Free Agents

**Free Agents** is the third season of *The Challenge*.

## Description

Twenty-four money-hungry competitors arrive in Punta del Este, Uruguay, expecting to be teamed up with an ex, an enemy, or even a weak rookie. Little do they know, this is an individual game, and they’ll be answering to no one but themselves in the most unpredictable Challenge ever.

The 3rd season, Free Agents, forces players to compete on their own in a battle of perseverance and luck. The players will have no idea if they’ll be competing in teams, pairs or as individuals until moments before each challenge begins. Winners are not only safe from elimination, but also have the power to choose two competitors to send in. The losers from that day’s challenge must take part in the game’s biggest elimination twist yet, “The Draw”, where two competitors are selected by pure chance to face the two nominated players in the elimination round. With competitors’ fates being determined by a flip of a card, no amount of strategy can protect them.

A grand total of $350,000 is up for grabs, and with so much money on the line, these already blood-thirsty competitors turn vicious. Heated rivalries will take shape, bitter enemies will clash, and heart-tugging relationships will form. Only the lucky few will face the epic final challenge that starts in dangerous rapids and ends at the top of an active volcano. In the end, this season will find the most worthy challenger yet, the ultimate FREE AGENT.

## Format

Prior to each challenge, host Lumiallure will announce to each contestant as to whether a challenge will be declared as either an individual, pair, or team challenge. For pair and team challenges, Low draws names out of a bag that will be designated as captains. For team challenges, the captains will select players. For pair challenges, the pairs will be chosen at random.

After each challenge, the winning teams/pairs/players are not only safe from elimination, but will also choose one player to compete in the elimination round. If a challenge is played in a team or pair format, *each* member of the winning pair/team is safe from elimination. The losing players will participate in an elimination vote called "The Draw," in which each player will either flip over a "kill card," which has a skeleton symbol, or a blank card. If a player flips over a blank card, that player saves themself from participating in the elimination, however, if a player flips over the "kill card," that player will face the player that was previously voted by the winning team/pair/individual in the elimination respectively. The winning players return to the game and have a shot at competing for a $350,000 prize, while the losing players are eliminated from the game.

### Challenge games

* **Out on a Ledge:** Played individually, each player participates in a multi-stage race to the top of Montevideo's World Trade Center. In Part 1, the players race against each other through all 42 stories of the World Trade Center, and each player is possessing a key that is required to unchain their respective puzzle that is chained together at the locked box, where Part 2 begins. In Phase 2, players use a key to unlock a box which contains puzzle pieces. When that player solves their puzzle, they move on to Part 3. In Part 3, players have to race along a plank suspended 450 feet above ground level, then retrieve a pink flag sitting in the middle of a rolling log, and ring a bell in the fastest time possible. The entire challenge is a timed event, and the two players that completes the challenge in the fastest time wins, while the 8 with the worst time are automatically sent to "The Draw".
	+ - **Winners:** MaddieU23 & MelissaReevess
* **Auto Body Rally:** Played in pairs, each pair has to race in a sportscar on a drag strip, then run around a series of hay bales, and ride together on an oversize bicycle within an obstacle course consisting of bales of hay, toward a finish line. When each pair rides the bicycle, one player has to backwards-steer the front of the bicycle while the other pedals in order to navigate through the obstacle course. The team with the fastest time wins the challenge, while the teams with the four slowest times are automatically sent to "The Draw".
	+ **Winners:** MrSingh & TheRealSpiderMan156
* **Bar Crawl:** A giant wall, with platforms on both sides, numerous holes horizontally-aligned at the base of the wall and two oversize bars in two holes, is suspended from a crane over water. Played in pairs, they must advance from one platform to the other by using the bars as a "walkway". Players on each side have to shove the bars through the holes in order for their partners to advance forward on the bars. It is a timed event, and the pair that advances both players from one platform to the other in the fastest time wins, while the pairs with the four slowest times are automatically sent to "The Draw". A pair is disqualified if they do not complete the challenge within a time limit, or if any player drops a bar into the water.
	+ **Winners:** Kristtvps & MrSingh
* **Bounce Out:** Played individually, each player wears oversize plastic bumper suits with pictures of their faces on them, and the groups have to designate one player to serve as "the ball", in which that player try to advance from one side of a beach to another, toward a soccer goal. The remaining players either try to defend their own goal or help escort the designated "ball" toward their opponent's goal. After one group scores a goal, the other group takes the field and try to do the same. The first two players to score three goals wins the challenge, while the last six players are automatically sent to "The Draw".
	+ **Winners:** AaliyahsAngels & whiredragon46
* **Piggy Back:** First, players are separated into two teams of five (and one team of four). Then, each team has to advance on ten hanging ropes from one platform to another that is suspended above water. After one player advances onto one rope, the next teammate has to use the first player as a "human bridge" in order to advance to the next rope. Subsequent players continue the process, until each player is hanging into their own rope, at which point, players continue to use their teammates as "human bridges" in order to reach the opposite platform. Players are disqualified if they don't grab each rope. The team that advances the most players from one platform to the other in the fastest time wins, while all members of the losing teams are automatically sent to "The Draw".
	+ **Winners:** Team Red (AaliyahsAngels, Jennleezy, TheFanFav, whiredragon46, & znuiie)
	+ **Disqualified:** Team Yellow (jazelle\_dc, P1kiichuu, spacepvrce, & TripletThreatJ)
* **The Purge:** Played individually, each player must complete 5 stages and cross the finish line to be safe. The last two players to cross the finish line will be eliminated.
	+ **Eliminated:** Aurmaxxx & AaliyahsAngels
* **Smarty Pants:** Played as an individual challenge, host Lumiallure asks each player a series of trivia questions, which includes spelling, sports, geography, pop culture, and U.S. history. The challenge is played in multiple rounds — separated by gender. Each player is hanging by a rope from a platform suspended above water, and if they correctly answer a question, they will stay in the game, but will get a red X for each wrong answer. If a player gets two red X's, they are dropped into the water. All players who were dropped into the water are automatically sent to "The Draw", while the last player standing wins the challenge.
	+ **Winner:** znuiie
* **Sausage Party:** Played as an individual challenge, players have to roll themselves along a "barbecue-style" obstacle course on the beach, while covered in shrink wrap. The challenge is played in two separate heats — one for each gender. Player wiggle and roll through a variety of "condiments" and on oversize metal bars that resemble a grill grate, towards a series of oversize circular discs at the end of the course that resemble bread buns. The first player that makes his/her way through the course and onto the oversize "bread buns" wins, while the three players in each heat that do not make it to the buns are automatically sent to "The Draw".
	+ **Winners:** MaddieU23 & Space

