When the competition in "The Challenge" gets really good, you can't tell who is going to win until the very end. Such was the case with "The Ruins," which had already been teed up by a contestant love triangle and a popped breast implant (via Us Weekly). The prize stakes increased to $300,000, so by the episode's closing moments, it was an all-out war. The finalists started out with a grueling eating challenge, promptly vomiting in unison in front of a surrounding camera crew. After their stomachs had just about settled, the teams had to cross a perilous set of balance beams leading into a bamboo maze, with a final crossing through a mud pit waiting before the checkpoint.
Set in Thailand, much of the finale's success was arguably down to casting. Not only were the teams willing to dive head-first into anything, but their wild and crazy personalities perfectly offset the stunning location and difficult challenges. To make things even more exciting, one team gets lost on the way to one of the checkpoints while the other team was simultaneously starting to flag in energy, making it a real nail-biter conclusion. If there's something "The Challenge" can always achieve, it's pushing their cast to breaking point and providing excellent entertainment in the process.
