Can one of the winners show the losers how it’s done?
This week’s challenge marked a very special event on American Hero: four guest stars were invited to put the teams through their paces. Legendary aces Golden Boy, Lohengrin, and Detroit Steel, and the mysterious stage magician Noel Matthews joined the show. The scenario: a bank robbery. Our guest aces have gone rogue, leading a team of henchmen to rob a bank. Can our American Hero teams stop them?
The ageless Jack Braun still looks as though he’s stepped out of one of his old publicity stills from the 1940s. How did Team Diamonds do against the man who’s been called the most powerful ace in the world? To the credit of the Diamonds, they got pretty close. Of all things, paint from paintballs was Tiffani’s undoing, blinding her and knocking her out of the fight. Jetman eliminated the henchmen, but his own sleeping gas got him—but who would have expected Golden Boy to catch and throw the gas grenade back at him? Drummer Boy, the newest Diamond, tried to meet the glowing ace head-on. It hardly needs to be said that that didn’t work. But when the Amazing Bubbles faced Golden Boy, it was the unstoppable force against the immovable object. Only Bubbles had a problem: she eventually ran out of juice, and Golden Boy never does. A newly svelte Bubbles—and Team Diamonds—had to admit defeat.
Lohengrin, a young ace from Germany, can manifest a suit of gleaming white armor that makes him impervious to harm. A formidable warrior, he almost seemed to be pulling his punches against Team Clubs, which made the team even angrier. The truth was, they couldn’t do much to get past his armor and sword—represented in this scenario by a foam version. The German shrugged off Toad Man’s sticky tongue and struck down Holy Roller’s powerful attack. The preacher showed a stripe demonstrating how he’d have been cut in half if Lohengrin had been wielding his real weapon. The sword made easy work of the safe and he escaped with the loot. Team Clubs may have to practice a little more before they play in the big leagues.
Even the seemingly invincible Team Hearts met its match this week in the form of Noel Matthews, the famous stage magician. Impressively, Matthews defeated the Hearts without using any apparent ace powers. Rather than overpowering the team, he simply fooled them, luring them into his clutches and finishing them off one by one. He played chameleon by hiding among his own hostages, and in a final turnaround disguised himself as Wild Fox to lure Curveball to her doom. As judge Topper told the Hearts, “Your enthusiasm has served you well until now. This time, leaping before looking was the wrong thing to do. Let that be a lesson.”
Armored ace Detroit Steel won fame in the Rox War. He’s been called a tank on legs, protected by his immense armor built from scrap. At seven feet tall, this mass of rumbling steel can’t be taken lightly. This week, he faced off against Team Spades. Not intimidated by their opponent, the Spades leapt into the fray and found success. It was dicey at first—when Rosa Loteria draws her card, seeing what turns up can be the most exciting part of the challenge. This time: Los Plantanos (the Bananas), giving the lovely Rosa a thick, rubbery yellow skin and not much else. The Candle almost got himself knocked out of the challenge, he was laughing so hard, much to Rosa’s disgust. He redeemed himself, though, when he stopped Detroit Steel cold by building a cage of glowing red flame around him, trapping him. The ace broke through the cage, but the Candle rebuilt it, and the rogue ace wasn’t fast enough to overcome the obstacle. Once Dragon Huntress’s famous stuffed dragon Puffy joined the fight, Detroit Steel was foiled. As the only team to defeat its rogue ace opponent, Team Spades won immunity this week.
Hardhat, Toad Man, and—in a stunning turnaround—Diamond favorite the Amazing Bubbles were shuffled out this week. That might have had something to do with the shocking revelation that Bubbles, Michelle LeFleur, is actually supermodel Michelle Pond. Her offended teammates may have had the last word by voting her off.
Keep on the lookout for this week’s confessions:
Dragon Huntress, Hardhat, Jetman, and Stuntman!
Confessional: Rachel Weinstein aka Dragon Huntress
Okay, so here’s what you should know about American Hero. It’s just like mid-school. You’ve got the same cliques, and you’ve got the same