10 Obscure Final Reckoning Observations
After not writing about Final Reckoning for an entire month, I have some major observations and hot takes I want to bring everyone. Hope you all enjoy!
#1 Nelson has become the best player for confessionals
MTV likes to cast people specifically for their ability in confessionals. While those individuals are funny, it has gotten to the point where comments in the game about other players are downright catty. Nelson’s comments are the exact opposite. He is living in his own Nelson-centric world. In his world, he truly believes he is the best competitor on the show and brings a smile that makes you kind of buy into the possibility too. Nelson used to talk like a bad preacher and now he speaks like a decent one. On top of it all, he says words or phrases he does not know the meaning of and it is hilarious. Nelson is not smart and that is completely fine.
#2 Tony is boring
Something I never expected to say about Tony is that he is boring. In Tony’s first six challenge appearances, he figured out a way to either be the star or be relevant. Tony Time might have come and gone. He is playing second banana this season and it is disappointing considering Tony was the star of Vendettas and had a great run on Champs vs Stars. Maybe he still has a big moment this season.
#3 DaVonne and Tori are basically the same person
This may get Tori fans angry and it may get DaVonne fans angry too. Both of these competitors are essentially over-hyped personalities who MTV inserts into confessionals because they want to push the product and these are the vessels they have chosen as their favorites. Seriously, neither of these competitors were that relevant on Final Reckoning, but they were put into so many confessionals that you are going to think they are.
#4 Kayleigh needs a new helmet
Even though Kayleigh has a giant mane of hair, her head is very tiny. When she is forced to wear a helmet during certain eliminations and daily challenges, her hair gets packed in and her small forehead gets completely covered along with what seems like most of her vision. She needs a new smaller helmet that is also capable of packing in her hair.
#5 Do people hate Shane as much as they hated Frank Sweeney?
Gay males have an interesting history with the Challenge that I will dive deeper into one day. While there have been strong gay male competitors in the past, none have actively played the strategic and political game as hard as Shane Landrum and Frank Sweeney. Both are hated individuals who had most fans cheering against them. Frank’s control of the game on Battle of the Seasons and his chaotic behavior defined the season. He went on to win the season, upsetting fans across the globe. Has Shane hit the Frank level of hate this season? I’d argue he has eclipsed it because Frank won and people respect winning. If Shane loses again, they will continue to hate him and make fun of him for losing.
#6 Where the hell is Sylvia and Joss?
For a team who has never sniffed the redemption house, who has done well in the challenges and their one elimination this season, and is part of the major alliance in the game, the duo of Sylvia and Joss have gotten a mostly wallpaper edit. Sylvia head-butted a person and it was forgettable by the next week when Sylvia mentioned she wanted Cara and Marie to lose their elimination because she and Marie were not on good terms. Joss had a whole showmance with Amanda that was mostly glossed over. They deserve better.
#7 Are we giving Marie too much credit?
There has been an outpouring of support for Marie the last few weeks and it has been wild to see people come out in great numbers to stan Marie Roda. The same people who most definitely had comments/tweets in their history where they shit on the same Marie. The greatest example is the Cara Maria stans who were blocked for harassing her and are now begging to be unblocked. Part of this is Marie has always been kind of cool and people are only now not blind because she is attached to the female face of the show. It is similar to finding out a musician is good because they open for a much more famous performer. Marie is kinda like Francis and the Lights (google him).
Likewise, it is hard to care so much about this Marie arc when we have seen it with Laurel, Cooke, Abram, and many others before.
#8 Hunter and Ashley suck
I say this as a person who is a fan of both the Lavender Ladies and the Young Bucks, these two people are probably elite competitors (yes, elite) and they are awful people. Hunter is too focused on petting his own ego and trying to win everything by simply dominating physically. Meanwhile, Ashley keeps jumping on battles that do not involve herself. As much as I love a good mess, Ashley is being messy for no good reason and Hunter is somehow worse. They might be the best team — it is just becoming impossible to root for them.
#9 Johnny Bananas is a sourpuss
Is anyone else surprised that Johnny Bananas, the guy who carried around a bobblehead of himself cannot deal with being a part of the minority? He is honestly having an incredible season as a competitor on Final Reckoning, but he is not a victim as he has created this circumstance for himself. Remember during the Inquisition of Vendettas that Johnny told Tony if he voted him in, he would make sure to make Tony’s life hell in future seasons. Other people are doing what he put on the table for Tony and in return, he has mostly been bitchy. He rarely gives a person their due and when he does it is a backhanded compliment. Johnny works so hard to convince everyone he is the greatest and part of is by shitting on other people.
#10 Redemption is still bull-shit
One of the reasons I took a month off from writing about the show is because Redemption Houses reduces the Challenge into a poker game played with monopoly money. In the long-run does any of this shit fucking matter? Paulie and Natalie lost THREE eliminations and are now back in the main house. We still have nine total teams left in the game and it is kinda bullshit when you consider the season started in early July. Not to mention the fact that MTV did a double redemption in order to keep Cara Maria on the show because she is the face of the franchise and they cannot lose her at this point on the show. Seriously, why else at this point would they have a double redemption? I love Cara, she’s one of my top five all-time favorite competitors, but I fucking see through your shenanigans MTV and I don’t like it. Paulie and Cara better have sex in front of Kyle on a gondola a thousand feet over water to make up for this chicanery.
Wow, this went off the rails. :)
