This episode starts with the elimination from the last episode. The elimination is Tug O’ War and has the competitors pull on a rope that is attached to their opponent. Whoever gets through the rope and pulls their opponent off first wins.

The elimination for the episode.

As it opens, Dee goes full force from the beginning while Da’Vonne paces herself a bit more. There really isn’t much going on here, but Dee starts to falter and ends up running out of energy while Da’Vonne keeps going. Da’Vonne is able to pull out the win, eliminating Dee. Really quick elimination, not much to write home about but a great win for Da’Vonne.

Hunter prepping for the mission.

Dee has some tears as she is eliminated, and after that, we head to the house. We get a quick training session before heading outside to talk to Mattie and Da’Vonne. Mattie talks about recovering from Party Down South and taking advantage of the opportunity in front of her. We also get a clip of Paulie and Cara Maria talking as Paulie seems concerned about what lies ahead.

Wes acquiring a ring.

After this, we head to the mission for the episode entitled Judgement Day. The mission has the competitors complete an obstacle course by jumping off a container and swimming up to a net and then climbing up it to the top of a container. They then rope swing to another container to collect a ring and then swim back to the second container. They then have to climb another net and place the ring on a pole on the second container. The last place male and female will be eliminated.

Paulie falling during the mission.

A crazy difficult mission that seemed to take everything out of everybody. Paulie, Da’Vonne, and Mattie are the only three to not complete it, sending Paulie and Da’Vonne home. Paulie had a pretty massive disadvantage as he had to go first and had a few massive falls. In the future, you have to think they take some preventive measures either by sequestering the competitors that are competing or having missions where multiple people go at once. At the very least, if the order could be decided by performance throughout the season instead of being random it would make some more sense. He seemed to hit his head super hard on the initial dive, and after hitting the water hard a few times he struggled to get himself onto the container and clearly was shaken from the water. Even Hunter and Wes said while it made their runs much easier as they could just pace themselves and focus on finishing, they felt terrible having someone who was clearly a top-level competitor fall in that way. I thought Wes, Hunter, and Georgia seemed to be the fastest but that, of course, is subject to the edit and all that mattered was who lost.

Georgia making her way through the mission.

TJ dismisses Paulie and Da’Vonne, who give tear-filled goodbyes to the rest of the cast. Cara is consoled by Georgia back at the house, and Hunter is unconvinced that they are in the final just yet. However, Cara calls everyone into the living room and announces that they are in fact the finalists and everybody goes crazy.

The finalists celebrating their journey so far.

Hunter, Georgia, and Wes particularly cracked me up during this scene. Turbo sits back, cool and collected as everybody else explodes. We get a few clips of people falling during the final challenge as the episode ends.

Eliminated

Dee: Strong season from Dee, the fact she is the fourth best female prospect shows how stacked this group of female rookies is. She seemed to falter a little bit since getting split from Wes but nevertheless would love to see her back again.

Paulie: Paulie is one of the more hated cast members by the general audience at the moment. I’ve never agreed with that sentiment; I find his passion for competition engrossing and it makes him a compelling TV character. Paulie faltering in this way was hard to watch but I would bet he comes back more driven than ever.

Da’Vonne: I feel like I say this with every competitor who has left recently, but it was an impressive season for Da’Vonne. Three elimination wins and a mission win is a great season for her, and she has elevated her standing in The Challenge hierarchy immensely this season.

Power Rankings

8) Mattie: Great season from Mattie, but she was seconds away from getting purged out and girls of her height have struggled in finals the first time around (Laurel, Kam). I could certainly have her too low, but she’ll have to prove me wrong first.

7) Ninja: She came in with massive expectations, and for the most part has reached them so far. Her athletic abilities in a short distance are outstanding, but we haven’t really seen her showcase her endurance level which will be critical in the final.

6) Georgia: I think Georgia’s performance this season has gone somewhat overlooked. She has won two eliminations in addition to making four tribunals. She’s also the best runner out of the rookie girls, giving her the best chance out of the three of them. If she was paired with Hunter still, I think they could be the favorite but even without that, I still think she can impress.

5) Theo: I’ve really enjoyed Theo this season. He has an aura about him that just makes him entertaining and has one of the more impressive athletic records in the history of the show. However, running a final takes something different and I’d be surprised to see him come back with the win.

4) Hunter: I find Hunter to be the most compelling character on this season. Seeing someone with the emotional turbulence he has experienced in his Challenge career (this is still only his fourth season) try to overcome that has been fascinating, and any time he is on screen with Wes or Georgia is must-watch television. If this was still pairs, I probably would favor him and Georgia over anyone else but in an individual scenario, I think his lack of puzzle ability keeps him away from back to back championships.

3) Cara Maria: People have been skeptical of Cara’s performance this season, which I just don’t think has much grounding in fact. She has five Tribunals so far and is one of only three champions, the only female champion (or veteran for that matter), and the only individual winner left in the game. We’ll see if she holds up in a fifty-mile race, but her puzzle ability and experience give her a chance.

2) Wes: There have been a lot of male veterans coming back after missing four or more seasons recently, the majority of them actually pretty successful. Darrell and Shane on Invasion of the Champions, Derrick on Dirty XXX, and Brad on Vendettas. However, Wes has a chance to top them all by coming out with the win. Outside of the Turkish Dynamo, he has the best shot, but he’ll need things to break his way to take the gold.

1) Turbo: I usually lean on experience heading into the final. However, Turbo is a unique circumstance. He has won Turkish Survivor twice, and his drive to win combined with showing little to no weaknesses gives him the top spot heading into the final.

Extra Notes

· Make sure to vote in the best female Challengers of All-Time poll. Voting closes soon!

· Hunter Barfield is apparently set to join the dad club and has a kid on the way. Congratulations to the Challenge Champ!

Fantasy Scoring