The Challenge Total Madness Episode 4 Recap And Power Rankings
The episode opens with Jay returning from toppling CT. Tori congratulates him on his achievement, and Rogan seems resolved to play it a bit quieter with Jay. Smashley and Mattie make an alliance, with Smashley saying she has a strong indication she’ll going in the elimination if she is not in the Tribunal. Kailah and Bear are having a back and forth, with Bear clearly trying to make moves on Kailah. After failing to get anywhere, Bear decides to get creative and grabs a fire extinguisher and sprays a room containing about eight people in it. It fills the entire room quickly and seems rather dangerous honestly. I have known of multiple people who have gotten very sick from inhaling exhaust from a fire extinguisher.
Everyone emerges from the discharge relatively upset, but particularly Smashley. She proceeds to spit in Bear’s face, which Mattie takes massive exception to. They fight for a while, before being separated by production. They bark at each other for a bit and Smashley approaches Mattie again, before production and a few cast members get in the way. Nany also yells at Mattie a bit before being blocked by production. Very chaotic scene, and wild reactions all around.
We get to the mission for the episode which TJ introduces as Cold War. TJ says the cast will be in teams of five, with it split between three divers and two breakers. The divers will go into the water and retrieve a set of puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle. The breakers are attempting to break off ice into the water below to make it more difficult for the divers. Team to solve the puzzle the quickest.
The teams are as follows:
Team 1 Divers: Rogan Josh Fessy
Team 1 Breakers: Smashley Nany
Team 2 Divers: Dee Nelson Kailah
Team 2 Breakers: Jordan Swaggy C
Team 3 Divers: Wes Tori Deal Jay
Team 3 Breakers: Melissa Mattie
Team 4 Divers: Johnny Bear Aneesa
Team 4 Breakers: Big T Kaycee
Team 5 Divers: Bayleigh Kyle Cory
Team 5 Breakers: Jenna Jenny
Really crazy mission this episode. Firstly, Jordan exposed some of the issues with alternating elimination days when he basically admitted to throwing the mission. I’ve always been a proponent of having male and female eliminations on the same day, it just helps keep the pace of the show moving and prevents people from dogging missions. Much larger issue than that though was the safety of the mission. When the second team of divers went, they had large difficulties removing the puzzle pieces. Eventually, it got to the point where TJ just called the mission and pulled them. Nelson stumbled out of the water and was barely moving and he, Dee, and Kailah were all taken to the ambulance for intensive care. TJ later grilled Team 5 for not wanting to participate, which I thought was ludicrous considering what happened earlier. Teams 1, 3, and 4 ended up finishing with Team 4 getting the win.
After returning, Kyle and Mattie plot against Smashley. Dee, Nelson, and Kailah return and seem ok. We get to the nomination ceremony, and it is a consensus vote for Smashley. One thing I thought was interesting was they only showed the women voting (outside of a joke vote by Kyle at the end); curious if that will continue moving forward. After the vote, Kyle goes to comfort Smashley. We have not seen these two interact much since Final Reckoning when they actually hooked up at one point.
The cast heads to the bar, and Tribunal members Johnny and Big T discuss the mechanics of the political game. Big T distances herself from Smashley as Johnny gives her some pointers. Johnny hypes her up, and Big T goes on to make deals with Kailah, Jenna, and Nany. Back at the house, Wes is stirring up some commotion, and is telling Bear if Kailah did not have a boyfriend she would be with him already.
We get to the interrogation for the Tribunal. Johnny and Aneesa both really want to put in Dee. They also put up Tori Deal and Mattie. Mattie is up first, and she is the only one who really does not want to go in. Tori says if it appears to be a physical elimination, she wants to go in but not in a puzzle. Dee says she is raring to go and really wants a shot at a red skull this time around. Johnny presses her on voting for him last time around, and Dee admits it was her but says she will not do it again. Johnny and Aneesa do not seem satisfied with that answer, and both are not happy with her but how they will take that out on her is up for question.
Tori is talking to Bayleigh and Dee after the interrogation and is not happy with how she was treated. Dee agrees, and they both say the Tribunal was much too aggressive in the interrogation. The alarm sounds and we head to Purgatory.
