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Caffeine Confessionals
A Podcast Covering Reality TV and Culture with a general focus on MTV's the Challenge
Caffeine Confessionals
The Challenge: Cutthroat Episode 7 Recap - A Failed Mutiny
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Allan and Zoe return to breakdown Episode 7 of The Challenge. We talk about what we missed last week, the Mini Final Dailly Challenge, and Cory's unfortunate exit.
Welcome back to Caffeine Confessionals. We are here to talk about the challenge cutthroat episode seven and a little bit about episode six as well. My name is Alan. I'm joined by my Vermontean co-host. Oh, not Vermont anymore, North Carolina co-host Zoe.
SPEAKER_00Hi, everyone. Yeah, I'll probably be back in Vermont next week. So it'll be uh I'll keep you on the edge of your seat as far as that goes. But uh North Carolina resident has a thing. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Different mailing address and everything. I was not able to give you guys a podcast last week because I was traveling back and forth from California to Arizona and wasn't able to edit the podcast. So we didn't get to talk about episode six. But episode six had a whole lot of stuff going on. We had two full-on breakups of couples who have never kissed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I thought it was really funny the way, because like we've seen the way Annalise been moving around Leo, and like when she thinks cameras aren't on her, the kind of conversation she has. And then to make it like clearly make a point to be like, hey, cameraman, come get this. I'm gonna break up with him right here in the middle of this courtyard, like where like everyone can see it. I was like, okay, this is you are a shady, shady lady. Um, but I love the mess. I'm here for it. Keep keep keep it coming.
SPEAKER_01And it's so funny because it's like in in on one part, it's like you are acknowledging that it was a thing. On the other, based on what everyone is saying, it's like, hey, you should probably acknowledge and just nip it in the butt because now there are rumors going around that you're touching Josh's knee and you're talking to all these other people, and that's where it gets so messy. And I absolutely love this girl. I'm sorry, like she was just made in a reality TV factory because she has personality in her confessional, she bucks up to people, she kind she tells white lies, she tells straight up lies, she mixes the pot, she will do anything to win, and she's just a good competitor, too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, she is interesting, right? Like we're we want people to be messy, we want them to mix it up in all these various ways, and like you might not like her, and in the same way that I was ranting about Sydney the last time we talked, like anyone that gets under your skin to that level is clearly doing their job as a reality TV competitor. Like, I can admit that. Annaline doesn't bug me the same way Sydney does, but I know there's certain people out there and probably a lot of casual fans, especially that are going to be really bugged by her because of her uh moral failings.
SPEAKER_01If you don't think this person is good TV, then you're not actually a challenge fan. Like that is to me, it's like you or you don't you're just you just never understood the challenge. And also, if you just like the challenge for competition, I don't know how you watch this girl and don't get the takeaway that she isn't a good competitor.
SPEAKER_00I mean, there's a reason that she was one of the captains originally, right? Like you that doesn't happen accidentally when especially at the point when the cast is full.
SPEAKER_01And then we had the Izzy and Corey essentially having to break things off after Nelson begging on one knee.
SPEAKER_00And Corey also trying to break things off, but also like consummate the relationship, seemingly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the breakup involved Cory being like, oh, or we can go over there right now and just have it out and just straight up fuck, you know. Like he I mean that he said that basically in plain words, right?
SPEAKER_00I mean, he is the expert at um finding where the cameras are not.
SPEAKER_01So and it was very interesting seeing the transition of Izzy, like we'll this is kind of transitioning from episode six to seven a bit, but like Izzy becoming an actual individual on the show this next episode, because her entire storyline, the first six episodes, was that she was just the apple of Corey's eyes. And now it's like, hey, hey Izzy, what are you actually thinking about your game like on this show where people compete? Like, like, what's going on there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think there was a bit of self-awareness in that. Also, I mean, it could be the edit we're being served. She could have been thinking about this the whole time, and it's just that Corey is an MTV darling, and we're gonna get the Corey uh skew of things, but uh it was nice to see Izzy because I think Izzy is interesting. She hooks up, she is a very good competitor, a very good runner. Like, I think that she is also made for this show and might have just been kind of screwed on the edit for the first half of the season. So I'm excited to see what happens with her the rest of the way.
