The Press Box - Ep. 131: 'The Challenge' Catch-up With Juliet Litman and Brendan Lynch

Episode Date: June 14, 2016

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and 'Any Given Wednesday' writer Brendan Lynch discuss conspiracy theories about last week's episode, why Under Armour should make merchandise for 'The Challenge,' and their predictions on who will win this season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Shack House, Bill Simmons podcast. The watch and keep you at 1600. I swear they're all great. We believe in quality control here. All right, let's get into it. Welcome to Channel 33. I'm Juliet Litman. It's Tuesday.

I usually do Bachelor party or Bachelor at Party on Tuesdays, but there's no Bachelor this week. That's okay because a challenge is still happening. And that's what we're going to talk about. And I'm here with any given Wednesday writer, Brendan Lynch. Welcome, Brendan. Thank you very much. It's great to be here, big fan of this podcast.

Thank you very much. Brendan, this is your second podcast appearance ever, huh? Yes, I avoided podcasts for a good eight years. By avoid, were you getting a lot of invitations that you turned down? Well, I'm a, yeah, just because I'm a stand-up comedian, people ask you to be on it, and I always just avoided it because I'm scared to put stuff out there that's permanent. Well, podcasts are like semi-permanent.

Like, after a few weeks, it's hard to find them. So if you really bomb on this podcast, you'll be in the, by the end of July. Okay. Let's hope that doesn't happen. You were on Bill's podcast last week. That was your first experience. So that's a lot for me to live up to.

No, no. The last two episodes of this one have been absolutely, Drew Goddard, amazing. Yeah, Drew's great. Yeah. Yes, two Titans in the Challenge world. This season has not only been living up to, in my opinion, some of its potential,

but we still have been getting a lot of drama from the one and only Camilla. Taking the belt from Jenna and from Nani, but Camilla has been really like burning down the place. She's gotten to a lot of fights with various people. I'm pretty into it. Oh, yeah. No, she's been doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

Her dynamic with Tony is absolutely fantastic. Oh, it's amazing. Like they're the only two people in the rivals who are actually acting sort of like rivals. Like Tony's speech to her where he's like, yelling at her after she yelled at TJ was absolutely fantastic. So what happened was there was some really long convoluted like obstacle course basically in the in the Mexican heat. The obstacle course concluded them having to be naked, which like was just some kind of shameless nudity play?

I didn't really get that. What did you make of the culmination, the naked culmination? The theme of this season has been sunscreen. It's just a great lesson because you have bananas, you know, who I love and respect, looking a little leathery, you know, Amanda, lots of sun damage. Her hair. Her hair as well. And I would have gone birthday cake. If you're not going to win, go birthday cake.

Does that mean? What does that mean? Well, remember, it was either or and you had to choose between. I thought that was like a joke on like birthday suit. Oh, no, no. And I was really confused. It was like birthday suit or birthday cake. Oh, right.

And nobody took the birthday cake. They all, they're all exhibitionists. Totally. But it's like, you know, Wes definitely did not sunscreen. No. Below the belt. No. I think he also referenced that.

He said that his testicles were getting sunburned. Yeah. I mean. Sounds very uncomfortable. Totally. And you cannot, you know, the incubator. He has, he has entrepreneurs in Kansas relying on him. If he gets, you know.

Beta blocks. Yeah. If he gets a, you know, some sort of lesion, troubling lesion. Somehow taken out of commission, he can't lead the various entrepreneurs that are relying on him, like you said. That's a great point. I don't know why they didn't do that except for the fact that to go on the show, you have to be self-obsessed and therefore, like, want to be naked. Absolutely. And you know, I have a theory with Nate and Christina, the couple that lost the,

They lost their key. Their token. That was another confusing thing. It was called a token, but then they were saying we lost our key. So it was very, and then to me... Wait, are you saying people on the show had a hard time with language and terminology? I am. I had to...

So hard to believe. I had to watch it twice because I was like, what the heck is going on here? And also... I think that the producers knew it was very confusing. And so basically throughout this obstacle course, they had to carry like a token and they got new ones at various like checkpoints and Nate and Christina lost their key or their token. I think it was called a token. Yeah.

