The Challenge Double Agents Episode 11 Recap — Winners & Losers

Welcome back to another edition of Winners & Losers! If you’re still recovering from shotgunning beers in Iceland, I have the perfect hangover remedy for you. Inside this week: Josh aims high, Big T saves us all, we say goodbye to an athlete, and much more…

Loser: Patience (Again)

Cory. Put your bag down. Last time we saw him poking at Fessy’s food before putting his bag down. And this week we see him making a cheesy pita from scratch before putting his bags down.

How hungry you be? Just settle in a little. I understand there’s a lot of moving parts at that time, but chill out dude.

It must be just that important to get your dinner started before everyone else hits the kitchen. It’s possible this is just Cory displaying veteran savvy.

Loser: Verticality

It feels like every time we see CT he’s in this exact same position. Some of us do our best thinking lying down, so I understand the situation. I’m more of a sit straight up kind of guy, but to each their own.

Loser: -ination

If Josh doesn’t even have time to say the full word, what is the full word even worth anyway? Suffixes are overrated, honestly.

(Also, shout out to Josh for trying to make fetch happen and organically plugging my Mid Season Awards! I knew I liked that guy.)

Winner: Josh

You gotta give credit to the guy for taking his shot at Georgia in seasons past and then Nany this season. The guy’s clearly got standards and even if you can’t afford drinks, at least you’re at the party, right? 0–2 is better than 0–0.

Loser: Timing

That being said he couldn’t have picked a WORSE season to make a run at Nany. Although maybe he’s attracted to Mature Nany? Okay, I’ve spent too much time in Josh’s head and I do not like the look of this place. I’m outta here.

Winner: Technology

Every day somebody reinvents the city bus.

What’s going on here?

Anyways….

Loser: Cory

That’s twice now his shitty partners have forced him to miss out on an opportunity to hang on a rope off the side of a flying helicopter. These are the activities that bring people back time and time again, so missing out twice has gotta sting. That’s two free helicopter rides you’re never getting back.

Winner: Darrell

Loser: Tact Within a Group Setting

When Josh (of course) forgot the “grabbing” part of the “grab-the-rope-and-hang” portion of this week’s daily, predictably, everyone made fun of him. Because why the fuck not? When you shit the bed that hard you deserve a bit of clowning. It’s a competition.

(Although let’s be real, the rope didn’t come very close to him, but that’s the bumps and the breaks kid. Life’s tough, get a helmet. The Challenge Gods win as usual.)

But then when Josh returned to the group, he made the cardinal sin anyone can easily fall into. He took himself seriously. And as soon as Devin and the rest of the group saw this, they pounced.

I think that’s one of Josh and Fessy’s major problems as TV characters is that they simply do not possess the capacity to make fun of themselves. They have no idea what that would even be like. Their egos are so fragile for whatever reason (I’m not even going to try getting into all that mess) that even taking a moment to self deprecate has the potential to shatter their entire sense of self.

Take Cory for example. He’s carried a pretty inflated ego to a lot of different television shows. But he’s almost always remained semi-charming, even in his lowest moments. Or, and I didn’t even have to go far for this, Devin who fucked up during the daily challenge in the exact same way that Josh did (helicopter pilot chicanery and all). And yet the reaction he elicited lasted only a brief moment because he immediately recognized the poetic irony of the situation.

Take this as a learning experience, Josh. One day just walk into the deliberation room and call yourself “The Goof”. See what happens. I bet it feels pretty good.

Winner: Only Showing Your Hand When They Call Your Bet

This show is populated with people who are more than willing to give you the full run down of their skills, real or perceived.

But there’s something to be said for letting absolutely no one know you’re good at something until you have no choice but to bring it out.

Big T cruising through freezing cold glacier water the way she did wasn’t something I had on my Challenge Bingo card. But I wouldn’t be surprised if pole dancing becomes a standard off season workout for these people.

Winner: Fucking All of Us

Finally.

Only two and a half months later we get some fun!

Shots!

We’re shotgunning beers!

Flippy cup!

General excitement! Salute!

There were slurred, sloppy conversations all over Klub K0ViD for the first time. . Amber and Devin were both slamhammered while they were talking. CT and Gabby, via their accents, managed to turn the English language into one long syllable.

Devin and Gabby even get into an innocent drunk disagreement where they’re both arguing about the idea of arguing.

It was glorious. Thank you Big T for turning this joint into Prom Weekend. Even if only for one night.

Winner: Honesty

Okay sure, Devin may have been very articulate in making his point during deliberation, but almost literally all he was doing was telling the truth. He’s the layup card. Keep him around. It is in every other guys best interest for him to be there. Big Brother folk included. But numbers win out on The Challenge. It’s been that way since the dawn of time.

Loser: Olympic Athletes Everywhere

I’m never going to watch the Olympics the same again.

Imagine being just some rando pole-vaulter. You’ve known Lolo for a decade-plus. You’ve trained with her, you’ve competed for team USA with her. You’re not best friends or anything, but you run in the same circles and see each other at social functions.

You find out she’s going to be on this show that your niece posts about on Instagram all the time. You send your friend a good luck text, and she responds “oh just wait lol!”. So you’re geared up. You’re pumped to watch a fellow Olympian represent for your kind. Let’s show these MTV losers how real athletes compete. Show them that they’re just a bunch of phonies. That this is all just a silly reality show.

And then you saw all of that.

Winner: Nam

Loser: Clarity

Ending two episodes in a row with this Security Breach cliffhanger is a bold strategy, Cotton. It’s always better to under promise and over deliver. But don’t tell MTV that, as they AGAIN left us with this mysterious Security Breach.

This better be good. My guess? TJ forces Cory and Nam to go against each other, because one of them has to go home? That’s the best I can do and that idea sucks so hopefully the Challenge Gods have something juicy up their sleeves.