The Challenge: All-Stars Episode 3 “I’ve Got The Power” Recap
So they’re just hanging out at their chateau, doing yoga, journaling, and there’s a shocking amount of tea drinking going on. I love it because it’s so relatable. They partied hard the first night and it’s taking them a week to recover, which is very on-brand for your forties. I have always loved these people and thought we could be best friends, but now even more so.
There are a lot of conversations going on that feel random but I’ve been watching this show long enough to know it’s foreshadowing and setting up a story arc.
Jemmye telling Nehemiah she’s so over girl-guy partnerships means they’ll either get rid of that (seriously outdated) part of the game, or it’s going to be an argument somewhere later.
Beth and Jemmye saying how they’re like mother-daughter or Beth’s analogy which I like better was “like Madonna and Britney” just means that they’ll backstab each other and it’s going to be an episode plot.
The Challenge
They brought back an oldie but a goodie-the ice melting challenge. I love that they’re doing old challenges and eliminations-kudos to the production team for that nostalgia. Also, a great excuse to show old footage.
Inside of the ice are shields with the name of all 36 challenges on them, and when you get them out of the ice you have to set them up in chronological order. I would fail miserably.
There are 5 teams and if you care here they are:
Copper: Big Easy, Nehemiah, Jisela, and Katie (Nehemiah is the captain and if I were him I would have said fuck no because it’s a guy’s day and he’s already been the captain. Make Easy do it.)
Gold: Mark, Alton, Beth, and Jemmye
Silver: Syrus, Darrell, KellyAnne, and Kendal
Black: Jonna, Aneesa, LT, Derrick
Gray: Tek, Ruthie, Yes, and Arissa
Every team uses a different strategy, some more successful than others. Darrell peed on it which isn’t a bad idea actually. They used water. KellyAnne’s team had the strategy where they just worked on 1 part of the ice block instead of the whole thing. Arissa just asked the sun to come out and tried to summon her ancestors for help. I’m totally serious. Surprisingly, it didn’t work. Did Mark try to punch it? I think that could have worked. Turns out that 2021 ice is a lot bigger and stronger than 2004 ice, so in what I’m sure was a completely improvised move by production, they eventually gave each team 1 hammer. The caveat was that if they broke any of the shields inside though there would be a 5-minute penalty.
Jemmye was like a savant with getting the challenges in chronological order, but they had broken 2 of the shields so the Silver team won. Darrell was the captain so he’s automatically safe and Kendal, as the female captain gets the Lifesaver. Nehemiah’s team was the last team to win so he’s going into Elimination.
Deliberation
Nehemiah wants to go against Tek. Tek was kind of talking shit to him earlier and his thought is, why call someone else down and make an enemy when I can just use his earlier attitude as an excuse? It’s a safe move. Tek knows he’ll get voted in so instead of letting the house decide his fate he just nominates himself. Derrick says that’s “the most legendary move that’s ever been made” and you just settle the fuck down Derrick because that’s absolutely not even close to true.
They go to a bar to drink and hang out. There’s a random dog there that no one mentions and I really need answers about this. Whose dog is it? Does it live there? What is his name?
Kendal gets a little power trip-y with the Lifesaver and has multiple conversations with people about potentially using it and who she’d use it on. She’s scared of what it would mean if she does use it though. Would she have to nominate someone else in their place?
They go back to the house and there’s a Jemmye/Nehemiah hook up. It’s the couple I never knew I needed. Ruthie is incredibly paranoid, she’s being painted as an outsider. She yells at Aneesa to “fuck off” when she’s just standing there talking about the elimination. No one really knows what’s going on with her and I have a feeling this is going to continue to be a big storyline. I feel very nostalgic and oddly comforted that we’re having Ruthie drama.
The Elimination
There is a jungle gym contraption with colored tiles in it. Nehemiah and Tek have to run to it, smash out their color tiles, and then run back. It looks pretty straight forward but then TJ pulls out a bag of hot peppers. Carolina Reaper Peppers, to be exact, and apparently, they’re incredibly hot. This is an equalizer for them because afterward they are both puking and dripping snot. NOW they have to run and just ew. It takes them about 30 seconds to do it, even with the peppers twist, and Nehemiah wins by a fraction.
Let’s talk about how awesome a job the music editor is doing this season. If they don’t come with a Spotify playlist after this season, it’ll be a true tragedy. What else are your favorite parts?
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