The Challenge Battle For a New Champion Episode 12 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 12th Episode of The Challenge Battle For a New Champion 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 the 12th Episode.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below:
10 Horacio & Olivia
I want to open this by defending Oliva in saying that Horacio not giving her any indication that he was going to compete this season is shady. While I understand that Horacio didn’t want to do any pregame scheming and strictly compete on the show, Olivia deserves a simple heads-up. They went through a whole experience together on Ride or Dies, and Olivia was key to getting Horacio cast on this show in the first place.
Now, switching sides, I think Olivia is crazy for believing Horacio wouldn’t have her back in this game. Here’s the thing: Olivia and Horacio are friends, but they don’t have much in common regarding lifestyles. Thus, it makes sense why Horacio and her don’t spend much time talking/hanging out in the house. Meanwhile, Horacio spends so much time with Zara because they both enjoy training 87 hours daily. Although Horacio has created a friendship and bond with Zara, he loves and cares about Olivia because of what they’ve gone through together, and he’ll always have her back. He’s not the type to give constant reassurance, which Olivia needs as she’s jealous of both Zara and Nurys and how close they’ve gotten.
9 Olivia vs. Nurys
Olivia is so jealous that she’s projecting her own insecurities about her relationship with Horacio that she tries to pit Nurys against Zara. Instead, Nurys stood firm, saying she wasn’t jealous of Zara and that Horacio would go to war for Olivia even if he wasn’t talking to her nonstop. Olivia threw a bit of a fit arguing back and even told Nurys to use her brain, when as much as Nurys was playing the game emotionally with Horacio — she was also clearly affirming to Olivia that he had her back.
Possibly an additional reason why Nurys didn’t fall for Olivia’s bait was the phone call we got to see between Nurys and her family. It was a very meta Challenge moment as Nurys’ family is locked into the Challenge spoiler world as they gave her the 411 that some sources said Olivia was talking shit about her behind her back. I fucking loved Nurys’ family because they had more Reality TV zest than half these cast members. When Nurys told them she had a showmance going on, her family basically replied: “no duh, we’ve seen you on these shows before.” They were ready to throw a wedding when they realized it was Horacio. It’s always fun when the outside world and Challenge world blend together. Moving on, though, it’s interesting to see that this is where the fracture begins between these two.
In recent months, people have been comparing Olivia to Tori in a negative way. I’m going off the deep end, and I have to say, after this episode… Olivia actually reminds me of Aneesa…
It’s beginning to feel like every time Olivia is on screen, she’s judging people who are supposed to be her friends, like Moriah, Horacio, Nurys, and so on. Olivia was so fun last season, and now it feels like she is someone who is harshing everyone’s vibes, does not have a storyline for herself, and carries herself as if people owe her something. It’s very Aneesa-like. We haven’t seen much from Olivia this season based on competition, either. Then again, there hasn’t been much opportunity for her to shine in these daily challenges. Regardless, never in any world did I expect to compare Olivia, my favorite person from Ride or Dies, to Aneesa, one of my least favorite Reality TV characters ever. I still have hope for Olivia — she needs to turn around the ship fast.
8 Michele vs. Moriah
It is funny to see the beginning of this Olivia & Nurys beef as they’re supposed to be close and each others #1 female ally. Their closeness brought Moriah & Michele closer as they were the other pair from their alliance. Michele went to bat for Moriah a few weeks ago and kept her safe. So when Moriah asked Michele before the daily challenge if she would throw it, of course, Michele would be upset.
That said, Michele was definitely considering throwing it and probably didn’t even give 100% during the daily itself. Still, if I’m at the bar with my friends, and they accuse me of texting with my Ex, I will get mad at them. While also texting my Ex, asking what they want me to grab them from McDonald’s as I get ready to Irish Goodbye my friends to meet with her at my place.
7 Daily Challenge
Kyland, James, and Moriah were an absolute power trio for this daily challenge, so I understand why they wondered whether Michele would give her all. I thought Jay, Asaf, Ravyn, and Colleen put up a good fight despite their lack of size in their 1st round loss.
In the other first-round match, I thought Corey and Olivia would be a power duo based on their size; unfortunately, that team didn’t know how to use their size to their advantage. Meanwhile, Ed, Horacio, Zara, and Berna played the daily challenge like absolute workhorses as they got as low as possible and pushed forward nonstop.
The final round was the same story for Horacio/Ed/Zara/Berna as they pushed and pushed and achieved victory.