SPEAKER_01I like Izzy too. She just uh kind of got herself put into a corner with the whole Corey situation. Uh now, we also had an elimination last week. Our darling American sweetheart, Deb Chubb, lost the elimination to Car Maria. And I do have to say, I don't think Deb performed badly at all. Because we as much as we shoot on Kara, that was an amazing Hall of Fame performance by Kara and elimination.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was a like we've talked before about how Kara's good at these memorization type things. So it in a way, and plus the rowing, right? Like Kara's across the junkie.
SPEAKER_01She was rowing on that shit. Like I was like, oh my God. Like she was just pulling it up in like three strokes, whereas Deb was like having to go back and forth just to get it like kind of up. It was, it was, I mean, it was the equivalent of like you're playing like Mario Party with someone who's just like an expert at the game and they know the cheat codes. That's what it was like, but that just Kara's physicality was a cheat code.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think she had a really excellent strategy taking all the pieces out, actually looking at the ones that were similar. She, that's where her experience, I think, came in to benefit her here. But I think Kara had an amazing performance. And from what we saw in the elimination, I don't know if it was edited or not. I don't think it really was. Deb wasn't that far behind her. So kudos to her because she showed out and was having me laughing hysterically the whole way, calling everything sperms, upside down penises, like whatever it was. God, she is gold.
SPEAKER_01I I interviewed Deb and I asked her, hey, were you locked in the entire elimination or were you cognizant at any point of like how Kara was doing? And she's like, Oh, I was locked in. And then I went back and watched it. I was like, Holy shit, what's going on? Wait, she has all her things already? Um but it's it's sad to lose Deb, but the game moves on. Uh, we transition into episode seven, we go straight into the daily challenge, like we've been all season, and Nelson stakes a claim for immunity with TJ, but he only has Caras vote behind him, so it's like sliding into a girl's DMs, asking them out for dinner, and you don't have any money in your bank account. It's like, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Do you feel like he was like goaded into this by a member of production?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I mean, Nelson just likes to hear his own voice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so they're just like, hey Nelson, like you're not actually gonna get to do this, but like you deserve to have your moment to say your piece. You should at least like let everyone know how you're feeling, let the fans know how you're feeling, get out there and say you want a mutiny, even though we all know it's not gonna work.
SPEAKER_01Like just an embarrassing moment. I don't know. It just, I mean, I guess it filled up TV time and it was a little bit funny. It was actually funny. I'm not gonna lie, it was funny. Um, but Nelson wanting to have the role of captain because he won an elimination, it's just so preposterous and entitled. And to me, it's like, hey, if you want to be captain, maybe in that daily to start the season, you shouldn't have yelled at your teammates after you guys lost.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and he his part of his reasoning was like he listens to everyone no matter what, and he's just a really good teammate. And I mean, we've seen how calculated that's like that's not his default setting. He know there's an element, I'll give him that. Like, there there was some strategy with how he's been presenting himself with his team, knowing that there's no way that anyone's gonna trust him if he blows up. Um Nelson has a lot of Nelson has some good things about him. I had to edit that sentence midway. Um, self-awareness is not a high-ranking quality of his. Um he he gave us a few minutes of TV to avoid uh another montage of running with things on people's shoulders.
SPEAKER_01I did like the detail though, too, that like there's the Anna Lee and Letty beef within their own team. Um, and their reason for having Josh be captain is Anna Lee doesn't trust Letty, and Letty doesn't trust Anna Lee, but they both trust Josh, and so that's just gonna be the default there. Uh then again, though, we jump into the daily, and it is a five-mile race where players uh have to keep going back and forth, make a bunch of trips to grab puzzle pieces. Two players per team will jump into the water to swim and grab the puzzle pieces per team, and then solve a puzzle. It's in total five miles, probably like a mile per lap, um, with the swim breaking things up. And you can tell part of the reason why Nelson and Carl aren't good catchings is that they hit that water portion and neither of them are touching the water.
