The Challenge is down to its last 4 teams, which means it’s time for TJ’s final! We’ve got Adam and Steve, Frank and Sam, Melissa and Nicole, and Shane and Da’Vonne. We lead off the episode with Nicole cheating on her girlfriend with Melissa, so plus one for team bonding I suppose.
After this, we get the pre final dinner, where everyone goes around saying what they’re using the money for. The highlight of this was the confessional from Da’Vonne saying “God is so good, but Shane’s my partner so we’ll see how that goes.” She was also actively hostile to Shane at the dinner, which typically doesn’t bode well for their final chances. Shane claims he’s going to throw the final so she doesn’t get money, but I’m honestly not sure how much difference there is between their team trying and throwing, they or Mel/Nicole are the weakest team on paper.
The final is a group of challenges at different checkpoints. The order you finish each checkpoint in is how many stars you get for that checkpoint, most total stars at the end wins. This feels overly complicated when you could just make it a long race, but they don’t seem to want to do that anymore because it’s not dramatic enough.
The first checkpoint is a code breaking puzzle. At the bottom of a dune are the puzzles, and at the top are the answer key to help solve. In order to go back up the dune, you have to throw a yoga ball back and forth to each other, and if you drop if you have to go back down. Rough start for Frank and Sam, as their rivalry started on him yelling at her for being slow in the sand. Melissa and Nicole somehow finish first, followed by Shane and Da’Vonne. Shows what I know about who should win. Adam and Steve finish with less than a minute left, and Frank and Sam got their letters wrong and disqualified. So after the first checkpoint we’ve got Mel/Nicole with 4, Da’Vonne/Shane with 3, Adam/Steve with 2, and Frank/Sam with 0.
The second checkpoint is a barrel run race. You have to walk on barrels from one side to the other, and then solve a puzzle. This was also used as an elimination, with Adam and Steve beating Devin and Leroy. In theory this should give them an advantage. This is yet another challenge that doesn’t seem to be for Frank and Sam, everyone had 3 barrels done before they finished their first. Adam and Steve finish the barrels first, but Da’Vonne and Shane kill the puzzle and finish first, followed by Adam and Steve. Mel and Nicole are third, and Frank and Sam manage to actually finish this one. This leaves us with Da’Vonne/Shane 7, Melissa/Nicole 6, Adam/Steve 5, Frank/Sam 1.
The third checkpoint is essentially cupstacking, but using larger baskets. Teams have to stack using a bungee setup. The twist is that at any time, each team gets one ball they can use to try to knock down another team’s pyramid. Da’Vonne and Shane were close to finishing, but for some reason Adam decided he needed to go after Frank and Sam, who were in last, because of a grudge for being sent in, which is incredibly on brand. Fortunately they get bailed out by Frank and Sam targeting them. Adam and Steve get the win, followed by Frank and Sam, Da’Vonne and Shane, and finally Melissa and Nicole, so everyone finishes this checkpoint again. After 3 we have both Da’Vonne/Shane and Adam/Steve with 9, Mel/Nicole with 7, and Frank/Sam with 4.
For the final checkpoint of the first half, it’s a memory game. Teams have to recreate a dinner table exactly. They can only grab one item each at a time, so they have to run back and forth each time, with 42 total items. TJ busts out the acoustic guitar, which just made everyone mad. Adam and Steve call for the first check, followed shortly by Mel and Nicole. Each team had 41/42 correct. Da’Vonne and Shane were third to try, getting 40. Frank and Sam get 41/42 on their first try as well. Da’Vonne and Shane were the first to get 42, followed by Frank and Sam. Mel and Nicole finish third, and finally Adam and Steve come in fourth. So after the first episode we have Da’Vonne/Shane with 13, Adam/Steve with 10, Mel/Nicole with 9, and Frank/Same with 7.
This is where they leave us for the episode, so next episode we’ll get the winners. And in classic rivals fashion, it’s looking like partners will get to choose to steal or share money, and Shane or Da’Vonne are looking primed to steal from each other.
