DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The Reunion

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Instagram @KCSince1987

We at DCBLOG are in the last stretch of covering a year in the world of The MTV Challenge that started with an episode of Season 36 that gave us relief on a most surreal Wednesday. And here we are more than a full year later as we now get to wrap up covering 2021 in this world where, in between, we've seen two full regular seasons and two full spinoff seasons. The ladder of those will be the focus of the rest of this wave of posts, and we'll be covering all of that here a bit later on here.

For the first of this last wave of posts covering the fifth major pro sport, it was back in August that Season 37 of Spies, Lies & Allies began. Without getting to elaborate on all transpired between then and the holidays, it was quite a mish-mash. But the last time we talked to you on Challenge matters was on Christmas: that was when we covered the finale. The eight who made it to the end -- CT, Devin, Emy, Kaycee, Kyle, Nany, Nelson and Tori -- earned their way into the season's last act, and they were split into two teams for the first half of the two-day final before being paired up one more time as they were tested in every aspect of this game... but it was what happened at the start of day 2 that brought out the feels: the lovers were split up during a heartbreaking double elimination. In the end, it was Kaycee who won that battle and proved that you don't have to make a lot of noise and still be victorious: she won that final in the company of CT, who now becomes a five-time champion.

All that is left to do is for the champions, the runners-up and other members of this cast to join up one more time, both in-person and virtually, for the season-ending reunion. One who is a veteran of all of these discussions, Maria Menounos, is serving as our moderator once again as she will help to debrief everything that went down in Croatia -- from Nany & Kaycee's relationship to the game and everything else. And after the break, we bring you -- in an embedded style -- our final DCBLOG Challenge SocialPulse of Season 37: the reunion, along with the big news involving a reigning queen & king who are about to become parents. And welcome to the weekend... and welcome back Inside MTV Reality.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The $1 Million Finale Part 2

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Merry Christmas to all of you on on the most merriest day of them all on the calendar, and wherever you are we hope you are having a good one, as a friend to us in the MTV beat Brian Cohen would say at the end of his podcasts. And along with plenty of videos on YouTube what did Santa DC bring to those of you who visit DCBLOG today? This blogger has brought you the 'Pulse of MTV's The Challenge... and the season finale of Season 37 of Spies, Lies & Allies, a season that began all the way back in the heat of summer and ending during the winter holiday season.

When we left Croatia at the end of the first hour of this battle back last Saturday (for reasons to be explained below), we began with TJ Lavin dropping his latest Teej-bomb on the ten remaining players of the almost thirty that began this whole thing back in August: in order to make the final, they would have to sweat out one more set of eliminations -- a double one. While it was Tori and Devin who won their way to the final eight, it was Amanda who won our hearts in falling short but having came here to compete for her newborn back home... though it was what happened with one of the agents helping out that left a sour taste in some.

Tori, Devin, CT, Emy, Kaycee, Kyle, Nany and Nelson advanced onward to the $1 million final which, once again, will last two days... and the teams were split down the middle into foursomes. And at the end of the first part it was the first four on that list that were in the lead... but you cannot win a Challenge crown on the first day alone. As we return to Croatia, the fight continues with the kind of exhausting test that brings every aspect the players have endured this fall & winter into the fore once again that will determine who reigns victorious. And en route to the finish line, a big story of this season may find itself going through one more big hurdle, while a moment etched in many's minds in the past five years of this show will have a role in what happens after the agents finish this marathon.

Ahead, DCBLOG offers you the SocialPulse of the nineteenth and final week of competition of Season 37 of The Challenge, as we find out who wins it all on Spies, Lies & Allies. And it's with what happens at the end that will offer the context of the ExtraTime story that follows: a night of history being made in reality TV that also gave one rapidly-growing section of our society reason to celebrate... and this blogger can also lay claim to being part of that community. So put on that ugly sweater, grab that cup of eggnog and welcome on in Challenge Nation, and thanks for joining us here on this Christmas Day.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The $1 Million Finale Part 1

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Hello everyone and welcome -- to many of you, at least -- to winter break at the end of what has been some 2021. If you're one of those who loves wintertime in a TV sense, then we're in for quite the finish to this year in the reality world after the crowning of this year's Survivor winner, the fall's Masked Singer champ, and before Michelle chooses her Prince Charming on The Bachelorette. And this one right here will morph into Santa DC as yours truly has quite an offering of Christmas goodies in the week ahead both here on DCBLOG and over on YouTube, starting here and now as we begin to cover something that began all the way back in the heat of summertime in August.

Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge began just three nights after the cauldron was extinguished in Tokyo and, as it was for the world's best across the Pacific, it's a global competition that brought together reality stars from here in America and ten other overseas countries for $1 million... and plenty has gone down ever since. We fast-forward to when we were last in Croatia, where it was the season's last regular daily challenge and elimination round -- something that we at this site refer to as "semifinal week." And the focus was the last two remaining rookie men: her fellow Romanian Emmanuel and Spaniard Logan... and when they met in the Lair, it was the former who took the win delighting Emy.

In the end, everyone thought that they were safe to head on to the venue of the last act of this drama, but TJ Lavin gave the Romanians, Amanda, CT, Devin, Kaycee, Kyle, Nany, Nelson and Tori another one of those "Teej-bombs." And as we rejoin them here, a double elimination Purge will send two of those players above their marching orders just before the final challenge... and it's what happens in the Lair involving one who doesn't get chosen to go down into the arena that might be cause for concern in the house. And whoever survives the battles of a physical and mental nature will go onto the marathon for the cash, which may shape up to be anyone's game.

After the break -- and on a delayed, backtracked basis, DCBLOG brings you all the action, reaction and interaction of the first part of the finale of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies... and we'll also delve into a possibility for what Season 38 might hold. And welcome to the weekend, Challenge Nation...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Semifinal Week

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We are into the month of December around here and that means, Christmas is in the air wherever you are as well as that magical feeling of winter -- if you're lucky enough to have snow on the ground. For those who follow the world of reality television, we saw an NBA player walk off with the Dancing with the Stars globe, and there's still winners to be determined on Survivor, The Voice and The Bachelorette to come before Santa dishes out his annual set of gifts to kids everywhere. And the same holds true for regular Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge, as Spies, Lies and Allies has officially entered the stretch run and finding out who will have $1 million underneath their trees this holiday season.

If you are curious as we are, the prize money that's on the minds of the players weighs exactly one ton, and last week they got to grasp their hands on those 10,000 one-hundred dollar bills as the Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire cells partook in a heist and a mini-final of sorts to determine who is ready to endure the two days of hell known as the final challenge to any Challenge season. In the end, the team with the most members on its team proved to be the ones most ready to handle that task, as the green team's efficiency offset the smaller sides' fast pace to take back power. And in what turns out to be the next to last solo Lair night of this fall, Emy took down Big T to become just the seventh player in history to win four or more eliminations in one season, and the third to do in her maiden voyage in this game.

Now the focus shifts towards the serious side with that $1 million final looming, and this week the game heads above water one more time as the three teams will sprint across an elevated gauntlet, and the men look to keep their heads down as they try to do whatever they can to not go into what they think will be their last elimination battle. With just Emy left on the women's side, there are two rookie men left including her fellow Romanian compatriot, who also just happens to be the only man who has yet been asked to earn his stripes down in the Lair. If history has it, it may as well come down to a battle between he and the other first-time guy Logan... but TJ may have one more trick up his sleeve.

At this website, for all intents and purposes we have an alternate wording for when we reach the week of the last daily challenge of the regular season: semifinal week. And after the break, DCBLOG brings you the SocialPulse of Week 17 of Spies, Lies & Allies... and thanks for wrapping your weekend with us.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Riverdance"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you to the last month of this year, and as we get into December and the holiday mood around here, this should be quite the grandstand finish we have to 2021 in MTV Reality. And with Cheyenne's Teen Mom mates getting to go on a vacation to ring in the new year and the L.A. premiere of Real World Homecoming, we should be in good company to speed into '22... and one of those is The Challenge, as Spies, Lies & Allies heads towards the finale.

If you were with us back on Thanksgiving, we brought you the SocialPulse of Episode 15 where Amanda found herself on a new team and being discounted by the mysterious disappearance of her ride-or-die Ashley all while Tori had to get used to being on a different team. But after a mission that saw the players go on a three-way collision course, Kyle would be left having to answer some questions after he chose to sabotage his own team and garnering CT's ire in the process, he had to fight his way through elimination which he did, taking down Josh.