SPEAKER_00Well, are they arguably two of the weaker swimmers there, like collectively, out of everyone at this point?
SPEAKER_01I know I think they're the two worst swimmers in the house from day one and are and are still just there. And so, but they want to be captains. It's like Nelson, you want to be captain, but you come into a daily like this and you can't take on any actual leadership type role because you're a liability in the water.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That that's just a matter of fact, and then like on the other teams, we have. I mean, I thought an unsung hero of the swimming portion who was. I mean, she had a moment she got to talk about it, but I don't think Michelle Fitzgerald gets enough credit for her swimming ability. Because was she out there every time for Orange?
SPEAKER_01She was out there every single time. It was, I think Justin was out there with her three times, and Izzy was out there once with her. But yeah, Michelle was just their tank. She's a distant swimmer, that's one of her skills. Also nice to see her back on the challenge. Um, but but yeah, no, Michelle was a tank, and that is also like that is how stacked Orange is. Because they have Tori, they have bananas, they have this thing. But Michelle has this very unique skill set that she brings to the table where she can go in the water, she can do some puzzles. She's not good, she didn't lift the pole at all during the runs, but she didn't have to because she already carried her weight by carrying the polo pieces through the water.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. She crushed it, and then you have Gray that's just a force.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Chris and Leo were just out there time after time again. I saw Corey get in there. Uh, I don't know if Cassidy got in the water. I don't think Adrian did, but it was, I think it was just the guys for Gray. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think Gray was just such a um, they're just such a well-rounded team at this point. Everyone brings something to the table and the women are not slowing the men down. And just the pace they were able to keep up together throughout this challenge was really impressive to me. I could see them really crushing a final together.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, those three men, I mean, we saw them crush the daily last week where it was just all of their fitness number body strength, where it's like, man, I really think uh Corey is obviously their captain. And Corey, they showed a thing where in the previous, like in the house in the previous day, he ran them a circuit where they were carrying weights on their shoulders and like, oh, that's actually really smart and good captainship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was impressed and surprised. Uh because I think I've never really considered Corey like a leader on this show. I think he's a big personality, but I've never seen his leadership ability. And I also think it's cool the way Chris gave kudos to him because a lot of men aren't like secure enough to say, like, hey, this guy's a really good leader and we appreciate him for what he's doing. And because obviously, like reality TV casting, right? Like so many of these guys are competing to be like the alpha male, they're peacocking all the time, and Chris is just like, no, Corey's got it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think it is kind of gets because obviously with Corey, the storyline the whole season has been his relationship with Izzy and his baby mama back home, and like, oh, that's so messy. But when it comes to the game, everyone just still has an immense amount of respect for Corey, and he looks to be in great shape. And when the concept of being captain came up, he was immediately like, hey, I'll be captain, and he's been a captain for his team, and that's really like uh that's just impressive because he's he's grown so much as a competitor, and that was the thing over the past few years where I was always like highlighting the fact that Corey has shown so much improvement as a runner, he's shown improvement when it comes to puzzles, he's shown improvement when it comes to swimming. The problem is that they just kept making the challenge more cardio and puzzles, and that was never his skill set.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I have to believe like there is, although we've seen him make some questionable decisions in his romantic life on this season, I do think there's an element of being a father and being a really good father that has matured him in ways that only that can.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, additionally, on top of that, Chris and Leo, I I think if this were an individual game, those would be my two picks to win a final. Because they are just cardio beast, they have some puzzle skills, they can swim, they can climb. I think they're the two best athletes on the show.
SPEAKER_00And I think there's an element of both of them that they just seem really unflappable. Like they don't get too high and they don't get too low. And I think that's a really essential skill in the pressure cooker that the challenge is.
SPEAKER_01There's also like that joke, it's like, do you have your that dog in you? And it's like, oh, these two guys, they just there's no stomp in their engine. They just always grind, they always do whatever. Um, they think they're the best player, but they can also like listen and they could, you know, they are so impressive to watch.
SPEAKER_00Agreed.
