Has Amanda Emerged As The Strongest Final Reckoning Player?

This season on The Challenge, the emerging MVP — and undoubtedly the most improved player — is a woman so petite she may struggle to earn entry onto certain roller-coasters.


Yup, since the starting of Final Reckoning (literally: she won the very first mission), Amanda of Are You The One? — who’s never made it to a final mission — has been on an absolute tear, and not just because her partner Zach is a fearsome giant.


Yup, across eight missions for now this season, Zach and Amanda have snatched up half of the game’s possible wins. And not only was Amanda one of only two girls to accomplish “Off the Rails,” which challenged players to traverse an obstacle course while atop a moving train, she finished the intensely challenging “Shark Bait” once even Zach wasn’t able.


And tonight’s win in “Caged In” was extra proof that Amanda has the brains and brawn to stand above the rest. The game challenged one player from each team to retrieve a long stick in the woods and pass it to his or her partner, who’d be stuck indoors a cage. The caged player would then use the stick to dislodge a key that was dangling overhead, unlock himself or herself and race to a puzzle. The opening team to accomplish the brain teaser would win.


Never one to miss a detail, Amanda was the only caged player who made a note of graffiti that had been scribbled on her trap’s walls. Any time it came time to carry out the puzzle, she realized the etchings were — as she’d predicted — a number of answers. Decisively, she and Zach came out on top, extending their power couple dominance.


“We could be so screwed if it weren’t for me,” Amanda mentioned. “This is my moment to shine. I am a valuable segment of this team, and today, the reason why we won was because of me.”


And there’s no denying the claim, or that Amanda has — more accurately — typically been the reason her team has won. Plus, with the Lavender Girls at her beck and call, she’s still pretty much got the political side of the game locked down too.


Still, there’s some evidence that Amanda might run out of steam. On her first season, Rivals III, she and Nelson only lasted for four missions, and things went even worse on Dirty Thirty, in which Amanda was eliminated immediately following the very first Purge. And whenever she nearly made it to the end of Invasion, she still only boasts a 1-2 elimination round record, so if she and Zach ever wind up in Armageddon, there’s no guarantee they’ll survive (Zach boasts only a 3-3 record).


So what do you know — is Amanda running the game both on and off the field, and will Final Reckoning be her defining Challenge outing? Or is it only a matter of time before someone like Cara Maria or Johnny Bananas gets their act with each other and knocks Amanda off her pedestal? Share your thoughts, and visualize how Amanda and Zach proceed as soon as The Challenge returns on Tuesday!