The Challenge: Ride or Dies recap: More eliminations send 2 champs home
It's another week of The Challenge: Ride or Dies with not one but two intense eliminations, and I've got to say, I am loving the extra action a double elimination episode brings. And this time, two champions are sent home, meaning the game has been shaken up even more right before the final. Let's recap!
After Fessy and Moriah won the elimination to get back into the game at the end of last week's episode, now Aneesa and Jordan have to face off against Kaycee and Kenny in round two, where the losing team goes home — for good this time. And it's an elimination classic, "Knot So Fast" with a much smaller cage than usual. Aneesa and Jordan have experience in this, and they attempt to weave their rope as if it's two separate pieces while Kaycee and Kenny start arguing with each other halfway through about their own strategy. But at one point, Jordan mutters to Aneesa, "Just be semi-athletic," showing how frustrated he's getting with Aneesa slowing him down, so neither team takes an early lead.
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By the end of round one, Jordan and Aneesa's structure looks like a totally overwhelming mess to untangle whereas Kaycee and Kenny's looks a lot less knotted, giving Jordan and Aneesa the advantage going into round two. Both teams get to work on untangling, and it looks like Kaycee and Kenny are moving a lot faster than Jordan and Aneesa because she's gassing out and Jordan has to pick up more of her slack. Ultimately, Jordan refusing to let Aneesa take breaks or slow down works in their favor and they beat Kaycee and Kenny, earning their way back into the game.
In their confessional, Aneesa tearfully admits she would have lost that elimination if she was in it alone, but Jordan's constant support and motivation got her through it. And then Nany runs down to tearfully say goodbye to Kaycee — there's just a lot of tears flowing tonight. What's more noteworthy is this is the first time Kaycee's been eliminated from The Challenge in her short but impressive career, and the first time she isn't making a final. That's got to be a rough pill to swallow, but she should keep her head high as a champion who has never been eliminated before.
Back at the house, Fessy tries to fake like he's happy that Moriah's back and gaslights Moriah into thinking she treated him just as bad as he treated her when they switched to teams. Props to Moriah for calling Fessy out on how he holds the whole "I brought you here" argument over her head constantly. They make nice … for now, because they have to, but it's clear that they are not actual ride or dies, just two athletic people forced to work together this season.
Meanwhile Nany's struggling now that Kaycee's gone, but she's still dedicated to winning this season. And to Bananas' credit, he becomes the support system she needs in Kaycee's absence. She promises him she's not checked out, just having an emotional moment, and he's confident in her.
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The next day, the players line up as a bus drives by, crashing into walls and going through explosions, and they get a little taste of what this next challenge is going to be like. In "Runaway Ride," pairs are locked inside the bus as it drives chaotically past signs with symbols for the correct balls they need to find inside the topsy-turvy bus to stop their time. The pair who finds all 10 of their balls the fastest wins.
Amber and Chauncey go first and they both are getting absolutely wrecked, flying everywhere with each turn the bus makes. Amber does her best to finish the mission while Chauncey starts vomiting. They ultimately end their run early with only seven out of 10 balls correct. Horacio and Olivia go next, and they make quick work of finding 10 balls, impressing everyone with how fast they finish. But are all 10 correct?
Aneesa and Jordan go next, but they only get one ball correct — yikes. Fessy and Moriah get eight, Tori ends up puking and ending her run with Devin before he's ready and they end up with eight as well. Bananas and Nany think they got all 10 right faster than Horacio and Olivia, but it's up to TJ to reveal the results.
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At the end, TJ announces that one pair dominated the rest — the only team to get all 10 balls right is Bananas and Nany, winning yet another challenge this season. Back at the house, Nany tells Bananas their best path forward is saving Fessy and Moriah, since they can't count on the other teams having their back the same way Moriah has Bananas' due to their new romance. The other four teams get put up for Interrogation, and Chauncey gives permission to send him and Amber in as the main vote since he quit an earlier challenge, and they'd rather know in advance than get surprised during The Draw. All the other teams side-eye their choice, questioning the motive behind it.
At the elimination, Bananas and Nany give them their wish and send them straight in. In The Draw, Horacio and Olivia pick the safe dagger, and they choose Tori and Devin to be safe with them, sending Jordan and Aneesa into their second elimination in a row in this episode — tough break!
The elimination is called "Rumble Tumble," and players are strapped back-to-back to their same-sex opponent and push, pull, wrestle, and drag each other to knock down all three of their own stacks first. The first team to win two out of three rounds wins the whole thing.
For the women, Aneesa clearly has the weight advantage over Amber. She drags Amber around like dead weight in the first round, getting all three of her stacks knocked down before Amber could even get one of her own despite fighting valiantly. Aneesa even tells Jordan and Tori to stop cheering from the sidelines because she knows she's got the victory in the bag.
In the second round, Chauncey has the clear weight advantage on Jordan, but Jordan has experience and knows the right strategy is more important than being bigger and stronger. He realizes that using Chauncey's own size, strength, and energy can work to his advantage. Jordan gets his first stack quickly, lets Chauncey fight to get to his own first and tie it up before then pulling Chauncey over to his second almost immediately.
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Jordan's "work smarter not harder" strategy is risky, because Chauncey is able to tie it up again with his second stack. But Jordan ultimately powers through, using his motivation of getting Aneesa to her first final in 13 years to pull Chauncey out of a deadlock to his third and final stack, winning the entire elimination. Even TJ is impressed with Jordan's performance here, but experience and strategy always win over brute strength. Jordan once again proves why he's a three-time champ.
So now Amber and Chauncey are going home for good, and Jordan and Aneesa have a new fire lit under them after two successes in a row that sent home two champions. And TJ fakes everyone out before revealing they're not at the final just yet. We've got more challenges and eliminations to get through first!
The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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