Challenge War of the Worlds Episode 5 Recap : 10 Biggest Takeaways

Episode 5 is in the books and I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from the fifth episode. Since you’re Challenge fans reading this, I figure you likely have watched the episode already. These will be integral storylines that the fifth episode focused on. I’ll breakdown why they matter for the season.

Honorable Mentions:

• Josh and Paulie’s friendship
• Turbo is getting the Dario edit
• Bear and Theo’s friendship
• Dee’s social game

And now to the 10 that made the cut:

10 Jenny is a beast

She was the first woman to perform the daily challenge and set a time better than any other female by over thirty seconds. Being regarded by Challenge fans as a strong competitor is cool, but being regarded by your fellow cast members as a top player is infinitely more important. If other players are afraid of facing her in elimination, then that’s the only social game you will ever need. Even when she’s not performing at her best, the other women fear Cara in elimination (even if they won’t say it). Jenny is proving herself in the daily challenges.

9 CT has stuff going on

At the beginning of the episode, CT talks to his teammates about how losing daily challenges is not bad because they need to trim the fat to have a fit group for the final. CT knows from the Inferno 2 and Gauntlet 3 that a weak link can sink your team in a final. He is the leader of the UK group, and he has a long-term view of the game, which is essential.

However, Theo challenging CT shows that there could potentially be an upsurge against him. Theo is a strong player, and if anyone on Team UK could gun through their own team in eliminations, it is him. CT should be worried.

8 Zach is floating

It is weird seeing Zach not fully align with Jordan as they usually align most seasons. Then again, it is the first time they have been on a season together since Exes 2. Ironically, the swing vote position is probably the best spot any player could be in on a team-based season. Because two sides are continually hurling grenades at one another, Zach can float and choose which side is better for him every week. It could lead to some issues for him in the end-game, though he should be able to make it there at least.

7 I relate to Nicole spiritually

We have not seen much of Nicole this season. When she declined to jump during the swimming challenge immediately, I related to her so hard. Heights are terrifying! Even with a safety harness, it is difficult to thrust yourself off a cliff. There’s an amount of trust you need to make the jump that some people do not have.

Her killing the swim portion was one of the most shocking moments because, until this point, I thought Nicole had no value as a competitor. She is good at something besides being Georgia’s best mate!

6 Jordan and Tori are on the outside

When Jordan and Tori aligned themselves with Bananas and Laurel, they probably expected to steamroll through the game. Bananas is a 6x champ, and Laurel is a monolith with the greatest elimination record in Challenge history. Instead, they are both out in consecutive weeks, early in the game. Jordan and Tori are in the minority with Nany on their side, and Leroy/Zach potentially floating away from them.

Jordan and Tori better hope Team USA stops throwing its teammates into elimination, or they need to go through the elimination ringer to succeed. I feel Jordan is in a worse political spot with Wes gone than he was with Wes on the team. My advice for them is for Tori to avoid doing a fake British accent as it may offend Team UK. She’s into doing accents and characters, but I would table it if I were her.

5 Theo vs. Rogan is heating up

Rogan’s name has been on the chopping block every time there’s been a guy’s elimination day. Every time, it’s been someone else in elimination. I hope these two players end up in elimination together because their rivalry within the team is heating up. Rogan is a thick little ball of muscle, and Theo is a tall and skinny athlete. The visual of any elimination between the two would make for great story-telling. It reminds me of a video game where you create two fighting characters, and you’re not quite sure who has the advantage. Or it’s like watching a grilled cheese fight a taco.

4 Swimming Challenges Make Me Sad

I get incredibly sad when someone does poorly in a swimming challenge. Mostly because I know the internet is going to roast them for not being able to swim well, which in my mind, is a bit unfair. Yes, I understand you can take swimming lessons, and you should prepare yourself if you know you’re going to be on the Challenge. Swimming is something where if you don’t start when you’re young, it is difficult to teach yourself when you’re older.

I didn’t learn how to swim until I was 13 years old. I ended up becoming a decent swimmer but compared to my friends who grew up with pools and took classes when they were younger; I was miles slower. Especially whenever in natural water versus a swimming pool. Swimming challenges are cool when some does well. When someone does poorly because it’s out of their hands, I feel bad for them. Also, shout-out to Dee, she learned how to swim last season and didn’t post one of the three worst times.

3 Cara’s logical clapbacks

Generally, arguments are not Cara Maria’s strong suits. She gets tongue-tied and often finds her on the losing side of any immediate verbal altercations. This episode, she stung back with some zingers. Josh attempted to sway her into not voting in Bananas because Team USA should not vote in their players. Cara retorted, “you turned on Wes for saying one thing to you, do you know the years of stuff Johnny has put me through.” She burned Josh’s move while backing her own. An impressive feat.

When TJ kind of mocks her and Paulie for voting in Bananas, stating he is the greatest player in Challenge history, Cara notes he is the best player… for team UK. Which is true, he knocked down Ashley in the previous challenge which granted the UK their first win. She then notes, “when is the last he’s made a final.” Another good point as Cara has made the final of the previous four seasons, whereas Johnny hasn’t been in one in over five seasons.

2 Paulie’s dilemma

I genuinely do not believe Paulie ever had any intention of voting in a Team USA member when he shook Bananas hand and made his deal with Josh. Even until Cara cast her vote for Bananas, Paulie did not want to make a move against his team.

Despite his relationship with Cara, you can feel Paulie wants to be known as a great individual. They’re almost like a wrestling tag team where Paulie intends to go solo and become a World Champion. As much as he wants to win with Cara, his desires conflict him. Voting Bananas in was a great move because it guarantees his alliance a majority in the team as either Bananas will get eliminated, or he will switch to Team UK. Josh and Laurel turning on Team USA first grant Paulie the justification to take the shot.

1 Bruised Banana

This was the best elimination Bananas could get against Theo. Bananas usually excels in carnival game type challenges, and Theo’s lengthy body would be tight in the cage. Bananas switching the number 6 and 7 balls almost seemed like a mistake he made on purpose. I almost cannot believe he did that.

He had put himself in a great situation with Laurel by his side, and an alliance of strong veterans. A weird technicality in the Ninja/Laurel elimination, the numbers flipping, and a strong UK player being in the elimination against him led to his ultimate downfall.

If Bananas keeps up this streak, MTV needs to reconsider whether he’s worth the appearance check.