Challenge Standoff: Should Zach Or Amanda Have Budged On The Power Vote?

Stubbornness was in no short provide on the latest Challenge episode, as soon as Power Team Zach and Amanda — who should’ve been safe from elimination thanks to their “Caged In” victory — somehow noticed themselves out of the main game and stuck in the Redemption House.


So whose fault is it, and who should have acquiesced to the other?


That was the question while in tonight’s Final Reckoning Armageddon proceedings — maybe the most insane elimination round since the franchise started. While in the secret vote, the game’s winningest team noticed itself at a crossroads: While Amanda had the numbers on her side thanks to her Lavender Girls alliance and wanted to use the Power Vote on Johnny Bananas and Tony, Zach pushed back and insisted it was somehow a smarter idea to vote for Ashley and Hunter, although their elimination wouldn’t help Zach and Amanda any.


So Zach and Amanda came to a compromise, although neither was particularly happy with it: Vote for Da’Vonne and Jozea, who weren’t piece of any existing alliances. It was the safest bet, they decided.


Up until it wasn’t.


At the elimination round, and immediately after a particularly dramatic light-up ceremony, TJ revealed that two teams obtained three votes and were eligible for elimination: Hunter/Ashley and Tony/Bananas. In other words, there was one eligible team that Amanda mentioned she’d never vote for, and one eligible team that Zach mentioned he’d never vote for.


Zach attempted to strong-arm Amanda into voting against Ashley and Hunter, although Amanda — who was essentially the reason she and Zach had won “Caged In” — stood her ground and resisted. TJ warned that if they couldn’t make up their minds, they’d forfeit their Armageddon immunity and have to compete in a Armageddon game themselves.


And rather than compromise, Zach walked down to TJ, an implicit sign that he’d sooner fight than bend to the whims of his female partner. And the full cast was shocked.


“Even me, Johnny Bananas, I didn’t even visualize this coming,” Bananas mentioned. “I don’t think Amanda can believe this is actually happening.”


Zach continued attempt to deflect blame — he blamed Hunter for not stepping up and usurping his team’s spot, and he blamed Amanda for not submitting to him. Nevertheless some of the cast just saw his move as boneheaded and needlessly obstinate (with Joss calling him a “f*cking idiot”).


“Zach is toxic masculinity at its finest,” Shane observed. “He says he’s throwing himself in as a noble 'cause he wants to nobly help Tony, yet the reality is, Zach is a child throwing a fit. That isn't a gentleman leading a noble cause.”


And things went from bad to worse. TJ instructed them team they’d at least get their pick for Armageddon opponent, and needless to say, they chose Jozea and Da’Vonne. Although then he shot common proceedings to hell with the introduction of a new pair of Mercenaries. TJ told Cory and Devin that if they could beat both Zach/Amanda and Jozea/Da’Vonne in “Shake It Off,” which challenged players to jiggle an appointed rope free of attached flags, they could reenter the game, and both Jozea/Da’Vonne and Zach/Amanda could be sent to the Redemption House.


And that’s exactly what happened. Because Da’Vonne and Amanda were at a deficit where weight was concerned, they both struggled to release the same flag, meaning both their teams were suddenly out of the main home and vulnerable to permanent elimination.


And for Amanda, who’d won the day’s mission and was supposed to be safe from any of this, shock abounded.


“You’re an entitled dude -- that’s what think you could do,” Amanda scolded Zach. “Just because you’re bigger than me and you’re a guy, think you could call the shots on our team, and that’s not f*cking happening.”


Zach argued that Amanda was employing “Mean Girl” tactics and that her drinking somehow had something to do with their landing in Armageddon, nevertheless she only saw him grasping at straws.


“Now you know I’m serious,” Zach mentioned, strangely. “That was her lesson, she didn’t learn.”


“You don’t teach me sh*t,” Amanda rebutted.


Right now, Zach and Amanda have a long road ahead if they plan to create it back inside the game, yet they definitely could have spared themselves the trouble. The question is, who should have budged? Was Amanda right, and was Zach’s move stupidly inflexible? Right considering that, it would have been very easy for him to concede, and Amanda did have the game’s strongest alliance on her side. Or should Amanda have backed down and acknowledged that Johnny Bananas and Tony were greater assets to their game? Share your thoughts, and visualize if Zach and Amanda can battle back any time the show returns Tuesday!