Welcome to my thoughts on the seventh episode of The Tester Season 3! Last week, we viewers finally got our wish when Suzkaiden was eliminated after giving one of the laziest performances I’ve seen in ANY reality show challenge. We’re down to the final four, with one elimination left before the finale. Let’s get right down to it!
1. We start off with a celebration by the final four. It doesn’t last long though, as the pressure is getting pretty intense of these guys. Krysti knows she dodged a bullet last week and continues to slide under the radar. D1ddy, on the other hand, has to find a way to prove he isn’t just some clown. With no glaringly weak players to hide behind, being mediocre simply won’t cut it anymore.
2. Meredith shows up at the loft for a good old preliminary challenge. It’s time to pimp MLB The Show 2012 with a little home run derby featuring the Move controller. At stake for the winner is an advantage in the next challenge. Because he won the last challenge, they allow D1ddy to chose the order that they’ll go in. He goes with Akilleez first, Krysti second, Reality third, and himself last. This is a pretty smart move, as he can study each player and figure out the best way to swing the controller.
3. Akilleez is just plain awful at the game. He swings the thing like a real bat and manages only a single run. You can’t muscle these things. It takes finesse. Krysti swings wildly, but manages to connect on four of her swings, making her the leader. Taking notes of their failings, Reality goes with a lighter approach and gets a good score of seven. D1ddy does also does well, but only manages five. With that, Reality wins. This was a really boring challenge to watch. It was also weird how they didn’t any time pimping the game like they usually do. There was a quick comment about the graphics, and that was it.
4. Time to introduce the judges. Brent starts off with a really corny joke about wanting some sunflower seeds to chew on, and nobody laughs. This week’s guest judge is Greg Miller. He’s the top editor for Playstation over at IGN. Apparently, he knows everything about the brand. Regardless, he seems like a real dork. Still, what better person to judge a trivia contest than a know it all?
5. Anyway, the contest is another combo. The first part involve buzzing in to answer a trivia question. Whoever gets it right is given a baseball and the chance to chose another contestant. That opponent is put in a dunk tank. Dunk the player, and they lose a life. Once all the lives are gone, that person is gone. Pretty simple, and amusing. I do find it silly that you could theoretically get every answer right and never score though, as throwing ability is paramount. As his reward for winning the derby earlier, Reality is given an extra life. The winner gets a spot in the finale and a digital camera.
6. Reality is extremely cocky at the start of this thing. He gets some questions right, but has trouble with the pitching. He goes for Akilleez and Krysti, but they both go after him. After awhile, Reality and Akilleez are both down to one life while Krysti has two left. D1ddy has yet to answer a question or get chosen to be dunked. When he finally does buzz in, he answers that Africa is a country. This caused a great deal of laughter, from the judges, contestants, and myself. Soon enough, Krysti takes out Reality. He’s still pretty cocky though, as he sees this as proof that they’re scared of him.
7. With Reality gone, the challenge changes a bit. Now, Krysti and Akilleez gang up on D1ddy. He fails to redeem himself though. On a question about what band got their own Rock Band game, his answer is Guitar Hero. It’s like he doesn’t understand English or something. He’s quickly knocked out of the game in three hits. After that, we get to hear Akilleez sing the national anthem as a question. OK? Whatever. Anyways, he sends Krysti packing after two shots, thereby winning the challenge. If Reality hadn’t goofed that first throw, things would have gone much differently. I wasn’t a fan of this challenge at all.
8. Back at the loft, D1ddy knows he’s in trouble. His performance was abysmal, and his poor answers most assuredly did nothing to help his reputation. His plan is to go after Reality as the weaker player, but I don’t see how that pans out for him. Reality is still pretty sure of himself, seeing his early elimination as a sure sign that the others thought he was a threat and that therefore he is worthy of staying. Krysti had another run of the mill performance. She really has done nothing to stand out this entire competition. Overall, I’d call this a tossup.
9. Time for elimination! They start off by congratulating Akilleez for making it to the finals. By the way they are talking, they may be pulling for him to win. The first target is Krysti. They wonder why she went after D1ddy when she had the chance to put Akilleez out of the competition. Good point really. She doesn’t have any answer to that one. They call that a lack of strategy and she takes it hard. On to D1ddy, he blames all of his problems on being too slow on the buzzer. He says he knew all of the answers. They give him a couple of questions, and he does OK, but Reality steps in and corrects him, which brings the wrath of the guest judge, who calls him cocky and immature. Don’t know if that’s better or worse that him calling D1ddy a clown. At then end, it is clear that they’re choosing between D1ddy and Reality. Finally, they decide that D1ddy is not professional enough and he is cut. What killed him was his inability to communicate in a cohesive way. He had the worst performance out of anyone in the challenge, and no one took him seriously. I’m not surprised by this one at all.
10. Well we’re down to the final three! We’ve got Akilleez, Reality, and Krysti. If you’re keeping track, that’s two guys and one girl. This has been the makeup of the finale for all three seasons of the show. I really wonder if they aim for this the whole time. Akilleez is the clear frontrunner. He’s had the best overall performance and seems to be a perfect fit for the job. He clearly has a level of maturity that the others haven’t reached. Reality was the original frontrunner, but his cockiness has brought him down several pegs. Still, since the judges don’t pick the winner, he’s got a legitimate shot at winning. Krysti doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. She hasn’t done particularly well in a single challenge. The final challenge always has some physical elements to it, and she has proven to be slow. She has been under the radar the entire game, but that doesn’t mean she has anything to offer. My pick to win is Akilleez, and I’m sure that Santa Monica is hoping for the same outcome.
Next week is the season finale! Wait. What? No finale? OK. Instead of bringing us the end, they’re instead throwing a bonus episode up that’s full of extra moments featuring all of the contestants. Our old friend Egoraptor is heavily featured in the previews, perhaps as an attempt to make peace with his fans. I’m not sure if I’ll have a 10 Thoughts piece about that episode or not yet. If not, come back in two weeks for my thoughts on the finale and the winner!
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