The Challenge Final Reckoning Episode 9 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode opens with the crew returning to the main house. Tony says Shane has put a massive target on his back with all of his antics and it will be his downfall soon. Zach states that pretty soon he and Amanda will have to choose whose friends they will align with; but for now, they can just target Da’Vonne and Jozea. It’s interesting to me how loyal Zach has been this past season he had been known as one of the more notorious flip-floppers in the show (targeting Johnny/Frank on Rivals 2, switching from the Banana Boat to the Wes Side on Exes 2). He seems to have really grown from his earlier days and is much less impulsive now.
Speaking of Da’Vonne and Jozea, they’re in their room already seemingly planning to go in. They make a pact to call out Shane if he has voted for them because they are fed up with his nonsense. Shane’s had a weird edit this season, being a leading member in the alliance that’s been the protagonists so far (the Lavender Ladies) but also getting portrayed as a major heel during the season as well.
The cast heads to the bar where Joss and Hunter start bonding over their mutual history of farm life. In the other corner though, Cara Maria and Marie are beginning to think they are on the bottom of the Lavender Ladies alliance. Marie points out that while having the numbers is good, having so many numbers makes it hard to sustain because the alliance will have to start cutting its own numbers soon. Sage point here from Marie, in that having such a large alliance is going to make your position unstable. Marie also seems convinced that Da’Vonne and Jozea will vote for them, which I don’t really see and neither does Cara. On the other side of the bar, Johnny and Da’Vonne are talking. Johnny describes their two teams in addition to Brad and Kyle as “rogue” teams, which would usually mean they are in the middle of two large alliances but in this case seems to indicate they are on the outside of the power alliance. While Johnny is correct that eventually an alliance that large will have to combust, I’m not sure he and Da’Vonne will be around when that happens.
Back at the Redemption House, CT is thinking he may have been a little to hard on Veronica. CT makes her coffee and goes up to her room in an attempt to soothe over relations. He asks what he can do in order to improve their chemistry and she says he needs to be easier on her and not make fun of her constantly. They embrace and seem to have rekindled their partnership. While it is nice to see, I don’t think it will amount to much. Elsewhere, Tori and Derrick blame Jozea and Da’Vonne and Cara Maria and Marie for going into elimination. They say they are going to come back with a vengeance against those teams, which I don’t think is such a good idea because even if they do get into the game they are going to have bigger fish to fry.
Marie is talking to Shane and Ashley about their game plan for the upcoming vote. Marie seems absolutely convinced Jozea and Da’Vonne are voting for them, while Shane and Ashley are doubtful that will happen. I don’t really understand why Marie thinks Da’Vonne and Jozea are coming for them; they clearly have it out for Shane and Kam and it doesn’t seem like they have any real animus towards Marie and Cara. The alliance is going again with a plan of everyone burning a vote on each other, but with Tony and Bananas and Da’Vonne and Jozea voting rogue it didn’t make sense for me in this situation. Marie storms out after not getting her way and seems very displeased with her alliance eat the moment.
We get to nominations, and everyone is burning votes. Joss and Sylvia and Brad and Kyle burn on each other, Nelson and Shane and Cara Marie burn, and Hunter and Ashley and Kam and Kayleigh burn. We finally get to one of the off the radar teams in Tony and Johnny. They take a lot of enjoyment in being the team which nobody has any direction where they are leaning, and it cuts to Zach and Amanda before we get their vote. Zach wants to put in Shane and Nelson, but Amanda is not having that. Amanda wants to vote for Bananas and Tony, but Zach shoots down that move as well. Amanda agrees to not vote for them now, but by the final she wants all the double guy teams gone. Zach points out that this means Shane and Nelson would need to go as well. We eventually move on without seeing who they vote for. With that, we finally get to Jozea and Da’Vonne. Jozea says Da’Vonne has complete control of the vote, but we move on before seeing their vote.
After nominations we head to Armageddon for the elimination. TJ announces every pair received votes except Zach and Amanda and Johnny and Tony. We find that there has been a tie in the voting with Joss and Sylvia, Da’Vonne and Jozea, and Kam and Kayleigh all receiving two votes. Zach and Amanda are then allowed to cast the tiebreaker vote and stick with their initial pick of Da’Vonne and Jozea. However, since Zach and Amanda were the only pair to vote for Da’Vonne and Jozea and they have immunity, Da’Vonne and Jozea are allowed to select from any of the other teams to go into elimination. They select Kam and Kayleigh.
