The Challenge: Ride or Dies Episode 12 recap: Team Underdog seeks first win, surprising elimination vote arrives

The Challenge: Ride or Dies host TJ Lavin appears at The Zone for the Episode 12 elimination. Pic credit: MTV

Amber Borzotra and Chauncey Palmer celebrated Amber’s big win over Nurys Mateo at The Zone. Amber spoke about how they need the money since they’ve discussed marriage and starting a family.

Johnny Bananas and Nany Gonzalez talked outside, with Bananas saying his goal is still to protect Nany and help her get to the final. Bananas praised Nany for what she endured while filming Ride or Dies. Nany said there was “nobody else” she would’ve come into the game with besides Bananas.

Nelson Thomas had a video call with his good friend and castmate, Cory Wharton, about how difficult the game has been. Before the final, Cory gave him a pep talk about winning and taking out Bananas or Fessy Shafaat.

Cory was surprised that Nelson had befriended “the enemy” Fessy during Ride or Dies. He told him to bring that big money home and reminded him it was for his mother.

Jordan had a video call with a friend Sasha. He spoke in confessional about his humanitarian work for Ukraine during the war. He got an update from Sasha about how it’s been going. Jordan said he could use the money to do more things in life and that it could go a long way.

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Moriah Jadea and Fessy spoke about her helping him win on guys’ elimination day. Moriah said Fessy only comes to her when he needs her help, not when she needs his. In confessional, she said that Bananas would probably be her No. 1 in the game.

Devin Walker and Horacio Gutierrez tried to give a pep talk to their teammates to win the next daily challenge since they’d lost the last two.

Competitors participate in Chopper Drop

The Challengers met host TJ Lavin for the Ride or Dies Episode 12 daily challenge called Chopper Drop. A helicopter flew out over the water, bringing cheers from the competitors.

TJ explained that they’d wait on a dock, then grab onto bars hanging from the bottom of the copter. From there, it would fly them over the water above various color targets they needed to drop into. Each of the three targets was a different color and size.

The targets were worth 50, 70, or 100 points. The targets farthest out in the water were worth the most, requiring them to hold on longer before they dropped from the hanging bar.

They played the game in two heats. Since Fessy’s team had two more players than Moriah’s, two of their players didn’t hang from the helicopter, but they still had to swim. Olivia Kaiser was one of them.

For Fessy’s team, Nelson grabbed the bar wrong and spun around as the helicopter flew. Kaycee and Tori dropped early because they were strong swimmers. Chauncey and Nelly T dropped into the pink target as their team’s last players hanging from the helicopter due to their swimming struggles.

Olivia started cramping up during the swim, but Fessy went over and helped her continue. Kaycee and Tori were the last to swim to the dock. Tori said in confessional it was a struggle due to how cold the water was.

For Moriah’s team, she and Nany dropped into the first target. Devin and Amber dropped into the second worth 70 points, while Horacio and Jordan went last into the 100-point target. Jordan swam back to help out others with the swim toward the dock.

After the event, TJ revealed that just under two seconds separated the two teams. He said production had to check the footage to see who won, and Moriah’s team, Team Underdog, won the event.

Men on Fessy’s team face tough deliberation

The loss meant Bananas, Chauncey, Nelson, and Fessy faced elimination. Nelson and Fessy chatted about possibly meeting one another in The Zone as a rematch from Double Agents.

Nelly said he’s been on nine seasons and feels it’s time for him to be a captain. Fessy said they needed to focus on a potential battle.

Moriah’s team got to chat with the four men from Fessy’s team during the deliberation. Before they did, they conversed about how they felt about sending each guy in. Nelson’s name came up a few times since his partner was out of the game.

However, their team was split as far as who they wanted to get rid of. Some seemed in favor of sending Bananas home, while others wanted Fessy or Nelson.

During interrogation, Bananas said Fessy’s outperformed him in every challenge so far during the season. Nelson and Chauncey said they felt they could beat all the other people on the board in an elimination.

Jordan and Devin chatted outside at night privately about the elimination. They seemed to decide on putting Nelson against Fessy at The Zone.

Fessy talked with Jordan a day later and seemed to trust that he would help him. In another scene, Tori tried to speak to Jordan about the move he would make against the men on her team. Jordan felt she was trying to sway him to do what was best for her.

Who went home in Ride or Dies Episode 12 elimination?

TJ was waiting at The Zone for the latest elimination event and called out the four guys on the chopping block: Bananas, Fessy, Nelson, and Chauncey.

Jordan said he would have to go back on his word and voted for Fessy. Jordan said Tori tried to force him to vote for someone else by threatening their relationship outside the game.

Tori started yelling at Jordan from the stands about it, claiming she never said that. Amber voted for Nelly T, while Devin went for Fessy.

Nany chose Nelson, which left it to Moriah to save Fessy. However, she voted for Chauncey instead, and that kept Fessy as the guy going into the matchup. He had three votes, while Nelson had two.

At The Draw, it was Chauncey, Bananas, and Nelson. Bananas went first and pulled a clean dagger. Chauncey got the “Safe” dagger and opted to save Bananas.

Nelson and Fessy competed in Spearheaded. They each got inside a giant box in the zone featuring many heavy chains connected to nine spears in the walls. Their goal was to free all nine spears and place them in slots at the finish line.

Competitors battle in The Challenge: Ride or Dies Episode 12 elimination event, Spearheaded. Pic credit: MTV

Both guys unwrapped the metal chains that were around the structure. Fessy jumped to a lead once he figured out a strategy to free the spear from the side drywall. Olivia was cheering for Nelly T to come back, while Tori wanted Fessy back for her team.

Nelson refused to quit, but Fessy ultimately freed his last spear and placed it in the final slot to win the event. They hugged it out after, with the two friends praising each other’s effort.

Nelson gave an exit speech to apologize to his fans, family, and friends. He said there’s no other place he’d rather be than on the playing field.

Before he exited The Zone, Olivia ran down to hug and kiss Nelly T. Nelson said in confessional he hoped that he and Olivia could pursue things after filming ended. Nelson bid farewell to his castmates, thanking them for the latest experience.

After the castmates left The Zone, Nelson came back out to meet with TJ. The Challenge host informed him about the twist with his partner and brought his Ride or Dies teammate Nurys Mateo out, revealing they were both officially eliminated now.

The Challenge: Ride or Dies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.

More: The Challenge, The Challenge: Ride or Dies