someone I forgot to mention in my poll was Cara Maria's partner Jamie, and of how that although his cousin had just about all of the spotlight he really proved himself, especially when they beat Bananas in the dome and then him killing the food checkpoint in the final. We got to see Nicole on that season in Turkey and she really came into her own on Rivals and with Nany now retired I see her coming back later. For Team AYTO, when we saw Dario in Turkey he rubbed people the wrong way but on Rivals he was close to the final and improved his image also, should be someone to keep an eye for."
On AYTO Season 4...
• "I liked last season, where we had some really intriguing romances that came out of that season, some nice characters and all season long except for a couple of them you pretty much found yourself clueless on who would be matches."
• "I liked last season, where we had some really intriguing romances that came out of that season, some nice characters and all season long except for a couple of them you pretty much found yourself clueless on who would be matches."
On AYTO 4 fan favorites...
• "For me, last year we had a couple that didn't stay long in the house but have stayed together in Cameron & Mikala - #Mikameron. Asaf might've rubbed people the wrong way on occasions, but he's had the chance to hang out with Britney. I also liked Prosper and Francesca; he was a pretty chill guy and Francesca because, like Shannon from this season, we share that same Filipino ethnicity: both have musical pedigrees which I also covered on here."
On Tori & Mike...
• "Tori became a favorite of ours with what we saw there on her season and also seeing her web videos having hung out with some hip-hop heavyweights which I might share down the road. I agree with you, I had a good sense that she & Mike would be a good couple after they met over the summer. But given his history of what happened to him on his AYTO season, I also had a little sense of what she had awaiting her. And who what happened with him and Jordan finally got there in the open, pretty much this thing wasn't gonna last unfortunately.
• "Tori became a favorite of ours with what we saw there on her season and also seeing her web videos having hung out with some hip-hop heavyweights which I might share down the road. I agree with you, I had a good sense that she & Mike would be a good couple after they met over the summer. But given his history of what happened to him on his AYTO season, I also had a little sense of what she had awaiting her. And who what happened with him and Jordan finally got there in the open, pretty much this thing wasn't gonna last unfortunately.
Again, it was at first questionable to many of how Mike got cast for Real World but when we found out about why he & Peter went to Seattle it made sense. When we saw him on the beach there discussing what had happened to him, we really learned more about him which we didn't really find out much about in Hawaii. It was unfortunate that he had to leave after what he had to put up with in the racism thing, but that could've gotten worse and his reputation would've evaporated."
• • • • •
CALLING ALL FANS...
In closing, DC FORUM is the portion of this site's Trifecta coverage that does what you all do on other sites and on social media: provide opinion and offer analysis. This affords a chance for me who's normally a blogger and storyteller to become more of an analyst in offering thoughts and opinions on the RW/Challenge franchise and AYTO, and these occasions of bringing people like Andrew on to offer additional insight. Now, we want you to join in.
As this site recently passed 60,000 overall page views and from the compliments I've gotten from many of you, then I have a good idea that a lot of those inside the MTV community and of course so many fans check out this site for our eclectic mix of stories, social reaction and more covering this ecosystem like no other blog site can. And once again we are reserving a spot for you to have a voice on DCBLOG, as we're giving you a chance to share your thoughts on here by taking part in these Q&A sessions with yours truly.
The invitation is out there to fellow fans, bloggers and webcast hosts to provide your thoughts on what happens on AYTO Season 5, the new Challenge season and all things reality TV for the Forum which we plan to offer at times in our weekly episode Wrap's during this cycle. As I posted before Real World back in October, if you operate a fan site or Twitter account who wants to come on to do these chats, then you can do so with one important provision: you make a promise to promote DCBLOG on your social media platforms and help get the word out of this site and our posts to everyone. That way, those who view your site or account can help bring those fans and a larger & broader audience to my page and sample the superb coverage this site offers each week.
Also, and most especially, if you're a former castmate from either of those shows or Real World, then we'd like to have you come on also. There's nothing more valuable to any website's MTV coverage then getting a veteran's view of what's going on and bringing that unique cast member's perspective of having done this show previously and bring that unique insight that this site is known for. It would be somewhat testy to get someone from the current casts on, and I'll always leave the opportunity to interview them in the hands of fellow webcast hosts, so it's easier to have those not on this season to join in and offer your analysis, and not just as a viewer.
Any which way, I plan to have a DC FORUM bit where I'll be asking one of those from the invitee list to join me and do a Q&A of around 3-10 questions on the episodes and the game situations as they stand at various points of the season. Though I have yet to do it much here outside of these chats with Andrew, it's something I do look forward to doing here more often to provide a more regular platform for opinions, to liven things up and to do our part to help provoke and fuel the conversation, in addition to offering our unique look at this ecosystem that this site is known for to loyal readers.
If you're interested in doing a DC FORUM Q&A for this site on the Trifecta, just tweet, follow or send me a DM to @DC408dxtr on Twitter or simply email me dc408dxtr@icloud.com. Thanks to Twitter DM's being more Messenger-style now, it's becoming more & more the norm for doing these Q&A sessions in private as well as discussing what topics and questions do we want to cover in our posts, but either platform is fine. But if you do opt to do it snail-mail style, do reply in a timely fashion so I can post them ASAP.
This offer is one that should not be taken lightly, as I strive to expand this site's profile and broaden its exposure, and improve my standing among those who cover reality TV. You got plenty of opinions, and I look forward to translating them to this blog and talking to you on here, just like you all do on webcasts and socially. You're the ones who watch, support and drive the conversation of these shows like me, and now I get to turn the tables and get your thoughts as I continue to following this world and passion of all things MTV with DCBLOG.
With that in mind, that will bring to a close the Forum Debrief, and again thanks to Andrew for joining me once again and to all of you for your patience...it is worth that wait to all of you and thanks to you all for your loyalty.
As mentioned above, The Challenge: Invasion will premiere two days after Super Bowl LI - Tuesday, February 7th. That will give Andrew and I reason to get together yet again here for a Forum preview from inside, what this site likes to refer to as, the Strategy Room, and we'll have that for you coming up then.
Be sure to follow me @DC408Dxtr on Twitter and Instagram, plus SnapChat @DC408Dxtr1 and other means of contact on social media. And give Andrew a Twitter follow at @CSUGradAKirk, subscribe to his YouTube channel and check out Blog Talk Radio.
Tonight, follow the live action, reaction & interaction as it happens on DCNOW at @DC408DxNow at 9PM ET, and at 9PM PT real-time polls and chatter at @DC408Dxtr. After the episode, we'll announce the subject matter of what'll be covered on DCBLOG this weekend in addition to our look at tonight's episode 2 from the Dominican Republic, plus a new show I'll be live tweeting as well.
Thanks for joining us for the 2016 Debrief, and enjoy tonight's episode. Talk to you this weekend.
- I AM DC
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