BY DC CUEVA
■ @DC408Dxtr @ TW / IG / YT
We'll recap last week's episode for you ahead, plus we'll have more on the momentum Mr. Two Kids has garnered since he got an expected second chance last season, which he has taken advantage of. And on the day after Music's Biggest Night, on ExtraTime we'll share with you the meeting of a six-time champion and a man who just returned to the top of the victory podium earlier this month, with one of music's top-charting artists. Stick around for that and baby news straight ahead.
THINGS TO KNOW
● GIRLS BATTLE: We begin with the girls up for the cut in their first elimination: after Melissa suffered a scrape to her foot the previous week, the Troika opts for Kam, Alicia and Kayleigh to be the three girls up for elimination. Tension is razor thin with them and the Troika of Devin, Natalie and Bananas at the Inquisition, with the BB alum admitting to voting Kam into the dinner table. However, all points appear to go towards her vendetta, Alicia, going in based on the fact that she has no ties to the game whatsoever. The Troika then stays true to their word and unanimously votes in Alicia, and she faces Mel in a matchup where they would create a chain ladder by using metal pipes to eventually climb to the top where a bell signifies their return to the game. In a relative snoozer compared to if the guys had to do this game, the Brit takes out the win.
● PIZZA & #BRADITNI: Understandably, the one who wanted Mel to win was Nicole, and they spend some time in bed together after her win. The next day, pizza gets delivered to the house for dinner -- no word on whether Nilsa from Floribama Shore phoned in their order -- and it turns out to cause some drama. Marie decides to grab a whole box of the good stuff like a good delivery person and puts it in her room so her roommates can have it later, and grabs a slice too. Brad is awakened by her antics and yells at 'Ri for being a bit selfish. It then gets into a bit more dramatic than it should be, and this causes some talk among some in the house that because of him going through all this it's best that they should do whatever they can to break up Brad & Britni. Then when the ladder decides to get it on with the vet, Marie grabs the remaining pizza boxes and disrupt the couple's session. The jarring begins with 'Ri and Brad and it becomes tough to watch.
● TONY TIME: For the week's challenge, the competitors engage in FOOD WARS: a hybrid of trivia with an eating competition with eight teams having to answer a question, and whomever gets the question right having to force the other teams to eat gross food. The questions posed include of what city is Spain's capital - which is Madrid, and of who is judged to be the worst boyfriend - which is Tony. He becomes discouraged that his past is being made into a trivia question, but instead of going off on someone he instead decides to let his mouth do the talking without actually speaking.
Of course, that would be of him eating some food, and in Round 1 he is the only one to finish a plate that consists of a block of rotten cheese. In the next round, he responds to being named worst boyfriend by deciding to again go and eat, and it's more easier in some marshmallows which he beats Leroy to the punch. And in the last round, his teammates Marie and Zach decide to again put in their money man as Tony faces Cara Maria in having to eat a bowl of mayonnaise... and despite him gagging he does edge out Cara to take the win for their team, and they thus become the Troika for this coming week's elimination.
As there's a five-way tie for last place, Tony, Zach and Marie are forced to pick a last place team, who in turn will be put on the spot to nominate someone in to elimination. Tony's two Vendettas in Brad and Sylvia are in a tea with Joss and it's no surprise that he chooses them. The most surprising move comes from Brad, who reluctantly votes Sylvia in to try and save himself from the Ring, which causes a strain with Syl after she volunteered to eat in that challenge, and they have now voted her in -- which may put his budding relationship with Britni into jeopardy. And speaking of Mr. Two Kids...
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ENDGAME
TONY'S STRONG PROGRESS
As we all know, his ride through the Real World and into now his fifth Challenge has been well documented, both on TV and in the social realm. This is the same Tony who we saw fall in love in Chicago, the one who we saw get into a fistfight with his brother before their first challenge, and the same one who we saw get into a fight with and then kiss the least-liked Challenge girl ever, which in turn saw him cheat on his girlfriend back home. But this is also the same Tony who recovered from surprisingly losing in an early elimination last summer, only for a gift from above in the Redemption House to give him a second chance, and almost got him into the final. And of course, this is the same Tony who is also a daddy to not one, but two baby girls.
Let's make this known here that he will be awarded one of my 2017 Reality Awards honors when they're presented in conjunction with next week's Reality Debrief. But for someone who has been up and down over the years, what we saw from him this past week will definitely tell you that Tony is now focused on making another deep run to a final like he did last year on Season XXX, and he's very serious about that. Given the responsibilities of being a father at this stage of his life, he has made strides in that duty and that has translated into him doing his best to move on from the habits he's had in the past. Of course, not everyone is perfect... but we won't elaborate on that here this time.
Since he lost to Ammo in that early elimination, a lot of us wondered if he would still be doing Challenges or just turning his focus to being a dad. He opted for the former and though in the short term it would've been a bad choice, long term this might be a wise move, knowing that if he won money, he would set his babies' future in motion. But it was him in Redemption that gave him another shot, and he took advantage of that in sending home Darrell, then won both an individual and team mission -- his first two wins, won an elimination, partnered with Hunter, pulled a Double Cross late in the game, and made it not only past the halfway mark but also all the way to the end and nearly went to the final.
