The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras Launch Special Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The Launch Special 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 0.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Why Is This Just Not Labeled As Episode 1?
I thought this launch special was legitimately fantastic. So fantastic that I’m angry that it was not labeled as Episode 1 because there’s so much important stuff from this episode that will likely get called upon for future episodes. The way they edited this episode set the table where we got introduced to most of this 40-person cast in a refreshing way where you felt like you got to see everyone. I know that once the actual season starts, it will be difficult to keep track of everyone there, especially for those who didn’t watch this episode.
There will be rivalries, storylines, and showmances that may feel random because people didn’t watch this. On top of it all, there were just so many cute interactions and moments from this episode alone.
9 Era 1 Bringing The Vibes
Era 1 was the least messy of all the groups to come in. They were the group that really seemed to cherish and appreciate what Season 40 means, especially Mark, CT, and Rachel. The best early Era 1 interaction had to be the conversation between Katie and Horacio, as it was visually jarring to see these two people from entirely different eras & worlds put in the same game together. Katie is known for drama; she doesn’t care much about the competition and is a Road Ruler. Horacio might not even know what Road Rules is; he’s not about drama and is all about the competition. Yet, these two had a pleasant interaction, and there is something similar to them. When Katie was on the Inferno, she went into multiple eliminations with her team against her and came out on Champion. In Horacio’s rookie season, he went into and won 5 eliminations! These two people are so different and alike in a way.
The Challenge is beautiful like that.
8 Era 2 (Laurel v Cara)
It is absurd how strong the Era 2 women are. You have Laurel, Emily, and Cara — three different women who people claim to be the strongest female competitor in show history — all on one team. Then you have KellyAnne, who is in the conversation among the best women to never win. Lastly, you have Aviv, the one-and-done Champion of Fresh Meat 1, who still looks amazing as she works as a personal trainer. It’s a stacked women’s squad.
Conversely, their male side is lacking. You have Bananas & Nehemiah, and then the dropoff is steep. Derek did well on All-Stars 4, except that was against a weak male cast.
I had three big takeaways from the Era 2 intros. The first being that Johnny Bananas banana blazer jacket was the ugliest outfit anyone wore this episode. Everyone looked so glowing, and then he looked corny as fuck. At the same time, I LOVED IT. It was ugly and on brand in that it reminded me of the Johnny Bananas that I love to hate. Also, he looks like a younger version of the Monopoly Man.
The second takeaway was Ryan’s comments about Era 4’s players being caricatures, which encapsulated how most viewers at home feel. Although I like almost everyone cast on this season from Era 4, Ryan was spitting. Also, his admitting that Derek sends him OnlyFans screenshots is something I can’t believe got left in the edit because that’s just straight-up illegal.
The third and most important takeaway is that Laurel & Cara is a never-ending story. These two are so toxic to one another, and there are so many layers to their story. Cara was absolutely correct when she said Laurel only welcomed her back with open arms after beating her in the All-Stars 4 Final because it re-established a pecking order between them. Laurel was correct in saying they’re forever rivals as well. AND I also agreed with Brad and Paulie’s sentiments regarding these two. Victim was a strong word used by Brad — but I also share Brad’s opinion that Cara loves being the underdog that people root for. Likewise, no matter what you think about Paulie, I think as a boyfriend who cares about Cara, there’s no world where he should want to see her comingling with Laurel when all Laurel does is repeatedly dunk on her. All four people had valid opinions, which displays how nuanced the situation between them is.
7 Era 3 (Tony v Cory)
One person really stood out among Era 3, and I’ll get into them later in this blog.
So, pivoting to the rest of the group, there were two major things. The first is that I loved that Leroy got a video of Kam and the kids at home — she gave birth only a couple of weeks before this season began filming. Kam is someone who defined her Era (4), and the fact she couldn’t be on the season to compete sucks. Getting to at least see her was a nice consolation.
The other major storyline is Tony & Cory. They haven’t been on a season together since Final Reckoning, and Cory was the one with more bad feelings towards Tony. Now, some people might wonder why that is, as Cory was the one who slammed Tony. Well, here’s what it comes down to… Did Cory fuck up by slamming Tony? Yes, absolutely. At the same time, Tony played victim very hard after the season in a way that, in my opinion (and likely Cory’s), felt strange, considering Tony had already disrespected Cory by throwing out his food and then crowded his 6'3 220 lb drunk body over Cory. Considering Tony had previously got into a physical altercation on this show and gotten kicked off a season for getting aggressive near a woman, I don’t think he had any place to act like a saint in response to what Cory did.
Now, the reason there’s still bad blood is that, as the rumor goes, MTV basically told Cory he had to take a couple of seasons off because of this incident. For Cory, this break meant money out of his pockets, and so that’s why he still wants some “revenge.” These two are both dads who have “matured,” so I was a bit worried they’d be boring this season. Nope, they have some fire left in them.
6 Era 4 (Nurys v Olivia)
There’s not much to say about Era 4 other than they looked good. Nurys looked gorgeous, Michele looked stunning in her confessionals, Paulie had some crazy outfits that I kind of liked, Theo and Josh looked tall, Horacio is handsome, Jenny’s body is ridiculous, and so on.
Nurys vs. Olivia is the storyline we’re all supposed to be excited for, yet I felt a bit underwhelmed by them.
