Who went home on The Challenge: USA? (Episode 4 recap)

Last night’s episode of The Challenge: USA served as a gentle reminder that all skin folk definitely ain’t kin folk.

A line has been drawn in the sand and now the Big Brother alliance doesn’t seem as tight-knit as we originally thought. What’s more, despite Survivor contestants agreeing that they should watch out for one another, it was shocking to see how there was only one individual who wasn’t included in the fray. And outside of the hair-raising drama, who could forget about the hilarious trivia competition that had both us and host, T.J. Lavin, throwing our heads back in laughter?

Once again, it was a great episode from start to finish. Here’s what you missed last night on The Challenge: USA.

The Challenge: USA episode 4 recap

Week 4 House Competition: “Falling Off The Knowledge”

This competition wasn’t your typical game of trivia, mainly because if any duo got the question wrong, they would drop over 100 feet in the air. Teams such as Kyland Young/Alyssa Young and Azah Awasum/Ben Driebergen rose to the occasion, while other teams like Derek Xiao/Shannon St. Clair and Justine Ndiba/David Alexander just couldn’t figure it out. In the end, it was Justine and David whose knowledge failed them when they needed it the most.

Winners: Kyland Young and Alyssa Lopez

Losers: Justine Ndiba and David Alexander

Now that Justine and David were facing elimination, Falling Off The Knowledge winners Kyland and Alyssa had to think of a formidable pair to set them up against. However, no matter how many times the duo toiled over which other teams to screw over, they kept revisiting the prospect of sending in Big Brother season 23 winner Xavier Prather and Survivor season 41 player Shan Smith. Although Alyssa was very nervous about ruffling feathers too soon, especially with her alliance, she and her partner, Kyland, decided it was time to get one of the biggest threats of the competition out of the game now rather than later.

Week 4 Elimination Competition: “Smash In Puzzle Out”

Competitors: Xavier Prather/Shan Smith + Justine Ndiba and David Alexander

In this competition, each team had to punch through sheets of glass. Each glass had a circle on it; the color of the circle corresponded to their team. Should they break the glass with their team’s color on it, they would face a 10-second penalty for each glass broken. (The penalty only took effect during the last stage of the competition where each team had to assemble a puzzle to win.)

Despite the rules, Xavier and Shan punched through every single sheet of glass regardless of the color. This action earned the duo a 50-second penalty. On the other side, Justine and David were more meticulous in their strategy and thus, only had a 10-second penalty. It was because of their slow-and-steady mindset that Justine and David were able to have more time to figure out the complicated puzzle and, ultimately, won the competition.

Week 4 Eliminated Team: Xavier Prather and Shan Smith 

The Big Brother alliance is officially in shambles, and the Survivor alliance is starting to show a few cracks. Which of these major alliances will crumble? Will any of the smaller groups finally have the chance to take control of the game? And who will be the next duo eliminated? We’ll find out soon enough!

Catch a brand new episode of The Challenge: USA on Wednesday, August 3, at 9:00 p.m. ET on CBS.