For those of us who are loyal to watching every episode of every season including this one even while many's attention has turned to All-Stars, it's good news when we can begin to think about what awaits us soon enough. As we return to Croatia, the lucky many still in this are about to encounter what it's like to grasp onto the one reason why they've came here in the first place: the $1 million that will be dished out to the finalists in a few weeks' time... and an exhausting heist will put them into that money feel as we enter this holiday period. For one agent, she has a lot on her plate: trying to heal two guys' rift while also staring down some rare Challenge history of her own.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week 16 of Spies, Lies & Allies before what goes down tonight, plus a couple of other antidotes afterwards. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Kyle's Sabotage and Leroy Speaks Out

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Well, welcome along to this Thanksgiving weekend... and in case we haven't spoken as of yet may we wish for you and yours our very best and safe travels during this long holiday to begin the holidays. And for us here, we're glad to be back on the blog beat after taking time off for #DCVegas XI... and after I had such an amazing time in Sin City, we can't wait to share with you all that yours truly got to enjoy during the course of this winter season ahead as you spend quality time with family and friends both in person and virtually.

As far as the beat we cover on here is concerned, the MTV Challenge is getting the juicy part of this year with not one, but two seasons airing at the same time... but before we delve that other Challenge season, there is the matter of what began back in August. Spies, Lies & Allies is deep into its second half, and last we were in Croatia things went sky-high as an ode was paid to one of next year's most-anticipated summer blockbusters in Top Gun: Maverick as the Sapphire team finally put a pause to Emerald's winning streak, and where Amanda won the battle but Big T. also stayed in the game -- the reason for that was for Ashley being sent home for a still yet unexplained reason.

As things now begin to turn towards determining who will be at the start line for the final next month, the one with the freckles is now in some sort of power as her swapping teams at the end of that latest trip to the Lair sees her be the focus of the Emeralds despite losing her top ally in this game. The week's mission pays another ode of sorts, in name only, of an MTV hit of the 2000's in Boom Raiders... but it's what happens with one of the players that may find him on the outs in this male elimination week. And another one who has been in the news a bit in being swapped out previously may find itself a casualty.

After the jump, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week 15 of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies... and we'll also have more on the controversy that arose as this episode aired (and while I was roaming Fremont Street). Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Top Gun Takeover

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Welcome to something that's much more than just Saturday of this second weekend of November 2021... this is the one day that yours truly likes to refer to as #DCBDay. Today the 13th is my birthday, and this year it kicks off a week that, in about 48 hours from now, will see me get up from this blogger's chair and indulge in "The Ultimate Escape," as I'll be making my eagerly anticipated return to my favorite city on this planet. But before the eleventh edition of #DCVegas commences and on this second pandemic birthday, we start this festive week with the business at hand of going Inside MTV Reality on DCBLOG and the first of a weekly Challenge doubleheader over the next month or so on here.

Spies, Lies & Allies is just about two-thirds of the way through in Croatia, which has seen plenty go down including the marking of the series' 500th episode. Last week saw the teams take on the water, and where a nurse from the Rockies was taking a break from keeping us all safe during this time in our world was putting some worry into the most turbulent team here. Past history, loyalty and a game still being controlled by the same team who has won every mission following the merge led up to Cory and Logan facing off in the Lair, and the Spaniard took off with the win and... as it turns out, leading the King of this channel to take a break from doing this show to tend to being just a dad for the time being.

As many of us feel confident enough to resume our usual pre-pandemic routines of weekend relaxation (including in this one's case, going traveling a week ahead of Thanksgiving), this week sees an ode being paid to a movie the film biz is banking on when 2022's summer blockbuster season comes around next Memorial Day weekend. Maverick, the long-anticipated sequel to Top Gun, plays a presenting role in the week's daily challenge that sees the agents don that famous uniform for a crash landing into the water to solve a puzzle, as the Ruby and Sapphire teams have their eyes on derailing the green team's inevitable victory run. And two players who were partnered up on War of the Worlds two years ago -- and who weren't even born when Tom Cruise's signature film came out back in 1986 -- may find themselves in the hot seat as we speed towards the run to the final.

So, don that Top Gun outfit, grab a birthday hat, perhaps even some Vegas poker chips, and join us after the jump as we bring you this special MTV Challenge SocialPulse -- and a week that will sure make us jump on our seats like Tommy himself. And welcome to the weekend, to #DCBDay and to #DCVegas week everybody...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Looking for a Titanic Treasure

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

It's the first weekend of November 2021, and today sees the first installment this season of the biggest club match in English football in the Manchester Derby between United and City, plus UFC 268 as Usman and Covington vie for the welterweight belt, and Canelo Alvarez facing Caleb Plant in the boxing ring. And as far as the fifth major pro sport is concerned, we're into week 13 of MTV's The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies.

