T. Green
The Challenge: Rivals II
America’s 5th major sport (per Bill Simmons) is back! The first edition of Rivals in 2011 was widely successful, and the powers that be at MTV decided to bring it back after a couple seasons off. This time, the Challenge takes place in Phuket, Thailand with the big prize pool being a cool $350,000.
As with the previous Rivals show, some of the partners had blood feuds with each other. Other rivalries were more of a stretch. Here’s a look at the initial roster of challengers.
Guys
Wes and CT
Zach and Trey
Derek and Robb
Ty and Leroy
Preston and Knight
Tyrie and Dunbar
Jordan and Marlon
Frank and Johnny (our first beef spawned from Twitter!)
Girls
Diem and Anessa
Jessica and Anastasia
Paula and Emily
Naomi and Cooke
Camilla and Jemmye
Sarah and Trishelle
Nany and Jonna
Theresa and Jasmine
Plus T.J. Lavin is back for the umpteenth time as Challenge host.
After the initial shock of partnering with their enemies, the cast heads to the cushy house for the traditional first-night (err…every-night) drinking and debauchery. CT wastes no time making his mark in the house. From the jump, he already has his eye on Anastasia. But CT also rekindles some old flames with Diem. It would take an entire novel to recap their relationship, so there’s no sense in going down that road again. CT caps his night off by exchanging some unpleasantries in the pool with Marlon. Wes, being the more cerebral partner, laments that he has to keep CT under control. Tyrie, always the butt of everyone’s jokes, wins “Chump of the Night” honors by passing out while sitting butt-naked on the toilet.
Everyone is set to partake in the first challenge, but it’s the guys’ turn to face the elimination round known as The Jungle if things don’t go well. The first mission is typical of a Challenge. One person hangs over the water while their partner attempts to jumps from a platform and hang on them for 15 seconds. Each round, the platform gets moved back a foot.
The girls go first, and miraculously, each team makes it through the first round. The second round offers a rude awakening as five girls bite the dust. In the end, Paula and Emily is the last team hanging, winning the chance to set the order for the girls next challenge.
The guys’ first round is successful for everyone as well. The next go-around results in the fall of Dunbar, sending him and Tyrie into The Jungle. Trey and Zach end up gaining immunity as the winning team, perhaps building a little trust between the two.
Now, the housemates can go back to the house for the usual bitching and politicking. Tyrie feels he has nothing to lose, so he wants to go up against Johnny. CT leads the charge to send Johnny in, not giving a damn about any potential blowback. But Wes and some of the girls feel like it’s way too early to open that can of worms.
T.J. has the female teams vote first. Most of them go for the easy choice in Robb and Derek, guys who have limited experience and connections in the house. Everyone assumes that the male teams are about to get their chance to vote as well. But no, T.J. drops his first bomb of the show, ending the voting right there and citing the decree that girls will vote for guys and vice versa.
More partying commences, and CT is taking more of a forward approach to Anastasia. They engage in some making out, but nothing further than that (that we know of).
CT has mentioned in previous challenges that he’ll butter up some girls (figuratively speaking) to gain an advantage and the same thing appears to apply here.
The next day, Naomi receives a call that her dad is in the hospital for heart failure. She says they haven’t had the best relationship, but they’ve been trying to patch things together. Naomi feels guilty for leaving when it’s her partner Cooke’s first challenge, but Cooke reassured her that it was ok to leave.
Before the Jungle, T.J. address Cooke not having a partner. Previous challenges have dealt with this issue in different ways. Sometimes, the lone partner has to go home, other times, he or she gets to stay in the game with a new partner. In this case, T.J leaves Cooke twisting in the wind a bit, but does allow her to stay. Her new partner will be revealed come next challenge.
The first Jungle is appropriately titled “Last Chance”. It resembles a football drill where one partner locks up with an opponent while the other partner tries to run past the enclosed area to ring a bell. It’s a best 2 out of 3 situation. Tyrie and Dunbar have the clear size advantage, but as we’ve seen in the past, that doesn’t always matter.
While Robb tries to block Tyrie on the first try, Derek uses his quickness to dart past the preoccupied Tyrie to ring the bell first. The second round comes, and Tyrie manages to stick his arm out to impede Derek’s progress. However, Derek still manages to beat Dunbar by one-tenth of a second because Dunbar missed his initial swipe at the bell.
Tyrie and Dunbar predictably piss and moan about their defeat and take some final jabs at each other before leaving. Needless to say, they won’t be exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon. The episode ends by setting up another showdown between CT and Johnny down the road.
