The Challenge USA Season 2 Episode 12 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 12th episode of The Challenge USA 2 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 12th episode.
Also, I did a breakdown of the female cast for Season 39 on my podcast, linked above.
10 Michele’s Messy Game
Episode 12 opened with Michele dealing with the backlash from voting Chris into elimination after promising the Survivor alliance that she’d vote for Tori.
When we analyze The Challenge, often, we get trapped into only looking at the outcome as to whether or not someone made a good/bad move. There have been so many seasons where players make a terrible move, and things still work out, and others where players make a good move only for things to backfire.
Michele was between a rock and a hard place last week. In my Episode 11 recap, I thought Michele voting for Chris rather than Tori was a smart move because if Tori took out Cassidy, then it would lead to a dynamic where Michele would become the new Cassidy and be a lamb to slaughter for the Final/last elimination. What I didn’t consider was how betrayed/negatively Desi, Michaela, and Chanelle would react to the move, making Michele their new Public Enemy #1.
At the same time, had Michele voted for Tori, then things begin to spin the other way, and we would have lived in a world where the MTV Vets and Tori would’ve gotten pissed at her. If you had to pick which is scarier, I’d say the experienced MTV players, especially as they had a 4/5 shot to have at least one male daily challenge winner.
In this predicament, Michele was fucked either way. Yet, we must acknowledge that the way Michele operated and communicated with the Survivor alliance prior to the vote was messy and a massive factor as to why they got so upset with her. Michele has never quite adapted to the gameplay of The Challenge, and it’s a shame to see because there’s obvious potential there. I have to say, Michele gave Tori a golden parachute because Tori walked away from all of this with the target off of her and the Survivor women with their tails tucked between their legs. Which leads us to…
9 Desi is a Fascinating Player
After watching the Survivor ladies chastise Michele, the same women apologized to Tori for plotting against her. Specifically, we saw Desi in tears, trying to tell Tori how sorry she was, and that’s not the type of game she plays. Based on how Desi talked in that scene and her confessionals, it genuinely looked as though Desi struggles with playing any type of duplicitous game.
We all know Desi is a fantastic human — highly educated with a Ph.D., a literal Beauty Queen, in killer shape, socially mingles easily, and crushes almost every challenge. When Desi says she is willing to take on Tori in the Final, it’s not from a place of false bravado because Desi is capable. Still, her tears over playing the game made me wonder whether Desi is truly built for this show. Obviously, Desi could win almost any season she appears on; I’m asking whether she fits into the show itself. If Desi isn’t going to be a high-drama character, at the very least, we need someone who is going to be willing to play the game.
EXCEPT, right after the Tori scene, we saw Desi show warmth and kindness to Chris in a way where she had him wrapped around her finger. I’m not saying Desi was actively trying to manipulate; actually, I’ll say she wasn’t. Nonetheless, she does have the natural charm to swindle and deal with the best if she wanted, or at least that’s what it felt like.
8 Castle Crashers
When it gets late in the game, I love it when they amp up the difficulty in daily challenges and force the players to work for the win. Thus, I was a big fan of this week’s daily challenge. The visual aspect of the daily challenge was fun — the castle’s aesthetic was fabulous, and seeing large men like Fessy and Josh dive head first through to crawl through tiny spaces was hilarious.
The daily challenge felt like a mini Final, and seeing who was thriving/struggling was interesting. It looked to me as though Fessy was setting the pace for the men, albeit with some puking included. On the female side, Chanelle, Tori, and Desi were crushing it — to which many have been questioning Chanelle’s strength. I’m not entirely sure Chanelle is a top player, but you can see why she has the respect of her fellow competitors.
In the end, the winners were Chris and Desi! It was a big first win for each as it kept them both out of elimination and able to go on the offensive. Even though Chris & Desi won, we have to acknowledge the daily challenge MVP.
7 Bananas got Bananas’d
MICHAELA BRADSHAW.
Man, I was so thoroughly impressed by Michaela during the daily challenge. Instead of gunning straight ahead for the win herself, Michaela scouted the entire arena to give her alliance the best possible chance of winning. By doing so, Michaela inherently put herself at risk as she lessened her own individual chances of winning. The gamble paid off, as she was able to figure out there were 8 puzzle pieces and kept the knowledge only to herself and her alliance until it was too late for the others to catch up.
Michaela played the daily challenge as though she was a 10-season vet. It was the type of move you would expect from Johnny Bananas, and even more impressively, Michaela straight-up lied and deceived the Banana man himself. While it would’ve been cool to see Michaela get her third straight win, the fact she was able to ensure that none of the MTV men or Tori/Michele got the win was remarkable enough.
6 The Micheltedown
Far and away, the best part of this week’s episode was The Micheltedown. One of the biggest drawbacks of the USA franchise has been the lack of drama, not just that, but the total lack of drama that gets shown, as so many fights got chopped off on the editing floor. Michaela and Michele’s blow-up was the perfect amount of animosity this show needs. There are additional layers that go beyond what we saw on camera as well.
