The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30 Episode 15 Recap and Power Rankings
The episode opens up with Bananas and Britni entering the Redemption House. Bananas goes to Cara’s bed and starks stroking her face to wake her up. I found it pretty funny and it was cool to see how far the two have come since hating each other for their first few seasons together. While Bananas is addressing the Redemption Crowd, Jemmye says she thinks Bananas is cursed since taking all the money from Sarah on the Rivals 3 final. Considering there has only been one season since Rivals 3 (two counting Champs vs. Pros) I’d say let’s wait a bit and see if he is “cursed.” We then cut back to the actual house, where Tony is talking to his imaginary roommates while sitting in the room by himself. It is crazy to think that despite being on the bottom rung of that alliance and never winning a challenge, Tony of all people was able to skate by to this point.
The next day, the cast gets together for the Redemption Challenge and both people in the game currently and people trying to achieve Redemption are in their uniforms. This challenge is cleverly named “The Final Redemption Challenge” and entails Redemption competitors to pop their heads through holes to read a code for a lock while the House competitors bop them on the heads with rubber mallets, or as Jenna refers to them, “whack-sticks.” Once they get the code for a lock, they have to open the lock to get pieces to complete a puzzle. First one to complete the puzzle wins. There is a catch though. Due to Nelson’s early departure two guys will be returning from the Redemption Challenge instead of one. Since this is a puzzle that entails minimal physical ability, it seems like it should be a toss-up who wins. The girls round is first, and the “whack-sticks” do not appear to be having much effect. Cara is the first to the lock, and Britni follows behind her. Britni starts singing as she is putting her puzzle together, but it is to no avail as Cara finishes first. Cara’s often been seen as weak at puzzles, but seeing her kill this one shows how far she has come as a competitor. The guys are next, and the “whack-sticks” seem to still be having very little effect. CT and Jordan are first to the locks, followed by LeRoy. LeRoy isn’t able to get the lock open though and has to go back. CT finishes first and nabs the first spot. Bananas gets to his lock next, but Jordan finishes before he is able to start and gets the final spot back in the game. Out of the people in Redemption, it feels like Cara Maria, Jordan, and CT were the strongest out of them and they were also three of the four to be thrown straight into Redemption with no elimination, so they definitely feel like they earned their spots.
Once they return from the Redemption Challenge, the ten remaining competitors venture out for dinner. At the dinner, Camila starts playing the devil on Cara’s shoulder, saying “We got her here.” (referring to Kailah) and “We created a monster. Three of them.” (referring to Kailah, Jenna, and Tori.) Cara Maria and Kailah start getting into a passive-aggressive argument and Cara says she wants to talk to Kailah and Jenna later. Cara Maria and Jordan then start getting into it. Back at the house, Hunter goes the hospital to check out his hand while Kailah and Cara Maria meet out back to talk. Kailah says she didn’t want to vote for Cara but Veronica and Britni said it was either her or Camila. Cara says it doesn’t matter what Veronica and Britni wanted because Tony and Jordan are allied with Kailah and would have voted her way as long as she did the same for them. Cara actually does make some good points, but the conversation as a whole seems real pointless. The next morning, Hunter returns from the doctor. He says the doctor said if he didn’t do anything, his wrist would take three weeks to heal and if he does stay in the game it may cause life-altering damage. Considering what he’s gone through on this season, you have to feel bad for the guy (even the once scariest man on earth CT does.)