And they were calling it a key. But a token to me has to be round. Like a subway token? Yeah. Like it was, I would have gone with chip. But I'm not, we don't work for the show. I don't think token is a word that anyone on the challenge uses regularly. I mean, I don't really use it regularly either.

So someone, some producer like PA must have said token. and that's why they brought it up if I had to guess. Because I don't think Christina's like talking about tokens or like unless she's some kind of like spiritual guru like looking for, you know, various tokens of spirituality and like positivity. But I just don't see that happening. Christina is, I don't think she's got a lot going in terms of like spirituality and spiritualness. No offense, Christina.

Yeah, definitely. Definitely not. Yeah. I mean. So what happened was they let there at one checkpoint. They were like doing pretty well. and then they get stumped because they lose their token slash key. And by losing, I mean, they can't find it.

It's like, it's supposed to be someplace and they can't find it. They go searching. It seems that they're going crazy or they're just really stupid. Totally. And I believe that Christina was upset because she wanted to get naked. Yes. That was... I think that's a great point.

Because last time she's on the challenge, and I love to bring up, she got naked within like three seconds, allegedly, with Tony. So that's kind of something in her... repertoire. And she quit looking, right? She just was sitting there. Nate was actually, Nate was actually looking. T.J. said nothing. T.J., you hate quitters. She quit looking. There's been, I love T.J. He's been wild. This season, I'm a little down on him. There's some inconsistencies here. Why? Okay, well, um. Well, it's like his number one transgression. Well, here's, this isn't a transgression. This is just something that I found. Strange, right?

TJ is a member of Team Tork, right? Always wearing the torque shirts. TJ's been like ahead of the sponsorship game. He's always been, like for years now, he's been repping for his brands, like well before Tygo was doing it on Facebook. Totally. And so he's the only person that doesn't have to wear Under Armour. He wears these torque shirts this week, and this is just strange.

I don't know if he's a witch or what. He wears a Muhammad Ali shirt. That was pretty crazy. And, you know, this was taped months ago. And then it sinks up to this week. Absolutely. First episode after Ali's death? Yes.

It was wild. He, I just, you do not want T.J. to wear your shirt. That's all I'm saying. What if he has a Brendan Linh shirt? Do those exist? Oh, God. I may, I, no, those, those will never exist. What if any given ones, it really takes off and you have like a really funny bit that you've written?

There might be a Brendan Lynn shirt one day. To sell merch, you have to have a certain type of personality. and I just don't have that skill set. Like Johnny Bananas is a big merch guy. He has got bobbleheads. He's got shirts. Remember when he was suing entourage? No.

Oh my goodness. So entourage, you know, they had the whole Johnny drama thing. Johnny Bananas tried to claim that like he owned Johnny drama and it was some kind of like stealing. Or oh no, this is what happened on entourage. There was something where Johnny drama like becomes Johnny bananas, I believe. Tate is that right? What? Do you remember that John, like the Johnny bananas plot on entourage?

No. Oh my God. I can't believe. a 23-year-old male doesn't know everything that happened on Entourage. You're truly failing. Get back to the Blu-ray set over that's on your TV stand. Is Entourage foundational? Like, I feel like for a certain group of males in America that are certain, like, probably

like I would guess like 23 to like 32, Entourage is like a sacred text. Entourage. I agree with that. I never watched Entourage. Ever? Not a single episode? Not a single episode. I recommend season two.

Mandy Moore plays Vince's X and it's very good. Mandy Moore. Playing herself. She plays Vince's X and they're supposed to be an Aquaman together and it's like very dramatic. It's very good. She's sneakily talented.

I am a Mandy Moore head. She's a good actress. I agree with you. And she married what Ryan Adams. Yeah, they had a very contentious divorce. But I love that because he's like, you know, such a like quintessential difficult artist. Yeah. And she's like happy Mandy Moore.

Yeah. So I love her. I think she's a good actress. And I have like very distinct memories of like being in seventh grade inside foot locker with her song Sugar playing. Yeah. Her music holds up. A lot of those songs don't hold up. But it's fun.

