Last week we had three teams, now there’s two.
Season Shakeup
Because of the piss-poor formatting and Blue + Grey merger, the new Grey Team has to pick a new captain. It seems everyone wants the title now, including rookie Anna Leigh. She believes that the captain should be someone who’s already been in The Arena (so, her or Cassidy) because she doesn’t want anyone to coast to the end. This isn’t well received, but when we get to the daily challenge and the team has to vote, only Adrienne and Cassidy nominate themselves — even though Bananas and CT want Cara Maria to step up. Instead, Cara Maria names Adrienne as captain, and the British finalist lands in the leader role.
TJ also announces a formatting change with the new two-team format. From here on out, the losing team names two players to go into elimination: one named by the captain, the other voted on by the rest of the team. The winning team captain then picks the other Arena competitor, who is a player on her team. This is an overly complicated format, especially considering Chris and Michele are default Arena competitors — and Michele is quick to point that out.
Drop the Line
The Daily Challenge is named Devil’s in the Details. The teams are placed in a temple with many stairs (we might have seen it before), and there’s a series of statues at the top with very minor differences. At the base, there’s a second set of statues. So, the teams must relay the puzzle’s sequence from the base to the assembly station, one player at a time. Essentially, this is a game of telephone to complete the puzzle correctly. Anna Leigh and Michele are positioned at the base, so they’re the first to see the statues. Somehow, Bananas convinces Cara Maria (who’s at the same station as him) to throw the challenge. He convinces her that Chris is going in no matter what, so if the Orange Team wins, they can pick the man who faces Chris. However, the Orange Team might not need Cara to throw this competition because they’re lapping the Grey Team. This doesn’t discourage Adrienne, who’s at the assembly station, because she believes her slow and steady pace will prevent errors. Turns out, she’s not wrong. CT makes many errors for the Orange Team, but the Grey Team gets the puzzle correct after their first check, so it looks like Cara Maria didn’t throw anything.
The Opponent Component
The cast goes to the club, and Chris and Michele bond over their shitty position. Chris wants to face Justin in the Arena, so he plans to ask Tori to make Justin her nominee. Meanwhile, Justin pleads with Adrienne not to send him into The Arena this late in the game, as he anticipates he and CT will be offered as Arena nominees. Adrienne wants to save her friend, Justin, but Tori doesn’t necessarily like this plan. She floats the idea of nominating Will instead of Justin, and while Will doesn’t like the plan, she thinks it could sway Adrienne to send CT into the Arena, unburdening her team of CT before the final.
Cross-Team Betrayal
Michele and Tori talk to each other, and they’re upset with Cara Maria because she didn’t step up to be a team captain. Had she taken the role, it would have helped Bananas and CT stay safer in the game. She’s also upset because Bananas couldn’t convince Cara to throw the Challenge, so now the Grey Team has to nominate two people. Unbeknownst to Tori, Cara Maria is lying down behind her and hears the conversation. Cara confronts Tori, kind of insults the team, and says it’s not her fault the Orange Team couldn’t win a game of telephone. Tori tries to remain calm, but she tells Cara that if she doesn’t want anything to do with the Orange Team, they’ll have nothing to do with her. Then, Michele accuses Cara Maria of convincing CT to throw last week’s eating challenge and says that she wouldn’t return the favor this week, when she had nothing to lose. Now, Michele feels Cara Maria won’t help the Grey Team in the same way her team has helped Cara.
Eat Your Words
After the argument, CT and Cara Maria have an off-the-record conversation. Cara Maria explains that the Orange Team would have thrown CT into the Arena if the Grey Team lost. She’s reading between the lines, but she feels the other team doesn’t value him because he’s not in final-ready shape. CT feels the Orange Team will lose the final because they can’t solve puzzles, and he implies Cara Maria is being overly speculative. Cara Maria also reveals that Tori and Michele accused CT of throwing the eating challenge, to which he says, “They can go fuck themselves.”
Food For Thought
After this, CT asks his team if anyone thinks he threw the eating challenge. Michele confesses and says that CT only showed up at 60%. Even if that’s true, he claims he ate the most, and Justin ate far less — so how can he throw a challenge when his teammate is independently doing worse than him? The team can sense fear in CT, but they’re not very receptive. According to Tori, the way he addressed the group is “not a vibe.”
Survivor Instincts
Chris, Tori, and Michele have a secret alliance, but Chris is concerned that Tori will try to send CT into the Arena. Chris wants to compete against Justin, so he tells Michele that if Tori protects Justin, then his team will retaliate and send Lete into the next girls’ elimination (which means Michele will definitely need to face her). Michele doesn’t take kindly to the threat, and Tori speaks with Adrienne to ask if she’d really retaliate if Justin doesn’t get nominated into the Arena. Adrienne neither confirms nor denies the accusations, but she stands firm that she needs Chris on the team, and she will try to give him the best possible chance of returning.
Orange Options
The Orange Team is sent to deliberation, and Tori begins by naming Justin as her nominee. Then, the team votes, and Bananas kicks things off by voting for CT. CT tries to defend himself and throws a vote back at Bananas. But Justin assures CT that it doesn’t matter — Tori gave Chris what he wants, and he’ll be going into the Arena. Eventually, CT is named as the second nominee, but Justin’s instincts are correct. Adrienne names Justin as Chris’ opponent at the Arena.
Out of the Box
The arena game is called Chain Reaction. There’s a heavy steel net made of chains, and each competitor must drag six boxes under the chains to a puzzle station, one at a time. Then, they need to place the six boxes in a puzzle grid to win the competition. Chris slides his first box under the net fairly quickly, but Justin struggles. His feet get caught, allowing Chris to take a lead. By the time Chris has all six pieces across, Justin still has two boxes to move. Chris starts assembling his puzzle, but it takes him long enough that Justin catches up. At this point, both men are having the same issue: the pieces are getting stuck. Chris can move his pieces, while Justin has one incredibly stubborn piece. He’s on the verge of quitting, but his team coaches him through. While Chris keeps moving pieces around, nothing is clicking. Then, Justin’s stubborn piece moves, and things fall into place. He manages a come-from-behind win, and the last male on the Grey Team is sent home.
