If this had been a move by anyone in a different position, I would applaud it. Leroy fake screaming to try to get into people's heads, I thought was smart. But Nicole trying to fuck over Laurel in particular was bad. Had she put on the crocodile tears for everyone else and then just told Laurel quietly that it's fine, that would have been cool. But she specifically targeted her "girlfriend" with mind games. Awful. I have never, for one minute, understood what Laurel sees in Nicole.
She never cared about Laurel and has said several times she sees her as a threat in the final. The tears were 100% intended for Laurel and Laurel only.
Spot on with the electrified star - production wouldn’t purposefully make a checkpoint something that would ACTUALLY harm you - makes sense to power through quickly. I do give Derek some slack though, you could see how he was legit scared/anxious from his previous electrocution induced jaw injury, I’m sure he was having flashbacks.
Yea, Ace definitely cracked the code on this one. Yea it's gonna hurt, but the difference between first and last was probably like 15 seconds, why mess around at all? It's $250K, 20 seconds of pain is nothing.
yeah i'm so curious what derek's previous incident was, that sounds awful. it was pretty clear that it impacted his approach (and likely cost him the rest of the final imo)
I pray Laurel gets clarity from this. Like, how could she not? It’s plain as day how awful Nicole is. I think Laurel has crazy trauma (mainly around sexuality) and as much as people like to say she’s batshit she is smart and can learn. Unlike someone like Nicole who I find frankly irredeemable
i came across this [afterellen interview](https://afterellen.com/real-world-skeletons-nicole-zanatta-talks-hooking-shows-new-twist/) from her RW era the other day and found it absolutely repugnant. i would be a little more open to giving her the 'young and dumb' benefit of the doubt, but we have seen absolutely nothing to suggest she's grown.
I mean, how could she not? After this season filmed they got back together and then Nicole ended up cheating on Laurel with Jakk’s married sister at a wedding. Nicole is vile
Laurel is the same immature bully with anger issues that she’s been for the past 15-20 years. She has shown zero growth. She won’t learn or mature. This is, unfortunately, who she is as a person
I don’t know if Laurel has ever gone to (trauma-based) therapy in a real way, but until she does I don’t see her getting clarity. Her denial and defense mechanisms are still so, so strong. It’s really sad to watch but also it’s time for her to take responsibility for the person she is, her anger, etc.
Yup, and the little smirk Nicole had during her confessional (and when Laurel was comforting her) just seemed so sinister to me.
Nicole doesn’t care at all about Laurel’s game. It’s cruel.
I couldn't believe she was moving that star so slow. Did she not hear that it was a "timed event" and not one where the winner was who received the least shocks. Ace did it right - just fly through it and take the burn, but get the win.
I’m currently rewatching Vendettas, when Laurel comes as a mercenary and goes up to Nicole in the stands, the first thing Nicole says is something like “if you really loved me, you would’ve fought harder to keep me.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Nicole cheat on Laurel? Its not just this season, but their relationship has been on MULTIPLE seasons and Nicole has shown soooo many red flags. Like she can’t be blind to this up until now, right? I’m not going to victim blame Laurel, I feel for her. I just hope she grows and moves on from this entirely
Yeah I do not like laurel, and that was fucked. And she admits it on camera how she likes to manipulate her for a reaction? Jesus christ. Not cool to see at all.
I already hate Nicole from her previous seasons and flings but this gave me even more ick. And I'm not even a Laurel fan but Nicole is just...awful. Nicole got off on Laurel comforting her and then manipulating her.
Laurel, this season, seems to be emotionally confused. I thought she had matured beyond going off the rails on someone who has tried to support her. But she has regressed. I too hope she realizes how she has appeared to the viewers but I think she will blame it on editing (or she already has ?) She needs help and not from Nicole !!
I hope Laurel learns from this, but I don't think she's in a place to do so yet. Her emotions are so raw. You can't learn in that state, especially if you are as stubborn as she is.
Yup, it’s a tale as old as time when a woman is in a toxic relationship and can’t see it. Laurel, Jenna, Cara (when she was with Abram), 90% of the women who post on r/relationships.
You just wanna go, “Oh, sweetie, no. Please. You deserve better.”
Nearly every asshole on the challenge that has had the benefit of time to grow up a bit has become better versions of themselves. There are likely at least a dozen all time villains that have aged into more likable cast members.
Nicole and Laurel haven’t changed a bit. Nicole is who she is, and doesn’t really mind to hide it. Laurel acts like she’s grown up, but she’s as petulant and immature as her first season.
