One & Done or Second Chance? What should be the future for the Rookies on Double Agents?
The rookies from this season of the challenge have not been the strongest crop compared to other seasons. Therefore with only a few episodes left before the final I figure it is a good time to evaluate the rookies and make a decision on if MTV should give each of the rookies of Double Agents at least another season on the challenge or give that spot to another veteran or new rookie for a future season.
Joseph Allen
Coming into this season from America’s Got Talent was not exactly the most promising origin for a show like the challenge. Unfortunately for Joseph the low expectations most fans had for him were at best met. He did not impress in the daily challenges, he got completely destroyed by Kyle in an elimination and had a poor social and strategic game where even Big T, his partner, was happy to see him go.
Decision: One and Done
There have been some players who get knocked out early and go onto challenge legends like Johnny Bananas, Evelyn Smith & CaraMaria Sorbello I really don’t see it for Joseph. He provided some entertainment but it was mostly at his expense I’d rather see a new rookie get a shot or a different veteran back.
Liv Jwando
Liv had a pretty unlucky experience this season. She looked to be in a decent spot politically with the rookie girls alliance. In the daily challenges she did not have any stand out positive or negative moments and she didn’t get the opportunity to compete in an elimination round due to her injury.
Decision: Second Chance
Before Liv left she did not exactly pop off the screen but she wasn’t a complete bore getting some confessionals and content with Big T. The daily challenge that Liv sustained her injury in seemed to be poorly designed in terms of safety. Therefore I think the show is more responsible for her injury than other times people were medically disqualified and a second chance would be the right thing to do.
Natalie Anderson
As soon as it was announced that Natalie was going to be on this season survivor fans were pumped. She is a physical beast and people were excited to see her compete against the women on the challenge. She performed well in the daily challenges, knocked out a challenge champion in a strong elimination performance and had some good confessionals. Unfortunately she had to leave for medical reasons.
Decision: Second Chance
This is an absolute no-brainer Natalie is reality tv gold. Natalie both is the kind of physical competitor that make people call the challenge “America’s 5th Sport” and she will get involved in the drama and politics. Also, she brings in more fans to the show who liked her from her runs on Survivor and The Amazing Race. She is number one out of the rookies who I want to see come back.
Lio Rush
Lio was an out of the box pick for the show, he is only the second person, (excluding Fresh Meat) to appear on the challenge without previously being on reality tv. Physically he is small but a stud and performed well in the dailies. He definitely seemed to be liked by everyone in the house but was over his head when it came to all the other things that came with being on reality tv and ended up choosing to leave for his mental health.
Decision: Second Chance*
Lio was the hardest person for me to evaluate whether or not he should get another opportunity. I ended up going with they should give him a second chance but with the big caveat that he needs to be ready. Before production asks him back make sure his life is more settled and he won’t quit. He had a pregnant wife back home and had just been let go by WWE so you can understand he had a lot going on. If he does come back and has another mediocre season though it’s time to move on.
Mechie Harris
Mechie did not have a good run this season, never winning a daily challenge and losing badly to (at the time winless) Josh in an elimination round where Mechie failed to complete a slide puzzle given plenty of time since Josh struggled mightily with the second part of the elimination. Interestingly, Mechie apparently had a messy showmance with Amber M that production chose not to show.
Decision: One & Done
It seems like MTV doesn’t want him back with how underedited he was. From a drama perspective Mechie had plenty to provide having watched his stint on Ex on the Beach and hearing about the scenes apparently left out of the edit. However his elimination performance was really poor and he did not have good performances in the daily challenges making it likely that he would be a lay up if he were to return for another season. The show could do better giving a different person that spot.
Amber Martinez
Amber had a pretty good run this season when it came to drama and personality. She fought with Devin, had an apparently messy showmance with Mechie that we didn’t get to see on the episodes and got in a fight with Amber B over voting. Physically however she was probably the weakest person on this cast.
Decision: One & Done
I was for seeing Amber come back for another shot for almost the entirety of her time on the show. Not everyone needs to be a physically dominant player but you at least have to show some fight. Amber’s performance in that hall brawl was arguably the worst performance in an elimination round ever. I cannot justify giving her a second chance after that.
Lolo Jones
Lolo is obviously an absolutely elite athlete and also causes a bunch of drama. Those are exactly the kind of people who you want to see on the challenge. However she quit the show or if you ask her (allegedly) was asked to leave. With that in mind there is the additional factor of her going on social media now and claiming she was done dirty by production in daily challenges.
Decision: One & Done (I’m not counting Champs V Pros)
She is just too much of a headache for production. She quits and is now claiming the show is lying and is talking about how they are taking actions to make her lose. I for one don’t believe it, do I think everything we see on the show is exactly as it happened in real life no but I do not believe production is fixing the show.
Gabby Allen
Gabby was fairly forgettable throughout the first month of this season doing about average in the daily challenges and not showing up much in the edit. However, she was able to pull off a daily win with Devin and put up a good fight against Nany in the “Ring of Spies”elimination. Also, she became a bigger part of the narrative with her showmance with Fessy.
Decision: Second Chance
Gabby performed pretty well on a number of competitions and has the potential to improve and be a solid competitor in future seasons. Another thing that helps her is she. has potential for many different season themes whether it be an Exes with Fessy, Rivals with Amber B she is easily castable.
Nam Vo
Nam is possibly the most chiseled competitor we have ever had come on to a season of the challenge. He is in absolutely remarkable shape however he did not have that much success in the daily challenges. Granted a portion of his failure to win a daily challenge has to be attributed to his disastrous partnership with Lolo. Unfortunately as soon as he was able to get a new partner an injury took him out of the season leaving his story unfinished.
Decision: Second Chance
Nam was also one of the most likable guys to come on the show in a while. He had good confessionals, he has the potential to be an excellent physical competitor and is socially liked by practically everyone in the cast. I will be really disappointed if we do not see Nam back.
Amber Borzotra
Amber had very little content through the first section of the game but once she got caught between the rookie girls alliance and big brother her story became much more interesting. Physically she has been inconsistent, each time Amber did well I wasn’t sure if it was because she had the fortune of having an excellent partner in Darrell.
Decision: Second Chance
Amber is the only rookie still in the house and potentially going to be in the finals since her being the double agent makes her safe from the next elimination. She was in the drama and with how deep in the game she has gotten she has earned another season. I don’t know if she is going to become a staple on the show but she has had a good season thus far and if she gets another chance I am hopeful we get more out of her.