Last week marked a major milestone for the show that gave birth to the competitive subgenre of reality television: it was episode 500. The players took on a physically draining mission of transferring money bags into an end zone, and a team that has gelled since the teams were merged into three, the Emerald cell, took away their third straight win. But the real drama surrounded something that is always a big gamble: trying to make the selectors' task an easy one by volunteering into elimination, which Bettina tried to do... but eventually she went up against Emy to see who would be the last remaining rookie girl in Croatia, and the Romanian joined elite company of winning three eliminations in their first season.

If you follow me on social media, then you know I'm now preparing for a return trip to my favorite city come the end of next week... and something that I'd like to have on the flight back to California after DC Vegas XI is to have some sort of treasure. Well this week, the teams will dive in to look for those under the water as they try whatever they can to foil the perfect second half of the team in charge. For the one who comes in as a nurse taking a break from keeping us safe and being a new mom, having to fit into her team make be as hard as it seems... but it's just as much the case for another who is also a parent who might have a loyalty being tested in this house.

After the jump, DCBLOG brings you the agents trying to look for a treasure in a titanic on the MTV Reality SocialPulse of Spies, Lies & Allies... and we'll have a follow-up on the revelation that unfolded just after last week's episode aired. Welcome to the weekend, Challenge Nation.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The 500th Episode

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Well, good weekend to all of you out there wherever you are -- but most importantly, Happy Halloween from this fella right here who has a lot of memories dressing up as a kid but who's today passes out the candy in my neighborhood. And what does this blogger have up his sleeve on this Saturday night before the ultimate Sunday Scaries that lies ahead? Well, we have for you the MTV Reality SocialPulse of The Challenge, as we are deep into half #2 of Spies, Lies and Allies.

The past couple weeks have seen things change just like the leaves that fall outside your window this time of year, and last week saw the players head back into the water to tackle a slippery wheel above the sea... that meant players wiping out and TJ Lavin laughing like that madman who created Frankenstein. There was also a moment where one team thought they had gotten by early difficulties to win last week's daily, but Kyle not knowing the rules saw him cost an apparent win... and he paid the price by being chosen to go into elimination against Ed, but him being a veteran of Pole Wrestle saw him take the win.

This week's episode is not only just an ordinary one in Challenge Nation, it also doubles as the 500th of this series -- the first of its kind show that gave birth to the sub-genre of reality competition shows. The week's mission will see the players tackle a physically demanding test of having to transfer bags of what they'll ultimately encounter of all of this of money and having to make their way into an end zone. A place many of you are spending tonight at is a venue for the latest blow-up among two players as the focus shifts to the women elimination-wise, as one of them is feeling the pressure to make this week an easier one on everyone else by trying to volunteer her way into the Lair.

Welcome on in as, after the break, DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Episode 500 of The Challenge, and Week 12 of Spies, Lies & Allies... and we'll also let you in on what's to come for this blogger too. And wherever you are, thanks for joining us in these early hours of Halloween 2021.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Wipeouts & Going Pole Wrestling

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

On this penultimate October weekend, this is an epic one athletically: Thursday saw the 25th Sports Equinox in history with all four American major team sports in action, while yesterday the Braves wrapped up the NL pennant, the Seattle Kraken debuted at home, and Notre Dame's drubbing of USC. Today, soccer's biggest rivalries take center stage in Spain, England and France, plus the road to the Winter Olympics has commenced as grand prix seasons in figure skating, alpine skiing, short track and curling begin. And the action has kicked into high gear in our fifth major sport: The MTV Challenge, as Spies, Lies & Allies rolls along.

It might be safe to say that this has been a busy but also a little bit predictable season so far when you compare it to other recent seasons. But last week saw the absolute game-changer to Season 37: the first half of the players being paired up was gone, those who remain in Croatia now being mixed around again to a trifecta... and just as it was on Cutthroat in 2010, one of these three teams will be victorious: Emerald, Ruby, or Sapphire. The first team came away victorious in the first mission post-merge, and Ashley sent home Priscilla in the Lair, where another twist was revealed where the one voted in at nominations can choose their opponent, in addition to the other usual post-elimination pleasantries.

Now that things have now changed up quite considerably -- and that also includes Big T and Logan's relationship going out the door, this week the players find themselves by the sea and having to navigate their way through a slippery, sloping wheel. If history has proven of having seen dailies that take place above the water, then we will sure see many a wipeout and many a laugh-out by TJ Lavin... and we may even a blunder that may prove costly -- especially when you're one of the many who's come here for reasons other than competing for yourself. And, we also have the latest chapter in another timeless classic in Challenge elimination lore known as Pole Wrestle.

