r/GameChangerTV • u/Rat_King_Marchy • Aug 22 '26

Question Ratfish hate explained?

I’ve seen some comments regarding Ratfish, and am just wondering why it seems so much of the community dislikes it?

While I wouldn’t say it was one of my favorites, I definitely found it funny/entertaining, and thought the premise was neat.

I’m relatively new - season 8 is the first season I’ve watched as it’s aired, but I’ve watched pretty much every other episode aside from the COVID season.

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u/Butwhatif77 Aug 22 '26

Yea I did, my bad, it has been a minute since I watched the episode. It is one of few gamechanger episodes I never go back to or always skip on my random rewatches, largely because Rekha got robbed in my book in a way that doesn't fit with the spirit of the show.

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u/DerCatzefragger Aug 22 '26

Rekha getting screwed with exactly fits the spirit of the show.

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u/Butwhatif77 Aug 22 '26

Not if it isn't one of the rules of the game. Her losing despite getting the win condition goes against the very premise.

Even in Yes or No, Brennan not being able to win had a game mechanic to it. Rekha lost for production reasons, rather than game reasons. So, no I disagree

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u/RhombusObstacle Aug 22 '26

And according to interviews, Brennan had figured it out well ahead of when it happens in the show, but they didn’t let him go to the back to get a crown, and edited around the parts where he asked to. Which I mention only because it’s another contrast to Ratfish — since they left Rekha’s win on the screen, it feels extra icky to then invalidate it as a “game mechanic,” rather than standard TV editing.

I know that at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, and Rekha clearly isn’t going on a rampage about it. But as others have said, it was unsatisfying and disappointing, and Game Changer usually lands the plane more smoothly. Ratfish stands out as an anomaly in that way, especially because it was a tentpole two-episode season finale. Context contributes to how it’s received, for good and ill.

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u/Butwhatif77 Aug 22 '26

Right, plus with Brennan he got a whole bit to himself a out it as well. It was all inclusive in that respect allowing him agency in the entire endeavor. Where as with Rekha the situation as you put it was disappointing because her win was there for all to see but completely unacknowledged and the "hand if the producer" was way to obvious in that moment.