SPEAKER_01Um, and then I mean Josh and Letty completely carried the blue team. Um, because not only were they swimming the entire time, they were carrying their pieces, and the team that did struggle carrying their piece was Nelson and Kara. Um, which I think is more Nelson just I mean, he messed up one time essentially, but it looked like he kind of got left out to dry to only hold the piece, and then it fell on his foot. I don't know what happened there.
SPEAKER_00I also think like Annaly got off the hook here a little bit, uh, because like you can talk shit about the way someone is carrying the beam when you're not carrying the beam the majority of the time. Like, even when she was carrying with Letty and Josh, you had like she was the person in the middle. Like, we've all moved a piece of furniture before, and like we're the person in the middle being like, I have none of this weight right now.
SPEAKER_01I just helped my mom move out of her house, so that's very relatable. Um, oh here, let me help them. Like, you just don't even touch it at this point. Like, let's let me get my angle in. Um, but yeah, Annalie, not not her best, even though we just hyped her up.
SPEAKER_00That was I I mean, like, she didn't do anything wrong. But like it's funny for her to be the one in the confessional talking shit about Nelson.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, it's like and I I tried to watch it back, and there were a lot of uh moments where they're carrying it where it is just her and Josh. Um but even then there was definitely portions where it was her just being the hand in the middle between Letty and Josh. Um now we the other main storyline that's going on though is that CT is just absolutely gassed. And as we said, it's a five-mile run, and he's getting to take a breath every single time that Michelle is out there in the water. So the fact that CT is getting like demonstrably like just taken out physically, it's worrying, right?
SPEAKER_00I mean, if I'm his team, I'm telling him to get on the treadmill every day. Like we have to start doing something. Also, they were never really that far behind, like they were always at the water the same time the other teams were at the water. They, I think, got to the puzzle, it was a negligible difference, realistically, especially when you think about CT skill set when it comes to puzzles. Because I kept thinking, like, oh yeah, he's like dying here. This is crazy. Like a five-mile run in general shouldn't have you dying, and you're not really doing any of the heavy lifting, literally, at all. Um and I think it was a little exaggerated for the cameras.
SPEAKER_01I mean, they literally brought out the Big Easy edit. And that was crazy to get compared to Big Easy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was straight up disrespectful. As someone that was on CT's side during that final, watching Big Easy die. I mean, they did it to themselves, whatever, we're not gonna go down memory lane there, but um that was that was straight up disrespectful.
SPEAKER_01And CT is someone who genuinely like he gets so upset if anyone says anything wrong about him. So, like, production does not play CT to look a fool very often. And for this to happen, I just know he's calling a producer angry because like to get the big easy comparison, like it's just that's just so disrespectful.
SPEAKER_00He has his lawyer Phaedra calling uh a producer right now.
SPEAKER_01God, what a do you want to take a second just to talk about that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so last week the new relationship dropped, and it's CT and then Phaedra after their initial relationship slash friendship flirtation on the traders. And it's fake, right? It's completely fake.
SPEAKER_00This is the definition of a PR relationship. Like this is exactly what that is. I mean, I think it does benefit them both a little professionally. Um it's hysterical. I like I don't know what to make of it. But here's what I'll like are we gonna get uh on the next scene of the challenge uh phone call between CT and Phaedra on the iPad?
SPEAKER_01No, no chance, no chance this relationship makes it more than a few weeks from now. Um but here's because here's where things get messy. CT and his wife, still wife, because he has not signed the divorce papers and she commented on the post of them together, sign the papers. Because they've actually tried to get divorced a couple times and then they back out last minute. Um, so that is still going on. This is this is not his wife Lily, that's not his ex-wife, it's his OnlyFans adult film star wife, Catalina Hager, who is married to a former WWE star and UFC and uh MMA fighter. Uh so that is still, he's still technically married to her. He hasn't signed the papers, but then apparently there was also potentially a relationship between CT and Angelina from the Jersey Shore, where Angelina commented, like, uh, this is weird, because maybe CT and Angelina had were real life flirting or we're gonna have their own fake PR relationship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I leaned towards the latter on that, that they were setting up some sort of PR thing, and then he was just like, Oh, like Phaedra is an upgrade from you. Um, which true. But yeah, it's it's a hot mess. I as like as a longtime challenge band, I feel like CT has been very private throughout his life, and then like he's definitely going through some midlife crisis, right? Like we can just call it that, that all of a sudden we know way too much about his dating life, and he posts like weird uh quotes on his story when he's in his feelings, and like I can't even really put it into words. Um, but I'm tuned in.