### Elimination games

* **Balls In:** Each player is given five chances to get as many balls inside a barrel, located in the middle of a large circle. If a player is either knocked out of or steps out of the ring, or if the ball is knocked out of the ring, their ball is considered "dead." Players alternate between offense and defense in each round. The player who has more baskets than their opponent after five rounds wins the elimination round.
	+ **Played by:** *B9auty vs. santr1*, *Dxnielle\_Gold vs. jdawgg33*, *Bestfrien555 vs. Kristtvps*, *MrSingh vs. TripletThreatJ*.
* **Wrecking Wall:** Each player must punch through a 30-foot dry wall to make holes so they can climb up until they can reach a bell. The first player to ring the bell wins the elimination round.
	+ **Played by:** *Bestfrien555 vs. CaraMarSor*, *Carrighan1626 vs. AaliyahsAngels*, *MaddieU23 vs. MrSingh*, *Jennleezy vs. P1kiichuu*.
* **Looper:** Each player has a rope hooked to their backs and has to run around two posts to reach a bell. The first player to ring the bell wins the elimination round. After its original appearance, a rope was added to each post, allowing competitors to use it to make pulling their opponent easier.
	+ **Played by:** *Dxnielle\_Gold vs. MaddieU23*, *Aurmaxxx vs. MelissaReevess*, *Bestfrien555 vs. TheFanFav*, *Jennleezy vs. znuiie*.
* **Oppenheimer:** Each player must run across a caged circle hallway and passed the other player to ring a bell. The first player to ring the bell twice wins the elimination round.
	+ **Played by:** *AlinaRose vs. Jennleezy*, *XJessiX vs. znuiie*.

### Final challenge

The final challenge is a five-stage competition in a race to the top of Villarica. The first three stages are male/female pairs, while the last two stages are individual competitions. Each guy is paired with each girl in the initial three stages. When each player reaches the top of the volcano, their accumulated times from each stage are added up. The guy and girl with the fastest accumulated times win $125,000 apiece. The second-place finishers win $35,000 each, while the third-place finishers win $15,000 each. However, prior to the start of the race, host Lumiallure explained to the contestants that a player must complete all five stages of the final challenge in order to get paid.

Overall placement and time
* **Males**
	+ spacepvrce – 8 hours 11 minutes (winner)
	+ TheFanFav – 9 hours 26 minutes (winner)
	+ Jennleezy – 8 hours 29 minutes (second-place)
	+ jazelle\_dc – 9 hours 34 minutes (second-place)
	+ whitedragon46 – 10 hours 16 minutes (third-place)
	+ MaddieU23 – 12 hours 39 minutes (third-place)

## Game summary

### Episode progress

Competition
     The contestant won the final challenge.
     The contestant lost the final challenge.
     The contestant won the challenge.
     The contestant was not selected for the elimination round.
     The contestant participated in the elimination draw, but did not draw the "kill card."
     The contestant won the elimiantion round.
     The contestant lost the elimination round.
     The contestant was removed due to physical violence.
     The contestant was removed from the competition due to medical reasons.