The Challenge: Final Reckoning Episode 12 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode starts with the house at the bar, and everyone seems to be feeling good. Tony and Johnny seem to be clicking on all cylinders and acknowledge that they’ve come a long way since Tony turning on his mentor. Tony and Nelson start talking, and Tony tells Nelson he’ll give him a heads up if he votes him into elimination. Tony been known over the past two seasons for saying on thing and then not following through; so, I have my doubts this promise will be carried out.
The house returns from the bar where Hunter and Ashley start going at it. Ashley is crying, and Hunter says she is because she feels bad about sleeping with Kyle. He tries to apologize but appears to just make the situation worse before saying that if she costs him the money he is coming for her family. Brad tells him to calm down and not threaten her family; and these two seem as at odds as any pair in the house.
The next morning, Johnny and Cara are talking about which way Johnny will go with the vote. Johnny claims to not know which way to go with the vote, although I think he’s pretty set on Nelson and Shane. Cara feels she is safe, but you never know with Tony. After this, we head to the Lavender Ladies where Shane, Ashley, Amanda, Sylvia, and Marie are talking. Shane says Johnny will probably vote for him, so he wants to devise a plan that will have him go into elimination but will allow him to select any team to go against him. We don’t get the full scope of their plan but all we know is it is very confusing.
After this we head to the nominations, and Marie and Cara are up first. They go with Joss and Sylvia, per their agreement with the Lavender Ladies. Joss and Sylvia vote Jozea and Da’Vonne. Ashley and Hunter go up next, and Hunter wants to put in Marie and Cara. Ashley heavily disagrees and wants to go with the plan to vote Jozea and Da’Vonne. Eventually Ashley wins out and the vote goes to Jozea and Da’Vonne, but Hunter clearly is not happy. Da’Vonne and Jozea vote for Amanda and Zach due to being thrown in by them constantly. Amanda and Zach and Brad and Kyle burn on each other and Nelson and Shane vote for Cara Maria and Marie. Bananas and Tony are next, and they are oscillating between Nelson and Shane and Hunter and Ashley. I’m surprised they didn’t consider Joss and Sylvia just to throw a curveball out there, but it seems pretty clear they are going for Nelson and Shane.
We head to elimination, where after the lights go out there is a tie vote between Amanda and Zach, Jozea and Da’Vonne, and Nelson and Shane. Johnny and Tony get to break the tie and select Nelson and Shane. As Johnny and Tony were the only vote for them Nelson and Shane get to pick any pair of opponents to go against. Nelson and Shane select Brad and Kyle. The elimination is titled Tread Lightly, and has the competitors try to balance a ball between two poles and drop it in a basket while moving on treadmills going opposite directions. First to get ten balls deposited in their basket wins.
The elimination starts, and it is a massive struggle to get things going. Both pairs are flying off the treadmills as soon as they get on and aren’t getting much traction in the elimination. Brad and Kyle time it well and get one of the balls deposited. They seem for a second like they may have found a rhythm, but the next time up Kyle falls down and they miss. Nelson and Shane get one in though, tying it up. Nelson and Shane all of the sudden get into a really good rhythm, and start getting consecutive balls in. They get all the way up to six before Brad and Kyle get their next one. Brad and Kyle get one more in, but it is to no avail as Nelson and Shane deposit their tenth ball and win the elimination.
The crowd goes crazy once they win, swarming Nelson and Shane. Brad and Kyle are both super pissed, they really didn’t seem like they thought they were going in. Both vow vengeance against Nelson and Shane as they head to the Redemption House. Back at the main house, Cara returns there to see Kyle has left his necklace for her on her bed. She seems very touched by this, but Marie is pushing for her to move on.
Back at the Redemption House, Brad and Kyle enter to a very surprised Kayleigh and Kam. As the four are sitting and talking, Paulie strolls down the steps seemingly looking to fight. However, instead of causing a ruckus, he goes calmly over and sits down. Brad starts ranting now, and says he is going to send Nelson and Shane in any chance he gets. He also calls out Nelson for being completely untrustworthy and not even being that good of a competitor. I’ve really enjoyed Brad since his return, but he does he seem to have a very big issue with anyone throwing him in. I can’t really blame him, people are coming after his chance to make money and it makes for good TV.
We head to the mission for the episode, entitled Caged In. The mission has one member of the pair stay in a cage while the other member has to knock down a key to get them out. Once they get out, they have to race to a puzzle based on things in the cage and finish it. First to finish wins, and as a twist last to finish gets a penalty for the next mission. The mission starts, and the competitors run to help their partners get a key. Tony and Johnny get their key first; and head off to the puzzle. Da’Vonne and Jozea and Amanda and Zach follow them out. Marie and Cara and Hunter and Ashley are really struggling, while Nelson and Shane get out next.
Tony and Bananas and Amanda and Zach get to the puzzle, and Tony is really struggling to remember anything. However, Amanda remembers everything and is able to knock out the puzzle and get the win. Ashley and Hunter and Sylvia and Joss get out next, leaving only Marie and Cara. Marie and Cara get out of the cage soon after, but by the time they get to the puzzle only Ashley and Hunter still have not finished. Hunter has to race back from going to the cage, while Ashley has to wait for him to get the check. Cara and Marie fiddle around with the signs for a while before Hunter returns and they get their puzzle correct, leaving Cara and Marie in last.
Extra Notes
o 1st Look, the show hosted by John Devenanzio, is premiering at 1:00 AM on Sunday. Regardless of your opinions on the Banana Man, it is awesome to see someone from the show net a gig with such public exposure.
Redemption House
3) Paulie and Natalie: I would imagine Kam and Kayleigh would select Brad and Kyle in the Double Cross and vice versa, so they’re at the bottom.
2) Kam and Kayleigh: These girls seem destined to be the team that dominates the storyline in the first half of the season and then eliminated as the second half opens.
1) Brad and Kyle: With the eliminations this season being so random it’s hard to say they’ll definitely win but setting blind odds they are the favorite.
Main House
7) Da’Vonne and Jozea: With Amanda and Zach in power, you would have to think these guys are in their crosshairs.
6) Marie and Cara: They’ve been the worst team as of late and their once stout political position is hard to gauge at the moment.
5) Tony and Bananas: Might seem low for Team Banony but with Brad and Kyle gone they’ve really fallen behind in the alliance game and could get in a situation where it’s win or get thrown in.
4) Hunter and Ashley: Sorting out the top four is exceptionally difficult, but they did the worst this mission, so they are at four.
3) Zach and Amanda: They are the best in the missions of the Lavender Ladies, but Zach hasn’t been the best in eliminations and their chemistry is worrisome.
2) Nelson and Shane: I’ve had a mental block with these two and perhaps it’s been unreasonable but at this point they deserve a spot in the top two.
1) Sylvia and Joss: When looking for who is on the top of the game, I try to see who has no negatives rather than an overwhelming number of positives. Combine their extremely favorable spin from producers with their strong place in the game and they are number one.
