‘The Challenge: USA’ season 2 episode 5 recap: Can the vets rebound in ‘Operation Hat Trick’? [LIVE BLOG]
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Tonight on “The Challenge: USA,” the vets come up with a plan to take advantage of a growing rift among the rookies, resulting in one of the most shocking hopper results of the season. The episode titled “Operation Hat Trick” airs Thursday, August 24 (10:01-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS (streaming on Paramount+). TJ Lavin is the host.
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Among the cast members are three people who previously won their seasons: Michelle Fitzgerald (“Survivor: Kaôh Rōng”), Josh Martinez (“Big Brother 19”) and Chris Underwood (“Survivor: Edge of Extinction”). “MTV Challenge” vets are Wes Bergmann, Tori Deal, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Amanda Garcia, Jonna Mannion and Cory Wharton. How will these six all-stars now fare when competing with CBS reality favorites? In the end, only one man and one woman will emerge victorious, taking home $250,000 each. Follow our live blog and see the current team breakdowns below.
Red Team: Josh Martinez, Michelle Fitzgerald, Dusty Harris, Chanelle Howell, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Tiffany Mitchell
Blue Team: Cassidy Clark, Cory Wharton, Tori Deal, Faysal Shafaat, Alyssa Lopez, Sebastian Noel, Chris Underwood, Desi Williams
Green Team: Wes Bergmann, Michaela Bradshaw, Monte Taylor, Tyler Crispen, Alyssa Snider
10:00 p.m. — Previously on “The Challenge: USA”! TJ revealed there would be a double elimination, leaving the challengers scrambling to win a high-stakes, adrenaline filled semi-truck challenge to ensure their survival in the game. With the help of the Blue Team, the Red Team won the challenge and voted Luis Colon and Amanda Garcia into the arena. The hopper determined Luis would face off against Chris and Amanda would take on Desi. Chris sent Luis packing and then Desi took down Amanda. When asked if they’d like to remain on their teams, Chris opted to stick with the Blue Team, while Desi ditched her Green Team for Blue, swapping spots with Alyssa S.
10:05 p.m. — Back from the arena, Alyssa S. isn’t too torn up about being traded to the Green Team. She’s already aligned with them anyway and hopefully the Blue Team has enough good will towards her that they won’t vote her in if they win. Meanwhile, a clear line has been drawn in the sand after Chris was voted into the arena. He lashes out at the “Big Brother” players, much to the delight of the vets. Cassidy is getting worried about Wes and wonders who could have voted for her. Wes is frustrated because his own Green Team convinced him to vote for Cassidy — he probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Michaela hopes Wes understands that even though they won’t do whatever he says, he’s still a valued teammate.
10:10 p.m. — Cassidy confesses to her roommates that her sister recently died of a drug overdose. She left behind two kids that Cassidy is fighting for. Later, Wes strips naked and jumps in the pool, hoping his new role as a jokester will gain him new friends. It’s all strategic with Wes. The next morning the challengers head out to their next competition. TJ explains the game is called “Unboxed.” Each player will have a giant box with a puzzle inside that is proportional to each of their body weights. They must carry the box through the forest in search of a finish line. Along the way they will see several puzzle stations. If they start a puzzle station they cannot leave until they solve it. If they solve the puzzle they can leave the box behind. Whoever gets to the finish line first will win today’s challenge and be the only team safe from elimination.
10:20 p.m. — Wes thinks having less players is actually an advantage in this challenge. He says the Green Team should just forget about the puzzles and have faith in their athletic ability. These boxes are awkward, difficult to carry and heavy. The Green Team reaches the first puzzle station first and decides to try and offload Monte’s box since he’s the heaviest. Blue arrives next and works on Faysal’s puzzle. Red is in last. Blue Team finishes their puzzle and takes off in the lead. Green is close behind. Red finishes in third and the race is on! At puzzle station 2 the Blue Team arrives first and decides to solve it. The Green Team runs past them, opting out of this puzzle station. Red Team arrives next at the puzzle station and decides they’d like to get rid of Cory’s. Each team is working with different strategies, but the Green Team’s pays off! They have won this challenge, followed by Blue and then Red.
10:30 p.m. — Back at the house, Wes tells Bananas he wants to break up the “Survivor” bloc on Blue. He hopes to save the vets this week, but last time Green won they gave Wes no power. Finally the Green Team sits down at the deliberation table. Michaela asks her team not to put two “Survivor” players in the arena. Tyler and Monte want to throw Chris into the elimination. Wes says he’d like to vote Cassidy in so the blame for his vote last week is spread out. Michaela refuses to vote two “Survivor” players in, but she’s outnumbered. Chris and Cassidy will be up for elimination.
10:40 p.m. — Now that this has turned into a “Survivor” vs. “Big Brother” war, the vets are breathing easy. Furious with the outcome of the vote, Cassidy asks Tyler and Monte to explain themselves. They hide. Later that night the challengers head to a bar to let off some steam. With mostly single people in the house, they decide to play a game of bachelor, where the men try to convince the women why they are the most desirable bachelor in the house. Alyssa S. is smitten by Tyler and sparks are flying between Cassidy and Josh. Back in the house, the vets decide to write names down and pull them out of a hat. That’s how they will decide who to vote for in the hopper so it doesn’t look like they’re working together. Tori calls it “organized chaos” and “Operation Hat Trick” is underway. They aren’t even telling each other which name they draw. Time to vote!
10:45 p.m. — Deciding to add more chaos to the “organized chaos,” Bananas goes against the name he drew from the hat and votes for Faysal instead. Will it have an impact? TJ welcomes everyone to the arena and welcomes Cassidy and Chris. Only one of them will compete tonight and it all depends on the name the hopper spits out. Receiving votes are: Tiffany (4), Faysal (1), Desi (1), Alyssa L. (1), Sebastian (1), Chanelle (2) and Dusty (4). “Operation Hat Trick” was a success. These players are totally confused by the outcome. TJ fires up the hopper and reveals who is playing tonight. He tells Chris that he is safe and Cassidy will face off against Alyssa L.
11:00 p.m. — Tonight’s arena game is called “Block Heads.” Each player will be locked in a cage. Around the arena are flag poles with their little flags on them. They’ll have to roll their cage to each flag pole and collect four flags. Then they’ll race to a light box and lay them out. The flags will reveal a code that unlocks the cage. The first player to free themselves will win. The loser will be eliminated. The cages are heavy and difficult for both women to move. Eventually Cassidy gets all four of her flags and Alyssa L. has two — but Alyssa catches up! Both players have all four flags and will race to the finish to unlock themselves. Both struggle to place their flags on the screen to see the code. Eventually Cassidy gets the code, unlocks herself and races to the finish! Alyssa L. has been eliminated. When asked if she would like to stay on the Blue Team or defect, Cassidy decides to return to the Blue Team.
Launch Gallery: 'The Challenge: USA' season 2 cast photos: 18 CBS reality titans compete with 6 MTV vets
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