The house returns from the elimination, and everybody is still reeling from Johnny’s elimination. Josh in particular is shaken up, and questions how sending Johnny in is best for their team. Considering Johnny tried to throw a mission and was clearly willing to attack their own team now instead of later, I don’t really see what Josh is missing here. He also admits that he threw in Wes for a similar reason but still is struggling to comprehend.

Security restraining Paulie.

Paulie is talking to Turbo and tells Turbo he wanted to get the traitors off of their team. Josh comes in and starts provoking Paulie about looking him in the eyes and shaking his hand. Paulie and Josh both immediately explode and start screaming at each other. Security gets in between them and separates them as things get physical.

Leroy initiating the meeting.

Team US meets up and Leroy initiates a meeting for the team. The team agrees to meet together for all future votes and stop chopping each other off. For the time being, that seems to make sense as the Paulie/Cara contingent has a clear foothold and the other side trying to make a play would probably just lead to them going after them again. Nany asks if she can be speaker, and the team agrees to put her in along with Ninja and Leroy.

Georgia crying over Bear and Kayleigh.

In another room, Dee and Ninja are talking and Dee is saying she has fallen pretty hard for Rogan. She is talking to Nany, who is quite experienced with Challenge relationships. The relationship game continues as Kayleigh plays spin the bottle and makes out with Bear. Georgia is clearly bothered by this and resolves to make out with Josh, which she does. Better be careful mono doesn’t start to spread around.

The logo at the mission.

We get to the mission, which TJ introduces as Explosive Decisions, a team trivia game. Each team will select the smartest six players to play. One player from each team is strapped into a chair. If the player gets the answer correct, they stay. If they get it wrong, there are launched. Points are gained if an opponent gets it wrong while a player gets it right.

Georgia after missing a quesiton.

The UK is playing Bear, Rogan, Theo, Georgia, Dee and Nicole Bass. The US is playing Zach, Paulie, Smashley, Tori Deal, Kam, and Jordan. The Matchups play out as follows:

Jordan 1 — Theo 0

Paulie 2 — Georgia 0

Kam 3 — Nicole Bass 0

Tori Deal 3 — Rogan 0

Zach 3 — Dee 0

Smashley 4 — Bear 0

Jordan 5 — Theo 0

Paulie 6 — Georgia 0

Tori getting ready for takeoff.

Pretty boring trivia mission honestly. The questions seemed very US pop culture-centric and I would say the US team also got easier questions overall.

Kyle andry about the direction his team is taking.

Nicole Bass and Nany are talking, and Nicole seems convinced the team will throw in Esther. After this, we head to the nomination. CT wants to just vote, while Theo wants to talk first. Esther says the guys shouldn’t have an opinion since the women didn’t on guys day, which from what I recall was not the case. Kyle wants to throw in Esther, who he thinks is the weakest link. Esther says Nicole has been saying she wants to go home, which she rebukes. CT says he thinks there are two alliances, one (the Georgia/Theo alliance) is all best friend while the opposing (Joss/Kayleigh) is made more out of convenience. An argument between which alliance is better friends seems to break out before votes start happening. Nicole gets voted in by a slight margin over Esther, putting her in elimination. Nicole tells the tribunal she wants Esther and says she would be willing to flip if given the opportunity. Leroy wants to go back to the team and seems to convince Nany to do the same.

Kyle leaving in frustration.

Nany and CT are talking, and she isn’t buying the team vibe right now. Nany starts talking to Leroy, and Nany says she doesn’t want to just do what the team wants. We head to a club scene, where Kyle is jealous of Tori and Jordan. Nany tries to politick with Ninja, and she comes off wholly indecisive. Dee and Georgia start talking, and Georgia tells Dee that Rogan was going after Nicole. Rogan tells Dee that the two of them are as solid as anything, and they start to embrace.

Georgia and Dee talking at the club.

Back at the house, Kam and Ninja are talking. Ninja says she thinks she can get Leroy to swing their way. Another team meeting is called, and the team breaks out into argument with Tori, Josh, and Nany saying they want to put in Kayleigh. Kam calls out they are playing numbers here; which Nany responds by saying she is just going with the flow.

Jenny climbing the tower.

We head to the elimination, which is two tall towers with puzzle pieces in them. TJ asks for the votes, and Ninja votes Jenny while Nany votes Esther. It is up to Leroy, who votes for Jenny. TJ introduces the game as Trapped. Each competitor starts at the top and must jump down to memorize a key hidden by a set of balls that solves a puzzle at the top.

Nicole searching for the puzzle key.

The elimination begins, and Jenny is able to move up and down with relative ease. However, Nicole is really struggling. Georgia is crying on the sidelines as Nicole seems to not want to continue. Jenny looks like Donkey Kong, while Nicole is barely able to move up and down. Jenny is eventually able to get it right and wins the elimination. TJ dismisses Nicole, and Jenny elects to stay with the UK.

Eliminated

Nicole Bass: While she did well in the swimming, she was pretty putrid everywhere else.

Power Rankings

24) Bear: It seems weird to have him this low, but these alliances look like they are sticking and he’s on the weaker team in the weaker alliance.

23) Kyle: Same goes for Kyle as for Bear.

22) Jenny: She seems like she could be a dominant competitor but again weak alliance, weak team.

21) Esther: She’s done well politically but eventually it seems like her number will be called.

20) Idris: I don’t think it is out of the question for him to get voted off in the near future even with being in the majority alliance.

19) Georgia: She’s very live to go in and keep going in at any point now.

18) Theo: He’s easily one of the top UK competitors but that hasn’t stopped them from throwing him in before.

17) Nany: Nany is really stuck between a rock and a hard place being in the weaker alliance and the weakest girl.

16) Josh: His blowup with Paulie seems to have put him at the bottom of the totem pole.

15) Jordan: Outstanding competitor, but something is going to need to happen for him here to regain power.

14) Tori Deal: She still seems well liked despite being on the bottom, and I think Nany is a clear throw-in over her/.

13) Kayleigh: She hasn’t had the opportunity to shine or falter really in competition but is moving pretty clean politically.

12) Zach: I thought Zach would be likely to flip, but he needs to make a move now and not keep treading water.

11) Rogan: Seems to have a clear foothold in UK and hasn’t done anything to make one think he would be a bad competitor.

10) Leroy: Easily the big winner of the episode, he makes a move that ingratiates himself in the power alliance, appeases the team as a whole, and doesn’t burn his last alliance in the process while establishing himself as a fair and honest leader.

9) Dee: I feel like Nany really should have gone for Dee here, but I doubt that her team lets her or anybody from her alliance in the Tribunal as speaker anytime soon so Dee should be clean.

8) Joss: He’s got my vote as best UK competitor and has a great position politically right now.

7) CT: Nobody can touch CT right now.

6) Turbo: He still seems pretty solid with Paulie and Cara and as the long as that is the case, he should be good for the long haul.

5) Ninja: She seems to have a bad habit of rubbing people the wrong way although you could easily make the argument, she’s the best female competitor left.

4) Smashley: I’ll be curious to see if she sticks with Paulie moving forward.

3) Kam: She seems to wield an exceptional amount of influence and doesn’t have many clear enemies.

2) Cara Maria: Unless if something weird happens, she should be clean for a while.

1) Paulie: He’s the king right now, but if I’m the other side I’m taking every shot possible to take him out.

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