The Challenge All Stars 3 Episode 6 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
Episode 6 of Challenge All Stars S3 is in the books. You probably have some thoughts, so let’s compare. Instead of giving a simple summary, I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from the 6th episode.
Above and Below is the podcast recap in case you prefer to watch/listen.
10 Dynamic Rivalry Editing: Brad vs. MJ and KellyAnne vs. Sylvia
Often times, rivalries on the Challenge don’t get fleshed out or get portrayed in a one-sided fashion. This week, we saw both the good and bad sides of Brad & MJ and KellyAnne & Sylvia as they were at odds.
During the episode’s opening, Sylvia cattishly says the sabotage is going KellyAnne’s way. It was rude and completely unnecessary as were other things Sylvia said throughout in her confessionals. In the same episode, we see Sylvia be a good and loving mom to her stepson via a Skype call. Likewise, we see KellyAnne be vulnerable when on a call with her boyfriend and act as the underdog taking on an alliance 1 v 4. Throughout these weeks, KellyAnne has been a polarizing character because she’s come off a bit bitter over the fact she and Kendal essentially got outplayed politically and strategically. At the same time, we see her be a bit of a badass in the challenges and cutthroat in seeking out revenge. MTV gave us reasons to root for and against each woman.
The men’s side was the same way. MJ and Brad felt like peacocks who were afraid of the other’s shadow. Brad has been killing the challenges this season, while MJ has carried the strut of being the reigning champion. Hilariously, they each said the other was playing a scared game, which was their way of admitting they were both terrified inside. Yet, we also see a video of MJ and his kids, and Brad mentions what winning would do for his family. These aren’t one-dimensional characters or Instagram clout chasers. There’s actual substance here, and as a fan, I love it.
9 Sylvia’s Sabotage
I want to get out in front and say this. Sylvia using the sabotage on Jonna instead of KellyAnne was not terrible logic considering the threat Jonna is when it comes to mental comps and how KellyAnne spazzed out the last time players got forced to build a star. It was a rational play if the goal was to have a Treehouse winner.
Where Sylvia went wrong was the fact she blindsided Jonna and thus put a target on herself as Jonna’s new #1 enemy; then also was still on KellyAnne’s radar for the previous sabotage and from their basic social interactions. Sylvia essentially guaranteed she’d be the Treehouse member to go into elimination if she didn’t win the daily challenge. She is loyal to a fault, and this was a play that was smart for the Treehouse but bad for Sylvia, and then the way it played out was catastrophic.
On the men’s side, Mark asked for a volunteer, to which MJ took it because he’d prefer to do it as an “honorable deed” rather than create any smoke between him and the Godfather. It also gave him an excuse to tank the daily to rest his knee and prep for elimination. Sidenote: I love that the daily was three parts with people getting eliminated in each portion; it made players push the pace while also forcing them to be versatile/all-around players.
8 Brad Blows Away The Competition
The men’s daily heat was pure domination from Brad. He was the second to scrape off his code, was the first to finish the paddleboard, and then killed the puzzle with relative ease. All Stars 3 has one of if not the strongest male cast in Challenge History, and Brad continues to rise to the top. The moment TJ blows the horn, Brad locks in physically and mentally. Due to him only being a 1x Champ, Brad is someone who has fallen a bit outside of the Top 10 Challenger argument. This season’s performance has shown that he deserves to be in discussion with some of the best to play.
Other notes from the men’s heat:
Mark’s old-man vision kept him from being able to make out any of the codes, and MJ had the sabotage, so they got immediately knocked out.
Wes and Nehemiah stunk at paddleboarding, leading to them getting taken out next. At least they got to have a cute friend date.
Jordan fell behind and rallied well; unfortunately for him, Brad never faltered. He did get in a good dig at Derrick’s puzzle abilities.
7 Where The Wind Blows
The women’s heat was thrilling, with many twists and turns. At first, it looked like Nia had a good shot, but then she couldn’t paddleboard. Veronica got her code quickly, except she didn’t unlock her paddle because she kept putting the code in reverse; she and Sylvia got immediately taken out, which was terrible for the Treehouse. Things got even worse when Jonna overcame the sabotage and KellyAnne ended up being a Pro paddleboarder.
It all came down to Roni as the Treehouse’s chance to win, and when KellyAnne’s entire tower got knocked down by a gust of wind, she had a great opportunity. Sadly, Roni misplaced one of her pieces and couldn’t complete her tower, which was wild as so many people were watching her build her tower, and nobody saw the missing piece that was in plain sight. KellyAnne was on a mission. It didn’t matter if she was taking on an entire alliance or if nature’s elements were throwing her a curveball; she was walking out with a win and some power. The performance did prove why the Treehouse initially went after KellyAnne (and Kendal), as she’s a great competitor. Sylvia’s total disdain for her win was all-time Hater of the Year material. It was ludicrous as Sylvia and the Treehouse have commonly celebrated their wins in an excited nature together, separating themselves from the rest of the players. KellyAnne was by herself and just felt such relief considering the odds against her.
Sylvia’s social game this episode was atrocious. During this challenge, her words and actions gave Jonna and Nia the push they needed to unite with KellyAnne and become an anti-Treehouse trio.
6 Go Shorty, It’s Your Birthday
The big group birthday party was a fun addition to the episode, most of the cast looked phenomenal in their fancy clothes, and we got some 50 Cent!