SPEAKER_01And he I think he has to be public at this point, just as like a way to make money and keep his name relevant, because two divorces and child support those rack up a lot of bills and stuff like that. So you gotta make money and you gotta make more money than a challenge appearance call, especially when the challenge isn't filming as often anymore.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And with MTV shows being on the chopping block, like it I want to believe the challenge will never be canceled. And we don't know, knowing that it's like the only MTV show that survived this merger with Paramount.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and Jersey show is over now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like they have to be watching their backs as far as this goes.
SPEAKER_01Absolute shame. What's not a shame though is CT's puzzle skills because He came in, crushed the puzzle as usual. Um, and Orange team won the challenge. It also probably helps that they had good puzzle players in Michelle, Bananas Who Knows How to Work in a Team Setting. Uh, Tori is okay at puzzles. Like they they're just a good team all around. Um it looked like gray was really close to solving it, but was just kind of like one piece away, and blue was a total mess.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, to me, this challenge appeared, this puzzle appeared challenging, like hard. I but I like sometimes the edits of these puzzles, then putting them together, like I don't even really know what's going on. It's all done so haphazardly, like I think to indicate that it was chaotic or whatever, just to make it look chaotic. Um, but yeah, blue, who's solving that puzzle on blue?
SPEAKER_01It was so I think if there was someone solving it, it would have been Ann Lee. And she was actually had she had ideas, but then Kara was trying to shut her down and be like, no, this puzzle piece has to go here no matter what. And then Josh and Letty were like trying to tell Kara, like, hey, this literally will not fit. This will this will not fit. And Nelson's not doing anything, Josh ain't doing anything, Kara ain't doing anything. Um, Kara can occasionally do a puzzle on her own, but in these team settings, she just is a negative factor.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I actually think it's more credit to Orange, the fact that they solved this puzzle with as many players that they have, because I think it just the more people you have, more potential for complications, especially when you have big personalities.
SPEAKER_01And uh, as much as this person irks you, I do think if Gray had Sydney in this challenge, that would have definitely helped, just to have her brain for a puzzle and then also her in the water.
SPEAKER_00Um she's not slowing you down in any portion of this challenge. She's only making you better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that is the big thing of like that injury really did affect the season and the gameplay of this, you know. Uh Orange was so close, just I mean, I mean, Gray was so close. Orange gets the win though. Um, and I do also want to highlight Justin because Justin was very vocal in his commentary about CT's cardio. Um, what did you also what did you think about Justin mixing it up last week also with Annalite too? So, like we finally we're getting Justin on the show.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I like what do we want them to do? Like, the alternative is these rookies or these sophomores or whatever we want to call them, just like sit there and say, like, it's okay. It's okay that CT can't run five miles. And like, I don't know if it was an element I'm thinking Justin's really close with Adrienne, right? Like, that's how that's that that to me is why he flipped out on Annalie. And anything that creates friction in that way, keep it coming. I love Justin. Um, I think he just with his size is at a significant disadvantage in the challenge because we know when it comes to male eliminations, there's inevitably going to be something physical. Um I think it's I think CT will outlast him this season if I had to, if I was a betting woman. But uh go ahead. Keep keep talking your shit, Justin.
