White Water Canyon-ing



Plot
The episode opens up with the members of Team Firecrotch sitting in first class. Alma is chatting at the mini bar with Ellie and Becca, loud laughter intermittently ringing throughout first class.

 Ellie (CONF):  It's so great having these girls here, I just wish Eug and Samantha were on my team too

A quip from Alma makes Ellie burst out into laughter, the scene panning to an annoyed Ashton.

 Ashton (CONF):  Those girls are so annoying

She is in a set of four chairs with Evan, Liz and Aaron. Ashton tells the four she wants to get rid of Ellie next elimination ceremony.

 Aaron (CONF):  Uh...why

Liz tells Ashton she can't think with her feelings, but Ashton insists it's because of her connections to Trevor, Kacvinsky, Samantha and Eugenia on the other teams.

 Liz (CONF):  Um, Caroline, Channing, Marisa...we have connections to the other teams too...I mean come on Ashton

Ruchi is on the couch with Myra and Brandon watching the four talk, the three debating why they haven't been approached by Ashton to discuss strategy. Ilan, Clayton, Connor and Katie are in the other set of four chairs, the unlikely foursome listening to Katie tell a funny story. A well-delivered punchline prompts the other three to erupt into laughter as the scene shifts to economy class.

Caelan is lamenting to Andy and Nathanael that John was right and they should have done better in the last challenge.

 Andy (CONF):  Ok Caelan way to be subtle

Nathanael sees Alli walking toward the mess hall, and when he gets up to join her Caelan leans in close and tells Andy another slip up and he's out of the alliance. Then, returning to normalcy, says the Nathanael and Alli duo is beginning to scare him, leaning into whisper as the scene transfers past Trevor, Cohen and Kacvinsky laughing and look out the window on the ground, Joseph lying fast asleep on one of the hard wooden benches next to Cooper reading and Eugenia gossiping with Samantha.

The scene then shifts to Alli and Nathanael walking into the mess hall, landing at a table where JP, Catherine and Alex talk about how dangerous Trevor and Samantha are as swing votes. JP, also having had some bad history with Samantha, suggests targeting her next but Catherine counters saying Trevor would be a bigger threat after the merge.

 Catherine (CONF):  We have got to be thinking long term here, I mean Joseph you literally want to vote out Samantha because you used to bang

Serena, eating breakfast a table over with Channing, Caroline and Rachel, overhears and gets nervous.

 Serena (CONF):  Ok wow, honestly I had no idea Catherine was so attune to the game's strategy

Also eating are Matt, Nathan, Ian and Lizzie, laughing about Las Vegas and Marisa, Emily and Kalee, tossing food into each other's mouths.

Once the plane lands, the contestants are brought to the top of the Grand Canyon and have to ride donkeys down.

 Ruchi (CONF):  This is fucking nasty

 Cooper (CONF):  So yeah definitely didn't sign up for this?

A montage shows a donkey kicking Channing prompting a nearby Myra and Brandon to erupt into laugher, Kacvinsky hoisting Ian onto the donkey before falling and landing face-first in donkey-butt, Trevor lifting a blushing Becca onto hers and Evan laughing on top as Aaron struggles.

As the herd begins down the mountain, a breathtaking view sweeps over the contestants, inspiring them to reflect on their person games. Ilan is between Liz and Nathan, the three trotting down the cliff.

 Ilan (CONF):  I have to get my shit together

Cohen is near the front, a glance over his shoulder showing Alma and Alex gaining on him.

 Cohen (CONF):  Without Collin here...dude this game is so much fucking harder

Joseph wipes some sweat off his forehead, as Eugenia, Katie and Ruchi trot past him.

 Joseph (CONF):  I'm just waiting for the right time to really make my move

And Katie's heart drops as her donkey missteps, sighing with relief when Sydney and Matt trot over to make sure she's ok. A satirical comment about it makes the group laugh.

 Katie (CONF):  All I want is people to not take me seriously, because they won't view me as a threat

Marisa's donkey arriving to the bottom means everyone from Team Boss is done. They erupt into cheers as Emily, Channing and Clayton round out the other two teams but Chris shushes them saying that wasn't the challenge. Everyone groans.

 Myra (CONF):  Damn it Chris

He then congratulates the contestants for surviving ten eliminations. Dramatic music starts to play as a montage shows Grant taking the "Escalator of Losers" down the cliff, Anna running through Team Victory's pyramid in Egypt, David distracting people in the dodgeball challenge, Bailey firing her paintball gun in the Redwood Forest, Chase nudge Evan and Ashton while the cast sits around the campfire in Transylvania, Cassy losing her cool about the iPod, Camila searching an Easter Island statue for eggs, Justin running the obstacle course in the boot camp, Collin getting overrun by zombies and finally John collapsing under the weights in Vegas.

Next, he announces the challenge is to kayak down the rapids to a cave further into the canyon. Once there, they must return the "cursed idol of the canyon" by lobbing it into the cave.

 Sam (CONF):  The cursed idol of the...canyon?

Once complete, they will portage the kayaks alongside the river back to the starting line. The first team to get back wins the luxury cabin or first class, dependent on the next challenge. Losers send someone home in the dreaded barfbag ceremony. He gives them time to split into groups.

For Team Boss Caelan and Andy go together, as do JP, Nathanael and Alli.

 JP (CONF):  *raises left hand* Go with Caelan and Andy's bickering...*raises right hand* or the couple...*raises right hand out of the top of the frame*

Alex and Catherine hug as they decide to pair, Kalee does a triple high-five with Joseph and Serena as they do, and Marisa, Trevor and Samantha nod and prepare for battle.

