We’re smack-dab in the middle of the season with the new teams assembled.
High-Q
The new teams show up at the challenge, and it’s TJ’s favorite: trivia. There’s a platform with eight StairMasters on it, and the competitors are playing Fast Thinking. The machines starts slow, but they will get faster with each incorrect answer, so Challengers can fall off — especially because they’re not allowed to use their hands to hold on. Each round has 18 questions, and the teams with the most correct responses will win. In the first heat, the competitors struggle before the first question because the stair climbing machines are small and they’re not on even ground due to the suspended platform. TJ keeps having to tell CT not to use his hands, but he claims he’s unable to balance, so he gets disqualified with no points. However, there aren’t a lot of points amassed, with a few teams getting 3 points. In the second heat we see some bigger scores: Michaela got 12 points, Aviv got 9, and Yeremi & Derrick got 8. However, we also see poor performances from Gabe and his partner Jonna, who manages to drop her answering computer in the water.
Step to The Arena
In the third heat, Tay needs to try to make up for CT’s poor performance, but she gets tough questions — why would an Australian know when Christopher Columbus sailed to America? Eventually, she gets disqualified for using her hands, presumably because the machine starts moving too fast. Most of the teams get low or mediocre scores, except Cedric, who gets 6 points and Sydney, who gets 12 points. This means CT & Tay end up with 0 points, so they’re headed to The Arena. Then, Michaela and Cedric are named the winners, mostly due to Michaela’s stellar score.
Target Turntable
The cast goes to the club, and CT & Tay determine Leroy & America would be their best opponents in The Arena. Then, Olivia & Will pinpoint Derrick & Dee as prime targets, and Aneesa offers up teams like Ashley & Leo and Nany & Justin. After her fight with Ashley, Aneesa feels that she doesn’t need to support Ashley and Nany. Coming into the season, Nany told Aneesa she’d have her back, but once Aneesa started to work with Olivia, it felt like Nany turned her back and gave her loyalty to Ashley.
Friends and Defends
When the cast gets back from the club, Aneesa gets sick of ignoring the awkward tension from her fight with Ashley. Most people have just ignored the argument until tensions boil between Aneesa and Nany. Aneesa accuses Nany of not being a supportive friend, but Nany is caught in the middle of the feud because she’s also friends with Ashley. Nany claims Aneesa always makes issues bigger problems than they need to be, but Aneesa insists that Nany wouldn’t defend Ashley if Nany was on the receiving end of the comments. Nany maintains the middle ground, stating Ashley didn’t make those comments to her, and security arrives to separate the two bickering middle-aged ladies. Later, Aneesa packs her bags and moves out of the bedroom with Nany and Ashley so she can bunk in Olivia’s room.
No Bold Claims
At the nomination ceremony, TJ reveals a twist: People can “stake a claim.” It’s a duel of sorts, where one person can try to steal a partner. The stake-claimer will face their desired partner’s original partner. If the stake-claimer wins, they switch partners. If the stake-claimer loses, they’re going straight to the Arena with their original partner. Many people are tempted, especially Gabe, but he doesn’t pull the trigger because he doesn’t want to face CT.
Because no one stakes a claim, we get straight into the vote. A few people vote for Theo & Adrienne, but then people start burning votes on Dee & Derrick and Gabe & Jonna. In the end, five votes are given to Theo & Adrienne, which is the majority. They’re going into The Arena, and Adrienne takes out her frustrations on Leo, who followed Ashley’s lead and voted for the Brits.
It Takes Balls
CT & Tay and Theo & Adrienne are playing the first team Arena: Busting Balls. There are 50 balls and a series of 15 targets. One teammate will place the balls in a launcher, but that person is blindfolded. The other person is the “aimer” and they will direct the launcher to hit the targets. It seems Theo is good at coaching, even though he’s half blind, because he hits four targets with Adrienne before CT & Tay get their first. CT doesn’t seem to be giving the best instructions until he masters the height. Eventually, the two teams tie scores with six targets a piece — but, CT & Tay or running out of balls much faster. Eventually, the score is tied 7-7, but CT & Tay hit their seventh target first, so they’re poised to win, until Theo & Adrienne hit an eight target with their final shot.
Stop Being Polite 