BY DC CUEVA
Usually - and in addition to offering analysis and more covering the week's episodes, our recaps will include the Things To Know - the week's top moments from The Challenge and come next month, Season 7 of Are You The One? - Season of Fate. But as is our custom for whenever episodes leave on a cliffhanger, the original half of our weekly episode coverage is tabled over to the recap covering the following week's episode. So if you're looking for stuff like the Purge and the rest of the house drama that took up the rest of the episode time before the fireworks went off, we will instead be covering that on the Episode 2 recap along with a review of this week's activities.
As for this first original episode post of Season 32, this WRAP will focus on two of the key talking points of the premiere: the fight with Kailah and Melissa, and a familiar twist from last year that wasn't brought up in my season preview but will sure make the game we're in more interesting as this drama plays out over the next several months. We'll also delve into one of reality TV's most revered series, more life-changers for Team MTV and "Summer's Biggest Blockbuster"... that's all ahead.
DC FORUM: ENDGAME
THE FIGHT: KAILAH VS. MELISSA
It is a familiar sight if you're one who's been watching The Challenge for years, and if you've been watching Real World along with it too: a physical fight that takes place in the house - and someone paying a price for it. Many times before, we've had to endure something as chaotic as this taking place on a channel where, when it had more music videos airing there than it is now, it didn't show that much violence. Now, we have the latest instance of how getting violent will lead you out the door on this show, and to again prove that rules are rules in this world.
At the beginning of my time getting to experience MTV reality on Twitter, the first high-profile moment that got us talking was the Nia/Averey fight on Real World Portland, which didn't see either one of them go home. But this was an instance that later saw Ceejai & Jenna on Go Big/Vegas and four roommates on Bad Blood bite the dust, all after production got slammed for just being lazy in stopping someone from getting sent to the hospital in Oregon and ending that last non-twist Real World on the bad note that it did.
Of course, it's likely you remember that CT & Adam fight on The Duel II that came in that first episode, as well as what we've seen with Tony & Camila on Rivals III and just last season with Nelson on Dirty 30 and Shane R. & Simone in Redemption. There's been many other times before that too: CT punching Davis on Inferno III, Tina slapping around Beth, Brad and Darrell on The Ruins, and Adam going after Ty on Rivals I. And who can forget Magic Mike leaving on his own on Are You The One after he and Amanda had it out.
So perhaps, it was inevitable for this tension to finally boil over between someone who had her fair share of fights in her two series of Ex On The Beach UK and someone who was invited to Floyd Mayweather's 40th birthday bash last year. This was something that didn't happen in New York of having all this play out, and perhaps it could've made that Vendettas reunion even more entertaining than the dragged-out, two-hour snoozefest that it became. But you knew that this was gonna happen the moment everyone moved into the main house.
This blogger, who always makes sure to be Switzerland when it comes to all of these battles that takes place among these cast members on these shows, brought up the fact that whether it's reality TV, sports or anything else... hate, conflict, drama and Twitter beefs can turn into eyeballs, ratings, money and attention in this packed entertainment field. And often, while those who are part of Team MTV are sometimes told what to do and not to do with regards to their online activity, often the marketing & promotion department will use that as a way to grab everyone's attention and make even more money -- and casting can even use a Twitter beef to cast Johnny Bananas' Rivals II partner.
Recently, Cody from Stranded with a Million Dollars brought up a cynical email he got from the principal's office (aka MTV) telling him to not get into Twitter beefs with anyone and, to "...treat other MTV family members with respect." He added, "...there was a new made up rule that only applied to me that I would get in trouble for. They once called and I thought it was for Dirty 30 and they 2 on 1 went in on me for something my mom had posted on her Facebook." And a Twitter used responded, "This is actually unfair, because I seen people on... yeah The Challenge, fight on Twitter. Even MTV is promoting the Kailah/Kayleigh fight and the Marie/CaraMaria fight on their new season... MTV some damn hypocrites."
This rant aside, this is something that has proven costly for those who now have a flight home to ponder what took place. Kailah has been training extensively since she first got her chance to be on a Challenge after being on a Real World season that gave her plenty of reasons to train this hard. She was out after the first elimination following the Champs merge on Invasion, made it to the Bloodbath on Dirty 30, then to the final on Vendettas, and now bites the dust here after cashing in Prague and a stop on Champs vs. Stars. And for Melissa, we last saw her give 110% in that elimination battle with Sylvia that proved that there was more to her than just looks, drama, romance and DJ beats to her... and now for the first time she's leaving an MTV show this early.