SPEAKER_01I you know it's funny because I think his size is simultaneously his biggest advantage and his biggest disadvantage. Because like we we don't see athletes like Justin on the show very often, but like his coordination, his dexterity, all these little things he does, his cardio, like the way he moves and climbs and certain challenges is very impressive. Uh and he was talking his shit because he's like, hey, but I do have the best cardio on this show. I do have the best cardio, and this guy can't run, but because of the way of the structure of this team, I'm gonna be the first voted. So I'm gonna talk my shit because I shouldn't be the first voted, and it should be this guy who can't run five miles.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and he knows that, and it seems like he will, if Orange loses on a men's day, he will be in the down there in the sand eventually. Uh, so I think he's also acutely aware that he has to make his TV moments while he can. Um I'm sure that he hopes he makes it to the final and he wins, but you have to have an element of I can see where this is going. Casually drops in, he's training for Ironmans too. So I mean, I love Justin. I think it's great. I think we need more men on the show for him to flirt with, frankly.
SPEAKER_01Izzy also acknowledges, hey, I I'm in a very similar spot. I am like, if we lose, I'm the first person voted in on a girl's day because Victoria and Michelle are gonna have each other's back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_01We transition now from the daily back into the house, and we have a cowboy party. What do you think about the cowboy party?
SPEAKER_00That's fine. Uh more uh drag kings, which they love to do, and Letty is such an interesting human to me. Um yeah, I I don't have much to say about the cowboy party other than is this when they also took the opportunity to have like their serious team meetings? I feel like I remember.
SPEAKER_01No, so yeah, Blue Team had their serious team meeting after the cowboy party, and Letty's drawn-on marker beard looked eerily similar to Josh's actual beard.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there was something about them getting into this like low-key kiff while Letty and Cara are in full male drag that um was something only reality TV can achieve.
SPEAKER_01It is kind of like the original CT Punch in the Jewel 2. They were having like a onesie party, and so every people are just in all these pajama onesies while CT's trying to kill Adam.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like you can't make that shit up. You actually can't.
SPEAKER_01Uh, so that happens, and then we also get a little prank between uh Tori and Michelle where they try to set up Will and Leo on a blind date.
SPEAKER_00Were you a little bit worried when she said that Will was gonna be a fun person to prank? Because I was like, this could go south really quickly with him.
SPEAKER_01I mean, the version of Will we've gotten on this season has been frankly a boring version of Will compared to last season.
SPEAKER_00So that's how I was like I was I was afraid he was gonna hulk out. Um, like again, it would have been fine, it would have been funny. Um, but uh I was a little concerned that he wasn't gonna take it well. And then he and Leo both took it great, and it was like, okay, yeah, we need moments of like this in every episode. We need to see how these people distract themselves in this house with absolutely nothing to do.
SPEAKER_01Well, we also need time to burn, and I think so last week's episode was good, and this week's episode, I'm gonna say fine. I'm not gonna say this was like a great episode. Um, I mean, did you like it a lot?
SPEAKER_00Um, I enjoyed it, and I think we mean we'll get to this next, but like any episode where you lose an elimination, I think there's an element of especially for the reason that we did, it takes an the episode takes a hit for that reason.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and my thing is that my my only problem with last week and this week has been the fact that this new format where the captain just decides who's gonna go in has kind of just made things a little more boring and there's less because we would get a scene before and every episode where teammates would then vote each other in and there'd be natural conflict, but now you need scenes like this little prank just to fill the time between the daily and the elimination, especially in an episode like not like today's, because the daily this episode took 20 minutes. If the daily had been like five or ten minutes like other episodes, man, what would have happened this episode if not, you know, because we'll fill the time.
SPEAKER_00Well, and it makes me wonder what was left on the cutting room floor. Like Nerese said when she talked to you that there was, I think, a lot of really like fun light moments that we haven't gotten to see. So it makes you wonder what those are. Um yeah, maybe we'd get a shot of CT running on the treadmill after the challenge.
SPEAKER_01I mean, the entire orange team had a powwow where they were like acknowledging that CT cannot run without him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think Justin was really trying to be like, oh, we we could have done it. And it's like, no, that man came in. And again, I I really think editing was did CT a little dirty here because we can see how far along the other teams are in their puzzle when Orange arrives. Um, so I don't think they were as far back. Also, like what they did each lap, each half a lap was half half a mile at a time, is about what they were running, I think. Um, I can say words sometimes. Um, but yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's tough when we don't have our third person here to take up time. We just have to like, I completely forgot to acknowledge at the beginning, I we miss Luke. Uh he was too busy to be here with us tonight, unfortunately. Scheduling issues.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah. We do miss Luke anytime he's not here. And especially when I haven't spoken this much in weeks, probably since the last time we recorded.
