Laurel Stucky and Derek Chavez are the slowest to get their rods around the star during the last challenge and one is about to go home. “The first player eliminated from the ‘All Stars 4’ final is Derek,” TJ Lavin tells the group.
He then drops the bomb that Derek can give his star to anyone in the game, which will give them a leg up during the last part of the final. Derek says he wants to give it to someone who has helped him get to the final and wants to see win the season … Laurel.
“This is soul-crushing,” Cara Maria Sorbello tells the cameras. “I more than anything in the world want to beat Laurel.”
Look Ma, no hands!
The next day, the remaining players compete in “Spicy Foot.” There are peppers hanging on a string above them. They need to lift their legs in order to bring the peppers down, so people with tight hamstrings are screwed.
They have to then eat ten peppers as quickly as possible with their hands tied behind their backs to get an advantage in the next checkpoint. There are no eliminations this round but they need any upper hand they can get.
The peppers prove difficult to get in the players’ mouths and they’re going all over the place. They’re also spicy AF but Steve Meinke is Thai and this is nothing for him.
Leroy Garrett is so desperate to win that when one pepper drops on the ground, he eats it off of the floor. The first one to eat all 10 peppers, however, is Nicole Zanatta.
One player gets eliminated
Next up is “Balance For Survival.” There are barrels with cups of water on top and a metal contraption. TJ explains that they have to balance the cups on the tray, drink it, and then spit it out into a tube until the water reaches the line. Nicole’s advantage is that her line is lower than the rest. The last one to reach theirs is going home.
The players start and the trick is balancing the cup of water and pulling it towards them without it spilling too much.
Laurel is killing it and she fills her tube up first. Meanwhile, Cara Maria is literally waterboarding herself. Nicole, Ace Amerson, and Cara Maria make it. Steve fills his up next and the last two are Leroy and Veronica Portillo.
Everyone’s rooting for Veronica because she’s their least competition and she finally makes it to the line. Poor Leroy, whom “The Challenge” fans were rooting for, is eliminated. He looks heartbroken.
It’s time to give his star away and he says, “I don’t have to think long and hard at all.” Leroy chooses Steve and tells the group, “Steve has been into three elimination rounds this season. He’s come into this house with nobody having his back.”
Leroy tells Steve, “You deserve it. I hope you f*cking win all the money, brother.”
Steve Meinke helps Cara Maria Sorbello and Ace Amerson
The players are back for the evening portion of the final. It’s an advantage checkpoint called “Hoseball” that will be played in pairs. They have to use high-powered hoses to manipulate a ball into their goals two times to win.
TJ tells them that they want every help they can get for the next challenge because it’s a double elimination. Ace picks Cara Maria, while Veronica asks Steve to be on her team. Laurel and Nicole automatically pair up.
Steve decides to help Cara Maria and Ace win because he doesn’t want Laurel to get another advantage. When they get a goal, Nicole gets ragey. The next round, she starts body-checking Steve and sprays him in the face with her hose. Despite her efforts, Cara Maria and Ace win.
Cara Maria Sorbello gets an advantage
Double elimination round time. The challenge is called “Bluff Night.” There are three rooms with games that the players have to choose, depending on how fast they can complete them. After they’re done, they choose the next player to go into that room.
“Now, whether you want to give out any information to fellow players, truthful or not, it’s up to you,” TJ tells them. “However, each game can only be played twice so going first is a very significant advantage.”
Because Cara Maria and Ace won the last challenge, one of them gets to go first. Ace lets Cara Maria go.
The first room has a wooden stump of giant nails, which the player has to get three down as fast as they can. The second room is called “Marble Blast,” which involves maneuvering a big ball through the openings of statues. In the final room, the player will wear a glove which gets set on fire. They have to ignite a big standing star and throw balls soaked in kerosene through it. After four balls are lit, the clock stops.
Cara Maria chooses the last room thinking that the star is big enough for her to throw balls through. She quickly gets all four balls and says, “F*ck yeah. Way faster than a nail.”
Cara Maria Sorbello tries to sabatoge Laurel Stucky
Cara Maria goes back to the group and whispers to Ace that her choice is the easiest and wants him to pick that one so that it’s closed off. She then gives Steve a heads-up about the other rooms and Laurel attempts to eavesdrop.
Ace nails the fire room and it’s now closed. He chooses Steve as the next person to go and he chooses “Nailed It.” Big mistake. After a couple of nails, his hands start cramping up but manages to get three.
Veronica is next and she doesn’t fall for the hammer room and chooses “Marble Blast.” After a few attempts, she manages to get the marble through the statues.
Nicole also chooses the marble challenge and makes it, which means Laurel is now stuck with hammering some thick nails. She furiously bangs her hammer and gets three into the wood. It now comes down to who won this challenge.
It turns out that Nicole and Veronica were the two slowest ones to finish their challenges and they are now going home.
Nicole immediately gives her star to Laurel, as well as Veronica, so now she has four freaking stars! What will that mean for the final leg?
It’s the final countdown
After sleeping on a suspended net for the night, the last four contestants head into an RV to their final destination.
TJ tells them that they are to hop on their scooters to a star loop consisting of five games, which are to be played in laps. They need to finish one game, and then repeat the first game and another one, stacking them until all five games are completed.
Each star that a player has allows them to skip a game but they can only be used once per lap. Therefore, Laurel has four chances, while Cara Maria and Ace only have one to use.
At the end of the loop are only three keys so one person will get eliminated. “The next time I see you, someone is going to be $250,000 richer. And, whoever else crosses the finish line with them, will be sharing $50,000,” TJ tells them.
Laurel Stucky vs. Cara Maria Sorbello
Unfortunately, the scooters aren’t motorized and Cara Maria struggles down the path. Steve makes it to the first checkpoint which is, ew, drink a shot or eat a giant cockroach. And we’re not talking about the NYC roaches you see skittering about, these are huge Madascar bugs that look you in the eye and say, “Good morning.”
Steve is a savage and tears apart one of those mofos and chomps them down like Cheerios. He has two stars left and burns one on a game. This is his last leg and unfortunately, he forgets that he only has one star per lap.
Laurel is first and Cara Maria is trailing behind her. Ace fails to complete his station so it’s down to Steve, Laurel, and Cara Maria. It’s a race to the end and with Laurel’s head start, she wins.
Cara Maria and Steve each get $25,000 so it’s not all bad. Ace leaves South Africa with nothing but at least he lets the cockroaches free before he goes home.