Join us after the break as DCBLOG brings you the MTV Reality SocialPulse of Week 11 of Spies, Lies & Allies, along with the lead-up to what will sure be a highlight of my upcoming #DCBDay birthday festivities in a few weeks: Season 2 of All-Stars. Welcome on in, Challenge Nation...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Time to Twist Things Up...

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

It's that time of year where we get the best of everything in athletic competition: the LCS of baseball's postseason, month #2 of the NFL season, the NHL dropping the puck on a new campaign and the NBA about to tip off. There's also college football, NASCAR playoffs, WNBA Finals, Spieth & Koepka headlining fall PGA golf in Vegas, and league soccer returning after the World Cup qualification break. There's nothing quite like fall sport... and for those who follow the fifth major sport of MTV's The Challenge, things are about to hit into overdrive: not only are we into the second half of Spies, Lies & Allies, but as of this week the prelude has begun to Season 2 of Challenge All-Stars on top of that.

As for the former, the first half of Season 37 has had one overarching theme radiate around Southern Croatian: if you're a first-timer on this be prepared to take the next flight out. This game has been controlled by those who have two or more of these under their belts as they've been taking out rookie after rookie after rookie. Last week, however, marked a vital turn: Priscilla pairing up a veteran with a rookie gave the incumbent party in the house something to think about in having to change up their ways of doing things in that now, one of their own has to be put into elimination. After a muddy daily and an equally messy elimination, Logan & Nany became the agency, and Cory & Bettina won in the Lair in sending home Jeremiah & Amber B.

However, what happened after that elimination was a bit unusual: those who won there had many options of whether to stay together or steal a partner... TJ Lavin gave Cory & Bettina no choice (or to put it in the translated title of pop group Now United's girl power anthem, "Pas Le Choix") but to tell the agents to stay tuned for his latest Teej-bomb. This week, he will hand out that latest twist to the agents that promises to further shake things up, as the players try to adjust to the new rules that will sure have a huge effect the rest of this fall & winter in Europe. For one pair still in this race to the cash, it will give them reason to find out why they're in this and why to never underestimate a champion... and for another duo, a continental couple may find that they may not be a perfect match -- no truth booth trip needed.

Just ahead, DCBLOG brings you the SocialPulse of the start of the second half of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies as it's very much time to twist things up a bit as the makeup of the competitors changes just as fast as you can say "1-2-3." But after the break, we begin with the other big news in Challenge Nation this week: the start of the countdown to that other Challenge. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The War is On

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

If you can feel those feels like this blogger did to begin this long October weekend while going on that store hop to stock up on those sporting snacks, then it's pretty much time to wash those summer clothes and pack them in that closet for the season. Autumn is now officially in the air, and there's also a calm of sorts in the air before a big storm among a group of ten duos as Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge enters, for the first time all fall, unchartered waters off the coast of Croatia.

Just after the bomb that was of TJ Lavin walking into the house to give Fessy his marching orders for that Pizza-Gate fight, last week (and provided that you got to watch after what happened across the TV dial which we'll explain here in due course) saw the first real move by the Rookie players to try and break up the alliance of the Veterans who have been in the driver's seat from the beginning. The week's daily, "Dive Bomb," fittingly served as a code name for British Love Islander Priscilla to go from being in the Casa to being in charge of the first-timers' plan to finally gain an upper hand for a change, which eventually came true, just after drama involving Berna and Amber in the nomination room.

In the end, Berna & Hughie faced Priscilla & Jeremiah and the Islanders came away victorious... and her bold move of having every veteran be paired with a rookie signaled the end of one game and the start of another, and this week marks what, the Challenge Mania duo of Derrick and birthday boy Scott Yager feel, is the beginning of Spies, Lies & Allies as it was originally intended. This week, the reset button gets pushed in a way as the vets now have to go back from scratch to devise new strategies as they find themselves having to see who's loyal to one another after weeks of letting the rookies take the lair stage. For one who now has a member of the Hype House as part of his fandom, he may find himself in trouble with the rest of the house, just as they get down and dirty with playing some mudball and try to figure out who is playing dirty, as the game as we knew it then now becomes totally different.