SPEAKER_01I haven't seen a human in two days, so I feel you. Uh now let's transition into unfortunately heavier circumstances. Um, it's talked about multiple times throughout the episode because during the daily, um, they're running and they keep and the gray team, Corey, is asking everyone, what is their why for being here? And people are saying their family. Oh.
SPEAKER_00I was just gonna say, as an educator, that question gives me PTSD. Uh so when they said it during the episode, I immediately was like, no, not what's your why, please stop. But back to your regularly scheduled programming, they actually have very legitimate whys, and Corey's is very poignant.
SPEAKER_01Corey's obviously says the daughters, then obviously his daughter Maya. And then he was very open about how talks about how Maya has had two open heart surgeries. He's talking about being on the surgery table with her, holding her hand, and just seeing her cry before you know the anesthetic hits. And if you like, if you aren't tearing up watching that, then I don't know how you're human. Like, because I was just, I don't know, just seeing Corey talk about so openly and honestly about it, and it's just it seems like the toughest experience anyone could ever have as a parent.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna tear up probably just talking about it. The when he was talking about your child going under general anesthesia and like just watching them, I I can't imagine what it's like to be responsible for someone and so protective of someone, and to have something so far outside of your control um with a medically complex child. Uh it has to make you feel so powerless in so many ways. Um and I mean it's clear how much he loves his kids, right? Like you can't begin to question that even for a second. Um it really broke my heart because he's in such a good place this season to win. Like he's he's in such a good spot, and it broke my heart that him and his family are going through this. Like it was like the challenge fan in me and just like the human in me watching like anyone have to go through this. It was pretty devastating.
SPEAKER_01And Corey is from the real world, which is like that that's the difference between modern-day influencers and reality TV stars versus someone who was cast because they're uh just an interesting human. And he was a broke kid in Michigan who never met his father. He was supposed to be a college football star who then had to drop out of college because a girl faked a pregnancy to keep him with him, and then moves to LA, gets cast on the real world, and so on and so forth. But the guy's life has taken so many different turns at different moments, and he's not perfect by any means, but he has always grinded and found a way to make things work. He lives, I mean, he's tied to LA because that's where Cheyenne's family is, and so he has worked to build himself a house for him and his family to live in in like one of the most expensive states in the world after being a poor kid. Like, no college, just this reality TV star. He takes every influencer type thing. He is always very like money motivated to build the best life for his family. So is Corey a perfect human? No, but he's done right by his kids, in my in my view.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I'm a sucker for any guy that really embraces the title of girl dad, too. Like, I just I think he, like you said, will do anything for those girls. And um, while we see him make some questionable choices this season, I think he made obviously it wasn't a choice, right? He got the phone call, Taylor said you need to come home, and he went home.
SPEAKER_01It was heartbreaking. Um, it also hurts knowing that Corey was captain and was in such a good spot in this game. Where I don't, I mean, based on everything we're seeing, I don't think a mutiny was gonna happen. I think he was, I mean, probably gonna be in that final with a good team. It was gonna be him and Chris and Adrian probably as like a trio or him and Cassidy. Um, and they would have had a really good shot to win, and Corey could have become a champion. Um, but now he's out, and he's got stuff to deal with at home, especially with all this Izzy stuff that's happened. And when it happens, Izzy's like, oh, I don't know if I should console him after everything. It's a whole awkward situation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think I mean, what is she supposed to do there? Because she she's being very self-aware and being like, this is not about me. And I want, like, just because I want to console him, so like because I feel like that's the right thing to do, because I care about him, like he's going home to be with his sick child. So I'm just gonna hold it together until he's gone. Uh, I respect her a lot for the way that she handled that. Um, I think you see that the whole cast cares about him a lot. There's a lot of genuine feelings there. Everyone really acknowledging the unfairness of the situation in its entirety.
