The Challenge 37: “Good Vibes And Gladiator” Edgic- Top Contender Analysis

Hello all and welcome back to another edition of Challenge 37 Edgic. This week will unfortunately be another rather light write up. I took a spontaneous trip to New York with my sister to see some of our extended family and I do not have the time I usually have to do my extra watches and perform analysis. I am currently writing this entire piece of analysis on my phone during the drive from Upstate NY to NYC.

In lieu of deep character by character analysis, I will offer some DEEP analysis, WOT1W comparisons, and thots on my top contenders so far from this season. You can treat this write up as the first of our “Contender Check-in” pieces this season. That being said, I will also mention that the news that prevented me from writing last week is also still in play. I am 100% certain that everything will make sense after this week! The other exciting news is that I am hopeful Episode 1 of my Edgic Podcast will be released in the next few weeks.

With all of that in mind, If I had to pick one episode to skip doing character-by-character analysis on, this is one of them. I believe Gabo and Logan combined for over 35 confessionals, well over half of the episode. While this was excellent content for both of them and does suggest a potential return for both, both are rather small rookie edits. Let me explain.

Episode Analysis

If we break down the edit for both Gabo and Logan, both were actually pretty similar this episode. I think this episode was HUGE for Gabo’s potential to return, but there was 0 doubt in my mind that he was never going to win this elimination. It wasn’t close to me. For Logan, this episode was huge in terms of longevity this season, a potential return, and just general visibility. But do I believe Logan will be in the final OR win? Probably not. I have nothing to suggest that is in immediate danger, but he is still a rather small rookie edit.

So all in all, this episode was kind of a wash. Anessa and Gabo were eliminated— by all reasonable Editing and Logic analysis, those two competitors were never going to be our winners this season. There was of course still important information that was presented to us, but this episode I think you would learn much more from the characters who weren’t in the elimination round. This episode had some really interesting key scenes and implications.

I will break these down more in depth, however here is some of the important dialogue I noticed (I will add to this section as I am able to complete more rewatches, please do check back).

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1. Emanuel and Tori receiving some immediate focus. This is extremely interesting to me as my top two contenders are now seeming going to be romantically involved. I thought I saw him dancing with someone else (not michelle) during the trailer but I wasn’t sure and I don’t like to do deep trailer analysis. Both of these two have very strong edits thus far and HAVE to be on watch for the remainder of the season.
2. CT and Emy mentorship scene when CT gives emy an intense pep talk after another mini melt down. When you combine this with the “Next on” scene that we see, perhaps the show is setting up Emy to steal CT after the next elimination (assuming her and Hughie are thrown in as HouseVote, and assuming they win of course.)
3. While Emy and Hughie are the logical team to go home next week, they actually have larger edits than some of the other rookies left. I would refer to both of their edits as mediocre— they both have potential to win eliminations and return for future seasons, but neither is likely to win or make the final. It will be very interesting to see if they navigate surviving as a rookie team next week.
4. Nothing really else interesting this week. We knew the elimination, we know what was going to happen to Gabo (You should know this based off reading my writeups LOL). That’s it. I think we just have to wait and see what data presents itself next week.

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Character By Charecter Analysis:

• Will be posted later this week as I return to my desk; will post my Edgic sheet as well! As always, we are a team. If you have some thoughts on character ratings, please feel free to mention them in the comments!

Contenders Section

This episode did very little to change the current order of my contenders to make the final. The only changes I made: I added Berna, and moved Devin over Kyle (remember, this is contenders to make the final). These are not predictions, not yet. We are only 5 episodes into the season. At this time last season, I had just started Edgic. So these are far too early to actually call predictions.

As always, I could be very wrong. We never know. Lettuce begin!!

Emanuel:

Emanuel remains my top male contender to make the final right now (And if you made me pick a male winner, he would be my top choice). I am hopeful that I shouldn’t have to explain this much if you are familiar with my previous posts. This is now episode 4 in a row that Emanuel receives pretty significant SPV (second person visibility). This episode, it was from Jeremiah. Whether it is a rookie narrator or a vet narrator, we are seeing Emanuel from the same light: He being shown positively and being shown as an extremely fierce competitor. At this point, it almost feels like you should expect Emanuel to recieve some SPV during his challenge performances. Not only is he performing well every episode, but the edit feels the need to tell us from an outside narrator that he is a true competitor.

The most logical comparison for Emanuel remains Turbo. I haven’t hesistated to make this comparison in the past and I still believe it would be pretty accurate, regardless of whether he wins or not. He is being shown as an extremely strong rookie competitor who is receiving instant respect in the house. Neither of them speak English as their first language, but both are witty and great in confessional. More meaningful than anything else, both are receiving/received positively-toned SPV from a variety of narrators. Is it a perfect comparison? No, they are two totally different people. It will never be a perfect comparison. But I do believe they are editing the two in similar ways.

