The Challenge Final Reckoning Episode 7 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode opens with Da’Vonne and Shane arguing. Nelson and Zach try to get Shane to apologize, but he declines. Jozea gets Da’Vonne to calm down, but she’s still not happy with the situation.
We then head to the elimination, where we find that Tori and Derrick are voted in because Joss and Kyle thought they were burning votes and ended up voting in the same pair. Everyone thought it would be a rookie pair, but instead Tori and Derrick are voted in by Joss and Sylvia, Brad and Kyle, and Kam and Kayleigh. They decide to go against Joss and Sylvia. Tori says it is because she wants to take down a top dog in the house, but later admitted via Twitter that it was really because she didn’t want to deal with the potential equalizers the producers could use in one of the other matchups to compensate for the difference in gender.
The elimination is entitled Ramp It Up, and has the competitors run up opposite ramps to deposit balls. It’s essentially the Rampage mission from Rivals 2, but the pairs have to stay together to deposit the balls. The elimination is close, but Joss is waiting for Sylvia to help her climb up while Derrick keeps going ahead of Tori. Joss and Sylvia end up eking out a win, sending Tori and Derrick to the Redemption House.
At the Redemption House, we learn Tori had thought she, Shane, Jozea, and Cara Maria would all vote for Angela and Faith sending them into elimination. However, Cara and Jozea did not follow through with the plan which caused them to be sent in to elimination. The house all freaks out because the house is playing “scared”, especially CT and Paulie. Cara’s been getting a major heel edit this season, which is odd since she’s been the female face of the show for a while now.
Back at the main house; Kam, Cara, and Kayleigh are talking. None of them were expecting Tori to be voted in and get worried about how many burn votes are getting thrown around. We then get a quick breakdown of house politics where via confessional we learn Kayleigh views Joss and Kyle as her primary allies, Angela’s allies are Da’Vonne and Jozea; Marie’s are Shane, Sylvia, Kam, and Amanda, and Tony says Zach and Kyle.
The cast arrives at the next mission, entitled Dig Deep. The cast is split into two teams, the Blue Team and the Green Team. The Blue Team contains Bananas/Tony, Faith/Angela, Da’Vonne/Jozea, and Cara/Marie. The Green Team has Shane/Nelson, Kam/Kayleigh, Brad/Kyle, and Joss/Sylvia. Zach/Amanda are allowed to select a team to join since they won the last mission and pick the Green Team. Each team is locked in a mine shaft and has three sets of puzzles to unlock in order to gain access to better digging equipment. The first pair in the first team to complete wins immunity and the double vote.
The mission starts, and the Green Team seems to be progressing a little quicker on the puzzles. Brad is talking a lot, but it is Kam who figures out the first puzzle giving the team shovels. Cara figures out a puzzle for Blue giving them a bucket. Green creates a hole to get through first, and Brad is able to get out and get to the finish line. However, Kyle is no where to be found. Kayleigh is next to get to the finish line, and with Kam and the rest of the Green Team right behind her they win the mission.
Once they get back to the house, Kam is talking to Kayleigh and tells her that they should use the vote to save people instead of to attack a pair. She tells Kayleigh she has a plan and they gather the whole house together in the living room. Kam tells the house that she is currently deciding between two teams to go into elimination; Joss and Sylvia and Brad and Kyle. This of course causes the pairs to freak out and the others to ask why she would attack pairs she is supposedly aligned with. However, there is more going on then what meets the eye.
Kam had a different plan in mind, and she was hoping that by telling everyone she will vote for one of Joss/Sylvia or Brad/Kyle, that nobody will want to vote for them and instead will find a team to mutually burn a vote on. She told Kyle and Sylvia this plan and had them keep their partners in the dark, so they could react to the news naturally. Kyle and Sylvia are also at work making sure the second part of the plan gets enacted and they get all the other pairs to find another to mutually burn on while Kyle and Sylvia vote for each other. Faith comes up and asks Kam why she is coming after the two pairs, and she says Brad voted for her multiple times on Vendettas and she and Sylvia had a falling out.
Angela decides to make a plan with Jozea and Da’Vonne to vote for each other since the rest of the house has pairs to mutually burn on. Angela says she would rather go against the strongest team in the house than the two of them, and they will protect each other for as long as they remain in the game.
We get to nominations and everything is going according to Kam’s plan. Nelson/Shane vote for Cara/Marie who return the favor, Zach/Amanda and Tony/Bananas vote for each other, and Angela/Faith and Da’Vonne/Jozea vote for each other. We finally get to Sylvia, who informs Joss of their plan. Joss is hesitant, but eventually goes with Sylvia. Brad has a similar reaction when Kyle tells him the plan, but eventually goes along with it and votes for Joss/Sylvia.
We get to the elimination where the plan has gone swimmingly, and Angela/Faith are voted in with seemingly only Jozea/Da’Vonne to vote for. However, TJ reveals another twist when Ashley/Hunter walk out as mercenaries. TJ says not only can Ashley/Hunter take out Angela/Faith, but the winner of the elimination will get to reenter the game while the loser will head to the Redemption House. However, the episode fades out there leaving us on a cliffhanger for next episode.
Extra Notes
o Interesting to see team missions in a pair season. It’s happened a few times before, but unless they adjust how the pairs are rewarded for winning the mission it could lead to a lot of teams not having the incentive to compete.
Redemption House
3) CT/Veronica (-1): Veronica is a worse weak link than Derrick.
2) Derrick/Tori: Derrick is a worse weak link than Natalie.
1) Natalie/Paulie: Still holding out hope that these two find a way back into the house.
Power Rankings
9) Angela/Faith (-1): No matter what it is, I do not see them beating Hunter/Ashley.
8) Da’Vonne/Jozea (+2): These two are the obvious targets right now.
7) Nelson/Shane (-1): Fall again because although they were protected by Kam and Kayleigh they seem like the obvious first cut from that alliance.
6) Cara Maria/Marie (-1): With Cara’s constant drama with Kyle and the two still not getting along, I could see them fighting to the point where they just meltdown completely and get sent in.
5) Kam/Kayleigh (+2): While you can question how the move will cause other teams to view this pair long term, you can’t question it was executed in amazing fashion and Kam and the combination of the British and Dolphin alliances seems like a potent combination,
4) Tony/Bananas (-1): While they weren’t sent in, with all of the Dolphins and Lavender Ladies in the house right now these two have a massive target on their backs.
3) Joss/Sylvia (+1): They have an elimination win and a rock-solid alliance under their belt right now and I do would not want to face Joss in a final.
2) Zach/Amanda: It will be interesting to see whose political allegiances win out between the pair but for now they stand out as a team with pretty much every asset at their disposal.
1) Brad/Kyle: I think I underestimated the British connection when evaluating alliances for the season, and once you combine that with their athletic prowess they are a force to be reckoned with.
