The Challenge: Total Madness: Relationship Drama Officially Takes Over the Game

The Challenge's Johnny Bananas Explains Why It Was Finally Time to Team Up with Wes

Episode 3, "A Hard Jay's Night"

Bananas and Ashley, unable to realize they are two sides of the same coin, dominated the house drama this week with their individual propaganda initiatives. With it being a guy's elimination week, Ashley tried to rope all the girls into the house into voting for Bananas, but Nelson ruined it when he tried to out Kailah as a turncoat during the nomination. She flipped out and voted for Nelson instead, drawing a gigantic target on Team Young Buck's back. Nelson needs to be careful moving forward, while Bananas and Ashley will continue to fight through the season, unless they release some of that tension by sleeping together.

In other news, Rogan also doesn't enjoy watching Dee make out with other people and the sooner they could make their minds up about whether they are together or not, the better it will be for everyone's sanity.

The Challenge

An individual challenge forced the players to solve a puzzle using two separate keys located up a big hill away from their puzzle boards. It required stamina and memory to get this done -- a good test for the final. However, only two players could be winners and secure their place in the Tribunal.

Winners: CT and Bayleigh
Tributnal: CT, Bayleigh, and Swaggy C

Elimination

Even with the coup attempt by Ashley, the house went with Jay, the rookie who already has a red skull. It's better to continue pissing off one person rather than creating new enemies. Rogan, Nelson, and Bear were called in for tribunal interrogation, but CT understood that no one would ever do him the solid of putting him in an elimination, unless it was one of the most difficult ones of the season. So he did himself a solid and put himself in for a chance to get his red skull and call it a day.

In "Take Shelter," Jay and CT were given 20 minutes to barricade a mini-bomb shelter using ropes, heavy rocks, and other materials to make it as difficult as possible for the other person to break in. Once the twenty minutes were up, they switched and the first one to get the door to the shelter all the way open and press the buzzer won. It looked like CT had it in the bag thanks to his expert knot skills and covering the shelter in heavy boulders that wiry Jay would have trouble moving. It came down to the last split seconds and Jay was able to pull down all of CT's well crafted knots in one fell swoop while CT struggled with the final chain on Jay's door. And just like that, CT was taken out of the game. Don't worry, the vet promised he'd be back. And Jay should have officially made everyone afraid to see him in an elimination.

Winner: Jay

Red Skulls So Far: Jay (2), Jenny

Episode 4, "Karma Chameleon"

After Ashley's failed attempt to oust Bananas, Episode 4 opened with the super champ realizing that she was a lone wolf in a game that is more dependent on allies than ever before. She attempted to make an alliance with Mattie, who would bring the strength component to Ashley's mad puzzle skills, but that blew up in her face after a gigantic house fight instigated by one of Bear's practical jokes (he is focused only on getting with Kailah). It was a pretty rough episode for her, and when she brought up Mattie's alcohol charges in the heat of the moment, the house used it as leverage to turn on her.

The Challenge

"Cold War" not only brought a new twist -- that tribunals can grow and shrink as TJ chooses -- but also the first hospitalization of the season. The cast was split into teams of five, with three designated to dive into a freezing cold "pool" and unlock puzzle pieces from the bottom. Those three were then tasked with putting together the puzzle with those pieces. The remaining two team members were tasked with chopping up ice to make the water even colder for an opposing team.

Nelson's team was forced to DQ when they started to get hypothermic and Nelson was sent to the hospital to recoup some warmth. After watching what happened to his No. 1, Cory and his teammate Kyle bailed on the challenge after only a few minutes in the water, with no objections from their fellow diver Bayleigh. The other three teams completed the puzzle, but Bananas, Bear, and Aneesa got it done the fastest and sealed the win.

Winners: Bananas, Big T, Aneesa, Kaycee, Bear
Tribunal: Bananas, Big T, Aneesa, Kaycee, Bear

The Elimination

Ashley was thrown in with almost a unanimous vote by the house, while Tori, Mattie, and Dee were called up by the tribunal. Tori made her plea to be thrown in, but only if it wasn't a puzzle and Dee said she was ready to go and get her red skull after passing on the chance to take it from Jen at the last girls' elimination. Mattie politely requested not to go in because she wants to enjoy some more time in the bunker. In the end, Bananas convinced the rest of the tribunal that Dee was the least trustworthy, and she was thrown in against Ashley.

As two of the best puzzle players in the house, Dee and Ashley faced off in "Code Breaker," which involved them having to collect puzzle pieces from hanging clay pots that contained the name of previous seasons of The Challenge. Once they collected all five pieces, they had to put the seasons in chronological order. Dee, an Australian who hasn't watched any season of the show besides the ones she's been on, got significant help from Wes up in the stands. Meanwhile, Ashley fell behind when one of her puzzle pieces got buried in the sand in her rush to collect everything she needed. Even with Wes being silenced by the rest of the housemates up on deck, Dee was able to guess her way to the win.