The thing with Emanuel; I am totally unsure of his path to get to the final. Does he do it with Kaycee? I don’t know, I don’t think we have enough data to really make that prediction. The focus they received during the premiere could be enough for them to last until the Final together. The most interesting connection I have for Emanuel is this new romantic storyline with my top female contender, Tori, and I am very curious how that plays out.

Tori:

I mean, clearly production believed that a 1-episode cool down was more than enough for Tori as she was right back in our face with 6-7 confessionals this episode despite barely being involved in anything (besides the Anessa injury, but that doesn’t account for 7 confessionals).

If you are wondering what about Tori’s edit stands out to me so much, you really have to compare the edit she is receiving this season VS the edits she has received the last 3 seasons. It is hard to compare her to anyone from WOTW1, so let’s compare new Tori to Old Tori. In DA and TM, Tori had a very small edit despite the franchise trying to push her as one of the new faces of The Challenge. She began hosting the Challenge Podcast before DA, yet still received a very small edit. What did TM and DA have in common for Tori? An early exit.

If you compare her edit this season (and her WOTW2 edit tbh) VS those seasons, it should be clear why I prefer to edit Tori is receiving this season. If you ignore the episode 3 Tacha/Big T scenes, Tori’s edit has been close to flawless this season. She is receiving strategic content, romantic content, being shown as a strong competitor, showing great game awareness, everything. Very similar to Devin, we are essentially seeing the game through Tori’s eyes. She has been extremely visible in all episodes but episode 4, and that was a perfectly timed and much needed cool down after the Tacha explosion. They are paying very very specific attention to her edit this season.

One of the main reasons I think Tori may make the final or even win: IF production knew that Tori was the winner this season, how would they edit her? Would they keep her in the background, or would she be even more visible than Kam was in DA? I personally believe they would try to feature Tori as much as possible in an attempt to make her the new definitive female face of The Challenge. I do fear that this is the edit she is receiving, though I have enjoyed her for the most part this season.

Nelson

Nelson has also had a very strong open to this season, although he is cooling down quite a bit over the last few episodes. Nelson is a tough one to read; you have to ask the same question we just did with Tori. If production knew that Nelson was the winner or made the final, how would they edit him? Would we be receiving heavy-strategic content or would we be receiving more “Nelly-T’s Bootcamp” content? Given that Nelson isn’t very strategic (at all) in general, we shouldn’t have the same expectations for Nelson as we do for Devin, for example.

If Nelson has serious longevity in this game, I believe the edit would feature him in the most Nelson like way possible. This includes: creating a messy love triangle, as the victim to Fessy in episode 1, and showing scenes that remind us why we love Nelson in the first place. Take the Cory/Berna scene for example when Cory reminds the viewers that 2 seasons ago, Nelson threw himself down for Cory. It was like a very casual reference by the show that seemed super natural. I didn’t even consider it important until this exact moment. But even that moment feels intentionally placed; it was a good line, but not really. It was more a reminder that we should be rooting for Nelson.

If I had to compare him to a competitor from WOTW1, I would say that he is looking very much like his friend Hunter in a few senses. We are familiar with Nelson’s alliances, his friends, his romances, but not too in-depth on the strategic side. Why? They just aren’t very strategic people and the edit would rather show the drama-side of their character. Justifiably so.

I would like Nelson to get his social game under control before I can say that I believe he is the sole male winner. But of the Vet males so far, I think that I like Nelson’s edit the most as someone who could actually potentially win the final against the other players in this cast. Keep the Nelly-T content coming baby.

Amanda:

Amanda has a tough edit to read. She had a really strong premiere episode, a few solid follow up scenes, but a rather small edit besides that. While it isn’t as in your-face as it has been in the past, Amanda‘s edit has quietly been extremely solid. She has received romantic focus, she has been shown to be game aware, she’s explained her alliances, AND she has reminded us 3+ times that she is now a single Mom. What is the most interesting part to me about Amanda’s edit— she is actually providing almost a sense of stability? I don’t know. It’s weird. She slid back into the show very seamlessly.

I think that picking Amanda as your top female contender would be the “safe” choice compared to Tori so far. Tori has been much more visible- but is that a good thing? Tori’s edit also has a lot more open-storylines that could contribute to her downfall. The messy social game, Big T issues, etc. Amanda has none of that. You really couldn’t convince that Amanda goes home in the next 3-5 episodes. I would need some sort of indication or editorial clues to suggest her game isn’t flawless at the moment. I don’t know if her and Kyle will truly last the entire season, but they are certainly in no danger anytime soon.

