On All Stars, to understand the present, we need to look at the past. These are the moments from episode 5 that add context to the show. If you want to watch the full episode, stream it on Paramount+.
1. Karma Maria Comes Back Around
After winning her elimination, Cara Maria returns to the house with a stern warning for Brandon. She feels that he took a shot a two strong players, and now he’ll feel the wrath of the one who returned. We’ve seen Cara’s quest for karma in the past. The term was introduced during Vendettas, but it was really used a lot during War of the Worlds 2.
2. Heading Back in Time
As TJ mentions, Bobblehead Bobsled is a callback to Luging My Mind on The Duel 2. This time, the revamped game includes the element of water collection, but the oversized “bobblehead” masks are clearly inspired by the former competition.
3. Rushing for the Gold
During Bobblehead Bobsled we see Veronica relying on Adam to motivate her. Adam isn’t unfamiliar with this role. He helped the female Road Rulers during the final on The Gauntlet, and Veronica was by his side crossing the finish line.
4. A Sudden Ending
Throughout the episode, we see Nicole and Laurel getting awfully close. Then, Nicole decides that they shouldn’t be spending too much time together because she got hurt in the past. It’s a bit ironic because Nicole seems to do a lot of the hurting in relationships, but the lack of closure is nothing new. Laurel acknowledged their sudden ending during her brief stint on Vendettas, and this was talked about at length on Ex on the Beach 4.
5. Rachel’s Revenge
At deliberation, we see Veronica vote for Brandon and Leroy. While voting for Leroy is nothing new — she blindsided him with a near-stalemate on Dirty Thirty — this move was a bit more intentional. Veronica feels she needs to vote against Kam’s alliance because Kam targeted Rachel. As we’ve seen on the past, particularly on The Inferno 2, the two girls will do just about anything to keep each other safe.
6. Sideline Decline
At The Arena, we see Derek decline the opportunity to throw himself into elimination so he can earn a star. He claims Brandon has defeated him before, which is true, and we saw the flashback to Cutthroat. However, Derek did much better than Brandon on Battle of the Seasons. In fact, Team Cancun won the first challenge and nominated Fresh Meat to go into The Arena (though Brandon did not compete that night). It makes sense that Derek wouldn’t want to face Leroy either. The only time the two overlapped in the past was on Rivals 2, and Leroy lasted longer than Derek.
Stop Being Polite 