This elimination is called “Think Tank” and entails each member of the pair accomplishing a different task. One participant has to hang suspended into a tank of water where a completed puzzle is at the bottom. They have to relay what they see to their partner, who has to complete the puzzle. The member completing the puzzle also has to climb up and down which allows their partner to submerge as well as rise from the water. It’s a brutal elimination, and on the short list of the ones I would not want to partake in.
The elimination starts, and it’s easy to see this is not going to be a fun time. Kayleigh seems to be handling the water a little better than Da’Vonne, but both girls are clearly distressed. Kam and Kayleigh are very calm throughout the elimination, communicating cleanly to each other and moving effectively. On the other side, Da’Vonne and Jozea are much more panicked. Jozea is leaving Da’Vonne in the water for extended periods at a time and she is emerging from the water gasping for air. The elimination ends up running so long that eventually TJ says that instead of completing the puzzle the pair to get the most pieces right after forty-five minutes will win. Once the clocks hit, the girls run out of the tank and into a heating van with their partners before we even know who won.
While in the heating van, Kam starts grilling Jozea on why he selected them. Jozea says that she had burned them with setting up the house for they and Angela and Faith to go in against each other. Kam is persistent though, and eventually Da’Vonne can’t deal with her badgering and leaves the situation. They head back to TJ, although Da’Vonne stays back in the van to continue heating up. TJ announces that Jozea and Da’Vonne had six incorrect pieces while Kam and Kayleigh had three incorrect; meaning they are the winners. Kam and Kayleigh go crazy in celebration of victory, while Jozea takes defeat in stride and heads over the horizon.
At the Redemption House, the house is divided on the reception of Da’Vonne and Jozea. While Angela and Faith and Paulie and Natalie are disappointed that Da’Vonne and Jozea lost, they are happy to see them around. Tori meanwhile does not feel the same way. When Jozea comes in, he mentions something about everyone else playing a “scared game.” Tori takes major issue with this, because she feels Da’Vonne and Jozea were playing scared when they didn’t go along with the plan to vote out Angela and Faith. People were really ragging on Tori for her outburst, but I could understand it. Tori had been part of a plan that was built around saving Da’Vonne and Jozea and getting Faith and Angela into elimination. Since Da’Vonne and Jozea didn’t vote that way, she ended up in elimination. If Da’Vonne and Jozea had been a bit clearer in stating that they had a tight alliance with Faith and Angela, maybe Tori changes her tune.
With that, we head to the double cross. Natalie and Paulie are first to pull, and they draw blank. CT and Veronica are next and also get a single cross. Derrick and Tori come up to pull, and they get a single as well. Finally, Faith and Angela pull, and they get a single cross; meaning Da’Vonne and Jozea are given the opportunity to select a team to go with them into the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.
Extra Notes
o Da’Vonne stated in her recap that she had the puzzle down so there were only two incorrect pieces. However, at the very end Jozea switched around a bunch of pieces causing them to lose.
Redemption House
5) Derrick/Tori: Don’t see anyway they are selected to go in.
4) CT/Veronica: Not much shot for them either.
3) Faith/Angela: They have a chance of going in I suppose, but I don’t the Big Brother bond going away.
2) Natalie/Paulie: Natalie’s crunch time performance is abysmal, but they should be going in and you never know what could happen once they do.
1) Jozea/Da’Vonne: They’re going in and their performance has been solid so far.
Power Rankings
8) Cara Maria/Marie: It feels wrong having them on the bottom, but with the house in its current state that’s where they are.
7) Kam/Kayleigh: I honestly hate putting them here. Kam’s been fantastic, and Kayleigh’s been the best surprise this season. However, the rest of the teams I just see a more realistic scenario of them winning.
6) Tony/Bananas: While from a competitive perspective they are one of the teams with the political state this house is in they could be going in really soon and really often.
5) Nelson/Shane: It’s hard to say who is the strongest in the dominant alliance, but Shane and Nelson seem likeliest to self-destruct one way or the other.
4) Zach/Amanda: The top five are all so close finding a differentiating factor is really difficult. Zach and Amanda are the pair in this group with the biggest difference in their political allegiances and if they end up playing the middle too much then they could get in trouble.
3) Hunter/Ashley: As stated before, any small differentiating factor is enough in this top grouping and I could see teams throwing them in based on entering in the game late.
2) Joss/Sylvia: Having connections to the rest of the house yet they seem to be on the same page puts them near the top.
1) Brad/Kyle: Come the endgame, the girls will probably come for them but for now they are at the top.