Since I have been making various comparisons this season, I feel obligated to offer a few for Amanda. Truthfully, I feel like you can compare her edit with a few different edits from WOTW1. Interestingly enough, I would go with Davonee. She is getting a similar ”I’m a mom” treatment as Davonne, essentially the edit providing the audience a reason to root for her automatically. She is also one of our better narrators this season and much like Davonne, I expect her narration to be more relied on as the numbers dwindle down. Obviously Davonne didn’t make the final and that is where I would expect their edits to differ (based on the current info we have of course, that can always change).

Devin

He is by far the most intereating edit this season, but I can’t really place my finger on how he is being portrayed in terms of outcome. Like, if Devin was proven in endurance, he would be absolutely miles ahead of any other male edit this season. It isn’t close. He is essentially being shown as the KingPin this season. Players who win dailies come and check in with Devin— he’s tied to all vet alliances in one way or another. We are being shown the show through Devin’s eyes. We hear everything from alliances to drama to classic one liners from Devin.

Who does this sound like for a WOTW1 comparison? You should all be able to immediately guess this if you are a true fan.

It’s obviously Wes. During WOTW1, I was not writing Edgic. I didn’t watch the season live as I hadn’t rediscovered the show yet. But if I had watched it live, I have 0 doubt in my mind I would have picked Wes as the winner going into that final. No doubt; he lead the season in confessionals, and we were seeing the game entirely through his eyes. Who does that sound like this season? Who are we constantly hearing about the politics from? Devin.

Now the difference is that from an Edgic perspective, you had to consider Wes a real threat to win that final, regardless of your thoughts on him overall. With Devin, it would be hard for me to consider him as a threat to win the final with the information that we currently have. He has called himself a layup on multiple occasions. Thus, the comparison to Wes makes even more sense. I think there is a real chance that Devin has an extremely simmilar outcome to WOTW1 Wes— he will be the lead narrator and one face of this season, but will ultimately lose the final to a competitor with better endurance. This is my favorite comparison this season so far as these two best friends may be receiving a very similar edit.

Berna (And Esther)

I couldn’t decide who would be my 3rd contender in the females, so I included 2 rookies: Esther and Berna . You could very easily give this spot to Kaycee/Nany, who i also believe are being setup to make the final, but what fun is it to write about Kaycee? The truth is, I believe Tori/Amanda are far ahead of the other female edits in thee house so far. This is more for fun.

In terms of Rookie Females, these are really only two edits that I believe deserve to be contenders to make the finals. If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick one, I would pick Berna. This is probably my “most risky” pick as a contender to make the finals, as Berna could be eliminated next episode pretty easily. The “next on” segment suggests that. BUT fuggit. No risk no reward.

You could convince me that Esther deserves this spot by herself— 100%. Esther has a pretty phenomenal edit so far. She is being shown in a positive light during every scene possible. She has reminded us multiple times that she is extremely smart and understands this game thoroughly. She has already won 2 dailies and it wouldn’t surprise me if she wins more before the season is over.

Can Esther win the final? Possibly, but I dont think that she is being setup to do that this season. I still believe that Esther’s edit is more likely an edit that is being setup to return on future season rather than win this particular season. I honestly believe Esther can be a mainstay— the edit really likes to praise her and keep her in heavy focus.

But again, I would pick Berna if you made me choose 1 rookie. The SPV that Berna received last week, along with the Survivor connection that was identified through a Nany confessional, this episode really sealed for me that Berna is a legit threat to make the final. Berna actually has developed a pretty well rounded edit— despite being quiet. We know her romantic focus, we know her current strategy, she is being shown to be a strong competitor who is aware of the game and her surroundings. She has been shown to be a strong competitor in daily challenges (despite her math ability). What was reminded to me in the comments below-- Berna also had some serious negative SPV from CT. That could def be enough to ruin her potential.

This last episode put some serious SPV on 2 rookies during the daily: Emanuel and Berna. Ovbiously, the episode was setting these two up as the two potential daily challenge winners. But I really think that we can look beyond this last episode with these two.

I don’t have a WOTW1 comparison for Esther, but Berna would be simmilar to Mattie. She is a strong competitor with a rather quiet edit, but is being presented consistently as a physical threat who also has a romantic connection. If you really wanted to make a bold prediction, you could predict that math would be the downfall for Berna in the final the same way that Endurance was for Mattie.

Other competitors I have my eye on as potential finalists: Cory, Kyle, Kaycee, Nany, Josh

Alright, I do really apologize for not being able to complete a full write up these last two weeks. My goal for the reminder of the season is to be writing FULL Analysis no matter what. I really do genuinely love writing these, so it does annoy me when I can’t do my full analysis.

What did you think of this episode? Were you bored right away? Were you surprised?