American Grit – Season 2/Episode 6 – "Selfish vs. Selfless"
- Aallyhia Cruz
- Jul 21, 2017
- 9 min read
Original air date: July 16th, 2017
#ShadyGrady. Since episode 1 we have seen Grady as an in it to win it leader. This show is about winning BUT with the true bonus of helping people. Is it possible that he’s lost sight of half of the goal of the show in the spirit of competition? I mean on one hand, its completely understandable as to why his team is at the top. They play by his dirty rules. On the other hand he’s only addressing his team’s grit little by little. Making them lose some sight as to why they are really there. How far is he willing to go? Let’s review this episode piece by piece.
Gonna find my way back to the east side…I just really love the theme song. It’s more of a vibe wave this season and now on to important matters. It’s the elimination challenge aftermath and the first person to walk across the bridge is…Herman! Much to the high delight of the green team. The next one is…Carla! Wait CARLA? Yes, Carla ends up crossing the bridge once more. Much to the high delight of the yellow team and the dismay of well…everyone else. A moment of he or she said it, not me:
Michael: Carla’s an ugly beauty queen. She seems to be very selfish. She hasn’t washed a damn dish since she’s been here. She doesn’t date any man unless she has six figures, a nine inch..hoo-hoo. I want her gone.
Well then, this ain’t my exact place but then again, the receipts don’t lie. While Team Riki is enjoying their team member’s return, Team Burk’s Hannah and Chris, along with Team Grady’s Herman, come to terms with the departure of Melanie.
*Author’s note: In a way, I feel as though Melanie and Herman both helped each other out when it comes to their inner emotions, demons that they thought was impossible to face. I really do hope they have kept in contact with each other after the show. Not many people like that come into your life in vice versa. It seems like more of a wish or by grace through faith. The one thing that I hope for anyone is if a person like that comes into your life; don’t let them go. I might’ve emphasized this in the last one or two articles but I’m going to say it again because issa blog by me. 🙂
Back into the episode, Carla states that even though everyone is sad due to Melanie heading home, she wouldn’t give the time of day to even think about it. Its her over everyone else, including her own teammates. This doesn’t surprise me since it is a reality show competition but then again, I think if I were Carla I would swing the other way. In terms of her one versus all thought process. Moving on to Team Burk’s own leader Burk who is emotionally eating. I would say its bad for his hips but I’ve seen his Instagram. He’ll be slightly fine in that department. He’s tired of losing, I’m really tired of him losing, I think we are all tired of him losing. Maybe he’ll have some Chloe luck and with only two people on his team, he can finally win a challenge. John (Cena) informs him that even though he’s giving the cadre a chance to speak with their respective teams before total nightfall, by morning they are going to have to sit this one out. What does that mean? They won’t be an active or passive part of the next team challenge. What is John’s next band aid ripper news? Its going to be ANOTHER double elimination. I smile and cringe whenever John talks from this point on. I wonder if I can direct message Herman on social media and see if he can predict my future. I think that would be the highlight of my summer but lets now bounce from a Burk joke to the nighttime. Some of the competitor’s gather around the campfire while joining in Herman’s tribute to Melanie: a Viking funeral. Melanie’s love for bacon almost matches my love for bacon which is an awesome thing to know.
Its morning and the cadre are adjusting to a day as off duty cadre. This is the light humor that I go for on a daily basis. Simply perfect. Back on the campground the cadre look on as their teams head off to the new week’s challenge without them. It’s the halfway point of the competition. Only 11 competitors are in the game. All of them have grown strong bonds with each other and have carried pride for their teams. Only one person, as stated before by John (Cena), will walk away from this competition with a quarter of a million dollars. Its a victory that is meant for only one person. For this challenge, each competitor will walk one by one to a certain tree. At the tree, there will be eight boxes. The boxes are rewards for individuals and team members. Some help the team, some help the individuals, the rest are incredibly useless. Then again, a signed Cena selfie would make me the happiest young woman in the world but now I know where my choices and priorities are located. I think my team would hate me if I chose it but frankly I wouldn’t almost entirely care. Each reward has a point value. The ones that help the team, it automatically gives them high points. The individuals are calculated with small points. If the competitor makes it to a box first, that choice is his or hers. Whether the team wins the challenge or not. But in order for the team to be safe from elimination, John (Cena) will calculate the highest average score. The team with the highest average wins the challenge. This challenge is all about choices. Will a competitor make a good choice or a bad choice? We shall find out and see.
Competitors in the challenge as in order:
George
Chris
Alison
Gigi
Carla
Hannah
Scarlett
Janessa
Richard
Herman
Michael
Back at the camp, it seems as though the cadre are enjoying their day off. Everything is smooth sailing until..”Well? What happened?” The teams make it back to camp and the cadre are eager to learn what went down in the challenge. Everyone deliberates but in the end, it’s Cena’s choice on the winners of the challenge. As much as Michael doesn’t want his team to be broken up, with all opposing teams out for green blood, looks like his fear might come alive soon enough. I mean at this point, I feel bad for Richard in a way. Carla and Scarlett both picked safety. Only 5 points. Richard chose automatic selection. Only..you know…100 points, no big deal. Of course I’m lying because it IS a big deal. Why Carla thinks that Scarlett choosing safety was stupid is beyond me because I think it was stupid of her to choose safety. She’s completed 2 elimination challenges. It shouldn’t be hard for her if she was in that position again. Moving on hours later, John (Cena) makes his way to the camp grounds to reveal the team winner of the challenge.
