Behind the Screen: The Duel 2: Episode 6 - Discussion

For over two decades, MTV's The Challenge has been the proving ground where reality TV's fiercest competitors come to cement their legacies. What started as a Real World/Road Rules spinoff has evolved into one of the most physically and mentally demanding competition series on television.

The franchise's expansion — with spinoffs in the USA, UK, Argentina, and Australia — speaks to a global appetite for the brand of cutthroat competition and alliance-driven gameplay that Vevmo's community has been tracking since 2007.

RW561015;71255 wrote:I'm surprised Landon didn't pick Ruthie, though. She didn't seem to be in with the group this time, and I remember he seemed to have a lot of respect and liking for her on G2 (I r...

— Cru Jones

I was hoping Brad and Tori would win the mission. I like Landon and Brittini, but was pulling for Tori/Brad...

— mph922

Thread Summary

Discussion thread about The Duel 2: Episode 6 - Discussion with 27 replies from the Vevmo community.

The Duel 2: Episode 6 - Discussion

Cru Jones ·
RW561015;71255 wrote:
I'm surprised Landon didn't pick Ruthie, though. She didn't seem to be in with the group this time, and I remember he seemed to have a lot of respect and liking for her on G2 (I remember him saying that he hoped they could be on the same team next time when she left G2). Maybe he thought her being a small person might be a factor, though. Plus Brittini was an unproven competitor, so it's still surprising to me he just seeked her out. I don't think she's incredible, but I don't think she's really weak, either, and I think she has held her own decently compared to the other competitors on this challenge. Really, though, IMO, the way most of these challenges have been set up for the past few years, I don't think they have allowed for much of a good gauge of who ranks above who, player for player, aside from a few players just doing extremely well and standing out in some missions. Too many team/partner missions or not showing times or whatever. Standouts like Mark, Landon, CT, Ruthie, etc have competed in the past where there were missions helped determine things like that better. Now if seems if you aren't the winner of the mission for sure, it's not so easy to tell just how well you did in relation to the others. Just my thoughts.
You're right, we're not given enough data, or even enough footage to extract meaningful data. It makes it harder to evaluate players. Here's what can be found in the footage (that is relevant to a Brittini discussion): All Shook Up In her heat of three girls, she finished second. Middle of the pack. (You could argue she was in the most difficult heat but that's: 1) hard to quantify, and 2) too subjective anyway.) Luging My Mind Landon finished his race in front of Evan by 5-10 seconds, which means Brittini started 5-10 seconds in front of Diem. Diem finished her race in front of Brittini by 5-10 seconds. Over the course of the girl race, Brittini gave up 10-20 seconds to Diem. Freezing as Puck DQ's in round 1: Diem (foot touch), Jenn (fall), Brooke (feet touch), Brittini (fall) DQ's in round 2: Paula (foot touch) Averages (successful pushes/total pushes) 1. Rachel - 4/4 = 1.00 2. Tori - 3/3 = 1.00 3. Robin - 2/2 = 1.00 3. Aneesa - 2/2 = 1.00 5. Ruthie - 1/1 = 1.00 5. Katie - 1/1 - 1.00 5. Kim - 1/1 = 1.00 8. Brittini - 3/4 = .750 9. Paula - 1/2 = .500 10. Diem - 0/1 = 0 10. Jenn - 0/1 = 0 10. Brooke - 0/1 = 0 Brittini's average puts her 8th out of 12. Brittini had a 0 average after the first round but improved to .500, then .666, then .750. Diem, Jenn and Brooke DQ'd in round one, but they were all on the other team and eliminated from the competition, leaving their averages at 0. Three girls performed better than Brittini in the first round and did not advance because of the team setup. Two more girls had better averages (and Paula had the same average) after round two but didn't move on to round three. A little context... The format of this challenge was 6 vs 6, 3 vs 3, 1 vs 1 vs 1. Had this challenge been 12 2-person teams going head to head, with a "DQ" actually disqualifying a team from competition, Landon/Brittini would have been in a 4-way tie for 9th (last) place with Dunbar/Diem, Ryan/Jenn, Nehamiah/Brooke. Instead, they came in 2nd. Mathematically, the advantage Brittini gains by being teamed up with Landon & the alliance in this game is 7 places on the leader board.
27 Comments
Cru Jones#182
RW561015;71255 wrote:
