Consider tonight’s installment as part recap, part serious breakdown of the alliances — and there’s a lot to cover!
When we last left off, Mercenaries Hunter and Ashley crashed the Armageddon party to fight for a spot in the main house against Faith and Angela.
Armageddon: No Slack
Players are tied to their teammates and must punch and crash through six dry walls to ring a bell at the other end. Losers head to Redemption House.
So was there a male-female team handicap? Yep! Hunter gets a thicker wall to have to bust through, and his team also gets a shorter slack line, leaving them less room to wind up and punch.
Faith takes off like the Tasmanian boxing devil and crushes her first wall. As soon as she crawls through and gives her teammate slack, Angela bosses through her wall with no trouble at all. Unfortunately, Faith used all her energy too fast and gasses out at her last wall, leaving a frustrated Angela unable to advance.
On the other side, Ashley has a rough start until she finally uses what she’s so famous for… her head skills. She head-butts through her last wall and dives through, giving her partner the slack he needs to advance. Hunter Hulk-smashes everything in his way. That broken wrist fromDirty 30is a distant memory. It couldn’t be more obvious that Hunter came hungry for a win this season.
In today’s Armageddon, we have only exchanged an all-female team for a strong male/female team. Eight episodes in, we have only truly eliminated two teams. The rest are on vacation in the Redemption House.
Kyle’s latest conquest
Ashley played games in Shane’s room with me. She listened while I girl-talked with her about my feelings. Meanwhile, she is keeping up the lie to my face. Again, I am the only one in the house to be completely oblivious and the last one to know anything. I am once again a joke to all the girls in the Lavenders’ room. Not one person has the courtesy to give me a heads up on anything. A simple, “Yo Cara, let this go, he is doing this behind your back and everyone knows and you look like a joke. Just be aware,” would have been nice.
Speaking of people who name their groups of friends (because acting like you are in high school never goes out of style). Let me break it down for you…
The Lavenders
Established:2017 onInvasion of the ChampionsOriginal Members:Shane, Sylvia, Ashley, Amanda“Honorary” New Additions:Kayleigh and KamEnemies:Me, Camila, Laurel (though not anymore since Laurel is anti-Cara now), Johnny Bananas. They also hate Natalie, Paulie, my horse (I don’t get it either), and generally anyone who is remotely different from them or generally comfortable being alone.Favorite fighting words:“No one likes you,” “Loser,” “Weirdo,” “You are annoying and have no friends,” “Get a real job, “You have no life”
Now that the group of girls is reunited, the house dynamic is changed for the worse. The Lavenders are feeling powerful in their numbers. They are riding high and ready to exert all the petty, shady, nastiness they can dish to anyone who isn’t “one of them.”
The Young Bucks (“TYB”)
Established:2017 onDirty 30Original Members:Hunter, Nelson, Cory (Cory is obviously not on this season, but having Hunter and Nelson together with Lavender partners creates ultimate power.)Enemies:Johnny Bananas. That is basically it. Just Johnny.Favorite fighting words:“You are old,” “We are taking your place,” “You have no one”
It’s clear that the tides are changing in theChallengehouse. It looks as though if you aren’t juvenile enough to label your group of friends, you might be in trouble.
Shady Shane and his many vendettas
Angela:She could not take his bad girl crown so she damn well couldn’t take his closet space either. Now she has all the space she needs in Redemption House.
Johnny Bananas:I can’t sort out if Shane has a crush on Johnny, really hates him, or wants to be him. He attacks Johnny at every turn and again uses the word “entitled” with him. He is doing everything he can to take down “the King.” I believe everyone who makes a big effort to fight with Johnny is just trying to steal some spotlight off him. They know Johnny is a big name in these games and think the best way to get on his level is to try to knock him down to theirs. Confident people don’t try to steal light from others because they shine enough on their own.
Da’Vonne:She wouldn’t go with the group voting after Shane tried to save her team. Now she is public enemy No. 1 in Shane’s eyes. They do have a sit-down chat in this episode and both agree to play nice. Fast-forward to the confessionals where it is clear they both see through each other and are not backing down at all.
Redemption House surveillance time!
Challenge: Don’t Push Me Around
Two teams battle to run a ball from the opponent’s side of the field to the goal on their side. Girls can only tackle girls; guys can only tackle guys. The team that wins gets to choose a duo within their team as the Power Team who is safe from elimination and gets two votes in nomination.
Let’s be real: Whether we win or lose, Marie and I are never going to sway people to give us immunity. We are on that chopping block, so we are just in it for the fun of the game today.
After a shut-out two rounds, it’s clear that the blue team had an overwhelming advantage. Two members of the green team (Sylvia and Shane) were basically playing for blue. Props to Joss and Nelson who still risked life and limb while playing their hearts out for the win and love of competition.
We give Zach and Amanda immunity since no one will agree on anything else. And we watch the fireworks of Jozea and Shane as they literally leave it all on the field.
source: people.com
