‘The Challenge: USA’ season 2 episode 12 recap: Who was karma chasing in ‘Revenge Amongst the Ruins’?
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Tonight on “The Challenge: USA,” tables are turned and alliances scramble to navigate a new power dynamic after an intense challenge in the Croatian ruins, on this episode titled “Revenge Amongst the Ruins” airing Thursday, October 5 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS (and available the next day on Paramount+). TJ Lavin hosts.
Among the CBS cast members are three people who previously won their seasons: Michele 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 below.
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The 11 challengers still fighting for the top prize are Michaela Bradshaw, Cassidy Clark, Tori Deal, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Michele Fitzgerald, Chanelle Howell, Josh Martinez, Faysal Shafaat, Chris Underwood, Cory Wharton and Desi Williams.
10:00 p.m. — Previously on “The Challenge: USA”! The challengers navigated a slippery situation when they battled it out in a physical wrestling match. After Michaela and Cory won the challenge they nominated Tyler Crispen and Cassidy for elimination. When Chris’ name came out of the hopper, Cassidy was declared safe and the men faced off in a game of “Barrel Tag.” Chris beat Tyler by 32 seconds and sent the “Big Brother” alum packing, proving he’s an absolute monster in the arena. The house can’t get rid of him! Let’s see what happens tonight!
10:05 p.m. — Fresh off his fourth victory in the arena, Chris returns to the house more determined than ever. Meanwhile, Desi and Chanelle confront Michele about her betrayal last week. She was supposed to vote for Tori in the hopper, but she didn’t. She comes clean, saying she’s been playing “half with the vets, half with ‘Survivor,'” and voted for Chris. Chanelle tells Michele she pulled the shadiest, sketchiest move she’s ever seen because Michele was adamant about making last week a girl’s day in the arena. Desie and Chanelle are upset they put their own games at risk to vote for Tori and Michele threw their trust out the window. Michele says she “didn’t throw anything out the window,” but she really has no defense. Desi and Chanelle no longer trust her. Next, Tori joins the conversation knowing she received one of her three votes from Chris. Tori wastes no time and just asks, “What’s up?” Everyone owns up to what they’ve done, but Tori is no rookie. She takes it with a grain of salt and says she’ll just have to do what she needs to do. If Tori gets in power, she’ll throw Desi or Chanelle into the arena.
10:10 p.m. — Josh takes a moment to celebrate the fact that this is the furthest he’s ever made it in a challenge. He’s among the last five men standing and he’s overjoyed. He, Bananas, Cory and Faysal plan on making tonight a girl’s day because they’re the only options left to face off against Chris, who is now 4-0 in the arena. Next, Desi meets with Chris, who is completely alone in the game. She gives him a hug and says she’s willing to work with him. They know they have no choice but to win the next challenge. Chris says if he wins he’ll nominate anyone Desi wants.
10:15 p.m. — The competitors arrive at the next challenge. TJ explains that in “Brain Squeeze,” challengers will race into a fort where there are heavy bags of puzzle pieces. Each person has been assigned a color and that’s the only one they can pick up. Some might be in plain sight and some might be hidden. TJ won’t tell them how many bags they have. They’ll race the bags over a bridge to the puzzle station one at a time. The first man and woman to finish their puzzle tower will win today’s challenge and select one man and one woman to go into the arena and be at risk of elimination. The race starts and this fort is full of all sorts of nooks and crannies nobody expected. First out is Faysal, quickly followed by Josh and Bananas. Chanelle leads the girls. The race continues and these players are gassed! Faysal is already puking. Many players now have six bags and begin working on their puzzles, but Bananas has a hunch there are seven bags. Will his experience pay off?
10:30 p.m. — Just when it looks like Bananas was the savviest player in this challenge, Michaela proves she’s the one to watch. She explores further down the cave and knows there are actually eight bags. She knows Bananas didn’t see her go further into the cave, so when she comes across him she lies and says “there’s seven.” She doesn’t want to risk Bananas helping Tori win. Johnny asks again, “Is there anything down there?” Michaela just says, “Nope, I don’t see anything.” Next, Chris realizes his puzzle isn’t coming together properly. As he’s running back into the cave Desi whispers to him, “There’s three down there.” All the other guys are working together, but they only have seven. This is now a major advantage for Chris. Eventually Chris gets back with all his pieces and the others realize they’re all missing one. They’re fuming and it’s hilarious to watch. I love Michaela’s commentary. After 50 minutes of competing, Chris and Desi pull out the victory and now have all the power in their hands. My how the tables have turned!
10:35 p.m. — The challengers return to the house and everyone is pretty much set on this being a girl’s elimination day. There are five guys in the house right now and six girls. The final is near and everyone’s getting paranoid. Michaela tells Bananas and Josh why everyone is mad at Michele, saying she tried to “pull something slick.” Michele confronts her and it doesn’t go well. Michaela says Michele is simply unraveling and “your cheeks are bright pink!” Michele is just digging her own grave deeper at this point. The men are loving this. Later, Desi and Chris sit down for their deliberation. They’re allies so it shouldn’t be a tough decision — and it’s not. They nominate Michele for obvious reasons and Josh, because he’s never been nominated and has skated by this season without winning a single thing while lying through his teeth. It’s likely a girl’s day, but Josh needs to be taken down a peg.
10:45 p.m. — Josh is taking his nomination surprisingly well. He’s an emotional rollercoaster on most days, but is smart enough to play it cool in this moment. The target is on Michele’s back. Meanwhile, she’s in bed crying. Just kidding, I spoke too soon. Minutes later Josh is sobbing to Faysal and Cory, saying he needs to earn his spot. Josh says if he survives tonight he wants to go in next week and take Chris out. Yeah, we’ll see. The next morning the buzzer rings and it’s time for everyone to put their secret votes in the hopper. Who will be heading into battle?
10:50 p.m. — The challengers arrive at the arena and TJ introduces Josh and Michele as the nominees for elimination. Players receiving votes in the hopper are: Cory (1), Chanelle (1) and Cassidy (7). Next he revs up the hopper and it spits out Cassidy’s name, which is no surprise. The house loves to throw her in. Cassidy and Michele will face off in “Hot Wheel.” Opponents will start on opposite ends of a 20-foot bar attached to a steering wheel. One is pink and one is yellow. In the middle of the poll are corresponding colored targets. Like a game of tug-of-war, players will try to overtake the other with their steering wheel, moving a torch towards their targets. The first player to explode all of their targets will win tonight’s elimination and get back in the game. The lose will go home.
11:00 p.m. — TJ blows the horn and this elimination is underway. Cassidy is trying to light the pink targets up while Michele’s focus is yellow. Each have six targets. It’s quite a battle and these two look pretty even in strength, but eventually Cassidy is first on the board. Michele then ties it up as rain begins to pour down on them. Cassidy implements a strategy of propping her leg on the wheel to hold it in place while Michele gasses out. At just the right moment she takes control of the wheel and quickly fires off two more targets, taking a 3-1 lead. At this point Cassidy is in savage mode and in a matter of minutes she finishes Michele off, winning her third arena by a score of 6-1. Michele’s game is over. She gets emotional in her confessional, calling herself “a big, fat loser.” She really wanted to prove to herself she could win this. Unfortunately, this “Survivor” winner’s time on “The Challenge: USA” is over. Next week, one man and one woman will go home in a double-elimination episode prior to the season finale.
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