The Challenge: All Stars 2, Episode 9 opened with King’s Palace members celebrating. Nehemiah Clark and Melinda Collins were excited after winning the previous elimination, which earned them a Lifeshield and a spot in the final.
They spoke with Teck Holmes about keeping him safe to go to the final too. Nehemiah and Melinda said they’d save Teck from the elimination if they won.
Darrell Taylor and Jonna Mannion were both repeating the Save The Palace chorus, but MJ Garrett said he didn’t like it as much. However, he admitted to humming it in the shower.
Competitors looking to final, OG reveals injury
An All Stars 2 montage showed various competitors working out before the next daily challenge. Brad Fiorenza and Jodi Weatherton were feeling pressure to win again. Jodi said she won her last Challenge appearance and needs to show she still has it at her age.
Darrell said he doesn’t know how many more of these he can do because he needs to be home and care for his family. That has him inspired to get “that W.”
MJ and Jonna talked about how they haven’t gone into elimination yet. They agreed they had to win the daily to stay safe.
Janelle Casaneve confessed to Brad that she was struggling with a back injury. She suffered the injury in 2014 and was “back to normal” in 2020. However, it was bothering her again after the Dive & Conquer daily challenge due to them jumping into the cenote repeatedly.
“I hardly can sleep because I’m in so much pain,” Janelle told Brad.
In her confessional, she said she was trying to manage her pain quietly. She would have probably pulled herself out of the game if she wasn’t in a teammate situation. However, she didn’t want it to affect Darrell’s chances.
All Stars compete in Make the Connection
Host TJ Lavin met the competitors at their next daily challenge called Make the Connection. It involved three semi-trucks for the first time in Challenge history, and one of the semis had a double-stacked trailer on it.
Teams went individually, and each teammate had to jump onto one of the smaller trucks. The small trucks had five boxes on them, with four smaller ones and a bigger one near the front of the trunk. Each teammate had to untie ropes keeping the small boxes shut and retrieve the keys inside them.
Next, they had to use all four keys to unlock their bigger box up front containing a final key. They’d grab that key, make a jump back onto the bigger truck, and then unlock a final box containing an idol. Once they both had their two idols, they used them to open a final box with the final idol and place it on a podium.
TJ told them they needed to complete the tasks with some urgency since all three trucks would be driving, and at some point, the smaller trucks would take off ahead of the bigger truck. It was also a timed event, meaning the best team wins, and the worst-performing team goes to elimination.
The first team competing was Janelle and Darrell. Janelle finished all of her boxes, but Darrell struggled with his last lock, and time ran out on them.
When Nehemiah and Melinda went, they fared better. Melinda got her boxes unlocked first, and Nehemiah was right behind. They placed the final idol on the podium just before their clock ran out.
Brad and Jodi struggled to figure out the ropes with knots on them, keeping the boxes shut. Brad decided just to rip the lids off using brute force rather than untying the rope. Jodi couldn’t figure out how to untie all her ropes, and eventually, their time expired.
When Jonna and MJ went, Jonna completed her side of things, but MJ struggled with the knots on one of his ropes. Time ran out, and MJ was yanked backward with his harness.
Teck said he and Ayanna Mackins have been “fighting like a married couple,” but they were going to “make up and make it right today.”
“Maybe make a baby,” Ayanna joked during their pre-challenge interview.
While they didn’t complete it, they still celebrated, knowing they’d likely be saved by Nehemiah and Melinda’s Lifeshield.
Host TJ Lavin revealed that Nehemiah and Melinda got the daily win and are in the final. He also called out Brad for acting like the Hulk in ripping the boxes open, which meant Brad and Jodi were going into elimination.
Deliberation to decide elimination matchup
Nehemiah and Melinda used their Lifeshield to save Teck and Ayanna. For their nominees, they put the teams of MJ and Jonna and Darrell and Janelle on the board. Later, they revealed to Teck that he was going to the final, and they had a toast with champagne.
Once the teams knew they were nominated, Jonna started campaigning to get Ayanna to vote for Darrell and Janelle.
Meanwhile, a scene showed Janelle telling Darrell about her back injury and how she didn’t want to jeopardize her career. Darrell seemed upset and told her just to quit then. He wasn’t happy in his confessional, suggesting she needed to stop thinking about herself and “clock back in” with their goal to win.
The selection meeting had just one team voting: Teck and Ayanna. If it were a tie, the daily winners would vote to break it.
Ayanna voted for Darrell and Janelle because she felt they would match up best with Jodi and Brad. Teck voted for MJ and Jonna to make it a tie, so it wasn’t in their hands.
Nehemiah and Melinda chose to send in Darrell and Janelle. MJ and Jonna automatically made the final because of the vote, joining Teck, Ayanna, Nehemiah, and Melinda.
Janelle told Darrell she’d stick things out with her injury and give it her all in elimination so they could win. Darrell said he was glad she was back.
Who went home from All Stars 2, Episode 9?
Ahead of the elimination, Darrell opened envelopes from his family back home. He said he was supposed to wait until right before the final. The first one he opened from his wife let him know his grandmother had passed away.
Darrell broke down crying because he wasn’t expecting it. The envelope also had a photo of his grandmother to keep with him as he continued competing.
The competitors arrived at the Arena for the season’s final elimination called Smash House. It involved rooms set up in the middle of the Arena. One team member started in the fully furnished room, with their teammate in the connected empty room.
The objective was to smash objects in the furnished room into small pieces to pass through a hole in the wall to their teammate. Their teammate would pass smaller pieces through an even smaller hole in their room, dumping them into a container.
At the end of 10 minutes, TJ said they’d weigh each team’s container to see who had more. The team with the most weight in their container would win the elimination and go straight to the final, while the losing team would go home.
After the horn blew, Brad started grabbing all the cinder blocks he could to smash up near the hole, so he could then work with the pieces and send them to Jodi. Meanwhile, Darrell said he pictured Nehemiah and Melinda as cinder blocks in his room as he smashed away with a hammer.
Ayanna said the two teams seemed to be neck and neck as time ran down. Darrell mentioned his back was hurting in the confessional, but he kept going. Eventually, time ran out, and it was time to weigh the containers.
TJ said they had to weigh them twice because the two teams’ containers were separated by only two pounds. Brad and Jodi’s container had a weight of 355.3 lbs, while Darrell and Janelle had 357.3 lbs to win it.
Brad and Jodi were disappointed to get all this way and not make the final but hugged Janelle and Darrell. Jodi said she hoped her kids would watch this and see their mom is pretty cool.
Brad said he still doesn’t feel he’s had the win he’s looking for on The Challenge. After they exited the Arena, TJ congratulated the rest of the cast members for reaching the final.
The Challenge: All Stars 2 episodes arrive Thursdays on Paramount+.