Last Chance

**Last Chance** is the twelvth episode of *The Challenge: The Duel*.

## Story

 After Boherty and Tye’s emotional elimination, the final five teams returned back to the mansion. They noted that this was their last round before the final and discussed some of the eliminated players. Cleo laughed and talked about Noah and Arianna’s hookup night, and how wild that was. Troy brought back up the Cameron, Katie, and Zion drama. Lenny side hugged Frasier and said she was glad he never cheated on her on TV, and everyone laughed. They then broke out into groups to strategize for the upcoming round. Cleo, Ezra, Maria, and Jake sat by the bonfire. Jake commended Ezra and Maria for another win but Ezra insisted that Maria get all of the credit. Cleo said that she can’t even fathom having four elimination wins. Maria said that a big part of it is just that she keeps getting sent in. Ezra comes up with a gameplan for the next round. He figures that no matter what one of them will be sent into the elimination, so if one of their teams win the daily challenge, they should let the other team be dropped to the bottom of the chain so that they get to pick which team to challenge. Cleo agrees that it’s the smartest call because it lets them still hold some power. They all shake on it and head to bed.

 Melvin and Neisha played UNO and realized they were the last two players from Survivor. Neisha asks him genuinely if he feels like she was a traitor to their country. Melvin shook his head and said that she played the game and shouldn’t need to apologize for that. Neisha thanks him and says she would love to win for the UK. Melvin agreed and said that his win had been a long-time coming. Neisha won the UNO game and Melvin flung the cards off the table, and Neisha laughed. Frasier and Lenny laid down in their bed together, discussing their relationship and the game. Frasier said that he really liked getting to play an entire season together, stating they hadn’t done that since they first met. Lenny joked that maybe it’ll end the same way their first one did with her beating him. Frasier laughed and said it was crazy how much time had passed since then. Lenny asked if he was nervous for the round. He said that he felt him and Neisha still had a target on their back but that in the end, he felt secure in their abilities. Nori and Troy played chess and talked about the round. They both felt pretty safe from being picked as Nori had a connection to Jake, and Ezra & Maria would likely go for the bigger targets. Nori genuinely asked Troy if he thought they had a shot in hell at winning. Very confidently, Troy said he did. Nori asked why and Troy explained that he had faith in their partnership because they’ve had the best teamwork all season long.

 The teams join TJ the next day for the daily challenge. The challenge was called “Down To Do the Math”. Teams rappel down the side of a 22-story building, solve a series of math operations assigned to them along the way and answer once they reach the ground. If teams answer incorrectly three times, they must climb the stairs to the top of the building and rappel again. The team with the fastest time wins while the team with the slowest time is automatically sent to the Duel. Cleo and Jake do well with the math questions but worry that maybe their speed wasn’t as fast as the others. Ezra and Maria miss one question but make good time running back up. Nori answers all of the questions for her and Troy, while he works on the physical component. The other two teams both have to run back up the stairs twice. In the end, the top two best times were Cleo and Jake, and Ezra and Maria. With a really small gap, Ezra and Maria were declared as the winners of the daily challenge.

 Before the safety chain, Ezra and Maria sat down and agreed to hold their word with Cleo and Jake. The team joins them and reiterates that they want to be the last picked in the safety chain so they get to control who they’re up against. Maria asks who they plan on challenging. They rule out Frasier and Neisha as they see them as the hardest to beat. Between the two others, they felt like both had really strong players in Lenny and Troy, and then weak players in Nori and Melvin. Before they could lock in a decision, TJ called everyone outside for the final safety chain. TJ gathers them all for the chain and asks Ezra and Maria to come forward to the front to make their first pick. They thought it over and opted to save Lenny and Melvin first. The two were a bit surprised by the pick and slowly moved to the front. They then chose to save Frasier and Neisha next. Before they made their pick, TJ reminded them that whoever between Cleo and Jake, and Nori and Troy that they didn’t save would go into the duel and bring someone with them. Frasier and Neisha saved Nori and Troy, leaving Cleo and Jake on the bottom. Cleo and Jake strategized and whispered before locking in their decision. Jake said that he wanted to work with this player really badly coming in but that she picked her side, and now him and Cleo had to pick theirs. With that, they asked Nori and Troy to join them in the elimination. Nori and Troy took it well but everyone could feel how nervous they were. They moved to the front and TJ asked the two teams to prepare for the duel. Once they left, the last three teams were sent to the bleachers.

 The other three teams head to the bleachers and celebrate officially reaching the final. Frasier and Lenny sarcastically tell each other to bring it on, while Neisha and Melvin hug each other. Just then, the smoke appeared in the arena as the two competing teams entered. TJ explained that the duel was called “Knowledge Is Powered”. Teams pedal stationary bikes connected to a power station to illuminate six lights. After each second light is lit, 12 symbols would briefly display on a screen which teams must memorize and replicate on their board. The first team to light up all six lights and correctly replicate all three sets of symbols wins. They both start pedalling intensely. Nori and Troy pedal faster, while Cleo and Jake seem to go quicker with the symbols. Nori takes the lead with the memorization and asks Troy to focus on the pedaling. The teams were neck and neck. Cleo pushed and pushed, trying to pedal faster. Jake stated his legs were giving out so she tried to compensate. Jake started slowing them down, opening the door for Nori and Troy. Eventually, Nori had finished the final combination and TJ blew his horn, declaring Nori and Troy as the winners and last team competing in the final. Cleo collapsed her head onto their bike, trying not to cry but being flushed with disappointment. Jake rubbed her back and apologized as he clutched his leg. Nori and Troy jumped up and down hugging each other. They joined the others on the bleachers and TJ asked Cleo and Jake to join him. Cleo revealed her face that was filled with tears. TJ addressed it and asked how she was feeling. Cleo stated that after overcoming everything she had and making it this far, not getting to run the final felt like shit. TJ asked Jake how he felt. Jake said he was proud of how he and Cleo played and that they should leave with their heads held high. TJ thanked them for their efforts and unfortunately asked them to leave.

## Safety Chain

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