The episode picks up with everyone returning from elimination. Theo talks to his team and is trying to get them to cease holding ties with Paulie and Cara. Georgia expresses a similar sentiment and is met with a mixed response. Rogan and Kayleigh point out (via confessional) that they aren’t taking orders from Paulie, they are making moves with him to better themselves. I think that is an important distinction here, that Kayleigh and Rogan have clearly benefited from this dynamic and haven’t just been patsies for Cara and Paulie.

Tori and Cara wrestling back and forth.

Elsewhere, Cara and Tori are wrestling around as are Paulie and Jordan. Jordan and Cara mention via confessional their antipathy for each other, while Paulie seems to want to broker a peace between the two. Jordan is really the precursor to Paulie, and I can see why Paulie would want the two couples to align. I always thought this foursome working together would be the driving force of the team but is not looking like this season is headed that way. In another room, Kam and Leroy seem to be flirting a little bit. CT comes in and plays a couple's therapist for a bit, and Leroy and Kam seem to be friendly.

Dee sick from her run.

Dee is running around with Tori for a bit but starts hyperventilating and is clearly sick from the heat. Georgia, Nany, and Ninja go to comfort her, but she looks terrible. Rogan tries to comfort her as well, but he seems more out of place in the situation. Dee is taken to the hospital for her sickness.

The UK guys starting the puzzle.

We head to the mission for the episode where TJ is standing in front of a massive containment unit. Dee is back and looks happy and healthy. Inside the containment unit, there is a bunch of debris and puzzle pieces. There are two heats, one female and one male. Each team must attempt to build the puzzle, the first team to build their puzzle wins that heat.

Theo working on the puzzle.

The men are up first and are fully decked out in helmets and gear. The unit is tilted pretty high and has the Brits sliding down towards the American side. Theo slides down and smashes into Paulie. Neither team seems to be getting much progress and are just bashing into each other. CT seems very annoyed with his team’s performance and the Brits especially are struggling. At one point, Joss throws a ball behind him and hits Turbo, setting him off. Turbo starts shouting at Joss, and Jordan starts shouting at Turbo. Eventually, time runs out, and the women go in.

The UK women working on the puzzle.

As the guys are sitting out, Turbo starts barking at the UK guys saying he never hurt them at all. The US women outnumber the UK women 6 to 4, and I honestly think the best strategy would be to just have 5 Americans each pin a UK girl and then have Ashley try to finish the puzzle while sliding the pieces to her. The women seem much too polite for that though and mostly avoid contact. Tori seems to take the lead for the US while Georgia is in pole position for the UK. At one point, in particular, Georgia goes flying and smashes into the US side. The UK team is getting absolutely nowhere, while the US is making some progress before TJ blows the horn and brings the men back in.

The US women working on the puzzle.

A sudden death round starts, where there are already three pieces on the board. The US gets the tip their way first and is able to put the pieces on the board as the UK is recovering getting them the win. Seemed a tad unfair, but them’s the brakes. Team US announces Josh as a speaker, and he takes Leroy and Ninja in with him. I’m not sure why Josh keeps getting out as a speaker, but I guess they like using him as a scapegoat.

Team US finishing their puzzle.

They return to the house, and Leroy and Kam really start to rekindle their relationship. We head to UK nominations, where Rogan starts things off by nominating Idris. Joss follows suit, and it seems the team is in pretty clear unison to vote Idris. Idris says he wants to go against Theo. After that, Josh says he wants to put in Rogan or Joss while Ninja wants to put in Theo, putting Leroy in the middle.

CT talking to Idris.

CT makes some comments calling Idris Ted Bundy before Idris walks into the room drenched in sweat and shirtless. CT has his son’s stuffed animal on his shoulder and is hiding behind a pillow while Idris talks to him.

Theo and Paulie fighting.

We get some workout shots in before Paulie and Theo start chirping each other. Paulie and Theo get right in each other’s grill, and at one-point, Paulie seems to attempt to lick Theo. Theo responds by kissing Paulie, and we have someone coming to take the title of weirdest Challenge fight from the Jemmye-Knight-Ketchup debacle. After they are separated, Paulie and Georgia have a brief spat about political lines.

Jordan talking to Zach.

Elsewhere, Jordan is talking to Zach. Jordan says he would be willing to throw himself in and turncoat in order to try swing the number s in their favor. If the Americans keep winning at this rate, I might just stay put since they would only have to see maybe two or three eliminations the rest of the way total. Zach doesn’t seem supportive of the maneuver, but Jordan says he has Tori willing to follow suit as well.

Paulie, Smashley, Ninja, and Leroy at the team meeting.

Another Team US meeting is held, and Smashley makes a case for throwing in Theo while Josh wants to put in Rogan. Leroy is still in the idle, and we’ll have to wait for elimination for his decision.

Josh upset at the political situation of the team.

We head to the elimination where TJ is standing in front of a massive wall. TJ asks for the votes, and Ninja starts by voting for Theo. Josh votes for Joss and starts chirping Ninja saying she is controlled by Paulie. Clearly, if Ninja is in Paulie’s alliance protecting Joss is also best for her, and competitively I don’t see significant difference between Joss and Theo. Leroy is next and votes in Theo. Josh complains saying Leroy is just playing Paulie’s game, to which Leroy counters by saying if he voted with Josh he would just be playing Josh’s game according to that logic. Leroy says as long as nobody from Team US is going in, they should be happy (which I agree with honestly); and makes the point that is clear there is alliance but as long as they keep voting in UK that’s not a big deal. Paulie and Josh start going at it before eventually, they subside, and TJ can introduce the elimination.

