BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
Last week, we saw Stanley Cup fever hit the spinoff when hockey was the name of the game, and confirmed two trends involving a ginger and a man with his own nickname. And across the ocean as a volcano continues to erupt outside its door, a revolution has been in full swing when a group outnumbered in the house finally had the chance to prove that they were more than just the minority party.
Coming up, a recap of the past two episodes of Champs vs. Stars before tonight's action begins with another twist awaiting them, and last week's game-changing Ex On The Beach. And continuing in the playoff spirit, we'll also show you a dunk reel by the one who now has a dubious title to his name. That's all ahead here.
THINGS TO KNOW
♥ THE TABLE TURNS: For the first half of the Ex On The Beach group's stay in Hawaii, the theory has been, the Originals are in control, and the Exes will have to do what they can to not get packing. Derrick and Paulie have a talk about of how they have not had any say in the house, but then things change like night and day. When the elevator goes up with its Message in a Bottle, Cory reads the message that announces that the Exes are being sent down to the Shack of Secrets for some special news. Once there, the Exes find out that, for the week's elimination proceedings, that they are in charge now... and will get to send home one of the ten who moved into this house ahead of them.
Their reactions at the twist makes them feel like kids on Christmas - or in this case, 10 year-olds anxious for the bell to ring on the last day of school before summer break. Once Lexi hands the card to Paulie for those upstairs to find out why they were screaming below, the Originals are then put on edge. For there, Angela is afraid that Tor'i could be the one that could be sent home because of what happened with them and Derrick the week before, and how much she has put into their relationship. And for Taylor: similar feelings with the prospect of Cory possibly packing his bags which even gives her reason to perhaps leave the house if that result goes down.
♥ A NEW TWO EXES: As he and Tor'i work out on the patio and form this house's resident bromance, for Week 5 Chase is summoned to the Beach of Doom along with Faith and Victoria... but he becomes a spectator to the ladies seeing their exes arrive. For Faith, it's June, where both had a one-night stand after meeting each other for the first time at a club and have a better shot than most of the exes and originals have here. For Victoria, it's Luis - a tattooed Bronx'er who dated her in college until she cheated on him, and she is not happy to have him here as he looks for closure. When they arrive into the humble abode, Jasmine feels weary about Luis, and Victoria ditches him with the hope that things are now out of their control.
♥ CHOCOLATE'S TURN: For someone who has become the most prominent face of anyone in the house - whether people like it or not, it's no surprise that Derrick takes the wheel in the exes' effort to reverse the curse. If you saw his AYTO season, he was the one that was thrust into the spot of trying to strategize the house's then poor record at Matchup and nearly pulled that off -- only for that to come crushing down when he gave away a necklace to his last matchup partner, Shannon... and we know what happened there.
Once he finds out about the voting control being turned over to them, Derrick takes advantage of the chance to become the leader, all as Angela tries to counter in a strategy of lying around the house, and so does Faith. For Mr. Chocolate, Derrick goes up to Tor'i and lies to him about trying to keep him in Hawaii so he can stay with Angela... but Tor'i isn't having it and Angela tells him to get away and he heads to Cory to tell him to cut it off with the Bad Girl. Not surprisingly, Angela goes off yet again.
Before the elimination ceremony, Derrick brings his troops in to tell the exes to give a crush to someone and that the only cut vote will be in his hands... which would be for Tor'i. And at the night formal, the plan is perfected much to Angela's displeasure as Derrick himself now could be on the way out if she has dibs next.
● CHECKS & PUCKS: On the CVS front, Week 4 sees balls with emojis take center stage with a mix of rugby included: players onside kicking a ball, running and picking it up and trying to get into the end zone. It turns out to be a more difficult game in theory and it is proved there with plenty of hits included. Ashley falls on her face in one of the rounds and thinks that she may have broken her nose, but stays in and prompts Brooke to not take a beating and sit out. Aneesa is the most shaken-up by all the hits when she breaks her ankle and has to eventually withdraw with that injury.
