Drama dominates The Challenge every year. Some years, the drama is more significant than others. Right now, it is at its normal level for The Challenge. We are not at the point where the drama seems bigger than the game. What I like is that people are starting to take issue with others based on performance inside the game. There is a heightened paranoia that people are doing things for others to get that coveted red skull. It added an element to this season without question.

Rate this episode: 3/10 – This is the first clunker episode of the season. With this being their sixth week, I am willing to give them a pass. You’re not always going to have good shows. Your favorite show had a bad episode here and there. We did not have anyone eliminated and it is unknown who will match up in the purgatory. We went from getting everything handled in 90 minutes to only having the challenge completed. That’s not ideal for an episode.

How did the Power Rankings hold up? – Again, it looks like we’re hitting our stride with the rankings. Rogan showed himself to be a top contender and now has a red skull. He might move past Jordan because of it next week. Wes and Bananas are ruling this house, although Wes’ double alliance feels like it has an endpoint. Nany getting a win only helps his status in this game too.

One Thing I Liked: Bear joining Wes and Bananas – I said it on Twitter, and it bears repeating here. Adding Bear with those guys is like making sure you have three parts of Degeneration-X. Bananas is Shawn Michaels Wes is Triple H and Bear is either Mr. Ass or Road Dogg Jessie James. I believe Kyle or Rogan is tight with Bear. Maybe that’s the fourth part of this alliance. Bear is a fun part of the show and worthy of being a top 10 guy.

One Thing I Didn’t Like: Shut up about Jenna’s relationship – No one gives one flying fuck about Jenna and Zach. The episode centered around that and I hate it. Zach is not on this Challenge, so, it adds a weird element. If he is on this Challenge, I have no problem with making that a storyline. Jenna and Zach have one of the more rocky Challenge relationships out there and now they’re getting engaged. WHO SAID LOVE IS DEAD!

What to watch for next week: The Challenge producers did not provide us with any hints. I guess that Jordan will try to put Tori in elimination to face Jenna. But let’s remember, Jenna is a good competitor when she wants to be. She could easily pull off that upset. We also have a guys’ challenge, and my guess they’ll start trying to trim the fat.

Charlie.