Winner: Dee
Red Skulls So Far: Jay (2), Jenny, Dee

Episode 5, "break up with your bf, i'm bored"

Wes has been attempting to "play possum" all season and let everyone else duke it out, but the man is addicted to manipulation and his plans got him caught in a lot of drama this week. First, he decided to start a rivalry with Jordan, which is wholly unnecessary at this point in the game when neither of them have red skulls. Then instead of ignoring Josh's baiting, Wes went over the top in insulting the Big Brother alum. Is Josh on Wes' level when it comes to political savvy? No, he reacts emotionally rather than thinking about a long game, but Wes rubbing his face in that fact isn't going to do Wes any favors either. Elsewhere, Kailah finally caved and kissed Bear even though she has a boyfriend back home, and she promised Jenna she wasn't interested in Bear's antics. This is going to blow up later, and we all know it.

The Challenge

The cast was split into teams of four for a high-octane relay race called "Bomb Squad." The first player had to sit outside of a car that was being driven sideways and read a math problem off the top of storage containers to the second person. That second leg had to solve the math problem and run the code to the third teammate who had to decode the solution to figure out what three colored pipes needed to be run to the fourth teammate. The fourth teammate then had to put the pipes in the right order to detonate a bomb. The first three teams failed to read the math problem off the storage containers, and Cory screwed up where to put the colored pipes to make the bomb go off. Teams 4 and 6 were the last eligible teams and their times were only two seconds apart.

Winners: Swaggy C, Josh, Kaycee, and Jenny
Tribunal: Swaggy C, Josh, Kaycee, and Jenny

The Elimination

Bananas intervened and talked Wes out of turning the house against Jordan this early in the game, so Wes burned his vote on Kyle. Nelson tried to start a last-minute campaign against Bear, but did no prep work ahead of time, so the rest of the house got scared and voted for Jay because he couldn't be more pissed off than he already was.

With Jay secured as the house vote, Rogan ensured that he'd be thrown into Purgatory to face his new nemesis. Not only did Jay kiss Dee a while back, but he also sent home Rogan's No. 1 when he beat CT in Episode 2. Unfortunately for Jay, they were pitted together in "Fireball," which is the iconic Challenge elimination game "Balls In" where a player must get past his opponent and place a ball in a goal basket. For Total Madness, TJ upped the ante and lit the ball in question on fire. Jay was given the opportunity to score first, but Rogan tapped into some gorilla rage and slammed the rock climber into the ground. The episode closed with Jay laying face down in the sand barely moving, and potentially with some broken limbs. He absolutely got wrecked and it's hard to imagine how he could rebound from the impact -- we just hope he gets up without any major injuries!

Winner: Rogan! (Keep scrolling for details)

Episode 6, "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

The episode picked up immediately where Episode 5 left off, with Jay in a moaning heap on the floor of Purgatory after Rogan body slammed him into the sand. He actually managed to get up without any broken bones and attempted to play, but when he became obviously confused about the game another doctor came to check Jay out and declared him medically unfit to continue the elimination -- so Rogan took the red skull. Sorry Jay, but you know this kid will be back. It was an incredibly great start for a rookie season.

Meanwhile, the rest of the house found out about Bear and Kailah, prompting Wes and Bananas to get in on the teasing and naturally take it too far. They stole pictures of her and her boyfriend back home and taped them to the ceiling above a love nest they made for her and Bear. It was extremely messed up and unfortunately, Kailah realized too late that she had probably made a huge mistake. Elsewhere in the house, Jenna found out that Zach went snooping through her Instagram DMs back home and found things from two years ago that he decided to throw in her face while she was on the show. It was extremely gross and the fact that she thought about giving up her chance at $1 million to calm him down makes us really sad. TJ seemed to get her into shape before the challenge though, making it known that he'd have no mercy on anyone who quit the show. It's why he's the GOAT.

The Challenge

This week's challenge was inspired by the Fast & Furious franchise. Players were split into teams of two and had to collect puzzle pieces attached to a giant semi-truck, barreling down a runway. Once all ten pieces were collected, the team had to climb to the top of the truck and solve a puzzle with the pieces they collected. This was about teamwork, coordination, and not dropping pieces; only three teams were able to handle it. Nelson went Peak Nelson when Aneesa accidentally dropped a piece and decided to yell at her for 10 minutes for throwing the challenge even though he had absolutely no evidence that's what happened. Bayleigh also called out Jordan for throwing the challenge as he was the only guy that had to go twice due to the odd number of players. However, it was Bayleigh that missed a puzzle piece on her side of the truck and she was useless when it came to the puzzle, so really it just wasn't her day.

Winners: Jordan and Nany
Tribunal: Jordan, Nany, and Jenna

The Elimination

TBD! The episode ended with Nany picking Jenna for the tribunal -- a move many considered a mistake since Jenna's head is clearly not in the game and would have been an easy win for any of the other girls looking to get their red skull. There's definitely going to be fireworks in the house vote after that move.

The Challenge: Total Madness airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.