Cashay, You Stay

The Challenge: USA
Season 1, Episode 3 “Declarations of Independence”
Original Air Date: July 20, 2022

Dom gets dommed.

“Show vs show” who? After two episodes of Challengers mostly targeting people who originally appeared on a series other than their own, the gameplay floodgates have opened, officially, and new narratives pop up like daisies. The Amazing Race trio implodes (as dramatically as three quiet, polite people can). The Survivors are insecure, and a small group of emerging front-runners (origin show irrelevant) start to target their “weaker” castmates in the name of “competing against the best” in T.J.’s Final (& also not getting stuck with a shitty partner). But what begins as standard alliance-fare turns a little too cocky by the end credits, and an overly arrogant edit is rarely a positive sign… As a Tyson fan, I’m terrified for what’s ahead in the coming episodes, but as a reality competition superfan, I’m thrilled.         

Algo-rhythm:

The start of another episode means another three minutes eaten up by The Algorithm as it assigns everyone a new partner. It’s only the second time it’s happening and I’m already a little tired of it. The same information could be conveyed via a ten-second camera pan, and with the extra minutes, we could learn more about the cast members who aren’t crucial to the narrative yet. With 24 contestants still left in the game, there’s only enough room per episode to showcase the pairs that’re going to matter, and even that relies on a generous definition of “showcase.” 

Right away, it’s clear that one of those matter-ful duos is Cashay & Domenick. (Another is Domenick & his ego…) Having yet to be partnered with anyone other than “Love Island girls,” a phrase he uses exclusively as an insult, Domenick wants to work with someone closer to his age (43) and more “mature,” two things he misguidedly views as synonymous. Throughout the episode, he criticizes Cashay for appearing on a dating show, for talking too much about her relationship with Cinco, for being bad at running… (Is she even?) He also tells us that his wife is going to be annoyed at his partnering with so many young women… Even if meant in jest, the joke is so 90’s/00’s sitcom, I can hear a faint laugh track as he says it, and it reveals a lot (probably more than intended) about how Domenick views the Islander women. 

Duo Dynamics:

For anyone not stuck with Dom, a new partner is an opportunity to gain a new ally, or get a closer look at a potential enemy – On Survivor, Shan was an unrivaled force, controlling nearly every aspect of her season (strategy, scheming, socializing, screen time) until her tribemates decided she was too forceful and voted her out. Having only played Survivor last year, her reputation is among the biggest coming into The Challenge: USA and her new partner Derek is wary because of it.

Shan insists that she’s not a “devious plotter,” but Derek reminds us about the “Shanthem,” the song she hummed to herself on Survivor whenever she was plotting deviously. It was so central to the season, the producers composed their own version of it, and I think there’s at least a 75% chance we hear it again before The Challenge: USA is over… As Shan questions her place in the Survivor alliance, as well as Angela & Tyson’s obvious existence as a power duo outside The Algorithm’s domain, the edit presents a clear message – Shan has the potential to fuck this game up.   

We also catch up with Tasha & James, the only duo we’ve seen so far who’re both happy to be partners. For James, it’s a chance to make a home among the Survivors. Fed up with playing from the bottom, he seeks security in numbers, something his own origin show, The Amazing Race, can’t provide. For Tasha, it’s a chance to forge bonds outside the Survivor alliance in anticipation of less origin-show-based gameplay as the season goes on – two opposite strategies, neither of which will work…

The Challenge:

The cast arrives at an amusement park that has nothing to do with the challenge they’re about to compete in. They find T.J. in an open space, shipping containers at one end, (mostly) sandbags at the other.

The challenge is called “Hang On, Man.” It’s, as T.J. describes, “The Challenge’s version of Hangman,” but there’s more to it than that: Each team is assigned a shipping container with 12 slots cut into the side. Teams run from their containers to the opposite end of the challenge site, pick up two insertable steps (one per partner), then return to the shipping container. The process repeats until all 12 steps are transported.

When placed in the correct slots, the steps create a staircase to the top of the container, where the real challenge starts – One partner balances on a narrow beam that juts out from the container roof (with landing pad underneath) while holding a long metal bar across their shoulders. The other partner solves a word phrase by guessing letters Hangman-style, one at a time. 

