Tuesday, April 3, 2018

DC WRAP: The Challenge Vendettas - The Final Countdown

BY DC CUEVA                     
■ @DC408Dxtr  TW / IG / YT

With a season of one sport having just wrapped up last night in Villanova emerging victorious in dominant fashion in an eventful March Madness, tonight sees the beginning of the end for another sporting season: the final challenge on The Challenge Vendettas, and the start of perhaps the most wide open marathon to the cash in quite a while for the fifth major pro sport. A season that began some 40 hours into the new year will begin to identify which of the eight players who've made it out of Spain and into the Czech Republic will have what it takes to survive the always compelling drama of what starts tonight: a multi-day ordeal that will test everyone that will reward those who make it to the end with a six-figure payday to those who finish. Our field has two previous champions looking to add title #2 to their trophy case, two rookies who relied on elimination mastery and hard luck to get here, two who came up short in the last Purge last season to finally make it into their first final, and two others who have been to a final before and are looking to punch it in for their first championship.
   We'll have our evaluations of the Elite Eight who've made it here to the final ahead on this edition of the Vendettas WRAP, along with our Things to Know review of Episodes 12 and 13, all to get you in the mood for tonight's first part of the season finale... that's all ahead as we begin a busy month of April in the MTV Trifecta.


 THINGS TO KNOW 
EPISODES 12 & 13

SWIMMING WITH SHARKS: No season is complete without everyone's patience being tested with them going underwater. With that in mind, episode 12 begins with the players going for a swim, with them being split into two teams to swim into a lake, collect and net a ball, where a treasure chest will rise up, and where the players must run it up to shore to stop their time. The winners get $25k, Troika power and Burger King, while the losers vote someone into elimination. Kam decides to place her grenade on whoever picks Cara which turns out to be their team when the Troika determines the teams... while Brad places his grenade on Kyle by tying rope on his legs and can't participate much to his displeasure.
   The strategy sees Tony, Zach and Natalie put themselves into a team of them, Brad, Devin, Nicole and Jemmye; while the other team comprises of Nelson, Leroy, Cara, Kam, Kailah and Kyle. Tony's plan to have the bad swimmers be on one team works: his team finishes with a 14:35 clocking and it holds up and then some -- the other team can't get even a single ball in the bucket. Debate then rages with the winning side over should be the Troika during this girls elimination day, with Zach and Tony wanting to stay in the threesome due to their plan to stack their teams their way, and Brad joining them. Jemmye then lets that be an all-guy Troika because of her confidence that she won't be nominated. Here, the point is that if it is an all-girl board, they would not have a chance at the Ring, and they promise to not vote in any of the girls.

INQUISITION & A QUEENBefore their elimination choice, the Troika themselves have a hand in choosing who the losing team picks after they go into a stalemate, and eventually Kam is chosen over Cara and Kailah much to her displeasure for Leroy in protecting Cara. And after enjoying some cruising in sports cars, the Troika not only puts Cara and Kailah in, but also Natalie much to her surprise of getting blindsided. At the Inquisition, as always things are intense and razor thin even with the Burger King food on the dinner table. There, Tony reveals that Cara is his preferred choice to take out Kam, but says she would rather not want to be in that spot.
   But this gathering around the table turns into a tension convention between Kailah and Natalie, and they debate about who is the stronger of the two and if they make it to the end, who they would want to run it with -- with the BB rookie having had the better season of the two and having $32k in her bankroll, the most money being banked at this close stage near the final. Despite that resume and everyone including my friend Andrew Kirk thinking she's just doing all of this as an act, this doesn't prevent the Troika from throwing in Natalie to face Kam.
   For the Queen, she has won two eliminations but both have come in the two weeks that the mercenaries arrived to the game in Tori and then Ashley M., but Kam is up for perhaps her biggest task yet in a matchup of two dominant rookies in her two elimination wins against the one with the most money in the pot. It's a tightrope race where the one who gets to the finish line first in traversing their way across to the bell takes the win, and for someone who has memories of being a gymnast on paper this is supposed to be Natalie's to win... and Nat goes out to the lead early. But with these ropes being much more difficult to maneuver than it looks at first, both get flipped upside down and have to rely on their arms to get across. Despite her agile efforts, Natalie panics and Kam takes advantage with her strength that propels her to the win.

