The fact it’s about Emy and not the Big Brother conflict is telling. The episode titles usually refer directly to the most important storyline from the episode. On top of all that, the episode is titled “Alien” referencing Emy’s song, that talks about how she’s alone and different. This is later exemplified by her performance at the club, where it looks like she is coming out of her shell a bit.Įmy still has some tread left in this game and the CT Seal of Approval is explicitly saying that she is someone to root for. CT is essentially being used as a device to narrate her character development. She’s in a similar role as Big T on Double Agents. I think everyone can relate to at least a part of her story and that’s what the editors are hoping for.īut we also get to see CT helping to build her up. She keeps sharing her insecurities, saying she was bullied and worries she’s too different. We continue to learn more about Emy as a person. If they can’t physically show us a personality trait on tape, then why not have the trusted voice of an all-time fan favourite tell us who is good vibes.Īt the start of this season, I flagged Emy as an underdog storyline and all of this narration from CT just further’s that narrative. We’re not in the house, so the editors need to explain the various relationships, dynamics and characters in a way that we will understand. I’m not saying this is formulaic, but we could definitely look for a pattern here if Emy is thrown into elimination and is successful again.įrom a narrative perspective, it makes sense. Later on, Hughie went on to win an elimination and prove all his doubters wrong. He gave Emy his seal of approval this week, saying he likes her outcast vibe and that she is growing on him.Ī couple of episodes ago, CT stamped another rookie: Hughie. It’s tough to pinpoint where they’re going with this, as we didn’t have an elimination to tie the single episode storylines in a bow, but lets try anyway! THE CT SEAL OF APPROVALĬT is the challenge OG. I know ratings have been slipping lately, but it just feels like a cheap gimmick to keep people on for one more week. Maybe it’s another boring rookie-rookie elimination and they just wanted to make a zesty episode, in between two lame showdowns. Josh and Fessy are getting physical and Esther threw a drink in Amber’s face. Another week passes and we have the same knowledge about this situation as we did before. But the big climax was a fight where all the spicy bits had already been teased in promos. Maybe I would feel different if something… unexpected happened in this episode. I didn’t look at the run time of this episode, so I was all kinds of confused when I got hit with the “Next On” graphic at the one hour mark.
They started somewhere in the mid to late 20s seasons, seemingly when ratings started to decline. The Challenge didn’t used to do these weird half to three-quarter episodes with cliffhangers.
Every episode ends with Jeff Probst snuffing a castaway’s torch and saying “the tribe has spoken, it’s time for you to go.” It’s a formula, but it’s something fans have come to love and expect. While it’s good to think outside of the box, I think fans expect a certain base formula and it can be off putting if changed. I never feel fully satisfied after these weird, short episodes, that don’t end on eliminations. To be completely honest, the last episode was just so boring I decided to not give it the time of day.Īfter this week, I’m feeling sort of out of place. It’s been two weeks since I’ve done a blog. Well, well, well if it isn’t my arch-nemesis “The Challenge doing a short episode with a minimal payoff, only to leave on a weak cliffhanger that teases potentially cool stuff”.Īfter a bit of a snoozer last week, Spies, Lies and Allies returned with an episode that was so close to being good.