The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Episode 17 Recap: 5 Biggest Takeaways
The 17th 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 5 Biggest moments/takeaways from Episode 17.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
5 A Location Change & A Messy Dinner
After the location change, we watched the players have a fancy dinner where they commiserated and talked about their favorite moments and challenges from the season. Rather than speak positively, Bananas used every opportunity he had to take shots at Devin to irk Tori & Michele. When Tori commented about this season being different in that it didn’t get run by one major alliance , Bananas called her out as the mega monster alliance. Now, the Vacation Alliance was a thing this season. However, they did not have the overwhelming numbers & influence they did in past seasons. So when Bananas said Tori’s been floating and protected all season, it was a total bullshit comment. Yes, Tori had a decent amount of male allies in these games, but since we’ve hit the individual portion, Tori has remained safe by crushing the daily challenge. Tori won 4/7 solo daily challenges, including every single daily on a male elimination day, which has made it impossible for her to get targeted. For Tori to get those wins, she had to beat Bananas, which at one point consisted of Jenny, Rachel, Laurel, and Aviv — and so Tori was beating them 1 v. 4 as her female allies were not placing highly (besides the one daily Cara won).
Bananas is so butthurt that Tori took the side of her #1 male ally in the game — except, what was Tori supposed to do? He was mad that she had so many male allies; Bananas had four Angels, which would’ve made Tori 5th on his list anyway, so why would she have his back? I think there’s stirring the pot, and I think there’s being a whiny bitch, and right now, Bananas is on the whiny bitch side of things.
4 The Last Daily Challenge
To start, I don’t think the last-place male from the daily challenge should have gotten a penalty for the Final. Getting to the Final is already hard enough; everyone should be able to run it from the start under the same circumstances. Apologies if you think that’s crazy; it’s just how I feel. Now, let’s get through the men real quick. Once again, Jordan won the daily challenge in impressive fashion, where it didn’t even look like he was tired. Kyland gave 110% to outpace Jordan, and even then, Jordan wasn’t that far behind — except when it came to the puzzle, one had much more mental gas. Jordan won, Bananas slipped into 2nd, Kyland fell to 3rd, and Derek took the penalty. Last week was a high point for Derek, and now it’s back to a low; he’s gonna be entering his first real Final already behind.
Onto the women’s side, let’s start with Tori because she shit the bed in epic fashion. After crushing so many mini-final and endurance-based challenges, Tori decided to take it easy, thinking that all she had to do was not come in last place as she didn’t have a target on her. Except when you let your foot off the gas when going against a stacked cast like this, it’s easy to come in last, especially when there’s a 20% chance going in, as there are only five of you. The version of Tori we saw in this daily challenge was the over-arrogant girl who lost to Jenna & Aneesa on Total Madness and Double Agents, where she took them for granted as opponents. In this daily challenge, Tori thought there was no world where she’d lose to Michele even if she did not give 100%, and she was wrong. Shoutout to Michele for not giving up at any point and continuing to push through because by winning the daily challenge, Michele is guaranteed her spot in her first-ever Challenge Final. After the way the Mercenaries personally went after Michele on S39 and the game she played this season, I and many others expected Michele to be an early boot, having to go up against this decorated female cast. Like the little engine that could, Michele continues to persist, and she’s pulled off wins at clutch moments. While I don’t expect Michele to be a big threat in the Final, she should be incredibly proud for making her first Final.
In terms of the actual winner of the daily challenge — we finally saw Jenny put on a performance that reminded us of the woman who dominated Total Madness. Jenny completely outpaced Rachel & Cara, who were each giving their all and were both taken aback by Jenny’s performance. This is the end game, and Jenny is rounding into form. Now, Jenny did make sounds like she was on the verge of passing out, so there is the possibility that Jenny might die in the Final, and if that happens, don’t expect a Season 41. If Jenny kicked her nicotine habit, she’d be completely unstoppable, except the only thing she loves sucking more than that vape is Johnny Bananas toes.
3 Jordan’s Vote
At the beginning of the season, Cara came in 2nd among all 40 competitors during the daily challenge, and then she got voted in by Laurel & Bananas because they could not get over their grudges with her. They voted her into elimination in a mean and personal way. Fast forward to the last elimination of the season today, and because Jordan has had a long time of beef with Cara, everyone expected it to be an easy vote. Instead, we found out that Jordan & Cara have squashed the beef and become friends. Unfortunately, Jordan had a deal with Rachel, and he’s a man of his word, so he voted Cara in, except it was done in a kind and well-meaning fashion. From a storytelling perspective, it reflected the amount of growth Cara’s gone through, and it’s been amazing to see her friendships with Tori, Michele, and Derek blossom.
2 Tori vs. Cara
Seeing that this was a water-based elimination, we all knew Cara was going to lose to Tori. That said, watching Cara hang in there for as long as she did was an absolute testament to the amount of heart & grit she has as a competitor. She refused to quit and only lost when her body gave out. Although she lost, Cara still went out looking strong, and for Tori, it adds to her resume as she won half the solo dailies this season and now has elimination wins over Cara & Kaycee. If Tori wins this season, it might be the most impressive win by a female competitor in show history.
Considering how crazy some of Cara’s fans are, I expect people to be conspiracizing that they made this elimination to guarantee that Tori would beat Tori. Flat out, I don’t think that’s the case — I believe this was the elimination they had planned out in advance, and if I did have a conspiracy…It would be that production expected Michele to come in last place in the daily challenge, and because Michele is really strong in the water, she would’ve been able to give any of Rachel, Jenny, or Cara a run for their money. If Michele had taken out any of those to women win her 4th elimination and go to the Final, it would’ve been an epic underdog moment. Alas, we got what we got.
Had Cara won this elimination, this would’ve been her 7th consecutive Final appearance (if you include All-Stars 4), which would be an all-time Challenge record. She would’ve also tied Kenny Santucci as the only other player to go to 6 straight Finals on the flagship MTV show. By winning, Tori has now qualified for her 5th straight Final (if you include USA 2 & World Championships). Tori’s received so much love and hate through her last half decade on the show, and regardless of how you feel, making five straight Finals is ridiculously tough and puts you in a rare category of players.
1 Projecting The Winners
Men’s Odds:
Jordan (-1,000)
Bananas (+600)
Kyland (+650)
Derek (+2,500)
This is Jordan’s final to lose on the men’s side. Even if he got bitten by a shark, I’d still put money on him to win. Bananas cannot get counted out as a 7x Champ — he can get counted out based on how he’s performed this season and the Ride or Dies Final. Based on their performances this season, Kyland seemed like Jordan’s biggest threat, but I think his lack of experience in a Final will kill him. As we can see in the trailer, water will play a significant role in the Final. Of which, water is Kyland’s big weakness. I love Derek — it’s difficult to expect him to beat any of these men when he hasn’t placed highly in any mini Final comp.
Women’s Odds:
Tori (+140)
Jenny (+175)
Rachel (+175)
Michele (+1500)
Coming into this week, Tori was the heavy favorite to win this Final. Now, having to compete in tonight’s elimination and then directly into the Final will affect her. Still, based on what we’ve seen this season, I’d put my money on Tori. Likewise, Jenny finished pretty highly in all the heavy endurance comps even though she sounded like she was gonna pass out during each, so she’s a big threat. We’ve also seen Jenny win a Final within the last 5 years, which we can’t say for Rachel because she last competed in a Final 15 years ago. I don’t hate Rachel’s chances, though, because the edit has felt like it’s in her favor multiple times this season. Michele is the odd one out, although the amount of water in this Final could give her a shot to do better than expected.
