DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - The Second Half Begins

 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. Enjoy...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We have reached the 365th and last day of 2022... and if you are lucky to get to the finish line of this year like yours truly & his family, then pat yourself on the back -- we're all still here. And when it comes to where things stand in our main focus of this winter on this site of MTV's The Challenge, in the calendar of this site it is the halfway point of Ride or Dies, Season 38.

Last we talked to you on here back last weekend on Christmas Day, we offered a holiday present of covering two episodes on the same Sunday. First, we covered the latest instance of an airport tarmac and high-fliers taking to the skies on this show, and a choice which tested the loyalties of one Nelson as he went for friendship (a mended one, at least) with Feysal over a budding relationship with Olivia when it came to saving someone in the draw. And then, we reached the season's halfway marker with a grueling mini-final that combined endurance with carrying lots of weight... and it gave the aforementioned Big Brother & his Ride or Die not only week 9 power, but something much more.

It wouldn't be a Challenge without a midseason twist, and he & Moriah were split up into two teams that will face off against one another the rest of the way. And now that they are on opposite sides, it will now give another dimension to this season testing the loyalty and friendship of each of our teams... and it will also give another test to the pair that, though they weren't paired up to begin with, were the most high profile couple just a few short years ago -- just add the Ride or Die of one of the aforementioned people above to spice things up. And a movie that's lost in all the buzz surrounding the Avatar sequel plays a sponsoring role in the first daily of this second half: a good-old grudge match above the water -- but it's the stars of Puss & Boots that take co-headlining status along with the challengers.

After the break, DCBLOG rings out the old year with our ninety-third & final post of 2022 as we bring you the 'Pulse of Week 10 of The Challenge: Ride or Dies... and Happy New Year!

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - At The Halfway Point

 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. Enjoy...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We welcome you back on this Christmas Sunday... and wherever you are, we hope you enjoyed this day with family and got to stay warm, too. We hope you're having a good weekend -- and most of you have tomorrow off for the observed Christmas Monday... and this year we're also in the same boat as our friends in the U.K. & Australia as it's already Boxing Day (no, the fighting sport is not what they're celebrating overseas, it's their nations' equivalent of Black Friday). But wherever you are, we're set to round off Christmas Day here with DCBLOG's continuing coverage of The MTV Challenge.

Earlier today, we picked things back up in our coverage of Ride or Dies with Week 8... and we saw everyone celebrate Johnny Bananas' 40th birthday and then take to the tarmac for a ride aboard some 18-wheelers. But the big figure of the week was one Nelson Thomas: if he thought that just choosing perfect matches on his very first MTV show in Season 3 of Are You The One? was tough, then that experience didn't prepare him for the choice he had to make in holding the choice of whether to stay loyal to Fessy or to save his crush Olivia... he opted for the former, but she stayed in the game anyway as she & Horacio took out the hat trick in their third elimination win, taking down Jay & Michele.

It has become a fact of life around here that something explosive will happen whenever we get to the halfway point of any Challenge season... that is the case as we return to Argentina -- and here, it's two instances. First, there is the true test of which teams are best capable of handling those two days of hell known as the last Challenge... and a mini-final will see the teams carry weight and endure endurance in the middle of nowhere. There's also both good and bad news: no one will be eliminated this week... but this is also the last week that the pairs will be together -- and whoever wins in this daily will be front and center in a midseason draft to determine who will be on two teams opposing each other. And there's also the latest episode in the saga that is #Torgan... another Challenge joining in on that soap opera.

After the break on the DCBLOG Challenge Pulse, we reach the halfway point of The Challenge: Ride or Dies and Week 9 in Argentina. And if you're staying up for this here on this late night, welcome back.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - "Born to Ride or Die"

 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. Enjoy...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Merry Christmas to all of you out there in the blogosphere... we hope you're staying safe and warm after the huge blizzard that hit most of the country on this long Christmas weekend (it's not the case if you live in California, Florida or elsewhere that didn't get that dusting of snow, but we can take the sunshine any day). And what did Santa DC bring to all of you on this DCBLOG website on this Sunday Funday Christmas? We have a slew of Challenge posts to bring you as our gifts to all of you as we have plenty to offer from The MTV Challenge: Ride or Dies on here for your enjoyment.

When we last left Argentina in the timeline of this site -- and that's some eleven days ago on our calendar due to many matters including watching the host nation win the World Cup in dramatic fashion, we brought you not one, but two episodes being covered. Jay & Michele won a couple dailies during this game as well as an elimination, but the questionable choices they've made might put a target on their backs. We've also been privy to who might be the rookies of the year when we're all done in Olivia & Horacio in their elimination mastery... and two people who were part of that legendary Are You The One cast also found themselves right in the heart of things.

As we finally return to a nation still celebrating a week after that ultimate early Christmas present of a third World Cup and GOAT status for Lionel Messi, it's also a time of celebration for The Challenge's own GOAT: Bananas marks his 40th birthday in the big house once again. Our daily will bring the house to a runway... and that means it's time to strap in for a ride down the tarmac trying to maneuver your way on an 18-wheeler. A first half that's seen plenty of big moves might give one pair a tricky task of navigating through the crosshairs of various teams... but that pales in comparison to what goes down in the arena: one of those aforementioned figures might have to pick between friendship, love and playing smart... and he thought picking someone at a Matchup Ceremony was harder than this.

After the break, we bring you back to The Challenge as DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of Week 8 of Ride or Dies... and after the journal, some analysis from this show's biggest fan at a certain four-lettered 800-pound gorilla. And welcome back, Challenge Nation -- and Merry Christmas.