Things are much more subtle and fun the following week when, in the midst of Stanley Cup fever and gold by the Team USA women in Korea, hockey hits The Challenge for life-sized Jumbo Table Hockey. The previous week, Casper was the only player to score on the football field, and here - scoring on the ice is scarce thanks to the goaltending of CT and Booby. The only highlights belong to the week's two difference makers: Wes picking a fight with Devin in all good fun, and Tony who winds up scoring the lone goal in the last minute of regulation for Team Blue.
● TRADING SMASHLEY: With things passing the halfway point of this season, you always expect twists to be thrown at the cast, and even with its exhibition nature it's no exception on Champs vs. Stars. At what turns out to be just a MVP nomination for Week 4 following Aneesa's injury, Louise is named MVP and then is given a juicy power play: trade someone from her Blue team for someone on the opposing Red team. She opts to switch out the Champ who has been faring poorly here so far, Tori, with Ashley on the premise that she's been playing the best game on her team and now the Blues can use her to go in on the Reds. And when you mess with Ashley, you will get her signature meltdown - which she does after the nominations and then threatens at the hockey challenge to score in her own net to let to the Blue team lose.
● SWITCHING ELIMINATIONS: For last week's selections, Booby's excellent work in goal sees him be named MVP and he picks Wes as LVP, while Jozea is pressured by CT to volunteer himself into elimination... and all appears set for a much easier elimination for the Master. But then, Daniel is given the Power Play of switching Jozea with someone else from the Red Team, and he then picks Devin to go in against his friend and saving Jozea at last minute much to Big D's dissatisfaction.
For the week's elimination, there's a flashback to Dirty 30 and "Popping Tags", where when we last saw it Ammo was sent off to hospital. Devin and Wes both grab each other's vests and the two exchange the first two rounds, then Wes takes the 3rd round and Devin takes the 4th. The elimination battle is very tense despite the two being friends, but in the end it's the mentor who takes care of the student as Wes now goes to 5-0 in CVS eliminations.
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STRATEGY ROOM
CVS: DOWN THE STRETCH
For the Champs, it is clear who the top dog is: and by what we have seen with Tony since Dirty 30 last year, then he might as well give Ashley, Devin's AYTO3 cast, the AYTO6 group and Gauntlet queen Sarah Greyson a run for biggest underdog story in the history of the Trifecta. Yes, this is a season that won't be counted towards his record, but by way of the body of work he has amassed since he returned from the Redemption House last year and carrying that to Vendettas and to Champs vs. Stars, it's something to behold. With being MVP one week, winning an elimination, having the most money raised and performing well throughout this season, Tony has picked up right where he left off from a Vendettas final that was there for the taking but didn't take advantage of. He still has Wes, Ashley, Booby and Drake to contend with on his blue team, and of course there's the rivalry he's had with Casper, but Tony should be odds-on to make the final and perhaps win, unlike Vendettas.For the Stars, no surprise either: Louise came into CVS III as the first two-time Star competitor and from what we have seen from her here, no wonder why there have been a lot of people clamoring all season long for her to make the commitment to do a full season which in itself is a much more bigger task than these spinoff seasons. She has no doubt learned from the best from having been in this spot last year of making an impact early and often, and now it's clear that she is THE Star of the Stars both competitively and the political aspect of things. What she did in pulling off that power move of the trade to awake the sleeping giant of Ashley a bit is a sign that she is for real, as is what we saw with her deliberating with the Stars to potentially put Wes in after the early talk going in of them teaming up to make it to the end.
Tony and Louise make up part of the Blue Team, but for the Red Team it's the same thing numbers wise in having three champions and four stars left. CT is still her as is Kailah and a Tori who has admitted that she hasn't performed up to the same level that brought her to the Dirty 30 final. And we have Jozea who was saved at last minute, Brooke, Lil' Mama and Selita. CT should be a shoo-in for a final spot on Red, but it is anyone's guess of who might go in if the final... there is no clear idea who will make it out of that group unlike what Blue has.