The next day, the group heads to location for the next challenge. TJ announces he has been hiding something from them all game, and finally drops on them the final is worth one million dollars. For something that’s been building up the entire season, it was good to see them finally announce it. He also announces that this challenge will be a Second Purge, with the top two of each gender advancing to the final. TJ lets the competitors pick their own pairs, and it ends up as:
Pink Team: CT/Cara Maria
Green Team: Derrick/Camila
Light Blue Team: Tony/Jenna
Dark Blue Team: Jordan/Tori
Orange Team: Hunter/Kailah
Most the pairs make a lot of sense, but considering Hunter and Kailah talk constantly about how much they hate each other it was odd to see them pair up. I honestly think they might kind of be into each other, but that’s just me throwing darts. While I felt like, a lot of the first part of the episode was rushed, I LOVED this challenge. The challenge starts off with a run, and Jordan and Tori arrive at the first checkpoint. The first checkpoint requires each team member to roll their crate to the next checkpoint and then open it with a crowbar to retrieve a set of ropes from it. Jordan and Tori get their box open first followed by Derrick and Camila and CT and Cara Maria, while Tony and Hunter are really struggling to open their boxes. The next checkpoint requires them to use the number on the rope and attach it to the corresponding numbered poles, so they add up to that number (12=8+4.) The ropes will make a triangle which reveals where they have to dig to find tangram pieces. Once they get the puzzle pieces, teams split, and each person works individually on their puzzle. CT and Cara Maria start out arguing (CT throws out the lowest blow of all time by calling her Camila Maria), but they get it together and get their ropes done first and start digging. Jordan and Tori finish next, and Derrick and Camila finish soon after. Jordan kills the digging part, and lets Tori go ahead with her puzzle pieces before Cara Maria follows with hers. Jordan and CT come soon after, and each start working on their puzzle. Camila asks to go ahead of Derrick like Tori and Cara Maria did, but he says no. CT finishes first and locks up his spot in the final when Derrick and Camila arrive next. Cara Maria finishes next, and CT seems way more excited for her to make the final than he did for himself. Tori finishes next, locking up the second spot for the girls. It seems strange that Jordan hasn’t finished his tangram yet as he is usually top tier at puzzles, but Tori points out he has a piece he missed laying down behind him. Jordan’s puzzle falls into place right after that and he locks up the last guaranteed spot in the final. TJ announces the four winners, and says the other three guys and three girls will have to compete for the next two spots. We get a look at what’s up next and then that ends this episode of The Challenge.
Eliminated:
Jemmye: Had some good quotes and was involved in an incident that’s really gotten glossed over because of all of the drama this season but overall not an especially memorable appearance from Jemmye.
Aneesa: She just finished her twelfth season (the third most seasons of ANY member and most by a female) and is still without a win, but she has done something one else has: competed in TWO Redemption Challenges!
Veronica: She was pretty quiet early in the season, but she was the central figure in two straight episodes before her sudden exit.
Britni: Pretty good season from the rookie, and seems set for a long career as a mid-tier female.
Dario: Dario seemed like he was just here for the appearance checks, but that isn’t a bad move when you’ve got Ashley Kelsey to go home to.
LeRoy: I love LeRoy, but I feel like he’s been a bit overrated as a competitor. He’s a terrible swimmer and terrible at puzzles, and no guy has won a pair season being so bad at two important categories.
Bananas: While I’m not buying the curse theory, the face of The Challenge is a bit past his prime and it will be interesting to see if he has another title left in him.
In Game
10) Tony (-3): The next game looks like it requires balance, flexibility, ingenuity, and agility; all things which Tony does not possess.
9) Hunter (-5): I’d like to put Hunter higher but with a broken hand I don’t see how he performs well this next challenge.
8) Jenna (-2): Her “whack-sticks” comment was an all-timer but unfortunately it doesn’t look like quotability is going to be the focus of the next challenge.
7) Kailah (-2): Camila and Cara Maria saying they got her here was a bit out of line but I also don’t see her beating either of the two of him.
6) Derrick (-5): The next competition seems built for him but people forget he’s actually never won a non-team season.
5) Camila (-3): She should excel at the next competition as well and while her attitude has been horrifying this season she has been great at the competitions.
4) Tori (-1): Tori’s had an exceptional season so far, but first-timers do tend to struggle in their first final.
3) CT (REDEEMED): Maybe I rated CT a bit too low before, but he’s just so big I could see it really hurting him in a final.
2) Jordan (REDEEMED): If there was a way to bet on The Challenge, I’d feel very comfortable putting some money on Jordan. He’s an ace in endurance, puzzles, swimming, and dexterity; which are all huge factors in finals.
1) Cara Maria (REDEEMED): While she may be “entitled” (man that word has been getting thrown around a lot on this season) she’s the clear favorite for the girls right now.
