Sixteen teams have been assembled, and the battle is officially starting. Who will be off to an early lead this season, and who will take an early exit?
Vets & New Rules
Because we had the Day Zero special, we get right into the first challenge at the start of the episode: Mud Ball Madness. There’s a mud pit and a helicopter will drop 320 balls into the mud. The partners will be tethered together and need to run into the mud and collect balls and deposit them — each person can retrieve one ball at a time. Red balls are worth 1 point, blue and gray are with 5 points, and gold balls are worth 10 points. The highest scoring team will win safety for themselves and one other team, the last place team will go directly into the elimination. Everyone else will make up “the jury,” which will select the second pair competing in elimination. TJ also reveals that there will be “no coasting” this season, and he introduces a point system. The top eight teams get points (higher placements get more points), and the remaining teams score nothing.
Mud & New Balls
As soon as the helicopter drops the balls, the teams run into the mud, but it’s a very uncomfortable process because the partners are tied together. A few people stumble in the mud, like Gabe who nearly falls on Ashley, or Adrienne who’s being pulled by Rogan. Meanwhile, other teams are moving well. Jake is impressed because his partner, Cara Maria, is demonstrating why she’s a Challenge legend while Bananas and Dee quickly start moving in unison. Toward the end of the game, before the last balls are dropped, Adrienne slices her foot because she’s running barefoot, but Rogan pulls her through the mud for the final stretch as she complains. Meanwhile, Nia is in pain because she hurt her knee during the mountain climb, but her partner Justin is a sniper and was able to snag multiple gold balls.
Winners & New Losers
The cast members finish the game, and Bananas & Dee have the highest score, they win and receive the most points. This means they’re safe from elimination and get to save another team. A lot of teams are worried about this — especially Olivia and the emerging “UK alliance.” Rogan & Adrienne have the lowest score, but TJ flips a coin, making this a male elimination. Rogan will be going into the first elimination, and the women are safe this week. Rogan’s glad, because he’d rather go into an elimination by himself, especially because Adrienne hurt her foot in the challenge.
Losers & New Targets
Now that Rogan is going into elimination, his new fling Izzy is worried that he’ll will go home, so she encourages him to politic to get a “smaller” guy in the elimination — meaning Justin or Ben. Bananas is hesitant to vote in Ben because he’s attached to Nany, so heads sway toward Justin. Eventually, Justin catches wind of this — as does his partner Nia, who’s worried this could result in her going home. Justin is nervous and upset, but he gets support from Derek who’s been targeted for the first elimination multiple times before. He calls it a “rite of passage,” as it’s been common for gay competitors to get sent into the first elimination.
Veterans & New Strategies
Leroy realizes that Justin and Ben are the primary targets, and he’s worried that they’re attached to Nany and Nia. He doesn’t want his friends to potentially be impacted, so he talks to other veterans like Ashley, Aviv, and Nany. They determine that they should redirect the votes toward Jake. This would break up the UK alliance, but the numbers are divided. So, Leroy proposes that Bananas & Dee use their power to save Theo & Izzy. This would remove them from “the jury,” meaning the UK alliance would have fewer votes and the “veteran alliance” would have a better shot at getting Jake sent into the elimination.
Nominees & New Betrayal
At the jury Theo & Izzy are saved, and Bananas claims he’s trying to mend their strained relationship — but Dee blows their cover by talking about divide. Then, TJ reveals that the saved team is still part of the jury. Then, the teams votes (and the teams only have one vote). The house is very divided, but there ends up being six votes for Jake and eight votes for Justin. It could have been a tie, but the seventh vote cast against Justin was by Derek, who was supporting him the night before.
Wheels & New Losses
The competitors walk into the Arena and they’re playing Inertia. It looks like there’s a hamster wheel on a bumpy course with three hills. Players need to get inside the wheel and get to the end of the course and make it back to the starting point. Immediately, it becomes clear that momentum is the name of the game, because players need to develop a rhythm to get over the humps. Justin is the first person over the first bump, but Rogan isn’t far behind. Then Justin loses his momentum due to his “Jell-O-like legs.” However, Rogan is feeling the burn too, and Bananas seems to coach Justin over the next hills. Rogan stalls after the first hill and Justin gets to the end and returns to the starting point, claiming an unexpected victory.
Adrienne is now a “hangnail,” meaning she’s back in the game but she won’t compete in the next challenge and she’s “at the mercy of the jury.”
Stop Being Polite 