10 Things I Gold Skull About You

The Challenge: Double Agents Season 36 Episode 16 Recap 🙂

The boys are back in town, and by the boys, I mean, ME. I took a quick lil medical-leave-hiatus, in which, the entire season of The Bachelor passed, and 75% of The Challenge, but Imma do my best to hop right back on IN. 

A lot has happened in my absence – mostly fights, NOT NEARLY ENOUGH HOOK-UPS & DEBAUCHERY, & eliminations: Tori, Ashley (again), Jay, Mechie, Theresa, Amber M., Lolo (quits to train for the Olympics, like, hmmm, really? Cuz it seemed like you quit cuz you just weren’t doing well in the game, lol, all tea, all SHADE), Devin & Josh fatefully leave the same episode, Gabby (my one true love;,) jk I just really wanna kiss BAD), Darrell, and then last to leave the game, Aneesa. Let’s play some QUICK catch-up below:

Tori loses against Aneesa

Tori spends her exit interview praising Aneesa and telling everyone to put some resPECT ON HER NAME, which I have been calling out for CENTURIES. RESPECT YOUR ELDERS. How you gonna disrespect someone who was on season SIX when it’s now season THIRTY-SIX??? RESPECT ON THE CHECK, PLS. 

Ashley loses against Kam

Ashley leaves the game after losing to Killa Kam in elimination (Out of 10 eliminations, she’s won 9, if there’s one person you don’t want to see in elimination, it’s Killa), and Theresa and Jay are in hot water for sending Kam into the elimination, as well as lying about Cory/Ashley having to go into elimination. Ashley spends her entire exit-interview shitting on Jay for lying to Cory about them having to go into elimination, lmaoooo. 

Jay loses against Leroy

Jay and Leroy do the first elimination of this season again where all four of your limbs are tied up, and you have to scoot down & back on this pole that’s on “fire”, but that’s literally just for looks, lol (Natalie vs. Ashley were the first challengers to partake in this elimination, later in the game we’d see a third iteration with Aneesa vs. Big T). They literally do it so fucking FAST, WTFFFFFFF. IN UNDER A MINUTE, but Jay still lost. ;,(

OMG, I’M SORRY, LEROY AND KAM ARE LITERALLY THE CUTEST THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN WITH MY HUMAN EYES;,,,,,,,(:,,,,,,,,,)

OMG Jay is so CUUUTE TOOOO, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. He gets emo when he starts talking about his family and wanting to provide for them cuz that’s “all he ever thinks about” </3. So sad and cute. 

Mechie loses against Josh

OMFG, JOSH’S FIRST EVER ELIMINATION WIN AND HE LOOKED LIKE AN ABSOLUTE FOOL, LMAO, CONGRATS THO, JOSH. Mechie doesn’t really say much except that he “didn’t study puzzles” before coming there, lmaooooooo. The puzzle was his downfall.

Theresa loses against Kaycee

Theresa gets emo saying how the last time she was on the show she had to abruptly leave when she found out she was pregnant, but she wanted to come back for closure. And to show her kids you don’t quit , even if things get tough, even if things get hard and all that. Cute and sweet!

Amber M loses against Amber B

After getting absolutely rockkkkked in the hall brawl LOL, Amber M is just like yeah she was better than me (other Amber lol), & that’s that.

Lolo quits

Lolo gathers everyone around one morning to tell them she needs to go train for the Olympics because she said she realized “you guys are not going to let me go into elimination” Lmfaooooo. So she gotta bounce. Lolo’s, like, AIGHT, imma head out!

Nam get’s medically discharged

Then Nam gets medically discharged and I heard on a Bill Simmons podcast them joking around that Lolo caused his back pain from all the stress, lmaoooo. Sorry Nam, hope all is well now and I hope ur on another challenge soon!!!

Devin & Josh double elimination loss against Darrell & CT

Devin & Josh lose to CT & Darrell, two Challenge LEGENDS. TJ says maybe they can get to know each other a little better on the flight home to which Josh replies, “I’d rather die, TJ.” LOLLLLL, and then they walk off into the distance together, Devin yelling ‘Big Brother sucks!” one last time for good measure with Josh’s response being “eat my ass”, LOL. 