Theo hitting the wall.

TJ announces the elimination as Break Free and has the competitors swing down from a rope into a wall. Once the competitors break the wall, they must put the puzzle pieces together. First to complete the puzzle wins.

Idris on his rope as Theo smashes through.

The elimination starts, and both smash into the wall. Idris scrapes a larger piece off, but Theo seems to be getting deeper. Eventually, Theo is able to bust through and start working on the puzzle. Idris ends up just jumping through his and working on the puzzle. Smashley is giving Idris pointers, and he is also getting help from about two thirds the cast seemingly. Funny enough, one of the only US people pulling for Theo is Josh, even though he claims he wanted to keep Idris around. He seems to be kind of overwhelmed by everybody helping him and gets in his own head. Even Jordan is rooting for Idris. Theo finishes the puzzle, getting the win and sending Idris home. Theo stays in the UK, again surprising nobody.

Cara Maria asking for ehat she can do to earn Jordan’s respect.

We actually don’t end the episode there, and when we get back Jordan makes a comment about Cara thinking about her cardio a lot and not actually doing anything about it. She and Jordan start getting into it, with Cara asking him what she would have to do to win his approval. Turbo’s name also comes up, with Jordan calling Turbo a weak player. Jordan says he will stop poking at Cara and leaves before Smashley goes and tells Turbo what Jordan was saying.

Jordan and Turbo getting heated.

Turbo comes in and asks for Jordan. Turbo asks Jordan why he called him weak, to which Jordan says he didn’t he just said he got tired in the containment unit. Smashley and Tori start to get heated before Turbo asks Jordan to shake his hand and they will go into the next elimination against each other. Cara also asks Tori if she wants to go into the next elimination, and eventually, things break apart.

Security restricting Turbo.

Afterward, a few people are sitting by the pool talking. They are wondering what is going on with Jordan, and Nany blames Smashley for most of it. Leroy says he thinks eventually Turbo and Jordan will see each other in elimination, to which Rogan is pleased to hear that. Nany goes to talk to Turbo and tries to reason with him. She puts the blame on Smashley, Ninja, and Cara; while Turbo is mostly mad at Jordan. It’s weird to see the two at odds somewhat considering their bond last season, but a lot of pairs have been split up politically this time around. Turbo is still mad and is at the pool where he is asking Jordan to shake his hand to see him in elimination. Tori is clearly just done with the situation, and Jordan starts to copy Turbo’s walk which sets him off like nothing else. Turbo starts screaming at Jordan before production gets in between the two, and the episode ends before we figure out what happened.

Eliminated

Idris: I think it’s hard to say if he was as bad as everybody was claiming, but he certainly didn’t show much to reverse those characterizations.

Power Rankings

20) Nany: She could get put in at this point even if US wins since they are running out of people to put in.

19) Josh: He’s been a mess politically so far and has made just about every wrong move one can make.

18) Jenny: She’s been so invisible it’s hard to get a good gauge of where she stands.

17) Theo: He’s been dominant this season but will have to go in as long as UK keeps losing.

16) Georgia: I seem to be much higher on Georgia as a competitor than everybody else, so I still believe in her to hang around for a while.

15) Kayleigh: It seems like things could turn against her at some point considering she is the worst competitor remaining but that is yet to happen.

14) Tori Deal: There’s a strong chance she goes in if US loses but I believe in her to hold her own against most of the women on this cast.

13) Jordan: It’s getting tight in terms of competitors remaining but hard to see him going down at this point.

12) Joss: His name is swung around a ton so maybe I should have him lower, but he is also such a dynamite competitor it’s hard to push him down too far.

11) Turbo: He’s turned into such a loose cannon he could be disqualified as next episode starts but if he can just keep his head on straight, he’ll have some time before his name is called.

10) Zach: He really hasn’t caught much heat and has been as impressive as anybody in the missions so far.

9) CT: It’s still kind of difficult for me to imagine him going in any time soon, but the numbers crunch on UK is getting tight.

8) Rogan: While at this point, he’s probably the worst guy on the team, he’s been pulling the strings in his alliance like a master so far.

7) Dee: The heat stroke wasn’t a good look, but she’s as solidified as anybody in her alliance.

6) Ninja: She still seems to receive a ton of negative attention despite not attempting to be involved that much.

5) Kam: She really hasn’t gotten that involved since episode two and has kept her nose clean because of that.

4) Leroy: Nobody this season has surpassed my expectations more than Leroy. Outside of Johnny’s shadow, his team first mindset has been great to elevate his own position in the game and he looks well set moving forward.

3) Smashley: Smashley has played as good of a game as anybody this season, and it seems like her charisma was built for a team game.

2) Cara Maria: She hasn’t gotten her hands dirty in a while, but if push comes to shove, I still trust her down there.

1) Paulie: I was tempted to push him a little lower due to seemingly being the target for the opposing alliance, but for now he stats number one.

Extra Notes

· Make sure to vote in our Top Male Competitors poll. Voting functions the same way as the Top Female Competitors poll.

Fantasy Scoring