A TEST OF TIME: After Kam's win, TJ Lavin announces the next challenge will be cutthroat and is the last to take place in Spain, with the next stop being be the Czech Republic where the final will take place. After time to rest up, the group arrives in a Spanish field where the host tells them that this is a Purge: an uphill race including a ride on a zip line, all done in a Tour 'de France-style, individual time trial to determine who takes the 3-hour plane trip northeast. Like what we saw with the pursuit events in cross country and biathon at the Winter Olympics, the competitors go out in staggered starts, and those who have the worst time will be cut.
   For Kam, she opts to use her grenade on Devin and swipe away his 16 grand to add to the 3,000 she had to begin with. Much like the last stretch of the final in the past two seasons, this run goes by rather swiftly with confessionals mixed in of what the competitors have done up to now, save for struggles for Kyle and a few others. In the end, Zach and Nicole garner the fastest times for their respective genders and add $25k to their bank, and ones eliminated are Jemmye and Devin... the ladder just getting edged by Kyle by 5 seconds for the last ticket to behind the iron curtain.

18-WHEEL ADRENALINE: For the season's last regular challenge, those who watch MTV's revival of Fear Factor most definitely know about the mission featured often in the rotation for the Final Fear, and this one has been used quite a bit in recent years on The Challenge. Here, players are hooked to a semi truck that's moving, and they are tasked with having to traverse from the truck to dangling pillars with boxes in between, and they have to go back and forth slalom style while avoiding contact with them. The boxes have descending point values based on its position on course, and if a player doesn't transfer on to one or the other they will be docked a transfer penalty. With golf-style scoring, the one who has the lowest number of points wins and advances to the final.
   Seven players -- Brad, Cara, Kailah, Kyle, Nicole, Tony and Zach -- all complete clean runs with 0-point finishes, and while this is old hat for most to do challenges like this Kyle felt the most scared while on course but still manages to go clear, as they all advance to the ride-off. Leroy is first on course and has a strong run until he gets shaky at the end and hits the last pillar of boxes for a 4-point round... same goes for Kam when she hits the last stretch for 4 also. Nelson also has a good run going until he has a hard collision with the truck and misses a transfer and is docked 7 points... that proves to be the difference as he has the worst score and is eliminated on the spot.
   In the ride-off, Nicole takes it to the chin first in making contact with the middle boxes, and scores 5 points though she's lucky it isn't worse as she avoids a transfer penalty. Kyle and Zach also score +5 in their runs where they can't keep pace with the speed of the truck, while Tony has a 4-pointer for Nelly's transfer dilemma. Brad also suffers a 4-point transfer call and is docked 3 more for hitting a box. For Cara and Kailah, them being smaller than their male counterparts proves to be beneficial in only having box issues, and have low scores of 4 and 2, respectively. The ladder's clutch run gives her and Tony the win, and Cara the pass to be in the Troika... but the girls will also get to relax a bit to this guys elimination week - all of them advance to the final.

POWER PLAY & AN ANSWER: For the season's last elimination, the girls can simply relax to having four in their field, and thus advance on. The guys are up for the cut, and the Troika have four people to choose from be put into the Inquisition, and given that Zach has $37k in the pot it is an easy play to keep Thor in the game, and Brad, Kyle and Leroy are nominated. At the table, Brad tells them that with is prior finals experience he can be relied upon, along with him playing for his family. For Leroy, he expects that his solid loyalty, high standing with the girls and Tony being friends with him will be enough to the Troika to be given a liferaft. And Kyle touts him thinking of Mr. T-Time as a brother figure and tries to tell Cara that it's because of her that he's changed a bit.
   When they arrive in the arena, TJ tells the Troika that instead of voting for who will be put into the ring, as there are five guys left and two of them already being onto the final, they will be voting on which of the trio to save and put into the final. Cara is given first dibs and she opts to save Kyle not only because of the fact that them have been hooking up here but also showing heart as evidenced by the Purge, and it causes Leroy to get mad at this move becoming a betrayal. Kailah opts to save Leroy because of her having no reason to save his other two counterparts and also because both call Vegas home, too. Tony has the last vote and decides to side with Cara and save Kyle... this causes the mad side of Leroy to make an appearance and call him a b___h for this game move.
   Leroy faces off against Brad in the elimination chamber and a game that I actually missed watching live because... as they say, I had to take care of some business in the bathroom. But the game is Head Banger: the guys trying to break through two walls to get to some heavy boxing gloves located inside, and then they use those gloves to get behind another wall with a ball inside a glove, and if you get two then you're off to the final. Embolden by that blindside, an angry Leroy blows into the first two walls like the big bad wolf going for those three little pigs, while Brad struggles mildly. The two-time finalist swings at getting the two balls he needs and takes out the win, and no doubt he will be gunning for Tony and Cara as they head into the final.