It's light. If a Mandy Moore track comes on, I'm not switching the channel. She probably hates Rachel McAdams because she was in like the first big Nicholas Sparks movie. I walked to remember. And then Rachel McAdams stole her part in the notebook. I don't even know if Mandy Moore is up for it. But I bet she was and like totally ate her.

lunch. And I still like a watcher remember a lot, but everyone only talks about the notebook. Great point. Great point. I'd love to know if that was a real feud. But we digress. Back to the challenge. Don't let TJ wear a shirt with your name on it. And second of all, don't quit on TJ because he'll get mad at you unless you're Christina, who he didn't really get mad at. He didn't get mad at. And then just jumping ahead really quickly at the end, Thomas gets a call. It seemed fishy to me. I, I looked on Twitter. His girlfriend is okay.

I immediately look on Twitter as well. I just, I need confirmation that I don't need to actually be upset here. Here's the weird thing. He got a phone call saying his girlfriend was in the emergency room or you heard, no, you heard him say the emergency room right now. Yeah.

And the next thing we know, he's going home. We don't see any deliberation of him like, oh, should I stay? Should I go? We just see him in the jungle or whatever they're calling it. And he's pulled himself out of contention.

He's leaving. He dialed the number though. And then what are the chances that he, He's dialing the number and she's going into the emergency room. Just the way he delivered the line. Talk to me. Oh, emergency room? I mean, listen, Thomas, if you're listening to this.

He's probably not. Family emergencies are a serious thing. But it seemed fishy because they had three. If he didn't, I think Thomas comes back. That's my prediction. Oh, interesting. I think the producers pulled a fast one because they didn't want one. one of the two teams, Camilla and Tony and

Nani and West, because those are foundational characters. Okay, great. So thank you for bringing this up. We have not even addressed all the Camilla drama. We're going to get to it. But first, let's just say what happened was ultimately Camilla and Tony, Nani and Wes and Thomas and Simone, right? It was Simone? The three of them get sent to the jungle. Two of the three teams will have to play against each other. And the way that it happens is they have put these skulls like inside a bag and you reach in and it's like it's like drawing rocks on Survivor. And if you get a white one, you're safe, you're black, you go into the jungle. And if either one of the partners goes in, the whole team

goes in. So they were at risk, at very high risk of Nani facing off against her best friend, Camilla. And Nani, Wes and Camilla, you just can't really have a challenge if all three of those are gone. You can't, you can't afford to lose two. And obviously Tony as well. So I think you're right. So what happened was we see Thomas get this mysterious phone call. And there's no identification of what's wrong with his girlfriend, just that she's fine. We don't even hear on the show. And then they go. And so then he bows out.

And then TJ says to the remaining four, Camilla, Tony, Nani West, you guys are still going into the jungle. Or you still, we're still going through with this. So then they go and they pull the skulls. And somehow, miraculously, they all draw white skulls. So no one's going in. Probability says that doesn't happen. Okay. And then the other thing is, give me a shot of them putting the skulls in the box. Right. Let me see it. It was so clearly rigged. It was very bizarre.

And I looked up on Wikipedia. They changed executive producers. This season? In the middle of the season? Or it's been happening for a while? This specific season. It went from Justin Booth to Lisa Fletcher. Lisa Fletcher, hello, we need to see those skulls go into the. the box, okay? You are playing with my favorite show here. So yeah, that bothered me. It was really fishy. I wonder if they were just like, Thomas, you're going, or I don't know what happened. I don't know why he was the one who got sacrificed here. Remember Brandon last week? He gets read the riot act, the guy who was like, I miss my girlfriend.

Oh, yeah. And, you know, see you never, that whole thing. And then Thomas, he quit. Okay. I'm sorry. Like, you know, there's context there, but he quits. TJ was totally fine. He's like, you're right. Family first. But here's what I say. Is he jumping on a plane right now? Like, do the jungle and then blah, right? Because you're right, like, there's only been two jungles in five weeks. And also, if there's something really wrong, don't wait for the jungle to be like, I'm out. Just like leave right away. Pack your bags and go. Great point. And then they can pick someone else. Oh, it doesn't. it doesn't really make any sense. You're right. I'm glad you call this to our attention,

conspiracy theory. I love a conspiracy. Yeah, no. I mean, there's a lot of really fishy stuff happening. Well, and then ultimately the result is Camilla gets to stay. And this is relevant because this is what we've been getting out the whole episode is that Camilla had a epic classic meltdown this week. So Christina and Nate, they lose their key slash token, whatever you want to call it. Then TJ's mad at them for doing a bad job. Then T.J. goes to review the tape, much like they do in the NBA finals, he gets Sikakis on the phone. And he realizes that the reason they lost their key is because Camilla actually threw it. Like she thought it was her key slash token, took it, realize it wasn't.

And it just like threw it on the ground randomly. So it was impossible for Nate and Christina to get the token. And they decided that the best response here was to send Camilla and Tony, even though they didn't lose. It was their fault that another team didn't finish. So they go straight to the jungle. Definitely. And it was wildly inconsistent because Vince and Jenna took the match, someone else's mattress. Yeah. And then they just had to start over. And also there was a cameraman who got a shot of the token on the ground. Say something, please. Are the cameraman not allowed to speak? Maybe they're just like, they're like, you don't speak here. We review the tape when we choose to. They're almost like they're treated like robots. They're not there. They're only there for their labor.

That's a good point. That's a really good point. I bet they're not a lot of talk. Like, you know, they're not a lot of talk to the cast. They probably can't talk to producers during a certain period of time as well, which is really mean. I would not want to be a cameraman on the show where I was like a second-class citizen. Yeah. Another little thing I noticed, did you, the beer pong game between Thomas and Vince where they were going back and forth. The security guard who came, this, this like dumpy old man in a red under armor shirt jumps out. How do you get that job? Like, that, that, That would be the ultimate. Security guard for the challenge.

Yeah, that's got to be the ultimate. I bet someone local, probably someone who lives in Mexico, while to go Mexico. Because if I'm being a Murray, I only want to pay travel expenses for, like, so many people. I'd rather pick someone who, like, lives there. So, like, when they're off due, they can just go home and they're not, like, covering all, everything for them. It just seems like a cheaper move. Totally. In my opinion.

We keep getting away from Camilla's meltdown. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. We need to explain what happened. So they're thrown into the job. jungle and Camilla loses it. She's wearing a really stupid hat, which doesn't help. And she starts crying. She's wearing like a beanie and shorts in very hot Mexico. And she is so angry. She's like, it's not fair, but I didn't know. And she's like hyperventilating. And she's so crazy that

Tony is the voice of reason trying to calm her down. And that was the most alarming thing that happened this week. Tony was the voice of reason. Tony was great this whole episode. He was a steady hand in the trying times. T.J. did have a great line. Indisputable evidence, honey. If T.J. or any man who I'm not in a relationship with or is not my father calls me honey, I will kill them. I will strangle you. Yeah. No. I was like, you have to be super charming to pull off honey. Even if you're super charmed. Even Bill Clinton was like, honey, I would still want to strangle him. And I could argue Bill Clinton's our most charismatic American. It is not okay. Yeah.

I was just trying to think of other charismatic people who could maybe pull it off. The only one who comes to mind immediately for me is Michael B. Jordan, but I have a longstanding crush on him. So that's a little different. But yeah, honey is really condescending. It is not okay. Yeah. It was, it was.

I felt bad for Camilla. It would have made me even more fiery than she already was, and she was furious. Great door kick. Yeah. Great door kick. Yeah. And then she carries it over. So TJ leaves.

And then she's like just flipping out in the house. She's crying with her friend Nani. And she doesn't want to go against her friend Nani. That's the issue. And she's like, I hate this game. I'm over it. This is cruel. Emotional abuse.

Yes, she says emotional abuse. She went wild. But if we didn't have Camilla doing that kind of thing, this would be a boring season. We need it. Yeah. No, there's a lot of dead weight. Absolutely. Do you consider Thomas and Vince dead weight?

had a fight this week as well. And their fight was over, like, pool or something. It was very akin to LeBron James and Steph Curry and the Clay Thompson situation where someone calls someone else a bitch or you're not a man enough. Something silly. Thomas is the Kevin love of this series. They sort of look similar to. They do look similar.

Thomas makes fun of his own dad bod, which, by the way, Thomas is still, like, pretty thin. So it's not fair. The male bodies on this season are bad. I'll just throw that out there. Like too many over sculpting and two and then also too many like no definition. Is that what you're saying? Just weird proportions.

