The Challenge 40: Episode 16 Discussion

0:00 A [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome back to the nullify Tech Channel on YouTube where Kahuna and I have got the TNT takes for you on the challenge episode 16 I'm your host Chris and Kahuna this is officially the last podcast that we're going to be doing in 2024 at least the two of us being on a podcast together because I am about to Jet off

1:20 In a couple of days from today to go to South Africa for a welld deserved break I did say last week for those that were listening that we will be doing a finale recap of the last couple of episodes together if we do have a finale while I'm in South Africa we'll do that when I come back or if for any reason they do end up now that there's a location change they try and reset the show there's a couple of extra episodes maybe there's a redemption house none of us knew about you know in the episode the season prolongs by another couple episodes there won't be an episode next week right I don't know I actually don't know when is when's Christmas day Christmas Day is on the 2th so yeah so there shouldn't be an episode next week and then the next week is New Year's Eve or something like that on new day or something are they gonna play they might take a break with you mate I don't know I haven't looked at the schedule but I can't imagine they play an episode on Christmas Day itself yeah I've got no idea but the scheduling was done poorly for people who do want to go on a break and just have a break will be a twoe break according to covered mate I should have said nothing everybody all the live audience of takes no breaks yeah

2:41 I should have said nothing people would have thought that we just planned it that way but no that though it's too late for that now there's this is the problem with live podcasts it's recorded for two weeks in a row that I said I'm taking a break no matter what I don't care I'll come back I love the live audience I love the nullified take fans but I need a break it's been a long year but you know looking back at it Kahuna it's two years of us doing this together I feel like you know we started about two years together you and I on the challenge right yeah it's gone quick it's gone very quick what a what a trip what a ride what a ride what right and here's to two here's to two more years of us talking about the challenge hopefully the challenge doesn't go downhill season after season so that it becomes a bit of a chore to talk about it but I have had fun and I think of all the seasons to talk about season 40 has been the season to talk about with all of the Heavy Hitters that we've had but this episode potentially hasn't been the episode of the season to talk about for me personally I kind of felt a bit flat on this episode flat in that I think it was it was fairly on Rails there wasn't a lot of drama there wasn't a lot of variance there's no room to move anymore there's you can only pick three out of four people one

4:01 Person's safe like there's not a lot they can actually do so the format that has I think has made the season really great I praise the format they've chosen this year one of the things we love and lo about the challenge is that they do vary it and change the format up so much that you can get diamonds you can get rocks this season has definitely been Diamond but I think one of the symptoms or the side effects that I'm happy to put up with is that at least in the last two episodes when it's right up and seal the precipice it does get a little bit predictable but having said that if it means that we get to have a final with bananas Jordan K Maria Tori well I don't know yet about K maror Etc we still got another women's one potentially but to have this many like you said Heavy Hitters still in the game I praise the format for allowing them to work within that and obviously there's a lot of there's a lot of the players as well right like we've said how well bananas is playing how tor's dominating Jordan's playing a great under the radar game all that sort of thing they're definitely a part of it but the format has allowed these good players to be good and not get dominated by one Alliance blah so there's definitely some really good things to

5:22 The format that means I think this is one of the side effects that it does get a little bit boring when you have 20 it's not it's not unique to this season let's be fair the normal main MTV Challenge seasons do drag on towards the end of the season where they've finally taken out all of the cannon fter and they get towards the end and then it kind of drags a little bit sometimes I just think it's the show is kind of it's like a Dying Breed when it comes to churning out 20 episodes a season most shows these days don't hold people's attention for 20 episodes like you can only get 10 or be in Australia yeah in Australia like that's probably why you don't mind it as much because you're like so battle hardened by reality TV in Australia I will never get used to the 24 episode format reality TV shows I'm too used to 10 episodes 12 episodes like that's kind of I'm All About Quality Soft Chris quality instead of quantity no the problem for me is I got better things to do with my time I got honestly we a nation and a generation I'm not sure if your recency in Australia has really painted do you know about neighbors and home and

6:42 Away right we are both in New Zealand as well and an entire nation raised on watching five nights a week that show was on like for 40 years they just like we just like go back to it like you're traumatized by Survivor but as far as our weekly big shows go like that's lightweight like M Master Chef the block like the block at one point I think was doing four to five episodes a week and some of them were yeah an hour and a half or whatever like they got up to 50 episode counts and stuff like that you know like yeah it's crazy I never want to change I never want to change I never want to get used to that I have been enjoying the beautiful summer weather that we've got over in Melbourne right now I'm spending a lot of time on the beach I'm going for swims I'm going for hikes like there's so much more to see outside of TV like you know so for me if I'm going to watch episodes it has to be quality it has to be quality so when it drags out towards the end I don't mind watching 50 episodes of riveting TV but if it's starting to slow down then I'm not all in I'm not putting my rubber stamp of approval on that one and for me like I said hey I'm being very critical there are some things we can talk about in this episode like for instance we thought that there was no game left but Jenny tried

