Cracking Under Pressure

In “Cracking Under Pressure,” the Global Showdown teams resume the primitive bow challenge with the leaderboard tightening and the next elimination looming. USA South sits in first place with 550 points, USA East follows with 480, Australia completes its bow to move into third with 460, and USA Pacific holds fourth with 350. Brazil and Mexico remain below the red line, with Brazil at 300 points and Mexico at 250.

USA Pacific is still dealing with poor team chemistry, though Dan’s back is improving and he finally apologizes to Rachel for not giving her a voice. Meanwhile, Brazil feels confident in Rene’s bow-making skills, Mexico is desperate to climb out of the bottom, and USA South enters the challenge relaxed despite spending the least time on its bow.

The challenge splits each team into an archer and a butcher. The archer must use the handmade bow to hit three ostrich egg targets from ten yards away, while the butcher must pluck, gut, and quarter a guinea fowl. Points are awarded by finishing position, and the top five teams also earn a guinea fowl to eat.

On a windy day, Rene stays patient and becomes the first archer to hit all three eggs. Marina finishes processing the bird first, giving Brazil a huge first-place win, 100 points, and rewards of a blade saw and hide. USA South finishes second, reaching 600 points and earning a block of salt. USA East takes third after Matt hits his targets and Gabrielle finishes butchering, earning two ostrich eggs. Australia finishes fourth, also earning ostrich eggs.

Mexico’s first bow breaks, forcing them to scramble with a second bow, while Rachel struggles to hit the final egg for USA Pacific. She eventually lands the shot, and Dan finishes the butchering, giving USA Pacific fifth place, 380 total points, and the last guinea fowl. Mexico loses the challenge, earns no bird, and remains trapped near the bottom heading into elimination.

Afterward, the successful teams cook their birds and enjoy rare food rewards. USA South celebrates beating Matt Wright in an archery contest while eating salted guinea fowl stew, Australia finally gets a real meal, and Brazil gets a nighttime reminder of the danger outside camp when a rhino visits their boma. By day 13, Matt heads back out to hunt after being humbled in the challenge, but misses a shot at nyala, while Mexico gets a small boost when Fernanda catches a catfish. Australia also has a strong fishing day, with Ky and Alexa catching six catfish between them.

The elimination challenge puts USA Pacific against Mexico, with Dan still in serious pain from his back injury. The task is to boil water using a double tripod, a crossbar, and a suspended J-hook to hang the pot over a fire. Mexico gets fire first, while USA Pacific builds its tripods first, but Mexico is the first to get its pot properly hanging over the flames. Both teams eventually see bubbles, but Mexico reaches the boil first and wins.

USA Pacific is eliminated, leaving five teams in the competition. Mexico survives another elimination challenge and proves it still has fight, while Dan and Rachel’s strained partnership ends under the weight of injury, frustration, and bad timing.