Last week I wrote about how I expected Johnny losing respect for Diem would play a role in the final female episode. I was wrong, but the C.T. and Diem relationship took a major turn which had a major impact on the outcome of the final jungle matchup. Unfortunately we were left with a cliff hanger, and won't know the outcome of the final female challenge until next week, but there was a ton of drama in this weeks episode.
This week started normally with everyone in the pool, and C.T. and Diem were being their normal flirty selves. C.T. was picking Diem up and throwing her around, but they were noticeably not kissing. This is interesting because C.T, is now safe, and guaranteed to be in the final, and it just proved everyone in the house right, that C.T, was just using his charm on Diem to help himself get to the final. Now that Diem can't do anything for C.T. he basically has no use for her game-wise. On the other end Diem confessed to Aneesa that C.T, trying to woo her makes her feel good, something that Aneesa saw right through. Johnny also went on to call out Diem for going along with C.T.'s plan, because he said that nothing will come of it after the show. Diem was still believing that C.T, wouldn't do that to her, and she trusted him a lot.
The four remaining female teams were on edge the whole episode, as this was the final female challenge day and three out of the four teams would be in the final, with the fourth team heading home having been so close to the final. Camilla and Jemmye, Paula and Emily, and Diem and Aneesa had gone through this game together, and they talked about hoping one of them would win the challenge, so Cooke and Cara Maria were one of the two teams in the final jungle. The worst case scenario for them would be if Cooke and Cara won the challenge and two of the allied teams had to go against each other for the right to compete in the final challenge. Cooke and Cara were on their own, like they have been most of the season, and they didn't mind that because they know that they are a very strong team.
At challenge time the remaining contestants showed up to a beach where the final girls challenge would take place. T.J. announced that the guys did not have to participate in this challenge, so they just get to sit back and watch the girls compete. The girls though, would have to be chained to their partners, and run one mile to a tent where there is a board with four colors, flashing the colors in a sequence. The girls had to remember the sequence then run back to the start where they would put colored disks on a pole in the order they remembered. The first two teams to finish would move on to the winners round, the third team to finish would not compete in the second round, and the final team would be sent straight to the jungle. The first round would be a 12 color sequence, and the second round would have a 17 color sequence.
The challenge started with Emily and Paula jumping out to a lead on the mile run, they got to the tent first, followed by Cooke and Cara, next was Aneesa and Diem, then Jemmye and Camilla. When they got to the tent, the girls took a breather while they were trying to memorize the numbers. Cooke and Cara Maria memorized the colors the fastest, and were headed back to the beginning, Emily and Paula followed close behind. Jemmye and Camilla were the third team to start heading back, and Aneesa and Diem were the last to memorize the colors which put them in a huge hole. The girls ended up finishing the first round in the order they left the tent. This means Cara and Cooke and Emily and Paula were on to the winners round, where they would battle for a ticket straight to the final. Jemmye and Camilla were eliminated from the challenge, but safe from the jungle, for now. Diem and Aneesa were sent directly to the jungle after not completing the challenge, and their challenge lives would be put on the line.
In the winners round Emily and Paula once again raced out ahead and got to the tent first. But once again Cooke and Cara were able to memorize the 17 color sequence faster than Emily and Paula could. Cooke was not confident that Cara had the sequence memorized correctly, but when they got back and put the plates on the pole, T.J. sounded the horn and announced they had won and were going to be in the final challenge, as they narrowly beat Emily and Paula. Cooke and Cara officially ruined the females plans to send them into the final jungle, by winning the challenge, and that had the two female teams on the chopping block shaking in their boots.
Back at the house everyone was anxiously awaiting the final deliberation. Diem made it pretty clear that she wanted to go up against Camilla and Jemmye, because she knows that it would be tough to beat Emily in a jungle. It was up to the three remaining guy teams to decide which girl team would face off against Diem and Aneesa. You will remember previously that C.T, had all but promised that he would do anything to help Diem get into the finals, and in this case that would be vote for the team she wants to face. Diem became upset when she had not been approached by Wes and C.T, about who she wanted to face in the jungle. When she finally did get to talk to Wes and C.T, they made it clear that they weren't going to throw in Jemmye and Camila because they have an alliance, and that of course made Diem very upset, because she said she would do anything for C.T, and Wes.
