The Challenge Double Agents Episode 6 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
Episode 6 of Double Agents 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 sixth episode. These will be integral storylines that the sixth episode focused on, and I’ll breakdown why they matter.
If you prefer the traditional recap format, my Podcast partner and I broke down the entire episode. Here is the Spotify Player, and a link to our Apple Page. Generally, on Apple, the podcast doesn’t show up for the first 24 hours unless you subscribe to the podcast. Above at the top is the YouTube version. If you could, throw us a LIKE and Subscribe (it would be greatly appreciated).
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On we go!
10 Lio leaving
If you’ve ever gone down a Lio Rush research rabbit hole, you’ll find that he’s struggled with mental health his entire life. Being in the Challenge house where he’s away from family, around alcohol, and was getting triggered by his past in the group homes, it was smart for him to put his mental health first. Typically, TJ Lavin rags on quitters, except this time, he noted what Lio was going through was serious, which means something. I’m a massive fan of Lio’s work as a wrestler. I’m excited as I believe he will be signing with New Japan Wrestling soon (the biggest non-US company) to wrestle in their cruiserweight (Juniors) division or be part of its new American branch.
9 Daily Challenge: Top of the Pack
The daily challenge was a mini-final five-mile race where the two players carried a heavy beam on their shoulders through muddy terrains with a couple of checkpoints in-between, most notably a math puzzle. Since this challenge took up a majority of the episode, it will take up 30% of this article.
Our top two teams got separated by about 15–20 seconds: Jay/Theresa and Cory/Ashley. What separated them was that they were 2 of 3 teams actually to solve the math puzzle. Cory/Ashley were in the lead after the puzzle; however, they took a wrong turn that set them back a couple of minutes, allowing Jay/Theresa to take a lead they would hold until the end. Jay and Theresa’s size impeded them at points as the beam was dense, and neither of them is a heavyweight. Nonetheless, they balanced each other out nicely, communicated, and when they saw the flat/downhill tracks of land, they pushed the pace and passed up teams. Considering Theresa won the mini-final on Exes 2 with Wes, and Jay is similar to Wes in build/skill-set, it’s almost like a rerun for her. Ashley is fantastic at finals and running long-distances; thus, finishing second is no surprise. Cory’s cardio has dramatically improved since his first couple years on the Challenge, and now it feels as though he is a legit top player whose only fault is puzzles.
Sadly for Cory/Ashley, their wrong-turn during the race ended up being costly. A bonus for Jay/Theresa is they won 6 grand each and a protein kit.
8 Middle of the Pack
Kam and Kyle came in 3rd place and physically were as good/better than Cory/Ashley and Jay/Theresa; they just couldn’t solve the puzzle (similar to the next seven teams mentioned). Josh and Nany came in 4th, and it’s a strong finish for them. Nany was confident about her abilities cardio-wise which is fantastic because self-doubt is generally her biggest weakness. Kaycee and Leroy finished 5th, which is about where you’d expect. I can’t tell whether Darrell/Amber in 6th is impressive or not. For Amber, it means she wasn’t an anchor; on the other hand, Darrell generally wins obstacle courses/races.
Nam and Lolo coming in 7th was shocking. Endurance and communication are not their strong suit, and it turns out that Lolo has a bad shoulder. The newly formed duo of Devin and Gabby come in 8th, which is alright for them.
7 Back of the Pack
Mechie and Amber coming in 9th out of 11 isn’t that bad when you consider they combine to weigh 1 Fessy. CT and Big T come in 10th as Big T’s endurance isn’t great, and the height difference between the two is massive, making it challenging to balance the beam. Fessy and Aneesa come in dead-last even despite being the 3rd team to solve the math puzzle. Aneesa constantly needed to take breaks and dismissed her poor performance on it not being the final, which was asinine. Like if it wasn’t clear that Aneesa is never winning a season, it’s abundantly apparent now. Fessy also phoned it in, because if he cared enough about not finishing last, he would have carried the beam by himself.
6 Trouble In Paradise
Lolo is the ultimate dish it but can’t take it player. When Nam voices his opinion, she feels assaulted. Whereas, when she lashes out at him, he just takes it calmly. It feels as though Lolo wants him to lash out at her in order for her feelings to become vindicated and so that she could place blame on him rather than self-reflect. She also doesn’t take time to consider that maybe communicating in his 3rd/4th language isn’t his strong suit. One of the funny moments is her getting mad at him for walking in the final 15 feet, stating that she’s never walked to a finish line before. Lolo, you’re a track, and bobsled athlete, of course, you’re not walking anything in, not unless you’re a Jamaican bobsledder (rip John Candy).
They need to go into elimination because this pair is not working out, and both would welcome a change of scenery (Nam more than Lolo).
