Challenge Total Madness Super Trailer Breakdown
I will be breaking down the trailers of the Challenge Season 35 Total Madness as I do every season. There are no spoilers in this article that you won’t figure out by watching the trailer super slowly. YES, there are spoilers, but they are spoilers via inference and analysis. I hope you enjoy.
I did this article already this season when breaking down the original two teasers MTV put out. However, the trailer they put out recently shows much much more content.
Onto the breakdown:
In the first 1.5 seconds, they hit us with 4 blink and you’ll miss all of them shots. The first is players climbing up and down the side of a truck. In the original trailer breakdown, I noted there are flags on the sides of the truck that the players likely to have grab, either to get the fastest time possible, or to compete a puzzle above.
The second shot is a bunch of players holding ropes where they seem to be reeling something in. We saw a glimpse of this challenge in the other trailer. Most likely, this is in obstacle course daily challenge similar to the one from Dirty 30 that CT/Cara and Nelson/Veronica won. The third picture is Nany, Bayleigh, Dee, and others running down a tunnel in wet suits. Considering the amount of people down this tunnel, it is likely a 2 team challenge that occurs early in the season, similar to one of the challenges from Free Agents/Dirty 30/Vendettas. The fourth is a blown up truck, because MTV thinks fire is cool. Personally, I find Pearl Jam much cooler.
In narration, TJ announces it is the biggest twist they have ever had on the Challenge. Meanwhile, a car goes sideways off a little ramp as a player pops his head/body out the passenger seat window. I have no clue what this daily challenge is about.
Players are running in full body suits towards something. In the other trailer, they are wearing these suits as they walk into a room full of water/soap. In the other photo, Jordan and Swaggy C are breaking ice blocks. This reminds me of the daily challenge from Inferno 3, although those players were trying to break as much ice as possible, while this looks as though they are trying to get a key that might be inside of the ice (like the coins from I Love Money 2).
We get a shot of Bear and Bananas shirtless. Bear is carry what looks like a 3D puzzle piece. Then we see Kyle, and three other people hanging off a giant cross that is driven by a tank. This challenge is likely one of the first of the season, or once they are down to 24 or 20 people, as they are doing in this challenge either in gendered pairs, or teams of four.
TJ tells the cast there is no more skating by as an image of him in a red light is shown. We get a long-distance shot of the elimination arena, known as Purgatory.
He informs the cast that you have to win an elimination to make the final. If you notice, he is holding a helmet with the letters “AY” on it. That means that Jay might have been decapitated in an elimination, or he is holding it, because a former BMX rider, TJ knows safety first is most imporant. In the crowd is Wes, Ashley, Dee, Bayleigh, Swaggy, Tori, Jordan, Bananas, person, CT, Nelson, and Bear.
Repeat footage from the first trailer. Someone is moving towards a bunch of buttons. My guess is they are turning something off/on, similar to the Bananas/Devin Vendettas elimination. Except in this one, they seem to be attached to a harness up top. If CT ends up in an elimination like this, fans will be PISSED.
Four more different eliminations shown!!! Bananas is punching a paper wall in what looks like a version of Wrecking Wall. Jenny is playing some sort of carnival game. As seen in the original trailer, Jay is playing a version of Balls In where the ball is on fire. Kailah is dumping dodge balls out of a garbage truck.
Six different dramatic closeups. One of Rogan with Fessy in the background. Then the rest are of a worried Wes, happy Josh, sad Tori, pondering Jenna, and anxious Jenny.
They then try to remind you a truck blowing up is cool! Personally, I find a nice glass of scotch and Spotify’s No Doubt playlist cooler.
Another shot of the truck/flags challenge. This time with a narration of someone saying “this is my shot, I gotta take it.” The voice kind of reminded me of CT, but CT saying something like that doesn’t make sense. Then we have an elimination round where players are breaking vases pinata style. There is also a giant wheel in the background. Maybe they brought back the wheel from the Gauntlet 2!
Dee and Nany are swimming towards something in the same wet suits they wear in the underground tunnel. Maybe I was wrong in thinking this was a big team challenge. Considering Nany and Dee are the next to each other both here and in the tunnel, they could be paired up as a team. In the other trailer, Kyle and Bananas are running together in the same fashion.
Another elimination! This was in the original trailer, but we get a better look here. It seems at though each player holds onto a trapeze and at times they meet in the middle. Maybe they are trying to knock one another off their bars. Then we see a happy and smiling CT ready to go into elimination. If you look in the background, you can see Jay and Jenny’s names written in spray paint on the wall.