DC ExtraTime: Welcome to Christmas at Tyler’s

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

Right now as we watch Devin, Tori, Nelson and Nurys on The Challenge: Ride or Dies through the first two months-plus in Argentina, we can just marvel at how the first three have become big names on this show in the past half-dozen years, and how the ladder has quickly established herself in this year's rookie class. To the average fan within Challenge Nation, they might be just another group of four people in a world dominated by those who have been on this show longer than them... but to us, we have a better appreciation of them because of the fact that DCBLOG keeps an eye on the whole MTV world.

We have the unique distinction of having covered the entire MTV journeys of those four people above from the very beginning: they all began as those looking for love on Are You The One? -- and where three of those four above also went onto Ex On The Beach. We have seen through the entire journey of MTV's first foray into the current romantic reality craze both here at home and abroad, and when we get settled in the new year we'll be dusting off that matchup chart as the first season of AYTO since 2019 heads to Paramount+. And Season 9 will see new pairs of lovers try to find love inside the Truth Booth, and with a familiar face in Catfish's Kamie Crawford taking over as host when it debuts on January 18th.

Back on Christmas Day two years ago tomorrow, we took a look back at where it all began for AYTO when alumni of the first two seasons got together virtually on Instagram Live and Zoom to reminisce on that memorable experience of coming in single, coming out of it with a share of $1 million, and giving us so many memorable moments -- which became possible when their seasons joined the Netflix lineup. But one person was too busy to join them for that holiday party... and as it turns out, our subject was busy with another tradition of this year's last two months -- and it's one that's everywhere right now.

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge Ride or Dies - A November's Double Shot

 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. Enjoy...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

And so, we welcome you back Inside MTV Reality at DCBLOG... and if we haven't spoken to you in a bit, a happy holiday season to you and yours. I was busy over the past month marking my dad's birthday on Thanksgiving with family, and doing a charity fundraiser that raised $500... and my family just caught the cold bug. That's why we've been off the mark on here since we last talked to you on Thanksgiving, but now we're set to get back to covering all the dealings in Challenge Nation.

It has been almost a full month since we covered the current season of Ride or Dies... and when we last left Argentina back on my birthday, for a moment at least to begin Week 5 it seemed that we were at the When We Were Young festival by the sights of seeing everyone wearing 90's emo styles. But a budding friendship that came about with Jay and Jakk soon became a thing of the past when they were at the heart of a big betrayal that came about when the former was in power and the ladder being paired with a certain champion beast... and we also saw further proof of how much a three-time champion is still valued in this new age.

And aside from a grueling swimming daily and arena, the effects of what happened there are spilling into what we'll be covering here of the next two weeks of this season: their questionable choices may see the Survivor team have to earn their way through the rest of the game, while one-half of the early favorites for Rookies of the Year may feel the charm of that elimination beast... and one other player may have to look for someone else to get cuddly with when it comes to cuffing season. And this doesn't factor in the game itself, where two from the same legendary MTV grad class may also find themselves in the heart of it all... and what would any Challenge be without a blindside that leads to a big elimination battle?

Just ahead, it's a mid-autumn night's double shot as DCBLOG brings you the 'Pulse of episodes 6 and 7 of The Challenge: Ride or Dies... and all the Twitter buzz from them. And we also have an additional note to share with you on here, which we will explain after the break...

DC FORUM: Welcome to December

A Word from The Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

And so, we bring you into the month of December around here.... and if we haven't spoken to you that much in the past few weeks, then we wish for you and yours our very best for this holiday season. We know that this has been quite the year... and for us in my family that has truly been the case, and if you have noticed why things have been light around here over the past several months, then you'll know why I have taken time away from this site for that reason.

Over the course of the past month, I have laid off as far as my online activity has been concerned to take advantage of spending as much time as I can to spend with family as we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with most of my relatives... it also happened to be my late father's birthday. Understandably things have not felt quite the same since he passed away back over the summer, and I have taken on the role of being the man of the house in helping out as much as I can with my mom, aunt and brother... and with my sister, her husband and their kids whenever they come over here. And as I speak to you on here right now, we also caught the cold bug... we are extremely aware of the current health situation as it stands as we are taking it easy, although it's not as serious as what many are going through right now.

We continue to be in a state of mourning some six months after my dad's death, as my mom has made daily visits to his gravesite and done nightly vigils for him. But this past month from when I marked my birthday back on November 13th to until the first weekend of this month, I got to do something I've never done before in paying it forward and holding my first-ever charity fundraiser on Facebook and Instagram for my inner circle. The efforts I made to put out the word to everyone in our family saw that appeal raise $500 to benefit the American Cancer Society... and I plan on doing another one of these around the one-year anniversary of his passing next summer.

It's with all of this in mind (plus problems with our home internet) that I have been well behind in DCBLOG's usually timely coverage of the fall 2022 MTV cycle, being headlined by The Challenge: Ride or Dies. Usually, content like the weekly episode Pulse and the ExtraTime series would go out in a timely manner... but because of the various things that have been happening to me off of this site (and the DC YouTube page) it has not been the case during this year. Not that anyone out there would mind because of the low-key nature of how things operate around here, but if you're a loyal viewer of this site then please accept my apologies in the slow nature of getting these posts out to all of you.

A serendipity to all of this is that this month should be quite busy with plenty of episode coverage, stories, the second part of "Who Are These Newbies?" for Ride or Dies, our first look at the first new cast in four years of a show we've covered from day 1, and other matters... and that is just for this site alone. This doesn't even put into account the DC YouTube site, as the Coast to Coast: Disneyland series is just underway... and you can look forward to plenty of holiday cheer there and on here. And we'll see you here this weekend.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG