Challenge War of the Worlds 2 Episode 2: 10 Biggest Takeaways
Episode 2 is in the books and I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from the second episode. These will be integral storylines that the second episode focused on. I’ll breakdown why they matter for the season.
Honorable Mentions:
- Ashley’s low-key floater game
- Cara and Paulie being under the radar
- Turbo’s experience on Team USA
- Esther’s charm
- Jenny the Beast?
And now to the 10 that made the cut:
#10 Potential Kyle and CT rivalry?
In the nomination episode this week, we saw Kyle attempt to rally the troops in his venture to be the team’s CT. Unfortunately, CT is already their CT. It was a fascinating tidbit. There is nothing there currently, but you can tell Kyle feels a need to assert himself on his team. Kyle is not the strongest guy. He is not a bad athlete, but he does not stand out either. His strong suit has always been his social game. If CT was on Team USA, Kyle ideally leads the team as he is the person most capable of managing egos. A person who can manage four girl-friends is likely able to be an efficient leader.
CT taking over after Kyle’s flub could lead to some conflict later in the game, especially once Bear/Idris are gone as they are the ones who currently have big targets on their backs.
#9 Wes’s demise
It’s happening. Wes laid out the tissues, put out some lotion, and prepared multiple videos of his favorites. Then within ten seconds, he blew his load.
I do not blame Wes. Coming off a hot finish on War of the Worlds 1, Wes expected to come into this season and run the game. In reality, he was like a guy who hooked up with a girl who was out of his league while drunk and then thought they were now together. When she rejects him, he pretends he is not interested, saying he was sick. Ironically, Wes was sick this episode.
If anyone wants to say he was not sick, it is pretty clear before the challenge started that he was. Him choosing to swim in the cold water exacerbated the situation. There’s belief Wes exaggerated his illness to give himself an excuse for when he loses. Do I believe that? Possibly. I used to do that shit when I played baseball as a kid all the fucking time. However, I do feel bad for Wes because the game is going south, and he is actually sick. Wes is not in a state to take on the entire house.
#8 Johnny Bananas is grouchy
In past seasons, Johnny Bananas has been quick to shit on his fellow cast members in order to get an easy laugh. Most seasons, he has a cheeky smile on his face while doing so, and it makes him a bit more endearing as he leans into the villain role. This season, he is just mad. In the past, he could deride people and fall back into knowing he holds an immense amount of power and pull within the house. With this cast, Bananas probably is not a top attention whore or challenge competitor. Essentially, he is a school principal who got demoted to vice-principal. He still holds a decent amount of power and gets a good paycheck, but he doesn’t have his parking space anymore, he doesn’t get hush gifts from the parents, and he’s lost a hefty amount of the respect from his peers. It is like the episode of the Office when Michael Scott was demoted to salesman again for half a day.
#7 Bear and Laurel
Laurel has been on one season is the last five years and is now trying to reprise her role as HBIC. I think it is a poor choice in a game with males like Zach, Paulie, Bananas, and Wes — guys who want to lead but are sensitive when challenged. She needs to be careful as those men could ultimately decide her fate.
It does not help she is attaching herself to Bear, the number #1 pariah in the game. Bear is an absolute sleazeball who only seems to care for Laurel because she’s interested in him. His antics will drag down her game. Laurel’s taste in partners is often self-obsessed people: Kenny, CT, Jordan, Nicole, and Bear. She wants the person who only cares about themselves to care about her. It’s almost like running the three-minute mile.
Bear suggesting he’d be a better leader than CT was also top notch comedy.
#6 I hope you’re okay, Zahida! So long Faith!
We lost Zahida this week due to a family emergency. It’s always sad to see someone go due to a reason like this. I hope she comes back next season. For now, we have to settle for her amazing Instagram @zahidallenx
Meanwhile, Faith left the house because people were having fun at 3 AM in a Challenge house. Either there is something more significant in the edit we have not seen. Faith’s history as someone who is wanted for stealing cars, credit fraud, going AWOL from the military, and being a fake person … I think she realized she was alone and simply quit.
#5 Jordan and Tori continue to make a mark
Jordan is playing an active game this season. He’s not hiding in the grass and waiting for the game to come him. Jordan realizes it is a team game, and if he becomes a leader, he will decide how the game goes.
Meanwhile, Tori is a little less socially political. In her confessional, she expressed an amount of doubt in Kam and her abilities. Tori is right, Kam is riding her elimination wins and 3rd place female finish on Vendettas. Kam has not had much success in daily challenges. In a team game, you need players who are strong performers in dailies versus eliminations. Tori and Kam are incredibly similar players who have both achieved 3rd place final finishes. When you include the Champs vs. series, they’re just about even, with Kam having a small edge. I am fascinated to see if the two will butt heads.
#4 Rookie Debacle
Esther and Big T were the two females the UK team were discussing to throw into elimination due to their rookie status. However, this bugged Big T and Kayleigh as Jenny and Nicole are also rookies. Coming off a season of Big Brother where the three darkest minorities got voted off first, it didn’t quite vibe with me that Big T and Esther were the only two considered, especially since Sean and Idris, two minorities as well, were in the first male elimination. Yes, I know they’re rookies, but the optics still are not fantastic.
Not mentioning Jenny for elimination made sense because she looks phenomenal and is leading team workouts. Nicole is not because she’s Georgia friend? Ultimately, this hurts Georgia more than Nicole as we come to see.
#3 Killa Kam’s plan
I’m having a tough time figuring out whether or not Kam made a big move or not. When Kam makes a play, she often likes to hype her moments. Her power move to spook the house on Final Reckoning with the fake Sylvia cry was iconic. Unfortunately, she wasted it on Faith and Angela.
Voting in Georgia is a big move as it makes Georgia her enemy, but putting her up against Big T is not, because even with the fight put up by Big T, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Georgia would win. Had Kam made a deal with Kyle and Kayleigh to get a better player voted into elimination or even just Nicole, then the move would have been massive. Instead, she guaranteed one of the UK’s weakest players a plane ride home.
#2 Georgia and Kayleigh as enemies
I think there’s more to this rivalry than meets the eye. Kayleigh and Georgia do not like each other, and it’s very obvious. It’s probably drama from outside the house, and it could involve Bear as they’ve both been romantically involved with him before.
Regardless, these two are going to battle this season. Kayleigh is playing the game that Kam thinks she is right now. She’s guaranteed herself safety from the US side, and nobody on the UK side is considering her as she’s not a rookie. Kayleigh is 10x worse of a physical competitor as Georgia, but if she has the social and political pull to throw Georgia into elimination continually, then she does not need to be good at the challenges.
#1 Farewell Big T
I didn’t particularly care for Big T until her elimination. Yes, I felt bad she was being considered for elimination over Nicole, but I can understand why.
Similar to Sean, Big T entered an elimination where she had nothing to lose, yet she came out looking like a million bucks. In a physically enduring elimination, Big T went ninety minutes against one of the finalists from the previous season. After having not worked out in years, she went toe to toe with a girl who runs seven miles a day. What’s sad is we didn’t get to see her truly interact much with people in the house. I have no clue whether she is a party person, is down to hookup, will start drama, etc. Even with 90-minute episodes, we aren’t getting enough content.