So, join us here after the break as DCBLOG presents to you the SocialPulse of Week 9 of Spies, Lies & Allies -- make that, Week 1 of Season 37b of MTV's The Challenge. And thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "The Threat"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We have turned the page to the last quarter of 2021 and the month of October, and that means that fall is in full swing and so are the scary vibes of Halloween and the sights of pumpkin spice drinks. We've also had quite the past seven days in the reality world with The Cookout having their crowning moment of a game-changing Big Brother summer. And now that we have enjoyed an amazing Sports Sunday with Tom Brady's return and a franatic finish to baseball's regular season, let us at DCBLOG wrap it all up with things also changing up like the fall weather on The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies.

The past couple weeks in the nation of Croatia has seen things get serious quite a bit thanks to the latest instance of what you can't do in the Challenge house. There, a late night party with plenty of pizza saw dust-up go down with Fessy and Josh... and after much uncertainty came a sight that is not a good one: TJ Lavin walking into the living quarters to reveal that the two-time finalist will have to pack his bags much to everyone's shock. That aside, the week's elimination became a female one-on-one, which saw Emy take a second win in the Lair and then proceeded to take CT from Berna afterwards following a twist on hall brawl.

Now that things have been shook up a bit, this week the attention turns to a much bigger battle: the Rookies trying to upstage the Veteran alliance that has controlled this game from the get-go. The agents will face the deep seas in the week's daily entitled, "Dive Bomb," and where it is also the fitting title for one rookie's bold plan to finally detonate that stronghold. For one who has certainly proved that there is more to her than being just a defending champ, she is looking at risking it all for the chance to get even as a vendetta of hers is also considering going all-in as we near the season's midway point.

Join us after the break as DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week of Spies, Lies & Allies... and we'll also let you in on a now famous catch-phrase making its way to an art gallery. Join us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - Getting Shook in the Cage

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you back on this first Saturday of fall 2021, and as we are getting used to the sights of autumn taking over our neighborhoods, things are just starting to get a tidy bit serious in the world of the MTV Challenge as Spies, Lies & Allies has just run into its first bit of turbulence.

Last night on a Backtracked installment of our Challenge episode coverage, we brought you the agents embarking on a spin-o-rama as they rode atop rally cars for the true thrill of being movie stunt people. After Emmanuel & Kaycee took the win, things got wild: Emy dropped her single "Alien" to the patrons of Club Challenge, Kay and Nany had a dinner date, and Josh & Esther got it on. But then, things turned a bit out of control: a promising alliance that had already got down the toilet turned a bit more sour: something a bit unusual but familiar to Challenge Nation spurred some ill will.

There, the second installment of Pizza-Gate went down when, while the agents had those boxes of Italian pie, sauce & toppings, Cory & Tori decided to stir the pot and fuel the flames of disconnect that had broken apart the bond of Amber, Fessy & Josh... and leading to a fight with the ladder two. And as we return to Croatia, things have gotten out of hand and it may lead to huge consequences that could shake up the game as it is right now. Her fellow defending champ is also finding himself at a crossroads in regards to his partner, just as last week's star figure is plotting plans of her own before a twist on a classic elimination greets them at the Lair.

After the jump, DCBLOG brings you the second half of this DCBLOG Challenge SocialPulse doubleheader -- and you didn't have to wait seven days for that. Thanks for joining us again...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Alien"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

 BACKTRACKED EDITION  

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We have reached the last weekend of September, which means that we're about three-quarters' of a way through this year... but we're also into the first weekend of fall/autumn -- just don't say to us out west as our summer vibes just keep on going here. But it does mean that a change of seasons is taking place in reality land... and MTV's The Challenge just keeps on going with Spies, Lies & Allies.

If you have been following the season, then you know that this has been dominated by the vet alliance as they've been controlling things in Croatia in picking off as many of the rookies as they can. And last time we were in this house, the challengers maneuvered their way through a minefield of obstacles that turned out to be their toughest daily so far... and its grueling nature saw Aneesa get medevac'd by a separated shoulder as CT & Berna took Agency status. And Logan was the top rookie of week 5 by way of taking down Gabo in the Lair and winning over Big T. in the house beforehand.

