IN WAR, YOU HAVE TO PERFORM ALL THE TIME.

I have confessed, previously, to enjoying (perhaps a little too much) Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, which just kicked off with eighteen celebrities, a few of whom I had prior knowledge of, rappelling from a helicopter "behind enemy lines" and then having to go to a hut to draw supplies, which they then had to schlep, uphill.

Team that got its bundle to the trucks first got to ride home with the supplies.  Second place, which is first last, had to double-time it to base on foot.  That was too much for Brittany Cartwright.  I must confess, chunky and neurotic don't strike me as a good place to be to try out for a reality show that has had several medical disqualifications over the years.  Her motivation, as taped before training began?

Cartwright explained she wanted to compete on the show "because I have been through so much this year." Referring to her split from Jax Taylor, she added, "I finally found the strength to leave a very toxic relationship."

She then went on to claim she "had my ex writing me, like, 'You're not gonna make it far,' right before I even came here," before adding, "People like that, I want to prove wrong."

That's the proper spirit, but that "toxic relationship" produced one kiddo and lasted four years.  What was I writing about the lifestyles of the rich and famous?

As has been the case in previous seasons, the less appealing contestants are already being exposed.  John "Johnny Football" Manziel, who won a Heisman trophy as a freshman and admitted to having later squandered his talent, and the opportunities that came his way, was first called in for debriefing, where the training staff ventured the military version of a pep talk.  From previous episodes, I've detected a disdain on the part of the trainers for the way some athletes showboat after accomplishing something (if you remember Jiminez yelling "we made it" at the end of The Dirty Dozen and then catching a German round you'll understand where that comes from.)

Also on the show, Chicago's own Jussie Smollett, and he's going to find out that telling stories about an evening jaunt for a hoagie will be as a stroll on the river walk.

“Sixteen, what are you doing? What is your problem?" demanded veteran Navy SEAL Jovon Quarles, referring to Smollet by his recruit number. "You all are truly pissing me off, especially you, Sixteen. Sixteen, y’all better hurry up!"

The former Empire actor then tells the camera, "I'm okay with taking orders. I just don't like to be yelled at, all up in my face. I don't like being disrespected."

He, too, is probably not in a good place going into the show. "I'm here because I've been through some s---, and it's been very public. I was called a liar, with everybody believing something that was not true. This feels like a reset."  Apparently he's not familiar with a military style reset, which starts with the order of your names reversed, a haircut, inoculations given, and instructions to double time given in full voice.

The show will again be running opposite Chicago Fire once NBC's fall rotation goes on air.