SPEAKER_01Especially when you have so many parents on the cast, too, or they you know, like, man, if that was my child right now, that would be like like they didn't even know how they'd handle it because Chris has his own kids and he was tearing up. Cassidy is essentially like the stepmother to her um sister's kids. Um so it's it's heartbreaking to see. I wish the best to Corey and his family. Um we then also have to transition, like there's supposed to be an elimination, and Nelson was gonna go in as a default for blue. Um, Leo and Corey, Leo and Chris knew that one of the two was gonna get voted in. Uh, but there is then no elimination at all because Corey's gone, which is fair. Um they showed up to the arena with the designed elimination to and everything, which I always think it's interesting when they do that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um seems like a lot of work to just say, hey, Gray, you gotta pick a new captain. Unless they set it up before they knew Corey was leaving and it was more work to take it down. And they wanted to just give the element of like, hey, you might have to do this.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, just keep that stage up for like the next elimination, then. I mean, I hope I hope we see what it looked like an interesting elimination. Basically, it was like a it had a it was a very intricate arena they had built.
SPEAKER_00I have to believe we'll find out.
SPEAKER_01Uh so because of this though, Gray now has to pick a new captain, and TJ has them do the vote right then and there. Um and the first vote goes to Adrian, and she stakes a claim for herself. She votes herself as captain. Cassidy, it's like, well, I don't want to vote Adrian as captain because then I'll be in elimination every time. So she votes for herself. Chris votes for Cassidy, Leo votes for Adrian. Um, they make them read.
SPEAKER_00Leo twice.
SPEAKER_01And and Leo is that last vote, and I and I laugh because if if Chris had been the last vote, I do think Chris would have flipped to Adrian because he's a little more afraid. But like he put because Leo's the last vote, but Leo's never gonna flinch in that situation. That's just how he's built. Even before the daily, when Leo could potentially get voted in, even before the elimination, before Leo could have gotten voted in, he said, Okay, I'm okay with going into elimination. But if they vote me in a second time after this and there's no back and forth between me and Chris, I will sabotage this team and bring their asses down.
SPEAKER_00And that's why we love him.
SPEAKER_01Uh so he votes for Adrian and it's a stalemate, and TJ's frustrated because he clearly they did clearly did not have an actual punishment in place. Also, how would you punish them? There's no this is captainship, there's no elimination on the board.
SPEAKER_00My favorite part throughout this whole process was actually Orange like egging them on trying to get them to stalemate. Um and I think what I thought, which seemed to be what Orange thought, is if they don't make a decision, then Tori gets to choose. Because the winning team captain. Which, okay, production, think on your feet. The idea of giving them a night to sleep on it is just is so stupid. Like you make this whole like dramatic thing, like, don't stalemate, don't stalmate. Okay, you stalemated twice. We'll give you a little bit more time to figure it out.
SPEAKER_01Like, what they were just scrambling, like, we don't have anything in play. We don't have any, we know what is what happens for a stalemate for an elimination, but not for like just a general daily.
SPEAKER_00It's so simple. Like, give Tori the power, the end.
SPEAKER_01Like, we end the episode with TJ meeting the people at the house, and he's about to drop a bomb. We don't know what it is. Um, so we'll find out next week. Uh, then they dropped the mid-season trailer, which a whole lot of stuff is going on there, but a whole lot of people are missing. So not sure what's going on there either.
SPEAKER_00As I am spoiler-free, I don't know anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh, there are people in different colored jerseys than what they're wearing now, so something's gonna happen, folks.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's gonna get crazy. Or one team's just gonna get so decimated that they dissolve it. Which when we think back to the original cutthroat, I don't understand how that would happen, but here we are.
SPEAKER_01Anything else we need to talk about?
SPEAKER_00Uh I miss Dev Chubb. Just gonna say it again.
SPEAKER_01The world does miss Deb Chubb. Well, thank you everyone. Make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube, Spotify, wherever you listen, and have a great day.