I'm surprised Landon didn't pick Ruthie, though. She didn't seem to be in with the group this time, and I remember he seemed to have a lot of respect and liking for her on G2 (I remember him saying that he hoped they could be on the same team next time when she left G2). Maybe he thought her being a small person might be a factor, though. Plus Brittini was an unproven competitor, so it's still surprising to me he just seeked her out. I don't think she's incredible, but I don't think she's really weak, either, and I think she has held her own decently compared to the other competitors on this challenge. Really, though, IMO, the way most of these challenges have been set up for the past few years, I don't think they have allowed for much of a good gauge of who ranks above who, player for player, aside from a few players just doing extremely well and standing out in some missions. Too many team/partner missions or not showing times or whatever. Standouts like Mark, Landon, CT, Ruthie, etc have competed in the past where there were missions helped determine things like that better. Now if seems if you aren't the winner of the mission for sure, it's not so easy to tell just how well you did in relation to the others. Just my thoughts.
You're right, we're not given enough data, or even enough footage to extract meaningful data. It makes it harder to evaluate players. Here's what can be found in the footage (that is relevant to a Brittini discussion): All Shook Up In her heat of three girls, she finished second. Middle of the pack. (You could argue she was in the most difficult heat but that's: 1) hard to quantify, and 2) too subjective anyway.) Luging My Mind Landon finished his race in front of Evan by 5-10 seconds, which means Brittini started 5-10 seconds in front of Diem. Diem finished her race in front of Brittini by 5-10 seconds. Over the course of the girl race, Brittini gave up 10-20 seconds to Diem. Freezing as Puck DQ's in round 1: Diem (foot touch), Jenn (fall), Brooke (feet touch), Brittini (fall) DQ's in round 2: Paula (foot touch) Averages (successful pushes/total pushes) 1. Rachel - 4/4 = 1.00 2. Tori - 3/3 = 1.00 3. Robin - 2/2 = 1.00 3. Aneesa - 2/2 = 1.00 5. Ruthie - 1/1 = 1.00 5. Katie - 1/1 - 1.00 5. Kim - 1/1 = 1.00 8. Brittini - 3/4 = .750 9. Paula - 1/2 = .500 10. Diem - 0/1 = 0 10. Jenn - 0/1 = 0 10. Brooke - 0/1 = 0 Brittini's average puts her 8th out of 12. Brittini had a 0 average after the first round but improved to .500, then .666, then .750. Diem, Jenn and Brooke DQ'd in round one, but they were all on the other team and eliminated from the competition, leaving their averages at 0. Three girls performed better than Brittini in the first round and did not advance because of the team setup. Two more girls had better averages (and Paula had the same average) after round two but didn't move on to round three. A little context... The format of this challenge was 6 vs 6, 3 vs 3, 1 vs 1 vs 1. Had this challenge been 12 2-person teams going head to head, with a "DQ" actually disqualifying a team from competition, Landon/Brittini would have been in a 4-way tie for 9th (last) place with Dunbar/Diem, Ryan/Jenn, Nehamiah/Brooke. Instead, they came in 2nd. Mathematically, the advantage Brittini gains by being teamed up with Landon & the alliance in this game is 7 places on the leader board.
mph922#183
I was hoping Brad and Tori would win the mission. I like Landon and Brittini, but was pulling for Tori/Brad. Booo at Kim losing, but I'm happy Derek won. Nothing against Eric, I just prefer Derek Now that Kim's gone, I am rooting for Tori, Brad, Derek, Landon, and Brittini.
DaCollegeKid#184
I'm starting to forget the Duel is an "individual"challenge. It's sort of like a fresh-meat battle of the seasons style. I wish they couldn't have the same partner over and over again.
V1man#185
Cru Jones;71378 wrote:
You're right, we're not given enough data, or even enough footage to extract meaningful data. It makes it harder to evaluate players. Here's what can be found in the footage (that is relevant to a Brittini discussion): All Shook Up In her heat of three girls, she finished second. Middle of the pack. (You could argue she was in the most difficult heat but that's: 1) hard to quantify, and 2) too subjective anyway.) Luging My Mind Landon finished his race in front of Evan by 5-10 seconds, which means Brittini started 5-10 seconds in front of Diem. Diem finished her race in front of Brittini by 5-10 seconds. Over the course of the girl race, Brittini gave up 10-20 seconds to Diem. Freezing as Puck DQ's in round 1: Diem (foot touch), Jenn (fall), Brooke (feet touch), Brittini (fall) DQ's in round 2: Paula (foot touch) Averages (successful pushes/total pushes) 1. Rachel - 4/4 = 1.00 2. Tori - 3/3 = 1.00 3. Robin - 2/2 = 1.00 3. Aneesa - 2/2 = 1.00 5. Ruthie - 1/1 = 1.00 5. Katie - 1/1 - 1.00 5. Kim - 1/1 = 1.00 8. Brittini - 3/4 = .750 9. Paula - 1/2 = .500 10. Diem - 0/1 = 0 10. Jenn - 0/1 = 0 10. Brooke - 0/1 = 0 Brittini's average puts her 8th out of 12. Brittini had a 0 average after the first round but improved to .500, then .666, then .750. Diem, Jenn and Brooke DQ'd in round one, but they were all on the other team and eliminated from the competition, leaving their averages at 0. Three girls performed better than Brittini in the first round and did not advance because of the team setup. Two more girls had better averages (and Paula had the same average) after round two but didn't move on to round three. A little context... The format of this challenge was 6 vs 6, 3 vs 3, 1 vs 1 vs 1. Had this challenge been 12 2-person teams going head to head, with a "DQ" actually disqualifying a team from competition, Landon/Brittini would have been in a 4-way tie for 9th (last) place with Dunbar/Diem, Ryan/Jenn, Nehamiah/Brooke. Instead, they came in 2nd. Mathematically, the advantage Brittini gains by being teamed up with Landon & the alliance in this game is 7 places on the leader board.
Simply brilliant work! If we could afford vevmo.com Tshirts, I'd give you one.
GoldenWarrior#186
Cru Jones;71214 wrote:
Eric seems like a fun guy but I'm not sure he could be a serious competitor. I only say that because he's done 4 challenges and we have yet to see him competitive. His advantage in this arena has always been having 60+ lbs on the next guy down (which is no small thing) and he has yet to truly throw that weight around. If he can't do anything with that kind of advantage, taking the weight away would only leave him worse off.
That weight has been somewhat of a problem for Eric to carry around and while he might could win something with some brute force...it might not be as easy to have endurance as we have seen. If he could drop the fat and gain some muscle he could be a force if he is aggressive enough to use that. Oh well I generally like him and even if he never quite makes it to that competitive level...I still would like to see him on more challenges.
Daveyy#187
Paula just needs to.... Red hot flames come to my mind when I try and finish that sentence.. Does anyone else think that with 2 eliminations per week.. this challenge is flying by?
GoldenWarrior#188
Ms. Dynasty;71709 wrote:
Hurry up and make a thread..Im getting anxious :girl_crazy:..HURRY UP!! lol Man do I have some fan fiction to share! :gamer2:
Haha That would be very hilarious to actually read stuff like that but I don't know if it'll actually happen. And this week hopefully might see some surprises....maybe a top player or two biting the bullet. Not that I have anything against them but the last few eliminations have been bottom of the pile(but extremely awesome) people.
V1man#189
Daveyy;71650 wrote:
Paula just needs to....
Perhaps it would help to think of Paula as a actress who plays the role assigned so she can get camera time for continuing nightclub/bar gigs for the rest of the year.
blanky667#190
This may be random... but I've noticed that in the 6th episode of almost every season there is always a fight or argument. Duel 2- Dunbar and Paula Gauntelt 3- Johanna and Danny; Tori and Jillian RW Hollywood- Greg and Everyone RW Brooklyn- Katelynn and Chet; Devyn and JD Denver- Tyrie vs Jenn South Pacific- Donell and Abram The Island- KellyAnne and Johnny and so on.
pandaboo917#191
blanky667;71846 wrote:
This may be random... but I've noticed that in the 6th episode of almost every season there is always a fight or argument. Duel 2- Dunbar and Paula Gauntelt 3- Johanna and Danny; Tori and Jillian RW Hollywood- Greg and Everyone RW Brooklyn- Katelynn and Chet; Devyn and JD Denver- Tyrie vs Jenn South Pacific- Donell and Abram The Island- KellyAnne and Johnny and so on.
Well it's been at least a few weeks in a stressfull situation and tempers are bound to boil over.
Cru Jones#192
V1man;71573 wrote:
Simply brilliant work! If we could afford vevmo.com Tshirts, I'd give you one.
This is the nicest hypothetical t-shirt anyone's ever given me.
Lotus#193
blanky667;71846 wrote:
This may be random... but I've noticed that in the 6th episode of almost every season there is always a fight or argument. Duel 2- Dunbar and Paula Gauntelt 3- Johanna and Danny; Tori and Jillian RW Hollywood- Greg and Everyone RW Brooklyn- Katelynn and Chet; Devyn and JD Denver- Tyrie vs Jenn South Pacific- Donell and Abram The Island- KellyAnne and Johnny and so on.
Wow, talk about a coincidence but really i find it ironic how Johanna and Danny got into an argument yet were almost a couple. What were they fighting about? Same with Jillian/Tori? refreshify my memory.
Anonymous#194
Johanna and Danny, almost a couple? Where did that come from? Jillian and Tori got in a fight because Melinda wanted to go against Jill in the Gauntlet. The whole team voted against that because Jill had already been in three gauntlets and Tori was mad because it wasn't fair that Jill got to pick two times, and now that it was Melinda's turn to go in, they wouldn't let her pick Jill. Johanna and Danny fought because supposedly Johanna didn't have Melinda's back when she got voted in. Danny was completely out of line, IMO. It was sneaky little Nedermeyer who didn't have Melinda's back and Jojo got the heat.
ghostofsparta#195
RW561015;71255 wrote:
I don't think she's incredible, but I don't think she's really weak, either, and I think she has held her own decently compared to the other competitors on this challenge.
Brittni is to Landon as Pippen was to Jordan...only in this case substitute Pippen for Michael Olowokandi...:devil2:
V1man#196
tjhallow;72517 wrote:
Johanna and Danny, almost a couple? Where did that come from?
There were some who thought the early Austin season edit was leading people in this direction. Production downplayed the dating relationship between Wes and Johanna that began early in taping because they wanted to get as much mileage as possible from the "groupie" drawer they suggested Nehemiah and Wes create. Another bubble burst..
V1man#197
RW561015;71255 wrote:
I don't think she's incredible, but I don't think she's really weak, either, and I think she has held her own decently compared to the other competitors on this challenge.
None of the cast members with whom I've spoken (not including either Landon or Brittini) ranked Brittini in the top 50 % of women on the challenge.
Dartagnan#198
V1man;72726 wrote:
None of the cast members with whom I've spoken (not including either Landon or Brittini) ranked Brittini in the top 50 % of women on the challenge.
Really? But I understand. I would think top 50%. I mean Rachel, Jenn, Kim, Aneesa, and Tori seem to be the only ones who outperform her.
V1man#199
Dartagnan;72952 wrote:
Really? But I understand. I would think top 50%. I mean Rachel, Jenn, Kim, Aneesa, and Tori seem to be the only ones who outperform her.
I guess the bottom line is that her fellow competitors think Landon carried her. They saw the full missions while at best we saw a couple of minutes. I don't have a personal view at this point. Perhaps I'll form one in the weeks ahead.
Sassyel#200
Imagine a Landon - Evelyn partnership. Keeping with the basketball analogies, that would be like Jordan and LaBron playing 2 on 2 at the local rec center against any and all challengers.
superchico#201
Eagle;73036 wrote:
Imagine a Landon - Evelyn partnership.
I don't think it'd be as powerful as an Ev - Wes/Derrick/Alton partnership.
Stacee_Danielle#202
superchico;73037 wrote:
I don't think it'd be as powerful as an Ev - Wes/Derrick/Alton partnership.
I think Ev and Alton would make one hell of a power team...well, IF Alton is still in the same shape he was back in the day because I don't think there was anything that boy couldn't do when it came to athleticism. And Ev is in such great shape now that imo they would be the team to beat. Put them against Tori/Derrick and you got one heck of a competition on your hands.
LilysMom#203
superchico;73037 wrote:
I don't think it'd be as powerful as an Ev - Wes/Derrick/Alton partnership.
See now I disagree with this, if you watch the dailies you can clearly see that everyone is afraid to go in against Landon. All of the "Power" guys keep saying that he is an animal, and trains just for fun. They are also saying that Landon has the most stamina of any of them. I think Landon is almost unbeatable, if not for being injured.
RRRWJunkie#204
V1man;70499 wrote:
They all have to wait while production removes the pole and sets up the next duel. The cameras also have to be moved and while balanced for the changing light. It can sometime take up to an hour which is a long time to be standing around in the cold.
I'm sure the fact that they are sponsored by underarmor has nothing to do with the fact they are wearing those jackets...
V1man#205
They are supposed to wear only the provided uniforms, but there are a couple of scenes where they are also wearing their own coats because it was so cold.
hpkhg45#206
V1man;75337 wrote:
They are supposed to wear only the provided uniforms, but there are a couple of scenes where they are also wearing their own coats because it was so cold.
That always bugs me on the show. How come in some scenes they are laying out by the pool, but in the next scene they might be wearing full winter gear? It was extremely confusing on the first couple episodes.
V1man#207
hpkhg45;75367 wrote:
That always bugs me on the show. How come in some scenes they are laying out by the pool, but in the next scene they might be wearing full winter gear? It was extremely confusing on the first couple episodes.
Yes... Just look at the show credits and see if you can find someone whose job title reads "continuity." You won't find anyone. They can't even convince people to wear the same clothing on interview days so they can "cut and paste" throughout the show. Major productions always think this process through. If BMP does, they never get it right.
ColiesMom#208
V1man;75452 wrote:
Yes... Just look at the show credits and see if you can find someone whose job title reads "continuity." You won't find anyone. They can't even convince people to wear the same clothing on interview days so they can "cut and paste" throughout the show. Major productions always think this process through. If BMP does, they never get it right.
Agreed they need to fill that position. There were so many times during Colie's season that I was OMGing. Thankfully she was there to calm me. "Ma, cant you see I am wearing the same outfit I wore my first day there. So what if they are editing it into episode 10"

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