The Challenge: All Stars 3 finale recap: And the winners are...
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Warning: This article contains spoilers about the season finale of The Challenge: All Stars 3.
After last season's messy final on The Challenge: All Stars 2, it's so satisfying to see a Challenge final where there is no debate on who won or deserved to win. And that's exactly what we got on The Challenge: All Stars 3! It also doesn't hurt that I'm incredibly happy with who walked away victorious in this week's finale. Let's recap part two of the final, shall we?
After the first half of the final in last week's episode left off with everyone getting in their kayaks with their new partners, somehow Mark and KellyAnne are actually in first place for once! Could they turn things around after coming in last pretty much all throughout the first half? Meanwhile, Brad is rowing while laying down, which pisses off Jonna, and Nia and Wes are getting so far behind the other teams that they can't even see anyone in front of them. Mark and KellyAnne finally finish first, with Kailah and Nehemiah second, Jonna and Brad third, and Wes and Nia last.
Wes knows coming in last place at any point in the final could be fatal, but he's not sweating too much since he's still in first place after this leg (with Nehemiah in second, Brad in third, and Mark still in last) along with Jonna (with Kailah in second, Nia in third, and KellyAnne still in last). The differences in point totals are getting closer and closer though, so this next checkpoint could change everything.
TJ reveals the checkpoint is only one round of King of the Hill for each heat, where players can do whatever they need to do to be the last one standing on the floating dock and throw their opponent off. It's a throwback to the very first challenge TJ hosted on Gauntlet 2 in 2005, but the stakes have never been higher since we're in the final, so I expect things to get rough, and fast.
The first matchup is Wes vs. Brad, and even though they're good friends off the show, these are both strong physical competitors who won't pull any punches. Brad comes out swinging and throws Wes in the water pretty quickly. I'm shocked at how poorly Wes did in staying on the dock. That was disappointing! KellyAnne vs. Nia is next, and the size difference is laughable. KellyAnne tries her best to launch herself at Nia, but Nia just swats her into the water immediately. These checkpoint battles are actually pretty boring. Nehemiah vs. Mark is next, and once again it's over quickly as Mark pushes Nehemiah in easily. Jonna vs. Kailah is last, and it's the longest fight of them all. Jonna puts up a better defense than Kailah thought and holds onto her top spot by eventually pushing Kailah into the water. That was an anticlimactic checkpoint.
Heading into the next run, Jonna and Wes are still in first, but Nia surpassed Kailah to take second (with KellyAnne still in last). None of the men's placement changed, but they're all still close enough that the next leg can change that. The new pairs are Brad and Jonna, Mark and Nia, Nehemiah and KellyAnne, and Wes and Kailah, and they must transfer 100 lbs. of sandbags to the next checkpoint — which is a really far run through the jungle.
Immediately, KellyAnne and Nehemiah decide to make two trips instead of trying to carry all the sandbags in one sprint, because they don't realize the distance is far and that all the other teams decide to make it in one trip. Mark and Nia manage to overtake Brad and Jonna for third place because Brad keeps stopping. Jonna gets frustrated, and ends up carrying the heavier portion of the bags for him. That mom strength is real. Rock on, Jonna.
Eventually, Nia and Mark pass Wes and Kailah for second place as KellyAnne and Nehemiah finish their first trip and have to turn around to do it all again. They get deflated when they realize Mark and Nia made it in one trip, and soon enough they learn they're the only team who has to make two trips. Mark and Nia finish first, with Wes and Kailah in second place, and Brad and Jonna in third, while Nehemiah and KellyAnne take forever to finally finish their second trip. KellyAnne knows there's still another day of the final but at this point, she's feeling defeated after all her last place finishes.
Paul Castillero/Paramount+ TJ Lavin on 'The Challenge: All Stars 3'
While none of the placements change after this leg, Mark is close enough to potentially overtake Brad and Nehemiah if he gets another first place. Unfortunately for KellyAnne, she's nowhere near close enough to Kailah's third place score to alter her fate. And now it's time for the overnight portion of the final, which usually means a night of torture. But this season TJ is switching things up — instead of having to suffer through a sleepless night with no food or comfort, they get to spend a night on a luxury yacht. Everyone is happy that they avoided a horrible Challenge final tradition, except Wes, who doesn't want anyone to get a refreshing night of sleep and a decent meal before day two. Some players, like Mark and Brad, don't trust that they actually get a night of rest. But they do! They all relax, put up their feet, eat and drink, and have heart-to-heart conversations with each other before getting some sleep.
The next morning, TJ pulls up on an ATV and reveals that Jonna currently has the most points out of anyone, including all the guys, thanks to the five points she started off with. Meanwhile, Nehemiah would actually be in last place without his extra five points. It really goes to show how any leg up in this game makes a massive difference.