Darrell loses against Cory

The elimination is called “snapping” something which I’ve grown to learn is when they usually have to dig in the sand, bound by some elastic band and usually it can take a while since it’s a game of endurance, who can outlast their opponent, which was an element of this elimination but then it was mostly just a “sprint” off, ending within minutes of starting. Cory won and finally is one step closer to the final.

Aneesa loses to Big T

Which I’ll dive into more in just uno momento. 🙂 

That leaves the top 10 (the 10 gold skull holders) to be Big T & CT, Cory & Kam, Leroy & Kaycee, Nany & Fessy, and Kyle & Amber B. And yet we’re STILL not in the finals, and I’m, like, OMG, HOW LONG IS THIS DAMN SHOW??? Because if it wasn’t the finals this week, I was POSITIVE it would be double elimination, and it WASN’T… which just leads me to believe next week also won’t be the finals, and there’ll be another daily challenge and the men’s elimination…. All I gotta say is that I BETTER get finals the week after that, DAMN. This show has been on since the beginning of December and it’s now April, lmaoooo, WTF. I do love it so much, though, it just feels a little strung out.

I’ve been mostly satisfied with this season… Some of the daily challenges were kinda a miss (the drone challenge where everyone crashed, LOL), but a lot have been really grandeur and fantastical – holding on to the cargo off the helicopter, wrestling on the truck (which ended in injuries sending two people home – My beloved Nicole & Liv from Shipwrecked).

There have been literally no hookups except Gabby and Fessy, but that barely even happens, and Gabby mostly hates him, lmao. We didn’t get to see Amber M & Mechie’s hook-up which was literally in the promos??????? We never got to see the girls KISSS, ALSO IN THE TRAILER???????? BRO, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GOOD OLE FASHIONED KNOCKING BOOTS????? IT’S COVID, AND THAT’S LITERALLY ALL I WANT TO WATCH ON MY TV AS THAT’S ALL I WANT TO DO BUT CAN’T.

As Aneesa was in her exit interview after losing the elimination to Big T, she says she wanted to win, but more than that, she wanted a woman of color to win, and now that will definitely happen no matter what (Big T, Amber B., Kaycee, Nany, or Kam all left, all women of color 🙂 ), and I’m like OMG THAT’S AMAZING. This show was the most racially diverse cast ever and it’s absolutely fantastic to see.

We left the last episode with Big T just beating Aneesa in the same fire, hanging elimination challenge that Natalie beat Ashley in the very first episode. Big T & CT were the house vote and the Double Agents, Leroy & Kaycee, put Kyle & Aneesa into elimination to face them. Obviously, it was a woman’s elimination in which Big T prevailed. I feel SO SAD FOR ANEESA. She always makes it so far but just not far enough. Be well, Aneesa, and maybe you can win The Challenge: All-Stars!

After Big T’s win, she gets to decide if she wants to stay with CT or pick a new partner. I’m like BIG T, look at the way this man has BETRAYED YOU. IF HE DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE, THEN WALK YOUR FINE ASS OUT THE DOOR. She just asks him, you wanna be partners???? Of course, he’s just gonna say yes, but do I believe he would take someone else if he ever got another chance? YES, I really do, WTF. I mean obviously, CT is still a really good partner in terms of the actual challenges, but I was still surprised she stayed with him. Stockholm Syndrome.

Since Big T stayed with CT & Aneesa’s absence left Kyle partner-less, he joined forces with Amber B., the previous rogue agent.

There are now 10 people left, 10 gold skulls, but not a single final in sight! I never thought that those 10 gold-skull holders would be straight into the final but apparently the challengers were under another impression.

As MEAN as CT was to Big T in the one night he tried to apologize to her after stealing Kam as a partner, I still love the interactions between these two. CT’s, like, that took the wind outta my sails!!! And the T in Big T stands for Tinkerbell because she sprinkles some fairy dust on CT and he’s healed!

Kaycee & Amber B. have a conversation in their room about how the BB (Big Brother) gang is still there (minus Josh, of course, LMAO) – Kaycee, Amber B, & Fessy. Amber B’s in an ITM saying, “Kaycee’s the one person I trust in this game” and as these words are coming out of her mouth, I’m, like, YEAH, OKAY, YOU ABOUT TO GET BACKSTABBED, HUNNI. A Lil foreshadowing, if you will.  

