The Challenge Final Reckoning Episode 5 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode starts with the house returning from the Redemption challenge; and Jozea is leading the pack. He and Da’Vonne comment on how nice the house is (since they were eliminated in the initial Purge they never got to the house) and decide to pretend like they know a lot of information. Having the Big Brother players last season and especially this season has been a huge breath of fresh air. They’ve brought a different type of mental warfare that is rare to find in Bunim-Murray alumnus.
Brad and Kyle break off by themselves to discuss the Paulie situation. Kyle apologizes for getting so amped up at the elimination, and Brad says he understands. Brad was offended by Paulie’s comments however he does think there may be some credulity to them. He also tells Kyle to get a promoter ready to contact in case Paulie wants to throw fists again.
We then move to Bananas and Angela, who reprise their scene they get seemingly ever week now of Bananas talking about how the house blows up anything he does into a massive debacle and Angela saying how good her relationship with Bananas will be for her game. However, we do get another wrinkle of Derrick commenting that he did not see that relationship coming, and I completely forgot about Derrick and Angela being exes.
We then get a montage of the house working out, with Tori commenting that while both she and Derrick are in great shape they just have no chemistry. We also get a clip of Joss and Sylvia, but it’s nothing different from the usual Sylvia saying Joss needs to focus on the team confessional and nothing new comes of it there. CT and Shane are talking, and CT says he thinks Shane and Nelson should be one of the top teams there. Shane says the same about CT and Veronica; but CT doesn’t seem so sure. Veronica then comes out and says she’s not working out today much to CT’s dismay.
Brad and Jozea are also outside working out, and Jozea talks to Brad about Paulie’s claims. Brad says he doesn’t want to believe Paulie, but he doesn’t seem hesitant at all about possibly breaking things off with Britni. Jozea says that Chuck was just trying to support the team, while Britni was attempting to capitalize on the situation by jump starting the relationship. It seemed odd to me that Brad was so ready to believe Jozea and Paulie; but maybe he sensed something that caused him to want to end the relationship and this was just the final push.
Angela starts talking to Jozea and Da’Vonne about possibly forming an alliance. Jozea and Da’Vonne seem reticent to the suggestion, adding another pair to the side of Faith and Angela. As of right now, Faith and Angela already have Brad and Kyle to go with Bananas and Tony by their side, giving them a sturdy stable of votes. If all pairs stay loyal; these two actually have a decent layer of protection where most rookies are at way down on the totem pole.
Da’Vonne and Jozea start spreading info that they had access to the surveillance room and could see everything that happened in the house while they were gone. I have a feeling the surveillance room was just an excuse to show the Kailah/Melissa fight again but it’s nice to see Da’Vonne a way to use it in the game.
We head to the mission for the episode, which is a Purge Challenge entitled Shark Bait. The winners will gain an advantage in the next mission while the losing pair goes to Redemption. The challenge entails each pair to traverse a set of large, hanging rubber steaks and move from one platform to the other. Each pair is only as strong as the weakest link, so if one partner falls it ends the run for both.
Joss and Sylvia and Amanda and Zach are the first two pairs. Zach loses his balance on the third steak and falls down. Joss goes a bit too fast and leaves Sylvia behind who falls on the second steak. The next two pairs are Brad and Kyle and CT and Veronica. Brad and Kyle destroy the challenge finishing with little to no trouble at all. Veronica is having a lot of worry and ends up falling before even getting to the first steak. Jozea and Da’Vonne are up against Angela and Faith; and CT is barking at them trying to get them to fall. Angela and Faith start going without too much issue, but Jozea looks petrified preparing to jump. Angela and Faith end up falling after the first rope while the same happens to Jozea and Da’Vonne. The next groups up are Bananas and Tony and Nelson and Shane. Nelson falls after two ropes, while Bananas and Kyle are able to complete the challenge. Cara Maria and Marie and Kam and Kayleigh are up next. Marie falls after one rope, while Kayleigh goes down after two. Tori and Derrick are the final team to go. Derrick looks to be doing good but loses his grip on the second steak and falls.
TJ addresses the group and tells them Brad and Kyle finished first with Bananas and Tony in second. Brad says he’s happy to win, but also points out their advantage will probably make somebody angry. CT and Veronica finish last and are dismissed to the Redemption House.
CT and Veronica enter the Redemption House, and CT is absolutely incensed. He pours himself a glass of wine and heads outside, while Veronica goes upstairs to talk to Paulie and Natalie. Natalie can’t believe Veronica is here, while Paulie is freaking out because he gets to spend some time with his “idol” CT. Paulie goes up to CT and says he did not want to see them there, with CT empathizing with him based on their partners’ mutual failures.
At dinner, CT says that on paper they should be the team to beat with their combined 25 seasons and 5 championships. He says he can’t look Veronica in the eyes without losing his mind. CT really starts to lose it and eventually gets to Veronica who cries in their room while CT starts throwing things.
The main house is going out for the night, and Bananas and Tori are talking about Brad and Britni. Both of them voice how Brad is too good for Britni and he should never have gotten together with her. Bananas and Tony are talking about their partnership, and Tony talks about how he hates being viewed as being on the bottom of Bananas’ totem pole.
On the other side of the bar, Kayleigh is jealous of Nelson’s “flirting” with Faith. Once we get back to the house, Kayleigh explodes on Nelson for this and he just seems very confused. Nelson plays innocent and says nothing was going on there, and the next morning the two seem to come to some sort of peace. I didn’t even know this would be a storyline heading into the season, and I’ll be happy once we move on to other content.
Brad finally is given the opportunity to call Britni, but it gets cuts short and it looks like we’ll have to find out next episode what happens.
Extra Notes
o Brad’s relationships with Shane and Brad always confused me. He seems to enjoy them personally, yet they have never worked together politically.
o Veronica had an interview with Newsweek where she discussed her relationship with CT. She sounds positive about the Redemption House, so maybe they make a surprise return to the game.
Redemption House
2) CT and Veronica: With their chemistry where it stands currently, I don’t think even CT can carry this team.
1) Paulie and Natalie: Stay on top due to CT and Veronica entering on the bottom.
Power Rankings
10) Tori/Derrick (-1): While I don’t think they are the worst athletically, they’ve been awful thus far and I don’t think they have done the necessary political work to keep themselves out of the bottom spot.
9) Da’Vonne/Jozea (+2): Jozea seems improved form last season and they’ve done a good job making inroads in the house alliances.
8) Faith/Angela: Not a great mission performance but good job going after Da’Vonne and Jozea’s vote.
7) Kam/Kayleigh: Not much movement after a performance consistent with what is to be expected from them.
6) Cara Maria/Marie: Awesome political position, poor performances so far.
5) Nelson/Shane: I wanted to put them lower because it seems like the house might rally to throw them in, but I just don’t see who to put over them.
4) Joss/Sylvia: These two have been absolutely invisible so far.
3) Zach/Amanda: They’ve been pretty quiet as well.
2) Bananas/Tony (-1): Getting bested in two straight missions drops them a spot.
1) Brad/Kyle (+1): Take number one after winning the first two missions.