5 Eat Shit with a Side of Gluten
KellyAnne and Sylvia’s conversation during the birthday party was exhilarating television. They both had fake smiles and calm demeanors towards one another, yet had so much snark and distaste going back and forth, all while looking stunning. Once again, I think Sylvia played exceptionally poorly. She was a bit rude to KellyAnne, and the moment KellyAnne opened up to maybe working with her, Sylvia threw out Nia & Jonna as options for who to vote for, to which, KellyAnne’s not an idiot. Yes, KellyAnne plays with her heart, but she’s always been a headstrong political player dating back to the Island. Sylvia asking she put in either of those girls was an insult, and the fact she went on to call it a power trip in her confessional, was absurd. Was KellyAnne peacocking a bit? Absolutely. And she deserves to peacock as she won a hard daily challenge and now has the power to send anyone in; that’s well-deserved power. Also, did I use the word peacock in two different takeaways? Yes. Yes, I did.
I respect that Sylvia did not throw an alliance member under the bus; I just can’t fathom how she can call it a power trip after the Treehouse’s control of the game and when she couldn’t give any viable options. There’s nothing I want more currently than these two on a Rivals season together. They would be a fierce duo.
4 Power Moves
Brad and KellyAnne keep it simple; they decide he will get unanimous power over what guy goes in, and she will do the same with what woman goes in. He goes for MJ, and she goes for Sylvia.
They get to the elimination and see a puzzle is involved. MJ looks at the cast and picks Derrick as he thinks there’s no chance he loses to him in a puzzle. Sylvia decides she does not want to face Jonna in a puzzle, meaning the only non-Treehouse person eligible was Nia. Fun Fact: Nia and Sylvia had a combined 8–2 elimination record going into their match-up.
3 Nia vs. Sylvia
The moment TJ blows the elimination horn during a puzzle, players frantically try to solve it. When it’s a maze, sometimes you need to take a step back and look where you’re going because hitting a dead-end can set you farther back than taking a small break.
Nia had Jordan as an extra set of eyes for her in this elimination, and she did an excellent job listening. The Treehouse did not come through for Sylvia in the same way, and when it came down to the Mini Golf shot, Nia hit a hole-in-one that looked very impressive after watching Derrick attempt the same portion.
The elimination was underwhelming yet showed how random the Challenge is at times. Sylvia’s been a much better player than Nia this season, and it didn’t matter once TJ blew the horn in this elimination. Going forward, Nia has a decent shot at coasting as Jonna/KellyAnne have more significant targets, and those two girls won’t go after her either. This season reinforced the idea that I’d enjoy seeing Sylvia play again, whether on All-Stars 4 or the main show.
2 MJ vs. Derrick
In the men’s elimination, MJ went way too quickly and got himself into multiple dead-ends; meanwhile, Derrick got a bit lucky going through the maze and had most of the house on his side. The funniest part of this elimination was Brad’s confessional, where he seemingly said the word DIVET 8 million times as Derrick couldn’t put the ball in the hole. Eventually, Derrick got it in, and the win was a big moment for him as he’s been lost in the shuffle a bit amongst the men and got called out due to perceived weakness. After winning, he channeled his inner Lucky the Leprechaun as he realized he’d have four stars after this elimination.
MJ will not be repeating as a Champion, and in all honesty, I’m still waiting for the moment he truly wows me as a competitor. Don’t get me wrong, I think MJ is a good player, and he deservingly earned his way into a couple of Authorities this season. However, he was a floater for most of All-Stars 2, didn’t go into elimination in large part due to Jonna’s social, and then their performance in Part 1 of the Final was abysmal. Even the win itself; Jonna solved the math equation for them. Compared to recent winners, MJ felt like a Mickey Mouse Champion, and I kept waiting for him to prove why he’s a big threat. I will say the guy has the ego like he dominated a Final the same way that Yes Duffy did and had the physical look of a Champ; it just never translated in the end. Maybe all the blame goes towards the bad knee; at the end of the day, I’m still skeptical of MJ as a top player.
1 Where Do We Go From Here
With MJ out, all eyes are on Jordan. It is 5 against 1, meaning Jordan either needs to win the daily challenge or the subsequent elimination that follows from here on out to make the Final. Let’s talk scenarios.
If Jordan wins the next daily challenge, he probably throws in Brad or Wes. Brad likely calls out Nehemiah or Derrick, depending on the elimination. Wes probably calls out Derrick, as Derrick’s four stars look appealing, and the two have a history.
The trailer for next week seems to imply that Derrick wins the daily because Jonna says he will be going down in response to something he does, which the only way he gets the power to make a move is if he wins the daily. Or maybe that’s where his 4 stars come into play.
On the female side, it’s now 3 Treehouse Ladies (Kailah, Veronica, Roni) against 3 Non-Treehouse Ladies (KellyAnne, Jonna, Nia). You take away Sylvia, and the Treehouse looks much less intimidating, especially against three solid competitors in KellyAnne, Jonna, and Nia. Let’s talk about a lot of scenarios.
If the Treehouse wins the following daily, KellyAnne or Jonna will probably go in. KellyAnne would call out Veronica as she went after only her in the ring challenge, and she beat Veronica in elimination on the Ruins. Jonna would call out Roni if it’s a puzzle and Veronica if it’s physical.
If KellyAnne wins the daily, she could put in either Kailah (rational) or Veronica (emotional). I won’t put it past Kailah to call out Veronica if it’s a physical elimination because, at the end of the day, Kailah is playing to win. She would likely call out Jonna in this scenario, though. Veronica would call out Jonna if it’s physical and Nia if it’s a puzzle.
If Jonna or Nia win the daily, they probably put in Kailah. Kailah goes for KellyAnne because it’s a decently even match-up in whatever game gets thrown their way.
How will the stars come into play? They’ll likely give people advantages or grenades to throw in the Final.