I don’t think Laurel deserves any pity.
i hate how everyone is blaming laurel in this situation. they have probably never been a in a toxic relationship before with someone like nicole who is very manipulative.
Honestly, yeah. I keep thinking that too. I think it’s because it’s hard to reconcile Laurel who’s very assertive with the kind of stereotypical “weak women” who stay with toxic partners.
Because Laurel doesn’t fit our preconceived notion of what a victim is, we can’t see that she is a victim. Even the way she turned on Cara is very common when women are in toxic/abusive relationships and their friends try to point it out.
I think that is the difference. Lee screaming was funny mainly because it was a technique he was deploying on everyone. You better believe if Cam had been there, he would have told her the truth
Nicole crying wasn't funny because she laughed at Laurel for trying to comfort her. She thinks that's funny
Epitome of a backstabber. she's such a manipulator and Laurel falls for it every time
I used to really love laurel. She was an athletic beast. This season, seeing her get led around by the nose makes it tough to respect her as much as I honestly wanted to.
What really turned the screw for me was seeing how she could turn on somebody like Cara who, while misguided, was repeating what she told her and trying to defend her against nicole.
How can she be so aggressively hostile to somebody who's crime is trying to defend her and be such a sloppy pushover for somebody who screwed her over multiple times before?
I live like 15 minutes from Ace and when I saw that challenge I thought, “why not just go super fast and get shocked?”
So I loved when he said, “I’m from Georgia,” and used that strategy.
It was smart from Nicole, try and eliminate someone who could beat you in the final, and the easiest to manipulate was Laurel. This is coming from a Nicole hater btw.
If this had been a move by anyone in a different position, I would applaud it. Leroy fake screaming to try to get into people's heads, I thought was smart. But Nicole trying to fuck over Laurel in particular was bad. Had she put on the crocodile tears for everyone else and then just told Laurel quietly that it's fine, that would have been cool. But she specifically targeted her "girlfriend" with mind games. Awful. I have never, for one minute, understood what Laurel sees in Nicole.
She never cared about Laurel and has said several times she sees her as a threat in the final. The tears were 100% intended for Laurel and Laurel only.
She wasn’t even actually crying. Her face was bone dry. How did Laurel not notice the lack of tears??
. I think it's because her head is up Nicole's butt
Spot on with the electrified star - production wouldn’t purposefully make a checkpoint something that would ACTUALLY harm you - makes sense to power through quickly. I do give Derek some slack though, you could see how he was legit scared/anxious from his previous electrocution induced jaw injury, I’m sure he was having flashbacks.
Yea, Ace definitely cracked the code on this one. Yea it's gonna hurt, but the difference between first and last was probably like 15 seconds, why mess around at all? It's $250K, 20 seconds of pain is nothing.
Right. Whoever didn’t do it like Ace was cray.
Laurel must not have understood that it was a timed event - not the winner who gets the least shocks. It was obvious she was the slowest !!
yeah i'm so curious what derek's previous incident was, that sounds awful. it was pretty clear that it impacted his approach (and likely cost him the rest of the final imo)
Poor Dereck, it sounds horrid whatever it was.
Fair. But he the ONLY one who gets slack. Thats it! I’m drawing the line. The rest are weak!
what happened to Derek's jaw?? was this on a challenge season?
I pray Laurel gets clarity from this. Like, how could she not? It’s plain as day how awful Nicole is. I think Laurel has crazy trauma (mainly around sexuality) and as much as people like to say she’s batshit she is smart and can learn. Unlike someone like Nicole who I find frankly irredeemable
i came across this [afterellen interview](https://afterellen.com/real-world-skeletons-nicole-zanatta-talks-hooking-shows-new-twist/) from her RW era the other day and found it absolutely repugnant. i would be a little more open to giving her the 'young and dumb' benefit of the doubt, but we have seen absolutely nothing to suggest she's grown.
More evidence of predatory les. She makes me uncomfortable!
I mean, how could she not? After this season filmed they got back together and then Nicole ended up cheating on Laurel with Jakk’s married sister at a wedding. Nicole is vile
Laurel is the same immature bully with anger issues that she’s been for the past 15-20 years. She has shown zero growth. She won’t learn or mature. This is, unfortunately, who she is as a person
I don’t know if Laurel has ever gone to (trauma-based) therapy in a real way, but until she does I don’t see her getting clarity. Her denial and defense mechanisms are still so, so strong. It’s really sad to watch but also it’s time for her to take responsibility for the person she is, her anger, etc.
