The Challenge USA Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 4th 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 fourth episode.
10 The First Infiltration
Bananas took Cory’s spot on the Blue Team, and it makes perfect sense. He joins a team who has already won 2 out 3 daily challenges, and with Cory as his current vendetta, Bananas put him on the most dysfunctional team, thus more likely he’ll end up in elimination soon.
Dusty probably cried in the huddle position in the shower after Bananas switched, knowing he won’t be teammates with his hero anymore.
If Bananas had taken Monte’s spot on the Green Team, I think they would have been the strongest team in the game.
9 Raw Confessionals
In the last two weeks, we have seen footage of raw confessionals without the green screen. Last week it was Johnny Bananas, and this week it was Desi; each time, the confessional felt deeper and authentic because it didn’t have the green screen behind them. Kudos to the editing/production team, especially as they’re not overusing it. Doing this once an episode tells you what moment you should key in on. It’s also a giant indicator of who will likely go into elimination.
8 Kickass Daily
The daily challenge was fantastic. Hopping back and forth between two moving semi-trucks is badass, and it’s the type of challenge that makes you want to go on the show. Plus, there was a fun physicality element to it as well. If you’re a fan of individual players, you watch, hoping they win their match-up. We also had storyline match-ups, like Michele & Amanda, to start.
Additionally, there was the factor that as the daily went on, it was not only teams trying their best but playing dirty to sabotage others.
Full Results:
Michele & Josh (11)
Chanelle & Cory (13)
Tiffany & Dusty (10)
Chanelle & Cory (14)**
Amanda & Wes (9)
Michaela & Luis (15)
Desi & Tyler (14)
Michaela & Monte (3)
White Alyssa & Chris (10)
Cassidy & Sebastian (11)
Alyssa L. & Fessy (12)
Bananas & Tori (0)
7 Defense Wins Daily Challenges (For Other Teams)
Through the first three episodes, Chris Underwood’s personality really hadn’t shined. He had given a decent amount of confessionals; there just wasn’t any zip behind them. This week we got to see a strategic/game-player side to him by convincing his team to go all out on sabotaging the Green Team in the final round.
To which Tori and Bananas were like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed out there. Monte is a big dude, and he got repeatedly bodied by Bananas. We have to begin talking about Monte as a fraud — the guy has been underwhelming or bad in almost every daily challenge; he might be the new Mr. Popcorn Muscles. Michaela had been the top female performer earlier in the daily; Tori should be very proud to have shut her down.
6 Stolen Credit
Wes trying to say he invented the concept of sabotage during daily challenges is ludicrous. It’s on the level of Al Gore inventing the internet.
5 Best Challenge Performance of Josh’s Career
Look, I’ve made plenty of jokes at Josh’s expense in the past. I have to give credit where it’s due. His chaos and energy during the episode got channeled perfectly toward some excellent political gameplay. In previous seasons, Josh has been terrified to go into eliminations, even when he had to earn a Skull to qualify for the Final. This time, Josh was willing to fall on a sword, stalemate, and risk his safety in the game because he wasn’t willing to fall prey to the opposing alliance’s game.
Josh’s loudness, passion, and vigor in the nomination ceremony scared the Secret Garden alliance (except Chanelle). They could not match his energy and intensity, so Josh got his way. After seeing Tori and Wes get rolled the last two weeks, watching Josh hit the uno reverse card on the Secret Garden and stream roll them was highly impressive.
4 Weak Stems
The Secret Garden is only as strong as its stems. Tiffany putting Desi into elimination by voting for Cassidy and Michele saving Wes by voting for Luis will hurt their standing within their alliance. When it comes down to it, Desi, Chanelle, and Michaela will remember how these two caved when the light shined bright on them.
3 Votes & The Hopper
Last week, I was amazed at how Wes stayed under the radar and managed to garner zero votes when Bananas got nominated for elimination. This week, I watched him get completely iced out of the female vote, as only he and one other person voted for Cassidy, as he found out mostly everyone voted for Amanda. Michaela did earn four votes, which I’m guessing is from the Vets who tried to set up the biggest elimination match-up possible.
On the male side, Bananas threw Chris under the bus for his plan in the daily and got a majority of votes on him. Michaela’s vote for Wes was hysterical. She cast a vote on Wes even though she’d rather have him on her team for daily challenges, yet because he’s a vet with a big personality, Michael basically said: “If he dies, he dies.” Wes and Michaela’s dynamic this season has been a fun under-the-radar storyline.
We ended up getting Chris and Amanda in elimination.
2 Chris vs. Luis
Before the elimination, Chris said he played College Football — I was unaware of that, and went, “Wow, he’s going to win.”
Then Luis mentioned being a firefighter, and I went, “Wow, I respect firefighters and what they do for our country.”
So as you can see, I can be very easily swayed and didn’t know who would win. What I did find absurd was Dusty saying Chris seems like more of a homebody. If Chris Underwood is a homebody type, then I’ve been sitting on my couch wrong. The dude is well-built — he’s got hips, glutes, legs, and upper body strength (as we saw in the rope challenge).
We saw Chris’s strength come into play during his elimination with Luis. It was a good battle, but it seemed Chris was in control most of the time. Chris picked up the win, he’s got some momentum now, and he stays on a very strong Blue Team.
Luis seemed like a good guy and got decent camera time. I have no gauge on how good of a competitor Luis was; he had no standout moments.
1 The Scrappy Devil
Going into Amanda & Desi’s elimination, there was a bit of an expectation that it would be similar to Nany vs. Brittany or Emily vs. Cara, where the pole just gets immediately ripped. Instead, we saw Amanda do what she always does in these headbangers/physical eliminations: punch far above her weight class. We saw Amanda always fighting for positioning, getting Desi to the floor by grappling with her legs, and she took hit after hit from Desi — in the process, Amanda gained some respect from her fellow castmates. Amanda might be a chihuahua in size, but she’s definitely got a much bigger dawg in her.
That being said, it’s another elimination loss for Amanda, and it’s a much bigger defeat for the show as we lose the drama/character she brings. Desi picks up the win, and it’s great for the competitive element of the show because she is an absolute beast and one of/if not the top contender to win on the female side.
I think Desi replacing White Alyssa on the Blue Team makes the Blue Team an absolute juggernaut. The Green Team has become dramatically weaker as they are down two players number-wise and replacing one of the Top 3 women in the game with a more middle-of-the-road player.