 STRATEGY ROOM 
THE FINAL EIGHT

So, where do we begin? This is probably the most wide-open Challenge final we've had in quite a while. There's no one named Bananas or CT in the men's field for the first time since Bloodlines, which was the same season Cara won to gain access to the champions club.

For some added perspective on this, think of the following few facts:
● In each of the nine seasons that I have followed this show regularly dating back to Battle of the Seasons II -- and in ten of the last eleven dating back to Rivals I and excluding Exes I, we have had first-time participants on this season going all the way to the final.
● We have our fifth AYTO alum to get another crack at the money (or in this case, her first chance at winning any money at all), and our first participant from outside the Trifecta to make it to the end who like Kam also happens to be a rookie himself in Kyle.
● There's just two previous champions who are looking to get their second crown, and four other veterans are now into their first final, with half of them taking advantage of them getting another shot after losing the last elimination last season on Dirty 30.

GUYS 

KYLE ($10,625): Of the ten rookies we profiled to start off this year, Kyle would've been the long shot of the five British imports who treated this Challenge venture to Europe as a home game to make it to the end. He's proved that just playing the social game can get you to this point, and not just because of him having the feel of being that pirate from Newcastle who's the reason why I added the Shore franchise to my MTV coverage here. In a way, he's following what we saw with Devin, Devyn, Johnny Portland and Jay in having this Hard Luck of getting to the final, but perhaps he has fared better than most. But it's here in the last stage where he has to really challenge himself to his limit, and if it can take trying to exceed them to see if he can beat one or even two of his opponents, perhaps even make a play for all three, he will need to do that.

LEROY ($0): Up until the end of last week, Leroy hadn't won anything on this season and enters this final with just a plain-old egg in the total of money he's banked here. As we wrote, as far as the game has been going all he did was stay safe, and dodge two elimination bullets after getting chosen for a seat at the Inquisition table. Something he has is experience of having been in these finals before, and being in the spot that Kam and Kyle are in right now: a finals appearance in their first go. Something Leroy also has is the friendliness he has with everyone, and if the final follows the past two seasons if might force him to compete at times with two of those girls who voted him and he might have to swallow some pride to work with them if this is a Tour de France-style, timed multi-stage final. Him having fallen short in his two previous tries and him being inspired by his family should help to fuel the fire in this third final for Leroy.

TONY ($39,625): This is Tony's fifth Challenge, and what a wild and crazy ride it's been for him to finally make it into his first final after all he's been through. We discussed here many times including last week about how he has made a total 180* from possibly not doing these anymore to now finally emerging into more than a legit threat to take over the seat long occupied by the vets and now are looking to put his stamp on this in the most emphatic way. The hard work he's put in since last year has finally paid off, and he should be the frontrunner for not only one award in my long-promised Debrief, but not two awards in maybe taking Breakout Performer for Vendettas. Seven Troikas, just as many dailies wins and $40,000 in the bank is what he's accomplished, and should he take this out this would be the most dominating performance of anyone here. But it's now a clean slate, and a daily challenge is different compared to the big one, and for one who's been focused on the game all along, he'll need to give 110% if he can make Tony Time the big time.

ZACH ($36,625): Zach is the only previous champion among the guys finals field here and along with Leroy has previous finals experience, though what happened the last time out hampered him a bit and may be on his mind as he goes about the business he has ahead of him. Ever since we saw him on Champs vs. Stars, the Zach we knew as one who's aggressive and emotional was left behind and this new Thor has been impressing us the past six months. Like Tony, he hasn't been in any drama and has been focused on the game, and that has resulted in six challenge wins and several Troikas... and to add to that, he led the field in the Help Me Rhonda time trial to get here to the Czech Republic. Having garnered that momentum and with his experience in being into two finals including winning that first one, the true test of what this new Zach is about comes here tonight, and he hopes all the work he's put in will bring him to the winner's circle, if not contend.


GIRLS 

CARA MARIA ($8,750): Last week here, we discussed how just getting to the end is now something Cara Maria expects, and this is her fifth visit to the final in the last six overall seasons when you factor Champs vs. Pros in. It is clear that she is the one who, on paper, should have the edge when it comes to experience and how she's devoting all this time out of The Challenge to being fit for everything that comes her way. Okay, she didn't garner a regular dailies win here after notching six daily wins last season, and she got here by way of having gained safety in most of them, and/or narrowing missing getting put in at the Inquisition... as we wrote here, it's been a calmer season than usual for the red head. But now with another finals appearance and her having all this experience to her name, expect the true Cara Maria to emerge as we begin the final tonight.

