‘The Challenge’ Recap: A Grueling Final Weeds Out The Weakest & Leaves 4 Players Battling It Out

‘The Challenge’ Recap: A Grueling Final Weeds Out The Weakest & Leaves 4 Players Battling It Out

Eight competitors go head-to-head on the finale of ‘The Challenge: Vendettas,’ but only four will move on and have a shot at winning money. Here’s a recap of the intense April 3 episode!

Leroy is still pissed at Tonyfor sending him into last week’s elimination on The Challenge: Vendettas, and he lets him know it. Tony has made it clear that he’s playing the game for himself this time around, though, and is unapologetic about his actions, even if it means he now has a new vendetta. There’s no time to dwell on the feud, though, as the eight remaining competitors gear up to compete in the Final. For the first stage of the challenge, they have to run a mile and a half to collect a token, then stop at a series of checkpoints and complete challenges, all while weighed down by various “physical burdens.”

There’s more, though: Eliminated contestants, Johnny Bananas and Melissa, are back as Mercenaries, who the competitors will each have to face-off against in a game. If they win the game, they’ll move on, but if they lose…there’ll be consequences. Kam and Kailah both had vendettas with Melissa this season, while Tony totally turned on Bananas, so this could get interesting! Before stage one begins, host TJ Lavin reveals that only four challengers (two guys and two girls) will move onto stage two, and the other four will go home with no money.

For leg one, the competitors have their legs chained together. The endurance battle doesn’t end after the run, though — for this leg’s checkpoint, they have to deposit torches from one bucket to another 100 yards away. PLUS, they can also steal torches from a competitor’s bucket to slow them down. Zach and Tony arrive first for the guys and team up on Leroy, but he gets them right back. As the three of them are fighting it out, Kyle steals from all three guys, while they completely ignore him, so he pulls ahead.

Meanwhile, Cara Maria begs the girls to play a clean game and not steal from each other, but Nicole does anyway…and Cara is livid. Nicole has another problem to deal with, though. In the middle of the first leg, she needs to get medical attention after injuring her ankle, and the medics urge her not to continue. Just like that, Nicole’s game is over.

Kyle arrives to the dungeon first and Bananas reveals that all he has to do is win a simple game of high/low (best of 3) to move on. If the challenger guesses wrong, though, the Mercenaries get to use one of three Grenades on them: Enjoy a glass of water, Do 50 jumping jacks or Dig a hole and bury a log. Kyle wins two in a row and moves on. Bananas’ BFF, Leroy, arrives next, and also wins his first two games, as do Zach, Cara and Kailah. Lucky for Tony, he also takes 2/3, so Bananas doesn’t have a chance to get his revenge. Kam loses, though, and Melissa forces her to bury the log. YIKES! That task will obviously take up the most amount of time.

For the second leg, the competitors have to wear a heavy suit of armor. At the checkpoint, they go head-to-head against one other person in a mental game — they take turns removing one, two of three swords from their side of a platform, and the player who removes the last sword loses. The winner gets to pick which ancient delicacy (cheese, hot chocolate or a spicy soup) the loser has to eat before moving on.

Kyle and Leroy arrive first. Leroy wins, and Kyle has to eat the cheese, which Lee thinks will take the longest. Zach and Cara face off next, and work together to just finish as fast as possible, with the agreement that whoever wins will choose the easiest delicacy, hot chocolate, for the loser. Tony comes up right behind them, but is forced to wait for Kailah or Kam to arrive, which is frustrating since they’re so far behind. Finally, Kailah shows up, and she and Tony take the same approach as Zach and Cara. So, when Tony wins, Kailah only has to drink the hot chocolate, as well. Since Kam has no opponent, all she has to do is deposit the swords and move on.

For the final leg, the challengers don’t have any shackles, and are free to collect their tokens as fast as they can. Zach dominates for the guys and finishes first, with Kyle shockingly coming in second, just ahead of Leroy. Cara crushes the competition for the girls, and Kailah stays ahead of Kam to get the other spot for the women. Despite a strong season, Tony comes in last for the guys, and loses the nearly $40,000 in his account. Tony, Leroy and Kam will not move onto stage two.

The second stage is simple: The final four have to memorize colors on a board, then run into a castle and recreate the board from memory. Whoever finishes first wins. Yep…just ONE person will win — guy OR girl (Zach and Cara get a 30 second head start for winning the first stage). All four finalists will get whatever they already have in their account, with the following additions: Fourth place: $5,000, Third place: $10,000, Second Place: $35,000 and First Place: $150,000 PLUS all the money left behind by those who were eliminated ($220,000). We won’t find out who the winner is until next week, though!