The Challenge Total Madness Episode 8 Recap And Power Rankings
I apologize for the tardiness of this article, have been in finals and sick all weekend (not COVID, don’t worry.) The episode picks up where the last one left off, with the house returning from Tori being eliminated. Johnny and Wes in separate scenes make the point that Jordan is far and away their primary threat to a win, and they need to remove him to move forward. We get a clip of Bear and Kailah embracing again, which seems to be the only way either of them gets screen time.
We head to the mission for the episode, entitled Decontamination. The mission entails charging through a foam-covered area to a window, where one can look through and see continually different colors of flashing lights. After memorizing the order, they must place the discs in order on a pole. Fastest man and woman each win; with the group running in multiple heats. TJ also says it will be double elimination, so two male eliminations will happen with two men getting a red skull and two being eliminated. As a result, the Tribunal will select two men for elimination.
Cool mission, with a few standout performances. Both winners in the mission came from Round 1, with Wes and Mattie being the first members of the Tribunal. Wes went with a dominant solo act, while Mattie smartly had Cory and Swaggy C help her get the discs. Johnny really broke the mission and noticed he could see the colors without even entering the foam by looking at the side. Nelson also stayed inside for a massive amount of time to memorize the last five colors and steal the first ten from someone else, but it was to no avail. Pretty massive production error, and happy to see it exploited. Wes and Mattie make the bold decision of picking Johnny to go to the Tribunal with them; putting Wes and Johnny’s alliance out there in the open for everyone to see. I don’t like this move much, perhaps Wes is worried Johnny will get voted in, but I’d just rather not put things so out in the open. However, I do not think MENSA will be picking up any of their fellow male competitors soon and they still seem to be in the dark.
We head to nominations right as we get back to the house. Jordan takes on the role of initiator and says they should go around once to vote for the first person to go in, then go around again for the second. The first round, there are a few scattered votes for Bear and Nelson but Fessy gets the clear majority and is voted in. The second time around, it is revealed Nelson has made something of a deal with basically every other player in the house. After Kyle really blows his cover on this, he starts to get upset saying the deals were only for that time around and not the whole game. I believe Nelson here, but he clearly overplayed his hand and is easily voted in.
At the bar, Nelson and Kyle get into a confrontation. Nelson starts using some inflammatory language towards Kyle, who gets a glare in his eye ad starts pushing at Nelson. Melissa gets involved as well and begins to bark at Nelson. Production starks to separate the two as Melissa is screaming from the other side of the bar. Cory complains again about Nelson’s explosiveness, which has been a recurring theme in every episode.
Upon returning from the bar, Big T has clearly had a bit much to drink and the rest of the cast starts to mess with her. She starts arguing over Johnny’s jacket and messing around with a blanket. Unfortunately, she cuts her foot on the bunk bed and needs to be looked at by production. She freaks out at the idea of fresh cotton pads being needed and is eventually taken into a car with production and is presumably taken off site to be looked at further.
We head to the interrogation, where the Tribunal gets to pick four players this time around. Wes and Johnny both want Jordan; and then resolve to select Cory, Bear, and Kyle. Bear is first in and clearly does not want to go in. He pleads with the Tribunal but doesn’t offer that much. Kyle is next, and Wes jokingly accosts him for bringing no value to the table and having to be carried constantly. Jordan goes in and says he wants to go into elimination. This seems to be music to Wes and Johnny’s ears, who were probably putting him in anyways. Cory is last and says he will try to set up Mattie for a red skull and tries to make amends with Johnny.
We get to purgatory, and we see a circle with a pole in it. This signifies maybe the most prominent Challenge elimination, Pole Wrestle. The tribunal is to pick Fessy’s opponent, and both decline to go in against Fessy. Johnny gives a look to Wes who returns a smile and a nod. Johnny votes for Jordan, and Wes and Mattie also pile on. They have to select Nelson’s opponent next, and Johnny and Wes both decline again. Wes votes for Bear, followed by Johnny voting for Cory. Mattie votes for Bear sending him into elimination against Nelson. The game is pole wrestle. Each competitor grabs either sides of a pole and tries to wrestle it from the other. Best two out of three wins.
