The Challenge: Vets & New Threats Episode 16 Review — Am I Being Bamboozled?

Another claim has been staked! While it started off pretty mid, this episode became absolutely electric and had some of the best moments of the season. I need Will and Nany back on my screen together ASAP!

For this review, I’ll simply go through each section of the episode and comment on everything that stood out to me: the highlights, lowlights, comedic moments, stupid moments, and fantastic quotes.

Foreshadowing

At the beginning of the episode Nany talks to Will and Cedric about how physically and mentally drained she is at this point in the season. After almost three months of filming, I’m really not sure how any of these people are able to remain any bit sane. You would more expect this to be said by Theo or Adrienne perhaps after going into four Eliminations, so it’s funny that Nany, who has had a pretty chill season of not having to do much, is the one that we’re hearing this from. Sometimes in the later parts of a season everyone is too mentally exhausted to do anything interesting, so I’m glad that for Nany it results in messiness and drama.

Yeremi asks Cedric if he and Michaela are still on the same page to go to the Final together, and though Cedric says yes, in a confessional he makes up some excuse about how Yeremi is only wanting to work with him out of desperation, until he finally gives the real reason for not wanting to honor their agreement, because he and Michaela don’t want to run a Final against him.

Bingo From Hell

Bit of a complicated Challenge this week. The teams make their way into a large mine to find a table with “thousands” of numbers on it. A demonic booming voice will then call out a letter and number combination that the teams will need to find and mark off using a small amount of matches as their only source of light to see the table. When those matches run out, they go back and forth running in and out of the mine getting more until they have all the numbers marked off. The winner of the Challenge is the team who finishes the fastest with the most correct. The losing team is therefore whoever gets the least amount correct in the slowest time. While watching the Challenge I generally understood what they were doing, but for whatever reason I figured there was a time limit on how long they had to do this process for, and that the winner was just going to be whoever had the most correct. All of a sudden teams just started saying they were done at seemingly the same time and I was very confused.

I’ve loved the consistent theme this season of how before every Challenge, Theo talks about how he is an expert in whatever they’re doing. This week he says how he used to be a pyromaniac and has, “pretty flame resistant fingers” which is just a fantastic brag. And apparently Theo’s not the only one on his team who has a super power, as even though everyone is remarking on their inability to see anything in the cave, Adrienne tells Theo, “Give me your hand, bitch, and let me walk you through this, because my vision’s actually pretty alright.” So Adrienne can see in the dark and Theo can hold fire, and they still don’t win this Challenge.

Maybe my favorite quote of this entire season occurred when Will and Olivia marked off one of their numbers, and Olivia tells Will, “Good job”, to which Will responds with, “Shhh!” I’m surprised Olivia didn’t light the next match and throw it on him after that but I genuinely laughed out loud hearing him say that, he is just so, so grumpy. Olivia calls the way he speaks “huffy and puffy” which is a fantastic description.

Before this Challenge started I was honestly worried for Yeremi and Aviv after Aviv’s season ended last time when she got lost in the Coochie Tunnel. I was thinking just how funny it would be if there was yet another massive blocked off section of the caves that she ran down again this season, but her and Yeremi seemed to do alright.

Sydney explains how she figures out the Challenge as she starts realizing the numbers are being repeated and have a pattern to them. When she gives examples, she says numbers such as 404, placing emphasis on the fact that there are two fours in that number, which isn’t exactly a pattern and I’m also not sure how that’s actually helping them find the numbers on the table. When they cut back to the action I paid close attention to what the next numbers announced were to see if they also had this “pattern” of repetition, and they were 164 and 075, so I feel like her theory immediately was proven faulty. But clearly she was in fact onto something and I just don’t have a complete idea of what was happening because her and Turbo do end up winning the Challenge, so props to her for figuring it out. When they finish the Challenge they have to point out to TJ and the producers that one of their markings isn’t super clear because their pen died…c’mon people. Producers of this show, you can’t open up a new box of pens for them? You can’t even get that right?

Theo reveals that he’s, “been absolutely rawdogging it”, as he didn’t realize that the letters announced before the number had any significance, and that he’s just been marking down numbers regardless of the letter it was associated with. He of course does not come clean to Adrienne about this who I think may have literally murdered him had she found out.

