by Gina Scarpa

 

Things pick up on tonight's finale of The Challenge: Rivals after a long kayak ride across a lake. Ev and Paula are in the lead for the girls, while Kenny and Wes jump into the lead for the guys. Players must now carry a rock with a chain attached to it for the rest of the race... and this thing is just getting started!

 

After a three mile hike, which takes close to an hour, the first challenge is to memorize a campsite which they'll have to recreate later in the race. Next up is Pile Up, where players have to transport one pile of dirt and create another pile of dirt. I'm pretty sure MTV just likes to push people to their breaking points. Paula and Ev finish first, followed by Laurel and Cara Maria.

 

Okay, time to recreate the campsite, which is located across a marsh. If they get it wrong, they have to go all the way back to the first site to look before trying again. To make matters worse, there are items in the pile that were never at the original site just to throw them off. Paula and Ev get it wrong, as well as Laurel and Cara Maria, while Jenn cries to Mandi back at the dirt pile and hates life. Both Kenny and Wes and Johnny and Tyler were wrong, but Leroy and Mike get it on the first try. Kenny and Wes are in the lead, but Wes is about to puke for absolutely no reason which doesn't look good for their team.

 

Oh yay, an eating challenge. What a great idea for two people with serious food poisoning and another, who feels he's suffering from dehydration. Some of them seem hungry but they don't know what they're in for. They need to eat everything on their plates as fast they can, which results in a whole lot of throwing up. Paula and Ev finish first for the girls, and Kenny and Wes finish first for the guys.

 

With a ton of food in your stomach, you might think it's time for a nice nap but MTV would rather send these people to immediately hike straight up a mountain. On a side note, Jenn and Mandi are still back at the campsite...

 

Wes cries on the side of the mountain as his hamstring starts to go ballistic, so Kenny picks him up and literally carries him. Johnny has a cramp of his own but you know Tyler ain't carrying his ass up that mountain!

 

They reach a checkpoint, but it's also a place to stop, rest... and sleep!? Sort of. While one team member sleeps, the other must stand on a rock. If one person falls, you have to wake up the other person and then you switch. Jenn and Mandi never make it - they DQ'd for not reaching the checkpoint in time. They may not know but they're the lucky ones.

 

On Day 2 of the final challenge, TJ shows up to inform everyone that they'll be racing to the top of a huge mountain. What's that you say? Is the top of the mountain the finish line? Nope, they have to use an avalanche monitor to locate a key to unlock their prize. Mike immediately decides to quit so he and Leroy are now out.

 

At the top of the mountain, Johnny and Tyler find their key first and take first place for the guys, and Paula finally wins a challenge thanks, in part, to her partnership with Evelyn.

 

Definitely, by far, the hardest final challenge in the history of the show, with a great ending.  In our interview with Evan a few weeks back, he revealed that The Challenge hasn't been renewed for another season so it seems the show wanted to go out with a bang.  Well played, MTV.  Well played.

 

 

Don't miss the reunion episode of The Challenge: Rivals, next Wednesday at 10/9c on MTV.

 

(Image courtesy of MTV)

 

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