‘The Challenge: Total Madness’ Stock Watch: Get To The Chopper

Hello, friends and welcome back to The Challenge: Total Madness Stock Watch. After bidding adieu to Asaf last week, this week is a women’s challenge and we also get our first team challenge of the season, as they are put in groups of three and told to run 15 boxes of “ammo” to a drop spot a mile away for the first leg, with the three fastest teams getting to chuck those boxes out of a helicopter at a target in the second leg.

The team of Jordan, Wes, and Jenny dominate the first leg, followed by Fessy, Kyle, and Melissa and then Cory, Swaggy C, and Dee in the third group to finish. Jordan, Wes, and Jenny do terribly in the helicopter drop section, only getting two boxes to hit the target as Jordan struggles to figure out the proper time to tell them to toss the box. After missing their first two, Fessy serving as the spotter gets into a rhythm and their team hits the target on their final seven attempts, but Cory gets it right from the jump and his team hits on all nine tosses and earns their spot in the Tribunal.

Jenn performs terribly in the daily challenge, is a rookie, and has angered Dee by being flirty with Rogan, so she knows she’s the most likely to get thrown in. Bananas and Wes decide to mess with her and help craft an awful speech in which she admits to being the weakest player and tells the rest of the girls they should want her to last as long as possible because she’d be easy to beat in a Final. Wes then casts the first vote for Jenn and she gets voted into elimination in a landslide. The Tribunal nominates Jenny, Tori, and Big T as the three they’ll consider to put in against her — with all three angling to be put in and Tori and Jordan applying major pressure to Dee to throw her in so she can get the much needed red skull to earn a possible spot in the Final.

At the elimination, T.J. announces that along with the three nominees by the Tribunal, a member of the Tribunal can vote themselves into an elimination as well, giving Dee a chance to take out Jenn herself. For reasons passing understanding, Dee decides to still vote for Jenny, instead of taking the layup that is Jenn and the easy way out of having to anger either Jenny or Tori and Jordan, because they easily would understand if she took that opportunity. Jenny destroys Jenn in a barrel flipping competition, as Jenny gets all of hers flipped (sometimes going one-handed) while Jenn can’t even get past the first.

Dee admits being a bit mad at herself for not taking the opportunity and T.J. expresses some disappointment and bewilderment for that choice as well. Next week, we’re blowin’ up trucks, because this year’s budget is apparently $Texas.

STOCK WATCH

STOCK UP

Jenny: Not only is she now the only woman with a red skull, she was dominant in both the elimination and the daily challenge. After winning the first challenge, she has now won a daily, been in the top 3 of another, and won an elimination. She is looking the part of the favorite and as long as she keeps up this pace she will cruise to, at the very least, the late rounds of the competition if not a Final.

Fessy: Fessy’s team didn’t win but he has been a hoss through two rounds. He’s come in second in both of the daily challenges thus far and it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to deal with him in an elimination. The question he’ll have to answer is whether he can find an alliance that will help him get into an elimination so he can earn a red skull — or if he can simply win a daily and throw himself in.

Cory: It seems like some time off from The Challenge has done Cory some good. So far he has been in both Tribunals thanks to a win this week (where he was the catalyst serving as the spotter in the helicopter) and somewhat randomly being asked in last week because he’s viewed as a net neutral. He seems, to this point, to be avoiding the pitfalls of past Challenges by laying relatively low as far as not causing drama or making his “hitlist” public as he did when he was younger, and, coupled with quality performances, it’s paid off through two weeks.

Aneesa Reaction GIFs: Aneesa didn’t show up a ton this week, but when she did she helped make great television. First, she pops up in a confessional laughing at how Jenn had a “full face” on for the daily challenge and looked great while not doing anything.

Later, when Jenn is reading her awful speech she produced this tremendous GIF. I’m always in on random cutaways to vets like Aneesa when young folks do stupid stuff.

STOCK DOWN

Dee: Scared money don’t make money, and not throwing herself in against Jenn in what was very clearly going to be a physical elimination is going to haunt Dee. Not only was it going to be a walk to a red skull, she could’ve taken care of her own beef with Jenn, and avoided starting anything with Tori and Jordan. Instead, she now has enemies in the game and gifted the strongest woman in the game a red skull. That partnership with Jenny better pay off soon or she’s in trouble.

Jordan: The effort from him as spotter in the helicopter was, truly, pitiful. He then got cranky and wouldn’t clap for anyone and was pouting off to the side, and now has most of the house seemingly happy to root against him from guys to girls. He’s so, over-the-top all-in on making sure Tori gets to a Final that he’s going to end up playing a reckless game and jeopardize both of their chances.

Rogan: Like Nany last week, Rogan’s hopeful love interest is gone and, worse than Nany last week, he’s also further pushed away a possible strong ally in Dee who still somehow wanted to make things work with him. He looked strong a week ago with a winand was close to the top 3 this week, but he doesn’t have an awful lot of friends and seems to be doing poorly at the social part of the game to this point.