This week’s episode of The Challenge XXX was hands down the most entertaining episode of the past two seasons. It felt like old school Challenge which makes sense because the OG’s took control of the game.
Just as a refresher, last week the house decided that Veronica had to “prove herself” which apparently is a thing only female champs have to do. I can’t remember a time anyone has asked a three-time MALE champ to prove himself, but you know. Veronica has to go up against her dear friend Aneesa in the Presidio, and Veronica swiftly destroys her in the elimination. Later in the episode, Veronica leads her team to victory in the Team Challenge. Now she and the rest of her teammates (Tony, Kailah, Jordan, and Britni) have to choose one male and one female to be automatically sent to the Redemption house.
Who They Gonna Choose?!
And that is where this episode begins. My predictions for who should be sent in was Johnny for the guys, and either Cara Maria or Camila for the girls. To me, this was the perfect way to get Johnny out of the fucking house and make him FIGHT for his way back in. One fell swoop and he’s outta there. The two that ended up being sent to the Redemption House were CT and Cara Maria. I am not mad about these decisions. It was smart to get rid of Cara and CT because they are two of the strongest players. On the other hand, I really wanted someone to put Johnny in his place, and Camila is just toxic so I wanted her gone.
Veronica and her band of misfits still need to pick one guy and one girl to send into the Presidio. Veronica and I are on the same page, play the long game and use the Redemption House to your advantage. If Camila goes into the Presidio and loses, then she and Cara Maria will have to duke it out in the Redemption House. Kailah doesn’t like this plan because then her dear Jenna may have to go against Camila and possibly lose. She wants Jemmye to go in and so do the boys. This is understandable, Jemmye is the weakest female player. But that doesn’t make Britni and Veronica’s decision to send in a good friend any easier. Isn’t this a sentiment that Kailah should empathize with since her voting method is literally about wanting to keep her best friend around? It seems a bit hypocritical to me.
When it comes to the boys, everyone has someone they are either gunning for or want to protect. Kailah and Jordan are gunning for Hunter while Hunter is the only name that Britni will never say. Veronica’s main concern is protecting Derrick while apparently, Derrick is on Tony’s hit list because they didn’t talk last week? Veronica is playing chess while these youngins are playing checkers though because she is two steps ahead of everyone else. She is afraid if they vote in Hunter, Leroy and Johnny with both say Derrick’s name if they pull in the doublecross. But no one wants to listen to Veronica and Britni leaving them feeling powerless and small.
THIS IS WHERE SHIT GOES DOWN
This elimination voting has got to be in my top five favorites of all time. (Other included when Abram asked to be sent home on The Island and people still voted for Johnny because they hated them so much, and when Kelly Anne was voted to go against Evelyn on Ruins).
The girls’ vote goes without a hitch, and Jemmye even admits “Yeah, I screwed you all over, I’m not surprised to be going in.” But all hell breaks loose when it comes time to vote for the guys. Jordan goes first and votes for Hunter. No big surprise there. Next is Britni. Young, sweet, naive Britni assumes everyone is going to say Hunter, so instead of saying her best buds name, she casts a “burn vote” for Leroy. TJ’s response was classic and awesome as he informs Britni that it is not really a burn vote if you are the second person voting, and three people have yet to vote. After Tony votes Derrick and Kailah votes Hunter, the tally is this: 2 votes Hunter, 1 Vote Derrick and Leroy. All the power is now in Veronica’s hands, and she is ready to use that power to its fullest.
Veronica: “What if I just throw a curveball now and say Leroy?”
Woah. Well, damn, now that ties the score up with Leroy and Hunter with two votes apiece. TJ gives with winners one last chance to vote, but if it ends in a tie again, the winner circle will have to go into the doublecross. After this new ultimatum, Tony changes his vote, and Leroy is voted into the Presidio. Well, THAT was a turn of events that no one could have seen coming going into this episode. It was, quite frankly, genius.
Veronica: “These people that I’m sitting next to all silenced me. Made sure that I didn’t have a voice in today’s nomination, so I’m gonna show them that I can still have a voice today. I’m gonna decide who’s going into the elimination.”
I know that Leroy is pissed with a capital P, and that people thought what Veronica did was fucked up, but she wasn’t in an alliance with Leroy. It isn’t like she broke a pact with him, or screwed him over, they just didn’t have each other’s backs, and even Leroy acknowledges that. I also think that Leroy should understand that he is the company he keeps, and that company is Bananas. So, while Leroy is a completely stand up guy, he is in an alliance with Johnny, so if someone wants to fuck with Johnny’s game, Leroy isn’t safe.
Next comes my favorite part of the episode by far, and that is Jemmye.
Jemmye: “I enjoyed this way more than I thought I was going to today. I just think that Veronica and Britni wanted to vote one way and they couldn’t get Tony or Jordan to agree so Veronica took their power for the guy vote.”
I know that I don’t personally know Jemmye, but I still feel like this quote completely embodies who she is as a person. First, she loves gossip and watching drama unfold, so watching that elimination for her was just gold. Second, she is really observant and genuine. She watched that entire debacle unfold and knew EXACTLY why Veronica was doing what she was doing.
Presidio
In the Presidio, Derrick pulls the double cross for the guys and sends in Hunter. Again, I understand why Derrick went this route, but I wanted Hunter to pick it SO badly so he could send Johnny into the elimination. For the girls, Jenna pulls the doublecross and says Camila’s name, which means everyone should put their raincoats on because a Camila shit storm is about to rain down. She starts hooting and hollering and says “fuck you” to Jenna a bunch of times before getting suited up for the elimination.
Kailah: “Camila is the worst sport I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
The name of the game is Body Check. The two players are placed at bell posts on opposite sides of a wall. These walls contain two corridors covered in paper. The players must smash into each other through the paper corridors round the opposite bell post and run into a second door opening to their bell. Best out of three wins.
The boys are up first, and while each heat was close, Hunter wins both rounds by only .01 seconds, sending Leroy to the Redemption house. The winner of the girls’ side was not really a surprise, with Camila coming out victorious. Also not a surprise, Camila throwing her helmet to the ground after the win and screaming “fuck you” a few more time to Jenna.
But seriously, how good was that episode guys. It was so good they only spent like 3 minutes total on the Redemption House