5 Theresa “Laurel Bergmann” Jones
What’s funny is that Theresa bagged on Wes earlier in the season with a couple of her confessionals, and now here she is, playing a very similar political game to her former partner. It’s not a bad thing either; it would be a shame if she waited nine seasons to come back and play a boring game. Theresa entered the game in an awkward position where even though she’s a vet, she re-enters a game where she didn’t have relationships with the existing vets other than Aneesa (who became a pariah alongside Tori) and Nany (with who she had a blood feud). Thus, I think she plays the Wes game where she sees she’s on the outside of the top players, so she might as well align herself with the rookies who she could probably beat in the final, and in all honesty, those rookies are more transparent.
When she won the Challenge and Ashley approached to gauge what Theresa was thinking, she pulls the Laurel Stucky move of taking out her notebook and having a list of names, which is crazy since that’s her old nemesis. Theresa feels like the Bride from Kill Bill where’s absorbed her former partners and enemies’ tactics. What I found curious is the three names underlined were Kaycee, Nany, and Lolo. I think that’s a potential hitlist as she knows her and Nany are not on good terms despite them being polite to this point, and then I believe she sees Kaycee/Lolo as her threats to winning. A little note: she misspelled Cory’s name.
Ultimately, Theresa decides Ashley will be the house-vote as she already knows that Ashley doesn’t trust her and that she’s a threat. It’s also easier than Kam since Kam has too many connections/allies who would not put her in as the house vote this early, whereas Ashley’s already gotten voted in once this season. Theresa’s bad move was going room to room and campaigning, as it comes off as trying a bit too hard and is somewhat sloppy gameplay.
4 Deliberation and Votes
Ashley makes a hell of a pitch about why she shouldn’t get voted into elimination at the deliberation. She notes that there will be partner swapping, and because of that, shouldn’t the guys in the house want to keep her in the game to run a final with. Amber and Mechie defend Amber. Amber has to as it’s a game, and Mechie does so as it could easily end up being a guy’s elimination, and they are a pair.
For the first time this season, the compromised agents were decided by a plurality vote instead of a majority, with 9 out of 20 people voting in Cory/Ashley. The rookie girls and their partners united on this vote: Gabby/Devin, Big T/CT, Amber/Mechie, Lolo/Nam, and then a wild Kaycee threw in the 9th vote (probably as she’s close with Jay). While a decent amount of the house did not want Ashley in elimination, they didn’t get on the same page for an alternative. It pretty easily could have been a 9–8 or 9–7 vote. The Itty Bitty Committee made the most of their numbers. Theresa was thrilled by the vote results. After being one of the all-time worse political players, finally, something that she executed worked out. She had a total adrenaline high.
3 Theresa’s fake side deal
Theresa was going to put in Kam vs. Ashley regardless. She decided that she might as well press her luck by approaching Kam with a deal where if it’s a headbanger, Theresa will throw her in to get her Gold Skull. Kam didn’t take the bait. You can’t blame Theresa for trying, it was unnecessarily extra, but she was making an enemy anyway.
2 Kam vs. Ashley
One of the episode highlights is TJ fooling us and the players into thinking it will be a guy elimination, only to pull the rug from under us. It was hilarious. Kam and Ashley’s elimination is they stand on a platform while harnessed and have six rings they have to attach to hooks spread across the arena. It’s a fair elimination since there is a strategy and rhythm to it, rather than a luck-based game. On paper, Ashley had the advantage as she has long limbs. In the first minute or two, both players are doing abysmally, Kam more-so. Kam sees that she’s doing terribly, collects herself, and then begins to change up her strategy, eventually finding a rhythm and motion to the game. She takes a big lead. Ashley gets the rhythm at one point, except by the point she does, Kam is closing in on the win. The end total is Kam gets 6 rings, Ashley gets 3. A real quality win by Kam. My only complaint about the elimination itself is that maybe 6 rings was too little, and perhaps it should have been 12 rings instead.
Kam is not 10–1 in eliminations like she said; she is 8–2, which is still remarkable. It puts Kam 4th all-time in female elimination wins and ties for the second-best career record through 10 eliminations (Wes went 8–2 as well, Laurel is 1st at 9–1). If Kam wins her next elimination, she will tie Wes and Laurel for the best elimination record ever through 11 eliminations. Ashley is now a career 3–4 in eliminations.
1 Aftermath
Kam chooses to stay with Kyle as a partner. She wants to run the final with Leroy; however, she knows that they still need to spread their voting power as much as possible after what happened this week, and also, Leroy could steal her once he gets his Gold Skull (hopefully). Cory has gone through his third partner this season and will be getting a fourth at the end of next week.
Jay has to be terrified as next week will likely be a male elimination day, and they are currently public enemy #1. If he were to win an elimination, strategically, I wouldn’t be shocked if he switches partners as a means to protect himself and Theresa.
