The Challenge Double Agents Episode 9 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
Episode 9 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 9th episode. These will be integral storylines that the 9th episode focused on, and I’ll breakdown why they matter. Also, if you prefer a traditional Summary, the YouTube Podcast breakdown is above, and the Spotify/Apple Version below.
Onto the recap!
10 Josh is Looking Like a Five-Course Gold Skull Meal
Darrell, Cory, and CT were licking their fingers after Josh got his Gold Skull. Cory specifically was salivating over the idea of getting a potentially easy elimination win and sliding right on through to the final. Kyle laughed off the idea of him going into elimination again this season, which he should not worry about, given that Devin/Josh get seen as the lay-ups, and Fessy/Leroy are the “big threats” in the game — leaving him a nice spot in the middle to coast. Unless Devin and Josh both get eliminated, to which there is a significant chance that Kyle himself becomes the #1 target. Kyle needs Josh and Devin to pull off at least one more elimination win.
9 Amber B vs. The Itty Bitty Committee
The rookie women felt scorned by Amber B because, to this point, they have played the game with an inherently high level of trust. They united under an umbrella of power within numbers, and Amber B decided that she would leave them out to dry against those who already have power. On the one hand, welcome to the Challenge; people lie and deceive and flip-flop all the time. On the other, when you play a game predicated on trust, it hurts when someone leaves you out to dry, and because of that, I do not blame the rookie women for gunning after her.
Amber B impressed me two weeks ago with how she stood up for herself against Theresa’s interrogation. The way she waffled when conversing with Amber M and Gabby disappointed me because she did try to play innocent, very reminiscent of Big Brother gameplay. Amber M and Gabby talking about getting revenge when you know they have not come close to winning a daily challenge and are in the minority vote-wise at this point is a bit funny. I would love to watch them get power because something chaotic might happen.
8 TROUBLESOME TRIVIA
THIS DAILY CHALLENGE WENT FOR OVER 20 FUCKING MINUTES.
True or False Trivia sucks because we do not get ridiculous open-response answers like Johnny Bananas saying that Australia’s native-language is Dutch. The only positive about true or false trivia is the Russian Roulette feeling where people begin to over/under think certain questions. Kaycee responding TRUE to the statement that Wolves are Vegetarians had me floored. If Wolves were vegetarians, we’d all have pet wolves at home. Got to give props to CT for answering FALSE to the same that only the Quarterback is allowed to throw a pass in football; that is a good trick question.
The added physicality/sabotage element of this trivia was fun to watch; Gabby and Theresa impressed me a ton as they held on for a hell of a long time at the maximum leverage level. Yeah, I would prefer for a straight-up trivia showdown where the best person wins, but for some reason, MTV keeps trying to reinvent the wheel. The winning team for the daily challenge was the person who held on the longest/answered the most questions overall, except the heats ended after everyone except for one player fell. Thus, the biggest flaw of this trivia elimination is that, in theory, if all the players wanted to make sure someone lost in the second heat, they could jump off immediately and guarantee that the person’s time would not beat the first heat winner. Nam got penalized because the other people in his round did not stay up as long as the losers in Darrell’s heat. There should have been a tiebreaker round between Darrell and Nam or Lolo and Amber B.
7 Darrell’s Fear of Heights Won Him a Daily Challenge
Everyone knows Darrell is afraid of heights. So much so that for a decent portion of the daily challenge, nobody attempted to sabotage him because it would have been a dick move. Also, targeting Darrell in the sky potential makes you his enemy on the ground. As a former boxer, Darrell is a fighting-type. It is all fun in games attacking someone’s Machoke when you have a Pidgeotto out, then all you have is a Geodude left, and it won’t be any laughing matter (APOLOGIES for making a Pokemon joke, please do not stop reading).
This was a somewhat needed win for Darrell. If you wanted to be a smartass, you could objectively make the argument that prior to this episode, Darrell had been the worst-performing male remaining in the game.
6 A Lifetime Supply of Whoppers
Having prizes during daily challenges is always a good thing. Darrell and Amber B got 5k dollars each for winning the daily challenge and a lifetime supply of Whoppers. If I were them, I would much prefer a lifetime supply of Chicken Fries. Most fast-food chain burgers are garbage, besides In-N-Out or Whataburger (I have also heard Culvers is good, there are none in my area). When they went to open the briefcase that revealed they won Whoppers for life, my brain thought it would be a Paper Crown or a single whopper inside. Usually, the players would also get treated to a BK feast, except with the Pandemic, it was probably too many hoops to jump through.
5 Nany Gonzalez … The Politician?
For the last decade, Nany goes far based on her social game, not her political game. It is her politics that kill her in the end because she did not make the game moves necessary to take out the more significant threats who will beat her in elimination closer to the final. For the first time in a decade, why did Nany put on her politician pants to sway Amber B’s house vote choice? Well, it is a called motherfucking grudge. Nany HATES Theresa. While they are both tall Latin women who share the same last name and make great reality television, they are each others Yin and Yang. Theresa represents everything Nany isn’t, and Nany represents everything Theresa isn’t. Nany is humble, Theresa is a bit pretentious. Theresa trains her ass off; Nany would rather sit by the pool. Nany never wants to hurt anyone; Theresa is willing to do whatever to win. Theresa exudes confidence — sometimes too much, Nany doubts herself to the point that she does not value herself enough.
The biggest thing they have in common is their mutual distaste for one another. Nany made a hell of a pitch to Amber B on why they need to get Theresa in elimination against one of the strongest women in the game. It is an exceptionally brilliant move for Nany because it keeps Amber M, Big T, Gabby, and even Amber B in play as potential non-skull opponents for Nany once she goes into elimination.
4 Kaycee is a Bad Ass
When Amber B approached Kaycee about potentially facing Theresa in elimination, the fact she was completely down to go in with little hesitation is such a ridiculously epic moment. Imagine asking CT if he was cool going into elimination against Darrell? That would be an awkward and explosive conversation to have. Kaycee’s total confidence going against one of the top three women left on the show (herself included in that top 3) was staggering.
I have roasted Kaycee multiple times in the past for being boring on both Big Brother and the Challenge. She has shut me up by playing such an impressive political and social game where she is managing the egos of Josh and Fessy, has voted correctly the entire way this season, and has managed to have no target on her back despite running the game just as much as Kam is right now. Kaycee is putting up an all-time reality television resume.
3 The House Vote
Once the rookie girls realize that Theresa is an option to get voted in, they pile their votes on her to protect Gabby. Theresa realizes she is going into elimination and embraces it. If anything, Theresa’s ego got stroked by the fact that people in the house are intimidated by her. Amber B not rallying the votes against Gabby and then throwing herself into elimination may come back to bite her in the ass. Even though I made fun of the men for getting their Gold Skulls too early, that is because those five men now have four eliminations where they will have to defend them potentially. There will still be two free Gold Skulls on the women’s side after today, and only two potential defenses required.
2 Kaycee vs. Theresa
Does anyone like Reverse Tug of War eliminations? It is fantastic when a smaller competitor can endure the odds and overcome a bigger opponent like Cara beating Nia on Free Agents or Frank beating MJ on the Gauntlet 3. Sadly, those are the outliers. More often than not, these eliminations are a slog to watch. Kaycee kicked ass and dominated 3–0. It was an impressive win and legitimatized her more as a massive physical threat if she was not already to some people. Theresa tried her best. Her face went from her natural color to bright red to purple by the end. There was no lack of trying on her end; Kaycee was simply bigger, faster, and stronger. Theresa revealed on Social Media that she competed this season with a torn labrum. After the elimination, you could tell when she removed her harness, and her two shoulders looked completely different.
Kaycee chooses to keep Leroy as a partner. It is a solid choice since they have worked well together. After this performance, the only way I could not see her making the final is if a rookie gets power for one of the last eliminations and they try to force a Kaycee/Kam match-up, to which I am not sure who would win depending on the game. Cory gets Amber M as his 4th partner this season. Considering Amber M is public enemy #1 right now, it’s likely he will get a 5th partner this season.
1 Theresa’s Closure
Had Theresa not gotten pregnant the first time, it is not crazy to say that Theresa would/could have become the Challenge’s female face. I could completely imagine them building Bloodlines around her the way they did for Cara Maria. When some people leave the Challenge world, they act as if it was unimportant. Not Theresa. For Theresa, she was a true competitor, and to have that part of her life cut off in an instant when she had gotten so close to the mountain top had to be gutting. Double Agents for her meant closure. As much as Theresa wanted to win, she wanted to end her career on her terms, and that is what she got. I think it is the best female return in Challenge history. After five years, a marriage, two kids, and a torn-labrum, Theresa proved she was someone who could change the energy of a room by walking through and that she can still kick some ass. Man, this season is going to be boring without her.
Theresa is like the Tracy McGrady of the Challenge. Anyone who was into stats in the early ’00s understood what 2003 Tracy was doing on the basketball court was special on an otherworldly level, something that not even Kobe Bryant would ever statistically replicate in his career. Exes 2 Theresa was out swimming the Challenge’s greatest female, she was out-running everyone, solved puzzles with ease, and had an excellent height-weight combination making her perfect for both endurance challenges and headbangers. That version of Theresa hit a level of all-around performance in challenges that players whom we consider “legends’’ never did. After all this praise heaped onto them, it is important to note, Tracy never made it past the first round of the playoffs as a Starter. Meanwhile, Theresa has a career 2–7 elimination record, literally the most career elimination losses through 9 eliminations, and has technically gotten eliminated on every season she has been on. Even with that, my heart and my eyes say Tracy McGrady and Theresa Jones-Gonzalez are two of the best competitors I have seen in my lifetime.
