Nehemiah Clark and Ayanna Mackins were celebrating their recent elimination victories. Several castmates realized they now had the Lifeshield power to save others.
Sophia Pasquis said it was good to have a friend in the game like Ayanna, but that was foreshadowing for a moment just a bit later.
In another scene outside, Tina Barta and Katie Cooley talked about pranking the guys. Tina gave Ryan Kehoe a pair of shorts for the pool, and they ended up being dissolvable. Ryan laughed it off as Katie brought him another pair of shorts.
Sophia gets triggered during moment with Ayanna
Speaking with Jasmine Reynaud, Jodi Weatherton reminisced about winning twice on The Challenge. In a confessional, she said people probably see her as a threat, but she’s not a manipulative person when playing the game.
In a scene using infrared footage, Sophia and Ayanna had a minor argument over Ayanna doing Sophia’s hair in the bedroom. Sophia said Ayanna wasn’t listening to her input. Ayanna said she didn’t want her “looking like a hot mess” in front of the others and crying.
Ayanna talked with Janelle Casaneve about what just happened with Sophia getting triggered. Sophia said it took her back to a previous moment in her life, and that’s what caused her to get triggered. Later, Jonna Mannion comforted Sophia, who was in tears over what happened.
Competitors face Around the Block challenge
The latest mission featured two teams playing, with each team having a male and female representative. The Black Team was Tina, Janelle, Nehemiah, Katie, Darrell Taylor, Laterrian Wallace, Jasmine Reynaud, Derrick Kosinski, Melinda Collins, Tyler Duckworth, and Brad Fiorenza. Darrell and Tina were the team reps.
The Green Team had Ayanna, Ryan, Sophia, Jodi, Cohutta Grindhstaff, Steve Meinke, Casey Cooper, Teck Holmes, Kendal Sheppard, Jonna, and MJ Garrett. Ryan volunteered to be the men’s rep. Ayanna was the women’s rep since she was already safe from elimination.
MJ said the Black Team had all the “studs,” and even though his team didn’t have the brawn, they had some brains.
Around the Block was the latest daily challenge, featuring a giant pyramid with puzzles on it. Competitors had to race two at a time down a trail and gather puzzle pieces to bring back to the pyramid site.
Once they brought all the pieces back, they could solve the bottom puzzle. After that, they had to jump into a cenote, a large sinkhole full of water, to retrieve pieces to solve the top puzzle. The first team to solve both puzzles, race to the top of the pyramid, and pull a lever would win.
Ayanna said her strategy was to sit back and see what others do since she’s got a Lifeshield, making her safe from elimination. On the other side, Darrell questioned being a team rep because his team was struggling with the puzzle. The heat was kicking in and causing frustration, but the teams pushed through.
In the end, it was the stacked Black Team picking up the win. Green Team’s loss automatically put Ryan into elimination.
TJ Lavin said Ayanna had the Lifeshield, so her team needed to choose another female. to send in. Ayanna said she’d take that decision off everyone and said Sophia was going in.
Nominations decide next elimination matchups
Darrell spoke privately with MJ. He said Ryan told him he doesn’t care who his opponent is. Darrell said he barely knows Steve, so he’s probably going in. He told Cohutta not to worry if he’s the other nominee.
However, when Darrell and Tina got together to decide nominees, things changed. Tina told Darrell she couldn’t nominate Steve, so she took his name off the board.
It ended up being MJ, Teck, Jodi, and Jonna as the nominees. Darrell said that was his entire room on the board, making things challenging for him. Tina reflected on how she had a history with Jodi from the Inferno II season.
Nehemiah came over to the meeting and took Teck’s name off the board, choosing to use the Lifeshield for him. Darrell buried Steve and Cohutta’s names in the sand and then had Tina randomly grab one as the other men’s nominee. It ended up Cohutta.
Sophia spoke up about wanting Jodi as her opponent because she admires her and wants to see if she can catch up to her level. The majority of the votes were for Cohutta and Jonna.
After the meeting, Jodi spoke with Kendal in a bedroom, saying she knows Tina wants her out of there. Jodi said she knows who she’ll be sending in if she comes back and wins a daily challenge.
Competitors battle in Fireball elimination
TJ called the four players into The Arena for elimination. He explained the event Fireball to them. It was a game of Tic Tac Toe using balls that were all lit on fire. The competitors had a giant game board and two large tables, with five colorful flaming balls on each table.
The first competitor to place three of their flaming balls in a row on the game board would win the round. The first player to win two rounds would win the event.
Cohutta won the first round to go up 1-0. In the second round, it got very close, but Ryan had a mental lapse and placed one of his flaming balls in the wrong spot, failing to block Cohutta’s win. Cohutta won the event, sending Ryan home.
In the womens’ battle, Jodi picked up the first win to make it 1-0. Sophia didn’t quit and gave it her all against the two-time champ. However, Sophia also made a mental mistake like Ryan’s, where she didn’t place her ball in the spot to block Jodi’s win.
TJ praised all of the competitors for the battle. Sophia and Ryan bid farewell to their OG castmates.
Sophia felt she won in many ways by meeting some great people who could be lifelong friends. Ryan said he’s no longer the scared guy he was years ago and wasn’t afraid to step up and be a team representative and take chances in this game.
With their wins, Jodi and Cohutta rejoined their castmates. TJ told them they each received a Lifeshield, giving them the power to save themselves or someone else from potential elimination. Jodi said in confessional she’s targeting Tina to get her out of the game.
The Challenge: All Stars 2 episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount Plus.