Power Couple SA Recap: Oh No
All season long, Power Couple SA has pretty much been predictable. Never a shocking moment, never an elimination that rocked the boat, and then last night when a shocking elimination eventually transpired, it wasn’t satisfying. Not one bit.
Seeing a couple who had accumulated the most money throughout the season, a couple who weren’t up for elimination once, a couple who completed all challenges put before them let R1.5 million slip from their grasp was too hard to watch.
That was PJ and Marzanne’s fate last night.
They arguably were the couple who deserved to be in the Top 2 the most. It’s almost impossible to say that they didn’t deserve a spot. They did. It just somehow wasn’t to be. Now we’re left with Dyllan and Viki, and Emile and Razia.
But let’s start with the first challenge: the very cheap and not as exhilarating imitation of a cycle of The Amazing Race. Only this “amazing race” was around Cape Town. The couple to complete the race in the fastest time would automatically be fast tracked to a spot in the Top 2. They got a choice: they could either invest all of the money that they’d accumulated throughout the show thus far, or they could play it safe and only invest 1k. Dyllan and Viki both decided to go all in. If they complete the challenge, they would double their money. That meant both couples would be sitting on R1.5 Million. Shit load.
Emile and Razia decided to play it safe, and only invested 1k. Smart move, considering they lost the challenge – again – and thus only lost the minimal. That meant on Emile and Razia sat at 508k. A third of what the other two couples had accumulated.
Dyllan and Viki won the challenge, posting the quickest time. They were the first finalists. As the couple who managed to win the most couples challenges, it was deserved.
Then came sudden death. One challenge decides who goes through to face off against Dyllan and Viki.
The couples who loses, goes home with nothing. This, too, was a terrible imitation of a challenge you would see on Survivor or the US version of Big Brother. On Power Couple, though, the challenge was always going to be shitty. Each couple would have to hold onto straps attached to a suitcase weighing 20% of their collective body weight while standing on a platform that exposed them to all of the elements: wind, rain, snow, and fire. The couple to let their suitcase touch the floor first would lose the challenge and be eliminated.
On Big Brother or Survivor, it would have worked like this: Both couples would have had to hold onto something, onto some structure made of, for example, wood, possibly while being tied together. The couples would have had to endure the same thing, the same amount of weight. They playing field would have been level.
But anyway, 20% of their collective body weight meant that PJ and Marzanne would have a heavier suitcase than Emile and Razia.
After more than 43 minutes, it was PJ who let the strap slip from his grasp while trying to adjust his grip, their suitcase touching the ground. The couple who sat atop the leader board were out. Eliminated. Their possible R1.5 Million gone.
Emile and Razia became the second couple to go through to next week’s big finale. They have a shot at winning 508k in cash. At this point, LottoStar must be pretty relieved. They will only be required to give away a third of the money Dyllan and Viki had accumulated.
Emile and Razia had to survive 3 eliminations, 3 opportunities their housemates had to vote them out, they had to survive several challenge losses. They actually only won their first challenge last night. They have accumulated only 508k. They could have been the very first couple eliminated from the competition, but now they’re in the final – about to win it all. Or at least the change they collected over the past few weeks.
Then there’s Dyllan and Viki. The couple who have won the most challenges, finished only slightly behind PJ and Marzanne on the leader board, have accumulated R1.5 Million, and have truly shown growth during their time on the show.
Two different couples, very different paths to the final, and honestly only one couple is deserving of the title.
But, it’s up to the fans now.
Yes, after all the work put in and the money won, all that is rendered absolutely useless. None of that counts. All the hard work is for nothing when you realize the only thing the public base their vote on is whether they like you or not.
In this case, Emile and Razia are the ones they like. The underdogs, the couple who also performs like a puppy with three legs.
It’s a shame, really. It’s a shame that likability determines who people vote for, when in the real world, the real power couples didn’t get where they are today because they’re nice, they had to work for it.
Congratulations, Emile and Razia, the people have spoken.
