Where was this Fessy on Big Brother?
The Challenge Season 36 Episode 4 was a banner installment of this MTV juggernaut, delivering a shift in power, the breakdown of several alliances, and a stunning exit.
Fessy was a questionable pick for Big Brother back in the day, largely because he had no awareness of the game or what he had to do to win.
“Duplicity” was an appropriate title for this episode because Fessy legitimately burned many bridges and may not be able to rely on his physical attributes for much longer.
If you watch The Challenge online, you know Fessy was in a great place at the beginning of The Challenge Season 36, but with great power comes great responsibility.
Now, not so much.
I struggled to fathom what was going through his mind when he was picked to be hurled into the elimination. On the one hand, the hall brawl is the type of competition he can win.
On the other, he was going up against one of his best friends, and while he definitely played dirty during that first heat of the elimination, I don’t doubt for one minute the house would have been complaining if he was up against Devin or Jay.
Nelson is a veteran who has taken part in many seasons, so he has a lot of friends inside the Challenge compound.
Losing him this early was a surprise, but after losing Ashley and Wes, we would inevitably lose some more big players.
Even though Fessy might have made a mistake in how he acted leading up to the elimination, cutting Aneesa when he got the chance blew my mind.
They worked well together and managed to dominate the first two episodes of the season, but I’m guessing Fessy ditched Aneesa because he didn’t want his actions to blowback on her or something.
Then again, Kacey is probably the strongest female still in the house, and he knew she wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, so choosing to split her and Leroy up may have been a good plan.
The issue plaguing Fessy now is that Leroy, Kam, Josh, and Corey will be targeting him. It’s hard to believe they were all on the same page at the top of the episode.
If this was the Fessy in Big Brother, he could have won and had a much better grip on the game’s trajectory. Maybe it would have made the conclusion to Big Brother 20 less predictable.
Aneesa seemed over Fessy when he cut her loose, but she probably won’t completely close that avenue off if they are tasked with being a team all over again.
Who would have thought Tori and Devin would work well together? The Challenge of the week was a dud, but at least it gave us hurricane Devin in power.
Devin on a powertrip certainly makes for good TV, but his number has got to be up soon. It will be easy for Fessy to blame his actions on Tori and Devin because they chose to throw him and Aneesa into the ring.
Devin knows how to stir the pot, and his plan to get Nelson out seems like it was brewing for a lot more than this episode, leading me to believe Devin has a hit list and a well-thought-out plan of how he’s going to attack.
It’s possible Devin could play the middle now, especially given the way the other alliances imploded due to Fessy winning the red skull.
Tori is a bit of a wildcard in that she acts first and thinks later. Maybe keeping her with Devin will benefit both of their respective games.
That said, Tori feels like a bit of a lost puppy without Jordan, and I don’t like her long-term prospects in the game.
She’s strong, but her emotions might get the best of her when she least expects it.
Speaking of emotions, why do the producers insist on bringing Josh back? I have no ill will towards the dude, but the way he tried to turn the tables on Jay, someone who has been a friend to him, was absurd.
Josh clearly wanted to duke it out with Jay in a challenge, but he failed to remember that Jay was a surprising powerhouse on The Challenge Season 35.
The only good thing about this bizarre development is that it will light a fire under Jay to stop playing the middle ground.
After the way everyone targeted him last season, he wanted to play a low-key game, and that, unfortunately, could be his undoing.
Liv being deemed medically unfit to continue was hardly surprising, but hopefully, she will get another chance to return down the line.
Out of the crop of rookies, she was one of the most likable, and her scenes with the other girls from the U.K. served as much-needed levity in the face of stiff competition.
“Duplicity” continued the strong run of episodes for The Challenge. Double Agents is shaping up to be the best season in years.
What did you think of the way Fessy acted? Should he have been kicked out for playing dirty?
Who do you think the next target will be?
Catch new episodes of The Challenge Wednesdays at 8/7c!
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.