The end is here, but will the end come sooner for one competitor?
1. A Slow, Second Wind
After collapsing at the end of last week’s episode, Paulie is back on his feet, but just barely. His team doesn’t even wait for him, they just keep moving. Eventually Paulie catches up and beings to walk with his team. Meanwhile, Team UK is at the final checkpoint, a puzzle. They fail to solve the puzzle but are saved by a time cap. Despite their concerns, the US doesn’t show up during the puzzle and they get to drop their gurney and race to a yacht. The US gets to the final checkpoint and they’re informed by TJ they will have a ten minute penalty added to their final time because they were carrying sandbags off the gurney and rotating players off of checkpoints. Still, they finish the puzzle thanks to Paulie and run to their team boat. It seems like one stage of the final is over, but there’s more to come.
2. Sleeping With the Snakes
After their trip on the boat, teams swim to their next stop. Experienced players like CT know this means it’s time for an overnight final, but there’s not a lot of rest to be had. Each team is given one cot for competitors to sleep on. That cot is in the middle of a pit of snakes while other teammate must stand on stairs all night. Everyone freaks out aside from Cara Maria, who had two pet snakes, and Ninja, because she’s Ninja. While competitors rotate turns on the cot, Cara Maria expresses concerns with Paulie. He looks lifeless and he’s on the verge of throwing up. When he does throw up, production begins to get worried. Still, he doesn’t tap out and TJ lets him continue.
3. Pieces of a Team
The second day begins with a purge. Each team can only have four teammates for the last leg of the final. On Team UK, this means on person gets purge but it means three people for Team US. Each competitor must run down the beach where they have their own puzzle and must solve it then complete a swim. Ninja gets through her puzzle first and squeals like a pig as she advances to the swim. CT, Paulie and Dee are close behind her. Then Cara Maria and Rogan finish leaving one spot on each team. Zach finishes his puzzle and Ashley finishes shortly after. They need to race for the final spot, but Zach has a lead and secures his spot on the final team before Ashley really gets to swim. Meanwhile, Jordan finishes his puzzle, leaving Tori to get Purged. In the end, Ashley, Kam, Leroy, and Tori do not advance. Tori is in decent spirits, especially because Jordan is still playing for the both of them and he’ll get a bigger cut of the prize if he wins now. Ashley is upset, as is Kam, but Leroy seems to take the loss the hardest because this is his eleventh season.
4. Chain Gang
The last leg of the final has three parts: run down the beach while chained together, solve a tangram puzzle, and kayak to the yacht. Team UK gets a five minute head start because they won the first day of the final. They start running, but Jordan sets a fast pace and it trips Dee. The US gets moving and they’re setting a decent pace. UK gets to their puzzle and the US is closer behind than they’d hope. Clearly they took less time to finish the run and the five minute head start is narrowing. Neither team can solve the nine piece tangram, so they default to kayaking. Team UK gets moving and the US starts to paddle.
5. Winner’s Boat
In the end, Team UK gets to the yacht first. This means Rogan and Dee win their first final while Jordan and CT get their third wins. They’re all excited, and Team US congratulates them. Some people are sad and Cara Maria cries in the corner. For a team that only won three challenges, this is a great moment for Team UK, even though only one of the players on the team is actually British.
Stop Being Polite 