Takin’ on ‘The Challenge’: O’liv’n On The Edge

Welcome back, Takers, to our weekly recap of MTV’s The Challenge. We kicked off this week’s episode by revealing the mystery team teased at the end of last week’s episode, and it was indeed Darrell & Veronica. The house immediately put the accomplished duo in their crosshairs; and T.J. laughed as Darrell’s first daily challenge involved being 300-feet above the ground (the 4-time champ is notoriously afraid of heights).

The big development of this episode was ya boy Nelly T finally breaking his daily challenge losing streak, as Nelson & Nurys edged out Jordan & Aneesa to win power for the week. They eventually chose the house’s least favorite team, Tommy & Analyse, to go straight into The Zone and face elimination. After Horacio & Olivia pulled the Safe Dagger and chose to save Darrell & Veronica, Kim & Colleen made easy work of Tommy & Analyse and sent them home.

Question 1: Between the poorly-planned double-cross last week, and Tommy’s embarrassing effort in the elimination, is this the worst Challenge performance we’ve ever seen?

TD: I mean, I’m hard-stretched to think of another one, shy of anyone who has quit on the first episode. I guess I feel a little bad for Tommy after how hard he took it, but damn. Like Bananas pointed out, you know it’s bad when the guy your facing off against is giving you pointers.

Blaine: It’s as bad as they come, but it did give us a good opportunity to learn more about Kim, right? He came off funnier and cooler than we’d seen him be.

Question 2: Our mystery team was Darrell & Veronica, as we thought it’d be. T.J. did tease the cast with another surprise, but spared them this time around. We have now seen everyone advertised for the cast; but do you think T.J. and the producers have another ace up their sleeves that they’ll pull before season’s end?

TD: Maybe not in the form of another team added to the competition, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw some mercenary-type cameos down the road. With this season’s format being so straight forward, surprises are a good way to spice things up.

Blaine: I’d have my doubts on any major surprises other than a switch to singles later in the series. It’s hard to say as surprises are a part of it much of the time, but it does feel as if any more risks overkill.

Question 3: Woo boy, is this a horny house. In this episode we saw hookups between Horacio and Laurel, Faysal and Colleen, and Nelson and Olivia. Which one of these bears fruit, and which one ends in disaster?

TD: Horacio and Laurel would make some damn athletic babies, that’s for sure. But I could see Olivia and Laurel butting heads down the line. Faysal and Colleen have chemistry for now, but how long before Messy Fessy makes an appearance. Nelson and Olivia might be a great pairing from a game standpoint, particularly after she was the one who came up with the nomination plan for Nelson and Nurys.

Blaine: “I love love and love loves me!” is one of the best Nelson lines. I’ll say, though, commitment may not be in his favor. Horacio seems to be the sort to see something through. I’ll put money on him and Laurel.