The fight is so intense that, instead of getting both sides of the story in text form, we've embedded the following two forms of media below. Kailah went to YouTube to offer her thoughts on the fight and what happened that night in South Africa, while Melissa granted Challenge Mania the first exit interview on her latest MTV fight - and the first to be seen on American screens.
KAILAH on YouTube
MELISSA on Challenge Mania
Listen to "Ep. 55: Melissa Reeves" on Spreaker.
As for what you think will happen to Kailah's partner Kayleigh and Mel's partner Kam, it is also the subject behind the first of, what we hope will be, many weekly polls we'll be offering during this season which'll be up after the episodes air out west over at @DC408Dxtr and stays open until before our posts go to air on the weekend...
After what we saw, do you think the girls'
partners involved in tonight's fight should
stay in the house or go with them also?
● 64% YES, they should stay.
● 36% NO, they should go
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STRATEGY ROOM
THE REDEMPTION HOUSE... AGAIN!
If you've been a visitor to this site over the years, the portion of the WRAP where we get to discuss the game as it's at right now is done from the Strategy Room. We'll have the opportunity at times to analyze where the situation stands on The Challenge (especially when we're at the business end of this season come the end of summer), and each week during Are You The One.
Last year, something that we first saw on Battle of the Exes II and even before that on Survivor made its way to Dirty 30, and it had a hand in helping prolong that long season to more than our fair share of episodes. Of course, it's the Redemption House: players who were "eliminated" from the game are given a chance to return to the game for another shot at the $1 million.
When we discussed this in our Dirty 30 premiere WRAP last year, it was something that we saw at the end of that first episode similar to what Dustin & Jessica found in Costa Rica and before Wes got screwed once Bananas & Nany emerged later on. Last year, all of those who got eliminated the first time out surprised everyone when a boat brought them to the shock of the main competitors for their own challenge... and one of them, Tony, used this as the launchpad to the success he has had since. So did Hunter and eventual finalists (& champ) Jordan, CT and Cara Maria when they were sent to Redemption later on during that season.
It's fairly simple: once the right time comes, the players who are in redemption will have a chance to flip the script on this game when they either get to surprise everyone in having their own challenge in front of those who eliminated them, or like what we had with Exiled three years ago they'll compete in their own eliminations taking place out of the main house's view - and only when they emerge will things get even crazier. In an instance where we now pretty much expect them to go down nowadays, it's a twist that's once again sure to turn this game upside down, but with an extra twist being added on for good measure it'll be even more twisted than it was last year.
The morning line definitely sees Jemmye & Jenna as betting man's even-money favorite to win their way back... last year, we wrote that Darrell and Amanda were favored to head back into the main house, but we were proven wrong by the birth of Tony Time and Jenna's elimination mastery. But while we have them and the Big Brother duo in here with them being on civil terms, something to keep your eye out in whatever drama this house will eat away at the coming episodes is of what Britni and Chuck will have to endure with what they have here... their relationship was so perfect for over a year that you can't imagine what it's like with them now. If you didn't get to watch their AYTO season, you'll get a first look at what they are like now here.
Again, there's no idea of how this version of Exiled will play out, but we will keep our eye out for this twist as we along -- hopefully they won't have a hand in extending this season to Thanksgiving. And of course, this is the first of many twists that will leave its mark on this game as this trek towards the $1 million takes shape -- and Allan Aguirre has just posted his thoughts on Redemption which you can check out over on Medium. And speaking of the two newbies...
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#DCExtraTime
BIG BROTHER/CHALLENGE MEETS RUPAUL
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| Season 10 cast of RuPaul's Drag Race |
Drag Race went on the air in 2009 with the iconic drag queen in a unique triple role as not only its host, but also mentor to the cast and head judge in determining their fates each week. The series has helped to bring to mainstream TV each week the art of dressing up in drag, with the usual reality competition standard of weekly challenges and eliminations, plus a walk on the runway and a lip-sync battle. Though many reality fans feel Survivor is far and away better, Drag Race has long been the award voter's favorite in having just netted twelve Emmy nominations, and judging by their Twitter interaction two avid viewers of Drag Race is MTV podcast host Ali Lasher and 3-time Challenge competitor Derek Chavez of Real World Cancun.
