Tonight’s episode was heavy on romance and strategy, with a redemption competition/elimination to cap it off. My uncle is currently recovering from surgery, so I have been spending a good amount of time with him. He watched the Challenge with me for the first time this week, and it was so hard to explain what the show was, and to explain that it is not just a simple dating show.

I’ll split this recap into romance-, strategy-, and redemption sections.

Romantic Relationships (New, Old, Etc.)

In the Redemption House, Britni and Chuck are finally starting to get along. An observant Paulie tells them he will tell Brad that the two of them fucked as a strategic counter.

Britni and Brad are legitimately in love. She is extremely excited to see him when she walks into Armageddon later that night. Shane tells Brad his game might be better off without Britni (totally true), but Brad shuts that down. Brad wants Britni in the house because it is almost like a vacation for them.

Angela sits on Bananas lap in a tiny bikini as he lotions her up. She is making a mark on the game and in Bananas’ pants.

Zach and Jenna miss each other. Zach left early on Invasion, Jenna left early on Champs vs Stars, and now Jenna is in Redemption. They talk about their relationship as if they are married, despite the fact that Zach has dumped and ghosted her twice before.

There is some weird Nelson/Kayleigh dynamic. He is into her, and she might be into him. She recalls how Nelson flew to her house after being eliminated from Vendettas just to stay for a day. Nelson asks Zach how to handle his relationship. Zach laughs when Nelson notes that him and Kayleigh are similar to Zach and Jenna. In the end, Zach says that in order for Nelson to have what he and Jenna has, Nelson needs to find a girl who is obsessively in love with him.

Strategic Gameplay and House Drama

When Paulie and Natalie enter the Redemption House, Jemmye is upset because it allows for a Big Brother alliance in Redemption.

Shane asks Bananas if he plans on voting him for the rest of the game. He figures out Bananas voted for him by deducing where all the other votes went. Bananas refuses to acknowledge his vote and says he should not ask him that in front of everyone.

The surprising moment is that after fighting with Shane, Bananas walks out of the room and KYLE calls him a piece of shit. Kyle does not like Shane, and he really does not like Bananas. Bananas walks around thinking he is a superstar, but Kyle is actually a mini-celeb in the UK, he has no regard for Bananas.

Redemption

DOUBLE CROSS

The four redemption teams arrive at some random location to enter the draw. There is one double cross. The team who pulls the double cross will choose which team to face in elimination, sending the other teams straight home. This is bullshit. Like why keep teams in a Redemption house if you are only going to knock half of them out with no chance to compete due to luck of the draw. Redemption houses are stupid, and somehow they made it worse this season. This double cross is ass backwards. The team get a chance to re-enter the game, eliminate two other teams, pick their opponent, and the kicker, if they lose, they get to go back to the Redemption House. What the actual fuck? Why does a bad team get rewarded so greatly?

Jozea-Da’Vonne pull first and get a single cross.

Paulie-Natalie pull second and get the double cross.

TJ informs them they will make their decision at Armageddon later that night.

When the players see the Redemption players enter the Armageddon, the majority are happy to see their friends, and unhappy to see Paulie and Natalie back after being eliminated the previous night. Paulie and Natalie decide to face Jozea and Da’Vonne, not because they are their Big Brother allies, but, according to him, because he cannot go after his enemies (Zach & Brad), he will go after their girlfriends and send them home. Big balls coming from someone who was just eliminated the night before.

Zach and Brad are not happy whatsoever and start calling Paulie out. The best statement comes from Zach, who yells “Brad is an X Man”. Paulie put the biggest target ever imaginable on his back, front, side, soul, and exoskeleton.

The sad part about Jenna/Jemmye being eliminated is… well they were not a good team to begin with. The sad part about Britni/Chuck being eliminated is that Chuck waited four years to get on the Challenge, only to be sequestered in a random house in South Africa with his taken ex-girlfriend. Maybe he gets a second chances, or maybe we never see him again. Goodbye, Charles, I mean Chuck.

Elimination/Redemption

The game is simple, there are two hammers stuck in a wall. Each person on the team have to break one hammer through the hole in the wall. First team to remove both hammers can proceed to break through a wall of ice. The first team to escape then hit a bell and win.

Paulie and Jozea get their hammers out super quick. It comes down to the two girls; Natalie struggles, partially due to size, partially due to her nerves, and her poor form and strategy. Once Da’Vonne tilts her hammer and starts doing quick strokes, she eventually manages to get the hammer through the hole. Jozea takes a few swings at the ice and they win.

The crowd starts taunting Paulie and tear him apart. He tries to fight with Kyle (apparently, he calls him something worse than “pussy”). Kyle tries to leave the bleachers after Paulie, his bulking is apparent when provoked. He is held back by Derrick, Sylvia, and others. Zach and Brad are talking shit, Tori is trying to look away, and Amanda is cheering for a fight.

No fight actually happens. When all is settled, Paulie tells Brad he did him a favor because Britni was having sex with Chuck. Brad is silent, the whole crowd is silent, and Kyle just hopes Brad does not believe it. Paulie and Natalie go back to the Redemption House, and Da’Vonne and Jozea enter the main house.