8:03 To squeeze some game in right at the dead death of this season trying to put the squeeze on Derek to try and keep his out of being a Target this week and I've just got to say Bravo Jen beautiful strategic work here at the end of the season hats off to her for trying at least Kahuna hats off you got to take your shot but like Derek said like read the room like the like that was years ago in challenge time like you know what I mean like moves quickly in the in the challenge World she's like hey remember that thing I did like and I had the flashback where Theo walked in like what are you talking about like it's you know Derek starts what have you done for me lately like reason cbias is huge and they're just not there recently like yeah you know you can say you helped whatever but what about what have you done since then like there's been legitimately factions going against each other like that's a hard barrier to overcome because you did a favor six weeks ago yeah no I totally agree I think she was way too late to the game here you can't fault her for trying at least I mean if she didn't try and she just sat

9:23 There and she was a woolflower we would have criticized her for that as well so well done for at least trying to yeah to cash in on the favor that you gave earlier in the season but obviously with both Michelle and Cara Maria being such close allies of Derek this season there was never going to be any world where he was going to backstab them this lateer in the game I mean you also have to understand Derek the player who does seem loyal to the soil when it comes to himself as a player let's see what other people are saying here you two bigat says that they are doing it at the right time this week will be the last female elimination two weeks off and finale and reunion after that bloody money is back in the live welcome to the live bloody money saying do you guys think the episode lost its drama an entertainment Factor I think it did for me but it's just like we've been sort of going on about it here for the first 10 minutes and I think Kahuna already summarized it really well is that we're at the end of the season we're running out of bodies the table has been set allegiances have been sort of set a motion and this is one thing you know to be fair I always criticize the CH Survivor and I compare it to the challenge and the challenge is normally better than Survivor and innovating but Survivor I think is better at closing Seasons

10:43 Out like the last six gets exciting in Survivor and normally it's just one big episode to get through the last couple of votes that helps I know this season is different I haven't been watching I'm about three episodes two episodes behind on Survivor I will catch up at some stage I'll catch up at some stage but at this stage I haven't felt the urge to catch up on it as of yet bloody money is saying Christ Kahuna how in the hell is Jordan able to skate in this game why does everyone Target Jordan and send him home I think we spoke about this bloody money in depth in our previous episode but we said that Jordan makes it look easy and the challenge editors are not good at editing sometimes a really subtle game and I think that Jordan you say skate I say let's applaud The Genius of Jordan for being able to keep himself out of an elimination let's applaud the fact that he has played a superior strategic game this season where he's made friends with the right people to keep him out of an elimination obviously he's got the aura obviously you don't want to throw him in too early obviously he can come back and potentially do some damage to your game if you did take a shot at him I mean look at what happened to Michelle and banana for a while there they were going back and forth like Ping Pong throwing each other in and out

12:03 Of the arena and Jordan has been able to keep sort of clear of all of that and I think that having bananas there as a shield has aided Jordan in this game you know kuna if bananas did go home earlier in the season I think that Jordan would have automatically become the next Target that people would have aimed for but bananas has led as long as he has he's been a Target that no one has sort of been able to get out of the game it's another point in his like resume right like that like when we're talking about the likes of Jordan how does he do that he shouldn't be able to like how the hell is bananas like that's just part of what makes them the goats of the game like the fact that they're even still here and not Target immediately like you know like well not immediately because as we said strategically at the most earliest possible convenient time then you know but it's because yeah the way they play the game socially their reputation their Aura as you say whatever it is like mix it all up together and it becomes a very intimidating for one side very something that you want to Cozy up to as well I would imagine like if I was in the game guess who I want to be friends with in this game Jordan like yeah you know as far as having someone protect you who can win dailies and all that sort of thing like I'd

13:24 Love to have Jordan on my side to help me if you're on a team whatever it is like Jordan's he's a dick but he wins like you know what I mean like you want him there so he's got to carry a little bit of that woman especially as a female competitor where you may have to pair up with someone Jordan would be a great partner to have at the end he's someone that could win a lot that could throw you in or keep you safe when he wins dieses and you're a target maybe he looks out for you I mean Rachel wanted to align with Jordan early in the season for a reason YouTu bat says if it was Jenny asking Josh he would do it and then s multiple people's game in the process I think it's probably the only person who potentially would have done it do it yeah and then Britany says good morning I like the episode because I cared about the outcome I like both Corey and Derek and we will talk about the Cory Derek Showdown I do like them both as well Derek has grown on me a lot this season Cory I felt I felt sad for I was slightly leaning towards wanting Cory to win this like I'm solid team Cor said corny team Cory solid team Young Buck at the moment I really just enjoy Cory as a as a competitor on the challenge he's won me over so much over the last couple of Seasons that I may be his number one fan now the nullify take is

14:44 A massive stand channel for Corey but Derek as well I mean I G say about Cory though yeah as much as I have come over as well I'm a big core fan my thing is still correct right he hasn't won yeah but your thinging is incorrect like the reason you've always been incorrect is you've said statistically he's one of the worst challenges of all time not this the specific statistic is the number of Seasons he's going to do yeah come back number of times and he's going to approach Leroy was 13 14 Seasons no chip yeah like Cory's gonna pass that yeah but you've got but you've got to change you've got to change what you say with you could say he statis Bally said it for a long time now Chris but you bring it up yeah but it's but the thing is that you specifically said that he was statistically the worst Challenger he's getting up there which I don't think is accurate I think that if you look at him like to get into a final to get second is not bad it should be applauded it is well done I should say statistically he's probably the best to never win right which is very different from being statistically the worst Challenger five finals from 10 seasons yeah bloody good to me it's a number of it's a number