Just not like. Jamie's a real mystery to me. Yeah. There's Jamie cut out those pushups. Like it is the pecks are getting too big. But it's just strange that there's like so much nudity and so many water things. And then the guys used to be super jacked. And I think they cut the budget.

I think so too. And I think that's why there's not like Zach and all these guys who are big muscle because they eat more. That's a theory that I, because, because, you know, the old, is his name Nelson? The new guy. Nelson is the only guy. Corey also, or who was coming with like what I would call like a men's fitness subscriber physique. They could be on the cover of men's health. Yeah. No, yeah, men's health.

Totally. I hear what you're saying. Also, someone like Zach is definitely more expensive than someone like Nelson. I think that's underrated here. Like the veterans, they can only have so many because they command more money. I think that the pay structure is such that you get paid a minimum for showing up and that it's commensurate with experience. And then you also get paid like per episode, depending on how far you go.

So like they can't afford to have like all of like the top talent because that would just be too expensive. I'm suggesting. I don't know that for sure. the I just back to Thomas I think he I wanted to crush on Thomas but it's it's no longer he he I liked him last well I I didn't not like him last year and I didn't like Dario Dario and Thomas did a bit of personality switch I love Dario Dario and Nicole to me are the team I'm rooting for yeah they but they but Dario sneakily gets in there by like he tells Jamie about the hookup. Right.

He's a real instigator. Yeah. That's one of the reason I love him. I actually love Dario. Like he's like a sneaky MVP. He's a Sean Livingston of this team for me. Yeah. He does so much.

He's solid performance every week. He says like really inane, um, provocative things. It's great. I really like him. He's my, are you the one champion? Yeah. The camera likes him too. He's, he, he really, he has a unique look as well.

Yeah. Um, I also kind of. of like Devin while we're on the topic of Are You the One people? Devin is the guy who's like really full of himself. And I just, I think full of your, full of yourself is good for reality TV. Devin is, he, he's my lowest man on the, I think this was a horrible episode for him personally. I get that he's charming, but.

I wouldn't say charming, but gives good interview. Yeah, he's, he's, but that negotiation with bananas where bananas are like, of the, are you the one people, you're the shepherd. Let us be sheep. That's what he said in response. Exactly. He went with that dumb phrase. And then, um, I hate all the people who just like, except Johnny

banana's like, like rhetoric. Like if I'm Devin, I'm just like, fuck you. I'm not a shepherd. I'm not a sheep. Like, I don't, it doesn't make you cool. You've been on the show for so long. Like, good for you. I guess they kind of have to buy in.

But if they don't buy in, it's kind of cooler. I mean, I like it when there's some kind of. kind of like a rebellion against the quote unquote vets. Totally. You need to get Johnny bananas out ASAP. Yeah. Everyone who kowtows him. He must be really fun.

That's the only thing I can think of. Totally. And when him and Devin were talking about the throwing in, he just like in the negotiation process. Like I would love to sell a car to Devin because he gave up like five things. Yeah. For like, and Sarah and Johnny were like laughing at him. It's like, dude, like, he just, you broke your alliance with Wes. You, um, you let them pick their opponent.

I mean, you have to keep some stuff for later. Like, so, yeah. And then, and then Devin also called himself Peter Pan. Right. I didn't really get that. And also, I don't think it's a compliment. Like, does that mean you're forever young or like, what does that mean? I don't really get it.

Yeah. I just, if I was going to pick like a fairy tale character, certainly would not be Peter Pan. Definitely. He's a very confusing character when you think about him. Have you seen the movie Hook? Yeah. With Robin Williams? Robin Williams and Rufio, right?

Rufio. I love Rufio. He's in another movie I love called Take the Lead. It's really hard to separate Peter Pan from Robin Williams playing Peter Pan from me now. So it's just like a weird thing for Devin to choose. Yeah, it was a weird, that's a weird line. And then he said, when I have my eye on a woman, I've never not gotten her.

That is... That's a red flag. Yeah, that's really creepy. And, yeah. I take back the fact that I like him. I forgot about that line. And then... Bad move by me.

