Bananas, Josh, and Cory have targets this week. Who will survive and make it to the top five on the male side?
Trucking On
We zoom into the challenge, and there are semi-trucks. The game is called ‘Nother Trucker, which is fairly simple. Atop each truck is a crane with a rope. The trucks cruise down a road at 55 mph, and competitors must strategically swing their ropes at the right time to hit as many of the 12 targets as possible. (Or, in Cory’s case, 11 targets because he received a penalty last challenge). Cara Maria and Tori start, and it becomes clear that hitting the targets isn’t easy. Cara Maria hits four, but Tori only gets two. Then, Bananas and Cory go, and they do much better. Bananas gets 11, only missing one, and he seems to be in the lead — until Jordan goes and hits all 12. But, in the final men’s heat, Derek also gets all 12. This sends Jordan and Derek into a sudden death round.
The Road Rulers
In the game of sudden death, Derek comments that the trucks are going faster, but Jordan seems to be having a blast swinging as the trucks speed on. They zip through six targets, and both competitors hit all of them. On the seventh, Jordan misses but Derek doesn’t, putting Derek in the position of power. For the girls, Rachel takes the position of power — but her ally Aviv gets last place and a disadvantage at the next challenge. Meanwhile, Josh comes in last for the men, meaning he’s automatically in the Arena.
An Angel’s Deceit
After winning, Rachel’s stance is quite clear. She wants to keep Bananas safe, especially with Josh as a guaranteed Arena competitor, so she’ll want to send in Cory. But Derek isn’t on the same page. He doesn’t want Cory to go into his third Arena and he’d rather see Bananas compete. When the cast goes to the club, it seems to be a celebration for Bananas’ Angels as Rachel can keep her newfound friend, Johnny Bananas, safe. However, Rachel made an agreement with Cory earlier in the season to exchange safety, a deal Rachel initiated. Cory hoped Rachel would honor this deal, but she essentially sits Cory down and says she plans to prioritize Bananas — meaning Cory will face Josh.
The Calm Before the Battle
Rachel and Derek celebrate their success as LGBTQ+ representation, then they head to the Chamber. Josh seems to be at peace, because he doesn’t have to guess if he’ll be safe, he knows he’ll be in the Arena. Cory has also accepted his fate, and he’s looking forward to settling his beef with Josh from earlier in the season. When Josh had power on episode 6, he sent in Cory, and this is Cory’s opportunity to settle the feud in the sand.
A Young Buck Reunion
While preparing for the Arena, Cory calls his good friend Nelson. Cory’s motivated to be in the game for his family, especially his youngest daughter Maya who had to have open heart surgery after she was born, but also to fight for Nelson. At the point Nelson called, he had his leg amputated below the knee following his car accident, but he’s about to get a prosthetic (which he has since received). Nelson is in good spirits, and this lifts Cory’s mood heading into the elimination round.
Out of Bounds, Out of the Game
As the cast walks into The Arena, they see a large wall with two openings and a bell. They quickly realize that this will be a physical game, and Rachel confirms it’ll be Cory competing against Josh in Coming From Behind. In each heat, one player will be on offense, and they start on one side of the wall and need to sprint through the sand to ring a bell. The defensive player sprints in the sand on the opposite side of the wall, has to jump over barrels of hay, but if he catches his opponent, he can push him out of bounds to prevent him from ringing the bell and scoring a point. First player to score four points wins. Cory definitely has speed on Josh, and in round 1, he pushes Josh out of bounds. Then in round 2, Josh trips on the hay and Cory rings the bell. With Cory in the lead, he pushes Josh out of bounds again in round 3. In the end, the hay slows Josh down again, and Cory beats Josh 4-0.
The New Targets
Cory has to pick three of the five eligible females to have a target next week, and he doesn’t have any problem saying Jenny, who’s put him in elimination, and Michele, who made him a target this week. Ultimately, he picks Aviv as his third target, simply because he’s been working well with Cara Maria and Tori this season.
Stop Being Polite 