And as we reach just about the one-third pole of our stay in Croatia, maybe it's just about time that the agents be taken for a ride... and as Week 6 takes shape they will find themselves going for a spin to solve a puzzle and will leave them feeling dizzy once they get off a spinning automobile. But the real action takes place in the house itself, where both a secret hookup and a candlelight date become the talk of the town. That is, until something a bit unusual but familiar to the fandom goes down after hours: a stolen pizza and simmering tension among a broken alliance turns into something much more.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you the first half of a weekend Challenge SocialPulse doubleheader as we bring you the action, reaction & interaction of Episode 6 of Spies, Lies & Allies and a few other things. And after all that, we'll have a first look at a holiday stocking-stuffer: building blocks featuring one of Challenge Nation's biggest alumni. And welcome to the weekend...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Good Vibes & Gladiator"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

 BACKTRACKED EDITION  

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

 On the meteorological front, this is the official last weekend of summer 2021... but fall is already in the air when it comes to things we're used to this time of year: football returning, the leaves starting to come down from the sky in some places of our country, and in TV land the big premieres waiting for us. And we are a month into Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge, as Spies, Lies & Allies enters month #2.

When we last left the nation of Croatia on here, one person was on the mind of everyone: the one who came in to replace Lauren in Week 2 as the season's other replacement, but yet finding herself at the bottom of the totem pole in her own alliance despite the fact that she came in as part of the winning duo on Double Agents. But after what happened in the week 4 lair, it's very much clear that Amber is the real deal, winning that with Hughie over Corey in a heated battle among the two male LGBT rookies of this class, all after a mission that saw things get testy with Kyle and Devin.

As the second month of this season begins, the agents will find themselves playing in the mud as they have to maneuver through a "Mindfield" of obstacles in having to utilize both their brains and brawn with agency seats up for grabs, but it may claim one of the players before the final horn blows. Two rookies may find themselves in a precarious spot of whether to make the season's first power move during a season that's seen those like them have to play with being the minority party in the house, while one other rookie may be looking for something much more.

We will have all the action, reaction and interaction to Episode 5 of Spies, Lies & Allies just ahead on here... but first after the jump, two big events to Team MTV and tragedy comes to another member of our Challenge family. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Messy"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

It's summer 2021's last weekend, and we're witnessing a change in season in the sports realm this first September's Sunday: college football is officially underway, NFL regular season rosters are being finalized, baseball's playoff races are coming into focus, soccer is hosting its first wave of international matches and rivalries here at home in MLS, golf determining its season-long PGA Tour Cup winner and the women playing for the Solheim Cup, and Tokyo is wrapping up its summer hosting the world and pulling off both a pandemic Olympics and Paralympics without a hitch. But as far as the fifth major pro sport is concerned, MTV's The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies is reaching the first month marker in Croatia.

If one thing has been clear these first three weeks, then it's been clear that the veterans are the ones in charge and the rookies have to play by their rules. Last week saw more than what the first-timers got to handle when a diving challenge saw Tommy suffer a concussion and get medically evacuated from Europe, while Ed carried momentum from his Week 2 elimination win with winning the week 3 daily with Tori. However, it's the actions of his partner that had fans scratching their heads and certainly had an entire nation & a rookie's fandom go for her head when Tacha succumbed to Berna in the Lair.

Whenever you watch this show there always seems to be moments, like what happened last week, when messy gameplay becomes all that more magnified. This week, the players will use decoding above the water and on the ground to determine who becomes the Agency, and it's what happens there that might test one of this game's closest bonds. For the one who came in as the other replacement to this game, she finds herself underestimated in her original show's own alliance despite her winning it all last spring... and it's only if she has a good week that our defending champ will prove her worth -- perhaps even turn things upside down. And the same could be true for two rookies who are playing for a lot more.

After the break on this last Sunday without an NFL game for the next six months (but with a juicy one with Florida State and Notre Dame tonight), DCBLOG brings you the SocialPulse of Week 4 of The Challenge 37... and afterwards, we'll meet the newest member of Challenge Nation to say "yes" to an engagement ring. Thanks for spending part of your Labor Day weekend with us...

Who Are These Newbies? - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - The Ed Show

*** CAUTION: This Post Contains Spoilers for Those Who Haven't Caught Up with Watching This Season So Far, Please Read with Caution Below. Videos Embedded in This Post Contain Adult Language... Parental Guidance is Suggested. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Whenever we begin each season of our wall-to-wall Challenge coverage, DCBLOG has devoted time, effort and resources to answering the question on the minds of our readers and the Challenge Nation fandom: "Who Are These Newbies?". But this cycle began inauspiciously on here: this site's editor in chief (me) was so caught up in Olympic fever and marking his aunt's 80th birthday that he had to push back the weekly offerings of SocialPulse -- our raw, unedited timeline of the social media episode buzz, by one week to devote time to our seasonal introduction to each & every Challenge rookie competing before kicking off episode coverage -- seventeen of them in all to begin Spies, Lies & Allies.

Now that we're through three weeks in Croatia, we have some clarity on who has shone so far and who hasn't, and the premise that rings true in any season is becoming more clear - and you probably know what that is if you have been following it. But when we did our 3-part series on the Season 37 Newbies, as it turned out it was not the end of that, and it always brings into the equation something that is always on the minds of producers when it comes to doing these shows. Whenever someone gets injured earlier on and can't go forward in the competition (or as in recent cases, someone returning a positive COVID test), there are competitors available on standby to replace them... hence, the continuation with a part 4.

It's with this in mind that, for the first time in the eight years of our DCBLOG MTV coverage, a whole installment of Who Are These Newbies? will be devoted solely to one person... and that status of standing out among the rest fits the personality of the man who comes into Spies, Lies & Allies as its eighteenth rookie and its only one who made the flight here as a replacement. And considering how things have transpired this first month in Croatia, Ed Eason has put himself as early season front-runner for Rookie of the Year... and his road to becoming the most exuberant first-time competitor in this crop of newcomers is much more than just bringing the energy of a youngster to the fifth major pro sport.

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Truce or Dare"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

This is the last weekend of August 2021, and we got just one more week to savor of, to an extent, our first summer of normalcy in two years -- and that includes yours truly getting to mark my nephew's 12th birthday on this summer's Saturday. But the nicer things are now getting into full swing: college football kicking off today as the NFL is into its last week of its preseason, football of the global kind getting shook by Cristiano Ronaldo's shock return to Manchester United, and Season 37 of MTV's The Challenge also getting underway in Europe.

The first two weeks has been dominated by one thing: the premise that those who have done this game before being in control, and the rookies having to go by that rule of the land - just as it always is in Challenge Nation. And last week, the challengers went for a ride aboard a helicopter for a heist that saw not only action in the air, but also on the ground when Lauren's withdrawal prior to it saw Amber B. come in to replace her months after winning Double Agents. Even with that, the rookie crew couldn't manage to crack that vets' stronghold in Croatia, just as a love triangle dominated the house buzz involving Nelson, Ashley and Berna.

And at that second elimination, another replacement - Ed - teamed with an Emy who was spent at the daily to excuse Tracy & Kelz in the Lair... and whenever you win in that arena, you'd usually gain a bit of momentum in this game. Well, this week he and partner Tori will try to take the season's first mission to involve anything related to the water, and the task of having to dive in that H2O may be as harder as it seems. And something that's also hard to overlook, the fact that the vets have the upper hand, and the truce that's kept things in tact may be challenged when a desire for revenge gets to one of the agents, while another may find themselves in the hotseat over which side they favor in the house.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you the Challenge SocialPulse of Week 3 of Spies, Lies & Allies, as well as what one of the players are planning to do for their autumn ahead. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse - The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies - "Bertha"

*** Advisory: #DCSocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content and spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're viewing this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Welcome back on this Sunday, and the last weekend without a meaningful football game to be played until the month of February when college football returns. And MTV's The Challenge has just returned from its relatively short summer vacation as Spies, Lies & Allies is now underway in the nation of Croatia as the other multi-national competition after the events in Tokyo.

Yesterday on here (a result of various factors), we at DCBLOG brought you the 'Pulse of the premiere: thirty-four competitors in all began the competition in the heat and ended as seventeen pairs of American & international agents. But one of them would not make it to that night's elimination as Nam was deemed unfit to continue and was replaced... and another one, Michaela of the same Survivor season that gave us Jay S., brought out a list -- and that proved to be her undoing in the game as she was the first one eliminated in an all-rookie battle with her & Renan going home to Corey L. & Michele.

That one who replaced Nam is Ed of The Circle, and as a replacement who came to this game late he will have to get his bearings straight, but also brings with him the kind of exuberant energy this game needs. And this week, he and the competitors are taking to an airport tarmac for a heist-style challenge -- but they don't know that someone else is accompanying TJ Lavin to join in on the festivities. There's also some love in the air as a love triangle stirs up some feelings in the house and at the club, and could a choice be a crack in the veterans' alliance at the elimination chamber?

Just ahead, our opening weekend doubleheader continues with all the reaction to Week 2 of Spies, Lies & Allies... and after the diary, some bad news for a Challenge finalist who had eyes on joining fellow Champs vs. Stars alumni at next year's Winter Olympics. Thanks for joining us again...