The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 1 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The first episode of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras is in the books. You probably have some thoughts, so let’s compare. Instead of giving a simple summary, I decided to focus on the 10 Biggest moments/takeaways from Episode 1.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Explosive Emotional Entrance
Season 40 being here is surreal. I’m typically not a fan of explosions on The Challenge because they’re so overplayed, corny, and unnecessary. TJ’s entrance with the fireworks, the waterworks, and the explosion was sick as fuck. CT being the first person to cry on this season was not only my bingo. CT is fully in his feels on this season, and it’s beautiful because this show means so much to us fans; so to see what it means to the guy who is one of the faces of The Challenge makes us feel more validated in watching and following it for so long.
My only criticism for the introduction and this episode is that last week’s Episode 0/Launch Special was 110% required viewing for setting the table for this season. So please go back and watch it if you haven’t.
9 Stakes Matter
I say it every season: stakes matter. On the flagship MTV show, we’ve run into this problem where there is no punishment for last place in daily challenges, so players give half-hearted efforts, knowing they can rely on their alliances and friends. On Season 40, we jump straight into the daily challenge with all forty players having to give their all because 8 of them will be safe/in power, 8 are going directly into eliminations, and then the other 24 have a 1/3 shot of getting voted in. FUCK YES.
Brutal honesty, sometimes I tune out of daily challenges because the placements and who wins don’t matter. In this episode, I was locked in for the entire 20–35 minutes this daily challenge went on because I kept trying to track how all my favorite players were doing.
On Dirty 30, I did not like the opening Purge because it felt a bit random and only tested players’ abilities to run and carry heavy objects. This daily challenge was purely individual (mostly) and had both a mental aspect with the puzzle and a physical aspect with the boat. Additionally, even if you fail, you still get a chance to fight for your life in a traditional 1 v. 1 elimination, so if you’re out, you’re out. Does it suck that we’re losing eight good cast members this soon? Yes, but 40 people is a lot to keep track of, and we’re hooked from the jump with how high these immediate stakes are.
8 It Always Laurel & Cara (Era 2 Daily Performances)
Coming into this season, I’ve seen many fans express that they hope Season 40 is different from the Cara & Laurel show from All-Stars 4 because they’re tired of it. Welp, we didn’t even last 15 minutes into this season because right from the jump, Cara says in confessional that her goal this season is to beat Laurel, plain and simple. Cara is very upfront about the goal, which I respect. When TJ told them that only the winners from their Era would be safe, you could see the fire get lit under both Laurel & Cara’s asses. They were the first two women to complete their puzzles and the daily challenge. Cara impressively beat 38 players, including all 20 men, and she gets nothing for it because Laurel came in 1st. These two women bring out the best and worse out of each other, and I’m fucking hooked to this storyline. We need to take Cara Maria off The Challenge and make her goal in life to end world hunger because if we did, Laurel would feel motivated to get it done first.
Credit to Aviv on the women’s side for coming in 3rd among women from her Era in her first daily challenge in 18 years. Also, I loved her mentioning the idea of getting reunion boobs with her winnings — it’s a lost tradition of The Challenge, shoutout to Casey Cooper and Mandi Moyer. It went down to the wire between Emily & KellyAnne, with KellyAnne being the odd woman out despite beating multiple men from her Era. If Emily had come in last place, the concept of an Emily & Cara opening elimination would be insane.
The men’s side of Era 2 was as weak as advertised. Bananas put in a B-level performance yet was far and away their best player. Ryan and Brandon’s struggles were no surprise; in the end, Ryan is the one going directly into elimination.
7 CT Pro Tips and The Mean Girls Reign (Era 1 Daily Performances)
Not going to lie; at one point, I half expected one of the “CT Pro Tips” to be: “Always Get A Pre-Nup.”
The CT pro tips bordered the line of good-natured fun and overtly corny. My podcast co-host Zoe said if they continue this gag throughout the season, it could have some juice as a recurring bit; if not, we’ll look back at it over the years as a semi-weird first episode thing. Most of these cast members could have used these CT pro tips because he crushed this daily challenge. CT NEEDED to win this Challenge. Mark, Brad, Derrick, and Darrell are all long-time boys who have been doing the All-Stars seasons together. While they are all friends with CT, he’s the outsider, and with this win, he kept himself out of elimination.
On the women’s side, The Mean Girls smashed this daily challenge. Rachel killing it and winning it is no surprise. Tina coming in 2nd for her Era and 5th overall among all 40 players was shocking — especially when they comedically used her in the montage of boats flipping over. Tina’s daily challenge performances on All-Stars 3 & 4 left a lot to be desired, and in my opinion, I thought her days as a good competitor were over. Well, I just saw Tina in person last Saturday, and this woman is in the best shape of her life. While I don’t think Tina is a threat to win the season, if we have Inferno 2/Fresh Meat 1 Tina back in the mix, she can potentially make an extended run on this season, which would be a win for the show as she’s such a great personality.
