This is it. The final episode. Three teams remain and they are fighting for all the marbles, the whole kit & caboodle, to take the cake and every other old man’s idiom you can think of.
This episode returns where the last left off – at a snowy campsite along an Icelandic glacier. We are at Checkpoint #2 of 7 of the Final Challenge. See last week’s post for a description of the total event.
Bold prediction – No jokes here. I’m predicting a Johnny & Camilla victory, over the surging CT & Diem and despite the physically-gifted Ty & Emily. This one is all about heart, and Johnny & Camilla have it.
Eliminated
Week 1 – Nate & Priscilla
Week 2 – Wes & Mandi
Week 2 – Sarah & Vinny (DQ – forced flashing)
Week 3 – Naomi & Leroy
Week 3 – Dustin & Heather (medically unfit to continue – BS)
Week 4 – Jasmine & Tyrie
Week 5 – Abe & Cara Maria
Week 6 – Aneesa & Rachel
Week 7 – Paula & Dunbar
Week 8 – Mark & Robin
Remaining
Emily & Ty
Camila & Johnny
CT & Diem
Viking Quest Continued-
TJ tells the team that they must begin the day by hiking 2 miles in the deep snow, in their full gear. This is an awful way to start the day, as even running ¼ mile in the snow is brutal. Off they go! CT & Diem reach Checkpoint #3 first.
Checkpoint 3 – Feast For a Viking
What better way to refuel after a 2-mile snow hike than a revolting dried deer’s head, salted shark cubes and a horn of animal blood to wash it all down with?! Not much else to say here. They need to devour it all and move on. Awful. Somehow, CT goes into beast mode and kills it, and the frontrunners move on. Johnny & Camilla finish second. Time to run again!
Checkpoint 4 – Ice Key
Now 4 miles in, they find snow shoes and spikes tied to a pole. The keys to the lock are encased in ice, so the teams must get their key out and suit up in order to move on, at which point they also get their 4th artifact. In an odd twist, CT & Diem fall out of first place, despite their big lead and an uncomplicated challenge. The teams move on to the next checkpoint in snow shoes, enabling them to move a bit easier.
Checkpoint 5 – Poled Out
The lead changes hands a few times on the way to this one. The teams are beginning to weaken.
Luckily, this one contains no salted animal carcass, and instead is a puzzle – the great equalizer. They must rearrange 13 logs into a figure that only requires 12, leaving 1 log out. Once they figure out, the teams must carry the eliminated log with them to the next checkpoint. Awesome news for the snow-hikers.
Diem figures it out quickly, creating some crazy pentagonal figure, and they destroy the winning structure so no one else sees it and move on. Back in first.
The others are having lots of trouble, and it’s getting late in the game. Johnny & Camilla finish, leaving TY & Emily.
Checkpoint 6 – What an Ice Hole
Enough puzzles – back to the physical challenges!
This one involves a huge snow drift and willpower, nothing else. The teams must bore their way through the drift to the other end, where their next artifact awaits them.
CT & Diem have a big head-start and begin working. Johnny & Camilla begin not far after, but CT is a physical freak and is drilling through like a pro. Ty & Emily are nowhere to be seen yet.
Expanding their lead even further, CT & Diem complete the challenge before TY & Emily leave the prior puzzle, and what appears to be several minutes before Johnny & Camilla make their way through the tunnel.
Checkpoint 7 – Sliced Up
CT is gassed out from the tunnel. Johnny & Camilla have closed the gap and are taunting him from behind, now in view of he and Diem on the road to the last checkpoint. It is a 2-team race and it’s going to be close.
When CT & Diem arrive, they find another puzzle. It’s some kind of jenga-esque pile of wood, covered in weird letters and symbols. On the ground is a legend with the map of how the jenga stack should look.
CT & Diem finish first, despite Johnny & Camilla being directly on their heels. On the horizon, TY & Emily arrive and can possibly be in contention if they finish this one quickly. Johnny & Camilla finish the puzzle just as Ty & Emily arrive.
Artifact Puzzle
CT & Diem arrive at the final puzzle, where they take all seven of their artifacts out of their pockets and place them in the Viking crest in the proper order to reveal their Viking horn. One they get the horn, they must carry it to the finish line and blow it to claim victory.
It’s a tiresome puzzle. CT & Diem and Johnny & Camilla are both working on it at the same time and neither seems to have a great idea of how to beat it.
CT & Diem finish first and start up the mountain to the finish line with their Viking horn. CT is almost completely dead, but he musters his energy to continue.
Johnny & Camilla finish and are about 50yds behind the leaders on the mountain. Emily & Ty arrive at the sundial, seemingly out of contention once again.
Race to the Finish
Diem is clawing her way up the mountain, calling out to CT to hurry. Johnny & Camilla are gaining on CT and eventually pass him. All in all, it is now a tie, with CT being the weak link.
They all bunch up together for the final push up the highest peak of the mountain. CT and Camilla are crawling, and it appears to be any man’s game. Johnny & Camilla push together and take the lead, while CT is barely moving, now 20yds back.
The End
The final flag is in view and a Viking horn blast proclaims the winner – it’s Johnny & Camilla. Barely able to celebrate, the two fall into the snow and TJ greets them with a huge check for $150,000. Johnny & Camilla deserved the win all year long and they got it. That’s reality TV justice, right there.
CT & Diem finish second and get their check for $100,000, which is a fine prize. TY & Emily finish last and join the celebration.
It’s been a fun year. We had DQ’s, forced-flashings, fights and fashion shows; but all good things must come to an end.
Thanks for reading!