16:04 There's going to come a time where Cory's going to win one I just feel it I feel Cory's going to win one and it's coming it's coming in the next two or three seasons I'm calling it you're hearing it here first life audience Cory is winning a challenge in the next two to three seasons and we're gonna this and we'll play this again I'll give you a challenge kylin wins before Cory do I get over and on this one you know what I'll take you on that bit I reckon yeah I reckon Cory the long term at least just to see we're g to see how it plays out I'll take you on this one I do think kyin is a machine he's not fully human but I also think his lack of as long as with swimming yes I think I think kin and Cory swimming against each other in a final is what we need to see Cory winning his chances of winning when Bearcat asked this who's going to send Jordan home I think every challenge that every elimination that Cory won this season he takes Jordan out in that yeah possible you know what I mean like they're tackling over the hay bale yeah like Jordan's quick but he's Jordan

17:24 I mean Cory's just as quick and he'll manhandle him the Derek one was the boxing glove thing in yeah he would he'd M him I think in a in a wrestle like it's like that and the boxing one with Derek I think that was I think he'd take Jordan in that too Jordan wouldn't be a layer a like a layover but I'm just saying I think I think Cory has the opportunity to take Jordan out in the right challenge like obviously Cory is able to be taken out in the right challenge right we're seeing that I don't think Jordan's unbeatable anything where Cory can really get his hands on him yeah it's possible I mean listen I am not going to be the person to doubt Jordan on this podcast like I think Jordan is on his way to becoming the goat if he wins this season arguably he's on his way to becoming the best of all time so I don't know how we can very confidently make that assessment I mean Jordan will take most people out in elimination but Corey is great I just think that everybody in the challenge world is sighing a big relief when they're hearing Jordan say that his dream is to be a race car driver which means he's probably not coming back to play Future Seasons because you know he might retire on a high the way things are going right now he may retire on a high here

18:44 This season I want to read a couple more comments that has come in Britany is saying right Jordan is not skating here is winning dailies or Tor is winning it's this it's his best social political game totally agree you be get I don't think we will be seeing Jordan for a long time his speech about searching all this time for his passion and he found it racing was his retirement spee I agree I think Jordan wins this season and he and he rides into the sunset as one of the best to ever do it like his name will be mentioned with bananas and C for a long time the only difference is that we're going to look at Jordan as the guy who retired on as high while CT and bananas will continue to play as they struggle more and more to win wi seasons in the future and potentially they'll cash in that paycheck right for the long term but Jordan will go away with an untarnished record I feel like he's going to go out on a high where the other two will eventually be that player that just holds on to fame for a little bit too long kuna I feel like if I had to call it yeah I mean for a lot of them you know we've wondered that about derell for a little while like CT there's been times where we go oh is that's not C that's not CT bananas has like

20:04 Broken that so many times he's the LeBron James in year 22 still putting up amazing numbers yeah he's not the best in the game anymore but the fact that he's even doing that at this age that's like Banana's thing he's still amazing his chances of beating Jordan at his Peak were always less his chances of beating Jordan now as he ages and gets older it's even like less and less and less so if it is a retirement as much as bananas would miss him he'd probably be like okay I got a shot now yeah most people most people do not want Jordan to still be playing this game let's see what other people are saying here youbad agrees with you says yes I agree kin will win before Cory utad also says I would love would have to see Jordan and Cory in the last elimination in the last elimination Jordan would have absolutely Mo the floor with him Jordan will also have mopped the floor with Derek bristy says YouTube beat he went through his girlfriend's phone and was posting his messages and then he was posting videos talking about hating and loving who are we talking about H something about CT yeah I'm not going to get into the CD drama stuff that's happening let's stay clear of that but yeah what a what a showdown we go into this daily kuna called fire plunge now the one thing

21:25 That stood out for me was man this produ crew must have had a really good working team out there to go and collect the car every single time I would have loved to have seen the they no definitely not like I'm being I'm they did 10 cars like that's pretty impressive like they would have done 10 cars I'm pretty there's no way can you imagine them every single time going in there to go fetch the car how long they wait the freaking wires and yeah cuz I was like it's pretty impressive they Mimi them as well though like they didn't have different colors and different Flames the same Flame the same green Wheels it made it look like the exact same car every time it was pretty good it was well done yeah and it was a fun I thought it was a fun challenge this is one of those challenges where I would love to be in it would feel like I'm in a James Bond movie or something you know living out my childhood dreams trying to figure out how to hotwire the car and the pressure would be no I can't say this even though I'm South African people would be like you know this guy's from South Africa he needs to know how to hot car so I'd feel the pressure of a whole nation to be out there trying to get it done you know but yeah like listen at the end of the day what a challenge it all came down to the swim and as soon as we knew it was the swimming challenge Wes is and there to give Jordan

22:45 A run for his money there's no Emily curn from The Challenge Australia to give him a challenge so Jordan was always going to win this and he looked pretty graceful doing it but every time I now see someone swimming I always think about Emily doing it in World Championship season in Australia and how it just looked like there was no movements she's just gliding through the water that's like that's world class Olympic level athlete like very different kind of you know like how carara Marie was saying how she's you know an average Joe swinger amongst Michael phelps's whereas Emily SE is literally a Michael philps like well not but yeah like Olympic gold medal swimmer it's a crazy comparison even can we talk about car since you brought up you would have noticed on the podcast I've been talking about Cara a lot less than usual and Cara is like everybody know my alltime favorite female challenger but it's been a while now car Maria since you've been doing the challenge and I just don't think it holds up anymore when you say I didn't grow up with a swimming pool and didn't have like if you can lift weights if you can do all this other stuff she didn't grow up with one but she's been pretty rich for a little while now

