American Grit – Season 2/Episode 4 – "Secrets are revealed"
- Aallyhia Cruz
- Jul 7, 2017
- 8 min read
Originally aired: July 2nd, 2017
Its the summertime and believe me when I say I think with the heat, it made me think I was hallucinating while watching the promos for this episode. Double elimination? First it was the extra contestant in the first episode and now this? I’m getting old and I gotta admit its tough to keep up with Cena’s crazy ideas these days. Then again that’s what I’ve been doing since 2006; the year I first started watching wrestling and I was given a glimpse at Mr. Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. Inside and outside of the ring + WWE Locker Room. But I’m getting off track, as per usual so lets dive in to this next episode.
In the opening, it picks up I’d say just a couple of minutes, hours after Gill’s departure but no one knows that. Herman and Melanie are cuddling, unbothered by the aftermath of elimination. The rest are swarming with predictions as to which 2 out of the 3 women are going to be walking across the bridge as a sign that they are still in the competition. Several hours later…Janessa and Hannah return to their respective cheering teams of Chloe & Burk. Much to the obvious dismay of Team Riki that quickly come to realize, Gill wasn’t able to make it in the elimination challenge. Everyone is just in shock over the surprise. Whereas the leader herself Riki, is obviously saddened over losing a team player. Its sad to watch when it all comes down to it. Gill was the anchor for Team Riki and now that falls on to Richard. He claims to have been a target since he was born so all in all, I think he’ll be okay. Next we see John (Cena) sit down with the cadre to discuss what went on in that day’s elimination challenge. I can definetly agree with John (Cena) in saying that the duration was unexpected. I wouldn’t say that Riki is entirely screwed at this point with the loss of Gill. I mean its at a level between barely and in need of a prayer circle but I can see something good in the long run. So John (Cena) wants to give even more responsibility to the cadre. As if they don’t already have enough of it. So for this week its a *SURPRISE* double elimination. Meaning the winning cadre member will do the same duty he or she has always been given. Pick one person from 3 of the opposite teams to be placed in elimination. The obvious catch? It will cause two contestants to ring out and go home. This week is based on teamwork. Its a warm fire but the cadre are seeing broken gears and steam coming out of their heads.
We head to the next morning, its an expected loud morning wake up call from the cadre. They are on a wicked time crunch and of course there’s Team Riki’s Carla. I’m starting to have my doubts in accordance with her worrying about looking good than the competition itself. Hopefully that will change for whatever continuing time she will be on the show. Moving forward, the challenge for this week is a good old fashion foot race. The teams must race from point A to point B in order to secure a victory. Sounds easy but then again; the host bluffs. The team members will be roped from waist to waist. Just like a normal foot race, they’ll have to be insync with each other. Oh wait, before I forget to type this in; they’ll be racing in the mud. Looks like they’ll be getting more dirty this week than just with camp gossip. The race starts and so far the teams are jogging like crazy in the muddy water near camp grit. Team members are tumbling left and right, to be fair its anybody’s game. Everyone is in it to win the challenge, nothing bad is going to happen. “Guys, my arm. Chris, wait. I can’t move my arm! I can’t move my arm! My arm!” Is it possible for a viewer to ring out just so I could scream and cry into my pillow? It appears that Hannah has gotten into some troubling pain while trying to finish this challenge with her team. While that occurs, Team Grady makes it to the finish line once again.
Team Grady – 1st place
Team Burk – 2nd place
Team Chloe – 3rd place
Team Riki – 4th place
This is just turning into a mess at this point. Its troubling at best to be quite honest. John (Burk) is not wrong; Grady has had his team stacked since the minute he finished picking the members. I agree with John (Burk) on a serious note. It didn’t seem fair since day 1 of the competition. My heart breaks for Hannah at this point now that she has this injury that causes her to be sent to a nearby hospital. John (Burk) has a long road ahead of him at this point. The rest of the contestants head back to the campsite in order to absorb the two different methods of cleaning up: the lake and showers. Later, Team Burk sits down and gathers their thoughts and hopes about Hannah’s injury. Speaking of Hannah, we are given a quick glimpse of her entry to the hospital. Although in pain, hopefully she turns out okay. With the added use of painkillers and this line: “I’ve never done any drugs.” No one asked if she did but I guess that is good to know, in a way. She’ll need it in order to ignore whatever pain she’s dealing with in her arm. 30 miles back to the camp and we are greeted wwith a conversation between Burk and Grady.
