The Challenge: Double Agents Recap (Episode 5) – Lio Rush Finds An Alliance Through His Partner

Another week down and Lio Rush remains in the house. While he continues to ride the wall a bit, we did get some good intel on our favorite MLW Champion this week. 

He showed his competition prowess a little as he pulled a lot of rope and then held on to his partner Gabby as she hung off the side of a platform. They didn’t win, but finishing the rope pull was a good accomplishment, though maybe slightly disappointing given I bet he did rope drills 100 times at the Performance Center. 

The big news coming out of this episode was less about Lio, but more about his partner. Gabby took some control of the game, aligning with the “weaker” girls in order to go against veterans Tori and Aneesa, who were talking out of pocket about being the stronger girls in the house and wanting to take out the weaker girls. 

Fortunately for Gabby’s game, and thus Lio’s game, CT and Big T (who aligned with Gabby) won the challenge and held the power. Lio voted on the side of power and now has a solid alliance, at least through his partner. 

Everything Else

* Ashley is back as Cory’s partner, Natalie is out.

* Josh isn’t emotional. Trust him. He isn’t emotional. 

* Tori got WASHED after talking all that mess. For a second straight season. 

* Boring partner switch with Aneesa taking back Fessy. They both have gold skulls so they likely think they are safe from going in again. 

* CT continues to rule. That’s it.

Where Lio Stands

While Lio has an alliance through Gabby, this is an individual game and there are only two skulls on the men’s side up for grabs. That means he has to make a move and make a move soon. We’ve seen in the past that Lio and Gabby haven’t always voted together, so it’s possible they are playing two separate games. 

At some point, Lio has to go into an elimination. From the way the game is playing out, he’ll have to do it by winning a challenge. Maybe he’ll be viewed as a weak competitor and voted in by the house, but he’s certainly not getting put in by the winning team because he has no solid relationships to be owed something like that.