24:05 Like yeah I still love you cara but I'm just gonna say that excuse does not hold up anymore it does not hold up for me anymore not like it yeah you should not be quitting you should be I like Rachel's attitude she's like I don't get this at all like what she's joking out like Rachel's just freaking all about it she's like yeah this is Maria like what is this like she just it was so much disdain for her competitive or lack of competitive nature and I found that really what is that what are we seeing from Cara there I'm feeling very deflated I'm getting I'm getting quitter vibes from Cara Maria at the moment I'm getting real quitter vibes from her I don't like it I don't I don't like seeing like you know that my Superman is Mortal you know and it's not good to see Kahuna and I'm coming to realization that I'm going to call it I think car Maria goes home in the next elimination I just feel like this is not the car Maria that I know it's not the one with the fighting Spirit and maybe I'm being harsh doing a swimming challenge isn't necessarily her strength but it's also just the way that she needs Michelle to talk her up and we've been seeing it this whole season where it just feels like there's more than

25:25 Just the swimming there's things going on outside side of the swimming like I feel like she's lost her half this season and that she feels for some other reason inadequate against some of these competitors that she's going against right now against Jenny and Rachel who she's going to go up as targets against something feels off to me ker you know when a player just that their head's hanging when they're playing tennis they're looking at the record more than what they should trying to blame the record for the reason that they're not having a good spell that's what I'm getting from K Maria right now and I don't like it I don't like it at all I don't want to see this from K Maria yeah make some sense of it for me kuna look we forget that she was out of the game for five years was it five years a long time I don't know if it's five years maybe like three either way it was it was a Hiatus right yeah she came back for an Allstar season which is not the same level as even a normal season especially you know and then to have her first true season back be against what is admitt the strongest lineup to ever play the game yeah but you're looking at the same season you're looking at Rachel who's had 15 years off or something 20 years off from playing the game she came back for the same season she's playing her second season as well and she's dominating

26:46 She's just Leaps and Bounds ahead of Cara Maria right now so I don't know if you can use that excuse maybe it's because Cara Maria is not in the drama at the moment she doesn't have it back against the wall she's got some people that are backing her she's not in the game not dominating or anything like she hasn't been in the dominant alliances blah but she certainly hasn't been targeted like crazy as in the earli part of the Season or her all stars experience maybe she's just a little too comfy and cushy she likes having the sword of the neck kind of thing you know let's see some comment here of what people are saying it's maybe one of the reasons I Feel Love about this episode it just doesn't sit right with me to be honest with you youb cat said shocked that Michelle did not win for the women she swims so well Michelle is a good swimmer and I was shocked as well but we're gonna talk about Tori in a bit because we got to continue to love Tori on this podcast Tori is like the number one female this season without a doubt Britany is saying the daily looked awesome to do disappointed in car though she's been doing this for too long to be a bad this is what we're saying Britney you're in our you're in our heads and you're getting what we're talking about King cash is saying yes but the challenge has multiple Seasons with all star so he might

28:06 Find some time it's not like he was doing it every season anyway so talking about Jordan maybe not retiring Kara was acting like a baby this episode she's an adult she can afford to take some swimming lessons and some therapy sessions I don't know why you needed to throw in therapy sessions there you but Michelle talks yeah Britany is saying Rachel was so shady in this episode she was even kind of bitter that Tori won I like that the ladies are getting spicy yes the ladies definitely are getting spicy at the moment King cash is saying all Tori has to do is not come in last and I think she is in the final I think she's in the final already because yeah you're right if she comes in last she's in trouble yeah Cara's not in the game at all Papa and pen and penin saying maybe she's still dealing with Laurel's comments towards her at that time maybe it shocked her to her core and it messed stuff up we know that after the season her and paully looked like they had a break up for a bit as well like some stuff was going on that's all I'm saying like probably stuff we don't even understand and know anything about K is saying I feel like her motivation was beating Laurel and now that Laurel's gone her head isn't in it yeah and then Britney saying it as well I hate to say it but I think that once Laurel left Cara lost her fire it seems

29:26 Like she was more concerned with beating her than anything else so maybe she needed that fire in the game maybe she needed like she like previous Seasons when she played with Paulie both Tori and Jordan were her enemies and now tor's become her friend she doesn't have that person that she's going up against and talking about Tori man again kuna again like I mean if she's just showing us and I know that there are some people in the fandom right now k that are struggling they are struggling to cope with Tori being so dominant this season like you know there's a lot of people like the bakery would not be happy about Tori doing so well because they really do not like Tori and I'm a casual fan so I don't get all of that I don't get into it that intensely I'm sure if I if I looked at her socials and how she interact and some of the things she does outside of the show I'll probably feel the same way but as a casual fan watching the show enjoying the show talking about what I see in front of me I'm really liking Tori this season Kun and I know that'll piss a lot of people off she is playing a dominant game and she's kind of pulled it in even