Then Kyle’s in an ITM saying how CT, Big T, and Amber B are the only people who have his back in this game, but again…. A heavy dose of FORESHADOWING. Don’t trust a hoe, Kyle, did 3OH!3 teach you absolutely NOTHING???

Why does Kyle look like he’s wearing a lace front wig??? I’ve been watching too much RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The next morning, CT comes into Big T’s room and kinda kicks her awake, LMAOOOOOOO. He wakes her and tells her to dress warm, he’s training her for the final.

CT tells Big T, for the final you’re gonna be tired, “so what we have to do, is beat your body down to a point of exhaustion (Big T yawns and says “mm-hmm”) that surpasses anything else anybody else is gonna feel”. Again, just a perfect and iconic interaction. 

This entire thing is a training scene every feel-good, underdog-kinda-story/movie has – Obviously, most notably inspired by Rocky as the song “Eye of the Tiger” plays, but luckily, The Ringer (some of the best sports and pop culture journalism you’ll stumble upon, started by Bill Simmons:)) posted an article in 2017 called “A Definitive Ranking of Movie Training Montages”, listing the top 18 training montages from movies. I picked out my favs for viewing pleasure: 

CT IS JUST WATCHING BIG T WORK-OUT, TELLING HER WHAT TO DO, AND DRINKING A COFFEE, WHY AREN’T YOU DOING IT WITH HER??????? WTF, LMAO. That would piss me OFF.

At the end of the scene, Big T’s, like, are we done??? And CT’s, like, done??? That was a WARM-UP. Classiccccccccccccccc, CT is so good at TV. I started watching his Real World season (season 13) (the episodes I could find on Dailymotion) because of COURSE, no SPOILERS, but someone significant on the first episode of The Challenge All-Stars is also from The Real World: Paris, and CT is just SUCH A NATURAL, IT’S INSANE. Always making facial expressions and comments, he was born for the screen!

Later that day, Nany’s in full wet hair and a face mask when the lights and buzzers go off alerting the start of the Daily Challenge. Everyone whips their head around to the screens to see if it says something about the final, but groan as they read it say “Challenge Activated”. No finals for you!

TJ welcomes everyone and says they’ll be playing “Global Domination” which is a fancy way of saying running around in hamster balls. It’s not the same objective, but it’s a similar contraption used in an elimination in Final Reckoning (season 32) where they had to find numbers in this spinning ball pit and Lil Natalie Negrotti won against all odds putting herself and Paulie into the final. 

They basically have to roll in these hamster balls over “targets” while their opponents are also in hamster balls trying to stop them. One team gets to go twice chosen by the previous Double Agents, Leroy & Kaycee, so they obviously choose themselves so they can have a better chance at winning, DUH. 

The challenge isn’t really all that eventful, and it’s kinda hard to see inside the balls to really know what’s going on, but at least Fessy didn’t kick Nany in the face this time like last week in the underwater challenge, LOL. 

Kaycee and Leroy just barely win the challenge by one point (one target), but win none-the-less, and become the Double Agents for like the trillionth time this season. If they don’t win the whole thing, I STG.

After the daily challenge, the challengers hit the blow-up clerb where Kyle, Amber B., Big T, and CT all discuss sticking together, since they know the other side of the house has more “numbers” in the game (ie. people on their team/side).

Amber B. confronts Kaycee about the rumors she’s hearing about being the house vote/going into elimination and Kaycee’s just, like, SORRY! You’re at the bottom of the list, babe, sucks to suck. Amber B. thinks Kaycee owes her since as a Double Agent, she’s the one who sent Kaycee into the elimination where she got her skull, but EEK. You can’t trust these hoes, I’m TELLing you.

Kyle and CT have a little meeting back at the house where they plan on getting into some sort of fight during the deliberation to try to get someone to switch their votes to Nany and Fessy??? I’m like… this makes no sense, lol. And then they don’t even really do it???? The whole thing is utterly confusing, lol. 

CT ends up voting in Kyle anyway even though the four of them discussed putting in Nany and Fessy. CT says he’d rather go against Kyle, and Big T has the best shot at beating Amber B. He’s not wrong, but MAN, knife after knife in the BACK.

