Today, the game is individual, but partnerships are looming.
Vet on Vet Feud
We hear an awkward conversation (though there’s no actual footage) of Ashley, Aneesa, and Jake discussing potential pairings. Aneesa says that she’d share her money with Jake if she won (likely referring to the twists we’ve seen on Rivals 3/ Final Reckoning/ All Stars: Rivals). Ashley feels Aneesa is delusional to think she’d beat the veterans, let alone beat a rookie like Jake. After the initial discussion, Ashley vents to people in the gym and Aneesa overhears her. Aneesa confronts Ashley, calls her trash, and feels that Ashley is intimidated by seeing a woman who’s athletic, but doesn’t have a conventional athlete’s body. Ashley doubles down, saying Aneesa is very unlikely to win this season because the rookies are so good — Ashley even says she’s unlikely to win. Aneesa is furious with Ashley, and advises Ashley not to play with her. Ashley says she doesn’t care and will knock Aneesa out, regardless of size. Nany tries to separate the two because she doesn’t want her two friends to fight.
Big Challenges, Mini Final
Today is the mini-final, and it’s the last chance to earn points; in fact the points will be multiplied by 1.5. The game is called Broken Dreams and the competitors have to run up a long, winding path and complete five checkpoints along the way.
-Checkpoint 1: Memorize symbols and use them to solve an equation which unlocks a box
-Checkpoint 2: The box contains “nourishment,” which the competitors must eat.
-Checkpoint 3: A block puzzle that requires competitors to match symbols on all four sides of a tower
-Checkpoint 4: A chain puzzle where the Challengers need to assemble an eight, equal-length chain columns
-Checkpoint 5: A came of Hangman where the competitors need to retrieve the correct letters one at a time by running to get rocks.
Once all checkpoints and the run are completed, the times will be stopped. And with the multiplied points, there is a lot of potential for the leader board to move.
Eater or Cheater
The first checkpoint proves to be an issue, and the meal isn’t even that unusual: It’s an onion, garlic, and a chili pepper. For some people, this is incredibly difficult, but other people don’t find it too hard. Turbo loves the food, and CT sees this as a chance to pull ahead. While many competitors are advancing, some have fallen behind and are struggling to get their vegetables down. As Michaela is dry heaving in the bushes, she sees full vegetables that have been thrown in there. The remaining players (like Derrick, Adrienne, Leo, and Justin) feel this is cheating, but they keep on chomping away at their meal. After a while, Jonna realizes she’s better off getting a penalty, so she chucks her vegetables in the bushes — then Aneesa and Tay follow her.
A Chain Reaction
Checkpoint 3 proves to be a breeze, and Turbo is the first person to reach Checkpoint 4. Will isn’t far behind, and Sydney has the lead for the women. Turbo is the first man to complete the chain game, but he gets to the riddle and doesn’t know how to solve it because his English isn’t that great. Then, Sydney is the first female to reach the fifth checkpoint, and she helps Turbo because she wants him as a partner. The word is “Purgatory,” and with Sydney’s help, Turbo is the first person to finish the checkpoint and complete the run. Sydney follows him, so they seem to be a dream team.
The End Begins
More people start to trickle across the finish line. CT is the second place male, and Will comes in third (he’s the first New Threat male), mostly because CT told him the answer to the riddle. Olivia manages to cross the finish line before Michaela, but Michaela finishes shortly after, and she’s fine with that because it maintains her cumulative first place score. In the end, Tay is the last person across the finish line, though TJ sounds the horn to signal that America and Leroy don’t need to finish the challenge.
Cheater Defeater
TJ reveals that there’s one thing he hates more than quitters: cheaters. There was a lot of evidence that multiple people cheated, and he asks for confessions. No one speaks up, and TJ decides to just scrap all of the results from the challenge. So, the points competitors came in with are the points they’re leaving with. Some people are mad, like Aviv who would have seen a big boost from this challenge. Meanwhile, Jonna gets paranoid, thinking she’s the reason the points were scrapped, even though she consciously made the choice to throw her vegetables because other people had thrown theirs.
A Victory Not Worth Celebrating
The cast is treated to a catered dinner to celebrate the midway point in the game. It’s lighthearted and fun, and the New Threats share their memories from the season. Will skips his chance to talk because he’s mad. His points are tied with Yeremi, but he would have pulled ahead if the Broken Dreams scores counted. Later on, he speaks up and says he doesn’t want to pick a cheater as a partner because those actions will screw both of them when they’re paired. This is a buzzkill, and a lot of people are giving him shady looks — to the point that CT thinks Nany just broke up with him and he doesn’t know it.
And the Partners Are…
The cast enters the Arena, and they’re partaking in the “Lock In” to select permanent partners. In the case of a tie, the person with more high placements in the first eight challenges will get pick first — which benefits Yeremi in the case of his tie with Will, giving him the first pick for the men.
Michaela & Ceric
Yeremi & Aviv
Olivia & Will
Sydney & Turbo
Aneesa & Jake
Adrienne & Theo
Justin & Nany
Leo & Ashley
CT & Tay
America & Leroy
Dee & Derrick
Gabe & Jonna
Now that the teams are locked in, TJ reveals that the competitors will be eliminated as pairs, so if the partners don’t like each other, they better learn to.
Stop Being Polite 