30:46 Like socially a lot she's not overbearing this season to the cameras or anything like that she's coming across as the like legitimately now something that I would say could be the face she could be the face of the next era of the challenge maybe she has been the face for a while but it's starting to feel a bit more organic at the moment with the way she's dominating this season against the likes of a Rachel and Jenny West and a carara Maria yeah like arguably again the strongest lineup we've seen and she's at the moment the cream of the crop so when you have the strongest females ever put together and she's at the top of the pile what does that tell you right like it's hard to argue with that at this point and you may not like her personality wise I guess that's whatever but like you said I feel like she has tamed that down she's not involved in a lot of the same of Dramas and blah and like I said I think her rivalry originally with K was just more because she was associated with Jordan and a lot of the times much of it comes via relationships like her spat with bananas this season was really because you're playing Devon's game like you know she was on Devon side like she hasn't really had any personal animosities oh Amanda hates her

32:07 Amanda hates her hard but you know that doesn't really you know whatever she can cope with that but you know what I mean like she seems to have at least smoothed over some of the edges that put people off a little bit and we're seeing how she was able to get on every single season in existence build a strong vacation Alliance where you know the Friendship is so strong like there's obviously something about her that the fans weren't seeing I think he's now sorting starting to come through let's see what people are saying here Can C car's laying low at this point trying to sneak into the final be interesting like listen if Cara gets into a final anything's possible let's not forget she's the last female well not the last one the first female ever to win an individual you know final so still definitely possible YouTube Bap saying it's not that Tori is doing well but that for some reason I actually like her for the very first time what happened and this is what I think a lot of people are coping with like I never really disliked her but she did annoy me sometimes yeah she did annoy me sometimes but yeah this season I'm really standing her I think she's doing a good job King cash is saying Tor is easier to watch without the vacation Alliance that's probably another reason as well because the vacation Alliance

33:27 Is a whole is not very likable also probably because to Tori normally just goes to the show to hook up she hasn't hooked up with anyone this season she's just been playing her Britany saying I think Tori knew that people were doubting her so she had to really prove herself this season I always believe that Jordan pulls that competitor out of her as opposed to VA who is entitled who's va vation Alliance vacation Alliance right King cash say Casey and Josh left that's what's happened yep yeah that makes sense totally makes sense now that I think about it let's talk a little bit about I guess the rest of the performers kylin didn't look good in the water so maybe a in the armor there for him going into the final especially if there's some swimming involved Cory did work on swimming that yeah that but also like the fact that it just makes me laugh I'm like why did The Stereotype have to be the one thing like you know like oh man yeah of course it had to be that but he's not the only person I guess struggling as well but you know like again Kyra struggled right I think that funny enough Tori had a really good confessional about swimming

34:47 That I totally agree with when she said it's swimming is a is a difficult skilled train right and not everybody's got 500 met worth of lake that they can go and swim in consistently to get good at that skill set it's much easier to get to a gym to lift weights it's much easier to run work on that level of Fitness but I feel like unless you make a concerted effort of actually going to a swimming pool to get swimming lessons and Fork out some cash and some commitment to get to the pool to do it's just not as easy to get into it and I think that's why some people are getting found out I know for a fact I know for a fact I'm looking at it I'm a decent Runner I'm good with weights I do the spot and obstacle course races know I can smash it but if you put me in 500 met of lake to go swimming I would have been looking bad as well I don't train swimming like that you know so I'm the first person say yeah I'm the first person to say I'm not shaming I'm not shaming these people look yeah I agree with you because swimming is very much like a privileged sport like most people that live in major cities around the world don't have the backyards we have in Australia where we I don't have a pool I wish I had a pool but at least three or four neighbors in my you know there's you look at a Google map of my neighborhood there's

36:07 Pools in Australia it's different we're very hot but like if you're living in the middle of Melbourne CBD if you're living in the middle of Sydney CD those kids growing up they're not they're not swimming that often you know unless they go to the beach or whatever but I imagine it's even worse in America like the only people that can afford to get swimming lessons and pay for that and go consistently and all that like it is a like you said you can't just run around the park and you know and get better at it or run the run the road run the street like swimming is a very specific skill that you have to also proactively want to do like you know what I mean like you can't just get good by accident by you know going for a jog or walking more or whatever it is totally agree King cash is asking has Jordan ever done a called final I don't remember I'm sure there's people yeah I'm sure there's people that would it's sounding like cuz they changed location right and they went to a said there's not it's going to be a lot less green and I went cold or it could be desert I thought desert immediately my first was cold and then went oh no it's probably more desert's easier than like cheaper production wise visually

37:29 I'm assing the locations very yeah be interesting Britany saying Cory has really been working on his game it's nice to see he used to be a lot worse than that in the water I agree this is one of the reasons I like Corey because no matter what you say about the guy Cory is not I appreciate growth even when they showed K Maria's story and her history of how she grew to the champion that she became that was something that she had to work towards over many seasons I enjoy seeing the process of someone improving themselves and I've seen this with Corey he's not the same silly guy he was when he was a young buck when he came on to the show he has put in effort like he has tried like it's ironic he ends up going in a puzzle in this episode but he's actually been doing pretty well in the puzzles this whole season it's just ultimately still the thing that you know you can only improve that much I guess within an offse and he doesn't get many offseasons you know Cory's going to be back out there for season 41 most likely you know he gets the call every single season doing te mom in between and all that sort of thing busy man yeah Carl lives in Florida now so closer to the water probably for her to go and swim I still think I'm not shaming people for this I'm telling you