KAILAH ($20,695): Also last week, we wrote here that Kailah was expected by many to make it to the final, but not in the manner she has had right up until now. Physically, the follow-up to trying to get over the last hurdle into the final last year has been anything but impressive, and it was her social matters which have helped her get here. But just as we saw with Cory on Bloodlines, if you get on a roll late you can become dangerous, and that's exactly what we saw Kailah do in notching top time for the girls to get that ticket into the final... something called Momentum has gotten her to her first final. She did win that ballyhooed elimination vs. Marie, earned safety in the purge two weeks ago and earned $12.5 for winning last week to get here. Now, something she can't do is to quit on herself just as she had in the first nighttime elimination vs Sylvia on Invasion or in the last elimination on Dirty 30. She will have to exercise those demons if she wants history.

KAM ($17,125): Kam has had quite a rookie season and is in the same spot Tori was in last year: if she wins she completely redeems herself from what happened 13 months ago and will make her Season 5 and AYTO families proud. But one thing that you can easily overlook over her elimination dominance is that she hasn't performed well in the dailies, notching just one win out of that, being voted into the Inquisition several times and of course being sent in three times. It's just what she has been doing at night under the lights of the ring that she has shone the brightest, and the final will take place over multiple days and that will require stamina and how much energy you can have . That's where the word "Beast" comes to mind with her having been that in the ring, and now she will have to perform to the best of her ability if she wants to have at least a shot at this, and follow what Nelson did last year and outperform our expectations when it matters most.

NICOLE ($26,625): There is seemingly no doubt that the person who has the best shot at either challenging Cara or perhaps pushing her in this final is the one who has had quite the first two Challenges in Nicole. As one of the strongest girls on this cast when we started this out, she has been made for the fifth major pro sport, and after a quiet start of sorts things have been picking up for her after the midway point. She won five of six challenges from 6 to 13, and escaped the Inquisition pick in that one week (Week 7)... and yes she has skated by without an elimination battle, for which she has just one of them under her belt after escaping the Bloodbath on Invasion. If there's something for her to take into consideration for making a run at Cara, Nicole is more youthful than her and has done less challenges than Kailah. If things pan out, she may challenge her late.


Now, because of the unique nature of this site and our preference of waiting until we get to this stage of the season, this is the only time where we get to make predictions of who we think will win. But because this final is anyone's game for the taking, this is so hard for us to make even an exact call of who should win, place, show or finish 4th. So to take a cue from those who man the decision desk for election nights in newsrooms, we're taking the unprecedented move here of calling this "TOO EARLY TO CALL," and everyone has the same odds: 25% between the four finalists on either side of the gender divide. In all likelihood, the final won be completed until next week, and we can make our call here then of who we think will take it out.

And, here's something we have not gotten the opportunity to do all season: a poll. Here is how you voted on our Twitter polls...

POLLS  @DC408Dxtr   

With all of them now into the final, 
which girl do you think has the best 
shot of winning it all?
 CARA MARIA (6th Final/1 Win)  82% 
● KAILAH (1st Final/3 Starts)       11%
● KAM (1st Final/Rookie)               3%
● NICOLE (2nd Final/0 Wins)          2%

Which guy do you think has the 
best shot of winning it all? 
● KYLE (1st Final/Rookie)              0%
● LEROY (3 Finals/0 Wins)             8%
● TONY (1st Final/5 Starts)          11%
 ZACH (3rd Final/1 Win)             81% 


▪   ▪   ▪   ▪   ▪

As we wrap up this week's WRAP, this is the beginning of what will be a big month of April as we enter the spring portion of the MTV schedule. Two weeks from tonight, it's the debut of the second installment of Champs vs. Stars, as finalists from the past few seasons and a ginger manipulator will square off with Drake Bell, Lil Mama, Brooke Hogan and the Stars, with the newest MTV dad Mike "The Miz" to again handle proceedings. Then, two nights later on April 19th, Cory and Kam's AYTO castmate Taylor will join other reality royalty as their vacation in paradise becomes a living hell as Ex on the Beach makes its American debut. We'll preview both shows here in the coming fortnight, and if things work out - Andrew Kirk will join me to discuss all of this on our Reality Debrief of 2017-18... and if you have questions for us to answer, tweet to #AskDCBLOG and we'll answer them here.
   As for now, tonight is the beginning of the season finale, and as always DCNOW will have that covered as it happens at @DC408DxNow and at #DCChallenge. Enjoy that, and see you here in a day or so when we'll have more on The Miz and more from the ExtraTime file. Talk to you then.

- I AM DC

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