The Challenge All Stars 5: Rivals Episode 3 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 3rd episode of The Challenge All Stars 5 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 3.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Body Positivity
Man, I felt mixed about the body positivity scene at the beginning of the episode between Aneesa & Sam. As someone who works out 7-days a week and still has a dad bod/non-traditional fit body, I appreciate all discussions about body positivity and appreciated Aneesa comforting & supporting Sam.
Now, where my issue arises is that when Sam was watching and commenting on Frank & Nicole’s workout — to me, it did not sound like it came from a place of insecurity or jealousy. In my opinion, Sam sounded like she was just genuinely impressed by the two’s workouts and maybe even inspired. Rather than Aneesa saying, “Yeah, they’re impressive,” she was so quick to chime in that everyone is different. Yes, not everyone is the same in how they train and operate. At the same time, you can also acknowledge, hype others up, and then talk about how everyone is different. Aneesa always cries about how she’s not properly respected as a competitor, yet I feel like she’s someone who consistently underplays the achievements and strengths of others. Seriously, listen to podcasts and interviews Aneesa’s done — she is someone who craves praise & acknowledgment and will be quick to side-eye when others get what she wants.
All in all, it’s still a good scene because it was a sweet scene between Aneesa & Sam, and I’m far too deep into The Challenge world at this point because I shouldn’t have this many opinions. Then again, if I didn’t have opinions, this blog wouldn’t exist.
9 Why Should We Even Care
I feel like production & TJ gave the competitors a stern talking-to after last week’s daily challenge where everyone quit. Everyone gave a good effort this week, for the most part. That said, as a viewer, sometimes I wondered why I should even care about this daily challenge when so many teams are not threats to win at all, yet also there’s no punishment for bad performance. Meanwhile, the only teams who were a threat to win were the two guy-guy teams and the obvious guy-girl team threats (Fessy/Amber & Turbo/Nany).
There were interesting tidbits and moments from the daily challenge, yet it still felt skippable. Hopefully, we get some daily challenges that keep us engaged in the coming weeks, though part of me worries that these slogs will be constant.
8.5 Random Thoughts
Before I jump into the lowlight & top performers, I want to talk about two random thoughts. First, I loved that Dario & Ashley K went with a bold strategy of taking the two largest balls first and getting ahead of everybody to start. The plan did not work, but at least they tried some outside-the-box thinking. The other is Corey Lay’s traps are ridiculous. The guy is fucking built.
8 Lowlight Performers
At this point in my blogging life, one of my least favorite things to talk about is Aneesa, and 4/10 sections of this blog involve her, including this one. So buckle up. This might catch you by surprise, but I’m going to defend Aneesa for being nervous about the cargo net. Here’s why. The last time I ordered a Chicken Sandwich from Popeyes, I asked for no pickles, and they put pickles on it. So the next time I go to Popeyes, I’m going to be nervous that even if I request no pickles, they will still put pickles on my sandwich again. That’s a very low-stakes thing. Now, if that chicken sandwich had dislocated my shoulder, I probably wouldn’t want a chicken sandwich again (especially if it had pickles on it).
So, Aneesa not wanting to go up the cargo net makes complete sense, considering her history and the fact their team likely wasn’t winning away. I will also acknowledge, though, that this is The Challenge, and when you sign up for this game, going up and down cargo is something you need to be ready for, and Ashley was rightfully pissed because it’s yet another daily challenge where they’re at the bottom.
It might shock people that I will also praise Sam a bit. Sam cut a confessional where she talked about how she was proud that she got up the initial dirt slope by herself. She acknowledged that it’s not a big deal for most people, yet it was a big deal for her. Which I’m quick to clock delusional people and so to see someone aware of their abilities and shortcomings was refreshing. However, I was disappointed when Sam vocally quit on Frank at the end of the daily challenge. Just keep walking, Sam; nobody expects you to win; just don’t stop.
Veronica & Katie were hilariously bad at this challenge, to which I was shocked they even got two balls across the field. Again, awareness is key, and Veronica knows what they can & cannot do as a team.
7 Another Guy Guy Team Wins
Devin & Leroy won, and it’s no surprise. They were a fit guy-guy pair with the wingspan length to carry all 10 balls in only two trips. With Adam sick, it was an easy win for Devin & Leroy. The only team in sniffing distance of them was Fessy & Amber, who won last week and continue to look like big threats for the Final.
While I definitely think that Devin & Leroy are strong players as individuals, their dominating this daily challenge did not move or impress me at all simply because of this damn game & cast format. Of course, these two men should win the overtly physical daily challenge. Congrats to Devin & Leroy, though, because it is a win.
6 We’re Talking About Practice
I laughed when Aneesa said she doesn’t like to train in the Challenge because it will take away from the social game she prefers to play. Aneesa also stated that she trains before the season, which makes sense. However, real athletes don’t stop practicing and training once they’re in a tournament/big game. When figure skaters make it to the Olympics, they’re still getting in some ice time before they perform on the big stage. If you’re on a baseball team, you’re getting batting practice; if you play basketball, you’re getting some shots up. So on and so forth.
There is not much stuff to do in The Challenge House, and the Final will involve cardio no matter what. So, Aneesa putting an hour into her day to run or walk on the treadmill on an incline would not affect her social game whatsoever. But nope. Aneesa does things her way, and obviously, the way Aneesa plays the game is successful and leads to loads of Finals appearances & Championships.
It’s frustrating to see Aneesa cry about how people treat her, yet if she puts forth the effort in the house, it will reflect on her, and others will see it. Hell, Ashley would appreciate it, especially since Aneesa isn’t putting much effort into the dailies for them. When you’re in that Challenge house, the game is your job. On War of the Worlds 2, CT lost about 20–35 lbs between Day 1 of that season and the Final because he takes the game seriously when he’s in that house. Also, if you’re in that gym, you have a space to form bonds and make deals with other players who are working out/training. It’s probably better to make friends with a blockhead you can manipulate like Nicole rather than waste time sitting on the couch talking to Katie, who probably won’t win anything. Sorry, Katie.
Aneesa is from Philly, so she probably took Allen Iverson’s famous words about practice to heart, but she’s no Allen Iverson. If anything, Aneesa is Ben Simmons and cardio is her jump shot.
5 A Historic Reconciliation
Sylvia & KellyAnne’s fight last week got crazy messy, and the Challenge fandom was inundating these two women with so much hate online (mostly Sylvia). In my Episode 2 recap, I called Sylvia & KellyAnne a toxicity tornado as they’re two who reciprocate the energy they feel is being given to them. And between them, it kept escalating and escalating, and I thought there’d be no return. Except, I was wrong. The cycle seems to be broken as the two worked well in the daily challenge, and they had a healthy conversation where they got on the same page.
Watching Sylvia’s face glow up when KellyAnne called her a strong competitor was such a sweet moment. These two women are both such underrated competitors because they each have a glaring flaw that’s coincidentally opposite to one another. People take a lot of shots online about Sylvia’s body; however, Sylvia has won headbangers, performed decently in mini Finals, and finished 2nd Place on a season before. While Sylvia is not some super athlete cardio freak, she can still put in some work, and when the stakes are high, Sylvia performs. On the other end of the spectrum, KellyAnne’s lack of size makes it easy for someone to bowl over her physically, yet she’s undeniably scrappy, fearless when it comes to heights and has great cardio. These two balance each other out, and it’s why them getting on the same page is so crucial because they could theoretically win together in a perfect world. Unfortunately, it was not a perfect world for them.
4 Deathbed Adam
Seeing how deathly sick Adam was in this episode made me think about how little MTV edits when players are ill. Coincidentally, we have two players on this cast in Frank & Sylvia, who were sent home for a respiratory infection and signs of pneumonia on Free Agents & Vendettas. Maybe it’s less of a coincidence that we saw their sickness as they each got sent home AFTER winning eliminations despite being ill. After 40 seasons and all these spinoffs, I still feel like we don’t SEE when players or the house is sick super often. Then again, people coughing and sneezing probably don’t make for good TV.
When Adam & Steve begged and pleaded for sympathy, it felt like they were talking to a room full of Helen Keller’s. Nobody wanted to listen or even look at them. What’s crazy is that if Adam had been this sick on All Stars 1, I genuinely believe people would’ve given him a pass, and someone might have even stepped up from him. The game has changed, and with so many people hungry to win and potentially get the best team out, they will take their shots.
3 Frank Is Pulling The Strings
Getting to watch Frank Sweeney play this game is an absolute treat. It was hilarious that we got to see him console and emotionally support KellyAnne, only to cut a confessional, saying he doesn’t care about anyone other than himself & his partner. To make it all even better, we saw Frank come through on those confessionals, offering Sylvia & KellyAnne as the elimination opponents to Devin & Leroy. Devin ate the idea up, partly because Frank was able to make Devin feel like he was the one getting the better end of the deal.
