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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 13 Finale Part 1 Recap: Big CTeasy
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Allan, Luke, and Zoe get together to break down part 1 of The Challenge Cutthroat Final.
Welcome back to Cathing Confessionals. We are here to talk about the Challenge Cutthroat Episode 13 finale part one. I'm joined by my lovely co-host. We have Zoe.
SPEAKER_02Hi everyone.
SPEAKER_01And back this week is Luke. What's up, guys? Luke, you were not with us last week. You did not get to see the all-time daily challenge elimination exhibition from Letty. Well, you did see it. We didn't get to talk about it. So we need to hear about your thoughts on last week's episode.
SPEAKER_00I'll be quick. I felt bad for Justin because I think twice in a row to go in at that point and leave sucks. I don't know that anybody would have beat Letty. I literally texted one of my friends. Letty is a monster, both positive and negative. Like positive in the sense that, like, whoa, she killed that, Domineered that. Sub in any positive word there. Monster, which I know is going to tie into like the start of this episode, but the end of last episode was just too much. Do I think it was a smart decision to throw Letty in? On one hand, no, because she's like the workhorse, but on the other hand, yes, because she's the workhorse. And if you want to be logistical, she hadn't been in elimination. And that has been something that's happened on the show for decades, where it's like, okay, well, we've all proven ourselves. Your turn. Uh the theatrics were definitely, in my opinion, put on and egged on by a certain fruit. But I know that's where we're going to jump in today. So I'll hold my tongue with too much of that right now.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, let's just jump right into it. Because again, last week I was very defensive of Letty because I thought it was such a dumb move by Adrian. Because I'm like, why would you risk your star quarterback in that eliminate? Because you're not winning that final without her, because she's the one who's going to be carrying the weights, doing any swing portion. You know, you have a heavy cardio portion. She's the person who's going to carry you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And honestly, the person she should have thrown in, it's Kara Maria. I don't understand this whole like I've run all these finals. Kara has run so many finals and lost so many finals that it's like, okay, you can make it to the end because people are threatened by your past or you've been good in eliminations. I'll give her that. But like, when's the last time you won a final, Cara?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, Laurel was gifted a bit of that final in All-Stars.
SPEAKER_00That's true.
SPEAKER_02And like you would take Cassidy over Kara. I feel like it's a toss-up between the two of them.
SPEAKER_00I wouldn't, but I can understand Adrian's allegiance because they have been team members all the way through. And Cassidy has been gracious about going in, so Adrian didn't have to. I I agree. I'm a little partial towards Cassidy, but I think that Letty would be my last choice. I know that for sure.
SPEAKER_01And there's a lot of people online who've been like, oh, well, Letty coasted through the season. And I'm like, well, Letty just carried them in this daily. We had the mini-final earlier this season where she was doing every swimming leg for her team, carrying every weight. And if you watch every daily, she's been fantastic. The most Kara has done this season was beat Deb Chubb in an elimination.
SPEAKER_02And like And give us an iconic dive.
SPEAKER_01A very iconic dive. I'll give her that. But it's like it's like if we're talking about posting, Kara's done less than Letty, even though Letty hasn't been in elimination.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and as much as I like am annoyed by Kara, I would love to see her have a standout season. I just would. It'd be cool to see. Oh, she's so got it. Not this year.
SPEAKER_01It's great to see good players do well. Like it just it just is, you know. You don't want to see a starred quarterback flame out.
SPEAKER_02How old is Kara now?
SPEAKER_0038.
SPEAKER_02Which is crazy because Michelle said she's 37. Is that accurate?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Michelle gives like 31. Well, Cara does give 38. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's two decades of reality TV versus a decade of reality TV.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then like a decade of dating Polly. I don't know if it was that long, but it felt that long.
SPEAKER_01It's close. It was like what 2018 to 2024. That's like seven years. That's a good and in Polly years, that's like dog years. That's it's a good fixed.
SPEAKER_02Never would have guessed it, especially the way it started.