38:49 Britney saying do you both think that it's weird that the edit barely included kylin other than this episode he has been doing very well but we barely saw him in the game I don't read much into the challenge edits anymore to be honest with you K like I mean bananas had no coverage for the first quarter of this season and then suddenly they ramped up his editing when it made sense and I could even say the same for Jordan there's been times where Jordan's gone missing there's been times car Maria's gone missing there's been times Rachel has kind of been in the backdrop like I feel like everybody this season has had their episodes where they just haven't featured so I don't read too much into having one episode where he's not featured that much I don't know about you yeah I don't I don't read into that too much especially at this point in the game like if there's bigger stories to tell or whatever especially with Derek and Corey as the two like why do you need to focus on kyin at this point what's he what's he bringing to it I will say though like when you're talking about editing I just had a little bit of a thing to bring up I don't know if I'm embarrassed that it took me 16 episodes to notice this but I noticed very specifically today the edit felt different to me in some of the more dramatic moments oh really like when Derek was having his thing there was a thing with like Sor and it looked really like cinematic

40:10 Like a lot closer UPS it wasn't like Doc like oh you can tell the producer like there's a guy in the corner with his camera like it feels like documentary it felt like cinematic it felt like it was like different angles very soft lighting being and I was like what is going on like has did I miss that the entire season or is this a new thing that they've only done in episode 16 like did you notice that at all yeah kind of a little bit I think that they're experimenting with things I think they're trying they're trying different it looked really beautiful actually yeah this is what we like about the challenge this is like I thought it was a little bit jarring going from that to then a confessional which was the same normal yeah generic confessional we've had or but it came from very stylistic very cinematic shots and like I was impressed I don't know if anyone saw that or if I was maybe a little bit overly medicated when I was watching it or something but I noticed it anyway like I was like wow that looks really nice shot like well composed you know from a technical point of K here is saying Cy worked on everything but strategy this season I think that's one thing Cory will always struggle with I don't know if he can ever improve on his strategy but if you're Cory if you're

41:30 Cory and you win eight out of 10 eliminations you probably can get away with it to a certain degree I do want to talk about this because this is probably this is why I love live audiences ker because the live audiences sometimes bring out some of the best questions it's not even us the podcasters that bring out these questions but King cash is asking does Derek winning this season do anything to grow the show it seems like he would be the worst winner option and I think it's based on the people that are left right now and obviously we haven't spoken about derk's emotional journey and how he got here let's talk about that separately and let's not take that into account just based on Derek coming into this season not a very well-known Challenger not someone that you looked at and said first name for his era to go down on the dotted line like he probably got the call because there's some people from that time that are not allowed to come back and play the show or potentially didn't want to come back and play the show you know what does it do for the challenge if someone like Derek wins this season kuna I never thought about that King cash mainly because I think I haven't actually entertained the prospect that Derek might actually win you know what

42:50 I mean like I didn't even think he was going to win this elimin I'm like he's going against Cory's a monster like I was like this like I it didn't even enter my head I was so shocked when Cory lost like I'm like surely like what is happening here but Derek in a Derek I mean Derek in a final could be very dangerous as far as his skill set goes when his size and all that is not going to be an issue he's endurance he's running it's you know puzzles dere could be good is a good for the challenge no he you're right it would be the absolute worst possible winner for multiple of reasons first of all he's yeah the like the least draw the least popular there's so much to The Narrative of cementing bananas as the goat he gets eight like making Jordan like you said maybe his walk sunset walk away with the w winning 40 would be phenomenal even someone like kylin who could be the face the next you know generation they clearly see a lot in him Derek has been off the show for a long time came from All Stars and then to win this the only real silver lining you could spin positively is that what an Underdog Story like for him to beat bananas for him to beat Jordan that is phenomenal but what it then also does the side effect of that is it

44:10 Goes what does that do to Jordan like you've got these goats that everyone knows are the goats and then this guy hasn't played for 10 years comes from an allar season and then takes them out are they really that good like how like or were they just lucky did production just help them another season it's like all those questions come back which people have kind of not asked that much this season but for me I think that I'm not opposed to a Derek win I really like Derek I like that Derek is like he's the Benjamin Button of the challenge he's getting younger the older he gets and he's doing better now than what he ever did when he was younger the only thing that I would say is that I don't want him to win this season I don't think this is the season for Derek to win like I want to see Derek like go to a final now since he's earned his place he's taken out an absolute beast in Cory so no one can say that he didn't earn his position in the final but I would rather see him come back next season 41 or 42 and win a season and maybe get a couple of Seasons now on the main show because I think he's proven that he can hang with the kids the new kids of the new eras and he deserves his return ticket out there I think we should see more of Derek in the future I'm putting my approval on that one I just don't know if this is the season 40 is a is a is a is a water shed season it's a massive occasion I don't know if Derek is the guy I want to see