As punishment for guessing an incorrect letter, the teammate on the ground grabs a ten-pound sandbag, then attaches it to one of two cables dangling from each end of their partner’s metal bar. This process also repeats, either until the balancing partner is holding so much weight, they fall, eliminating their team, or until the guessing partner solves the word phrase. From there, the guessing partner runs to retrieve a final, victory sandbag, and brings it back to their shipping container. First team to finish wins safety from The Arena and 10,000 Challenge Bucks to split. First team to fall, or slowest team to finish, heads straight into elimination.  

“Hang On, Man” offers the cast a break from the high-octane heights featured in the season’s first two challenges, and focuses on other core franchise skills instead: endurance running, puzzle-solving, and carrying/holding heavy objects. It’s also good practice for any cast members that may be planning to audition for Wheel of Fortune, like Ben, a Wheel superfan. 

Most of all, the segment focuses on fleshing out the cast, both flatteringly and otherwise: Derek is a supportive teammate who dances with Shan while she hums the Shanthem at the startling line. (I thought she wanted to distance herself from that…?) Kyland showcases more of his Challenge training by never breaking a sprint, and Ben & Domenick, two men who excelled in their original Survivor seasons (even if Dom didn’t win his), take opposite approaches to working with their Love Island teammates.

While Ben is enthusiastic about his partner Kyra, leading to the pair nearly winning the challenge, Domenick continues to criticize Cashay, so much that his criticisms start to contradict each other – When the cast arrives at the challenge site, Domenick is worried that Cashay can’t run well. (She expresses similar concerns about him…) But once the challenge is underway, Dom’s annoyed at Cash for running too fast. 

The juxtaposition between Ben & Domenick and their dynamics with their Islander teammates is an important piece of a storyline that builds satisfyingly throughout the episode: Dom is the problem. And not just interpersonally – When solving their word phrase, Cashay suggests they start with “a” or “e”, as several other teams are shown doing, but instead, Dom chooses the letter “i” – Whose first vowel guess is “i?”

Luckily for Domenick, Tasha is worse at balancing with a sandbag than he is at word puzzles. After her partner James clips on the first ten-pound bag, Tasha’s metal bar dips. The bag touches the landing pad, leading to their elimination from the challenge and their ticket into The Arena. They’re the only pair to be disqualified, keeping up the strange tradition of exactly one team underperforming in every challenge. (Unfortunately for James, this is the second time he’s a member of that team…)

Meanwhile, Kyra & Ben and Angela & Kyland stand out as front-runners. Ben’s word puzzle prowess helps him, but not enough to beat Angela & Kyland. Their win is even more impressive knowing that their secret phrase, “Flutes from Finland,” included two more unique letters than most of the others featured on-screen, all of which are alliterative phrases in the same “object from country” format. (I was planning to criticize the vast differences between phrases – Kyra & Ben solve “Candles from Canada.” Desi & Enzo get “Ants from Argentina.” But Angela & Kyland’s victory makes criticism more difficult.)

The Amazing (Rat) Race:

A second challenge win positions Angela as the richest woman in the game, with $11,000 in her Personal Challenge Account. Kyland’s $7,000 makes him the fourth player qualified to compete in T.J.’s Final. As “strong” competitors like Angela, Kyland, and Tyson start to emerge within the cast, they decide to target players they’ve deemed “weaker” in hopes of escaping a potentially fatal Algorithm pairing. Factor in Angela & Kyland’s desire to protect all Big Brother players, and only one team fits the criteria: Cashay & Domenick… 

After word gets around, rather than campaign to be kept out of elimination, Domenick announces his desire to compete. When Cashay warns him that it’s bad gameplay to advertise yourself as Arena-ready, Dom mocks her for trying to teach him about ~strategy.~ As a “construction supervisor,” Dom tells us, he doesn’t ask his crew for their opinions… By implying that Cashay is his subordinate, not his partner, once again, Domenick reveals waaay more about his worldview than he realizes.

And the thing is, other than preserving his ego, like when someone quits a job knowing they’re about to get fired, Domenick has nothing to gain by entering this particular Arena. With the season’s current format, the only reason to volunteer for elimination is to steal money from your opponents, but Tasha & James have a combined total of just $3,000 in their Personal Challenge Accounts.