SPEAKER_01Letty had her tire rate, which I thought was one, because where it got to a bit much is that now Letty is requesting Adrian to get on her knees and beg her to not throw the final. And I'm like, okay, this is this is where it gets too far for me. Because like I like being overdrank. I like someone having a like big response to getting voted in because you shouldn't ever want to get voted in.
SPEAKER_00The tire would have made so much sense if it happened before the elimination, which I know part of it did. But like you won, you're back, you're running the final, no harm, no foul.
SPEAKER_02Like I feel like Letty is like somewhat of a production puppet at this point, or she's just like really weird, or both. Probably both. Um, because yeah, like the demanding you basically kiss the non-existent ring is really weird.
SPEAKER_01It's a weirdo behavior. I mean, like, throw back to episode one, and she's yelling, oh, it was rigged about the elimination between Cedric and bananas, where bananas just crush Cedric. It's like, why is she even yelling in this moment? Like, she's been this person since day one, if we really think about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I don't think I dislike her because all episode I kept thinking, gosh, I hope there's a season 43, and gosh, I hope it's individual because she could steamroll that. I don't want any of my favorites on there with her because they'll lose to her, but like she's really good despite being odd.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it I think I just like I'm that like millennial that grew up watching athletes like like Derek Teter. And so I my MO typically, I'm I'm evolving from this, but like I like the way you perform to be louder than whatever you have to say. Um and so her behavior was really, really outlandish to me. I she just hasn't done anything yet. Like you're still a rookie, no matter how good you are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, a second place on Dil No Dill Island means nothing to me. Sorry. She was she was literally like non-existent most of the season. I mean, she was there, she was there, her and Philip, but like she wasn't the standout star.
SPEAKER_02I'm so glad you watch all these shows, Luke.
SPEAKER_00I do. I do rank that show back. It was so good.
SPEAKER_01No, Zoe, you Deal or No Deal Island is genuinely fantastic. Like, you you gotta watch it. Um it's a good TV. Both seasons are great.
SPEAKER_02Okay. I'll put it on the list.
SPEAKER_01So I guess it's time we jump into the final, right?
SPEAKER_00Just like they did, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And um, to no one's surprise, like, oh, Letty does her little thing. It's like, oh, I want her to bang in front of me. Doesn't matter. She ends up competing because ultimately she's gonna compete. It is dumb though she did this, given the fact that Adrian does have power over how the money's gonna get split.
SPEAKER_00Well, I was going to say, too, with her little tirade or big tirade, why could Adrian ever do that? Like, I'm not demeaning myself on TV. And speaking of obscure shows that not everybody watches, like House of Villains season two, when whoever it was, the peck guy, Mr. Pectacular, told Wes to get down on your knees and beg me like for my vote or whatever, and Wes did it and he's still lost. It's like I'm not humiliating myself for your gain when there's nothing that's gonna help me. Like Letty was gonna compete regardless. Adrian getting down her knees and doing that would not have changed anything.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Full stop.
SPEAKER_01Also, just wouldn't even have been a good tone because you just want to go into that final strong. Once you're on your knees, it's like, what's going on here? Like, just go in there and compete.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I am a little bit shocked too that we have a nine-person final, but they didn't try to get it down to eight. I think they were worried about Grey Team losing another person and it being even more lopsided. I don't know. My biggest takeaway from the beginning is I really wish that Justin had been there instead of CT. Just for the sake of like seeing somebody new in the final.
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_02Well, CT being here provided us perhaps one of the only things to talk about about the first leg of this final.
SPEAKER_01It's true. Yeah, let's yeah, so let's just break it down as a whole. Um, from what I understood, there's six puzzle checkpoints. And each is each time back and forth, was it five? I believe so. Five. Okay, five. Um, and the way they described it was that like each back and forth between it would be like one and a half miles. Um, that was like the very specific amount, which is why I said six because like, okay, the math is not math thing anymore with some of these miles.
SPEAKER_00I think it was 2.5. Oh. Mm-hmm. That's how they got to like 12.5 by the end.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because they had to like go out to their like whatever checkpoint and then back to their compound and then back to the puzzle.
