While one team is crumbling, another alliance is starting to get rocky. Who didn’t survive this episode.
Birthday Bonds
It’s party time, and the cast is celebrating Devin’s birthday. While it’s a fun time and Ryan and Derek are dressed as strippers, there’s also game chatter. Devin and Michele are close to making things official, and that will forge a strong bond between the couple and their eras. This is important, because now that numbers are dwindling, it might be time for alliances to start breaking.
One Piece Down
The challenge is called Leap of Faith and the cast will be jumping off a 56-story helipad. Four players from each team were randomly selected to jump and retrieve flags, and the flags correspond to puzzle pieces. Once the flags are retrieved, the players that didn’t jump will need to pull up the jumpers. Then, the players that weren’t selected to jump (or, one person, in the case of Era 1) will need to solve a puzzle. However, there are also time penalties for missing flags and grabbing the wrong flag, and a bonus flag far out there. Immediately, Josh jumps first and his teammates struggle to pull him up. Once he gets to the top, the team picks up a little speed, but they’re still struggling. Finally, the three people who didn’t jump (Olivia and team representatives Kyland and Michele) solve the puzzle quickly. However the team took over 50 minutes, and Michele is now just trying to avoid last place.
Leaps, Losses, and Victors
Era 2 goes, and they breeze through the game compared to Era 4. Then, it’s Era 1’s turn. Darrell overcomes his fear of heights, but Tina grabs two flags, giving the team a massive time penalty. They know they’re not going to win, but they’re hoping to avoid last place. Finally Era 3 goes, and they bolt through the game like they’ve done this before. In end, Era 4 comes in last, securing Kyland & Michele’s spots in the Arena. Then, Era 3 is announced as the winning team, meaning Jordan & Nia have power.
Getting Things Twisted
After the challenge, the cast goes to the club. Era 3 is safe, and Jordan is in power, but Cory is the one trying to make moves. He wants to keep Era 2 representative Nehemiah safe, and he hopes he can start a new alliance with Nia. Later, he starts to clash with his teammates when he brings up the team representative rotation. Based on the team’s agreement, Devin would be next. But Devin knows Michele (if she earns the power) won’t make him a target, and he’s not going to push his luck by asking to go in.
Chamber Chatter
At the Chamber, Nehemiah & Aviv state why they should be given safety, and they essentially say they will repay the favor if they’re given safety. Later, Darrell & Tina plead their cases, and Darrel just asks for Era 1 to get one day off. However, Tina feels empowered to compete this season because she’s half Vietnamese and her mother fled the country to escape war. So, she wants to avoid the Arena so she can live to fight another day. The Chamber is very civil, and Kyland doesn’t state a preference, but the competitors don’t walk away knowing who will be sent to the Arena.
Annihilating Era 1
After the Chamber, Jordan & Nia tell Darrell & Tina that they’re going into the Arena. Darrell is understanding, but Tina is furious. She thought she was close with Nia, and she feels betrayed by her friend. She’s also mad that her team never gets a break — especially considering that the move to keep Nehemiah & Aviv doesn’t quite make sense. While Tina is lashing out at Jordan, she might be identifying a bigger alliance that’s running the game.
A Weak Discussion
Ryan walks in on Bananas complaining about the fact that he and Nehemiah seem to be the only two people in the team representative rotation. For Bananas, this is an intentional argument, because he wants to put pressure on people to nominate the team’s “weakest” player, Ryan to be a target. Ryan is mad at Bananas for calling him out, and he states that the game hasn’t been easy for him. He’s getting safety because he has friends, but he still has to endure being on a team with people like Bananas and Laurel.
Tina vs. Michele
We already knew the Arena competitors before the cast got there, and they’re playing Boxster-Phobia. The players will need to navigate through a glass box made of metal poles and sliding glass doors, removing the poles so they can maneuver through the box. Of course, there’s a twist, and the sliding glass doors have numbers and the players need to add up the numbers to crack a code at the end. Initially, Tina seems to be moving a little faster than Michele, but it’s hard to see who’s truly in the lead. In fact, Michele gets out of the contraption first, but she has to return to look at her numbers again. This gives Tina a temporary lead, but Tina also struggles with the math. After many failed attempts by both ladies, Michele cracks the code and takes the win.
Darrell vs. Kyland
Now it’s the guys’ heat, and it seems like the odds are against Darrell because he’s facing Kyland, aka The Calculator. Darrell manages to escape his box first, but he needs to use the sand to complete the math. This costs time, and Kyland emerges. True to his nickname, he solved the equation in his head and he takes home the victory.
The New Targets
After winning, the new targets are chosen by Michele and Kyland. Derrick and Rachel are representatives because they’re the only two people left on Era 1. On Era 2, Kyland selects Cara Maria and Michele nominates Derek. On Era 3, Devin doesn’t volunteer, so Michele nominates Cory while Averey volunteers for the girls. Finally, Theo volunteers for Era 4 but no girl volunteers, so Kyland selects Jenny because he’s closer friends with the other two potential targets.
Stop Being Polite 