While running through the cave Michaela twists her ankle, and this is the second time she’s pulled an Aneesa this season. I definitely have my fears for her ability to successfully run a Final with that ankle potentially being injured and the fact that it’s reoccurring whenever she has to run. I imagine that the delay of her injury and inability to be as mobile for the rest of the Challenge caused them to make less trips for matches and come in last place. I loved Turbo’s shock of, “Really???” when Michaela and Cedric were announced as the losers. The results of this Challenge lead to the vote being set up for another tie as two members of each of the alliances are left in the vote.

Aviv and Yeremi, Don’t Fight Back While We Try to Kill You!

Immediately after the Challenge, Michaela approaches Nany and they talk about how it’s time to turn on their alliance and send Aviv and Yeremi into Elimination. I definitely agree that this is the smartest move as you have the ability to get rid of a huge threat right before the Final, but as we will see, it was executed quite awfully.

Michaela goes downstairs to the infamous closet and speaks to Olivia, Theo, and Adrienne about how she and Nany plan on siding with them at this point in order to take out Yeremi and Aviv. This is where the messiness begins because usually this wouldn’t matter, but in a season where you can Stake a Claim and avoid Elimination, you can’t be this open about what you’re planning to do. How does she expect this to stay a secret? Theo reasonably says not to get too excited quite yet as nothing is confirmed to happen, to which Olivia replies, “No, it’s…it’s done. Period.” Okay well Olivia, no, it’s literally not done, and in fact your game is about to completely change as well.

Nany sees Michaela being foolish and yapping to the entire house about what they’re going to do, and decides to one her up by directly telling Aviv that she’ll be voting for her. I’m not sure if she didn’t realize that telling someone they’ll be voted into Elimination would motivate them to try to get out of that position, or if she for whatever reason had no doubt that Aviv and Yeremi would never switch partners. Either way, she was wrong. Nany betrays her alliance and someone that 100% had her back, which is the absolute correct move and I’m honestly super surprised to see her do something cutthroat like this. At least she understands that you gotta do what you gotta do to win the game and shouldn’t take anything personal…

I’ve been waiting for someone to Stake a Claim ever since my hero Gabe did it weeks and weeks ago, and for the first time it seemed like a real possibility, but after Aviv and Yeremi talk to Sydney and Turbo about how it makes no sense because it still doesn’t guarantee safety and that they want to be each other’s partners, I was heavily doubting that it would happen. But I severely underestimated Yeremi’s gamesmanship and drive to win no matter what, and at Nomination, he stands up to Stake a Claim. I was sooo psyched, and this instantly changed the tone of the episode and made it so much better.

Yeremi Stakes a Claim on Olivia, and this gives himself and Aviv a chance to stay out of Elimination, and for Olivia, a chance to get a better partner. I have no idea why Olivia was so against being paired with Yeremi when she dislikes being with Will, and Yeremi definitely seems like an upgrade as a partner. Yes he has a bigger threat level, but he increases your chances of winning, and there’s only one more Elimination after this until the Final. She and Theo say how it feels like Yeremi is scared to go into Elimination and that’s why he’s making this decision, which is just so ridiculous.

Everyone’s reaction to Yeremi Staking a Claim was annoying, but of course especially Nany’s. Her acting like she did something nice for Aviv by giving her a head’s up that she was going to go back on her word and betray her alliance is insane, another example of someone pulling an Aneesa this episode. How angry and upset she was at this point for someone else doing the exact same thing that she did, which is do whatever you can do give yourself the best chance at winning, was completely unjustified and I thought she came across looking really bad here.

Luckily for Yeremi and Will, they both wore athletic clothing for their face-off. Yeremi is a fantastic runner, and even though Will is as well, he’s no match for the ultra-marathoner. I think what hurt Will the most is that he tried to keep up with Yeremi for their run up the mountain and it completely gassed him out. Will did get to the puzzle while Yeremi was still there, and we weren’t shown how quick either of them did it, but from their accounts it seemed like Yeremi crushed him and it was never close. Yeremi walks back to the group after winning and takes a seat behind his new partner Olivia with some of the most aura I’ve ever seen on this show.

Now the vote gets really interesting. Theo and Adrienne vote for Aviv and Will as they of course won’t vote for Olivia, and made a deal with Nany to not vote for her either. Aviv and Will are unsure about who they should vote for and ask Nany and Justin what theirs will be before making their own. Nany and Justin mishandle this situation to a ridiculous degree as they refuse to say who they’re voting for, and aren’t even making eye contact with Will as he asks them both for their votes. All they had to do was say that they were going to vote for Theo and Adrienne and Aviv and Will would have done so as well, and it would have guaranteed that they wouldn’t receive any votes.