SPEAKER_01So I think like because one of them had said like 16 miles by the end for one of the for like the gray team. And so, and then they had like another checkpoint. So I was like, I I don't know if at a certain point they just started adding on miles to make it look more impressive or if they were actually running that amount. Regardless, they had a whole day because it went from morning to nighttime by the end.
SPEAKER_00I spent the whole episode wondering if it was going to end and be the end because I'm like, haven't they done all the puzzles and all the checkpoints?
SPEAKER_02But one over overnight, they're supposed to be putting together their machine that with all their pieces. Because TJ said they were gonna be up all night doing that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_02And then I don't know. Question marks.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot of format things to consider. Um, oh, it's important to note they dropped the temperature on the screen during the final, and they said it was 93 degrees while they were competing, but the humidity was at 100. So the actual like the real fill temperature was 120 while they were competing, which is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_02No, thank you. I'm like uh I'll run outside if it's under 75 degrees.
SPEAKER_01I I I live in Phoenix. I go running outside every day. Um, but I have a rule that once it's past 102, I don't go out. Like I don't but there's no humidity here.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say Phoenix is famously dry, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's like it's I'll I've run at like 104, 105, but there's been no humidity out there. So like it was still beating my ass, but it's not 120, it's not feeling like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and well, and the way that that humid air like feels on your lungs is just not nice.
SPEAKER_01No, not at all. There's heat, there's a lot of milestones, there's a lot of puzzles, and now let's talk about CT. Because CT literally on the first leg after the first leg, the first checkpoint, he's like, guys, let's go to the break, because they have a little section just where you can sit down and take a break one time during the final. And CT after the first leg was like, guys, let's go to the break zone.
SPEAKER_00We gotta pace ourselves. Every final of one of pace was like this. That's not true. I saw, yeah, like World of the Worlds 2, maybe. Okay, the season with Amber B, y'all were going fast.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, she was pacing him in that final. He famously said it. Like, she was the reason that they kept the pace that they did because she was like, keep up.
SPEAKER_01CT is just a fucking liar. That's that's what it is. And it's he's someone who, if he's doing badly, he's not gonna take accountability for himself. He is instead going to blame his teammates and then use his past experience and resume as for reasons as to why he's struggling. And it's like, again, but he's lying because we saw these finals on Spies Lies and Allies, he was in the best shape he's been in since like free agents. Like he had a he had abs on that season, and he was pushing the pace for his team and getting up and down that mountain faster than anyone.
SPEAKER_00I found it really infuriating, and like because I do think viewers and Kara CT and Donnie alike are like they deserve to make the final. No, I would have loved to seen Justin in this position and to be keeping up with the team and to like possibly be a new champ, but like CT's just a waste of space and in this final. I actually found my favorite person this entire episode to be Tori. Yeah, let's get his ass medically DQ'd. Like, let's really try to push the pace and get him out of here. And she's not gonna say it, but like this also ups our winnings. Like, let's get him out of here.
SPEAKER_02I was floored that they showed that. Um, also, I mean, she's gonna get eaten up by a certain portion of this fan base for saying that. I fucking loved it. I love that is cutthroat, right? Like, we are going to run this man into the ground until he can no longer move. We are going to get him medically DQ'd from our team so we don't have to drag his sorry ass to the finish line.
SPEAKER_00And I hate to draw this comparison, but the same people who are gonna be mad at Tori for doing that are the same people during World Wars II who are begging Polly to quit in the middle of the final. And it's like, you gotta call spade a spade. If somebody's dragging their team down, like maybe dip.
SPEAKER_02I mean, yeah, I just like I didn't I wasn't hating CT during this. I just had such like strong secondhand embarrassment for him. Like, I just can't imagine what it feels like to watch this back. And CT is one of the goats, right? Like, I think that that's indisputable to a certain degree. Um, this is really gonna tarnish his reputation, his legacy, this performance in this final, because it's something you can't forget, especially because of the way he treated Big Easy and him literally laying down, like not barely conscious. Like, do you those comparisons? I will never be able to erase that in my mind the same way I'll never be able to erase the backpack.
