The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 13 Recap: 8 Biggest Takeaways
The 13th 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 6 Biggest moments/takeaways from Episode 13.
I typically do 10 takeaways; this week, I did 8 because the episode didn’t warrant 10. I didn’t hate the episode; there was just stuff that I didn’t feel the need to hammer.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
8 Dinner Fight
First, I want to say that Josh is an idiot for continuing his fight with Michele from the elimination arena last episode into the house this week. Even if Josh was upset, he should’ve apologized and kissed ass because Michele was a target, which meant if she went into elimination and won, she’d have the power to put him up. Josh said in a confessional that he’s not afraid of going into elimination at this point in the game. Either Josh is lying, or he is a bigger fucking moron than I’ve already alleged he is in this paragraph because this is the point in the game where you should do whatever you can to stay out of elimination. The Final is right around the corner, and this is the point in the game where Josh typically gets thrown in and eliminated. Josh should be terrified from past trauma and experience alone. At this point, Josh is the kid in the horror movie who says he’s not afraid of Freddy Krueger, but in a few minutes, he will realize that he’s sleeping and is in a nightmare.
Do you know who Freddy Krueger is in this situation? His ally, Johnny Bananas. Bananas added fire to the flames of the Josh & Michele fight to guarantee Josh will get a target on him next week because Bananas knows he will certainly be a target as well. If you’re Bananas, you’d much rather face Josh in elimination than Kyland, Jordan, or Cory.
Talking about adding fire to the flame — the fact this fight went on as Derek was trying to teach Michele how to cook was hilarious. The “kitchen” area on this show is a joke — it is a narrow hallway with a hot plate. The fact they put 40 people in a house with only two bathrooms and a makeshift hallway kitchen is absurd.
7 The Foot Fetish Episode
Someone with a serious foot fetish is blackmailing the editors of this show. In this episode, we got more close-up images of people’s feet than Derek Chavez’s confessionals this season. All I know is that there’s someone pissed out there who has likely paid Tori good money for feet content on her Onlyfans, only to see them on full display here.
6 Puzzling Pyramid Challenge
I know last week was the Mini Final, but since the game has hit the individual portion, they’ve always felt like Mini Final as they’ve all been individuals physically racing and solving puzzle(s). It wouldn’t hurt to get a silly or more carnival-game-like daily challenge. Then again, we are approaching the end game, so these challenges designed to thin out the weak are important. The puzzle in this week’s daily challenge threw so many players for a loop — I will note that once a couple of people solved it, everyone began to cheat, and suddenly, a bunch of players got correct checks.
After a couple of subpar performances the previous two weeks, Cara Maria walked into this week with a target and put up a statement daily challenge win. On top of looking physically impressive, Cara was the first woman to solve the puzzle, and while Cara sometimes blanks out on puzzles, she’s also solved some of the harder puzzles this show has ever seen. With this daily challenge win, Cara theoretically has put herself two eliminations away from making it to a record-setting 7th straight Final (if you include All-Stars 4). I did feel bad for Olivia because she had her best performance of the season, both physically & mentally, only to come up short, and because Michele finished in last & Cara won, Olivia had to go into elimination via default.
On the men’s side, you can tell Kyland is pushing Jordan to give 100% because Jordan was emphatic in his confessional after his win. Jordan & Kyland now have two wins each, with Kyland having two second-place finishes and Jordan having one. While Johnny Bananas has been the star drama-wise — the men’s game feels like a two-horse race.
Talking about low lights, Cory had a poor showing this week, and his coming in last puts him in a bad position for next week. Meanwhile, Michele finished last for the second time in the solo phase and was second-to-last week. One would expect Michele to do better because of all the puzzles; however, Michele’s lack of puzzle prowess in these recent episodes has been due to her physical ability. Michele is giving 150% of herself to try and keep up with the fit & athletic beasts on this show, so much so that she’s zonked when she hits the puzzles. Seeing Michele compete affirms to me why players like Sarah Rice and Ashley Mitchell are underrated as athletes/physical competitors. They’d be able to run miles and have the mental energy to crush puzzles. If Michele can put more time into working out in the offseason, she can be a real threat, especially when not facing a cast as stacked as this one. We live on the present thought, and she’ll likely continue to rank near the bottom this season.