This purgatory is about as complicated as one could imagine, with objects hanging from above and a spinning wheel; as well as dice to roll around on. TJ asks the Tribunal for their votes, and they all vote for Dee. TJ introduces the elimination as Code Breaker. Each competitor must spin a wheel, which will land on a symbol. The competitor has to roll their die to an object, break it, and retrieve their symbol. On the back of the symbols are seasons of The Challenge. The competitors have to order the seasons, and upon getting the correct order they will win.
They begin, and already different strategies begin to emerge. Smashley is moving to each object one by one, while Dee is positioning her dice in the center of each set of objects to break multiple at a time. Dee begins to pull ahead on objects, while Smashley really struggles to find the right symbols. Eventually, Dee gets all five symbols and flips to see the seasons she needs: The Inferno, Cutthroat, Rivals, Battle Of The Exes, and Battle Of The Bloodlines. She seems clueless about the order before the Ginger-beard man starts giving her hints. I’m not sure why Wes doesn’t just come out and say the order, but he gives her a lot of help before other members of the crowd start shouting to drown her out. Dee gives Smashley some time to catch up but eventually stumbles on to the correct order, getting the win and sending Millionaire Mitchell home.
Dee and Smashley hug as TJ dismisses the two-time winner. She barks at Wes for a while, calling him a snake for helping Dee. I can see where she is coming from, but the crowd has been helping people in eliminations since their onset so if that is an issue the producers need to get involved and start penalizing people who help. Smashley eventually leaves, and that ends the episode.
Eliminated
Smashley: Smashley probably was at the center of more drama this season than all of last season when she made the final. Always great tv, hopefully, she’s back on our screens next time The Challenge rolls around.
Power Rankings
24) Jay: Good character, good competitor, but has found himself in a near unwinnable situation.
23) Melissa: Absolute radio silence from Melissa, shocking considering her propensity for mixing things up.
22) Swaggy C: He’s been a solid competitor so far but have to think as a rookie he gets thrown in at some point.
21) Bayleigh: She and Swaggy C will be tied together in the rankings for a while.
20) Big T: Great episode from Big T, although she didn’t have to do much in the mission, she used her power well and has emerged as Johnny and Wes’ lackey, which is a good spot to be at this point.
19) Bear: Causing a lot of nonsense but still towards the bottom of the totem pole competitively.
18) Josh: He seems well-liked by his castmates but also has significant weaknesses that could get him in trouble.
17) Aneesa: Set up well to make the final, near impossible to imagine her winning it.
16) Jenna: She’s been basically invisible so far.
15) Kaycee: She picks up the win this episode but did not show any of her cards in terms of alliances.
14) Fessy: The guys seem terrified of him; I think his likeliest use is by Wes or Johnny to take out some bigger threats.
13) Kailah: She hasn’t gotten any non-Bear screen time, which could mean a relationship and then out.
12) Nany: She is in a good position but needs a pretty ideal setup to win.
11) Nelson: Happy he’s ok but outside of Jordan poses the biggest threat to Johnny and Wes in a final.
10) Cory: He’s gotten an excellent edit so far making me think he could be in for the long haul.
9) Mattie: Caused some noise but received no backlash at all from it.
8) Rogan: He’s played well so far, but his emotions may get the best of him.
7) Kyle: He’s in something of a power position, but he also seems to have a way of worming himself into trouble.
6) Tori Deal: She hasn’t really had much power so far and probably needs a big move or two to get in pole position.
5) Jordan: I’ll say it every week: outstanding physical competitor, don’t see how he isn’t a massive target in a format not suited to his strengths.
4) Wes: Thought he hasn’t played nearly as well politically this season, surprised he hasn’t merged his and Johnny’s allies more.
3) Dee: Picks up a red skull but seems to have picked up a few enemies along the way.
2) Johnny: He’s gotten the hero edit to end all hero edits so far.
1) Jenny: If I am a girl in the house, I’m putting Jenny in every week. But I am not a girl in the house.
Fantasy Scoring