SPEAKER_01Even the backpack, that's a good thing to bring up because bananas is right alongside him. And so when we're doing GOAT conversations, bananas is like he's hurting, but he's standing right up and still keeping the pace with his team. Whereas CT's literally on the floor.
SPEAKER_00And I am so glad they put the montage together of the big easy clips next to CT. And I halfway wonder if it's like, okay, CT, we love you, you'll always be invited back if we have another season, but like this is what your legacy is becoming.
SPEAKER_02Especially like cherry on the cake or cherry, whatever, uh cherry on top. There's things to say that um the voiceover with Johnny, like be warning them in that season, saying, like, it's gonna come back to bite you, it's gonna come back to bite you, just like the full circle of that moment was just poetry.
SPEAKER_01It does kill me too when they show the original Gauntlet 3 clip, and Big Easy goes, I don't go down, and just like CT's the main one in his face, mad about it.
SPEAKER_02I'm like literally like pushing him over when he's about to faint.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Full broid range CT.
SPEAKER_01Just a tangent. Big Easy, just an asshole. Just an asshole of a human being who doesn't take accountability for anything. So fuck that guy, too.
SPEAKER_02Um that guy. Like one of my least favorite challengers ever.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I remember an old nickname, but I digress. Um, yeah, it's a shame. I was really excited when Medical pulled him. I I truly was like, how interesting would this be to the final if they pulled CT?
SPEAKER_01Let's okay, which we're gonna jump into that, but we gotta talk about one thing first before that. Because it's sequentially, they got to like the puzzle on the second checkpoint. And you gotta remember, all last week CT is saying, What are you guys gonna do? You guys need me for the puzzle. You can't you can't win this final without me. They get to the puzzle. He does not even say a word because he's just catching his breath and drinking his water. He's drinking that water so hard that I think he's gonna grab someone else's camel pack and start drinking theirs.
SPEAKER_02Literally laying down on the ground.
SPEAKER_00I would be so mad.
SPEAKER_02You can't fucking make this shit up.
SPEAKER_01Timed out. And it wasn't even, it was one of the I think the easier puzzles they've they've done. Or are they because there were some hard puzzles that they did in checkpoints.
SPEAKER_02Which one was that again?
SPEAKER_01I oh, I think it was the number one. Actually, that one was the number.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was one both teams timed out on, I think.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. But yeah, he didn't even make a single suggestion, he was just there just trying to stay alive.
SPEAKER_00And now, Luke, let's go into the medical DQ. Yeah, they pull him, and Tori's happy. As a viewer, I'm happy, and it's not that I hate CT, but I'm like, okay, I like to see things seem fair, make sense. And then my heart was like, how cool would it be to pull CT, who is beloved, but to show, like, hey, this is crueling, this is hard, like, even some of your faves and some of our ghosts can't do this. And he was gone for quite some time. They told the other people on the orange team to keep going, and they kept going. See, I thought that was total bullshit.
SPEAKER_02Well, I don't think that's fair at all.
SPEAKER_00So I didn't know if I was gonna be jumping too far ahead by saying this, but CT rejoins them. I of course I had to run back to them. They dropped your ass off at the gate and you ran to the puzzle. If Orange Team wins, there is a huge asterisk next to CT's win because he didn't have to finish the whole thing. And I know people will be mad about that, whatever. It makes me I'm rooting so hard for the great team now. I'll excuse the car of it, but I'm like, you know what? I like Adrian. She's worked hard the past two seasons, she's got a cool story. Letty's really good. I have a soft soft for Cassidy. Car Maria probably needs a confidence boost in her life in some form or fashion. If CT's back, I don't want to see them winning. CT's got a six championship. Yeah, for what? Rolling around on the ground and skipping half the final. I don't want bananas to get an eighth. Oh.
SPEAKER_01It was just so frustrating because it's like, no, okay, the orange team got to pick up the pace, go without them for a bit, and like actually gain some momentum. But it's like if they're gonna medally take them, at least have them just sit there and wait. Because I mean, at least they begin to take a break, which would be an advantage with sorts. But the way they got like two advantages with this was bullshit.
SPEAKER_02I think in a final, if you have to be a medically evaluated, you're medically DQ'd.
