This week, we saw a crack form in an alliance. Cara Maria didn’t honor Kam’s wish of voting Ayanna and Rachel into The Arena — instead, she cast her votes on Ayanna and Flora.
So, what’s the big deal here? Well, Kam wanted to get Ayanna out of the game because Ayanna mentioned sending Leroy into The Arena due to the obvious bond Kam and Leroy have. They are fundamentally one unit, but they have two votes. Ayanna recognized this, but Kam expected Cara Maria to respect her plan to get Ayanna out of the game.
Kam and Cara Maria’s history
Kam and Cara Maria haven’t always been close allies, but there has always been a level of respect. This stems back to Vendettas when Kam used her grenade to “lube up” Cara Maria during the obnoxiously dangerous (but aptly named) Car Crash challenge. When Kam threw this grenade, Cara Maria warned it would put a target on Kam’s back. Kam acknowledged this, accepted it, and threw it anyway.
The two girls weren’t particularly close on the next two seasons, but the mutual respect grew. This was particularly apparent on Final Reckoning when Kam and Cara Maria campaigned to get a girl/girl team back into the main house at the third redemption challenge.
The real turning point came on War of the Worlds 2 when Team USA won the Cryptic Crossbow challenge. Kam was speaker at the Tribunal, picked Paulie to be in the group, and determined she could work with Paulie and Cara Maria. For the rest of that season (Cara’s most recent season before All Stars 4) Kam and Cara Maria successfully worked together and got to the final.
What went wrong?
Flash forward to All Stars 4, and a lot of strong competitors are on the cast. Cara Maria has consistently performed well, Kam has fallen in the middle, but somehow, Leroy has consistently found himself performing poorly in the challenges.
Following Domino Motherfucker, both Leroy and Ayanna were among the bottom-tier players, Ayanna explained that people would likely target Leroy. Remember, Ayanna was paired with Syrus, who had just entered the game and didn’t know the relationships.
So, Kam set her target on getting Ayanna out, and she identified Rachel as the strong competitor who could eliminate her. But, Cara Maria had established an alliance with Rachel because both girls are playing defense and trying to hold onto their stars.
Of course, Cara Maria did vote for Ayanna, Kam’s main target. However, most people viewed Flora as a layup. If Ayanna faced Flora, Ayanna would most likely win. So, in Kam’s eyes, Cara Maria’s vote was a vote for Ayanna to stay in the game. Plus, Brandon confirmed Cara really did vote last — meaning the Ayanna vs. Rachel elimination has already been solidified. So, Cara’s vote was a sign of loyalty to Rachel; Kam felt Cara was making a statement by defying her wishes.
Is this the end of their alliance?
It’s quite clear that Kam’s family is her priority this season. This doesn’t mean she hates Cara Maria, but she’s not going to support a move that could jeopardize Leroy’s spot in the game.
Likely, Kam will be weary of Cara Maria moving forward. I don’t think their alliance is completely fractured (yet), but viewers are starting to see that the two girls have different priorities now. And, this could mean that Cara Maria feels more secure with someone like Rachel than she does with Kam.
It would be fair to say Kam overreacted a little bit. Ayanna’s comment really had no power, and no one voted Leroy into The Arena. However, most people felt Ayanna brought negative energy to the season and wanted her out.
Moving forward, I don’t think Cara Maria will be Kam’s primary target (or vice versa). Here’s the thing about Kam and Cara Maria: They both respect each other as competitors. They’re a very strong unit when working together, but when they’re not on the same page, they make two strong opposing forces. And logically, they wouldn’t want to face each other in The Arena. So they’re likely to pick on other people until there’s no other options.
Stop Being Polite 