Again, no clue what is going on here. I can’t imagine them continually redoing this challenge as it probably takes a long time to reset the barrels. Maybe this is a 2 team challenge or something.
99% sure this is the final. Big Exes 1 and Free Agents vibes from this image.
Jordan tells Wes he wins because he’s mentally in the game. Jordan and Wes are a great rivalry. Wes beat Jordan in the final of Rivas 2, and Wes had the edge on Jordan in Exes 2 until the Redemption Twist flipped the game on its head. Wes eliminated Jordan on Champs vs Pros, and then Jordan outlasted Wes on War of the Worlds 2 (winning the season, while Wes was out early). The fact we never got Wes/Theresa vs Jordan/Sarah in the Exes 2 final is depressing.
Nelson plays Pole Wrestle this season.
A player is trapped in a box with sand. I have no clue what this elimination is. Maybe they have to find a way to crawl to a finish line, or they have to break through the box Kill Bill/Uma Thurman styles. Uma Jerry, Uma!
We then see a giant contraption that looks like an elevator. It reminds of the trap door elimination from Rivals 2 (which Jordan played).
I seriously hate this truck.
Never-mind, not an elevator. TJ is auditioning for the remake of the movie Tank Girl. Except this time it will be Tank Man. I’ve never actually seen the movie Tank Girl, I just remember it being on HBO a lot as a kid.
Bananas is heating up his fists as he gets ready to punch some walls.
Repeat footage from the first trailer. More Balls In action. If you look in the background, the regular crowd and the Tribunal/Troika are separated. Swaggy, Cory, and Kyle are excited either over an upset elimination win or a rogue pick for an elimination call out.
Two people are locking up in Hall Brawl. Based on the helmet, Dee might be on of the two people. Kaycee and Big T are breaking ice like Jordan was earlier.
Jenny finishes a daily challenge and boom, fire.
Players seems to be pushing a car. Still not sure what any of the car challenges are about. Honestly, a parallel parking challenge would terrify me.
Something is going on here.
Wes is going crazy from the living conditions.
Bear is shooting a fire extinguishers in one of the bedrooms. Considering that’s a safety hazard/fine, I wonder what the repercussions will be. Ashley is walking away from a big group meeting angry. Maybe she got voted into elimination or something. Nany, Kailah, Tori, and Kaycee all seem to be laughing. I wouldn’t be shocked if Tori made a move against Ashley after she instigated the Turbo/Jordan fight.
Johnny, Kyle, and Fessy are running towards something.
We get a Dee/Rogan scene where Rogan tells Dee to stop trying to make him (notorious asshole) look like a bad guy in front of his friends. Dee yells they’re not his friends. I don’t feel either is winning this argument. There is a cute shot of Wes/Kailah. Kailah has always reminded me a bit of him, and her dad’s favorite player is Wes, so it’s cute to see.
An angry Kailah throws a box of milk or something. It backfires and half of it hits her black outfit. Dee did not know this was going to happen as you can see her shocked face in the second photo.
Right after the Kailah scene, we get a shot of a happy Melissa (Kailah’s enemy). Great editing by MTV.
Aneesa gets into with someone like she does most seasons. Kyle is in the background of so many different shots this season. He never seems to be doing anything either.
Zach tries to breakup with Jenna over phone call. On Bloodlines, he surprised her by showing up as a Heavy Hitter. During Rivals 3, he revealed he was cheating on her by calling her Brooke on a phone call. They got back together after Invasion, and then he ghosted her. Were again together after Champs vs Stars 2. On Final Reckoning, he went on Bumble after he got eliminated. During War of the Worlds 1, he called security on her. And now here we are… Zach can’t trust Jenna. And yet, their relationship still bores me somehow.
We get another view of the tank challenge. Players hit a box and then green gas gets shot out. I’m not sure if they are supposed to hit the boxes or avoid them. Regardless, the green gas is a welcome sight over them shooting more fire out.
Mattie tells someone that if they’re not good mentally, then they’ll suck in the game. We see Big T being Big Nervous.
Josh and Swaggy get into it at a bar. Big Brother on Big Brother violence. It’s always your own family that goes for you the hardest.
My favorite part about this is Dee and Rogan are sitting at the bar together, which means they made up from their fight earlier in the trailer, or maybe it’s before.
Bear, Big T, and Kyle watch an elimination. Jay is on the ground of an elimination. It is the Fire Balls In elimination as you can see the ball in the background.