SPEAKER_01Turbo, War of the Worlds One, people don't talk about that. Because he had the whole he almost passed out and they gave him like an IV, and then he came back into the final.
SPEAKER_02Like I guess like when you're when you're competing solo, it feels a little different because it's like you're not. I did Turbo like get taken from one point and like brought to another, or was he just given the IV where he was?
SPEAKER_01Kind of IV where he was, but given how like close that final was and how everyone like you know, how close him and Theo ended up being, I do think having like a good 10 minutes where they just like actually medically treated him and he got to just be in a you know a AC car, you know, that's kind of helps a bit to me.
SPEAKER_02I I guess the one this like the separation there for me would be like he didn't get to skip anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, because I was gonna say, if let's say if all of the orange team had to wait while CT got evaluated and then he rejoined, I'd be like, okay, sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh but it's strange because the women's team was like, oh, CT's gone, he's out. And it wasn't until the next time they came around to the checkpoint, they're like, oh, CT's back. I just don't love it.
SPEAKER_02And I think that's a go keep going.
SPEAKER_00Well, I just gonna say, like, oftentimes people say to authors, kill your darlings. Like, it makes for such a good story for like the beloved character to be killed off in the book. I don't want CT dead, but like it makes a really pivotal final moment to be like CT medically DQ'd. Like this shakes things up, but they don't give a damn.
SPEAKER_01The only thing I'll even give CT credit for is that early in the final he said, Well, this is day one of the final, so it doesn't really matter. Because if you watch challenge finals, day one kind of doesn't matter because we've Seen so many finals where it's like, okay, it's day two. Congrats, you won that marathon. Here is a two-minute head starter, and that's all you get.
SPEAKER_00And he was even shocked too when he got put back in the game. He said to TJ, like, what's this mean for my team? Like, what's the punishment? No punishment. Just just rejoin. What?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It's shady.
SPEAKER_01I did also I did kind of laugh because like the medical team, like the medical team says you're alright and you're just literally out of breath because you're out of shape. They're like, no, you're not you're not dehydrated, you're just fat.
SPEAKER_02Like I mean, like what an advantage. It's not, and that's it's not just like skipping the disadvantage of having to wait for CT, but it's actually the advantage of getting to run a whole portion without him. He's their anchor, and they got to basically just like go at the pace they've been wanting to go at and then let him pick back up, which is just crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's annoying, it's frustrating. The final is also really weird, too, because superficially Gray takes an early lead and they seem to be dominating the final. But if you're like very if you're like intently watching the final, you could tell Gray was getting the easier checkpoints first than orange. And so when Orange makes its comeback, it's partially the CT thing, but just also it's like, okay, now they're hitting the easier checkpoints, and so now they're going to be evened up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I didn't love that. I like a final where I can just see it all at once. Like, and that could be more motivating for the gray team to be like, oh crap, the orange team's one checkpoint ahead of us. Like, let's go. I don't know. I think you're right. It creates the superficial feeling of like, hey, we're winning this.
SPEAKER_02Well, and like if Gray's paying attention at all, they know as we're like getting towards the end of this, the last but we get to see all but like the last checkpoint for both teams. Um, and the one we don't see for the orange team is the eating drinking one, which four out of five people are gonna be drinking, drinking some sort of like icy, basically. And gray team has the hardest one left where they're rolling that giant steel ball now in the dark when they're completely out of gas.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, with one less person.
SPEAKER_01With one less person, and that giant ball was hard to push for orange when they had Will and Bananas and Tori. So as much as I love these ladies and they're badasses, they just don't have as much weight to push that ball.
SPEAKER_02No, and that was that was orange's first checkpoint. Like they were doing that at max capacity, and now Gray's doing it at their least. That's it's not it's not boating well for Gray team.
SPEAKER_01They need Michelle to get the bad smoothie. Like, that is genuinely their hell married. Like that is their only shot for catching up, for like staying in the lead.
SPEAKER_00I mean, and even still, she's eaten bad stuff on Survivor, so it's like I think she could do it.