Motivated by their joint brokeness, behind closed conference room doors, Tasha & James consider competing against a different duo – Sure, Cash & Dom are dysfunctional, but they also have barely a Challenge Buck to their names. With his second trip to The Arena, James seeks to steal enough money to qualify for T.J.’s Final. There’s only one team with the right number of Big Brother players (zero) and enough Challenge Bucks to get James his money: Justine & Leo. Problem is, James and Leo are from the same show, but after Leo stresses the importance of The Amazing Race trio’s alliance in multiple interviews, it was basically guaranteed that one of them was about to betray the group…

The Arena:

Unfortunately for the four competitors, the first thing we see upon arriving at The Arena is two large water tanks, big enough to fully submerge a human adult… Who will join Tasha & James inside these torture tanks? Without fanfare, Angela & Kyland reveal their choice: Cashay & Domenick. In the season premiere, T.J. confirmed with both players in power which team they voted into elimination, but lately, he’s only asked one partner, so much for another Amanda/Zach-style meltdown…

Water-based eliminations have been some of the franchise’s most brutal, but “Plug and Play” only looks a *little* hellish… Pairs start on top of their water tanks. One partner drops in, unlocks 14 slightly differently-shaped blocks, and throws them to their partner up top (who then tosses them to the ground). After all 14 blocks are unlocked, the partner up top slides down a firefighter/stripper pole, then builds a tower using every block. First team to build their tower wins…probably… “Plug and Play” is a unique elimination that hinges on a creative time-limit mechanic – From the moment T.J. says “Go,” the water in both teams’ tanks starts to drain, and should it reach below a designated level (indicated by a thick line on the tanks), you’re disqualified. The partner inside the tank has drain access and can choose how often (if at all) they allot time to plugging it.

Prior to the elimination, Cashay speculates that, between her & Domenick, it’s smarter for her to be the in-tank teammate because she’s smaller. I have no idea if that makes sense or not, but the way Dom condescendingly blows her off had me rooting for them to lose, which was actually me rooting for Cashay…. And lose they nearly do, because Domenick, shrewd strategist, master tactician, construction supervisor Grand Supreme, forgets to plug his tank’s drain during the entire elimination. When Cashay secures their win, the water in the tank is millimeters from the disqualification line. (Whaddya know… the arrogant guy who continuously insinuated his partner was stupid almost cost her the game after a self-described “brain fart.”) Though Domenick doesn’t beg forgiveness at Cash’s feet like it goes in my head, at least he didn’t end her season either. Instead, both leave The Arena with $2,500 in their Personal Challenge Accounts and the comfort in knowing they’ll probably never be partners again…

But my excitement for Cashay does little to mask the disappointment of losing Tasha & James, especially since their only mistake during “Plug and Play” was not finishing it fast enough (also James sitting on the drain). Both feel like they have more to offer the season – James has been a strategic standouts in these early episodes. Not only are we missing out on an underdog arc as he politicks his way to the top, but we also won’t get to see any fallout from his failed attempt to target his fellow Racer Leo. As for Tasha, she’s barely been in any episode at all, which should be illegal considering she made it to two Survivor finales (almost). We know that, like James, she sought to establish connections outside her origin show alliance, and that willingness to play a strategic/political game side is enough for me to hope they’re both recast. If only The Algorithm had a Tim Gunn Save… 

Leftovers:

-Of the many criticisms Domenick lobs at Cashay throughout the episode, one is that there’s “no place” for her relationship drama with Cinco on The Challenge… Tell me you’ve never seen the flagship MTV show without telling me…

-My favorite exchange of the episode: Ahead of “Hang On, Man,” Tyson attempts to pump Alyssa up by calling the cast weak. “I heard someone say they biked 12 miles once… That’s not even a warm-up,” Tyson explains. “That was me,” Alyssa responds, and they both laugh. The best part? Neither utters a single, “Let’s gooo!”

-Ever the diplomat, instead of calling his underperforming castmates “weak,” Kyland calls them “less prepared.”

-As part of the new CBS era, are contestants prohibited from cheering/offering advice during eliminations? Though not always fair, (Once, Wes gave Dee the solution to an entire puzzle.) it’s a fixture of the flagship MTV show, but this cast, even Cashay, was silent as Domenick “brain farted” about plugging his drain.

-Next episode is blessing us with The Challenge: USA’s first-ever trivia challenge! Though I don’t expect as many “50 seconds is five minutes”-type answers from the CBS cast…

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Thanks for reading! Come back next Tuesday for another Challenge: USA recap!