Kailah ends her relationship of a couple years and hooks up with Bear. I know she’s crying and made poor choices, but Kailah looks hot. Also, ending a relationship with a guy named Mikey P is high-key a win in the long-run.
More tank stuff. If this tank is used in Season 35, Episode 4, then I commend MTV for planning ahead this much. We then get a shot of Big T.
Bananas vs Wes Volume 7839.
We find out what the players are reeling as Jenny seems to be almost done reeling a barrel in. There is a shot Kaycee where she generically says “I didn’t expect it to be this hard.” While I expect Kaycee to be a strong competitor, I hope she isn’t as boring as she was on Big Brother.
We get 3 quick shots of players: Bayleigh, Fessy, and Jay. Kyle hilariously ends up in the background of Bayleigh’s pic.
Jordan is very upset in a crowd. He probably realizes he made a bad choice with the atrocious orange beanie he has on. CT is carrying a large amount of rope. I would very much like to see CT play Knot So Fast again.
Dee preps to enter the giant soap pit, while the next image is someone emerging from it.
Bear is jumping out of the adamantium pool, just like Wolverine. Aneesa is falling from the sky. She is wearing the same wet suit as Nany/Dee from earlier in the trailer.
Nelson is running with three poles in hand. If you look at the picture of Jenny where she finishes a challenge and something blows up, the poles are the same colors (well, 2 of the 3 are at least). Nelson says he is done playing the friendly game.
Melissa is swimming in the same wet suit as others. It could be something they reuse multiple times. Jenny is tossing a bunch of cardboard into a shredder of sorts.
Nany gives an honest confessional about the fact that she’s been doing these shows for years and still has not won. Nelson and Swaggy are alongside her carrying scrap metal. They are probably doing a challenge similar to the one from War of the Worlds 1 where the teams that collects the most weight wins. Remember when Wes won with DaVonne, and Ninja yelled at Turbo?
MTV is milking this tunnel/swimming challenge. Fessy is in a helicopter.
Ashley is talking to someone, saying “he wants people to hate me.” Not sure if any of the males have a vendetta against her except for maybe Jordan. CT might be the person she is talking to. Or they are just showing CT because he’s CT.
They show footage of Jay and Nany kissing. Jay fits her type in terms of height and size. Then they show us Dee and Jay kissing, to which they smartly show a pic of Rogan looking on.
Edit: turns out it’s Asaf kissing Nany! Good for him.
Bayleigh seems to be hyped after finishing a daily challenge. Those damn trucks are in the background on fire. Wes and Jenny are throwing a care package out of a plane, someone must have gotten a kill streak.
Dear god, I really hope this daily challenge is whoever’s box get closest to the target bulls-eye on the ground wins. The daily challenges don’t all need to be cross fit competitions.
Cory is amped up during a challenge. Kyle is dropping himself down into the tunnel. Melissa is struggling during the challenge where plays collect flags on the side of a moving truck.
We get a shot of Cory looking at someone, to which they show Nelson arguing with someone, where he says “you still have no respect for me.” They then show Tori. I think this a smokescreen and he’s probably yelling at Bananas because that’s who Nelson usually feuds with.
Mattie in a helicopter.
Nany is in tears, which makes me sad. Someone’s feet are legitimately messed up and they are dripping blood.
Nelson is beating up on someone’s pink purse. Bayleigh and Kaycee get into a fight in the bunker. Big Brother on Big Brother violence. It’s always your own family that goes for you the hardest.
Nelson and Kyle get into it at the bar, and Josh tries to intervene. I’m glad to see Kyle is doing more than just being around.
Bear is walking down the hallways in sweats and a hoodie, yet he keeps on the Hawaiian shirt.
Someone is being taken out on ambulance wearing a hypothermia blanket. And the last shot is repeat footage of Kyle and Bananas running down the tunnel challenge that they show a lot in this trailer.
QUICK NOTES
The people we see most prominently in this trailer are:
- Bananas
- Wes
- Nelson
- Kyle
- Swaggy
- Rogan
- Jay
- Bear
- Jenny
- Dee
- Bayleigh
- Kailah
- Nany
People we see a healthy amount:
- CT
- Cory
- Josh
- Jordan
- Fessy
- Jenna
- Melissa
- Aneesa
- Tori
- Big T
- Mattie
- Ashley
- Kaycee
People we either don’t see or basically don’t:
- Asaf
- Jennifer
