It’s every man and woman for themselves. Who will stand out? And who’s just lucky to be there?
The Era of Division
After the Arena, the new targets feel the Vacation Alliance (and their secondary members) have taken a direct shot at their biggest opponents. It seems the counter group is comprised of Bananas, Laurel, Aviv, Jenny, Ryan and Derek (kind of), and — to Cara Maria’s surprise — Rachel. This group feels they have true friendship and camaraderie from being on Era 2. And now that this alliance is being defined, other people are flocking to the Vacation Alliance, making a more defined divide.
Launching a New Game
When we get to the challenge, TJ reveals it will be a coin flip to determine if it will lead to a male or female elimination. Based on the flip, it’s a men’s day, meaning the target remains on Bananas, Derek, and Ryan are all in jeopardy. The game is called Fire Away. TJ will launch a bundle of balls with a catapult and the goal is to collect enough balls (two at a time) to dispense 30 balls in your personal cylinder. Once that’s filled, the players will race to complete their puzzles. The winning male and female will be in power, the losing male will go into The Arena, and the losing female will be penalized at the next challenge. Immediately, the heat becomes a major factor and people make dumb mistakes. Ryan accidentally dispenses balls in Laurel’s cylinder and Bananas mistakenly gives two balls to Jordan. Bananas’ mistake is more detrimental, because Jordan collects his balls and completes his puzzle first, giving him the win for the men.
The Image of a Loser
As the game continues, people progressively slow down and make mistakes due to the heat. However, some people are finishing their puzzles. Ryan manages to collect his balls in the middle of the pact, despite his earlier mistake, but he makes another mistake — he assembles the puzzle upside down and doesn’t realize it’s an image of the number “40.” Meanwhile, Tori wins for the women. Then, the game becomes an effort to avoid last place. Finally, Derek is the eighth male to finish, making Ryan the last place male who will go directly into the Arena. For the women, Michele is gassed out due to the heat and she can’t figure out the puzzle. She comes in last, but she’s delirious. She collapses after the challenge, seemingly due to heat stroke, and an ambulance helps to cool her off. Michele feels discouraged, but Olivia gives her a pep talk because she needs to keep her LoL alliance (Ladies of Leisure) in tact.
Two Friends and a Bananas
At the Chamber, Ryan sits at one side and has one goal: not to compete against Derek. This sentiment is reiterated by Derek, but he knows he hasn’t talked game with Jordan & Tori, and he’s not starting now. Then, Bananas pleads his case and claims that he’s never targeted Jordan & Tori, but he claims Devin drew a line in the sand. So, he was only opposing the Vacation Alliance as an effort to derail Devin’s game. Bananas also claims that he has a really good chance of winning in the Arena, and if he does, he will immediately get his revenge by making Tori a target. Jordan and Tori don’t walk away from The Chamber with a decision, instead, Jordan encourages her to sleep on it and really weigh the two options.
Business and Tori Deals
Bananas, Rachel, Aviv, Laurel, and Jenny sit down and form the “Bananas Angels” alliance, though most people view Rachel as the CEO of this organization. And it makes sense, because Rachel is going off and making business deals. Specifically, she proposes a partnership with Tori, who she’d like to work with now that Devin is gone. The deal could be quite a conflict of interest, because Tori is teetering with the idea of protecting Derek and sending Bananas, her former ally, into The Arena.
Drawing the Line
Tori tells Bananas he’ll be competing in the Arena because she’s “doing right by Devin” by making this move. Bananas is kind of mad, but it’s game on from here. As much as Bananas wants to say he was only trying to hurt Devin’s game, Tori feels her game was intertwined with Devin. However, Bananas gives a more stern talking to Jordan, who seems to be a floater. He’s trying to protect a lot of the girls in the game, but Bananas has made his alliance clear. Ultimately, Jordan just lets Bananas talk because, win or lose, he won’t have the power to give Jordan a target.
Ryan vs. Bananas
The competition is called Killer Quads, and it’s a game of cat and mouse. There’s a track in the sand and each player will be riding an ATV. The goal is to catch up to your opponent and pull a flag off the back of his 4-wheeler twice. Bananas seems confident, but Ryan seldom drives and has no strategy. During the first heat, Ryan is keeping pace with Bananas until he crashes into a barrel of hay sticking into the course. So, Bananas wins the first heat. In the second heat, Ryan isn’t making mistakes, but Bananas seems to be going slower. Ryan is gets close to Bananas’ 4-wheeler, leans to grab the flag, and stumbles. He loses his lead, and the game continues for a while until he gets caught in the sand. This lets Bananas make up ground and Bananas wins the elimination.
Painting the Targets
Bananas has to pick three new female targets, however, Tori is off the table because she won the daily challenge. So, Bananas nominates Nia, Olivia, and Devin’s “soon to be ex-girlfriend” Michele.
Stop Being Polite 