One player has gone home, and another one won’t make it through this episode.
Another Chance to Score
The challenge is called Ball Control, and the goal is to deposit 23 balls into a basket in 23 minutes. Each player has their own ball, so every person must deposit one. Here’s the catch, the balls are in the water and the basket is on an elevated platform, so they need to create a human ladder (akin to Chain Gang on The Ruins) to get the balls in. They start by trying to create a plan, but Ciarran pipes up first — and after the last challenge people doubt his abilities.
Dropping the Ball
The Challenge proves to be much more difficult than anticipated, and many people can’t climb the rope to build the ladder. The cast splits in two, and one side manages to build their ladder, but Chauncey falls along the way. Meanwhile, the other side is struggling. Big T falls a few times, Hughie acts like he’s never seen a rope before, and Nurys has to jump off the rope because she can’t lift other people up. The successful side starts depositing balls, but they only get three in — which means the team only gets $6,000 out of a possible $50,000.
Who Will Take the Fall?
After the team loses the challenge, the house is split, but two names are thrown around. Hughie is the obvious choice because he couldn’t climb the rope at all. Meanwhile, Chauncey’s name is getting mentioned because he fell off the rope. The American players have a big alliance, and Chauncey is kind of a part of it. So, the group is worried that nominating Chauncey will allow him to pick an easy opponent (probably Hughie), come back, and seek vengeance on the larger group.
Bad Romance
Melissa and Kyland seem to be flirting, and when the cast goes clubbing, the two are getting pressured to kiss. They get close, but Kyland sends his lips to Melissa’s cheek. She feels uncomfortable and snubbed, and this relationship was supposed to be an escape from the game. But, Kyland reveals that he was diagnosed with autism after Big Brother, and he doesn’t do well with PDAs. Melissa is understanding, and the cuddling commences after the night out.
Proving Your Disloyalty
While at the club, Ravyn reaches out to Chauncey. This turns out to be a mistake because the American alliance feels she’s being a snake and disloyal. The Ride or Dies girls are now looking at her sideways. Chauncey rallies the US alliance and seems to pledge allegiance to them, and he looks like he’s in an OK spot. That is, until the cast gets to deliberation. Hughie delivers an empowering speech, and Chauncey tries to prove he’s loyal by asking Horacio and Michele if he’s ever betrayed them. They both say yes, which Chauncey wasn’t expecting.
Getting Burned
After Chauncey’s blunder at deliberation, the cast is unsure of what to do, but at the nomination ceremony, Michele kicks it off by saying his name. The majority of the cast jumped on board, and in the end, Chauncey received 18 votes (including a vote for himself). But, Ciarran and James burned votes on each other, and Chauncey viewed this as a sign of weakness, so he called out James, which was a bit of a curve ball.
Lights Out
The elimination is called Might Light, and it’s a mix of Connect Four and a Lite Brite. The competitors are given lights, and they must fill a board with their colors. The goal is to get as many rows of three as possible, so it’s a game of speed and a puzzle. There are three heats, and even though Chauncey has speed, James plays smarter and starts off with more points. Chauncey moves into round two with more gas in the tank, and he even out-muscles James when the two are competing for the same spot on the board, but James ends with more points again. However, James is on the verge of collapsing going into round three. Chauncey’s got much more energy, but he has a lot of ground to make up. He gets a better score during the third round, but James still ends up with the greatest overall score, so Chauncey goes home to his new baby girl.
Stop Being Polite 