If Season 36 of The Challenge is, indeed, winding down, and the cast is correct that the final mission is just around the next bend, then there is one team of thoroughbreds that has emerged as the clear favorite.
The question is: Can anybody else stop them?
On the latest episode of Double Agents, Leroy and Kaycee — an unlikely Real World and Big Brother duo that arrived to Iceland with completely different alliances — extended their domination over the game with a victory in “Global Domination.” The game, which found players trying to roll giant orbs over as many targets as possible, amounted to Leroy and Kaycee’s fifth triumph in the contest, giving them an edge akin to Paula’s and Emily’s in Rivals II and The Men’s team’s on Battle of the Sexes 2.
“Someone needs to break up Kaycee and Leroy,” Kyle, newly partnered up with Amber B., said. “I’m sick of this team winning.”
But win, they continue to. Partners since the game’s first day (they only had a brief split during Week 5 when Leroy partnered up with Aneesa and Kaycee partnered up with Fessy), Kaycee and Leroy were the first team to bust Fessy and Aneesa’s early win-streak in Week 3, dominating “Road Kill” by pushing their opponents off a truck with ease. They continued to prove physical prowess with wins in “Aerial Takedown,” a similar King of the Mountain-style game, while also proving they had steel-enforced nerve with victories in the horrifying “Survive the Night” and the hope-you’re-not-afraid-of-heights “Spy Dive.”
Further, as individual competitors in The Crater, they’ve been just as dominant. Leroy showed no fear in “Fire Escape,” a hog-tie race, even though his opponent was rock-climbing expert Jay. Kaycee, all the while, took on Theresa in “Snapping Point” without flinching and sent the woman most likely to win the final home with one of the game’s most commanding performances.
Finally, politically speaking, there seems to be no touching Kaycee and Leroy. Their collective allies stretch across the majority of the game, and even though Kaycee had to turn on former friend Amber B. and Amber’s partner Kyle ahead of the most recent Crater vote, Kaycee knew the move would likely come without consequence.
“We’re at the end — that’s how it goes,” Kaycee said.
Now, with four teams and a Rogue Agent, CT, left as the game’s remaining nine players, there’s no denying that Kaycee and Leroy have already secured the distinction of one of the most powerful partnerships to have ever played The Challenge. But can they take it all the way, and will Leroy and Kaycee each earn their first Challenge championship titles? Or is it too soon to tell, and is there still a chance that another frontrunner could emerge? Alternatively, is there still a chance another competitor might steal one away from the other? Share your thoughts, and be sure to tune in to the next Challenge episode Wednesday.
