Total Forgiveness – Punishments Ranked By Brutality

I’ve fallen down the Dropout.tv rabbit hole in the past month, and the single greatest sleeper hit on the platform has to be “Total Forgiveness”.

The lengths that Grant and Ally went to in the name of repaying student loans was more entertaining than I could have thought, with a final episode that is sure to live long in the memory. There were some nasty challenges / punishments across the series … how would I rank them all by brutality?

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

I Could Do That!

These challenges looked like a piece of cake. Maybe Grant and Ally needed to overcome personal fears to do them, but these are the punishments that I’d do for free (… or a small payment, maybe).

18 – Go Camping

Grant famously took part in a CollegeHumor camping sketch that went wrong behind the scenes, as he couldn’t stop freaking out over nature and just generally being outside. That being said, his camping trip was one of the most boring punishments in the show.

It hardly felt like a challenge, and I don’t think Grant himself struggled that much to make it through the night.

17 – Call Ex + Eat Spicy Food

Ally’s first punishment was a very low bar, especially when compared to Grant’s insane initial punishment in the same episode.

I’m sure calling an ex was uncomfortable, and the food looked very spicy, but she only needed to eat a few bites and had access to as much milk as she wanted.

16 – Read Teenage Diary

I can’t say I’ve ever kept a diary of any kind, but even then I wouldn’t be able to write anything truly scandalous inside them … My life is quite boring, now that I think about it.

A public reading of said diary would no doubt be embarrassing, but I reckon I could power through and see the comedy in it – and Ally’s crowd were way too lenient and outright supportive for it to be a challenge!

15 – Vitamin Injection

I’m not a fan of injections in the slightest, but I can still power through them just as much as the next guy.

Grant’s vitamin injection was admittedly funny, but it’s a punishment that’s over in seconds (or minutes, counting the muscle ache) and has overall health benefits.

14 – Get Drunk For A Week

Maybe it’s because I’m still quite young and in the prime of life, but Ally’s “get drunk for a week” punishment didn’t sound that bad at first.

It definitely affected her work as well as her mentality and body, but it wasn’t so bad in the grand scheme of things. For me, it would be like a nostalgic trip back to my uni days!

13 – Stuck In A Coffin

The hardest part of staying in a coffin for a day would definitely be listening to Grant’s BS for hours on end, but otherwise I reckon it would be alright.

This definitely teeters on the cusp of the next tier, as being in a cramped coffin for more than a few hours would probably get exponentially worse for your body and mental health.

You’d Have To Make Me Rich

I’d be uncomfortable doing these challenges, but I’d consider them … for a worthwhile price.

12 – Scam Your New Flatmates

If I had to fake scam close friends or even random strangers, I reckon this challenge would be a piece of cake.

The real problem is the fact that it was Ally’s new flatmates – I’d be terrified of ruining a budding relationship (and my new home), so Ally did well to push through the embarrassment.

11 – Bomb At Stand-Up

I don’t know if I’d be good at stand-up or not, but I reckon I could do a decent job of bombing a set.

The embarrassment levels would be sky-high, but I don’t think they would be unbearable. If anything, it would just be another day at the office for a first-time stand-up comic!

10 – Makeover + Licence Photo

Getting Ally to do an Oompa-Loompa makeover was already bad enough, but having her take a new driver’s licence photo was outright fiendish from Grant.

This punishment is definitely on the ‘funny’ side rather than ‘cruel’, and I think Ally rocked the green hair quite well anyway.

9 – Family Lock-In

Grant didn’t seem to struggle with this challenge so much, and I don’t think I would either – it’s the rest of the family that I’d worry about.

I’d hate to put my family through such a cramped, uncomfortable ordeal, so I have nothing but respect for the O’Brien family for sticking with it.

8 – Sing The National Anthem

I consider myself a slightly better singer than Ally, but I definitely wouldn’t have the balls to sing the national anthem in front of a whole stadium.

Maybe if I got drunk enough I’d consider it, but mad respect to Ally for doing it sober (I think).

7 – Excite The Bell(end)

Grant’s a braver man than I’ll ever be for willingly stripping for the cameras – to be honest, that seems like the hardest part of the challenge.

Ally’s weird pictures didn’t help, but I reckon I could get excited enough within the half hour (I never thought I’d be writing about that on this blog …).

6 – Flea Market

The challenge that signified the beginning of the end for the show, and I see why many fans thought the Flea Market was a step too far – the fact that Grant lost his possessions and the prize money was a tough double loss to take.

Maybe I’m being naïve, or maybe it’s just because I don’t value my possessions that highly, but I wouldn’t be opposed to selling the majority of my stuff in a Flea Market for some quick cash. But don’t quote me on that.

5 – Leeches

I hate creepy crawlies just as much as Grant, so the fact he had to suffer a dozen leeches in the first episode was a hell of an opening statement for the show to make.

There’s no chance in hell I’d be able to conduct a coherent interview while having the blood sucked out of me, but the leeches themselves seem doable if I got paid a lot of money.

4 – Shock Collar

I have an irrational hatred of electric shocks. I can only imagine how awful a powerful shock collar around my neck would be.

I am also afraid of bees and wasps, so I’d have to be paid a ridiculous amount of cash to be trapped in a room with one and not be allowed to scream … but there is an amount, unlike the next three punishments that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.

Literal Torture

Nope. Nuh-uh. There’s no way I’d do these punishments, no matter how much you’d pay me. I can’t believe Grant and Ally agreed to try these.

3 – Neck Tattoo

On the surface of things, getting a tattoo doesn’t seem like that bad a punishment. It’s the context surrounding the tattoo that puts me off.

A neck tattoo is the kind of thing that will affect your relationships and job prospects for the rest of your life, and having your current girlfriend’s name tattooed can only spell disaster in the long term.

2 – Sleep With A Snake

The first challenge to be failed in the show, and I don’t blame Ally in the slightest for chickening out.

My mum’s fear of snakes has been passed down to me, so I don’t think I’d be able to share a room with one let alone sleep in the same bed as one for half an hour!

1 – Public Defecation

It was all fun and games until Grant had to poop in front of a crowd.

You can tell this punishment in particular really got to him, and it almost broke the show entirely – there’s no way in hell I’d choose to defecate in front of an exhibition crowd, so I’m glad Ally didn’t force Grant to do an even tougher challenge in the final episode.

If you’re interested in the mathematics of it all, I tallied up Grant and Ally’s scores (18th = 18 points, 1st = 1 point etc.) to see who had the worst punishments – lowest score wins, like in golf. The results were:

GRANT – 76 points

ALLY – 95 Points

So yes – as is the popular opinion, Grant’s challenges were statistically worse than Ally’s across the show … but Ally had two of the top three worst, so I guess it evens out? Maybe?

Aaand that’s my list. After you’ve checked out this gem of a show for yourself, you can check out some of my latest blog posts below: