Predicting you're going to boss The Crystal Maze is a risky proposition. If you're able to manage it, you're a hero. But if not, you're probably going to be endlessly mocked by Richard Ayoade.
On Friday's (September 1) edition of the Channel 4 reboot, a confident team billed as the Air Cadets, captained by entrepreneur Leon, went into the first zone promising to boss it like no other contestants before.
"I believe I'm a natural leader. When the application came through from Athina, I just put myself down as captain," Leon admitted to host Richard.
Was Leon able to live up to his bragging, or was he humbled when Richard started the fans? Let's find out on this celebrity-less edition of The Crystal Maze...
We're not sure, but was Richard cosplaying as The Mask, tonight?
First up was the Industrial Zone, where team captain Leon volunteered for a hugely confusing logic test requiring him to use specific tools to free a padlocked crystal... to no avail. Always remember: Lefty loose-y, righty tighty.
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"International DJ" Mikel (his words, not ours) tried to rally after Leon's loss with yet another logic test, this time to figure out a complex computer code. Again, no dice.
To the Future Zone! Chris (or "the new Peter Andre", as Richard referred to him) tried his best to conquer the laser room... and he did it! That's the first crystal won!
'Red Joe', a software developer, stepped up for the truly out-of-this-world planetary obstacle course. A few near-misses later, the Air Cadets captured a second crystal.
Over to the Aztec Zone, with two crystals won. "International DJ" Mikel (again, his words) was back in action to balance the river scales to win. It took a bit of swimming, but Mikel won the third crystal of the night.
Next was a seemingly impossible lock-in mystery game tackled by team captain Leon, involving transporting a crystal using a sliding system. Turns out it wasn't "seemingly impossible", it was impossible. The team decided to leave Leon locked-in!
Chris drew the dreaded totem task, which has felled many a team in the past. Nooooooooope... That means Leon is left behind in the Aztec Zone.
Acting captain Athina risked the second lock-in of the night in the Medieval Zone to answer riddles, but luckily scraped through by the skin of her teeth.
Having sacrificed one crystal to free Leon, the Air Cadets went into the Crystal Dome with 20 seconds. At the end of those 20 seconds, Leon and the crew walked away with... a commemorative crystal.
And the lesson of the night is: don't be cocky!
The Crystal Maze will be back with another group of civilian newbies next Friday night (September 8) at 8pm on Channel 4, before the return of Gogglebox.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
