That was a thrill ride from start to finish.

The Challenge Season 36 Episode 2 featured scheming, scrambling, and one almighty battle that left us with a stunning cliffhanger.

Credit where credit is due, The Challenge Season 36 is probably one of the most well-produced seasons, and that's especially good given that it was shot during a worldwide pandemic.

Let's dig in because we have a LOT to unpack.

Kyle Will Always be a Snake

If you watch The Challenge online, you know Kyle and Wes have a lot in common: They're both snakes.

But Kyle somehow managed to move it one step further during the installment when he lied to the faces of Aneesa and Fessy.

The beauty of the weekly winners being able to see who voted for who is that it is creating more drama in the house.

Kyle's lie got him sent into the elimination round, and it was a nice dose of karma for him.

He lives and breathes The Challenge, but his physical abilities are typically overlooked.

Beating Joseph allowed him to prove he is a more well-rounded player than he gets credit for, but he's also going to be questioning how Fessy and Aneesa figured out the truth about his vote.

At least he has Kam on his team ... for now.

Stealing Kam from Josh was the perfect twist to round off a stellar episode. Josh picked Kam because he knew she was a great competitor.

Her connections with the rest of the house mean that anyone coupled up with her stands to go far.

Kyle's strategic move exposed Josh's weakness, and we can probably expect the Big Brother winner to whip out the pots and pans and cause holy hell in the house on The Challenge Season 36 Episode 3.

Fessy and Aneesa Are the Two Top Players Again!

Double Agents is the season of the comeback for Aneesa, and she's in an excellent position coupled with Fessy.

Together, they could win the season. Just look at the way the others were too scared to strike them out of the earlier competition.

That being said, why didn't Fessy go into the ring against Joseph? This could have presented an easy way for Fessy to guarantee his place in TJ's final.

In fact, Fessy could have probably overpowered Joseph quicker than Kyle did, and it's because Fessy has a much bigger frame.

Kyle's comment about Fessy being too scared to make such a move this early in the game does ring a bit true here.

There may not be another opportunity like this for Fessy to get the skull, but if there's a hall brawl, I wouldn't mind seeing Fessy and Nam going against one another.

The other big flaw, not only for Fessy but for Aneesa as well. Why would they target Kyle when they already targeted Wes?

What was the point in getting more blood on their hands? The only thing I'm taking from it is that they genuinely thought there was a chance Kyle would go home.

Maybe they wanted to swing and not miss and thought the best way to do that would be to put someone with a similar body type to Joseph.

Wes would have won the elimination; there's no question about that.

Joseph is a Rookie Mistake

As charming as Joseph was, he was a truly awful player. Coupled with Big T, he should've been speaking with her about who they were going to target.

Instead, he wanted to tell other people and tell Big T on a need-to-know basis. The flaw in his logic is that his actions reflected on Big T.

It was nice that Big T recognized what was going on and conspired against Joseph before he managed to get the two of them out of the game.

Usually, I want rookies to get a second chance, but Joseph played too hard and had no care for the one person he should have been protecting.

For that reason alone, please MTV, do not bring him back!

Do NOT Trust Wes

Wes is a known backstabber. He's cut people close to him in previous seasons when they served their worth, and I suspect he will do the same to Natalie.

Natalie was loyal to him, and we know he likes to nurture a rookie into a force to be reckoned with, as evidence by the way he worked with Dee.

But the moment he's ready to move on to the next person who will get him to the end, he's done with the person.

It's an unfortunate trait, but one that has won him the game twice.

Despite being saved by Aneesa and Fessy, Wes will not hesitate to strike at them when they least expect it.

Should he win next week's challenge, there's a good chance he will throw Aneesa in to try and destroy the force that is already taking over the house.

What did you think of Joseph's elimination?

Do you think Aneesa and Fessy are going too far on their power trip?

What are your thoughts on Kyle being caught lying?

Hit the comments below.

The Challenge airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.