MTV/Facebook Nelson Thomas in a preview video for 'The Challenge: Spies Lies and Allies'
The premiere of “The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies” took place on Wednesday, August 11 and if the first episode and season trailer were any indication, fans are in for one incredible and action-packed season. As the episode description hinted, the competitors met at a “high stakes mission” and when they returned to headquarters, “A scandalous list emerges and threatens to expose a strong player.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first episode of “The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies” which aired on August 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
The teams were created during the challenge as the international stars had to choose their American partners in guy/girl teams. Aneesa Ferreira and her teammate Logan Sampedro from “Survivor Spain” came in first place while the discussion at headquarters was dominated by an apparent list created by Michaela Bradshaw.
Michaela and her teammate Renan Hellemans were voted in by the house after a heated deliberation and at the elimination, called The Lair, the competitors learned that the winning team could choose any guy and girl to face them even if they weren’t teammates.
Aneesa and Logan chose rookie Corey Lay and Michele Fitzgerald but a strong performance from Corey meant that Michaela and Renan were eliminated. The episode ended with a reshuffle of the teams as the winners picked new partners with TJ announcing that Nam Vo left the game to be replaced by “The Circle” star Ed Eason.
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The Alliances Look to Be Constantly Shifting & Time Will Tell If the Veterans Will Be Able to Work Together
HERE ARE THE FIRST 3️⃣ MINUTES OF THE CHALLENGE SPIES, LIES & ALLIES 🚨
It’s time for the international operatives to put their training to the test! Find out which American agents each one extracts when #TheChallenge37 airs TONIGHT at 8p on @MTV!
There were some alliances being formed already in the first episode, with the clearest line being drawn between the veterans and the rookies. However, there is a lot of history on the veterans’ side so it may be just a matter of time before the alliance crumbles, especially as the winning team has a lot of power in who they can throw into elimination.
The drama between Nelson Thomas and Fessy Shafaat still seems unresolved after they argued outside the house and it’s unclear if their friends Amanda Garcia and Ashley Mitchell will be able to keep the two working together. The blurred friendship between Ashley and Nelson also appears to be a powder keg that could go off at any time and if it does, it could also blow up the vets alliance.
Going into the season, the “Survivor” competitors looked to be in a strong position but they quickly turned on Michaela so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out for the rest of the rookies moving forward.
One interesting switch from “Double Agents” is the deliberation and voting, which is now taking place in one room on individual tablets. Although the vote itself appeared to be mostly personal, it seems like it would be really easy to look at which way other people are voting so it’s a bit more public, which means people can’t hide their votes from others.
The Twists TJ Announced During This Week’s Episode Will Have Major Impacts on the Game
The Challenge is back and it STARTS RIGHT NOW! 😈 #TheChallenge37
The episode was filled with information about how the game will play out and, like usual, featured several classic TJ twists. One major change from the last two seasons is that the skull twist is now gone, so competitors can avoid eliminations all season and still qualify to run TJ’s final.
The elimination was also done as a pairs elimination, although a glimpse of hall brawl in the trailer showed that it may not always be done in pairs. That means competitors will have to be really careful about who they vote in as there is no such thing as an obvious male or female elimination day.
Perhaps the most shocking twist introduced this season is that the Agency, formed by the winning team, can choose any girl and any guy to compete together in the elimination even if they’re not partners. That means that if the elimination looks to be physical, the Agency could throw in a very strong competitor with a smaller or more inexperienced teammate in the hopes of getting rid of major threats. It also means that rookies partnered with veterans won’t be kept safe due to their teammates’ connections and players can conspire to get their partner thrown in.
The final twist revealed by TJ in this episode is a continuation of “Double Agents” where the elimination winners can infiltrate and change their partner so that means we may see the teams change a lot as the season progresses.
“The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies” airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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