The first matchup is Fessy against Jordan. Fessy is legitimately twice his size, in addition to the hands issue. Jordan starts out by immediately twisting to the floor and hits the ground pretty hard. They wrestle for a bit, but Fessy is able to pull it out. The next round, Jordan takes it to the border and goes out of bounds. Coming back in, Jordan is clearly injured and is messing with his shoulder. It doesn’t appear as if anyone from production checks him, even though he can barely grip the pole. He goes the next round, and Fessy is easily able to pull the pole from Jordan, eliminating the three-time champion. Jordan is then checked by medical, and he is clearly very injured. It is certainly possible it was not shown, but it really bothered me production did not appear to check him at all before the second round.
The next matchup is Nelson and Bear. Bear seems to be resigned to defeat going into the elimination. The first round starts, and Nelson takes Bear to the ground. They go out of bounds, being forced to reset. Nelson is much lower than Bear and is eventually able to get the pole. The next round begins, and Nelson again is much lower than Bear and takes him to the ground. Bear is kneeing Nelson, but it is to no avail and Nelson gets the pole.
TJ dismisses Jordan and Bear. Nelson and Fessy get Red Skulls, and the episode is concluded.
Extra Notes
o In addition to releasing a new song, Tori and Jordan are also making masks to sell to the public. Please check it out, as each mask bought will also result in a donation of a mask to workers on the frontlines. Always great to see Challengers supporting the community in this trying time.
o Not Challenge related, but if anyone is in need of objective and useful COVID-19 news, check out Nate Duncan and Ben Taylor’s COVID Daily News podcast. Easily the most unbiased news aggregation service I’ve heard and gives much useful information including best practices for the virus and projections on how things are developing.
Eliminated:
Jordan: Sad to see a titan fall in this manner. He had been pretty insulated from political heat his first three times out and will have to adapt to improve in the future.
Bear: He’s an entertaining character, but all of his screen time was Kailah related.
Power Rankings
20) Big T: Have all the alliances you want; an injured foot is an injured foot.
19) Melissa: Near last based on lack of track record.
18) Josh: I’m very skeptical of this insurgency he is mounting, and honestly think he should just move on from Wes and try to play under the radar.
17) Kailah: Her head does not seem in the game at all after Bear being eliminated.
16) Aneesa: The Orlando Magic of Challenge competitors at this point.
15) Jenna: Still am not super confident the Zach issue does not return to cause havoc again.
14) Swaggy C: Perhaps Josh has more sway than is being revealed and Swaggy C is in trouble.
13) Bayleigh: Has been competitive consistently and seems to be in a good position game wise.
12) Kaycee: I am curious if she will be a target
11) Fessy: He may get thrown in repeatedly, but he has a Red Skull and put on a dominant performance.
10) Cory: Lacks a red skull but is still in a solid spot.
9) Kyle: Wes and Johnny still seem to have a lock on things, and he is under the radar right now.
8) Nelson: He’ll always find his way into trouble but has also shown to be able to fight his way out of it.
7) Rogan: He’s worked his way into a good spot and has been good competitively.
6) Nany: This may seem high to some, but she is in an excellent position strategically in the middle of Johnny and Wes.
5) Mattie: She has a lot of allies and has a solid track record, making her in a good position.
4) Wes: Continues to take the brunt of the heat for his and Johnny’s alliance.
3) Johnny: Is in an excellent spot right now and has performed well.
2) Dee: She could eventually get herself in trouble, but she has been great competitively so far.
1) Jenny: Stays on top for as long as she is not targeted.
Fantasy Scoring
o NOTE: I periodically go back and check through the scoring throughout the season, so these are liable to change. If you have a specific matter you want to address, email rmcintyre1699@gmail.com.