5 Strong Women
Shoutout to Rachel Robinson. While Rachel was always a top competitor back in the day, as a personality, it felt like she would take a backseat to Veronica and even Tina at times. In this episode, Rachel shined and stood tall as a personality not just of her Era but for the entirety of this franchise.
Her toast to all the strong & badass women was fucking awesome, and I don’t think overreacting when I say that it’s probably the best toast we’ve ever seen on this show. Kudos to the editing team for the awesome montage of badass women’s moments.
There was also a shot later in the episode where Rachel, Emily Schromm, Jenny West, and Jodi Weatherton were all in the pool next to each other. It was a crazy visual to see those four ridiculously fit women next to each other.
4 House Review (I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying)
Living in a castle seems cool. I’ve personally never lived in a castle. The players getting King Sized mattresses is a big win for all of them, especially the olds. Expect players to be getting a ton of sleep this season. Also, having bigger beds will likely lead to more hookups.
What really jumped out were the paintings and photos of classic moments. In particular, we got that scene with CT (and Derrick) looking at the images of Diem from the famous mud pit challenge on The Duel. That scene was so raw and emotional, and again, credit to the editing team for putting the clips from those into the picture/painting frames. It’s such a good detail that makes me excited for Season 40 if they’re able to keep this level of editing up.
CT has experienced so much over the past few years, and while it’s not like he’s been gone for a long time, you can tell his most recent setbacks really took a toll on him. He cherishes what The Challenge brought to his life.
3 Amanda truly is a star
When the cast for this season dropped, I saw some people complaining about Amanda’s inclusion, saying she’s done so many seasons, yet never made a Final, people calling her a lay-up, etc. Look, I’m not here to talk about whether Amanda is a lay-up or not (I don’t think she is). What I am here to talk about is that in this cast comprised of 40 high-profile Challenge competitors, Amanda’s presence is still felt, and her star burns brighter than the fake flames of hell they edit in behind her in some confessionals.
In the same episode where Rachel gave her big toast to all the women, she singled out Amanda as the person she was most excited to meet. That’s insane… but it also makes sense because Amanda carries many of the same qualities that Veronica did back in the day. Rachel and Tina looked at Amanda like she was the honorary third Mean Girl this season. It was a cool moment to watch.
Additionally, we saw Tori throw shade at Amanda while talking to Horacio, which for anyone who says Tori & Amanda have a one-sided beef… It’s clearly not. Tori is a Champion with 5 Finals under her belt; she’s in the presence of all these legendary women, and somehow, she still has Amanda on her mind. Likewise, Amanda is more than ready to keep the fire of their rivalry going, and we saw her talking shit about Tori to Devin.
Finishing off, we had the scene between Amanda & Cara where they apologized and bonded. I once got in trouble a bit online for making fun of Amanda making fun of Cara’s dead horse — so when I saw this scene, I was on pins and needles. The most amazing part is that Amanda didn’t even fully apologize in her apology, and then in her confessional by saying, “Cara buried her horse, and I think it’s time we bury the hatchet.” She doubled down on her original joke, which I couldn’t stop laughing at because Amanda is one-of-a-kind.
Given how stacked this cast is, Amanda is not long for this game. This episode was a reminder of why she is here, though. Some people say Radiohead is the favorite band of some of your favorite musicians, and Amanda Garcia is the favorite Challenge and some of your favorite Challengers.
2 Hookup Potential
Because of social media and the trailers, we are aware of certain showmances this season. Devin & Michele and Theo & Olivia are officially couples these days. We saw Michele be very impressed by the impressive male form that is Devin’s naked body. It’s not even a joke; I work out a lot — Devin’s got a body I’d love to get to at some point.
Olivia was basically stalking Theo, and he liked the attention. Transparently, I think Olivia is looking for a storyline because she needs one that doesn’t include her & Nurys. Not to mention, if she and Nurys do get into it, it would help if she has a boyfriend who can fight or at least outrun Nurys’ boyfriend. Also, Olivia is very attracted to Theo and his height.
We saw Nia mention being interested in testing out the buffet, and they panned in on Kyland and Josh. Both are always interested in female affection, and it would be fun to see if a love triangle brings out Hurricane Nia.
The one potential showmance from this episode we have yet to see in trailers is Brad and Emily, which might be because it is a one-sided affair. The montage of Brad’s gigantic eyes trying to escape his body as he sees Emily for the first time in years was crazy. Meanwhile, she talked very normally and non-flirty to him. I would love to see Brad finally have some romance in his life. It’s not like he’s ever been in a relationship or anything before on this show. If it’s a one-sided longing, then it might be funnier TV.
1 A Cowboy Rides Into Town On Friday
One of my favorite details about this season is that they had the cast filming preseason content while they waited for Jordan to arrive 5–6 days later and then pull up in the night after this event. Honestly, it’s great that Jordan wasn’t there for Episode 0 so that we didn’t have to hear about him and Tori. I did find it funny that Jordan is now a professional racecar driver. It’s a good recurring bit that he continually comes back with a new hobby or career. Whether it’s being a model, actor, fashion designer, motorcycle repairman, etc — you can always expect something new.
Sometimes, I feel like Jordan has become one of/if not the best player in Challenge history solely to fund his wacky career choices. Regardless, it’s great to see Jordan stroll in, and it feels reminiscent of CT coming in a little late on Dirty 30.
