Yahoo News The Challenge: Ride or Dies recap: Ditching teams, it's 2 eliminations for the price of 1
After weeks on end of watching one team annihilate the other on The Challenge: Ride or Dies, it's finally time to reunite the pairs. So who got lucky, who's regretting ditching their ride or die, and who is still fighting for their way back into the game? Let's recap!
The format switch couldn't have come at a better time, because it means we got two eliminations in this week's episode ... with a third still to come at the beginning of next week's. After Fessy failed at an eating challenge, he's lost his ride or die Moriah but he couldn't care less. In his mind, the season stopped being a pairs format as soon as they changed into teams, but the actual seasoned vets and champs know that there's always a twist, and he'll learn his lesson soon enough.
Tori and Jordan's relationship roller coaster continues as Tori grills Aneesa about how Jordan's feeling about her, and Aneesa is just over it. She rightly tells Tori this is not the place for them to air their dirty laundry and rehash their relationship issues, but they're stuck in this house and game together so you know it's still going to come out whether they want it to or not.
This week's challenge is the dreaded nighttime challenge! In "Takes Two to Tango," the teams split up into pairs to make their way down and back a narrow beam suspended over the ledge of a high-rise building. On the beam are tons of little obstacles, and at different points, players have to swap positions so each person will be moving forward and backwards throughout the whole run. If they don't complete the course in 10 minutes, they'll be yanked off the beam and dropped 20 stories. Chauncey is crapping his pants already.
First up: Tori and Fessy. He immediately makes a comment about how they've "danced" together in the past. Gross. Fessy freaks out at the first swap point, and Tori has to calmly talk him through the whole thing. Hilariously he says in a confessional that he thinks he has the best balance of all the guys, which is ironic considering how shaky he is here, but he and Tori end up completing the run.
Aneesa and Chauncey follow, and he quits before they even get on the beam. But it turns out that won't automatically DQ his whole team — TJ reveals that the fastest pair will win the challenge for their team. That's ... ridiculous. There should be consequences for a quit! This is not standard at all, and I'm really annoyed about it.
Nany and Jordan go next, and they absolutely breeze through the whole run. Even Jordan's impressed with how Nany's got a new fire lit in her after last week's elimination win. Devin and Amber go next, and they complete the run too. Bananas goes with Olivia, and they finish it on time. Nany ends up going twice and does it with Horacio next, and they crush it. And then Fessy goes a second time with Kaycee, and while they're not graceful about it, they finish too ... and TJ reveals that they were actually the pair to finish fastest, winning the entire challenge for their team.
This is such a disappointing outcome. Chauncey's quit should have DQed their team, but instead he faces absolutely no consequences. How does that make any sense? TJ hates quitters — but he's just letting Chauncey off for nothing?! I hate this. And now it's going to affect this whole season because now either Jordan, Devin, or Horacio is getting eliminated when the other team's guys should be in the hot seat.
It gets messy in the Interrogations immediately when Bananas asks Tori directly if she'd say Jordan's name as the direct vote. She doesn't hold back in revealing she wants some revenge but wants to know if she'd be the deciding vote first. She's laying all her cards on the table in front of everyone which is a rookie mistake. Jordan tells her he'd 100 percent never say her name if the roles were reversed, and that she plays a messy game. It turns into a screaming match and then uncomfortable silence when she tells him, "You drive me crazy," and he responds, "That's on you. If you can't deal with it, f--- off." Jordan finally explains how hurt he was by Tori using their personal relationship as a bargaining tool in this game, and she ultimately breaks down in tears.
MTV
Walking into the elimination arena, TJ's laughing and all the people on the sidelines know they're in for a hell of a show ... it's "Balls In!" A good, old-fashioned headbanger. So who's playing? Aneesa votes for Horacio, Fessy votes for Jordan, Olivia votes for Devin, Chauncey votes for Jordan, in a shocking twist Kaycee votes for Horacio (because it "makes sense"?), and then Tori stops playing a messy game and votes for Horacio and not Jordan. Cue the emotional music! For the final vote, Bananas says Horacio's name and officially sends him in. In The Draw, Devin goes first and picks the safe dagger, sending Jordan in against Horacio for the physical elimination matchup of the season.
Jordan's on offense first and body checks Horacio immediately, getting his first point and making it look easy. In the next round, Horacio shows off his strategy of speed, fakes Jordan out, and then sprints to the goal and gets his first point. Now that's an impressive move! It also shows off the differences in these two guys' strengths. In the next round, Jordan uses both speed and strength to ultimately army crawl and get his second point.
This is the most impressive "Balls In" and it's incredibly evenly matched. In the next round, Horacio outruns Jordan again to tie it up. Horacio causes Jordan to lose the ball in the next round, giving Horacio the chance to win it. And he does — Horacio tries to outrun Jordan again, but Jordan takes him down and holds onto his leg. Then Horacio shimmies out of his shoe to escape and get the final point, winning the whole thing and sending Jordan out of the game.
It's the upset of the season and proves that Horacio really is one of the all-time great rookies — TJ even reveals he just tied the all-time record for most elimination wins in a single season. And then Jordan proves that he's a good sport by hugging Horacio, giving him props, and then holding his head high to apologize to Tori before leaving.
The next morning, TJ shows up at the house and just hops up on the pool table while everyone gathers to hear what he's got to say. He tells everyone to pack up, suit up ... and he'll see them at the elimination arena.
When they all gather, TJ says he only split them into teams to test their relationships — some, like Fessy, turned their backs on their partners, while others stayed loyal ... and it's time to get back into those pairs right now. The teams are done! Fessy's sweating now and the look on his face is priceless, because he, Kaycee, and Aneesa are left standing alone while everyone else gets happy reunions with their partners. TJ plays a fun prank on them by telling them they can't continue in this game without a partner, and they all believe him ... until Jordan, Moriah, and Kenny walk out. So really only Nelson and Nurys got screwed by this whole format change twist.
MTV
Only one pair is making it past tonight, because we've got ourselves a second elimination in this episode! In "Don't Let Me Down," all three pairs push a heavy barrel up a steep ramp, and whoever is the first to hold it for a minute at the top wins. It's all strength and endurance, and Aneesa and Jordan are the first to get past the line but slip immediately. Soon all the teams realize they need to kick the sand off their shoes and the ramp to avoid slipping back down, and Fessy and Moriah get their clock started. Kaycee and Kenny struggle to get their barrel up to the line while Jordan and Aneesa get their clock started again. But Fessy and Moriah are staying strong with their lead, while Aneesa and Jordan keep slipping and have to start again.
Eventually Fessy and Moriah get to their minute and win, sending Jordan home for good (twice in two days!), and Aneesa with him. Now Fessy is forced to make nice with Moriah and fake like he's happy she's back, which is just uncomfortable. Meanwhile Kenny's long vacation is over and Kaycee has to go home with him. Or ... so we think? There's another twist! TJ says there's one more elimination: Jordan and Aneesa vs. Kaycee and Kenny ... which is happening next week, because we're out of time now.
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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