Not What It Seems

Not What It Seems is the seventh episode of The Challenge: Beach House.
==Story==
	Following Cameron and Katie’s elimination, the cast returned to the beach house. Amandine and Lukas skipped all the way there. Lukas popped open a champagne to celebrate their first elimination win. Paloma and Shareeta sat in a corner and rolled their eyes at the cockiness and dramatics over beating Cameron and Katie of all people. Noah joined them and said some people were really starting to get big-headed in the competition. Bruce and Tessa relaxed in the lounge area and laughed about the game thus far. They thought back to Kaliegh and Lenny’s drama early on, the Shareeta, Paloma and Amandine fight, and many other moments that made them laugh throughout. Bruce asked Tessa which show she found more difficult, The Challenge or Big Brother. She said Big Brother is still harder to her just because of the length alone. Bruce shrugged and said he never found it too hard, he then made a joke about how he’s actually won and she hasn’t. Tessa scoffed and said she was really close one time. The pair laughed. Alec, Samira, and Tye passed them on the way to the firepit and waved. Once they got to the fire pit, they commented on how well connected Bruce and Tessa were with nobody targeting them. They further cemented their alliance between each of their teams. Samira said that if Bruce and Tessa got taken out, it’d be a lot easier to pull Ava closer in to them.
	The next day, the teams met TJ outside for the Daily Challenge. He explained the rules to “Double Trouble”, this round’s daily. One team member begins harnessed to the side of a speeding truck. They must traverse four cars speeding alongside the truck and collect a key from their partner in the last car before returning the key to their station, repeating this process for all four keys. The team with the fastest time wins. Each team completes the mission one-by-one. Brent & Cleo and Noah & Paloma both struggle quite a bit with the challenge. The other teams all complete the task quite seamlessly. Amandine & Lukas and Ava & Boston both do much better than they anticipated. Aura & Tye and Bruce & Tessa have exceptionally good times as well. After everyone has finished, TJ reveals the times from worst to best. With that, he revealed that Noah & Paloma had the worst time and were eligible for elimination. He then revealed the other times until only three teams were left; Aura & Tye, Bruce & Tessa, and Nick & Shareeta. The winning team with an impressive time was revealed to be Aura & Tye. Aura jumped onto Tye and they both cheered, screaming. Aura was extra happy because this was her first ever daily win.
	After the daily, Aura and Tye got together and agreed they’d be dumb not to send in Frasier and Lenny given they aren’t eligible to be sent in against them. They filled in Femi and Moses on the plan to which they both agreed. Paloma and Shareeta pulled Aura and Tye aside to get the details on their plan for the elimination. Aura let them know that it would be Frasier and Lenny. Paloma pleaded with them not to send those two in against her because she’d stand no chance. Shareeta suggested they send in Brent and Cleo since they’re clearly not aligned with them anymore and they could just pick off one of Frasier and Lenny’s numbers. After the girls left, Aura and Tye felt conflicted on what to do. Shareeta filled Nick in on the alleged plan to send in Frasier and Lenny. Nick wasn’t keen on the idea either given Paloma was loyal to them. He pulled Ava aside later on and let her know that they had to be weary of Aura and Tye, as well as their closer allies because he felt like they might be starting their own subset alliance within the group. Ava sighed and said it isn’t a big deal since Paloma and Noah don’t do anything for them anyway.
	The next day, the cast woke up to see that Frasier and Lenny has been selected to enter the elimination draw. Neither of them were surprised. The pair got ready in the bathroom and discussed a plan of action. Lenny said she really didn’t want Neisha and Zion or Brent and Cleo to get voted in so they needed to think of a plan. Frasier suggested they try and push Bruce and Tessa. Lenny felt like that could potentially work. Ava, Nick, Bruce, and Tessa got together and debated between voting in Neisha & Zion or Brent & Cleo. Nick said that Shareeta would never get on board for not voting Brent & Cleo here for the sake of protecting Paloma. They all agreed that for the sake of keeping their side united, voting for Brent & Cleo was probably the safe bet here. Lenny let Cleo know that she was going to be pushing Bruce & Tessa to keep the vote from landing on her and Brent. Cleo said that her best shot would be at swaying Alec & Femi and Moses & Samira as she didn’t recall them being that close to Bruce & Tessa in the first place. Lenny sat with Moses and Femi. She explained that if they wanted her out, not only did Bruce and Tessa have a better chance of beating her and Frasier, but that if they did go home, that’d be the first big target out since August & Kit. Lenny said that Bruce and Tessa would always take the likes of Ava & Boston to the end over them and that they had to think about the game further ahead than just taking out her and Frasier. After she left, the pair genuinely thought about it. Frasier talked to Amandine and Lukas and explained that Paloma and Shareeta were going to always hold a grudge against them. By sending in Bruce & Tessa they basically ensured that if Paloma entered the elimination, she’d lose and go home which would be best for them. They both agreed to consider it. Moses and Femi discussed the vote with Alec, Samira, Aura, and Tye. After explaining Lenny’s case, the group went back and forth on what was the right move.
	The cast meets TJ outside for the elimination draw. He reveals that the vote was 6-4. The cast looks around in anticipation as they wait for him to reveal the results. TJ looks to Bruce and Tessa, and let’s them know that they’d been voted in. They were both shocked. Ava’s jaw dropped, and both Paloma and Shareeta looked pissed. Boston gave a confused look to Alec and Femi. Bruce and Tessa joined TJ up front for the draw. Each team drew a card and revealed on the count of three. Frasier and Lenny jumped up cheering as they drew the safe card. TJ looked to Noah & Paloma, and Bruce & Tessa. He told them that they’d been selected for the elimination and invited them to head back to prepare.
	The cast met at the bleachers as they waited for the elimination to begin. There was a very awkward silence with nobody wanting to talk to one another. Just then, smoke appeared in the arena as Noah & Paloma and Bruce & Tessa emerged. TJ explained “Strung Together”, the elimination this round. In the elimination, all four of them would be attached together at the hips with eight feet of rope between each person. Each team’s goal is to get the other team to pass the white line in the center. The first team to pass the white line loses and is eliminated. TJ blew his horn and begun the elimination. Both teams started bolting it towards opposite directions and were flung back when the rope ran out. They then both started crawling trying desperately to move the other team. Eventually, Bruce and Tessa very clearly were the ones in control as Noah and Paloma were slowly being dragged backwards despite much hesitation. Noah and Paloma went as far as digging their hands into the ground but it was no use, they kept dragging backwards. They never gave up but in the end, it was Paloma’s foot that crossed the white line first. TJ blew his horn and declared Bruce and Tessa as the winners of the elimination. TJ congratulated Bruce & Tessa and welcomed them to join the others on the bleachers. They ran up and Ava immediately hugged Tessa. TJ thanks Noah & Paloma for their strong effort but informed them that they’d been eliminated and asked them to leave. They both looked disappointed, sad and tired. They walked off as everyone clapped.
==Elimination==
Strung Together 	Strung Together
Participant 	Result
Bruce & Tessa 	WON
Noah & Paloma 	LOSS
ELIMINATED:Noah Austin & Paloma Michaels	ELIMINATED:Noah Austin & Paloma Michaels
==Trivia==
Category:Beach House Episodes