The Challenge Ride or Dies Episode 18 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 18th 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 eighteenth episode.
10 Camp Green Lake
I never wince watching players on this show drink blood or eat intestines. If anything, I think to myself: “I bet I could do that,” as I sit on my couch drinking a diet coke and eating Tostitos scoops.
Watching the player wade/swim through the algae-infested water had me gagging. The visual of the algae sticking to their bodies and maybe accidentally slipping into their mouth had my stomach turning. Tori tried to make the best situation by joking and calling the algae pea soup, but my brain was racing thinking about the potential carcinogens and damage it could do.
As I say this, I felt thoroughly engaged by this portion and thought, “man, this alone could have been the entire Final, and I’d be okay with it.”
9 HOW MANY HOURS LEFT
Whenever they flashed a graphic telling us how many hours were left in the Final, it felt almost like a threat to get me to change the channel. 75 hours left? Call me when we have 1 hour left.
8 Chaos vs. Cooperation
It’s always great to see teams communicating well and having healthy relationships.
From an entertainment standpoint, I much prefer watching people fight, bicker, and unravel at the seams.
Devin & Tori screaming at each other was great (even better he apologized). Nany reprimanding Bananas is always good TV. And most of all, watching lifelong best friends Aneesa & Jordan trying to run this Final together has me endlessly on my toes. Aneesa continually moves the goalposts of her desires and needs; on the other side, Jordan wants to win/do his best, even if it means being harsh at times. It’s great entertainment. Watching Aneesa figure out the pattern during the memorization/puzzle portion and Jordan refusing to listen to her because he was filled with frustration and ego was hysterical. As much as I like to clown Aneesa, she was right! I have to add a sidenote: Jordan’s a smart guy, great at ingenious strategies; he’s not the brightest when it comes to straight-up puzzles/memorization.
I fucking hate that this is a 3-part finale; however, the chaos/in-fighting made this an enjoyable episode.
7 Best Buds For Life
My favorite part of Day 2 was Aneesa talking about how bad her ankle was. Production had a “zoomed” in shot where they put on a blur filter to make it look worse than it was. They also did a pan-in of her ankles randomly at one point, and they didn’t look any different from a normal healthy ankle.
I’m not saying Aneesa didn’t roll her ankle — she did, and it swelled up the next day, as one would expect when they roll their ankle. At the same time, it wasn’t anywhere close to the most severe ankle sprain I’ve ever seen. For all we know, other cast members’ feet/bodies might be in similar conditions; they’re just pushing through it. Nany’s knee didn’t look great — still, she’s running at a good pace. It’s definitely been the case in past Finals. Kaycee ran the Spies, Lies & Allies Final last season with a broken toe.
Jordan was rolling his eyes when they changed into their wet suits, and she was talking to the camera about “let’s see the damage.” Aneesa was literally waiting for him to look at her ankle, and when she realized he wasn’t, she kind of begged for his attention. It was so awkward, yet, I couldn’t look away. As mentioned last week, Jordan fractured his leg on Dirty 30 and sprinted on it — he did not care for her slightly rolled ankle.
6 Devin & Tori’s Dominant Day 2
Tori came through massively on the memorization portion. She and Devin crushed every single part of Day 2, winning by such a large margin that any “headstart” on Day 3 wouldn’t feel like enough time to represent the difference. TJ’s reactions sold how well these two did.
Jordan & Bananas are two of the Top 3 male competitors in Challenge history, and Aneesa & Nany are two of the most veteran females ever. Devin & Tori watched them struggle for a long time on the puzzle they crushed instantly. That had to be a good feeling. Bananas & Nany had to cheat off of Aneesa & Jordan!
The fact that Aneesa & Jordan came in 2nd after everything is insane. Let’s talk about them more.
4 13 Years
Throughout the Final, Jordan threw some barbs Aneesa’s way. When they were in the water, he evoked how she had been talking about wanting this for 13 years and then wasn’t giving her all. To me, it was fair, and it’s something fans have been clamoring about.
Aneesa commented that it’s not possible to win with someone who talks to her like Jordan was. I have to say, Aneesa, you have never won a season and didn’t make a Final for 13 years. Jordan is a fucking dickhead, but he’s going to push you, he’s going to keep you honest, and he’s not going to enable you like all the fake friends in your life do. Even though it wasn’t in a great tone, Jordan said a lot of what Aneesa has preached and repeated over the years. Except Aneesa doesn’t want to listen to her own words — she wants to create whatever narrative works best for her in the moment. If you’re ever going to win, it will be with someone like Jordan. If you can’t swallow that, move on.
Which Aneesa clearly won’t do. Even when Tori tried consoling her, she mentioned how Aneesa should be proud of making the Final after 13 years. Aneesa muttered that the only reason it took this long was that she kept getting eliminated before the Final. Almost as if she couldn’t have changed that fate. Uhh…Aneesa… that’s not bad luck. That’s bad gameplay on your part to where you were getting thrown in, and also, you had a shot at winning those eliminations, except good players often outmatched you.
And I have to acknowledge: I’m being fucking harsh to Aneesa right now. At the same time, this has been pent up for many years after listening to her talk about wanting to run a Final, so as much as she’s been waiting to get here, so have we. From here on out, I’m going to be much nicer. Just like Jordan, I got a night’s sleep, and we’re going to run this together as friends.
4 Tori’s Morning Hair
Tori’s hair looked perfect and luxurious after Day 2 of the Final. It did not look at all like she was 48+ hours into a Final, having swum in an algae-filled pond the day before.
3 TJ Forgot the Engine
TJ Lavin’s laugh telling the players they had to push the cars because he forgot the engine was so genuine that I couldn’t help smiling alongside him. He’s been having a lot of fun this Final in a way that’s made it a more enjoyable experience.
Tori & Devin avoiding the middle car stuck in the mud was a savvy move, and then Nany touching that very car without thinking was a potentially critical error. Thankfully, she made up for it.
2 Nany’s Noodles
As someone who can quickly devour a lot of food, I saw this Final’s pasta and bread portion as lightweight. The lack of sauce was appalling; nonetheless, I was more off-put by Devin & Tori eating with a fork. It’s the Final — manners go out the window.
Nany, known for her love of noodles, was double-fisting them and eating like a monster. She was such a fucking beast during the eating portion and stepped up like crazy. Her projectile vomiting on Bananas is something many of his haters have wanted to do to him for years.
The chocolate ice cream addition at the end was a bit fucked up, and Bananas looked like he was close to saying: “Hey, my name is actually John, and I’m a human being who doesn’t deserve this.” As rich as chocolate can be, I think strawberry or vanilla is more vomit-inducing on a full stomach. Together, Bananas & Nany stepped up, took the lead, and set themselves up nicely for the last day.
While Tori & Devin fell behind, eating is likely their biggest weakness, and that’s out of the way. They’ve killed everything else in this Final thus far. Jordan & Aneesa continue to exist through everything somehow. With how last season’s Final ended, anything can happen.
1 The Real Finale Next Week
It seems as though there is going to be an extra elimination next week. There’s been some elimination or purge in every MTV Final since War of the Worlds 1, and frankly, it’s bullshit. If you get to the Final, you should be able to complete it. And also, there should be guaranteed prize money for 2nd and 3rd Place.
What intrigues me about next week trailer is that the last part of the Final will be the players attempting to complete every single elimination from this season. It’s a bit of a throwback to the Duel 2, where players went through all the daily challenges in the Final, and it’s something that I would love to see from a storytelling perspective.