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| Twitter @jossie_flores |
And those who watched that season finale -- which aired on the same night of June 28th as the season finales of both Jersey Shore Family Vacation and Ex On The Beach -- spotted two familiar people in the audience watching the finale take place: Jozea and Da'Vonne were invited to represent The Challenge in the auditorium on finale night and watch Aquaria being given her crown. Their looks in the photo we have here might captured the same reactions we have in our living rooms to everything that went on last week
Da'Vonne captioned on Instagram @davonnedianne_, "That time when @jozeaofficial called me and said “Get up, Get Dressed, I’m taking you to @rupaulsdragrace finale” 😩❤️🏆." And Jozea added @jozeaofficial, "ME and @davonnedianne_ on @RuPaulsDragRace #RPDR10 finale !! #RPDRfinale 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻!!! @WorldOfWonder it was a amazing!!! @ChallengeMTV #TheChallenge32 supporting our @viacom family ❤️✊#thechallenge #teamaquaria."
Who just saw me and @DayDaVonne_ on @RuPaulsDragRace #RPDR10 finale !! #RPDRfinale 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻!!! @WorldOfWonder pic.twitter.com/sl9M70fmUq— Jozea Flores🇵🇷 IG.@jozeaofficial (@jossie_flores) June 29, 2018
CONGRATS IN ORDER...
They say that the winter holidays are the most magical season of all, but when it comes to the weather the summer is the most beautiful of the four seasons. It is by far the hottest - ask those in TJ's part of the world about that in the 100+ degree heat of his Vegas stomping grounds, but also the time where activities are aplenty: the 4th of July holidays, barbecues, outdoor time in the park and beach, and celebrations for those graduating, those about to have a baby with those famous gender reveal parties, and of course those getting married -- in fact, my sister & brother in law celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary last weekend with a trip down to Southern California with my niece & nephews.Amidst this backdrop, a number of those in the MTV family had a lot to celebrate over the course of the past couple months - even including one who talks about this world in the podcast community. And we'd thought we'd like to send some congrats to them on here -- this doesn't include Challenger Wes or Are You The One? alumni Amber & Ethan Diamond and their new baby... the In-Depth on that magical June 1-3 weekend already took care of that here.
● Eight years ago this spring, Theresa Gonzalez was part of a Fresh Meat II class that ultimately produced several notable alums who went on to Challenge titles and recognition since that 2010 season in Canada. She became notable for her fiery persona and hooking up with a few challengers in her six starts, going all the way to the final on Battle of the Exes 2 as a last minute replacement for Leroy, and they finished second after she originally lost the last elimination. Shortly after she hung up her Challenge jersey in Norway, she became a mom when her child, Easton, entered the world on Thanksgiving 2015. And after several years as her boyfriend and then fiance, last weekend she and Detroit Lions wideout TJ Jones became man and wife... and they even stopped by the local Atlanta-area McDonalds in their horse carriage en route to their wedding reception.
● Amidst the chaos of what Cara went through on Battle of the Bloodlines en route to the first of what would be three finals wins, her ex Abram arrived as a replacement to Turkey when Champs vs. Stars winner Tony got hurt in his first Challenge - and the one who joined him there was brother Michael Boise. He was the one who competed in that Sledgehammer elimination against the twin brother of the man she hooked up with, RW Ex-Plosion alum Thomas' brother Stephen, and took out the win much to Abram's delight in playing the same game the brother had on The Inferno in front of Yellowcard. Also this past weekend, he and his fiance also got to say their "I Do's."
● Two of those had the opportunity to say "I do" when their boyfriends got down on one knee with an engagement ring in hand: those who watched Marie's Real World St. Thomas season in summer 2012 remember that house quite literally became an AYTO house in the housemates being paired up all season: her and Robb, Latoya and Swift, and Trey and Laura Waller... and the redhead accepted her boyfriend's question with a ring. And those who watched AYTO Season 2 were introduced to Ellie Puckett: that Southerner who loved to tell it like it is in that same house in Puerto Rico that gave us 11th girl Christina, Brandon, Briana, Nate, Dario and one of those who we'll be seeing on ABC's The Proposal soon. She also got to say yes to the magic question from her boyfriend too.
