The Challenge: Getting Tired
What a perfect time for a mini-final!
Players start on the shore, jump in the water, and swim 500 meters across the lake.
Whoever has the most points at the end of the two hours wins.
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The horn blows and Tyson of course makes it to shore first.
Now that’s a classicChallengemove!
But Angela is still stuck even as others continue getting lower-point tires.
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But the other women slowly start to surpass 20 points, and Angela starts to panic.
But then Justine and Ben find hidden orange tires that are actually worth more than yellows.
And with only 30 minutes remaining, Angela… is still not done with the slide puzzle.
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TJ reveals that Tyson and Dom tied for first place but there’s no tiebreaker.
That makes no sense, especially sinceThe Challengehas set the precedent for tiebreakers in many previous seasons.
Right before the final!
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That is a twist no one saw coming.
But Sarah’s also making that decision, so Angela shouldn’t feel too comfortable.
She walks in, barely breaking a sweat.
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For the vote, Tyson votes for Cayla.
Elimination challenge:Pole Wrestle.
AnotherChallengeclassic headbanger, first player to wrestle the pole away from their opponent two out of three times wins.
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With Angela’s size and strength, this one’s in the bag for her.
The best hope was that Alyssa holds on long enough just to simply make it a battle.
Without a tight grip, this is even harder for her.
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But she gives a great fight as Angela throws her around in the sand.
But unfortunately for them (and Alyssa), Angela gets the second point and wins.
But there’s no time to wallow!
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Everyone will get partnered with everyone, and no one will get the same teammate twice.
If someone quits, their partner is DQed with them.
But what about the uneven number of men and women now that Ben’s gone?
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David’s not coming back (could you imagine?!)
so instead, every woman will end up running a leg of the final on their own.
The first stage is a 500-meter swim and to solve a puzzle.
‘The Challenge: USA’.Jonne Roriz/CBS
Tyson and Justine reach shore first (of course), with Angela and Dom next.
He doesn’t even let her help him, shouting “get away!”
and just quits immediately.
Desi is frantically trying to convince him to keep going, but he doesn’t even want to try.
I wouldn’t, either.
Danny and Cayla finish their slide puzzle first, getting five points each.
Sarah finishes hers next.
Tyson and Justine are third, and Dom and Angela are fourth.
Everyone else is eating the onion like an apple.
Sarah’s the first to spew vomit, with Danny not far behind.
Danny finishes his plate first with Angela finishing next, so they continue on.
Tyson has to wait for Sarah to finish, as Dom and Justine finish next.
If they can’t remember the numbers, they have to run back and memorize the numbers again.
Dom and Cayla arrive next, but Tyson and Angela solve their code first.
Sarah and Danny finish in second place, and Cayla and Dom finish third.
At least she gets to continue on without wasting energy and time!
In the morning, TJ arrives and asks Angela what happened.
TJ says she’s done, and she’s officially DQed.
It sucks to see her game end this way and I’ve got mixed feelings about who to blame.
The order in which they finish is double points for this leg.
Tyson’s barely struggling six miles in, even as the rain turns to sleet and snow.
Tyson makes it to the second checkpoint a sudoku puzzle and Danny catches up.
He’s excited to see a sudoku puzzle because that’s exactly what he trained to do beforeSurvivor.
“F— this s—,” he says.
“The Challengeis crazy.
I’ve had enough.”
But here they are, throwing temper tantrums like rookies who are in over their heads.
Tyson, Dom, and Justine officially quit the final as Cayla arrives to start on the sudoku.
We’ve never seen a final whereeveryonequits.
Sarah finally arrives at the sudoku and actually solves it.
She makes it to the top and touches the flag, but she’s not celebrating.
She’s “defeated and devastated.”
She literally has no idea she won.
For the first time inChallengehistory, everyone quit except the winners.
That is absolutely wild.
I really expected more from almost every other player.
And with that, the first season ofThe Challenge: USAhas come to a close.
