The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 10 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 10th 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 10.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Devin’s Influence
When important players get eliminated on The Challenge, it’s a cliche where fans will say the show won’t be the same without them or that their absence will be felt. Well, Devin got eliminated, and I’d say he was more important in this episode than in any he was actually on (in human form) this season. Production had so much fun editing in Devin’s cutouts and dropping his sound bytes when they could. Eliminated Devin spoke more on this season than Olivia has!
To Bananas’ credit, he was right in saying Devin was the Head of the Snake and the heart of the alliance, as the house feels so divided now that Devin is gone. Devin’s absence has players scrambling, with some going into fight mode and some going into Micheletdown mode.
9 The New Individual Game
As much as I loved the colorful ERA jerseys, I liked MTV making the switch to have the remaining players compete in new black uniforms. It’s a sleek look and reminds me of Hell’s Kitchen, where they switch the apron colors once we gear up to crown a winner.
Although I’m not a fan of the alternating male/female elimination days, as I fear it might make the season drag and be more predictable, some interesting wrinkles got added to the game. The first is that last place on their elimination day goes into elimination regardless of whether they are a target, which is great as it forces everyone to do their best/not be awful. Additionally, even if it’s not your gender elimination day, if you come in last place, you’ll get a penalty at the next challenge, which could put you into elimination the next episode. We also found out that in the event of a stalemate, the opposite gender has the power, so really, the men competed for safety this week while women competed for power.
8 You Might Be Tough, But You’re Not Tougher Than The Sun
The weather made the daily challenge super intense. These incredible-looking fit humans were getting their asses kicked by the heat, and it was very telling for who was likely to be a threat in the Final. Unsurprisingly, Jordan crushed this daily challenge and even got some accidental help from Johnny Bananas. On the men’s side, Kyland and Josh were both absolute horses, coming in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In terms of low-lights, Derek and Ryan had all-time bad performances with their games already on the line as targets. It seemed like Derek had a knee injury from a previous daily challenge as he was bandaged up, and Ryan was a fucking mess. Ryan did not listen to the CT Pro Tip that you should inspect your puzzle pieces to see if there are any clues. If Ryan had done so, he would’ve figured out the big clue that his dumbass was doing the puzzle with the pieces upside down. Based on the edit, I assume Ryan was there for anywhere between 10–20 minutes. All during that time, the fact he never flipped the pieces or looked at anyone else’s station to get a sense of what he was doing is baffling. Had Ryan flipped those pieces, he wouldn’t have gone into elimination.
For the women, Tori made a statement as she not only beat every other woman physically, but I think she was done with the puzzle before anyone except maybe Cara Maria touched theirs. If you weren’t considering Tori a top contender to win, this daily challenge shows she’s up there with the best. The Top 5 women in this daily challenge were those we all expected: Tori, Cara, Laurel, Jenny, and Rachel. Meanwhile, the bottom three were Olivia, Nia, and Michele — this would have been a great daily challenge for them to show they’re more than what people expect. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that, and Michele’s loss and breakdown was particularly rough.
7 The Micheletdown
After Michele’s last-place finish, she got medical attention and got taken into the van. We got a mostly unedited moment between herself and Olivia where Michele lets out all her insecurities in the game about how she doesn’t feel like she can win and gets this super strong group. It stood out to me because Michele deals with so much criticism, and she tries to persist — except here, you can see both the comments of fans and her own inner mind are picking at her as she’s trying to play. I like Michele and believe she’s gone much farther this season than I expected. She’s proven to have skills and abilities in this game, and while I don’t know if she can win, I want to see her keep trying.
6 Bananas “threatens” Tori
Following some underwhelming (from an entertainment standpoint) appearances by Bananas on Ride or Dies, USA 2, and World Championships, I’m so happy we’ve been seeing the vintage version of himself. Him running with the narrative that he wouldn’t be begging Tori to save him, only threatening her to vote him in, was a great move because it flashes a mirror at Tori, paints her as the aggressor, and makes her realize that if she’s going to make the move, you’re taking the shot with Ryan as the bullet. As Bananas noted in the deliberation, there was an almost guaranteed chance he’d return to the game with Ryan as his opponent.