Voting in Sylvia & KellyAnne is a smart move. Keeping Frank & Sam means there are more teams that Devin & Leroy could easily beat in a Final or in an elimination down the line. Additionally, Sylvia is part of the Lavender Ladies, and as of right now, that alliance already owns 25% of the house vote — and that number would increase 27–30–33 and so on as the weeks go on. You have to take a shot at that alliance before it gains steam and can overwhelm you. Sylvia & KellyAnne are the clear team to vote in as they’re the least connected duo within that alliance and are also the biggest Final threat among their bunch. As a fan of good television, I yelled “NO” when Sylvia & KellyAnne got voted in. This was a smart all-around move regardless of what would make for better TV. And Frank certainly wanted to take a shot at the Lavender Ladies before they could run the game.
My only worry for Devin & Leroy is they directly asked Adam & Steve what they wanted, only to do the opposite by giving their desired opponents (Frank & Sam) a pass and getting their input for who should go in instead. Adam is pissed that Frank is running the game, and Devin allowed Frank to run it even more — so maybe, Adam & Steve might take a shot at Devin & Leroy in the coming weeks.
2 An Elimination Happened
Credit to KellyAnne & Sylvia because they came together and worked incredibly well in this elimination and never gave up. Their performance was good enough to pull off an upset against most teams, except they ran into a Steve Meinke who had practiced that puzzle many times. Steve & Adam finished the puzzle super fast, and with how little rope they had to hold, it was an easy win.
Again, as a fan of good TV, I’m fucking pissed that Kellyanne & Sylvia are out. These two always bring so much to the show when they’re on, and they were probably the strongest dual-female pair on this cast. The fact that they’re gone makes the gap between this show’s guy-guy and girl-girl teams even bigger.
Congrats to the winners — Steve now holds the record for the most elimination wins on the All-Stars spinoffs (5). It does suck that they, once again, were not given the option to move around any Stars in the game.
1 A Little Bit Country, A Lot A Bit Drunk
Just like last week, we saw the eliminated pair return to the house, pack their stuff up, and say their goodbyes. Unlike the face niceties between Beth & Jonna, we got to see KellyAnne & Sylvia sincerely end the season on good terms, where they even cut a dual confessional together! I never would’ve imagined that ever happening a week ago. Losing this pair so early in the season hurts — I would’ve loved to see them go far in the game together.
Similar to last week, we also ended the episode with a fight between partners as we saw Ashley blow up on Aneesa. I’m a big Ashley fan, and I think most of her critiques of Aneesa as a competitor and human are pretty accurate. So am I going to complain about Aneesa for the billionth time? Nope. Ashley was a drunk asshole, and Aneesa got the brunt of it.
The “fight” began with Ashley getting upset that Aneesa started talking in an exaggerated Southern accent as a way to mimic Ashley. If you’re Ashley, and you already don’t like someone, their mimicking you and your culture can feel insulting. Then again, Ashley has played up her Southern/Countries many times on this show, so Aneesa thought it was cool. It wasn’t cool. Except the proceeding tirade from Ashley where she declaimed her country folk status by claming that she grew up living in hilltop houses driving 15 cars was a bad look. Someone drunkenly flaunting their parent’s wealth from when they were younger is always weird and offputting. It’s even worse than someone bragging that they were a Varsity Athlete or nominated for Prom King in high school. I appreciate the Millionaire Mitchell stuff because she won that money by winning a season, but then the whole “I’m proudly country” to “I’m actually a rich West Virginia princess” when it’s situationally helpful if annoying. If anything, Ashley is being who she criticizes Aneesa for being.
On top of everything, once Aneesa saw Ashley legitimately upset, she genuinely apologized, and Ashley doubled down. When Ashley said that she doesn’t comment on Aneesa’s appearance or history…that is just as bad as saying the mean things you’re supposedly withholding. If I was writing this blog and I mentioned Dario and said, “I’m not gonna talk about how dumb Dario is,” your immediate thought is, “damn, Dario is dumb.” It was a bad bad look for Ashley.
Ashley’s chances of winning this game with Aneesa are microscopic. Except how Ashley acted in this episode has made their demise look like a self-fulling prophecy she’s enforcing. Considering that this team is a non-threat to win, I’m happy they’re at least fighting & causing drama. Given that Sylvia & KellyAnne went into elimination after their big fight last week, it might be safe to assume the same for Ashley & Aneesa next week.