6 Zara & Horacio Take A Stand
Last week, we saw Zara & Ravyn form their alliance/bond, and this week, Zara remained firm in her promise. While throwing in Colleen was a very safe move by them, the fact they didn’t let Ravyn get tossed in once again was a crucial moment. Not only that, their voting in Colleen actually might’ve brought her more to their side as Colleen’s become completely dissatisfied with how Michele, Jay, Olivia, and Nurys are running the game.
Do I wish Zara & Horacio made a more significant move? Yes. At the same time, they knew they had to make a move where Ed would look away and allow them to do whatever.
5 Asaf is the House Rat
I have to give credit when it’s due, and Asaf is doing a fantastic job of playing spy for Jay & Michele’s alliance. This week, Colleen drew up an entire outline of the game/alliances for herself, Emanuel, and Berna, where Asaf was in their circle of trust and then was able to report back to Jay & Michele directly. Later, he was there intently listening to everything Colleen & Kyland were strategizing without them having any clue that he was in earshot.
Is he playing a good game? Yes and no. The ability to gain this information displays social skills, and he’s been vital to Jay & Michele in this game. Unfortunately, as much as those two controlling the game have his back, it’s critical to remember that Asaf has had blowups with Kyland and Corey where that’s 2/7 strong male votes who could toss him in if they get a vote in the future.
4 Deliberation
Boring. Ravyn got voted in again.
3 Cara’s Callout
Time fucking flies. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since Cara Maria was last on The Challenge. Well, it’s been shorter than five years if we counted by exact months, but now that it’s technically a new year, it’s fun to say 2019 > 2024.
Realizing that nobody remaining on this cast has ever been on a season with Cara is insane as well. Cara’s entrance was amazing. She came in, threw down the gauntlet, acted like a WWE superstar, gave hope to the women on the ground, and struck fear into those in the stands. Here’s the thing… That’s not the Cara I know. At one point in time, I was the biggest Cara fan in the world, and even when I was, one of the things you knew was that she wasn’t the best with words and talking. Cara has never been the person to dominate with funny confessionals or to have an Evelyn Island-like speech. During the Invasion/Dirty 30 era, even with Camila being the worst human on the planet, MTV had her doing more press than Cara because she was a better talker. Not tonight, though, because Cara got shot out of a charisma cannon, and she played up to her role in The Challenge world as one of the greatest players ever.
Cara carried herself like a badass because she is one.
Let’s peel back the curtains a little bit, though. Cara had already filmed Challenge All Stars 4. This is key to note as between this time and when they did the mercenary stuff, Cara and Laurel have seemingly buried the hatchet and are friends again. They were also on location here at the same exact time. Since we all know Laurel’s hatred of Michele, Cara calling Michele “orange shirt,” just like Laurel called her “purple jacket,” makes sense and is also telling as to what her pregame plan was going in as a mercenary. Cara was always going to call out Michele; Michele figured that out quickly, so she didn’t throw anyone under the bus and hoped for the 2/3rd chance it wasn’t chaos.
2 Michele vs. Cara
As someone who can write a book about Cara Maria, I believe she is the most underrated puzzle competitor in Challenge history. Cara pulled out so many wins in clutch moments during mental competitions throughout her many seasons. She took down Johnny Bananas in a puzzle on Bloodlines, solved the problematic 3D puzzle in the Rivals 2 Final Purge, won the final Redemption puzzle on Dirty 30, and memorized the color pattern to win Vendettas.
While I would’ve preferred to see Cara Maria in a headbanger challenge, I’ve seen her take down some of the more difficult puzzles in Challenge history. Once the elimination got going and I saw how easily Cara could push around the giant blocks compared to Michele, I thought the win would be cake. The puzzle itself was not difficult at all. It was a 9-piece puzzle where once you had one or two pieces put together, it all begins to take form.
Cara blanked out and looked like a rookie. As much as Michele struggled with pushing the blocks, she figured out the design quickly, had the crowd on her side for reassurance, and worked from there. Now, as much as Michele had the crowd as an advantage, I have to knock Cara, because she had the ability to look over at Michele’s puzzle. That’s Challenge 101. Considering how much easier and quicker Cara could move her pieces than Michele, had she just copied her, Cara could’ve easily stolen the win. Instead, Cara looked completely befuddled and didn’t adapt.
We then got a crazy Michele celebration that included her getting carried by her fellow competitors, dancing on some blocks, and throwing kisses as TJ watched, disgusted as his favorite Challenge competitor had just lost. It was a bit much by Michele; then again, Cara called out her, and she took down a legend. Before tonight, the only person ever to have beaten Cara in a 1 v. 1 elimination is Laurel, and now Michele gets to be the second.
1 All-Stars 4
I posted my All Stars 4 preview blog on January 12th, 2023. It’s been a fucking year. When are we getting this fucking season?