Credit to Tori for still going forward and taking shots at Bananas. Tori’s been a flip-flopper and a fair-weather friend for years — in this scenario, though, she’s stayed loyal to Devin and is willing to buck up against a guy (Bananas) she’s been friendly with for 8 years. That takes some cajones. I will note (and Bananas loudly noted it as well) that it was frustrating to see Tori attempt to change her reasoning for voting in Bananas multiple times. Some consistency would be nice — it’s a big move, and you should take ownership of it and do so with pride.
5 Bananas Angels
It’s bizarre to see Rachel not only be civil with Bananas but also join the “Bananas Angels” alliance. For a decade on social media, Rachel was vocally against Bananas, and now that they’re on a season together, the expectation was that they’d be at odds. Now, especially off the show, they seem like best buddies.
While I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t get a Rachel & Bananas face-off, I don’t blame her because Era 1 has had it rough and now she can align herself with power players. I do think being part of the Bananas alliance does put a target on Rachel, and if you get nominated alongside your allies, in this case, you’re facing Laurel, Jenny, or Aviv. Honestly, this alliance might only benefit Bananas as now half the women on the cast (4/9 being technical) won’t make him a target.
I do want to shoutout Rachel for having a conversation with Tori where she essentially told Tori she wouldn’t be mad if Tori targeted Bananas, formed a somewhat deal with Jordan on the side, and remains in contact. Rachel is playing the game from all angles.
4 Ladies of Leisure
If the Ladies of Leisure alliance had been introduced between Episodes 2–4, they would be a fun group to follow. Establishing them in Episode 10 when the game is getting serious and we’re gearing up towards a winner feels silly. Fans at home are already questioning why Olivia, Nia, Michele, Derek, and Ryan are still there, and they’re playing up the lay-up angle, which maybe is self-aware — it’s just not as whimsical when we’re trying to crown a winner here.
3 Cara In The Middle
Between Bananas Angels and the Ladies of Leisure, the person left in the middle is somehow Cara Maria. All-Stars 4 was the Cara Maria show, and the beginning of this season felt the same way — it’s been fascinating to see Cara fall into the background, even she’s been curiously commenting on it during the episodes. Cara is disappointed that Rachel is buddies with Bananas, and she’s shocked that Tori is feuding with him the way she used to. It almost feels like Cara is now watching the show with us. The difference between us and Cara is that she is a 10x Finalist with a real shot to win this season, and if these two alliances go back and forth with one another, she might slide into that Final and win.
2 Goodbye Ryan
The elimination was fun and wacky — it’s something I’d love to play. Going into this, I thought Ryan had no shot as he’s from New York, which means he likely doesn’t drive a ton. Meanwhile, Bananas is from So Cal, and I can tell you from my first-hand experience we are built differently as drivers because our freeways are insane. In the end, Bananas didn’t even need to play the elimination risky or anything; he was able to play it safe until Ryan fucked up. Once Ryan fucked up, Bananas took advantage of his mistakes. Yes, Ryan got close to Bananas in Round 2, but ultimately, Bananas was having fun, and it was a 2–0 sweep.
With this win, Bananas is now tied with Wes, Cara, and Aneesa for the most all-time eliminations on the flagship show. Ryan made it much further than I expected him to this season, which has allowed him to do plenty of Instagram Q & A’s.
1 Bananas and Tori at their best
At this point, the biggest criticism of Tori and Johnny Bananas is their lack of authenticity as Reality TV characters. Each of their reactions to finding Bananas would not be able to target her was amazing. Tori talked some shit and celebrated; Bananas got frustrated and took out the frustration with some pointed jabs at his new targets: Michele, Olivia, and Nia. It’s great to see two legitimate power players at odds with one another.
