With four rounds of eliminations complete, the six remaining contestants can now all fit around a single table in the Surf Ranch competitors area … and this is no time to break bread because as the competition is thinning out the stakes are only getting more intense.
But before the Beach Battles, Wave Challenges and Surf Offs can resume, it's time for a reunion and a well-earned break.
There is no Beach Battle this week, or a Wave Challenge for that matter. Host Jesse Palmer lets the guys know it's time to take a break, but he's also got a major surprise up his sleeve.
Jesse Palmer shares with the remaining surfers that it is time to take a break but there are more suprises up his sleeve. - WSL / ABC
First he shows off some awesome towable camper trailers they can win, along with the three Wildcard slots into WSL Championship Tour events and $100,000. But hiding inside one of the trailers is every single contestant who has been eliminated thus far, all back to enjoy some good times with their former rivals and teammates.
A Well Earned Break, But There's A Catch
We soon see that bringing back the good times also means bringing back the beef, with now returned Anastasia giving Tia Blanco, her nemesis, the cold shoulder right off the bat.
But the sun filled love-fest can't last forever as it's announced that the eliminated contestants don't have to say goodbye, and this is where it really gets interesting.
After a well earned break from the Beach Battles this week, there is a catch and the eliminated compeitiors are ready to return to the basin. - WSL / ABC
Jesse Palmer lets them know that they all have a chance to surf their way back into the competition. That means all the pieces of a broken dream can be put back together for one man and one woman, but it won't be easy.
"I think everyone deserves another chance, it was hard for them," Zeke says after learning about this backdoor route to redemption. "But if you put them in front of me I'm going to knock ‘em down and I'll be waiting for them in a later round."
Wildcard Wave Challenge
Here's how the chance for an eliminated contestant to surf their way back onto the show works.
The eight eliminated surfers will be competing in teams. Those teams are decided by the six remaining contestants, who head back to camp to decide who to pair with who.
The two top scoring teams in this week's Wildcard Wave Challenge will enter the Surf Off as individuals, and the high scoring man and woman in the Surf Off will win their way back into competition and into contention to become The Ultimate Surfer.
Jesse Palmer announces that the eliminated contestants will have a chance to surf their way back into competition, this is where it really gets interesting. - WSL / ABC
The idea of a wildcard is important in surfing. They come into major events without any pressure and can do serious damage. Tyler Wright won a Championship Tour event as a 14-year-old wildcard, and she's now a two-time World Champion.
Obviously the remaining contestants don't want to bring back anyone who will be a threat to their own chances so back at camp the strategy begins.
After much brainstorming it's decided to pair the strongest contestants with the weakest teammate possible, because as Koa succinctly puts it, "realistically you don't want anyone to come back."
The Strong Paired With The "Weak"
The strategy is set and the decision has been made for how the returning surfers will be paired -- Bruna is matched with Austin, Julie is paired with Mason, Kayla is with Luke, and Anastasia is with Kai.
One of the only things that was easy to agree on when the contestants were deciding how to pick the teams was that no one except Malia really wanted Anastasia to find her way back onto the show. But feeling left all alone at The Ranch, Malia is doing everything she can to give her friend the best shot possible at redemption.
Team red, Malia and Zeke, like to set the strategy going into competition. - WSL / ABC
Kayla and Luke are up first, and Luke is on fire, putting together a clutch performance. Bruna and Austin are next, with Bruna getting clipped and falling in the tube. So does Austin. Julie and Mason are third, with solid rights from both. Now it's Anastasia and Kai trying to make a comeback -- But Anastasia falls, leaving all the pressure on Kai, a former World Junior Champion, who puts in one of the best rides seen so far in the competition.
In the end, the teams with the two top scores who get to go to the Surf Off are Kayla and Luke, and with the second-highest score it's Anastasia and Kai -- that's how good Kai's wave was, he got his team to the Surf Off even though Anastasia fell.
True Redemption For Two Surfers
Now the top two teams who survived the Wildcard Wave Challenge are trying to survive the Wildcard Surf Off. That means Luke up against Kai, and Kayla facing Anastasia. One man and one woman will earn a spot back on the show as a full-time contestant.
Kai can do no wrong, locking in another very sweet ride. Luke surfed well too, and they're left with a nervous wait while the women surf. Kayla is up first, locking in some nice if not especially risky combinations. Anastasia takes the opposite approach, but it doesn't pan out. Her risk is not rewarded in this instance as she comes off the wave mid-ride.
The results are in. Kai is back on the show and surfing better than ever before … and there are a few nervous competitors wondering if they made the right call when they designed the teams.
"Everything we thought he could do, he finally put it together," Alejandro said. "He's going to be a weapon."
Kayla -- one of the first to be eliminated -- is also back. Talk about redemption
