The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 15 Recap: 5 Biggest Takeaways
The 15th 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 5Biggest moments/takeaways from Episode 15.
I typically do 10 takeaways; this week, I did 5 because the episode didn’t warrant 10. Honestly, giving 5 this week was generous as this episode could’ve been an e-mail.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
5 A Dark and Drawn Out Daily Challenge
From a visual standpoint, the daily challenge was cool the first time I watched it, and every time after that, it became boring and so drawn out, even with them doing a fast-forward montage of competitors. What shocked me is that Kyland was in the fast-forward section, yet he won the daily challenge and held the power over who was going into elimination.
Some notes I do have: Tori continues to crush it; this was her third solo daily challenge win, and by winning, she put Bananas Angels in an even tougher situation. Second, I don’t blame Aviv for getting lost because the “barrier” was two flimsy sticks, and crucially, it’s insane that the path she took actually went somewhere. Production is lucky Aviv didn’t get hurt, if anything. Additionally, I know Bats rarely attack humans, but if someone had gotten bit with a bat, they’d basically be taken out of the season just by them requiring rabies shots. There are so many ways this daily challenge could’ve gone wrong. It sucked to see Aviv DQ herself because….Rachel would’ve been the woman going in instead, and we would’ve gotten her vs. Jenny, which would have been a heavyweight matchup.
Also, Rachel and Bananas are two of the most OG veterans, yet neither realized the puzzle pieces were double-sided. That’s a rookie mistake and the type of mental error that worries me about how they’d hold up in a Final. Especially Bananas, who are consistently losing these daily challenges due to gaps in the mental aspect of this game.
4 Michele’s Birthday
I said this in my last recap — when I watch Tori, Cara, and Michele together, I sometimes cringe at their corny sense of humor. That said, they seem like they are having genuine fun, so I’ll support them because joy and fun are good things in life, and these people can play the game and enjoy each other’s time! Good for them! It does irk me that Tori’s Devin costume is just a Bob Ross costume; almost any other type of hairstyle would look more like Devin.
3 A Simple Deliberation Question
The deliberation was unnecessary because we knew Kyland would save Michele and throw Jenny into elimination. Still, Tori made it a little interesting by asking the simple question that if Bananas had won the elimination last week: “Which angel would’ve been the nominee?”
Instead of humoring the decently fair question, Jenny and Aviv took great offense to the idea. Overall, the Banans Angels feel so cult-ish to me at this point, between all the foot stuff and rejecting the idea of anyone else playing the game for themselves. During Jenny & Aviv’s elimination, Rachel acted like her two children were in a gladiator pit to the death for godsake. It made me chuckle that Jenny & Aviv said they didn’t like Tori’s manipulative questions & gameplay when they’re tied to Bananas, the all-time manipulator & pot stirrer.
2 Kyland’s Historic Season
During the deliberation, Kyland jokingly brought up that maybe he should vote Michele into elimination because she was part of the alliance that relentlessly voted him into elimination last season. I’ve seen people criticize Kyland for aligning with Michele & Olivia after S39; however, Kyland came into the season as the least connected person on the cast as he had only done a show with 4/39 people there. Of which, his top two allies Nurys and Horacio, were out instantly. So although there might have been some bad blood between them, Kyland getting on good terms with Michele & Olivia was a move he had to make.
Credit to Kyland because he’s gotten to the Top 5 by winning eliminations and daily challenges, and now will have a shot to guarantee himself a spot in the Final as long as he doesn’t come in last in the next daily challenge. Outside of Jordan, Kyland seems like the biggest threat to win on the male’s side right now — which, if Kyland can pull it out, he’d easily have one of the most impressive Challenge Championships in show history. As he and Cory talked about as well, if either won, they’d be the first black male Champion on the flagship show since Nehemiah, and as we saw in the “highlight” clip, it was a via default win due to Big Easy not being able to run 1.4 miles. So, to get Kyland standing atop Season 40 against a historic cast would do a lot for the culture.
1 Jenny vs. Aviv
Similar to Cory vs. Josh, I thought we had another well-designed elimination…IF it wasn’t these two opponents. Jenny was bigger, faster, and stronger than Aviv…AND Aviv has a foot injury. Ultimately, this elimination was only able to go one way, and it went longer than it needed to because Jenny still didn’t know how to throw a ball. Still, Jenny got the win; she’s now a career 5–1 in eliminations and remains a significant threat to win.
On the other side of the coin, Aviv should still be proud of the season she had. To come back for the first time in sixteen years after only doing one season and to come in 6th Place among the most stacked female cast ever is nothing to scoff at. Aviv has proven to be a strong player, and if she appears in any future All-Stars season, she’s a threat to win.
