Michele and Jay piss off the last people you want as enemies on The Challenge: Ride or Dies

Sydney Bucksbaum
·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

There are few Challenge competitors who can strike intense fear into their opponents with just a stare, but Laurel Stucky has absolutely mastered that skill in her past six seasons and one championship. And she shows exactly why you don't want her on your bad side in this week's episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies.

Episode 5 begins with Survivor winner Michele Fitzgerald talking about how she's feeling uneasy watching this season unfold, since everyone keeps targeting rookies to go into elimination. She knows that once all the rookies are gone, she and her partner, fellow Survivor alum Jay Starrett, are going to be next on the chopping block. But instead of using that knowledge and fear to politic and make alliances with people who can protect her, she decides to make a ton of new enemies instead — including Laurel, who, again, you never want to piss off. For someone who won her first season of Survivor by using her social skills, this was not a good social or political showing for Michele or Jay.

But after Michele and Jay win the daily challenge (a relay race combination of swimming and rowing a boat), they now have to choose four teams to interrogate and one to throw into elimination. Instead of using this power to their advantage, they target three vet teams (Darrell Taylor/Veronica Portillo, Jordan Wiseley/Aneesa Ferreira, and Laurel/Jakk Maddox) but not the vet team, who already put them into interrogation earlier this season (Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio/Nany Gonzalez). For their fourth team, they choose rookies Kim Tränka/Colleen Schneider. There are so many mistakes in these picks, but the biggest misstep is that Jay and Jakk had been bonding all season long, literally calling each other "brother" and were BFFs in the house (emphasis on were). But Michele was worried that Laurel was coming after her for some reason, even though Laurel hasn't had any power in the game and wasn't targeting her at all. But instead of Michele having a conversation with Laurel to figure out where she stood with her, she convinces Jay to betray his BFF Jakk. Make it make sense?

The Challenge: Ride or Dies
The Challenge: Ride or Dies

Michele and Jay start to realize just how badly they screwed up pretty immediately, since their interrogation with each pair is a disaster. Veronica and Darrell basically read them for filth about how they didn't use their power in any productive way. Then Aneesa and Jordan pile on to explain that their strategy of trying to use their choices to see where people stand with them isn't smart, since they're now all up for elimination and will hold a grudge against Michele and Jay for putting them there. Then Laurel and Jakk just stare at Jay and Michele and it's super uncomfortable... you can visibly see how intimidated they get.

After those conversations, Michele and Jay start to regret not putting Bananas and Nany on the board, but they're banking on getting an "I owe you" from them in the future. The next day, Michele tries to talk with Laurel one-on-one, but the damage has already been done and Laurel's out for blood now — she's in peak revenge mode and has no interest in trying to smooth things over. What's done is done, she's up for elimination, and there's nothing else to say.

At this point, Michele and Jay have one last chance to not make things any worse by picking Colleen and Kim to go into elimination. But nope — they double down on pissing off Laurel and Jakk and send them in instead. To say that this choice shocks everyone is a massive understatement. Jakk is so pissed that he starts calling Jay names that can't be printed here, but Jay says it has nothing to do with him and that he was just "tied to the wrong partner." I don't understand how Jay and Michele think this is going to make things any better for themselves, but okay! New rivalries are being created tonight, people.

In the Draw, Darrell and Veronica pick last but end up getting the safe dagger, and they choose to save Aneesa and Jordan, sending Kim and Colleen in against Laurel and Jakk. That's not great for Michele and Jay, who definitely want to see Laurel and Jakk lose, because while Colleen and Kim call for a check first in the "Give Me Some Slack" climbing/puzzle elimination, they have one mistake and they can't figure out how to fix it. That allows Laurel and Jakk to finish theirs first, winning the elimination and sending Colleen and Kim home. Now Laurel and Jakk are coming back into the house and are ready to get sweet, sweet revenge on Jay and Michele. If Michele was worried about Laurel before, she just made the situation a million times worse for herself.

Other notable moments in this episode:

  • The cast throws a pool party and love (or lust) is most definitely in the air. Nelson Thomas and Olivia Kaiser are still hot and heavy, and before Colleen was sent home, she was still going strong with Faysal Shafaat. Meanwhile, Faysal's partner Moriah Jadea is starting to crush on Bananas.

  • Before Jay destroyed his friendship with Jakk, they wrote a song together and formed a new emo band called Chinese Takeout. For their big performance, the house threw an emo party complete with heavy eyeliner, dramatic sideswept bangs, jokes about being dead inside, and producers appropriately had Panic at the Disco playing in the background. Darrell had no idea what "emo" means but he put on all black clothing and a giant hoop earring because "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." And you know what, Jakk and Jay's song (accompanied by Bananas on the guitar) is actually pretty good! Release it on Spotify!

  • Darrell is having a hard time getting to know/bonding with all the younger, newer rookies. He just wants to win challenges so he doesn't have to politic with any of them, but he's got his work cut out for him with Veronica as his partner.

  • Amber Borzotra is Michele's roommate for the season, and even she says Michele is way too paranoid. Seeing as how Michele just created a rivalry with Laurel out of nothing, I'd say she's pretty spot on!

  • Amber's performance in the challenge was less impressive, as she and Chauncey Palmer sunk their boat before they even get into it. It was a hilarious way to DQ.

  • Nelson's partner Nurys Mateo helped him break his losing streak last week, but turns out she's just as terrible of a swimmer as he is. They finish dead last in the challenge and it's both of their faults.

  • As for people who don't know how to row a boat, this week's challenge exposed Moriah and Nany. Hopefully they practice how to row before the end of this season because that's always a massive part of the final!

  • This week's challenge is sponsored by Burger King, so at least Jay and Michele got to split a $10,000 cash prize for winning. That's a nice consolation prize. The rest of the house got a "feast" of fast food after the challenge ended. I always love seeing how the cast fakes their excitement for these sponsored prizes.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and

Related content: