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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Episode 5 Mini-Review
The course:
Shrinking Steps
Shattered Panes
Broken Bridge / Despicaballs
Ring Chaser
Final Frontier
Warped Wall
You did indeed foreshadow the annual Broken Bridge appearance! Both new obstacles this week are ones we've already seen a lot of so don't need to say much but Ring Chaser I like still, definitely an improvement on Kickboards, the course ran faster.
Almost all veterans and runs that looked exciting were fast-forwarded for runs which were only there for stories, really poor editing this week. Even Josh Levin, returning after a 3 year absence, and Kyle Soderman, 4th place last year who beat the Mega Wall this time around, got cut. As always, Bryan, Campbell, Rayl and Kretch among the fast forward group.
The episode got off to a really bad start too, with a cringey and almost offensive fluff piece on the first contestant being a "vampire" because he was from Romania.
Also a lot more clears this time (17 iirc) because the contestants got a practise go on Final Frontier.
Not a good end to the qualifying heats I'm afraid, entirely down to the awful editing.
Interestingly, someone mentioned that the episodes now are getting less viewership than season 3. I don't know how accurate it is because I haven't checked, or even if that statement refers to the original airings or reruns. But if true, that is appalling considering how much of a bigger network the show is on now compared to then, and how much more advanced production has become. Yes the show is old now but clearly so many things have gone wrong to get it to the position it is in now.
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22/Jul/22, 10:48 pm
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Messup434
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Re: ANW 14
Quote:
Are you foreshadowing here..?
Nah, just trying to predict the future. It works sometimes!
—
Wait, so they let one group get a practice on Final Frontier but not the other? That’s… weird. Did they say this or (more likely) have you acquired that knowledge from an outside source? I totally believe it, I just find the inconsistency between episodes and the possibility of the show admitting to that to be curious.
The season 3 ratings comparison seems a bit hard to believe, but maybe it is true. Either way, the fact that we’re seeing it as a possibility says a lot. I don’t want them to be cancelled, but I want this to be a wake-up call.
Unfortunately, this year has been generally underwhelming considering there were a lot of shows I was initially looking forward to seeing. ANW, Wipeout and even Holey Moley to an extent have all fallen a bit flat this Summer. I am happy in a mean way that ANW and Wipeout are doing so poorly ratings-wise. Holey Moley season 4 as I said wasn’t great, but it’s the show I still watch and I still think it deserves another season for sure.
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24/Jul/22, 9:38 am
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Oh they didn't admit to it in broadcast, it's from a source. I mean remember all those years they did a Double Dipper practise go and not once did that get to air. I assume they did the practise for heat 5 but not 4 after seeing how difficult it was and how low the number of clears were.
I wish they were more consistent with the rules and how they deal with things not going to plan, but if things happen that they don't like they'll change them for "better TV". Shame they don't change the editing for better TV too...
I love how you predicted Broken Bridge on the exact week it happened lol, now what are the odds of the hanging balance obstacles in semis being Spinning Bridge and Diamond Dash?
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24/Jul/22, 1:44 pm
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Messup434
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Re: ANW 14
Oh I see, didn’t realize how deadly the Final Frontier was in week 4. That makes sense then!
I would guess the Spinning Bridge returns and the Diamond Dash does not since I don’t believe it appeared last year(?). Curious to hear.
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25/Jul/22, 6:30 pm
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Quote:
Messup434 wrote:
I would guess the Spinning Bridge returns and the Diamond Dash does not since I don’t believe it appeared last year(?). Curious to hear.
They both were in semis last year! But you are defo right about Spinning Bridge! I've watched semi 1 but going to wait until I've seen semi 2 before I do my big review as I assume they'll be similar to each other like last year.
Overall tho fairly happy with the first semi, surprise surprise! Main criticism is I'd liked to have seen more runs but you know how this show is. Also new Power Tower = good (after all these years)!!
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25/Jul/22, 10:30 pm
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Messup434
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Re: ANW 14
I look forward to the review. And interesting for sure that Spinning Bridge is back. Might not be the only time.
It does seem that despite the episodes having more repetition between them, there are still just as many (if not more?) new obstacles. At least as a proportion of the season.
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26/Jul/22, 9:42 am
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Quote:
Messup434 wrote:
It does seem that despite the episodes having more repetition between them, there are still just as many (if not more?) new obstacles. At least as a proportion of the season.