But still, Nate, what's your feelings on Nate? Well, here's the thing. I know that Nate and Nicole, cousin of Nani, are dating off the show. Oh, I didn't know that. They met, I think on the season. Now they're still together. And I irrationally like when a showmance becomes a true romance. So that makes me like them.

both more, but that's like not really fair, and neither did anything to earn that. But I just like a good showman's turn romance. It's very rare. Boston Rob and Amber from Survivor are like the originals of that. And I don't know. I just think it's cute. He has such a dated look. It's like 2000. Yeah, it's like 2011 like, you know, the footh, the gauges. It's like you know he owns multiple fedores. It's like he's been watching that one incubus video on a loop for five years. Totally. He has the incubus box set. And one of my... Poor incubus. They don't want Nate as their spokesperson. Did you notice this? Like, before the, the challenge, he crossed himself.

He did? Yeah. So he's religious? Or inspired by Steph Curry? I don't know. Yeah. He did a little point up. So, yeah, maybe it's a Steph Curry thing. But then he's, then it's cuts to him eating balls. It's like, keep. keep the, you know. Thank you for bringing up the food part of this challenge. This is the same like real erase obstacle course or whatever. I fast forward it through the disgusting eating. I don't want to watch them eat disgusting stuff in the hot sun.

It's nasty. Yeah. It's not like on a show where the challenges. I mean, the challenges are the least important part of the show, right? So I was like, I can just get this. It was so gross. I hate the eating stuff. I would quit if I had to do an eating challenge.

Sorry to. If you had to pick between the, uh, the brains, or the testicles? Yes. What animal was it? They didn't, I don't think they specified.

I can't pick. I feel disgusted. You're just out. What about? I guess. Ugh. Oh, Brandon. So disgusting.

What would you pick? I'm going, I'm going balls. And I thought about it and it's because brain, you know, there's like mad cow and all this stuff linked to like eat. Like that's a, that's a more important organ. Sure. The brain. There's a really like easy joke that someone could have made about one of the girls that I, I just feel like they could have done it.

Like, of course you chose balls because like X, Y, Z. I just feel like there's a lot of jokes you could do there that people didn't really go for. Thomas, I think, made that joke. Did he? Yeah, he's like, come on, Sabone. It's not like you haven't had, you know, blah-bitty-blah in your mouth. And I think they probably did that to set up that joke, which is so gross. I apologize for bringing it up.

really disrespectful. What about the rocks versus the lasso? What do you do? Definitely rocks. Yeah. Okay, so you could either try to like lasso this gigantic like barrel or throw rocks that landed on the barrel. No one has experience with the with a lasso, but everyone has experience throwing rocks. So why don't you just choose the thing that you know how to do? Totally. And the lasso, I think it was Jamie. He's never seen a Western movie. You do lasso over the head, right? Like, that's, like, he's doing side lasso. This is not a time to experiment with, like, lasso technique. With your cowboy skills. Yeah. And then he's like, oh, I'm from Massachusetts. Of course I don't. It's like, he's so deep into the Massachusetts. Like, that's such a ingrained

part of him. I really, I really hate Jamie. And I think it's partially because ever since I found out he's a corrections officer, my only frame of reference for that work is on Orange is the New Black. And it's really hard for me to not think about him as one of the guards on that. show. Do you think the prisoners at the place he works at are going to watch the show and yell like, hey, Smashley? They're probably not a lot to know. They probably can't watch it. I don't know. Hard to say. Thanks for bringing up Smashley. She's another secret MVP of this season. Smashly, aka Ashley, who her friend, Jessica, got voted off. And following that, she goes to Jessica as the guy Jessica was hooking up with Tony. Jessica's gone. Ashley goes straight to Tony. And

then they hook up. She claims to nothing happen, but they show her on camera taking off her underwear. So it was pretty, it was pretty raw. Ashley is not getting a very kind at it at all. We've seen her go fairly aggressive with two guys now, both of whom I would not think you have to hook up with. So it's pretty, it's pretty intense. Yeah, I, I don't really like her, but I respect her and just in terms of her, like, she just really doesn't care. And yeah, apparently she, she lives in San Francisco. When she was on explosion, it was kind of weird

that she was on the show because it was also, it was in San Francisco, but it's also like where she lived. It was very strange. It was more similar to the earlier seasons when people who lived in, like,

be in the city for a specific, like, life reason, not just for the show. But anyway, apparently she still lives in San Francisco and she, like, hands out promotions at, like, rallies for the warriors.