For starters, Michele & Michaela had a bit of a tiff on SLA and threw each other under the bus early when everyone expected them to be aligned. Entering that season, everyone thought Michaela would be a beast on The Challenge, while many were skeptical of Michele’s abilities. In a twist of fates, Michele won that first elimination against Michaela, went on to do an additional season, and is now a mainstay across both CBS & MTV. Michaela came into this season hungry to prove herself and get some redemption.
Secondly, for Survivor fans, Michele & Michaela have very different stories. Michaela was always a great athlete and strategist on Survivor but never quite fit. Survivor was always a struggle for Michaela. Meanwhile, Michele went on Survivor, didn’t see a Tribal council her first 20 days on the Island, and won the season partly based on likability. Michele was then also a Finalist on Winners at War. Within Survivor circles, Michele has already climbed the mountain. When these two began scrapping, and Michele was on the ropes, Michele threw out the “I Won Survivor” card in her confessional. It’s something Michele can always fall back on — at the same time when Michele brings it out, you know it’s because she’s lost.
It’s clear Michaela feels at home on The Challenge USA, and Michele, these last couple weeks, has been on uneasy ground. Michaela put Michele in a body bag this week, plain and simple.
My biggest worry about The Challenge USA 2 is that it would become a drawn-out snoozefest, just like USA 1 did. Luckily these two brought some juice.
5 Nominations
During the winner’s deliberation, Desi and Chris quickly agreed to nominate Michele. It seemed as though Desi would support Chris’s choice to nominate almost anyone. The expectation was that it would be Fessy, as Fessy had already thrown Chris into multiple eliminations.
It wasn’t; Chris went off the beaten path and decided to have fun by nominating Josh. Chris’s mindset was that Josh has not gotten nominated for elimination yet this season, has not gotten a significant amount of votes tossed into the Hopper on him, and crucially, Josh hasn’t won anything. Josh’s game has been the exact opposite of Chris’s.
Chris decided to have some fun and rattle Josh’s cage solely for entertainment. In all honesty, the nomination worked because Josh began to unravel; don’t worry, he didn’t meltdown.
4 The Goof is Always Gonna Goof
At the beginning of the episode, Josh was so excited to tell Bananas, Cory, and Fessy that they made it to the Final 5. Considering Cory & Fessy are multi-time finalists and Bananas lucked his way into 7 Challenge Championships, they almost laughed him off because, to them, getting this far is only part of the game. It meant a lot to Josh, as it’s the farthest he’s ever gotten on a season.
Josh is so close to the Final; he needs to play it cool, and not blow up. Even when Chris nominated him, Josh knew to stay calm so as not to draw attention, as it would likely be a women’s elimination day.
It did not take long after for Josh to self-destruct. Josh’s emotions got to him, and he emotionally got in his head to where he was telling Fessy & Cory that he wanted to go into the last elimination next week and take out Chris himself. Those are words Josh will regret if he does go in because I can’t imagine Josh beating Chris in any elimination based on their histories in the arena.
3 Hopper Votes
1 Vote went to Cory from Michele.
1 Vote went to Chanelle from Cassidy.
7 Votes went to Cassidy from everyone else.
Dear God, I hope CBS edited out the scenes of Cassidy actively trying to politic and lobby votes for Chanelle. If not, I don’t understand Cassidy’s confessionals saying she’s trying everything she can for people not to play safe anymore.
As expected, Cassidy’s ball came out of the Hopper, and we got Michele vs. Cassidy.
2 Blowout Elimination
On paper, I was excited about this elimination going in, as it felt like neither player had a distinct advantage going in. Both players had similar builds; each had won eliminations prior, and the elimination wasn’t skewed one way.
The elimination was creative and different; it required muscular endurance and some strategy. Cassidy used her legs to great effect in this daily challenge, waiting for Michele to tire out, and then took over. It was a dominant 6–1 elimination win by Cassidy. Personally, I was stunned by the end outcome; once it got 5–1, I thought Michele would be able to mount a comeback and make it a 6–3 or 6–4 finish, as she only had to defend one of her posts left. Nope, Cassidy stomped her out and blew up her season. Literally, there were explosions, and for once, the explosions felt like they added to the elimination.
Cassidy deserves her props — she’s 3–0 in eliminations, has beaten two solid players (Alyssa & Michele), and continues to fight in this game. It sucks that Cassidy got painted as the “lay-up” on this cast — she’s a good strong player. That said… I get how it’s happened as I look at the rest of this cast, and as much as I respect Cassidy, I don’t think she’s on the level of Tori, Desi, and Michaela. However, I am seated for the scenario where we get Cassidy vs. Chanelle in elimination because that one is up for debate.
1 What’s Next For Michele?
Everyone knew Michele wasn’t winning this season when she got announced as part of the upcoming Season 39 cast. Watching how she went down in flames this season was entertaining, yet telling of the player she was/is. Michele took a minuscule gap between filming these seasons, and I wonder if she’ll have immediately learned from her mistakes or continue to be the same player.
On Season 39, Michele is likely the most connected female entering the game and will have many allies and friends. That was precisely the issue this season as Michele played the middle for far too long, and it cost her as she didn’t have those truly defined alliances she could rely on.
If Michele wants to win Battle for a New Champion, she has to be more decisive and bold — no more blurred lines.
Also, I’m linking my Season 39 Cast breakdown podcast a second time, because I can:
