This episode starts off with the announcement of the winners and losers from last episode’s mission. Unsurprisingly, Zach and Nicole win and Devin and Jemmye are eliminated. Only five seconds separated Devin and Kyle; but in the end it ended up being Devin who had to go. Strong seasons from both of Devin and Jemmye; but it seemed as if it was their time to go.

The Lineup before the Outside The Box Mission.

After Devin and Jemmye depart, the rest of the group heads to the Czech Republic. They pal around in the new living area for a bit before they head to the next mission. The mission is entitled Outside the Box, and entails the competitors being suspended from the sides of a truck. They will then have to weave back and forth in order to avoid pylons of boxes. Each pylon is worth a different number of points, descending from nine; with whomever has most points loses, while whomever has the least points wins. I have no idea why the pylons are different point values, but I’m not in the production meetings so what do I know. The first to go are Zach and Leroy. Zach is able to get through without acquiring any points; while Leroy hits the 3-point and 1-point pylons giving him 4 points overall. The next round is Kyle and Nelson; and Kyle is able to escape without acquitting any points while Nelson doesn’t make it around the 7-point pylon. Tony and Brad go next; and they both get through without hitting any pylons.

Leroy dangling in the Outside The Box mission.

The girls are up next; and Kam and Nicole are up first. Nicole gets by all the pylons, while Kam knocks over the 4-point pylon. Cara Maria and Kailah follow behind; and they both get by with zero points. They reconvene, and TJ announces that all the players with zero points will have to go again; with the driver going at a much faster speed. In order to expedite the process, I’ll just post everyone’s playoff round results below:

Nicole: 4-Point Pylon+1-Point Pylon=5

Cara Maria: 4-Point Pylon=4

Kailah: 2-Point Pylon=2

Zach: 4-Point Pylon+1-Point Pylon=5

Kyle: 4-Point Pylon+1-Point Pylon=5

Brad: 4-Point Pylon+3-Point Pylon=7

Tony: 4-Point Pylon=4

I feel like people didn’t really consider the extra variable of the driver being incompetent. Look at how off-center he is!

After this TJ addresses the cast and announces all the women will be headed to the final. I thought this would be the case with only one episode left, but they certainly seemed very surprised. TJ also announces whichever guy got last place is eliminated immediately, which turned out to be Nelson. The way they did this really bothered me; I can’t remember an instance in Challenge history where they’ve eliminated someone due to performance in a competition and did not tell them beforehand that they would be eliminating someone. I would have much preferred the bottom two along with the person voted in by the Troika to be put into a three-way elimination with one emerging to go to the final. Disappointing for Nelson, he had fought through a lot of adversity this season and going out like this felt very underwhelming.

The Troika for the episode.

TJ also announces the Troika for the mission as Tony, Kailah, and Cara Maria. They then have to select three men for the Inquisition, and two of them to go into elimination. Cara Maria and Kailah both immediately say they want to save Zach, so they could potentially run with him in a final; and although Tony seems like he wanted to throw Zach into elimination he doesn’t seem to put up too much of a fight and announces the Inquisition as Kyle, Leroy, and Brad.

The Inquisition for the episode.

After this, we head to The Inquisition. Brad starts the talking; and he talks about his kids and what he’s given up getting here as well as his performance so far and how he would return the favor as soon as he possibly could. Kyle goes next, and he mostly talks about how much he loves being on The Challenge and how he has grown from the experience. He calls Tony his big brother and says he will change his ways once he returns to England. Leroy is last to go, and his spiel takes on a different tone from the first two. He starts off by saying he would be disappointed in them if they voted him in because he would not do it to them if he was on the other side. Kailah counters this by saying Leroy has already voted her in twice this season, while Leroy says that Kailah had previously stated her top three guys are Ton, Zach, and Leroy. He also says Tony burned him last season and backstabbed his primary ally in Bananas already and both times Leroy didn’t react with anger. The Inquisition is dismissed, and we head to the elimination.

The Troika voting for who goes into elimination.

TJ introduces the Troika, and says this time around they will vote for who they want to save instead of who they want to go in. Cara Maria goes first, and after some deliberation she decides to save Kyle. Leroy immediately reprimands her for this saying Kyle has been playing her all season and she looks stupid for picking him. Kailah goes next and she saves Leroy. Tony is last to go, and he says he was initially planning to save Leroy but after his aggressive approach during the Inquisition he decided to save Kyle. Leroy says Tony is lying and he really just wants to carry Kyle to a final. Leroy can get angry if he wants, but I probably would have done the same thing if I was in Tony’s situation. If I’m choosing between two friends and one says how I’ve helped them grow and the other says how I should feel bad if I don’t pick them; I’m going to save the former. Leroy honestly sounded almost ingenuine to me in this situation, like he was talking for TV and not actually saying what he meant. While I don’t think that he didn’t mean what he said, I definitely think he could have been forcing it a little bit.

Brad running on the wall after he knocked it over.

After this, we head to the elimination; entitled Head Banger. The competitors start by bursting through two walls; and then have to take two boxing gloves and hit them against a metal grate in order to knock a small ball within the glove free. I’m not sure what inspired them to create this elimination, but it was honestly very confusing to me. The elimination starts, and both guys start rushing their walls. Leroy is able break through his rather easily; but instead of getting through his Brad’s wall doesn’t bend at all and he accidentally knocks it over. This forces him to run on the wall towards the next one, giving him an odd starting path. Leroy gets through the second wall first, but Brad isn’t far behind. Leroy starts by grabbing one glove and smashing it against the grate; while Brad grabs both. However, when Brad hits the gloves against the grate both his handles break off inside the glove and by the time he recovers Leroy has gotten both his balls out and is able to deposit them for the win and sending Brad home. I felt real bad for Brad here, he’s probably been the third best competitor this season and he was able to work his way to the doorstep of the final despite being a target all season. After Brad leaves, TJ dismisses the cast and that ends this episode of The Challenge.

Eliminated

Jemmye: Much better season this time around than Dirty XXX; and gave great commentary all season.

Devin: Had one fantastic episode, outside of that not much to write home about.

Nelson: Was in the background for most of this season but was still sad to see him go out like this.

Brad: Had to be devastating for Brad to go out now. He had fought through a very tough season, and he can’t help feeling like he got screwed with the ineptitude of his equipment.

Power Rankings

8) Kam: Has had a good season but considering the format of the final and her being a rookie I don’t have high hopes for her.

7) Kyle (+2): Same reasoning as above for Kam.

6) Kailah: First time in a final but has the endurance to potentially do well.

5) Leroy (+4): He has the experience of doing two finals before but hasn’t performed at a level that would inspire confidence.

4) Nicole Z (+1): She has the physical build to do well, but her lack of puzzle ability will be her downfall.

3) Tony: The first of the three people I can legitimately see winning, Tony has been very impressive this season. However, we still have yet to see him perform in a final so he’s stuck at third.

2) Cara Maria: This may be too high; but last time MTV had a mixed final (Battle of the Bloodlines) they gave the women significant advantages. If that happens again, her experience and well-roundedness could lead to a victory.

1) Zach: The presumptive favorite to win, with the shape he is in and his performance in the Get Off The Rock mission he’s the number one here.