Will has a warped perspective on this situation where part of him thinks that Nany made a deal with Theo and told Aviv she would be voting for her knowing that this would screw him over and that he is actually at the center of all of this. He gives Nany one last opportunity to tell him what he wants to hear, and she doesn’t, so he makes the most dramatic and most entertaining vote of the season and votes for his girlfriend and his best friend. Nany and Justin vote for Will and Aviv right back, and Olivia and Yeremi cast the final vote for Nany and Justin to create a 2–2 tie.

No one changes their decision after a second vote, and so TJ brings out the rigged coin, which at this point has had more screen time this season than Bananas. The best story possible would be for Nany and Justin to get sent in via the coin flip tiebreaker, and I was convinced that the rigged coin would give me that satisfaction. The story of Nany and Justin betraying their alliance just to end up in Elimination themselves would’ve been an all-time moment on this show and I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that it didn’t happen, as the coin lands on Will and Aviv and sends them in instead.

We got a classic Nany crashout in Nomination that we haven’t really seen anything like in years, and it’s great to know that Kaycee didn’t fully kill that side of her.

All That For a Puzzle?

As the teams walk into the Arena, we see that there are two models of an airplane bathroom sitting on the Elimination floor. Each team will be closed in the bathroom and have to solve two puzzles, the first to do so wins. I need to know how the hell they came up with this Elimination. It’s the end of the season and I guess they got tired and were like, “Uh, just have ’em do a few puzzles” but then they realized how lame that would be so someone in the board meeting raised their hand and was like, “What if we put them in an airplane bathroom?” while they were probably high as hell or something. It does have kind of an interesting visual element to it, but at the end of the day it’s just two puzzles, and not only is that not very entertaining to watch, but it’s also very anti-climatic to have the second to last Elimination of the season just be bland puzzles.

Michaela solves the tangram puzzle without several of the pieces, meaning she doesn’t actually solve it. And then her and Cedric complete the second puzzle together and leave the bathroom thinking they’ve won. TJ informs them that they are incorrect and so they must go back in, which upon doing so Michaela finds the puzzle pieces she hadn’t initially used. For some reason they also undo part of the second puzzle so I’m not sure if they had that one wrong as well, but regardless, they correctly solve both very quickly before Aviv and Will seem to make any real progress throughout the entire Elimination, and Michaela and Cedric win.

To be honest I was once again very disappointed in the result as I was really hoping for Will to get back in the house. The conflict between Will and Nany next episode would’ve been generational and so I’m very sad that we won’t get to see what would’ve unfolded. Given the Elimination, Yeremi was definitely glad to have gotten out of this, as Michaela and Cedric both seem very good at puzzles, and it’s likely he would’ve been going home with Aviv had he still been her partner.

Aviv now goes home two Eliminations before the Final in her two seasons since her return to the show. She has proved to be a very good competitor, and I really wish she would’ve had more appearances after her Fresh Meat win. But, while she is so good that she’ll stick around for a while, she didn’t really have any storylines yet again which is unfortunate.

Will has been one of the most important and entertaining characters to this season, and is in some way responsible for the majority of the best dramatic moments. He will surely be back and I hope he doesn’t change one bit.

Putting all the pieces together, I think this Elimination was very possibly the reason for Will and Aneesa’s hookup. They were likely on the same plane back to the US after getting eliminated in back-to-back episodes, we watched in real time as Will realized that he needs to have exciting sex like Aviv did in an airplane, and when you combine that with the hatred for Nany coursing through Will and Aneesa’s veins, I think I’ve put together quite the grotesque theory here.

Moving Forward

With only five teams left, there is only one more episode and Elimination before the Final. I think that Theo and Adrienne are most likely to come last in the Challenge, but it could honestly be any team, and in most combinations of the vote, I think Turbo and Sydney are most likely to be sent into Elimination, as teams will try to get them out before the Final if it’s possible. While Olivia voiced concerns about not knowing whether her and Yeremi will be able to work well together, I think the opposite pretty strongly as Yeremi is a very encouraging partner and that’s what will get the best out of Olivia. By the way, Olivia is quite pregnant at this point in the season and I don’t think I’ve even mentioned that at this point in all these recaps. Absolutely crazy.

Winner of the Episode: Olivia, regardless of what she thinks

Loser of the Episode: Whoever had to clean up the airplane bathroom post-Will and Aneesa

-Beckett Hennessey