I mean its the same format at last year so same amount of repetition. But yeah so far I'd say there's been quite a lot of new obstacles, but then again so many of last year's were not great so there weren't many from that bunch that could really return.
If we look at the qualifiers, we had:
• 2/3 new 2s
• 2/6 new 3s
• 2/3 new 4s
• 3/3 new 5s
So yeah thinking about it probably more new ones than we had last year.
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26/Jul/22, 12:17 pm
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Messup434
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Re: ANW 14
Oh yeah, I just meant this format in general doesn’t seem to limit obstacle count - I didn’t just mean this particular season. I feel the same has been true since season 12, though maybe moreso the past two years.
It does seem that they’ve put a bit more thought into balance obstacles for Split Decision, but now if it’s just a standalone balance obstacle, it’s not getting any attention or thought!
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27/Jul/22, 11:00 am
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Oh that makes sense.
So I've waited a while so I could do a combined review and, after now having watched episode 2, I've learned it isn't possible to review these as one. I wasted my time there.
Episode 6 (Semi-Final 1) Mini-Review
The course:
Shrinking Steps
Lunatic Ledges (ugh)
Air Surfer
Spinning Bridge (5 balls)
Kaleidoscope (NEW)
Warped Wall
Salmon Ladder
Ghost Town (NEW and complete with googly eyes!)
Dragonback / Spin Zone (NEW)
Spider Trap
The course overall was very good. Lunatic Ledges was the only bad obstacle, how that even got 3 seasons let alone 4 I do not know.
Kaleidoscope was a great way to use cliffhanger ledges uniquely, rotating the ledges in front of you using the one you are on. Worked well, I liked it.
Ghost Town was effectively Flying Bar with moving cradles and weird handles on the bar. Worked fine, not standout but good enough.
Spin Zone only had 2 attempts: one fail, one clear. Was nice to see another new balance ob. Very hard but didn't seem deliberately silly like last year's balance 9s. Resetting the blade orientations could easily work to make it a little easier. Overall visually good but not much to it, happy enough with this.
The new Power Tower is a big improvement on all the previous iterations. This was the first time it felt fully fleshed-out. Going across the structure's width 3 times rather than 2 allowed a lot more obstacles. The Tackle boxes at the start were a very good starter, the running section after that was probably the weakest part that it could do without. The rest worked very well and was cohesive. The matchup ended up being very close - 0.1 second or something like that between Lewis and Pippel.
The episode as a whole was a lot better than qualifying. Fluff pieces, whilst still present, were on the whole more relevant. Having just one run in some instances between ad breaks was my main issue. About the right number of clears too - 4 in all (although sad times for the one person who cleared that got ff'd). Overall fairly strong start... and as you'll see from my next review, one that was not maintained!
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29/Jul/22, 5:33 pm
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 14
Episode 7 (Semi-Final 2) Mini-Review
The course:
Shrinking Steps
Lunatic Ledges
Clockwork (replacing Air Surfer)
Spinning Bridge
Hopscotch (NEW & not good)
Warped Wall
Salmon Ladder
Box Office (NEW & also not good)
Dragonback / Spin Zone
Spider Trap
Forgot I hadn't done this one, I'm not sure I even want to!
New obstacles Hopscotch and Box Office both looked like they had come straight from a ninja gym. Both involved awkward grabs of ledges that were hanging precariously, both were too difficult, neither looked good on TV. Really disappointing that a stacked field could be almost entirely taken out by two rubbish obstacles. Box Office was from obstacle design challenge - awkwardly it was submitted by a member of a discord server I'm on!
Only 3 reached obstacle 9 (getting seasons 8 & 9 deja vu here) two failed Dragonback - Josh Levin was the most notable, the other was 3-time competitor Josiah Singleton (who has never made Vegas), rookie Evan Andrews was the only clear of the night.
Josiah and Evan faced off on the Power Tower and Josiah won after an early mistake from Evan saw him lose too much ground to make up.
It's a real shame about this episode because they actually included all the people they should show but normally edit out (Kyle Soderman, Sean Bryan etc). Some top competitors didn't make Vegas including Adam Rayl, Elijah Browning and Lance Pekus - which would normally add so much shock value but everyone bar one person failed... so it didn't. Also I like Adam so it's a shame to see someone with the potential to go far being knocked out already.
Overall, bad obstacles let this episode down. Still need to watch the next ep.
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3/Aug/22, 10:12 pm
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