Winners Again on 'The Challenge All Stars: Rivals' | "Ring Around the Rival"

Pick any competitor on The Challenge and at some point he or she will exclaim the vitality of alliances; the bond of friendship can be stronger. Ask Adam and Steve. They move about the house this week as men who not only realize they’ll be sent into elimination once again but also as guys who understand they cannot continue without a deal. 

Sam, one of Devin’s new friends in this season, bonds with him because she’s lively in conversation. Everyone else in the game is usually a “dud” to him. It’s damn impossible to make any sort of rebuttal against his argument. Ashley provides evidence right away: she phones her boyfriend, yells at him because of Aneesa’s supposed slights against her from a night ago, demands he not use her credit cards, and proves that the poor guy is the saddest of all saps on Earth. Ashley and Aneesa soon make their amends with tears and the whole nine yards, but Ashley’s one brain cell of emotional intelligence is showing. 

The competition for all the rivals this week is a staple of The Challenge where they get some semi trucks, put the players on top, have them do stuntmen antics, and determine a winner. This week in the game of swinging a partner to collect rings for points. Devin and Leroy, with eleven, look like lord of the rings and as men who have played The Challenge before. However, Faysal and Amber get the overall win with a tie breaker because when it comes to pairs for this game, they have the ideal balance. Faysal swings an agile Amber, she collects the rings, and eleven just ain’t enough for Leroy and Devin. The game of semis goes to show, too, that Frank isn’t the genius he proclaims to be if he is the one pushing Sam. And when it comes to others, while Melissa and Nicole do get five, they come off as children unable to use a swing set. Though none perform as horribly as Katie and Veronica who manage to get zero. 

How badly you do in each week’s challenge doesn’t matter, though, so long as you have the votes. When it comes to deliberation and house votes, T.J. gets it done in record time. Adam volunteers himself and Steve for elimination. The writing is on the wall, they know they’re getting the vote, and Katie’s previous tutoring must’ve worked on some level. Though volunteering isn’t the smartest move (it’s the dumbest), Adam does get the line of the week when he demands that the rest of the cast “Entertain me.” It lacks classic Challenge gusto, but it makes for a good moment. 

Adam tries, though. He presents Faysal and Amber with the rest of his bold plan which would allow Steve and him to face a pair of fellow star holders, and they’ll gift those stars to Faysal and Amber once elimination is over. It’s brave, but it has too many intangibles in the form of “if.” Faysal must’ve doubted the two as well and instead sends Aneesa and Ashley to elimination. All you need to know is written on Steve’s face. 

The elimination game in The Jungle is “Downpour,” which consists of hosing the other pair’s player with water, swapping out on offense and defense, and seeing who has managed to spray the most water into the large, square tub. 

Here’s where it gets interesting, though. Ashley ditches her goggles after the first round. Before she’s to be waterboarded, she insists on screaming, “I can’t see anything!” Ashley’s one brain cell of regular intelligence is showing. 

Steve and Adam get the win once again and it’s hard to determine if Ashley played like she’s throwing the elimination to go home, to get away from Aneesa, or both. Either way, good riddance to Aneesa and Ashley, who weren’t a threat to anything lest it was doling out headaches.

Since Faysal saw to Aneesa’s doom, no one needs enemies when they have weak alliances. 

So far, not a lot has made for good television for The Challenge All Stars: Rivals. Hopefully, Faysal's decision leads to something shaking up the game. If not, well, we'll see Adam and Steve yet again.

Confessionals

• Adam gets a killer line badly delivered, but Veronica gives the most depressing statement of the week when she points out that most of the cast weren't born in the 80s. Yesh.  

• The 80s prom doesn’t get Steve out of bed, and I do not blame him. They’ve thrown him in every week. A fie on all their houses! 

• All Challenge viewers know there’s a strict “no cell phone” rule. But look closely when Sam dances at the 80s prom and note that Faysal sits on the couch, scrolling an iPhone. What?!?

• Was it odd that Steve and Adam were able to volunteer without a house vote? The rest can sometimes override the wishes of the volunteers.

• What the hell was up with T.J.’s disclaimer about Adam’s shoes?! I rarely bitch about anything T.J. says or does, but that was an odd moment.