45:30 Win this season that's kind of where I'll leave but let's talk a little bit about the story we knew about his sister we knew about what happened based on All Stars he spoke about it during one of the allstar Seasons I believe that he was in as well the one that I think he went home really early the first Allstar season he came back what a what an emotional story and you know my heart goes out to him to have to compete I don't can't even imagine where your head must be at when you've got those emotions knowing that it's the same day as your I believe it was a sister's birthday what an emotional time for him to be able to pull that off and like he said it's always your friends that you know not to get too deep on the show but it's always the friends you don't expect or the people you don't expect that goes through difficult times so make sure to always reach out to people out there even if they look like they're happy because you just never know what people are going through you know so but hats off to him like I said it was bittersweet I still wanted Cory to win I've been invested in Cory's story but I also am happy for Derek that he was able to pull that off for his sister yeah absolutely like the fact that against all the odds like to draw Cory like and he called home and said like I'm going against like a monster like he

46:51 Saw the writing he knew and the challenge Gods as far as luck goes probably got one of the best possible ones he could have had when you're going against Cory again anything where Cory gets his hands on him it's over like it's not even close so for Derek to get that doesn't automatically put him in the winning spot but he dug deep man like he pulled he strategy with the endurance he didn't really flag he wasn't like so far behind he was keeping up with Cory but also doing it way smarter to the point where it turned out to be a pretty strong win actually Britany says I think Derek winning legitimizes bringing back all the challenges from the past it's kind of like what you it for all stars I don't think Derek doing well on his own for me legitimize bringing back a lot of all the challenges because era one has been decimated Rachel and Derek is the only two that have kind of and dereck's not even from era one I do think it's a case by case scenario I don't mind sprinkling in the odd old the Challenger here and there but I don't think they're going to see success in general if they're going to go up against a lot of new kids especially because this season the format this format Kahuna kind of helped some of the old like it's a format where it's like we're literally putting you in four different

48:11 Eras so you've got a shot imagine coming back in a season where it's only era four and you're one of five with you know so many you're going to get decimated you're not going to stand a CHS that's my thing like even someone like Derek like if he gets back onto the main cast he yes he can compete yes he's physically there yes he's very good at the game but if you drop him into a season by himself without any of his without any connections without alliances and he's going up against the vacation alliance with x amount of Europeans and whatever mix person that like some D yeah like whatever hopefully like you know it's season 41 but yeah you know what I mean like yeah without the connections then it's a different game as well like we're talking about a season where he had connections he had people he had insulation he had protection he was able to get there and I think that goes for anyone of the older PE older people that you drop them into a season where they have nothing and no one they're basically like gabo like they're these European guys where we talk about it's not just because it's a language barrier it's because it's a connection barrier there's no year round talks there's no vacations but not even vacations there's no showing up to

49:31 Challenge Manas and reunions and social media events and whatever there's just no networking there and then you drop them in and they're at a disadvantage yeah I agree YouTube bat says I really want Derk and kin and Michelle to win just to get some fresh faces in as Champions I think Kahuna's high on the kin window myself because it kind of is like the B that's being handed over to the new era and then he goes forward as the all conquering Champion Michelle probably could be in that same vein but I don't see Michelle in any world winning this I think it's too soon for kylin to win it as well I just really think that with him about that too you've gotta it's super scary right now you've got to put your money on Jordan and Tori you have to they've just been dominating the season both of them so it's going to have to be an upset someone else to take them out at this stage in my opinion King cash is saying nobody respects EMS when either the vampire or Dracula K saying maybe it will incentivize casting to bring back all the players let's see let's see what they do I don't know how that's going to work I think all the players will be but then again they've changed all stars now as well not to have as many old players so who knows what production's

50:51 Doing like I'm not going to profess to understand but I think they're trying to have the cake and eat a two by having two challenge seasons on two different networks trying to like hch their bets in case MTV does collapse they've got another place to go and they're bringing some of their new school people into the allstar Seasons now as well kuna which means there's even less place or spots for all challenges yeah absolutely but I mean time is also going to be a thing right like the whole thing with all stars was to get the old people back in but we're talking about three years ago now and the old people don't stop getting older like you know what I mean like even at 45 to 48 to 49 if they keep it going for the next couple Seasons like when they were like struggling to come back for season one they're like oh you know I thought I'd come back haven't done this in a while like another four years on top like it starts they're going to age out like that's the whole thing and All Stars was supposed to be that I guess but even that like it's still a physical competition they're going to out at some point as well you know like you need to be able to regenerate and you've got new people who are aging in now so you've got bananas Aging in you've got CT Aging in so there's other people that can start taking those spots that are also now getting to that age where they're going to

52:11 Struggle with the main show so I'm not totally against it Britany says that she still wants Jordan to win a big banner season like this to legitimate to legitimize themselves King Cas is saying der beating alltime goats would be an epic moment I just don't want to see it totally agree also says Jenny also would be the worst winner in my opinion I can see it but at least with Jenny she's already a champion so I would say I'd like to see her win over Michelle yeah same for this season and I think Michelle is I think Michelle is a better overall casting Choice even though it feel better for Jenny to come back after having been given the cold shoulder for a bunch of seasons after she won the show to come back and just win it I don't see it do you think she's fixed that this season with production no I'm sorry I know there's a lot of Jen love out there for me for me personally I'm just putting it out there for myself she's a lovely person she's a lovely person the problem is I don't think she's in compelling TV character and I know people are gonna hate me for saying this but I really just I feel like she kind of prove to me why she hasn't been called back a lot up until this point she just

53:31 Followed banana as coils this season I don't feel like she did much outside of that strategically or anything but then again like you said sometimes you need those players you don't need everybody to be strategic masterminds but I don't I just think if you compare Jenny and Michelle and you put them next to each other you go you go Michelle every single time because she's going to be more compelling TV to watch I agree with that I agree 100% I've come a long way on this podcast G like we talk about growth in the beginning it was all physical ability you know Chantel if she heard me talk about this she would be so proud cuz she was always like you only care about the physical ability of these people now for me it's about TV characters I want to be entertained when I'm watching the show I think the physical ability is the only reason why I even like Jenny yeah like she's a beast there times where she yeah there are times where she walks into the room and I'm just like oh my like base animal instincts just kicked in for like kicked in for like she looks phenomenal like whatever like she's and I'm like that's why I like her because I'm a freaking idiot man like it's not because she's a great TV character or anything that makes a lot of sense but when I had that realization but speaking of casting let me propose this one to you yes kylin has shown like we're asking has Jenny

54:51 Done enough to get back on the show I think klin we've talked multiple times about he could be of the Next Generation they need to find new cast members and stuff and he's proven himself to be a good TV character very strong in the show why is he literally the only person to make the crossover from USA like once he sort of got the success that he had did they not go oh is that not a there's a mine there we could sort of you know there's something there we could mine if he's that like nothing I think as much as I love the Survivor play players and some of the Big Brother players that they brought over to play on The Challenge USA because it's from an era where I still enjoyed both of those shows there's a higher level of demand that comes with coming from the CBS side than what there is from the MTV so I think that those for a lack of a better term I think a lot of them are divas and a lot of them thre their out of the C about the final in the first USA season I think people like Chris Underwood said he wouldn't necessarily do another season desie wasn't interested in coming back the only person the only person I will make a case for that should have been considered for season 40 or at least battle for a new Champion and potentially 41 is Michaela like I think Michaela

56:12 Do it if she got the call M sorry what about Justine yeah I like Justine I like a lot I liked well Michaela made a normal season before she made the spin-off right yeah Michaela already made it into the main season so I don't know why like I think Michaela should definitely get prob didn't she probably just didn't make enough of an impact being on that one season to be on this season but Michaela definitely should have been on the previous season Battlefield new Champion she should be on 41 like Michaela for me is like this the slam dunk option to bring back into the main show but it's a it's a really good question I think it's because there's a lot of high demand that comes with some of those players and that's maybe why some of them haven't come not So Much from the love Island side but more also from the Survivor Big Brother player side potentially K saying Derek is a likable person though I feel like he can make friends in any scenario it is possible and he's also now friends with Michelle so that would help him in future Seasons papan Pimpin says looking forward to a Michelle first time final run hope she doesn't go last to guarantee her a final yeah it' be good to get her in a final I'm also hoping that she doesn't get scared by all of the trash talk that is happening right now with Mich in final Michelle in the final means no Cara Tori Rachel or Jenny

57:32 Oh you okay with Jenny I guess yeah but Michelle's safe at the moment right this is the last El woman elimination and then it is final so I think she's making it yeah unless she's last she just doesn't need to get last in the next daily right yeah that's it yeah let's see what king cash I love you man you're bringing in all the spicy comments here imagine Michelle getting a win before Nissa Nanny oh my goodness that would be hilarious Michelle over9 any day Papa and Pimpin says K says earlier Euros gave us so much entertainment they have something to lose and aren't afraid of bad image like newer competitors that's true m is saying Jenny is boring and then Britany says I think you have a point Chris but Jenny is messy so I think it's funny how oblivious she is when it comes to the political social game it is true I mean it has it has its moments at least when it comes to that it seems like a lot of people from The Challenge you say don't like the long filming schedule of the flagship that makes sense because it is different timelines right long schedule think three months they're going or something yeah and then Michaela has a real life job versus being a reality TV personality another reason why she's probably not coming over yeah bakuna

58:52 Anything that you wanted to bring up anything else you wanted to say I feel like we've gone through all of the main talking points for this episode we did well yeah like I said I'm so much of this season has been high quality like even I think a lull of an episode like we it felt a little bit on Rails as far as drama goes still lots of positives in it still so much to praise and the fact that we're going into a final with this caliber of competitors left and not a lot of well no layups really like getting through that is pretty phenomenal I think I think we're heading for a good season and then I started thinking today what does that mean going forward if Jordan does win and he walks away if Banas is getting old do we have the I don't know if we have the reserves at the moment like one of the good things about Derek doing so well is that he does add another name that they can rely on and call back but I feel like the really good players are getting fewer and further between and the bench is getting short you know yeah to totally agree can't wait to see how this season is going to end up but yeah that's it here for this week I guess of the coverage that we will be doing for the challenge everybody

1:00:13 I hope you have a phenomenal Christmas and a Happy New Year's wherever you're going to go we will be back in two weeks time to talk about the next episode and then also the final of the challenge so if we're not back in the next two it is because I'm on my way to South Africa to go visit some family Kahuna is going to take a much deserved break as well and when we come back we will be crowning the next female and male Champion for the challenge so really excited to talk about that but for everybody that jumped in on the live later on here please consider subscribing to the channel if you like this content we are going to be doing more content in the New Year there will be more challenge Seasons that we will cover lots of other reality TV coming our way as well if you love Survivor make sure to check out coach Drew and Jake's coverage of the finale here on the channel as well they will be doing a panel this week but for now we say goodbye happy holidays and we'll catch you in the new year bye everyone