Previously on “The Challenge: Total Madness”: With Cory winning the house vote over Kyle, Swaggy C found himself in Purgatory alongside the veteran that resulted in Cory overcoming Swaggy to finally earn his red skull while Swaggy went home.
The fallout from this most recent male Elimination Round has Nany, Melissa & Bayleigh believing the final female Elimination Round is coming and they are ready for anything to get that red skull. Bayleigh, fearful about her chances of being put into Purgatory, tries to confide in old friend Kaycee, but finds that Kaycee’s loyalty may lie with Nany after they’ve spent so much flirtatious time together (and more). The next day sees host TJ Lavin introduce the remaining competitors to “Bloc’d In”: a gigantic sliding puzzle where two teams of seven will have to move a series of black-colored cars to free the locked in red car in this timed event. The teams are: Jenny, Bananas, Nany, Rogan, Cory, Josh & Aneesa; Kyle, Melissa, Nelson, Bayleigh, Kaycee, Dee & Fessy. Team Jenny starts and it’s actually Bananas & Rogan with the planning before the horn sounds. Unfortunately, Jenny tries to take over and people get confused with Rogan becoming overwhelmed.
Eventually Johnny sees the man cars blocking their way to victory and they are able to push it out for a successful moment. When Team 2 begins their heat and they just start shoving whatever cars are in front of them while Bayleigh gives the commands. They actually do incredibly well, moving the right cars little by little until they free the red car. TJ reveals only thirteen seconds separated the teams with Team 1 actually putting it all together faster. With both Melissa & Bayleigh lacking skulls alongside Nany, it’ll be up to the house to decide who is worthy. Nany tells Kaycee that she’d rather face Melissa in an Elimination Round than her old friend Bayleigh. Kaycee tries to tell Bayleigh her plans, but Bayleigh wants to hear nothing from Kaycee. The house vote begins and it comes down to Kaycee to break the tie vote between Bayleigh and Melissa. Kaycee abandons her “Big Brother” alliance by voting for Melissa. Bayleigh has an emotional breakdown afterward and she tries to get some privacy. Nelson steps up and tries to be an open ear for an obviously emotionally fragile Bayleigh who believes she won’t get her chance to earn a spot in the finale.
The Tribunal that is the entire winning team of this week’s Challenge sees Nany name off Bayleigh, Dee & Kaycee as Melissa’s possible opponents even though Nany has already announced she’ll nominate herself. Bayleigh actually calls out Nany for convincing Kaycee to play Nany’s game instead of sticking with her old friends and fellow “Big Brother” cast mates. Kaycee tries to confront Bayleigh about what she said to Nany, but Bayleigh cusses her out before storming out of the room. When Bayleigh passes Nany in the hall, she gives Nany her thoughts as well; causing Nany to get involved in this argument. During the argument, Bayleigh reveals that she was once the Nany in her friendship with Kaycee. Fessy confirms the closeness of Kaycee & Bayleigh in the “Big Brother” house, but saw it as politics and not the start of a relationship.
The ring sits in Purgatory awaiting Melissa while Nany opts to go down and potentially get that red skull in “Off With Their Heads”: a game similar to ones seen in the past where the competitors have to fight & wrestle in an attempt to remove ornaments off their opponent’s gear – in this case red skulls – with the winner being the one with skulls still on their clothes. The game begins and the score goes two to two very quickly.
The same thing happens when they both grab their third respective skulls. Melissa pounces Nany, knocking her out of bounds while taking a skull. The replay shows Melissa’s skull was in bounds, giving her a one point lead. Nany is reaching for that fourth skull, but Melissa’s takedown defense is so strong that she’s able to block Nany and attain the final skull. Of course Bayleigh is so happy right now that Nany is going home while Nany, once again, is so close to the finale; yet so far away. Now Josh, Kyle & Bayleigh are the only ones left without a red skull.
Episode High(s): Scrambling Until the End. Thanks to the way this season’s structured has allowed for a major change in how entering an Elimination Round is a necessity for success. Seeing the expected desperation from those who are on the cusp of not being able to be a part of the finale saw an entire relationship implode. It’ll be interesting to see how crazy it gets come next week with a potential male & female Elimination Round if the post-episode preview is any indication.
Episode Low(s): Dee’s Vote. With MTV separating itself from Dee after her disparaging comments regarding the black community, it’s understandable that she’s no longer prominently featured. But Dee was a part of the losing team and her house vote wasn’t shown even though in the post-vote footage showed Dee leave the area. So it may not have been a tie at all or Dee may have voted for someone else – we’ll never know.
Weekly Challenge Winner(s): Jenny, Bananas, Nany, Rogan, Cory, Josh & Aneesa
Elimination Round Winner(s): Melissa
Eliminations: Asaf (Episode 1); Jenn (Episode 2); CT (Episode 3); Ashley (Episode 4); Jay (Episode 6); Tori (Episode 7); Jordan (Episode 8); Bear (Episode 8); Kailah (Episode 9); Jenna (Episode 9); Wes (Episode 10); Mattie (Episode 11); Swaggy (Episode 12); Nany (Episode 13)
Most Embarrassing Athletic Display: Rogan. Of all the people to put in charge for a mental game, Rogan isn’t the one; yet that’s exactly what happened and almost resulted in them losing Through some clever editing, it definitely made Team 1 look like a sure failure especially with Rogan suffering from fear & confusion.
Competitor of the Week: Melissa. Such an incredible display from Melissa in the Elimination Round. While Melissa has been seen as a strong competitor in the past, it wasn’t until now that she really looked like someone with the potential of being a big winner during the finale.
Episode Summary in Five Words or Less: Castles made of sand.