*Author’s note: hours before this episode even aired, Burk alerted viewers who follow him on social media that in a way, one action that he does in this episode is going to be considered as an asshole of a move from him. I mean I trying myself to not think in that way but we shall see.
The conversation is based on Grady picking the 3 competitors for elimination. In a swift move, Burk asks Grady to pick Hannah for elimination. Now I take back about what I said, that was definetly an asshole of a move but I can’t deny that he had a good reason in the spirit of competition. Hannah is obviously physically hurt. With her chosen for elimination, it would’ve been an easy and painless way out of the competition. He wants his team to have a fair chance at winning the game. Yet, my biggest fear is that he will lose sight on why he created the team in the first place. What with Grady’s intentions on being out for blood. I don’t know what to think anymore at this point. They are the wild card captains of this season. Back at the hospital, Hannah receives positive news. No broken bones are insight but she’s only suffered a sprained wrist and two sprained fingers. She was given a splint and some medication for the pain. It looks like it kicked in quite nicely. I’ll have what she’s having. I’m only kidding or I might not be. I…I just hope a crew member or someone took her back to the camp behind the scenes. Back at the camp, I see Grady and Carla are still trying to become a thing in the spirit of competition. Fast forward into the night, Hannah finally returns to the camp. The question is raised though; will Grady honor Burk’s wish or will he go against it? Only his decision will tell. Which happens at this very moment.
Carla – Team Riki
Shermon – Team Chloe
Will – Team Burk
Now I’m frightened over Will because really, who doesn’t have self-doubt as their weakest character trait about themselves? I have personally dealt with that for many years, my past teachers and friends that I have know can a test to that. So I have hope for Will but he has a rough road ahead of him. As for Shermon and Carla, they both have something to prove whether they like it or not. We’ll see at the elimination challenge.
It’s the next day and tension is as high as a boiling pot of water. The weeks are moving along and competitors are trying to keep their secrets locked. Of course, George’s secret is revealed to the rest of the camp thanks to Ms. Gigi. That was a very alert morning for George indeed. The cadre meet up with their teams for one final pep talk before elimination. Shermon reveals his true colors but in the way that is heartbreaking. It ties together as to why he is so guarded with himself and why I quickly implied judgment on him during the first episode which I now regret.
* Shermon: He came from Ghana and moved to his current residence of New York City with his brother and sister. He was bullied a lot in school because he didn’t fit in. His mother was struggling financially. It was a moving from house to house basis. Through all of it, she made it happen for her children.
*Author’s note: it hurts.
Shermon, if you ever find this article, thank you for sharing that. On to Carla, I have bumpy feelings when it comes to her time at the camp. I feel if she loses the need to focus on her looks, she could prioritize more in the competition. On to the cadre; they’re very unique. They are definetly not like the season 1 cadre Tee, Noah, Rorke and Nick. They’re different in their own ways individually and combined. I lik–no, I love that. I spy the flying middle finger from John (Burk). I feel like Grady and Burk are going to throw hands at each other some point. They won’t do that, at least not on camera, but the tension there is quite heavy. At this point they might as well watch their own asses at this point. Cena will never make this competition easy. That’s what makes me lose my marbles. Yet, that’s what its all about with this show.
Its finally double elimination time! The elimination challenge; Shermon, Will and Carla will be asked to stand on a perch and balance a ball over the water. If any of them let go, the ball will hit a bell which will be an automatic elimination. The challenge begins and the 3 are hanging in their for the first few minutes. In the 20 minute mark, the competitors are not aloud to switch hands anymore. They must use the one that is on the ball. 40 minutes later and its a mosquito smack off. Don’t cha just love nature? I experienced it once, though it wasn’t as brutal as camp grit. 1 hour later and everyone is still in it. I spoke too soon, Will lets go of his ball and is disqualified. Now its down to Carla and Shermon. 2 hours later, there’s only two players and neither has dropped their ball yet. 2 hours and 30 minutes…3 hours later they need to dig deep. Screams are coming in from Chloe and John (Cena); the second eliminated competitor is…Shermon. I commend Carla for winning the challenge. As for Shermon and Will…my applause to both of them. They didn’t win the money but their self struggles changed a lot during their time at the camp. That’s what its all about. Well, until next time, next episode and next blog post!
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