Team Grady – 70 points
Team Chloe – 0 points
Team Riki – 5 points
Team Burk – 75 points
The winners are…Team Burk! Now that means Burk and Chris have a choice to make. Along with Herman, Burk must pick a player from team red and yellow to be put in elimination. Chris must choose which team member from a different team, must join Team Burk. A cool, clear head can go a long way in life. Its later into the night and by the campfire is Chris and John (Cena). In order to understand his strategy, John asks Chris on how he will use his “steal a competitor” win. Chris informs him that he’ll be picking from the green team since they obviously still have four members. They are a complete unit. Chris has full confidence that between Herman and George, he will make the right decision for his team. What Grady says now, I honestly don’t care at this point, I will use the hashtag #ShadyGrady even after the next episode is over. Grady implies that if anyone from his team heads to team blue, the next week challenge, he’ll devise a plan with his former team member to just sit out that week’s challenge so team blue would lose and he would put Chris and Hannah through hell in order for them to leave camp grit. Sounds messed up, right? Like a good team blue member, Hannah informs Burk of Grady’s plan. He’s obviously internally puking but on the outside, those head steams start popping out. Like John (Cena) implies in his voiceover, its time for the drill sergeant to come out. As Burk implies, like he always has been since day 1, he came to the show to help people. He is beyond baffled over Grady’s plan. Case in point with Grady showing his true colors, if the chosen team member follows through with his plan, they will look equally as bad as Grady. They would be crossing the point of no return. If money seems more important then Burk will just forfeit his chance. This tea is getting way to steamed. Moments later, Team Burk heads to Team Grady’s cabin. The person that Chris chooses to be on Team Burk is…George! Burk may win tonight but the battle ahead might be out of Grady’s reach. With a nice little setup back at Team Burk’s cabin, George is officially welcomed on to the team with a few…odd cabin rules. Sleeping naked. That’s pretty much it which I don’t think is entirely true but it is what it is.
Its the morning and the fires are everywhere. More specifically within the realms surrounding Grady and Burk. Everything will be okay as long as you don’t get caught. That has to be the worse strategy ever even when people you care about are involved. That never works AT ALL. I’ve seen a few people in my life follow that rule. They always got caught on their own versus their fear of me being a snitch. Which is only used when it is highly necessary. The cost of this competition shouldn’t be the mindset of a person. What Grady did was messed up. I believe if I looked at posts that connect with him and this episode, they wouldn’t be good. I’m not implying it in a bitter somewhat like matter, I’m just calling it as I see it. Resetting the true goal of the competition is the dirtiest thing you can do on this show. I think sooner or later Grady will begin to go through a phase where…how did he say it? Writing checks where his own butt won’t be able to cash it. Back at the camp grounds, the competitors are sick of the fuss. Well as for Alison, she emphasis on sick. During the previous night, she ate some ranch that had some buttermilk. She’s lactose intolerant, which causes her to get sick. Conviently she vomits in perfect view of the cadre compound. Even more Conviently this happens on the same day that Burk has to choose two more team members for elimination. So for team red, Burk picks Janessa. For team yellow, Burk picked Scarlett. On the other side of things, since Richard has plans to stick around at the camp, he tried to steal George’s old bed from Team Burk’s cabin with the help of Chris. The fact they tried to do it in broad daylight, while everyone was pretty much awake equals rookie mistake. For Scarlett and Janessa’s sake I hope either of them make it in the elimination challenge.
The next day, its elimination day. The cadre meet and discuss who will walk the bridge. In more elephant in the room news, the cadre minus Chole have pieced together that Alison is playing a manipulative game. Simply, she knew that if she caused herself to get sick, she wouldn’t be up for elimination. She’s playing the game whether Chloe wants to accept it or not. So many number predictions as to how the teams will be after elimination. Stretching, packing and omen sign. In that very exact order. The elimination challenge involves a rig that is pouring 45 degrees of cold water with a high chance of slickness. The competitors will be on their backs with a hand grip that will keep them from sliding into the lake. If two competitors make a splash, they lose the cash. It is now elimination time. The competitors start so far, things are stiff. After 22 minutes, Scarlett is the first to make a splash. Which means she has to ring out. It is now down to Herman and Janessa. 1 hour later, something starts happening to Janessa’s right hand. John (Cena) and Chloe are gripping at Janessa for her to dig deep. Just like that she slides down and must ring out. Before that Janessa informs Chole of manipulation within the cabin. In the obvious form of Alison. With Janessa’s elimination I’m happy because like she said herself, she doesn’t need to be Alison’s crutch anymore. She found her grit and that’s what the show is about. Its been like that since season 1. As for Scarlett my matching hope with Riki is that Scarlett takes what she has learned at the camp and applies it to her life from here on out. Other than that, my trucker hats off to the both of them. Time for me to split, I will give more thought in my next blog. God speed!
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