Like, there's, like, pictures of her, like, handing out T-shirts and stuff at, like, some kind of, like, fan pep rally. Oh, weird. I know. I can't imagine, like,

she doesn't, fit with San Francisco, like at all. That's a weird city for her to make her home. It's really surprising. However, I had like one time that I went to a club in San Francisco and like I could totally see her there. Yeah, there are some weird like in the financial district. I couldn't imagine her on Bart.

Uh, me neither. I don't know if she takes public transportation. Yeah. That's a great, great point. She, uh, she's the, her drama is not the same as Camilla though because it's like all sexual basically. and she had that one meltdown, but she just is like, she's just like a drunken mess. Camilla is much more tempestuous, like in a positive way.

Great point. Like she's got much more complicated emotions and therefore, like, her reactions are much more multifaceted and fascinating. Ashley, I'm just like, okay, you drink too much and then you like to have sex. Like, okay, that's not that rare, first of all. And second of all, it's also just like not that compelling. Totally. And the Tony, women love Tony.

Not this woman, just to be clear. Not me. Oh, yeah, yeah. And here's one thing. And I hate to like, I'm not a, I don't like to, I'm not super a nitpicker. But do you remember last season in bloodlines in Turkey, Tony fell and had the internal injury? Yeah. And then he went to a Turkish surgeon.

Yeah. And my eye is drawn to the Turkish, like, surgeon happy trails. Like, every time he's shirtless. I'm like, you know, and this isn't a judgment on like the surgeons of Turkey, but I think they were doing a rush job, you know. And it was just, it's just, it, it, I just can't not look at it. Yeah, he had like a sport attorney or something like that. And it probably was like emergency surgery and like, who knows if the stitching was well done or not. Who knows?

Tony's been through so much over the last year. He's a father, got another girl pregnant. He's been on a bunch of these shows. It's just been a real up and down for him. And now he's got permanent proof of that time in Turkey. He got really ill. Totally. And credit to him for going back up on the, you know, in the aerial challenges after, because I sure

wouldn't. The aerial challenges are interesting. Like, I don't really care for them. Like, I don't know. The people who are scared of heights, like, we know about it. And they conquer it once. And, of course, they'll do it again. And they usually, like, it's complicated.

But it just seems like they over, overvalue the. production of these these challenges like it actually is more fun to watch them do absurd things like in the heat than watch them try to like jump from platform to platform like 25 feet in the air or however high it is like I would get I would save my money give them more alcohol and do no elevated challenges yeah totally I mean what do we get out of it it's a better show yeah um like on survivor the challenges are great and it's because they're like some kind of like weird on the ground stuff not like what's this extreme sport we can pretend we're doing yeah And I don't think athleticism should be as important as it is.

We would have to rethink how we think about the show. But, like, I don't know. This week's challenge I preferred because you didn't necessarily have to be a great athlete. Although Sarah and Johnny still won, and they are the most athletic team. Yeah, totally. But did you notice that, like, when Nani and Wes were talking, I thought it was really, like, I really liked Nani in this episode. Me too. And I liked what she told Wes.

My birdies tell me that Nani's now a bartender in Chicago, by the way. Oh, man. New city for her. She's great. I didn't like, I mean, I'm back and forth on her, but she's really grown up. Yeah, this, this week she was great. And she told Wes, listen, Wes. She did a Wes to West because Wes is usually the one giving the speech. She's like, you can't keep playing the political game. Did you remember that when there's laying on the bed? Like, the political game era is over.

Like, this is all about like challenges. And with the like weird skull thing. It's great insight. Yeah. Yeah. The, are you the one shift is really like a new era and West is really old school. Yeah. It's kind of sad actually. He's kind of like the Kobe Bryant in the 2016 NBA. Great.

Totally. He's, he hasn't caught on. Yeah. Yeah. And Nani being the voice of reason. Again, Nani and Tony being the wise ones this week. I just couldn't have seen that coming. Yeah, totally.

