The Challenge Ride or Dies Episode 13 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
Hey everyone, I wanted to apologize for the lack of recaps over the last few weeks. Lately, things have been hectic in a good way. Last month I traveled to the Northeast for the first time, and then very soon after, I moved cities and got a new apartment for myself, where I’ve slowly been trying to build a home and acclimate to living alone. On top of all that, my day job takes priority as that’s what I get paid for. However, I do feel bad when I don’t put out these recaps because I would not have the opportunities in my life without the support I’ve had from so many people loyally reading my blogs over the years.
Add in the Holidays, it’s been easy not to put out recaps, and what doesn’t help either is that the recent episodes have not motivated me to have 10 takeaways; hell, sometimes even 5 is a stretch. That’s not me saying this season is terrible; if anything, it’s been okay, but there hasn’t been much substance for me to plant a flag in. Just know I appreciate a lot of you and will try to get these recaps up when I can. Also, I’m posting a 6k word blog later in the week where I rank all 52 2022 Movies I watched in 2022, so I’m going to look like a hypocrite in a day or two, except it’s something I spent the year on, keep an eye out for that if you like movies.
The 13th Episode of The Challenge Ride or Dies 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 thirteenth episode.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below.
10 Tori and Jordan is my favorite soap opera
I am fully invested in the Jordan and Tori storyline because it is messy and authentic, unlike most of what we get on Reality TV these days. Every single week, Jordan and Tori find new ways to add layers to the soap era. They hug, cry, and console each other one week, then another week they are getting in bed together, then Jordan’s somewhat pettily hooking up with Nurys in Tori’s face, and then we have people getting called terrorist(s). Don’t get me wrong — it’s better than TV; it is TV!
I feel like we’ve watched these two go through multiple stages of grief and have gotten to the point to where they’re looking for new ways to grab the other’s attention through whatever means possible. The funniest part about their fights is Jordan is always wearing something ridiculous as they go on. Ride or Dies has been my favorite season from Tori because she feels so raw and honest, and I admire how she’s pushing through this game with all this baggage. Jordan is an excellent casting addition as he is an elite competitor and effortlessly stirs the pot and adds drama.
Watching Olivia and Devin’s reactions to Jordan and Tori’s fight was painfully awkward and hilarious at the same time. Jordan and Tori are like a divorced couple who are back together for an extended family holiday vacation, and everyone else is the kids watching them go at it. “Mom, Dad, please stop fighting; you’re already divorced.”
9 Moriah “didn’t realize” she was sending in Faysal
I genuinely cannot tell whether Moriah doesn’t know how to play the game or is simply using it as an excuse to fuck with Fessy. Regardless, I love her throwing her Ride or Die under the bus when he’s been such a shithead since the twist.
Moriah saying she didn’t know she’d go in is like when you ask someone on a date, it says they saw the message, then they don’t reply, and when you see them the next day, they say: “oh, I forgot to hit send on my message, I’m busy that day, maybe text me another time.”
Bananas adding fire to the flames between Moriah and Fessy got a chuckle out of me because it was such a low-effort yet efficient way for him to have some fun.
8 The Daily Was Fantastic
Typically, I’m not a fan of long daily challenges. In this case, it made sense because there weren’t many political maneuverings on the board; thus, we had to fill time, and they did it smartly and creatively.
Splitting the daily into four mini-challenges forced teams to think on their feet and evaluate their team’s strengths and weaknesses. The daily essentially became four mini-eliminations, and eliminations are always far more entertaining in dailies. Watching 1 v. 1 and 2 v. 2 battles is fun.
7 Puking isn’t funny, unless it’s Fessy
Generally, I hate when MTV shows us puking montages. After the Double Agents Final debacle, watching Fessy have to stomach all that gross tonight felt karmic.
This episode was a healthy moment for Fessy and the fandom, where now we can put the Double Agents stuff to bed because the dude looked like he was going through it. Hell, even Jordan didn’t want Fessy to endure more pain because he told Devin to start helping him.
Which leads to the next detail, Devin was fucking awesome in this daily. He has improved so much as a player and has proven to be an excellent mind when it comes to game-planning and strategy. I also like that he pointed out that even though he helped Fessy, it is something where even if his team loses, it benefits his Ride or Die, Tori. Devin’s been a great partner to her this entire game.
6 Pleasant Surprises
Most people would rate Devin & Nany as a stronger duo than Olivia & Aneesa, and the same would go for Bananas & Tori against Horacio & Amber. Each time, we saw the underdog pair pull out a win and look impressive in the process. Aneesa proved capable as a puzzle-solver, and Olivia was a beast physically. Horacio and Amber had seamless communication and ran non-stop.
Shout-out to Two Door Cinema Club.
5 Tethered Together
They turned a classic elimination we haven’t seen in a while into Part 4 of the daily challenge, and it was fascinating. The usual strategy in the women goes first, and once they grip the post, their teammate races forward with all their energy to try and meet up with them.
It was a daily Jordan struggled with for a couple of reasons. The first is he’s not a heavy dude; while he can lift his body weight easily, lifting his and Moriah’s is a bit tougher compared to Chauncey, who has 40–50 lbs on him. Second, not having five fingers on the second hand to grip the ground and push forwards makes it a bit tougher. He said Moriah struggled to hold the bar, and we saw her slip off once or twice, but to me, it felt like she was on a decently long time.
Chauncey and Kaycee killed this and won it for their teammates. It’s been a rough season for Chauncey as he’s had people call him deadweight or say on social media/podcasts he couldn’t do anything. Watching him earn a W is cool because he seems like a solid guy.
4 Amber’s Interrogation
People call Amber shady because she often plays the sweetheart role and doesn’t show her cards much. This week’s interrogation was the opposite; she went in guns blazing, focused on making Moriah the house vote for elimination. She highlighted how rookies need to fight, which appeals to the Vets in the game, and then showed love for Nany, playing to Kaycee and Bananas’s hearts.
It was a great showing; luckily, she pulled the dagger to keep herself safe as well. Amber B was a big winner this week.
3 The One and Only, Roxanne Lavin
I don’t know why TJ brought out his wife specifically this week. She seems rad, though.
*whispers*
and hot…
2 Strangely Wild Elimination
On paper, this was one of the most boring eliminations ever designed for the MTV version of the show, and what we got was a weirdly exhilarating match.
Each of them had different approaches. Nany tried to unscramble while watching the board because she needed the visual process, and Moriah memorized the letters first and then solved them at her station.
Nany took a quick 2–0 lead, and I thought we would get a blowout. Then suddenly, Moriah takes the lead and proves to be good when it comes to the bigger words.
Out of nowhere, Moriah can’t find the letter “C” because it’s turned 90 degrees and looks like a “U,” and now Nany has an opening.
It looked like Moriah had a win in hand, then for some reason double-checked to make sure “friendship” was the word she needed, as if I could be any other word, giving Nany the slightest of edges.
We get Nany calling for a check .25 seconds before Moriah, except they both had to push a button, and then Moriah beats her by .25 seconds.
Nany losing a 50–50 coin flip dagger draw to go into elimination, then to solve her unscramble first only to lose because she got beat by a “press the button” off would be the most Nany Gonzalez way to lose an elimination.
Except Moriah misplaced the “IO” on DEVOTION, and for the first time, elimination luck went Nany’s way. Tough loss for Moriah, a big win Nany. Nany now has 5 career elimination wins, don’t look up her loss count; just know she has 5 elimination wins.
1 Moriah Reuniting With Fessy Is All I Want
At this point, all I want is for Moriah and her best friend, Fessy, to compete together as a pair after everything they’ve gone through.