Then TJ drops a bomb — only Jonna, Nia, Wes, and Nehemiah, a.k.a. the top two men and women, have secured their spot in day two of the final. That means Brad vs. Mark and KellyAnne vs. Kailah have to compete in an elimination round for the final spot. And just like the last challenge, this one relies on memory from a poster back in the house that listed all the locations of previous finals, so if they didn't pay attention to it during the season (like Kailah), they're going to struggle.
Elimination challenge: Players must solve a crossword puzzle with the names of 10 countries where previous finals were located. Whoever finishes first wins and gets to stay for the rest of the final.
Everyone thinks KellyAnne is going to win easily because she studied the poster, while Kailah never even looked at it. Jonna tells Nia this is karma for how Kailah cheated in the last challenge. But KellyAnne is still feeling sick from the night on the yacht, and thinks Cancun is a country, so it's not as easy of a win as everyone expected from her. Brad almost puts California as an answer for a country, and he starts to let his nerves get the best of him. But Mark spells Brazil as "Brasil," so the men's matchup is just as embarrassing as the women's.
Eventually, Kailah guesses all her answers and gets them all right, eliminating KellyAnne from the rest of the final and proving everyone wrong. Once Brad figures out Argentina is an answer, the rest of his puzzle is clear and he finishes first, eliminating Mark. Mark and KellyAnne getting purged isn't surprising since they've been in last place this entire time, but it's shocking it happened this way and not because of their point totals. You can't say they didn't have a chance to change their fate! They both blew it.
After Mark and KellyAnne walk off the beach, TJ reveals the rest of the final is an individual race — no more pairs, no more partners. It's just one last race to the yacht and whoever finishes first wins the entire thing. The point totals are a thing of the past, so it could be anyone's game now!
As the race begins, Wes gets an early lead, with Brad in second and Nehemiah in last for the guys. Jonna leads the women, with Kailah in second and Nia super close behind. Wes reaches the first checkpoint, and it's, of course, an eating challenge. He sees a giant scale and realizes they all have to eat two lbs. of liver, crickets, animals parts, and other unidentified, gross grey stuff. Brad arrives and the puking begins. Jonna arrives and starts freaking out, and Nehemiah asks for a vegan option when he finally arrives because he doesn't eat meat. Kailah and Nia finally get to the station, and it. Is. On.
The sounds of gagging and puking and complaining fill the jungle as everyone tries to force the pounds of stuff down their throats. I did not need that close up angle of Wes puking into a bucket and all the projectile vomiting from everyone, but this is a classic Challenge final checkpoint! If we didn't get an overnight checkpoint, then at least we got a gross eating challenge, right? Wes decides to remove his soul from his body (since he's a ginger, he apparently has that skill) and "go full zombie mode" and just starts shoveling the food into his mouth. It's disgusting but super impressive, and it works. He moves on in first place.
Jonna and Kailah start crying but soon Jonna finishes and moves on in first for the women. Go Jonna! Brad finishes next, then Kailah, as Wes makes it to the next checkpoint: a tanagram puzzle. Jonna arrives at the puzzle next, then Brad, as Wes finishes the puzzle. Kailah finally arrives to the puzzle, and Nehemiah and Nia still struggle with eating their food. Nia even considers quitting, but Nehemiah tells her there's always a chance to turn the tide in a final and that's why you never quit. She listens to his advice to keep going, but I'm really disappointed that she even considered that option. Nia's "redemption tour" season is making it clear she still isn't cut out for The Challenge.
Jonna finishes her puzzle and takes off, with Brad next, as Wes arrives to another puzzle-type of checkpoint where players must stack mini wood blocks domino-style in the shape of the top of a star. Kailah finally finishes her puzzle and moves on as Jonna's entire stack falls, closing the gap between the top two women. Meanwhile, Wes sees Brad catching up, which takes him right back to when Brad almost beat him in the final on The Duel. Kailah arrives to the puzzle station right as Wes finishes and takes off for the yacht to cement his first place win since Brad is nowhere near finishing.
Jonna finishes her stack and rushes into the ocean for the final swim to the yacht, but Kailah isn't far behind her. Finally, Brad finishes and runs into the water to try and catch up to Wes, but it's impossible because Wes reaches the yacht first, finally getting his third win. Soon after, Jonna gets to the yacht, officially becoming one of very few Challengers to win two seasons back-to-back. And she's the only mom who's ever won twice in a row!
Brad and Kailah get back to shore as Nehemiah and Nia finally arrive on the beach, only to see the yacht taking off with Wes and Jonna as the winners. The losers are forced to sit on the beach and stew in their failure, and the tears and disappointment are flowing. On the winners' yacht, Wes and Jonna dance around the chest containing their prize money. This was a well-deserved win on both of their parts, as they both dominated the game all season long. Out of everyone left, they absolutely earned this win and I couldn't be more satisfied (albeit very surprised) with how this season turned out.
And just like that, The Challenge: All Stars 3 is over! Unfortunately we don't get a post-credits stinger scene like last season, so there's still no word on whether or not we'll get an All Stars 4. Hey Paramount+, what are you waiting for?! Give the people (a.k.a. me) what they want!
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