The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 Episode 12 Recap and Power Rankings
This episode starts right where the last one ended, with TJ telling the cast Nelson had been removed from the game. It was odd too that we didn’t get any goodbye confessionals from Nelson, you would have figured we’d get some parting shots from him before he left. The winners’ circle still has to nominate a guy for elimination; so CT, Kailah, and Camila all say Dario (Hunter said Jordan). For the girls, Kailah, CT, and Camila say Veronica; and Hunter burns a vote on Jemmye (If he was really looking to burn a vote, why not say Cara Maria? You know CT isn’t saying Cara’s name.) This puts Dario and Veronica in elimination, and everyone is headed for the Double Cross. Veronica tells Aneesa she wants to go against Britni if given the opportunity, and Jenna says she thinks the boys will throw in Tony if given the chance. At the Double Cross, Tori pulls it and throws in Aneesa; and Jordan pulls it and throws in Tony. Tony says (via confessional) he doesn’t know if he can trust the Power Alliance and may need to shake up his stance in the game.
This elimination is called Web of Lies. Competitors start at the top of a 20-foot tower an have to navigate to the bottom through ropes and webs and retrieve a flag, then get back up to the top and hook their flag to a pole. First competitor to hook their flag wins. The boys start off, and Tony gets out to an early lead. He gets caught up in one of the webs at the bottom however, and Dario is able to pass him and get to the flag first. On the way back up, Tony uses his height to his advantage and is able to pass Dario. Tony gets to the flag as Dario is climbing up the last level and is able to get the win, sending Dario out of the house. The girls are next, and Veronica flies through the tower and reaches the flag as Aneesa is struggling with the last web. Veronica is able to worm her way back up the top and reaches the flag as Aneesa is in the middle of the tower. As TJ is dismissing the competitors, he announces to everyone that instead of heading home Dario and Veronica will be headed to the Redemption House.
Back at the house, Veronica, Jemmye, and Britni are talking. Veronica says she thinks Aneesa actually hurt her political standing in the game and it will be better for her if she is gone. Jemmye also makes the point that since now they know about the Redemption House, they can strategize by sending multiple strong competitors to the Redemption House so only one comes back. Veronica says that for the girls, the two sides are Britni, Jemmye, and herself; and Tori, Kailah, Jenna, Camila, and Tori. In the living room, Hunter and Tony are talking and Tony says anytime he walks into a room where the other guys are none of them talk to him. Hunter tells Tony any of those guys would have sent him in, and they agree to not say each other’s name. We then get a clip of Camila talking to Jenna and Kailah about the alliance between Cara Maria and herself and Jenna and Kailah. Camila is saying that her and Cara Maria have been very helpful to Kailah and Jenna and they need Kailah and Jenna to return the favor (Not really sure where Camila is coming from with this, Cara Maria actually voted in Kailah at one point and Camila convinced Jemmye to throw in Jenna.) After Camila leaves, Kailah tells Jenna they need to cut off Cara Maria and Camila before they do it to them.
At the daily challenge, the cast gets together and stands in front of a big box with three windows marked by different color X’s on them. This challenge is called Blackout, and will split competitors into three teams. Each team will be their own section of the box, which is blacked out so they will not be able to see. Competitors then claw away the paint from their window to reveal numbers. Once they have found four numbers, they can unlock a lock on a pickaxe and use it to smash open the window. After exiting the box, teams must then assemble a cube puzzle. First team to complete it wins. Not only will the winning team get to select one male and female for elimination, but also one male and one female to send immediately to the Redemption House. TJ picks team by drawing names out of a hat and ends up with:
Blue Team: Jemmye, Hunter, Bananas, Cara Maria, Jenna
Green Team: Kailah, Veronica, Tony, Britni, Jordan
Pink Team: CT, Camila, Derrick, Tori, LeRoy
Blue Team’s best puzzler is one of Bananas, Jemmye, or Cara Maria; so they’re not looking too great here. Green’s got Jordan and Veronica, who are probably the two best puzzlers out of the remaining cast so they’re the favorites. Pink has CT and Camila, who are both pretty good putting them in the middle. The whole thing looks and sounds real creepy, like something out of a David Lynch movie. Blue Team makes the classic Escape Room move of getting three numbers then fiddling around with the fourth number until the lock gets loose; and they get out first. Hunter’s hand looks real bloody from breaking the window, and he gets medical attention from the Challenge Doctor while doing the puzzle. Green Team gets out next, and they start working on the puzzle. Pink Team seems to really be struggling to find numbers, and they seem like they’re on the verge of panic. Jordan’s hand starts looking all cut up as well, and he gets it taped up by the Challenge Doctor. Immediately after they get out CT and Camila start arguing and they’re clearly nervous about being sent into Redemption. Veronica is running the ship for Green Team, and her and Jordan start killing it. Eventually Veronica figures it out and Green Team finishes the cube and comes up with the win. Green is talking, and it seems like they’re talking about making a power move. Since Jordan is talking about somebody who probably won’t lose in elimination twice, I’m betting he’s going after CT and it sounds like the girls are trying to take out one of Cara Maria/Camila. We wrap up the episode with TJ asking Green who they are sending into the Redemption House. Now, the Ranks are upon us!
In Redemption:
2) Dario: Hard to rank these guys without knowing who they’re facing, but I don’t see Dario winning a Redemption Challenge against many of the competitors still in the game.
1) Aneesa: I don’t think she makes it back again, but she’s got a better chance than Dario.
In Game:
15) Jemmye (-1): This was by far the hardest iteration of the Power Rankings to do. However, putting Jemmye in last was not very difficult.
14) Tony (+1): He just won the daily challenge and made a smart political maneuver, but he’s still the bottom of the barrel-competitor wise and I don’t think the Hunter-Tony alliance is going to be able to make waves at least this season.
13) Hunter (-2): Made a good move getting at least one ally in Tony, but there’s a strong chance he goes into elimination and if it’s anything mental, he’s cooked.
12) Britni: Getting her first Challenge win was certainly good, but she’s still pretty far below the Cara Maria/Camila/Tori tier athletically and it doesn’t seem like she has many allies in the house.
11) Veronica (+5): Seems crazy to have her this low after being the far and away MVP of this episode, but she’s still an underdog against any non-Jemmye entity in most competitions.
10) Camila (-1): She hasn’t received any confessionals since her assault on LeRoy, and you have to think she’s got a huge target on her back now.
9) Bananas (-3): He hasn’t been great in the challenges since the beginning of the season, and he’s got a strong likelihood to see himself in elimination soon.
8) CT (-4): He’s probably the favorite to be thrown into Redemption, and while he’s got a strong chance to come back he’s going to be facing some strong competitors there.
7) Jenna: I don’t see her being thrown in but her poor Challenge performance continues.
6) Cara Maria (-1): She’s the co-favorite with Camila to be thrown into Redemption, but she’s also a strong bet to make it back.
5) Kailah (+3): She wins herself safety and puts herself in prime position to make a power move.
4) Jordan (+6): Huge jump up for Jordan here, being able to eliminate two strong competitors and consistently performing in the competitions moves him up the ladder.
3) Tori: She’s probably the 3rd best girl athletically and she doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s bad side.
2) LeRoy: While he hasn’t had his best season from a competitive standpoint being on everyone’s good side and his prior accomplishments keeps him towards the top now.
1) Derrick: Like LeRoy, nobody outside of Nelson seems to have a bad word to say about him but he’s been better than LeRoy athletically so far so he gets the nod at #1.