On Team Victory, Lizzie goes with Nathan and Matt.

 Matt (CONF):  If those two kiss ONCE I am done

Ian goes with Kacvinsky and Cohen, Caroline goes with Channing and Eugenia, Rachel goes with Sydney, and Emily goes with Cooper and Sam.

Finally, on Team Firecrotch, Ashton goes with Liz and Evan and Ilan goes with Aaron and Clayton.

 Clayton (CONF):  Ilan is a cool dude...totally gonna vote him out cause it'd be easier than going after a friend but...a cool dude

Ruchi goes with Brandon and Myra, Katie goes with Connor and Alma, and finally Ellie goes with Becca.

Chris blows the starting horn and the camera, lined up down the starting line, shows the groups take off in slow motion. As Ruchi, Myra and Brandon row, Lizzie tries to steady the canoe with Nathan and Matt nervously watching. Kalee nearly pushes Joseph in on accident and Kacvinsky, Ian and Cohen get into a groove.

The beginning of the river is calm, to many of the contestant's suspicion.

 Alex (CONF):  Yeah no this 100% can't be good

Caelan strokes in sync with Andy, before Andy turns back and sees Marisa, Trevor and Samantha rocking back and forth. Caelan grins, seeing an opportunity. He steers the boat around, pretending to offer help but shoves the canoe into the water.

 Trevor (CONF):  Come on, what the fuck man

Caelan loudly yells for them to get it together, as they're going to cost the team the challenge. A nearby Kalee, Joseph and Serena give them a pitied look, but frustration definitely lies beneath the surface.

 Caelan (CONF):  Hey, I may not be trying to throw the challenges anymore but ifwe lose at least I have a safety net

After failing to push JP, Nathanael and Alli out of their canoe, he paddles over and manages to tip over Elizabeth, Kalee and Joseph's canoe and the three go down the rapids. Colin, seeing they need help, dives after them. As he dives out, he takes the paddles with him leaving Cooper and Nupur stranded. This angers Caroline greatly, telling him to let them figure it out themselves because they are on a different team. Colin ends up pulling the three out with the paddles, and gets them back into their canoe. He then runs and hops back in with Cooper and Nupur. Caelan is furious, but changes his angle, and decides to twist the situation and use it against one of Marisa's alliance members. The kayaks end up falling off a waterfall, something Chris decided not to tell them was there.

The contestants wash up at the shore, and end up right at the cave, and everyone gets to returning their fireworks leaving a beautiful display of colors in the cave, but also waking up some coyotes that lived inside. The contestants ran with the coyotes in hot pursuit.

While portaging the canoes back to the finish line, Caelan tells Marisa about how Elizabeth is forming a cross team alliance with Colin. He is saying that if they both make merge, they will always be voting together, and that is dangerous. Marisa considers at first, but ultimately concludes Caelan is lying. Later though, when she sees Elizabeth's group portaging, and she sees Elizabeth talking to Colin, whose group is portaging next to Elizabeth's, and decides game play-wise, Caelan might be right. She debates with herself, thinking that they will have the majority even without Elizabeth, but losing any ally will be a loss. But will it be worth the risk?

The teams are all sprinting all out, half out of wanting to win and half out of fear of the coyotes behind them, and are nearing the finish line. A montage shows the lead constantly shifting, with Kacvinsky, Channing and Emily taking the lead then losing it to Connor, Katie and Nicole, who lose it to Marisa, Serena and Jen. It then switches to Lizzie, Nathan and Caroline and shows the other teams catching up.

It also shows Brandon fighting off the coyotes with a paddle as Ruchi and Myra try to pick up the pace, Alex and Catherine dodging to avoid a lunge, and Alli, Nathanael and JP having to do the same. Liz trips but Evan catches her mid-stride allowing them to continue their pace, and Ian, Zack and Sam narrowly run into them because they slowed down so much.

Finally, Rachel and Sydney, the last team for Team Victory, cross, giving Team Victory the win. It is a footrace between Elizabeth, Kalee and Joseph and Aaron, Clayton and Jacob, with the latter barely edging out the former, keeping Team Firecrotch away from elimination yet again. Chris laughs at the coyote at first, but quickly rushes the contestants back up the cliff and has chef try and distract them as he frantically tries to get out.

At dinner, they are talking about elimination. Marisa tells her allies Nathanael and Alli to vote for Elizabeth, because she could pose a threat later in the game. She tells her allies Kalee, Joseph and Elizabeth to vote Caelan. They agree. Caelan is telling JP, Alex, Catherine and Andy all to vote Elizabeth as well. At the elimination ceremony, the first barf bags are handed to Marisa, Joseph and Alex.

Alex and Marisa cordially hug, and Joseph throws a fist in the air.

Nathanael, Andy, Alli and Kalee are next. Nathanael and Alli get up and hug to celebrate, with Andy doing the same with Kalee.

Next they are given to Jen, Serena, Catherine and JP. JP squeezes Catherine causing her to blush, but are interrupted when Jen hops into the hug. Serena just has a smug look on her face.

The bottom two are Caelan and Elizabeth, with Caelan looking confident as ever. The final barf bag ends up going to...

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.........Caelan.

Elizabeth is forced to take the drop of shame. She is shocked by this turn of events, especially since she didn't think Marisa would blindside her. Kalee and Joseph also both look shocked that their friend was turned on. Elizabeth sadly says it's ok, and she goes and hugs her friends and takes the drop of shame.