Directly after the vote, CT confesses to Kyle he voted him in while they’re laying toe to toe in their beds, and Kyle’s like FUCKKKK. 

The Challengers walk into elimination and it’s ANOTHER HALL BRAWL. We’ve literally already had TWO this season – Nelson vs. Fessy, and Amber B. vs. Amber M…. now we’re getting a THIRD one and Amber B is doing it for the SECOND TIME. WOW. I don’t think we’ve ever had more than one Hall Brawl per season, or at least one woman’s and man’s elimination, and I gotta say… the Hall Brawl is their hype elimination, but they better be careful because it’s kind of losing its touch. Typically the Hall Brawls are iconic eliminations, but no offense but they’ve all kinda sucked this season (including this one). 

TJ reveals the compromised agents are Kyle and Amber B. which at least they had a heads up that they were going down. Everyone is under the impression that it’ll be a boy’s elimination since last week was just a woman’s, Big T sending Aneesa packing. 

And the Double Agents, Leroy and Kaycee vote to send down Big T and CT… again. They were voted into the last elimination by the house… but still, two eliminations in a row for these two! It makes sense, as the “Big Brother” alliance is still standing strong, but it’s really more than that now. Leroy has Kam who is his literal girlfriend, so obviously the strongest alliance there. Kaycee won’t send in Fessy, probably her number 2 behind her partner Leroy, and she won’t send in Nany, another one of her good friends. Leroy and Nany did their Real World season together (season 25) so he calls her his “sister”, so he ain’t sending her in. This obviously just leaves Big T and CT. 

TJ says, “tonight is a very important night for the men…”, *DRAMATIC PAUSE*, “to watch their partners compete…because tonight is a women’s elimination.” WTF. We just had one…. I feel like the producers are PLAYING WITH US. Why did they DO THIS, THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO SAVE CT, SIMILAR TO THE VERY FIRST ELIMINATION OF THIS SEASON THAT ENDED UP BEING A WOMAN’S ELIMINATION, NATALIE VS. ASHLEY, INSTEAD OF CT VS. WES. 

Before the elimination, Big T says she’s surprised to see the Hall Brawl which I’m like…. I’ll give you some credit because they’ve already done it TWICE in this season, once for guys and once for girls, but ALSO, GIRL, YOU WERE DOING THIS WHOLE HALL BRAWL TRAINING BIT WITH CT, OF COURSE, THE CHALLENGE GODS WERE GOING TO PUT YOU TO THE TEST.

Big T puts up a decent fight, and for a moment, I think she could maybe win, but UNFORTUNATELY, Amber B pulls out the win, which I’m, like, nOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Big T has got to be hands down the most interesting and entertaining person to watch this season so I really feel like there will be a shift in energy in her absence. Plus Amber B. has proven to be just as boring as on her Big Brother season, can literally anyone please riddle me how the FUCK she got cast on this season??????????

Amber B. infiltrates and takes Fessy from Nany, who has been the prized guy partner this whole season, but as I’ve said before, I just think something will happen in the final and he won’t be able to bring home the win.

This leaves Nany with the choice of partner between Kyle & CT. Whoever she doesn’t choose, the challengers assume will get a free ride to the final because they can’t be thrown into elimination as a rogue agent…. So Kyle falls to the ground PISSED when Nany chooses him, basically handing CT his ticket to the final. Kaycee whispers to Leroy “that was so dumb”. Looks like Kyle’s not the only one pissed from this decision. She’s not wrong, I ain’t tryna see CT in the final!!! (As an opponent. As a viewer, of course, I want it for ole’ times sake).

Kyle’s, like, Nany, you could have sent me to a final. I hate you. Nany’s, like, Kyle! You didn’t miss me at all??? And he’s, like, NO, I HATE YOU. 

All in all, a mostly uneventful episode. I’m so pissed Amber B. is still here, and MORESO that she sent home Big T. However, I’m so happy for Big T and the name she made for herself as a character this season!!! She just earned herself a call for the next few seasons and I couldn’t be happier. She brings so much positivity and laughs to my screen. ILY, Big T. Thanks for reading. 🙂 ❤