Mark Long coming in last place had to strike terror into Brad, Darrell, and Derrick because going up against 6'3 220 lb man who is also good at carnival games is a terrifying elimination prospect. Meanwhile, Katie had one of the saddest daily challenge performances I’ve ever had to watch. She struggled with puzzles and couldn’t even figure out how to steer the boat, even with people actively getting into the water to help her. If Moriah or Ravyn from S39 struggled in a daily challenge like this, I would take it as an opportunity to roast them. Except Katie being a bit older and being an actual mom, it made me tear up seeing her struggle because it had me imagining how much it would suck for my mom to be thrown into one of these daily challenges and be out of her depth. It’s been a bad vacation for Katie so far.
6 Cory, The Puzzle Master & Devin, The Physical Powerhouse (Era 3 Daily Performances)
When they first began rolling the clip of Cory practicing puzzles with Ryder, I was ready to send a tweet joking that Ryder beats him most of the time. Instead, I had to hit backspace because Cory solved the puzzle, crushed this daily challenge, and blew out all the other men in his Era. Cory is “rivals” with Tony; he’s had animosity with Devin for years, and he & Jordan have never aligned before — this was a must-win for Cory. If Cory can be average to above average in puzzles, then he might be a realistic contender to win because he’s proven to be able to make it to a Final and has come close so many times now.
Cory killing a puzzle was a definite surprise, just as it was that Devin tripped up on one. Once Devin finally got into his boat, he sank because the boat had a hole in it, and for a good 10 minutes, everyone thought he died. That is until Devin, whose lungs were filled with water and nicotine, came coughing up on the show with all 10 of his lights attached to his body. Devin kept himself out of Last Place with a gutsy performance and an impressive physical display. This is why Devin Walker is now a Challenge Champion and always a contender these days. Even when he’s off his game, he’ll always give it his all and find a way to succeed.
To no surprise, Tori and Jonna came 1st and 2nd among Era 3 women. Amanda came in 4th for Era 3, which caught me by surprise as I thought she’d do better with the puzzle, although this seemingly easy puzzle tripped up multiple players who are historically strong puzzle players, including herself, Devin, Paulie, and Aneesa. She beat Nia, at least. During All-Stars 3, Nia never finished Top 3 in a daily challenge, even when only four women remained. Competing in a group of five, she kept the stat going, which indicates the type of player she is.
5 Michele Survives and Nurys Sinks (Era 4 Daily Performances)
Nobody needed a win more on Era 4 than Michele. With Jenny right on her ass, Michele pulled out the win. Had she not won, whoever went into elimination would’ve wanted to face her, and with Horacio as the top performer on the men’s side, the chances of her going in were HIGH. On the other side of the spectrum, expectations were high for Nurys after her performance on S39, and she even solved the puzzle in this episode relatively quickly. Unfortunately, Nurys could not paddle the boat to save her life, got passed up by all the other Era 4 women, and sent herself directly into elimination. With Michele winning, it meant Nurys would be facing Jenny, Kaycee, or Olivia, which put her between a rock, a hard place, and a less complicated place.
Theo & Paulie each waited years to make their return to MTV and then shit the bed in this opening challenge. It seemed like she was somewhat helping by the end of the daily challenge — while it likely didn’t change the outcome, I wonder if that should’ve been legal.
4 Derrick Takes A Bullet & Entitled Aneesa (Era 1 Deliberations)
When CT approached Derrick about the nominations, I was stunned to see CT mention Darrell’s name because, in every scene with CT & Darrell, they seem like they have a strong bond. I was even more shocked when CT said Darrell might be coasting on name reputation more than ability — not because I think he’s wrong, just because it’s something I didn’t expect him to say. The concept of Darrell being a weak link on a team is crazy; then again, their Era consists of five legendary male Champions.
Derrick choosing to take the bullet for Darrell was an admirable move, and I believe was made partly because Derrick regrets chickening out of calling Wes into elimination on All-Stars 3. It’s not a smart move as unless it’s cardio or climbing elimination, I don’t love Derrick’s chances against Mark.
On the women’s side, Rachel got put in a tough position. Even if Tina had finished 4th, Rachel would’ve actively tried to save her because they are close friends — closer than Rachel is to Aneesa, even though Rachel & Aneesa dated all those years ago. Aneesa should be aware of that, so Tina, finishing a strong second, took her completely off the table. Once it becomes a conversation between Aneesa & Jodi…It becomes a no-brainer that Aneesa has to go in. Jodi is a beast and an asset to her Era — if they compete as a team, they’ll need her physicality to keep up with the younger Eras. Aneesa’s stupefaction at the decision displays an incredible amount of entitlement and a lack of self-awareness. I think Aneesa got too used to playing on these modern flagship seasons where she can stink in the daily challenges, and then her vacation alliance friends don’t make her an early vote. And when they do, she blames them for not giving her a shot because of her age or shape. While having to play within the Era of her peers, they’re not voting Aneesa in based on age-ism, they’re doing it on merit. When Aneesa complained that CT always votes her in — it’s because CT has watched her for two decades and knows her abilities.