After coming in last place Diem became completely paranoid. Everyone in the house agreed that when things become out of her control she becomes crazy and loses her cool, which certainly happened in this episode. This was the first time all season that Diem was not in power and she really ended up showing her true colors. But so did C.T, who when talking to Diem said that this wasn't the time to rekindle an old flame. C.T, made it seem like that's precisely what he wanted with Diem for the past few weeks, but this week he made it quite clear that it was just part of his gamesmanship.
Paula and Emily also went to work trying to save themselves from going into the jungle. They approached Jordan and Marlon, the rookies, whom they voted into a jungle twice, and begged for them to not vote them in. Paula even resorted to crying in front of Marlon and Jordan in a last ditch effort to save their own butts. Jemmye and Camilla obviously didn't like the crying considering it was either them or Emily and Paula, and this led to Jemmye and Camilla exchanging words with Emily, but that didn't really lead anywhere.
At the deliberation the first vote was to be cast by C.T. and Wes, and they predictably went with Emily and Paula, as they told Diem they would. Next was Johnny and Frank and they also predictably voted for Camilla and Jemmye, because Johnny and Paula are virtually best friends. This means it all came down to the vote of Marlon and Jordan. They went on to shockingly vote for Camilla and Jemmye, even though Paula and Emily had voted them in a couple of times, the crying must have worked. Jordan gave a good explanation saying that Emily and Paula have won about 80 percent of all of the challenges and they deserve to be in the final more than any other team. This means the final jungle matchup would be between Jemmye and Camilla versus Diem and Aneesa, meaning that in the end Diem got what she wanted anyway.
Considering she got what she wanted you would think Diem would be happy, but that is quite wrong. Diem went on to get in a fight with basically every female in the house after the deliberation. First it was her and Camilla because Camilla was upset that Diem was excited to be facing her in the jungle. Jemmye than jumped in to help her partner, and took a few low blows at Diem including calling her out for her naivety involving C.T. It came up again later on that Diem was doing all of this because she has no control over her situation. Diem's next target was Cooke who she claimed she tried to like but couldn't because she is arrogant. Cooke and Diem exchanged words and Cooke ultimately said she doesn't care that Diem doesn't like her. Throughout all of this Aneesa tried to stop the fighting but the girls had enough with Diem. Cooke found it ironic that during a challenge called true colors, Diem finally showed hers.
After all of the female fighting Diem finally broke down to Emily, saying that she felt betrayed by C.T, because he used her and made her look stupid. She said that flirting with him again could be the biggest regret of her life. She was crying and finally realized what everyone in the house had been telling her all along, that C.T, was not being authentic, instead he was just trying to get ahead in the game. Diem confronted C.T, about all of this but that conversation went basically nowhere as C.T, just dismissed all of this and said he didn't want to deal with it because Diem cannot control him like she used to be able to when they were in a relationship.
The episode came to an end when everybody arrived to the jungle for the final time to watch the final female battle. The episode ended on a cliffhanger so we don't know which girl team will take the last spot in the final, but it seems like Camilla and Jemmye have the emotional edge after Diem's mental breakdown the night before.
Although I was wrong about my prediction that Johnny would decide Diem's fate, I wasn't fully wrong because Diem played a huge role in this final challenge. It was surprising to me that C.T, was playing Diem, because I actually felt as though he was being authentic. C.T, didn't have anything to do with Diem being in the final challenge, and she eventually got her way, but he still made it clear that he was using her to play the game. I may have been naive in thinking positively about C.T, but he and Diem definitely do have some sort of deep connection, and I feel as though not all of it was an act.
Next week we will find out whether Jemmye and Camilla or Diem and Aneesa will be the final team in the final challenge. After that we will find out what the final challenge has in store for the contestants and than it is game on. This should make for one of the most competitive final challenges ever as the females have Cooke and Cara and Emily and Paula who seem neck and neck, while the guys side is completely up for grabs. Tune in next week to see how it all turns out and what crazy twists the final challenge will bring.
Photo Credit to Diem's twitter page.