One challenge and one elimination… just not in the order you’d expect.
This is not a full summary. If you want to know what happened, just stream the show on Paramount+.
MVPs
5. Sarah: Somehow, Sarah is displaying a lot of control in this game. Tori came to her and Danny looking to get on the same page, but Sarah backed out of the conversation when Bananas tried to take over. While this could be a mistake, she’s avoided The Arena thus far, so I’d call that a win.
4. Kaycee: Predictably, Kaycee held her weights longer than Zara in Herculean Strength. It wasn’t a shock, but she did win her first elimination this season, and that will get her some respect.
3. Ben: Credit where it’s due, Ben survived The Arena and came back into the game looking for revenge. Right before the nominations, he planted a seed in Amber’s mind and made her doubt Emily & Yes, so this caused a shift in the direction of the nominees.
2. Tristan: After starting off with losses, winning a challenge is a huge achievement for Tristan. He struggled a lot earlier in the game, so it was a huge comeback to see him win. Plus, this is his first daily win ever — a surprising fact for a Challenge champion.
1. KellyAnne: Winning Rocket Man is a huge accomplishment for KellyAnne and Tristan, especially after they seemed doomed for repeated eliminations at the beginning of the season. While KellyAnne didn’t get to use her power, she finally got to feel safe for a week and it seems she mended her relationship with Jonna.
LVPs
5. Zara: Ultimately, she dropped the bar during Herculean Strength, but it was also an elimination that played to her weaknesses. Unlike other people who just suck at math, her dyslexia meant she had to face Kaycee in a game of strength. She gave it her all, but there wasn’t much she could do.
4. Grant: Somehow, Grant fully missed the target during Rocket Man, and this killed his time in the daily challenge. And, he managed to hurt his knee. Sadly, this ended his time on The Challenge, and he had to take Jonna with him.
3. Tori: You can see Tori struggling to pick up the pieces of the Team USA alliance but to no avail. Sarah refused to talk with Bananas and she couldn’t reach a real agreement with Danny at elimination. On paper, this is a strong team, but in reality, they’re very fractured.
2. Emily: This episode must have been a huge shock for the Olympic swimmer. She lost the daily, despite it being a swimming-focused game. Then, she was blindsided when Amber and Troy voted for her. So, she found herself nominated for The Arena. Luckily, she was let off the hook when Grant and Jonna DQed.
1. Wes: This was a tough season for Wes. He was only in The Arena because he messed up in last week’s Challenge. While it was ultimately Zara that dropped the weights in Herculean Strength, Wes was making mistakes and moving through the math slowly. This was sixth-grade math, and he’s done this show for nearly two decades. He should have done better.
Stop Being Polite 