And it sounds like we're, it sounds like, you know, a late, like, it was a confusing episode because there was a lot going on and like, what, uh, here's just a, another, like, thing that I was thinking about is... Okay, great. Inside of the mind of Brendan Lynch. Under Armour, and I don't know, maybe you've made this point or thought about this. Under Armour needs to release Challenge merch. Yeah, I want to buy that stuff.

Yeah, and like CTs, like imagine getting CT shoes. Like, these are the CT duels. CT duels. Like, I would buy those. And also, if I see a guy with a challenge sweatshirt, I'm automatically going to talk to this guy. Of course. I automatically like this guy. Yeah.

No, I agree with you. And I've always been someone who likes the, like, T-shirt jersey. Like, I had, like, a Kobe Bryant, like, T-shirt, whatever that said his name in the back. And I've always, I obviously have two from Chandler Parsons, two teams. I would get, like, the T-shirt jersey of my, of West, probably. I would choose Wes, probably. I would choose Mr. Beautiful. Kenny. Oh, I'm with you there.

Yeah. Love Mr. Beautiful. We do. I follow him on Instagram, CrossFit. he was he he he has just had the best delivery on sound bites I'll knock every freckle off your face he's the one who the freckle insults that was thrown around last week that's just a bad version of his insults less Kenny Kenny was a real word smith he was very he's just great I love that guy and he was a great host too yeah that he remember used to host a jersey show or after show yeah

it's because they knew that as a fellow New Jersey guy that he could relate to them totally Or something. I miss him, but. Here's another, sorry, here's another thing I was thinking about, like, don't you think that this is, like, Rivals is their best franchise. Yeah, Rivals is good. I like X's as well. Rivals, X's.

And then I would have done fresh meat instead of already the one. Fresh meat's given us a lot of winners. I don't know why we had to suffer with those are the one kids. They suck. There's not a single fresh meat person besides Jamie, who's like a cousin of a fresh meat person. Nicole. Oh, you mean like, oh, yeah, you're right.

There's no, like, fresh meat person on this. I think you're right. It's all real world or like family from real world, basically. But we got so many winners that are fresh meat. Oh, yeah, totally. And I think when they brought back a couple, it should have been a fresh meat couple. It should have been Laurel and Biggie. Oh, my God. I would have lost it. Laurel, haven't thought about her in a while. I got to check on her YouTube. She does a lot of YouTube videos, like in her like workout clothes. Acoustic guitar. Yeah, exactly. She has she can carry a tune, guys. On like an unfortunately serious note, I think that people like some people like Laurel were scarred by the show. Like her friendship with Carra Maria had a lot of ups and downs. I think you do, I think even though Camilla said it and then stand on the show, I think some of these people like do reach a breaking the point and they have to like move on.

She's, but she's such an athlete and I do think. And and just that that incident was so ugly. I bet she'll be back one day. Hopefully. I have a hard time believing this is it for her. Who do you think is going to win this season? I mean, obviously, like, I think Johnny Bananas and Sarah. Sarah Rice.

Yeah. But I think they are, too. I'm rooting for Nelson and Amanda or Dario and Nicole. Yeah, Dario and Nicole. I like them too. I guess I wouldn't mind Nani and Wes. I like both of them. Yeah.

Has Nani ever won? I think she's won once. Okay. She deserves one win. She's given us a lot. I think Wes and Wes and Johnny have both won so this is like the rubber match for rivals.

Yeah, although I think Johnny's won more than Wes has. Oh, no, no, yeah. Over the long, but just in the rivals genre. Like they both have taken one. And then this is the rubber match. And Wes is stuck in the political game. And that's unfortunate. He needs to take them advice from Donnie.

Brendan, thank you for coming on this podcast today. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. I hope that this will not be your final podcast in history. I might retire on two. Who knows? You'd be going out on top. Thank you for listening.

This has been Channel 33. Next Tuesday, you'll be back with Bachelor at Party. And also the wrestling podcast, two pods on Tuesdays. I know it's a bounty of riches. Don't forget to check out the ringer.com, the website I work for any given Wednesday coming next week, June 22nd. That's the show that Brendan works for starring Bill Simmons on HBO. and check out all the other Ringer podcasts. Thanks for listening.