● Two other ladies got to celebrate news of a different kind - new babies. For one, Jessica Perez from AYTO Season 1 joined Amber as moms to two babies as she and her husband welcomed new kid Lainey Kate on that same EOTB finale night in late June. And another MTV alum who gave birth to a new kid is one who was on one of the many other series outside the Trifecta that I've been able to get to get to know in six years on Twitter: Kristyn Cole from 2013 series Big Tips Texas (which followed a group of women bartending at a Dallas-area bar & nightclub) welcomed baby Kaydyn Harlow earlier this month, joining fellow baby sister Karsyn.
● Finally, 2018 marks the fifth anniversary of the first MTV webcast hosted by New Yorker Brian Cohen, when he got to talk to several castmates from Real World Portland and attended that season's reunion before he turned to his specialty of covering The Challenge. There, Mr. Bus Drivers Route got to interview Bananas, TJ, Cara Maria and the late Ryan Knight, among others, before he found his podcasting perfect match in that aforementioned sparring partner Ali Lasher on Rob Has A Podcast as they and Adam Bongiovanni have covered The Challenge and AYTO ever since. And days before he emerged from podcast hibernation with an after-episode premiere podcast, Brian got to propose to his real perfect match, girlfriend Emily Moses, and she became his fiance.
Our congrats go out to all of them, and as always we'll be sure to send our heartiest congrats to everyone who gets married, has babies and all else as we go along on this MTV journey again.
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#DCVegas '18
#ItsComing
Finally after the madness of what went down in South Africa took place, yours truly made Challenge Premiere Night the more than ideal launchpad for something that will share top billing with Final Reckoning and AYTO Season of Fate during late half of the summer.
Typically once every year or twice in even years, I get dragged away from regular blog work for a special reason. For the ladder, it's binge-watching the Olympics... just as I did for the Winter Games in Korea in taking two weeks off wall-to-wall blog work to watch Chloe Kim, Shaun White, the U.S. women's hockey and men's curling teams, Champs vs. Pros' Gus Kenworthy and the world's best winter athletes going for gold. For the former, it's the annual trip out of the Bay Area to a high-profile vacation destination, which I treat it almost like the Super Bowl as a big event and carefully plan things out weeks at a time for a trip that lasts just a few days.
In exactly one month from now - Friday, August 17th to be exact, I'll be traveling down to Las Vegas for the ninth time, and the eighth in the modern era... that is, in being able to roam through the casinos and bars legally. That means, I'll again be having the time of my life there in Sin City and - despite the notion of what happens there stays there, I'll be sharing my weekend adventures with all of you on my social media networks on DCNOW, Instagram, SnapChat, live hits on IG & Periscope, and anywhere you can find me in the social verse - and I plan to expand that social presence during that trip. Vegas is, of course, my favorite vacation city and is the perfect destination to let it all out, right there on the Strip and all over the Valley.
And since these trips are taking place while these seasons just started airing and your favorites are not off filming the next one, chances are you may see castmates or even TJ Lavin join me to take, in all likelihood, the biggest DC Selfie of all - which will help this fan cross off an elusive item off the bucket list of "Meeting an MTV Celebrity." You know there will be plenty of opportunities for that to come then... perhaps I may even spot Mike Tyson too (he has an autograph session at Forum Shops at Caesars Palace the Saturday of vacation weekend)... you just never know what will go down, but you gotta be ready to handle whatever goes down there.
So, that's something to look forward to: "Summer's Biggest Blockbuster." #DCVegas '18... we'll wait to see what happens next in Sin City.
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And on that note, that brings our look at Week 1 of The Challenge: Final Reckoning to a close, and the first of what will be a big summer and second half of the MTV Reality year that will be coming our way here and now. For those who visit this site regularly, this is typically where we would offer links to any and all notable webcasts and articles of note that, if you want to hear from the cast, would extend the conversation to after you've checked out this site. But because we are backlogged a bit from all of this extensive blog work we've done in the past few months, we'll have that in a dedicated post to come soon.
As for what's to come: tonight is an all-new Floribama Shore, and you can join me on my DCNOW hub at @DC408DxNow to follow the interaction of that along with tomorrow's Challenge and Fear Factor. On the topic of the ladder, we'll have a bonus ExtraTime to come here this week when we'll take a look back at the time one of those who's taking over Panama City Beach took their talents to facing their fears with Ludacris before they became a staple of Mondays like these. Be sure to join us for that then... hope you enjoy your Monday everyone.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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