THE TEAMS: WHO'S LEFT...
● BLUE: Tony, Wes, Casper, Booby, Drake, Ashley, Louise (3 Champs/4 Stars)
● RED: CT, Jozea, Kailah, Tori, Brooke, Lil Mama, Selita (3 Champs/4 Stars)
POWER RANKINGS: TOP 3
● CHAMPS: 1. TONY, 2. WES, 3. ASHLEY
● STARS: 1. LOUISE, 2. CASPER, 3. BOOBY
EOTB: AFTER THE TWIST...
Going into this season, even here we had no idea that there would be a political aspect to Ex On The Beach, despite the fact that there's no money or prizes at stake like what we have been used to, and just love and romance to worry about. But now, the same kind of politics we're used to in watching The Challenge and the strategy talk we see on Are You The One have made its way to this newbie, and that has made for an even more tense season than what we had going into this maiden voyage and has only added to the entertainment value of a show that is living up to its billing.Those who in the house right now consist of 15 people: 9 originals are now left, 6 exes are taken up residency at the halfway mark. We've seen Andre come and go and so did Alicia, Chelsko, Skyler and Chelsko in them being exes and then be on the way out in the first half. And last week Tor'i was added to this list as the first original to get voted off the island. And what we saw from Derrick in leading the charge in taking out Tor'i has certainly made him the target for the next time the exes will be up for the Cut, especially Angela in what he did to her here.
Now, if the Exes continue to hold power this coming week, the gang of six will have nine people to look over and get rid of, and that will be no easy task for them to try and get the majority vote. But if the OG's get the nod on Thursday, then with the numbers advantage they will no doubt try to get everyone to send Derrick home, with Angela leading the way... and in all likelihood they won't have to worry about a tiebreaker vote too.
IN THE HOUSE
● OG's: ANGELA, CHASE, CHRIS, CORY, FAITH, JASMINE, PAULIE, TAYLOR, VICTORIA
● Exes: DERRICK, CAMERON, LEXI, JUNE, LUIS, HALEY
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#DCExtraTime
TOR'I THE DUNK KING
For proof of how he anxious Tor'i is to dip his toes into our fifth major pro sport, the man who calls himself "Bionic Brooks" has his own YouTube channel, where he has posted videos of him in his ideal environment of working out in the gym. When Ex On The Beach was revealed to the public back in late March, he marked his entry to Team MTV by joining fellow Grand Rapids native Cory as they took to the sands for their own workout session on the beaches of Santa Monica.
But the two videos that caught this site's attention are those that have to do with what's going on right now: basketball, the NBA Playoffs, and dunks. And had it not been for this show, we would've likely found Tor'i on either the Slam Dunk contest that takes place during NBA All-Star Weekend, or on TNT's The Dunk King (for which its host, Terrence J., is also Are You The One host too). Below are those two videos... and if Terrence is reading this out in Hawaii filming AYTO, why not give Tor'i a try? The Bionic Brooks may be your next Dunk King.
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And while we try to fit in some time for hoops here, we will wrap things up for now here. This week - along with our usual episode coverage covering tonight's Champs vs. Stars and Thursday's Ex On The Beach, the posts you've been waiting for the past six months will finally begin as Andrew Kirk and I will finally, at long last, begin our 2017-18 Reality Debrief review of the past 16 months of The Challenge and all things reality TV. If you have questions on MTV Reality, on Survivor with its finale coming on Wednesday or other matters, feel free to tweet us to #AskDCBLOG on @DC408Dxtr or @CSUGradAKirk and we'll be happy to answer them.
I'll talk to you over on DCNOW at @DC408DxNow and #DCChallenge later tonight for Champs vs. Stars, and we'll see you back here this Memorial Day Weekend.
- I AM DC
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