‘Redneck Island’: Margaret Wood’s Blog — The Rookies Are ‘Dropping Like Flies’

After Connar and Caleb went home, the house felt pretty divided. It was like rookies VS. vets, even though the majority of the teams still contained one rookie and one veteran. The veteran guys had their sights set on getting rid of the rookie guys, and they didn’t care what that meant for the veteran girls paired with them.

For Becky and me it wasn’t a big deal . . . But the rest of the “OG” girls knew they were a target. I was pretty pumped for the third challenge.  I think everyone’s heart stopped beating when we walked up and saw that enormous crane. We all wondered what in the world Steve Austin was going to make us do this time!

My immediate reaction was to check on Heather because she is so petrified of heights. The goal of this challenge was to climb this wall retrieving all the flags in the fastest time. That sounds super simple right? It was crazy because aside from the fact we were climbing 70 feet in the air, the rocks we had to hold on to were more like freaking pebbles, and it felt like someone oiled up the wall with how slippery it was. Our hands were sweaty, our knees were shaking and we could barely breathe up there. To make it worse, it didn’t matter how fast we climbed, if we dropped one of the flags we were pretty much screwed.

Even though I’m not really afraid of heights, I was pretty nervous, so I scurried up that pole in a hurry. When I got to the top, I looked down and saw Cowboy holding on for dear life, trying his hardest not to look down. Bless his heart! His smoker lungs really didn’t help with this one, but he’s a trooper and we finally finished. One by one we went, and more than half the teams dropped a flag, which was awesome for Cowboy and I because (surprise, surprise) we were one of only four teams who made it to the top and got every single flag!

The top two teams in this challenge were Nicole and Dutch and Tank and Katie. Because the house was so divided (and I was paired with a Veteran guy), I prayed Tank and Katie would win. I knew Tank had my back. And they did! Praise Jesus, hallelujah! If life had background music, I believe without a doubt in my mind, “We are the Champions” would have played right then and there. After two seasons (and several times in second) Tank FINALLY got a challenge win! I just waited for someone to cue the freaking confetti. I think everyone was pumped for him, but with sweet comes the sour. When Steve and Melissa told us the bottom two teams were Cody and Brittney and Riley and Becky, I was pretty stunned. Cody and Riley had BOTH just come back from the pit and one of them was about to go right back in. Ain’t no way!

After we found out the results, my first thought was, “Poor Cody and Brittney.” Two out of three pits?! Ouch! The house was pretty shaken up at that point. No one expected Cody to come in last place. Tension was high. After that, all the pressure was on Tank and Katie. Everyone had an opinion, but one team kept coming up in conversation: Nicole and Dutch.

‘Deja Vu’ All Over Again

Nicole is a little firecracker. All the talk around the house did not go over well with her. She was quick to let everybody know that she thought that sending her and Dutch was a poor decision. I knew Cowboy and I were safe, so I got to sit back and watch the drama unfold. Cody started talking MAD sh-t! He got drunk and the chaos got worse. Drunken little Cody acted like he was the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world; when in reality, he was more like the neighborhood kid who won the arm-wrestling match at school. I think defeating Cowboy was a huge confidence booster for him and he felt like he could do anything after that. Tank and Katie discussed a couple teams to send against Cody and Brittney but when Melissa asked their pick they threw in Nicole and Dutch.

When we got to the pit, it was like deja vu. “What a Jerk” was not an easy pit challenge. After all, it sent Riley and Hunter (two of our biggeest veteran guys) home last season, and this time it had HUGE knots in the rope and chicken wire in the middle to make it even more difficult.

Nicole and Brittney had quite a battle! They gave it absolute hell. But after Nicole won, I think she stood a little taller. A few of the guys were definitely disappointed, including Cody, because he thought for sure Brittney would put Nicole out. Even Tank tipped his hat to Nicole. Cody versus Dutch was a match everyone wanted to see. I don’t think I could have placed a fair guess on who would win. When Cody sent Dutch packing, I don’t think anyone was very surprised… Instead, we were dreading Cody’s arrogant remarks.

Once again, two rookies rode off into the sunset. The rookies were dropping like flies and the veterans were completely taking over! Nicole and Cody back on the same team? Great! (Said no one ever.)

Now we had THREE veteran teams! At this point in the game, there was one thing we knew for certain: these Rookies better step up their game if they wanted even close to a shot at that $100,000!

-Margaret Wood
Come back every Friday morning for Margaret Wood’s blog!