The trouble with Exes is that the higher a former couple manages to climb, the further they have to fall. In the case of Emily and Ty's descent, a plummet off of Everest looked like a step off of a footstool by comparison.
Before Team Green's inevitable meltdown, though, Ty found himself in a honeymoon haze with Paula (when you thinkin' about telling the ol' BF, Walnuts?). Emily didn't take too kindly to the hookup buddies' chumminess and was worried that Paula--who'd thrown her and Ty into The Dome only weeks prior--would draw Ty's eyes away from the grand prize. The former sort-of couple had slowly pieced themselves together since an especially contentious "Real World: D.C." coupling, and Emily, who Ty asserted was the most influential part of his life, didn't want to regress.
Diem and CT, on the other hand, had never really found solid footing as friends after their breakup (as evidenced by their walking on a football field's worth of eggshells following a devastating fight). Enlightened Ty urged Diem to hash things out once and for all with her ex-boyfriend--the pair's genuine sentiments only ever came out in drunken argument--and though Diem was afraid the talk would amount to disaster, the "Duel" lovebirds wound up on the same page for the first time in awhile.
Their reconciliation couldn't have come at a better time, because when they saw TJ next, they found out they'd be getting married--at least as married as is considered legally binding by competition. In "Race to the Altar," the remaining five teams were challenged with an obstacle course that included a series of checkpoints, and each leg's last-place finisher would be eliminated on the spot. After racing through changing a tire and downing mounds of wedding cake, only one team would come out on top and earn the penultimate Power Couple standing.
After the gun sounded, and the 10 Challengers threw on makeshift tuxes and tattered gowns (the romance!), the game was on. And though Emily and Ty had come to be feared in the game, they came up short in the first leg, even though Em was convinced they'd hit China in search of a buried garter. She and Ty were headed for their third Dome as the others moved on. And when front-runners Johnny and Camila proved they didn't have much of a sweet tooth, and Mark and Robin fell short as aspiring mechanics, CT and Diem and Paula and Dunbar were left to fight for the Power Couple spot and the time-honored tradition of exchanging fake vows.
Upon trekking through wet sand and after facing a rough tide, CT and Diem fought through their troubles and got their first win of the game, while Dunbar and Paula's mud stains would only earn them second place. But with great power came great responsibility, and Diem and CT had to consider each Dome nomination carefully as one wrong move could bite them in the ass, and there was still one more Dome before the finale for which they were eligible. CT didn't trust Mark and Robin, and Diem relished the opportunity to make Johnny and Camila squirm. Paula and Dunbar were the only team that assured CT and Diem protection if they were to win the next mission, but it didn't seem to earn the vets an exemption, and Team Black still wasn't sure which move was right.
To ease the tension after a long day, and in the spirit of the game, the group reveled in mock bridal showers and bachelor parties out at the bar. Diem partied hard, but it seemed the biggest splash was yet to come. When the Challengers returned home, Emily and Camila prepared to put on a show mocking Ty and Paula's fling. Ty's shorts around Emily's waist? Funny. Pillows in Camila's shirt? Equally so. Hazelnut chocolate spread as Afrocentric face paint? Here's where we get into some trouble...
Emily was sure the production would earn some lighthearted laughs, but as soon as she and Camila showed their faces, she realized the gravity of the mistake she'd made, and Paula and Ty became a physically pained audience. Though Ty had a history of beefs with fellow competitors, Johnny said he'd never seen the guy so hurt, and once Ty told Emily he was offended to the point of considering leaving, she realized the damage she'd done. Ty held Emily in such high regard, Paula pointed out, and his hurt stemmed more from broken trust than any obvious affront. Emily pleaded that growing up in a cult shielded her from truly understanding her action's implications, but Mark was unconvinced she deserved a pass.
As CT and Diem had almost thrown in the towel only days earlier, and because CT was impressed with Ty and Emily's performance in the game, he urged Ty to work things out with his partner, and once Ty was convinced Emily understood his pain, he accepted her apology and decided to stay. Still, the fractured team had a Dome to face, and while any other day would have probably meant a sure win for the two, it wasn't clear if the next elimination round was one they'd survive.
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