SPEAKER_02Well, and I can't imagine it's gonna be that bad because I think they had to account for the vegans. Tori, they had to account for Tori and maybe Cassidy. I don't know. Um, but so it's like Carmerie was saying it was like spicy and weird and terrible, but like I think as far as nasty shit we've seen people eat on this show, I always go back to Dirty 30 when they had to eat like that river rat. And like crazy, that is like that is what I think of.
SPEAKER_01Um that is the shit directly where I draw the line. That is where like I'll do a lot of stuff, river rat, that no, no fucking shot.
SPEAKER_02Bring back Marie. Because Marie, like, that was like whatever, I could get lost in the sauce here talking about that, but just being like, no, not doing it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh god. Let's talk about people who did well in the final. And so let's start off with the gray team. Um, Letty just was who she said she was, was a superstar throughout most of it. She did mess up in the little uh balance board thing. It was funny because her and Michelle were the two people who messed up, and they were the person I would least expect from each team to mess up on that.
SPEAKER_00It just felt to me with Letty. Sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02No, go, you go.
SPEAKER_00Well, it just felt to me that she would have been so good, but once the producer said four and counted down, like it was like, oh, oh, the excitement took over.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that actually I think was the best thing to have to happen to Gray Team because it humbled Letty instantly. And so she had to basically like eat crow and apologize and suck it up. Like she didn't actually apologize, but I feel like her demeanor and her behavior changed significantly after that. Um, and so that was the best thing that could happen for them moving forward as a team, even though it could have happened maybe at the one-minute mark instead of the four-minute, 58-second mark.
SPEAKER_01Um she is so crucial for this team though, because in that portion where they had to carry the bricks, she's making multiple, like they've kind of gone fast forward through it. Cara and Cassidy are walking through that portion, and she's just running back and forth. She is their heavyweight, and then you have some of these puzzles where you have to just put something up high. And if they didn't have her height, they just wouldn't be able to do that stacking puzzle. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I would actually love to see the time differential on the cinder blocks and the ladder one between gray and orange, because I think Letty was doing probably the amount of work that accounted for anything CT did. Like, I want to know if Orange Team was actually faster with their extra person on some of those.
SPEAKER_01These are the things we need. Because this is like they were they were really good about this during free agents, and they would show all the times, and nowadays they just don't show the times like that anymore.
SPEAKER_02Shady.
SPEAKER_01Adrian is was kick-ass throughout this entire final. At no point was she down, at no point was she fading. Everyone is just like, damn, she's a really good captain. Yeah, very encouraging.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think when people Adrian is perfect exactly as she is, and so fit. I think when anyone sees a body, like a bigger body, they just assume that person's cardio isn't there. Like not everyone, but there is a certain percent of the population that assumes that. Um and one, Adrienne only looks like she has a bigger body because she's next to like Instagram fit models who are size double zero. Uh, but it's so cool to see, and it's so empowering and lovely um to see someone who is strong and not stick thin be able to hold their own in a final like this. Because this is brutal. Like, I know that Johnny's in his 40s and whatnot. Like, I know that this kind of heat is harder on bigger bodies sometimes. Like, like Will was really struggling, I think, in this final, but like to see her do what she do what she does, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, she just ran a ran a marathon like two weeks ago, too. Like she's just fit.
SPEAKER_01That's badass. It's also just amazing to see the growth from like she was in the final last season, and now she's been in the final this season, and she's just improved a lot, and she was good last season, just even better now. Par Maria did well. I mean, people said people were saying like her and Cassidy, but Cassidy was the one who was more struggling on gray and was more vocal about it in her confessionals.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, even still, like I didn't think it was glaring to the point that I was like, oh, she's costing them this. It just was like, okay, she's not as fit.
SPEAKER_02Especially when you saw what Orange was doing. Like, I don't think that Kara or Cassidy were performing any worse than the whole Orange team at a certain point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and this is also like, I don't even blame Cassidy for not doing amazing because this is her first ever final. She's never experienced anything like this before. And so I I it's it's normal for her to be like, damn, finals are harsh. On orange, uh, we think we had we talked about it before, Tori is very much pushing the pace for her entire team. Um, but it is getting to the point though where Will and bananas are struggling themselves, like near the end, and are getting a little frustrated with her. What do you guys think of that?
