‘King of the Nerds’ season 3, episode 5 review: Did Jonathan change the game?

You knew this was coming but did you think it was going to be so dramatic? The secret six have been ruling the game on “King of the Nerds” as each week they picked off a player not in their alliance. Now they are in a position where there is only 2 underdogs left and they are not on the same team, meaning that no matter which team loses, a secret six member is going to go into the nerd off for the first time. This is where the members of the alliance are going to learn who’s on top and who’s on the bottom of this group and this is where things could get interesting as they start to turn on each other and possibly break free.

Nerd War: This may go down as one of the most low-budged Nerd Wars in the history of Nerd Wars. Basically, the only cost was paper and an easel for the Pictionary part of it. This was more or less “Hollywood Game Night,” with two celebrities in Rachelle Lefevre and Penn Jillette taking part to help House Hooloovoo and Team SMASH score enough points to be victorious.

There wasn’t a whole lot to take away from this, save for maybe that Colby is terrible at art but awesome at everything else, and that somehow, the “Under the Dome” star managed to get people guess “invisible jet.” Maybe she should be crowned at the end of the season instead?

It was after SMASH lost the challenge things started to become interesting. While Heather and Amanda declared that they didn’t want to make the decision themselves as to who to send into the Nerd-Off, they decided that they would send in Colby and led the other team make the decision … only to then go up and tell Ben and Lily to put Jonathan in. Wait, what? Do they realize this is basically the same thing? Has they not done this, Raychelle would have never found out about the plan, and would have never been able to tell Jonathan about it. Then, Jonathan wouldn’t have bailed on the alliance. Raychelle, in what was her greatest episode by far of the season, managed to help ensure that Heather was sent in by her team instead, and potentially she may be a part of a new alliance with Jonathan, Colby, and Kaitlin. They’ve all increased their odds of lasting in the game.

Nerd-off: This was all of course contingent on Colby actually beating Heather in the Nerd-off, which was a really fun word scramble involving barrels of what looked to be Nickelodeon slime. This seemed to be almost all about game strategy, and to be honest, we probably would have done what Kaitlin did in try to get all of the pieces first before working on the puzzle. However, Colby’s idea worked better: Solve part of the puzzle as you go along, that way your brain stays active and moving.

While we were at times hot-and-cold on Heather, we are going to miss her on the show. She was outspoken, and above all, she may be one of the most loyal people we’ve ever seen on a reality show ever. She stood up for Ori when she didn’t have to, she went after Todd over his behavior, and even though she did sort-of throw Jonathan under the bus to the other team, she did basically go home because she did not want to cast the vote herself. This episode may not have been the most exciting through the first half, but the second has us more excited than we’ve been most of the season. Things are actually unpredictable again! Episode grade: B+.

What did you think of tonight’s episode and are there any stand outs that you are rooting for to become the king of Nerdvana? Looking for more news on “King of the Nerds”? Then head over to the link here where we will have previews, reviews, weekly podcasts and interviews with the cast all season long. Also if you want more great TV news sent your way, then be sure to sign up for the CarterMatt newsletter. It comes out every Sunday and is stuffed full of great TV scoop! (Photo: TBS)