The Night Guy

The Challenge: USA
Season 1, Episode 10 “Pledges of Allegiance”
Original Air Date: September 7, 2022

Nobody puts Benzo in a corner.

As Aneesa once said about The Challenge, “This show has chaaanged…” While things like cast size, format twists, and visual spectacles (a.k.a. the pyrotechnics budget) only get bigger, there’s less room per episode for things like basic storytelling. In “Pledges of Allegiance,” throughlines and dynamics that’ve been brewing for weeks take center stage – Had we heard about any of them until this episode, moments before they were going to matter? Of course not! What do you think this is, a better-edited show?

The Fab Four, or Is It Three?:

After elimination, Sarah is annoyed that Desi sent neither Angela nor Alyssa into The Arena against her, but accepts that she should be forgiving (or at least act like it) for the sake of preserving numbers  – Too bad the edit presents Desi as eager to give this new alliance with Angela, Alyssa, and the Survivor men a shot…

Outside by a fire pit that gets more screen time in this episode than David did all season, Ben and Enzo bond. Together, they’re Benzo, a nickname that the cast talks about like it’s been a running bit all season, (Even T.J. knows it!) but this is the first us in the audience are hearing about it… When 60% of the “Previously on” segment was inexplicably about Enzo, I thought he might see another elimination this ep. After his friendship with Ben suddenly became a big storyline, I was sure of it. Enzo’s also friends with David – Don’t forget! That’s also critically important to this episode (and this episode only).

The Challenge:

The contestants gather roadside – Time for the once-a-season climbing-on-a-truck challenge! This one’s called “Code Crossing.” Two players compete head-to-head on opposite sides of the truck. They use stakes to build a bridge across a pegboard that extends from the back of the truck to its front. At the front, contestants climb to the roof, then pull a chord to release colorful smoke and stop their times. You can use as many pegs as you can carry, plus an additional six that you place prior to your turn. Players time out after “about three minutes” and are disqualified if they fall off the truck. Fastest man and woman to finish, or the two who go the farthest, win. The slowest man to finish, or the man who gets through the least amount of the course, must compete in the LAST men’s elimination.

For many cast members, Code Crossing seems to be the season’s toughest challenge. Only one person finishes – No surprise, it’s Angela. Desi is close behind her, but other than that, no one gets very far. They compete against each other in the last heat, which turns out to be a huge advantage. More than climbing skills, agility, or the courage it takes to balance on the side of a moving truck, Code Crossing is about where to place your six starting pegs. After watching the others fail, Angela knows how to position things. Because there must be a male winner too, T.J. begrudgingly reveals that it’s Ben’s. It’s the second time Angela and Ben have won an individual challenge together! 

Order matters on the losing end, too. The race to avoid last place is between the two players who competed against each other in the opening round, David and Tyson. Tyson seems extra-annoyed in his interviews, so I start to worry he’s Arena-bound, but luckily, David is instead. (Sorry, David.)

Jesus-Looking Rich Guys:

Behind the closed sliding door, David asks to compete against either Domenick or Tyson, who he believes is beatable in a “physical elimination.” (I wonder the same thing, but am glad we haven’t found out yet…) Angela’s not on board but Ben is, even though it goes against the alliance he has with Angela. She suggests they send in David’s Big Brother bestie Enzo, instead. But Ben wants to save Enzo because of the Benzo thing (and also because he’ll be easy to beat in the Final). Cue conflict! At an impasse, the power duo decides to table the debate until the next day. 

Cue the next day! Ben wakes up and immediately cedes all power to Angela… Out of the warm fire pit light in the harsh morning glow, he realizes that it’s better to betray his favorite person in the cast than “rock the boat” while he’s immune from elimination right before the Final… Ben still wants to be Enzo’s friend though, but he’s sure got a funny way of showing it…

To set Enzo’s fate in stone, Angela tells David, creating a snowball effect that forces Ben to quickly clue in Enzo so he doesn’t hear it from someone else first. Somehow, Enzo blames Tyson, who he calls out for already being rich and for “looking like Jesus Christ.” Enzo’s angry at Angela too, so is David; as former Big Brother players, they expected her to protect them – David and Enzo are presented as strategic outsiders throughout this episode, but exactly how outside were they? Origin-show-based alliances haven’t mattered in weeks! 

The Arena:

When there’s nothing in the sand pit but a single ball and a “goal” that looks like a trash can, you know Challengers are about to play “Balls In,” an iconic physical elimination. It belongs alongside “Hall Brawl” and “Pole Wrestle” in one of the franchise’s trios with a thesaurus-y name like “Troika,” “Triumvirate,” or “Triad.”

The rules are simple: Contestants alternate between playing offense and defense. Offensively, put the ball in the goal to score a point. While on defense, knock the ball out of bounds. Don’t turn the game into a wrestling match – It’s about the balls (and as always, the cones). After both players compete on both offense and defense, the round ends. Whoever has the most points after five rounds wins. (Balls In is already a beast – Why supersize it?) Given the season’s episode count, the winner will also advance to the Final along with the other men (who already have), but none of them know that yet… 

The score is close until the end, but David & Enzo both perform so lacklusterly, I wouldn’t call it suspenseful, just slow and sad. They struggle to move in the sand. They struggle to catch their breath. They struggle to compete against their only true friend all season, each other. What could’ve been a five minute segment is stretched out to fifteen! David leads 1-0 for a while, but gases out a little over halfway through, resorts to desperate wrestling, and fatally ignores the balls. Enzo (also gas-less) takes advantage to tie the score, then takes the lead 2-1 in the last round. It’s sad when friends face off in elimination, but at least David had a friend this time – Could social / strategic competition shows just not be for him? Better cast him on Survivor so we can keep collecting data…

After his third elimination win, Enzo warns his castmates that if they keep tossing him into The Arena, then he’ll keep “taking piggy banks, CDs, checks, CD accounts, Pesos, and Pennies-to-Pesos.” If you can believe it, he’s now the richest man in the game… But on The Challenge, what good is money if you’ve got no allies?

Leftovers:

-After Angela becomes the first (only) person to finish Code Crossing, she sits atop the truck, sighs, and says, “I win…” Iconique!

-At The Arena, Tyson asks Danny who he thinks will win, David or Enzo. Danny responds, “Whoever puts their friendship to the side.”

-Enzo, ever the class clown: As the elimination begins, he winks to camera (in slow-motion). Later, he tells T.J. he excels in The Arena but flops in challenges because he’s “a night guy.”