5 Bananas Bus Blow Up
When Michele “joked” about joining Bananas & Aviv’s foot party, it definitely was not an innocent jab; it was done by Michele with intent. At the same time, I think it was a comment that could’ve gotten shrugged off silently, and instead, Bananas loud reaction to it made it into a TV moment. We don’t get bus scenes on this show anymore, and for it to make the edit, it was because of the Bananas blow up. It is a bit crazy that this scene with Bananas and Aviv happened, and he’s so mad about it, yet he was the guy who brought the GoPro on Bloodlines and used it on Cara Maria and Tom. Bananas & Aviv are not hooking up, and I don’t want anyone to think they are because Aviv is 150% loyal to her husband, and there’s a clear difference between a cameraman and a contestant’s handheld camera. When Bananas lashed out at Michele, I don’t think he was wrong when describing Michele’s abilities in this game, yet, I don’t think Michele would deny what he is saying fully because she’s a harsh critic who doubts herself. Interestingly, we saw Cara jump in and defend her, similar to how she did with the big Laurel blowup earlier this season.
It’s always amazing to see how Bananas does when he tastes his own medicine a bit. The way Bananas and his angels were chastising and villainizing was genuinely wild. Whether you like or hate Michele or Olivia as characters, they are not intimidating or threatening on the Richter scale of Challengers. While I’m a fan of the Lavender Ladies, when you compare the stuff Amanda, Ashley, and Shane would say to Bananas, they make Michele & Olivia look like Teletubbies.
4 Derek’s Social Game
Most fans likely expected Derek to be one of the first boots this season, and instead, he’s one of the final six men in the game and has gotten here without seeing elimination. So, is he playing a masterful social game like Johnny Bananas said? Yes and No. Derek’s gotten multiple lucky breaks this season. During the team phase, Bananas & Nehemiah had bigger targets as the stronger players on their team, and Derek didn’t have a weak label either because Ryan was a worse player than him. So Derek was able to ride the middle, and with this individual game format, his bonds with players like Olivia & Michele have benefitted him as their peril has led to his safety.
3 An Alliance of Circumstance
It’s wild how much time flies. Almost a decade ago, Cara and Cory were battling against each other in a Final, wearing fully tailored suits as they raced in Berlin. Fast forward to today — while these two have done six seasons together, they haven’t crossed paths too much since that Bloodlines season. Cory had super abbreviated runs on Vendettas & Final Reckoning, and while he beefed with some of Cara’s allies, they never fought — he also wasn’t there when so many players and fans soured on Cara during War of the Worlds 1 & 2. Likewise, Cara wasn’t there for Cory’s return to the show, where he ripped off multiple Finals appearances.
Now they’re playing in this game where they’re both clearly strong competitors, yet on the outside of all the major alliances. And from that, now they’re each others #1’s because, well, every other bridge is either burned or closed. Honestly, I’m here for the Cory & Cara alliance.
2 Michele vs Olivia
The elimination was very much in Michele’s wheelhouse. On Survivor, Michele famously dominates a puzzle where players must build a tower and visually sense how the differently shaped pieces can make even levels. Michele won that puzzle both times she played on Survivor and during the Challenge mini Final , so this elimination was similar to the one where you gauge the size of the different ladder rungs. Plus, you throw in the word scramble, giving Michele an edge from her Survivor experience and what she does for fun. Knowing all of that, Olivia did fantastic in this elimination.
I thought Michele’s strategy of organizing all her ladder rungs by size was smarter and more efficient. Now, I don’t understand why Michele chose to organize them so far away from the ladder; she could’ve dragged them closer to the ladder and organized them as close to it as possible. If she had done so, there would’ve been less resistance from the harness they were attached to, thus leading to less physical exertion. Olivia didn’t have a clear strategy, she threw herself into the fire and was killing it from a physical perspective. If you watch the elimination back, Olivia was climbing the ladder 2–3x faster than Michele. Unfortunately, Olivia was clueless when it came to the world scramble.
Credit to Michele for having the instinct to find a variation of the word elimination as a starting point, once she had that, it was instant. In each of Michele’s eliminations, I’ve walked away from all of them thinking her opponent was physically superior, yet she persists and survives. Michele’s won three eliminations this season and won five of her last six if you count USA 2. I’m not saying you have to treat Michele like an elite player, but put some respect on her name.
On paper, Olivia had a decent season: she finished Top 7 on a stacked cast, beat Nurys in a Hall Brawl, was part of a showmance that’s now a real relationship with Theo, and was part of an alliance (The Ladies of Leisure) that beefed with Bananas. Except I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by her. Olivia had positive momentum the last couple of weeks; it just wasn’t enough for me to urgently want her back for another season.
1 New Targets
As expected, Michele nominated Bananas, Josh, and Cory as the targets. Considering their history together, it would be awesome to see Bananas & Cory go head-to-head in elimination for the first time. If Josh can beat either of these two men, it would be the highlight of his Challenge career. There’s also the possibility that any of Kyland, Jordan, or Derek might come in last during the daily challenge, although, I expect it to be Cory based solely on the fact that he’s got a disadvantage.
The numbers have thinned, and that Final is around the corner. We’re in the endgame.
