The Challenge: Final Reckoning Episode 18 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode picks up with Nelson and Shane joining the Redemption House. Nelson admits to cuddling with Natalie, which causes Kayleigh to leave. Johnny and Tony go over to Brad and Kyle’s room and start taunting Shane from the room. Nelson comforts Kayleigh, and they seem to make up. Johnny is pretty relentless taunting Nelson and Shane, saying he has never been on a season where he has not won a daily mission (which is not true, on The Duel he lost the only mission he did.)
The group heads over to TJ to draw the Double Cross. TJ announces that all four pairs will get the chance to compete, but the one who draws the Double Cross gets to pick who they go against and the other two pairs go against each other. Kam and Kayleigh go first, and they draw a blank. Kyle and Brad are next, and they pull the Double Cross. TJ then dismisses the group, who heads back to Redemption.
We move over to the Armageddon, where TJ announces that the Redemption House has been closed and whomever is eliminated now will be for good. Brad and Kyle are allowed to select their opponents, and they choose Kam and Kayleigh. This leaves Bananas and Tony to go against Shane and Nelson. TJ announces there will be two games tonight, called I Got You Pegged and King of the Ring.
Brad and Kyle will be going against Nelson and Shane in I Got You Pegged, which has the competitors attempt to climb up a wall by putting pegs into it. Each of these pegs has a number, and in order to win there must be sixteen pairs of pegs which add up to thirty-two. The blue pegs add, while the red pegs subtract.
Before the elimination, Brad wants to be the climber because he thinks that is where more math will be. I’m not sure how he reached that conclusion, but nonetheless that’s what he goes with. Kayleigh is the climber for Kam and Kayleigh. Brad and Kyle put pegs in the wall almost immediately, while Kam takes a more slow and steady approach. The entire crowd (minus Johnny and Tony) is trying to mess up Brad and Kyle by shouting during their elimination, which really seems to bother Kyle. Brad gets close to the bell, but they realize he is off by a little bit and drops down. Both climb back up and Brad and Kayleigh are right next to each other. Brad hits the bell, but it is incorrect. Kayleigh gets the bell, and they get it right, giving them the win.
Brad and Kyle are dismissed, and TJ introduces the next matchup for Nelson and Shane and Tony and Bananas. It is called King of the Ring. Both pairs hang onto a pole in the middle of the ring. The goal is to push the opposing team outside the ring. First team to get to three points wins.
The elimination starts, and it begins with a stalemate. Eventually, Tony and Bananas get the upper hand and are to push Nelson and Shane out of the ring. The next round, Shane and Nelson seem like they have the upper hand. However, Tony and Bananas are able to flip around at the last moment and get Shane and Nelson out. The next round, Nelson and Shane seem to have the upper hand to start again. They swing around for a while before Nelson and Shane hit the ground. Eventually, Johnny and Tony push enough to get them out, giving them the win.
After a quick stop at the Main House (now the only house), we head right to the mission entitled Rolling Thunder. Each pair is given a boulder and has to roll it across the course. There is a ditch in the middle, which pairs have to avoid. TJ also announces this will be a Purge mission, with the last place team being eliminated. First place team gets an advantage.
Since Natalie and Paulie won the last mission, so they get a ten second head start. Natalie and Paulie start off, and they are moving pretty well. Soon, the rest of the teams are released and start chasing after them. Paulie and the boulder are way ahead of Natalie. Everyone besides Johnny and Tony all end up going in the same spot in the ditch, and they have to work to get their boulders out. Kam and Kayleigh end up in the back and decide to try to find another way around. Johnny and Tony are really struggling though and end up ceding the lead to Sylvia and Joss. Kam and Kayleigh end up stuck in the ditch, and really start to fall behind. Sylvia and Joss end up getting the win, with Natalie and Paulie and Tony and Bananas right behind them. Ashley and Hunter and Cara Maria and Marie are next, sending Kam and Kayleigh home.
Kama and Kayleigh are dismissed, with seemingly everyone disappointed to see them go. TJ then tells the rest of the group to go back to the main house, ending the episode.
Extra Notes
· There has been a lot of confusion in regard to equalizers used for the Purge Mission. Tony tweeted the boulders took the average weight of the members of the pair, which seems to be the leading theory as to how this was conducted. A lot of people were complaining about this, but I just don’t see a fairer way this could be conducted with the way the teams are currently constructed. The real issue with competitive balance this season has been having a mix of same sex and co-ed teams, which isn’t really a question with an answer.
Eliminated
Brad/Kyle: These two came out hot fire, but really faded down the stretch. Disappointing end for them, Kyle’s social game which was impeccable last season really seemed to get them in hot water this season.
Nelson/Shane: A showdown with Bananas/Tony had seemed inevitable for some time, but they really didn’t stand a chance in this type of elimination.
Kam/Kayleigh: Unfortunate for them to get back in the house only to be eliminated directly after, but that’s what happens sometimes.
Main House
5) Cara/Marie: These girls keep finding a way to stick around, but the teams ahead of them are too good to put them over of any of them.
4) Ashley/Hunter: Another middling performance in the mission keeps them around the middle.
3) Tony/Bananas: I was tempted to put them higher but being the only guy/guy team is worry enough to leave them down a little bit.
2) Natalie/Paulie: They’ve been hot fire since coming back from Redemption, they seem much more suited for missions instead of eliminations.
1) Joss/Sylvia: Winning the mission helps, but they’ve been pretty consistently not in the bottom and seem versatile enough to perform in any situation.