3 Laurel vs. Cara (AGAIN), featuring Bananas (Era 2 Deliberations)
Although they did not have the finger-pointing from Era 4, the Era 2 deliberations were the most tense. Laurel was like a praying mantis waiting for the moment Cara would slip up with a word or phrase so she could swoop in and attack her. It was up eating Laurel inside that Cara remained composed and confident in the face of her and her other long-time rival in Johnny Bananas. Bananas threw a little trap out for Cara by asking what she would do if Cara were in their spot. Cara quickly shut that down by saying it’s hypothetical; we’re living in the now. If Cara said she’d save them, they could call her a liar or brush it off — instead, Cara was like, “Nope, let’s confront this right now.” I thought Bananas was cheekily impressed by her not acknowledging it. Bananas knew that Cara would’ve fallen for it hook-line-and-sinker a decade ago.
Aviv did not have a super compelling argument. I just think the less she says, the better, and all she can hope for is for Cara to bury herself. From what I saw, Cara didn’t, yet Laurel was staring at her with death eyes.
On the men’s side, Ryan asked for Brandon because Nehemiah is the 2nd strongest guy in their Era, and Derek is his best friend, so there was only one choice. Brandon was upset about the decision, yet understood why.
2 Elite Negotiators Amanda Garcia & Tony Raines (Era 3 Deliberations)
“I didn’t like you before. I don’t like you now. I won’t like you after this.”
Those were words said by Amanda Garcia as she was pleading her case to not go into elimination with Tori. She is a truly one-of-a-kind and such a special Reality TV cast member. If Amanda goes into elimination, I hope the elimination ends up being a mental comp or something like Colorado Geography or Prison Slang Trivia because we need to keep her in this game for entertainment alone.
Tony kept trying to pitch the idea to Cory that Jordan was the better choice for elimination because he’s the harder player to beat in a Final. And you know what? Tony wasn’t wrong; Jordan is beating their butts in a Final. However, I think Cory was dumb for eliciting any response from Tony other than, “Hey, look who the person to my right is?” With Tori as the other winner, it did not matter whether Cory or Tony were rivals because there’s no world where she’s letting her #1 ally Devin or his ex-fiance Jordan go into the first elimination on her watch. A Tony vs. Leroy elimination sounds like good television.
1 Paulie vs. Theo and Horacio & Nurys Get Lost in The Sauce (Era 4 Deliberations)
With Nurys coming in last place, she and Horacio’s main focus was on who she would face in elimination. They decided Kaycee was too well-rounded — which I think is correct; Kaycee’s skill set has allowed her to dominate in the elimination arena. So then it became between Jenny & Olivia, and from there, Olivia is definitely the person you want to face, and that’s what Nurys said in the deliberation. Michele didn’t like that, as Olivia was her #1 ally. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you told me Michele would cry in Episode 1. Her crying while in a position of power after winning a daily challenge…That caught me by surprise and had me laughing.
I’ll say this…Nurys & Horacio fucked themselves over big time after the daily challenge in this episode. The two of them got so caught up with the idea of who Nurys should face in elimination that they completely overlooked the strategic & political side of the men’s game. Theo didn’t. He realized that Horacio, Kyland, Nurys, and Paulie could theoretically control the numbers in their Era if he faced Josh in elimination. So Theo went on the offensive and campaigned to face Paulie so that his side with Josh, Jenny, Kaycee, and Olivia would have the numbers overwhelmingly if he were to beat Paulie.
If Nurys wants Horacio to win as much as her, they should’ve bargained with Michele to put Josh in elimination, and in return, Nurys will take on Jenny instead of Olivia. While Jenny is scarier than Olivia — I think Olivia’s size also gives her a distinct advantage against Nurys in any headbanger anyway, so we might as well take a bigger shot at Jenny and pray it’s a puzzle.
Paulie’s deliberation performance didn’t help his case. At one point, Paulie said, “My relationships in the house aren’t known…” and when he said that, I banged my hand on my desk and said, yes, just like when you started hooking up with Cara on Final Reckoning, and your girlfriend back home didn’t know. Joking aside, Paulie threw out any idea of saving himself and decided to combat Theo fully in the deliberation, and we’re going to see them in elimination. Seeing the drama between these two, where they mention War of the Worlds 2, was a reminder of what the Challenge has been missing. In recent seasons, with all the rookies, international cast members, and Vacation Alliancers, the show has been missing the shared history and continued storylines that make it great. These two men have 5+ year-old beef and are going it now. Same with Cory & Tony on Era 3, and so on. The Challenge feels fully back, and next, we’re going to get 8 fucking eliminations.
We’re in for a show.