Tony almost cashing last season surprised everyone and gave him some strong confidence going into this season. He was safe in the first three challenges here, which then led to him absolutely killing it this past week. Him being able to get through cheese, marshmallows and mayo like a pro, and Thor & 'Ri relying on him to get the job done, has to be one of his most satisfying moments yet. Through this first month, he hasn't been in much drama, which echoes the Tony on Invasion who came out of that unscathed, other than creating the vendetta with. He came here looking to take advantage of the late momentum he garnered there which he hopes will translate into going into a final. So far, he's been fine, but after what we saw here, this makes him a legit competitor. He should be someone to keep an eye out for here, and it'll be telling to see what his political game will be having this power tomorrow.
As we always like to say here, momentum is your friend on The Challenge, AYTO or on any other reality competition show for that matter. Any time someone does something awesome, chances are that will lead to something big, and in having won three challenges and an elimination since he went into Redemption, this makes the case that Challenger Tony has truly arrived after some bumps in the road. For now, all's well in Tony's World.
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#DCExtraTime
BANANAS MEETS NICKELBACK
In the early '90s just two hours northwest of Calgary, Canada, Chad Kroeger, brothers Mike & Brandon, and friend Ryan Peake formed a cover band that performed songs from Led Zeppelin to Metallica in clubs throughout British Columbia. When Mike had a nickel in change that he frequently gave to customers at his day job at Starbucks, the name Nickelback eventually became the band's name. The band released two albums which sold well in their homeland, but it was their third one, Silver Side Up and its lead single "How You Remind Me" that vaulted them to worldwide status. And since then, Nickelback has remained one of Canada's most successful musical imports, having just released their latest album Feed the Machine last summer.
The band became the latest celebrity, or celebrities, to meet up with the one & only Johnny Bananas, and last week he and the group hung out together... proof in the SnapChat picture to your right, as he also captured them performing a private gig. That wasn't the only place where Bananas was spotted last week, as he also got to sit at the desk of the famous KTLA Morning News where he discussed Vendettas with the program's anchors, which is up on YouTube.
The band became the latest celebrity, or celebrities, to meet up with the one & only Johnny Bananas, and last week he and the group hung out together... proof in the SnapChat picture to your right, as he also captured them performing a private gig. That wasn't the only place where Bananas was spotted last week, as he also got to sit at the desk of the famous KTLA Morning News where he discussed Vendettas with the program's anchors, which is up on YouTube.
CONGRATS JASMINE... (AGAIN)
Finally, last year saw plenty of life-changers for many of our friends in the MTV community: new babies, engagements & wedding rings and much more. And after the bombshell Cory laid on us over the holidays of him revealing that he's a dad, we should have just as much good news in the course of the next 12 months, and this past week came the first new baby of the new year...On Friday, Real World Cancun roommate and multiple-times Challenger Jasmine Reynaud and her fiance welcomed her second child Leonardo... her Instagram caption announced, "Leonardo James-Lloyd Fougere 5lbs 14oz 18inches long entered the world at 11:51am! #proudparents @deanfougere we are so 😍😍😍😍😍💙💙💙💙." Our congrats go out to her.
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And that will wrap it up for this week. Just a couple podcasts of note to conclude...
● Last week, Challenge Mania with Derrick (@DerrickMTV) and Scott Yager (@AShotAtYager) was joined by Emily as she discussed Champs vs. Stars, an unblemished Challenge career and how the host had a hand in helping her take up CrossFit. Then, a longtime friend of the pod, Mark Long, joined them as they went down memory lane of The Challenge, among other things. Check out those interviews and so much more on Podbean and iTunes with Natalie and Shane coming up next week, and we also send Scott our congrats on him about to tie the knot with this fiance.
● And for fans of the addictive Siesta Key -- which we covered in our bonus ExtraTime on Friday on the cast meeting Afroman of "Because I Got High" fame, one of the parties in the fight that took place in last Monday's episode, Chloe, talked to Reality Life with Kate Casey about what went down that night in her bar, her dealing with the guys body shaming her last season, and all else from the guilty pleasure. Check out that interview on Art 19, plus Kate's chats with Gus from Floribama Shore and other figures from the reality TV world on her site.
With the usual reminder to bookmark this site and to ask that you help spread the word of this site by sharing these links on social media and telling your friends about us, this is the last full WRAP post for the next few weeks. With two major sporting events ready to take over much of my attention next month, our usual recap posts will be truncated a bit during the month of February while my focus shifts to the Winter Olympics with some posts on the big event to come next month.
Also next month - and next weekend in fact, DCBLOG will present our 2017 Reality Debrief year in review (yes it will be late, but better late than never), and we'll plan to have that up on Super Bowl Sunday, if not before the flame is lit in Korea. And if you have questions on 2017 in The Challenge, the three seasons of AYTO or other matters in the reality TV world last year, be sure to tweet your questions using the hashtag #AskDCBLOG on Twitter now until next week if you want me and Andrew Kirk to answer them in our FORUM Special.
For now, that is how we see it Inside the MTV Trifecta. See you tonight in the Key on DCNOW at @DC408DxNow, tomorrow for Vendettas, and here on Friday. Thanks and see you then.
- I AM DC
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