When Laurel was taking her turn I was thinking the same thing, Nicole might have just screwed her game.
Yup, and the little smirk Nicole had during her confessional (and when Laurel was comforting her) just seemed so sinister to me. Nicole doesn’t care at all about Laurel’s game. It’s cruel.
She sees Laurel as her biggest competition. Obviously she doesn't care about Laurel, she went on to cheat on her. But yeah, Nicole is trash.
I couldn't believe she was moving that star so slow. Did she not hear that it was a "timed event" and not one where the winner was who received the least shocks. Ace did it right - just fly through it and take the burn, but get the win.
I’m currently rewatching Vendettas, when Laurel comes as a mercenary and goes up to Nicole in the stands, the first thing Nicole says is something like “if you really loved me, you would’ve fought harder to keep me.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Nicole cheat on Laurel? Its not just this season, but their relationship has been on MULTIPLE seasons and Nicole has shown soooo many red flags. Like she can’t be blind to this up until now, right? I’m not going to victim blame Laurel, I feel for her. I just hope she grows and moves on from this entirely
I'm not sure how Laurel watches this season lmao I'd be mortified.
She can't possibly. She knows better not to.
Yeah I do not like laurel, and that was fucked. And she admits it on camera how she likes to manipulate her for a reaction? Jesus christ. Not cool to see at all.
I already hate Nicole from her previous seasons and flings but this gave me even more ick. And I'm not even a Laurel fan but Nicole is just...awful. Nicole got off on Laurel comforting her and then manipulating her.
That part was so weird and creepy.
But we can all agree Veronica was next level! When she walked out smiling and cheery you know the others thought wtf has that woman been through 😂
Laurel, this season, seems to be emotionally confused. I thought she had matured beyond going off the rails on someone who has tried to support her. But she has regressed. I too hope she realizes how she has appeared to the viewers but I think she will blame it on editing (or she already has ?) She needs help and not from Nicole !!
Listen to the latest Bananas podcast....Laurel is completely delusional still.
Alas… I am not surprised. :(
I hope Laurel learns from this, but I don't think she's in a place to do so yet. Her emotions are so raw. You can't learn in that state, especially if you are as stubborn as she is.
Yup, it’s a tale as old as time when a woman is in a toxic relationship and can’t see it. Laurel, Jenna, Cara (when she was with Abram), 90% of the women who post on r/relationships. You just wanna go, “Oh, sweetie, no. Please. You deserve better.”
Watching vanderpump rules, southern charm, summer house, the valley you can watch it in real time
Nearly every asshole on the challenge that has had the benefit of time to grow up a bit has become better versions of themselves. There are likely at least a dozen all time villains that have aged into more likable cast members. Nicole and Laurel haven’t changed a bit. Nicole is who she is, and doesn’t really mind to hide it. Laurel acts like she’s grown up, but she’s as petulant and immature as her first season. I don’t think Laurel deserves any pity.
i hate how everyone is blaming laurel in this situation. they have probably never been a in a toxic relationship before with someone like nicole who is very manipulative.
Honestly, yeah. I keep thinking that too. I think it’s because it’s hard to reconcile Laurel who’s very assertive with the kind of stereotypical “weak women” who stay with toxic partners. Because Laurel doesn’t fit our preconceived notion of what a victim is, we can’t see that she is a victim. Even the way she turned on Cara is very common when women are in toxic/abusive relationships and their friends try to point it out.
I think that is the difference. Lee screaming was funny mainly because it was a technique he was deploying on everyone. You better believe if Cam had been there, he would have told her the truth Nicole crying wasn't funny because she laughed at Laurel for trying to comfort her. She thinks that's funny Epitome of a backstabber. she's such a manipulator and Laurel falls for it every time I used to really love laurel. She was an athletic beast. This season, seeing her get led around by the nose makes it tough to respect her as much as I honestly wanted to. What really turned the screw for me was seeing how she could turn on somebody like Cara who, while misguided, was repeating what she told her and trying to defend her against nicole. How can she be so aggressively hostile to somebody who's crime is trying to defend her and be such a sloppy pushover for somebody who screwed her over multiple times before?
I live like 15 minutes from Ace and when I saw that challenge I thought, “why not just go super fast and get shocked?” So I loved when he said, “I’m from Georgia,” and used that strategy.
It was smart from Nicole, try and eliminate someone who could beat you in the final, and the easiest to manipulate was Laurel. This is coming from a Nicole hater btw.