SPEAKER_02I think they're big babies. I don't like, and maybe we're getting fed an edit that's being friendly to Tori, although based on them showing what she was saying about getting CT medically DQ'd, I feel like we're probably not. She literally was just like, everybody good? Do we feel like we can do any faster? And bananas, more bananas, I think, than Will, was just embarrassed that Tori had more in her gas tank than he did. And so was like pitching a fit every time she asked. And it was just like, and then of course, Tori, like this is how you know they're all exhausted, though, truly, because then Tori's like, okay, fine, I won't say anything ever again. It's like that that is humans when they are like just beyond stressed and beyond physically depleted. Like, I don't think that that's Tori every day of her life, but I do think it's funny. She's like, fine, I'll shut up. Fuck me then, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, as much as I don't like Tori, sometimes she is good. And I don't know, I see her like Instagram posts pop up and I suggested all the time. She just she's healthy, happy, and does what she wants. And I'm like, you know what? Okay. And I will say, Great captain. She's being motivating and also reading the room, even if it's with uh, I won't speak anymore. Uh I don't know. I hate that she's so good at this game.
SPEAKER_01Can I say something that is like kind of it's kind of a dig at her, but I'm just kind of confused about it.
SPEAKER_00Completely.
SPEAKER_01We watched season 40, and she had shown dramatic improvement in puzzles where she was winning multiple challenges that involve puzzles, just like kind of crushing them. Those skills have not seemed to transfer over in this team format, even though she was solo winning puzzles.
SPEAKER_02I think sometimes too. No, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00Oh, sorry, I feel like I cut you off, but I feel like on a team with Michelle and CT, who are like good at puzzles, sometimes people are gonna take the back seat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. My thought was kind of the same. I think that she's like deferring rather than taking the lead. And I think that I think that's just a tricky part of being on a team in general, is you if you don't have this like telepathy thing going on, sometimes the best thing to do is just let someone else do it. Otherwise, you get that like too many cooks in the kitchen. We can't do anything because everyone's trying something different, sort of thing. Um, and so if because they haven't decided Tori is one of the puzzle people, even though, like you said, Alan, she has proven herself really capable. Um, she has like co-signed that basically and just decided not to put herself at the forefront.
SPEAKER_01Because I'm like, I'm I'm going, I'm watching these portions, and it's like she's the freshest person. Use that fresh mind to like just take over for your team sometimes, especially when they're being whiny and complaining and on the ground.
SPEAKER_00True.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything else you have to hit before we end this episode?
SPEAKER_00I just want to point out the Paramount UFC briefcase they found. I was expecting like a huge amount of money added. And 25k split four or five ways is like after taxes. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Knowing what I know about how UFC pays their fighters and how much money they make, it doesn't surprise me one bit.
SPEAKER_00It just felt like an unnecessary additional ad when we just had a whole episode ad about it. But I don't know. I don't hate it.
SPEAKER_02Actually, I want to say I feel really vindicated about saying that Car Maria doesn't follow the UFC because against my will, I saw TikTok of them there. I saw Adrian's TikTok. And Carr's reference for why she was so excited to be at the UFC was I love Rhonda Rousey, who has not fought since 2016.
SPEAKER_00There are layers to that that take another podcast, but it's not shocking.
SPEAKER_01I I just did a whole like 10-minute. I was in a car with someone when they talked about Rhonda Rousey and I do a total 10-minute explanation of why I don't like Rhonda Rousey. And so yeah, I'm I'm not I'm not gonna rehash that here.
SPEAKER_02After the pod.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, everyone, uh, we will be back next week to talk about the finale part two. It's been a really good season of the challenge. And hey, CT, thank you for giving us something to talk about. Um, hopefully you're still alive next week. But if not, wouldn't wouldn't wouldn't be the you know, would be interesting as well. So we'll see what happens. Make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube, Spotify, wherever you get the podcast. Have a great weekend, everyone.