Challenge War of the Worlds 2 Episode 11 Recap : 10 Biggest Takeaways
Episode 11 is in the books and I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from the eleventh episode. Since you’re Challenge fans reading this, I figure you likely have watched the episode already. These will be integral storylines that the eleventh episode focused on. I’ll breakdown why they matter for the season:
10 Jenny is learning the harsh realities of the Challenge
You can tell that Jenny honestly believed that because she was the fittest person in the house that the game would be dictated solely based on athletic ability. Jenny is virtually guaranteed to see one of the final eliminations this season, and she’ll likely face Tori or Nany, as they are the only women outside the Paulie/Cara/Kam axis.
If Jenny can get to the final, she earned it. If she loses, she’ll learn that this game is more than physical, which is crucial if she wants to become GOOD at the Challenge.
9 Zach’s utter lack of humility
Did anyone else find it wild that Zach called the Cara alliance of ladies all lay-ups and nerds? Zach, you won your only title during Obama’s first term. It’s 2019, and all those women are kickass competitors. Zach gassed out on the Free Agents, but Ninja accomplished a far more difficult final on her own. Cara beat him on Vendettas. Dee eliminated him on War of the Worlds 1. Kam and Kayleigh defeated his top allies Brad and Kyle on Final Reckoning, and they’re politically making moves while he fence-sits. And then you have Ashley, a 2x Champion who has won over a million dollars.
Zach, you almost lost a final to Dustin Zito and Trishelle, calling these great competitors lay-ups is ridiculous.
8 Ashley is the Confessional Queen
She has not been a figure in many of the top 10 takeaways this season, but Ashley is killing her confessionals whenever she is on screen. There are Ashley fans where they feel I’ve excluded her, when in all honestly, Ashley might be my favorite competitor this season. It’s just in terms of the gameplay; she’s floating through perfectly. Even the Turbo incident, she becomes an afterthought among all the drama. It would be super fascinating to watch this season if Ashley was not in the Paulie/Cara/Kam alliance.
7 Nany’s breaking down once again
Every season with Nany starts so optimistically, and then it trails off, and she breaks down from the stresses of the game. She loses her allies, and once the fat gets trimmed, her ability to be slightly above average is no longer good enough to carry her.
Zach’s frustration with his team is not endearing at all. Meanwhile, I feel bad for Nany for similar things. Maybe it says more about me, but when Nany talks, I feel as though I see a human who should not be on the show for her mental health as the game has shaken her up. Nany deserves a hug.
6 Did Team UK throw the Challenge?
I do not think Team UK needed to throw the daily challenge to lose. Team USA had three great climbers in Ninja, Jordan, and Paulie. Team USA killed this challenge, which looked incredibly tricky. The UK squad was not built for this at all. CT and Rogan are top-heavy, while Theo is a bit too lanky and not a fan of heights.
However, Rogan taking Tori down with him when he falls, Kayleigh not even attempting the challenge, and the overall vibe after the loss reek of a team who knew what they were doing. Especially considering the two players who ended up in elimination.
5 The Real Rogan
It’s funny watching Rogan at this point in the game. In the first episode when Jordan and Laurel held power in the vote, and when he was begging CT/Idris to side with him against Bear is an entirely different person than the Rogan from this episode. Rogan looked at Theo and went, “well, Joss and CT, and I have run this game since day 1, and you’re going, and there’s nothing you can do.”
He is an evil villain at this point. Rogan is feeling himself despite achieving nothing really in the daily challenges. He keeps saying he has smashed all of them, but besides the mud pit challenge, Rogan hasn’t shown much as a competitor. Regardless, the guy has played a flawless political game.
4 Josh’s Journey
It is easy to make fun of Josh. The internet dislikes him an incredible deal, and I’ve taken jabs here and there. This episode, I enjoyed Josh. When asked who he’d want to face in elimination, Josh was legitimately comfortable with facing Theo or almost anyone. Part of it is the fact that Josh is the underdog against anyone he faces. So why be scared of Theo?
I think that Josh needs to work on his self-awareness overall, but he has my respect based on the fact that he easily could have been the Idris of Team USA, and instead, he is playing his own game. Something I want to note is that I don’t think Josh will ever fit on this show. His personality does not mix with the toxic masculine culture, he is not a great athlete, no super book smart, and he isn’t the guy who gets invited to all the parties. Josh is a unique personality. It took over sixty days in the Big Brother house for him to finally find his groove. It doesn’t work that way on the Challenge at all. I would enjoy watching him go on Big Brother again or play a game similar to that in the future.
3 Theo’s Tragic Ending
When Cara told Theo that winning eliminations over and over again is how Wes became a legend, it made me think “30–40% of the cast probably feels like Wes did on the Ruins”. They wake up and know this giant mob alliance controls the game, and the only way to survive is to win eliminations, and ultimately to pick off your friends until there are no more. It gives me even more respect for Wes on the Ruins because he had an entire house against him, aside from KellyAnne and Evelyn. Now onto Theo.
Theo won a physical/endurance elimination against Kyle, he won a carnival game against Bananas, and he won a puzzle-based elimination against Idris. His first career loss is against potentially the greatest Challenge competitor of all-time. I was impressed by Theo to start this elimination. He was killing it, his form looked great, and he seemed to poised to win. Unfortunately, as time went on, he wore down, his form got sloppy, and he got smoked by Jordan. Going into multiple eliminations is a battle of attrition. Just the mental wear and tear of fighting for your life over and over again is tiring. Once Theo goes down to someone like Jordan, it’s hard to come back. Similar to football, once you’re down a touchdown to the Patriots, the concept of winning seems impossible.
What I hate is this might be the last time we see Theo again. He had an eye injury where he potentially might not be medically cleared ever again. With heights over water challenges where having balance, vision, and equilibrium is essential, Theo’s Challenge career could be over. I’m praying he has a full recovery.
2 The Jordie Shore
Good lord, Jordan is now 6–1 in eliminations. The guy is a 2x Champ, he owns a partner win and individual win, and now he’s hunting for a team win. If the guy can pull out 3 wins in 5 seasons in the modern era, along with having this kickass elimination record for fun, then he is putting together the most impressive Challenge resume ever. Imagine having Wes’s elimination stats, more wins than CT, a diverse grouping of wins, dominant final performances, and a sporadic appearance track record where he isn’t a consistent staple to the game’s internal politics.
Watching Jordan and Tori leave Team USA and Team UK is like when you edit rosters in NBA2K and the overalls of USA (95) and UK (82) shift to USA (90) and UK (90). Jordan and Tori are such good competitors that it makes Dee, CT, Jenny, and Joss look like better players. CT is old, he cannot carry Team UK, but Jordan can, and having CT as your second-best player is a massive edge. Having a Dee who can do puzzles while Tori carries more weight physically is big. Team UK has role players to support their new stars. Georgia and Theo were great players, but they were at odds with their team, and as good as they are individuals, they indeed were not carrying the team.
And then we have the proposal. I get hating Jordan. I fucking wrote an article one time title “Is Jordan a Headass,” so I get it. However, their relationship is #goals. They are ride or die for each other, and they are taking the game in their hands. If they beat Cara and Paulie, then they pull off the most significant turnaround in Challenge history. It would be as if Evelyn was able to beat Kenny and Johnny in the Island final instead of joining their boats.
1 Cara the Curmudgeon
I cannot be the only person who was bugged by Cara’s actions and attitude towards Jordan and Tori’s engagement. I understand not being fake, but there’s also just the concept of not being a shit person. There is an incredibly happy and beautiful moment between two people having a real-life moment. They have found happiness with one another, and your immediate reaction is to throw out a comment shitting them. Cara was fucking a literal Facebook/Instagram troll in real life. Even Paulie was annoyed by her comment in the moment. Jordan had talk shit to Paulie only two minutes earlier, and this guy has a smile on his face because he understands that this a real-life moment, and he is a man enough to hug and congratulate Jordan.
There is only a straightforward answer: say nothing. It’s that simple. I’ve always loved Cara, but I can’t fathom a way to twist this positively other than she was such a bad person at this moment.
