TJ Lavin hates quitters. And so do I.

The Oasis is full

Who punched the final tickets?

(MTV)

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions episode 4 is officially in the books. Here’s the low down:

The last episode of The Challenge was all about the underdogs filling in the four remaining spots left in the Oasis. This is where it comes down to the nitty gritty, the heart, and the nail-biting finishes. If you want that ticket you gotta go get it.

Who Needed a Ticket?

The people left fighting for their spots were: Latoya, Sylvia, Amanda, Nelson, Anthony, and Shane. This is an interesting batch of competitors as most have some challenge experience, but none have gone very far.

In the challenge Caged and Confused, you get put inside a small cage that is at first wound up. When TJ blows the horn you begin to unravel, and the cage spins fast which basically disorients the fuck out of you. Once your cage hits the ground you have to try and roll your cage all the way to your rope, which you pull in to retrieve a key to unlock yourself. Which is actually super difficult and taxing.

The girls went first and Latoya started off with a bang, creating a super big lead, as Nelson admired her hips from afar. However, she gasses out. Like hard. This leaves room for Amanda to catch up as Sylvia stuggled for majority of the time. Amanda wins as Latoya sits in her cage in dismay.

As for the guys, Shane was the one who came out with a large lead. The guy was killing it. He got to his rope basically before anyone was halfway. It’s important to note that Nelson barely moved at this point, which is astonishing. Shane is just a little too far away to reach his rope, and Anthony wasn’t quitting. Rolling like a hamster in a ball with added jet boosters, Anthony reaches his rope before Shane. However, Anthony can’t seem to get his key off the end of the rope. In a crazy finish Shane doesn’t quit fighting and ends up unlocking his cage first, thus punching his ticket to the Oasis.

(MTV)

Oh, the winners also won a year supply of Burger King. WHOPPER CITY Y’ALL.

Eliminations

This meant Latoya vs. Sylvia and Anthony vs. Nelson for elimination matchups to claim the last two spots in the Oasis. The group meets TJ in the midst of a temple in Thailand. Yes, the temple is exactly as you would expect. It has a ton of stairs. (It reminded me of doing the Manitou Incline in Colorado. I highly recommend it if you like neverending stairs and burning thighs. The view is dope too.)

The goal is simple: Make it to the top to grab your relic, run back down and hang it up, and ring the gong faster than your opponent.

This challenge is all based on time as each competitor starts on their own turn. After witnessing Latoya gas out hard earlier, I figured this would be a tough task for her. But, Sylvia also struggled so it really was anyone’s game. As the elimination started it was clear that Sylvia was pushing harder than Latoya, which ended up with Syl claiming that last spot. Nelson and Anthony was an intriguing matchup. It appeared Anthony was moving at a pretty solid pace after Nelson had already started. Once Nelson made it to the top though he took off going down, as he must have had some energy stored up. Anthony seemed to be dragging a bit going down, which let Nelson pull away for the victory.

Both Latoya and Anthony showed worthy competitiveness this season and I would like them to come back in the future, as they both received TJ’s sign of approval.