The Challenge Ride or Dies Episode 4 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 4th 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 fourth episode.
If you prefer audio/video, my podcast recap can be found above/below.
10 Road Rules For Life
Take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt. From sources, this is what I’ve heard.
Early into production, they had to cease filming for a COVID shutdown. During this period, the showrunners were looking at their cast and having an “oh shit” moment where they were like, “Fuck, we had 8 months to rebuild the franchise, and this was the best cast we could come up with?” So they began throwing out as many phone calls to people with name recognition that would draw attention and viewers. I’ve heard they were always planning on bringing people in during the season (such as Jordan & Nia); however, some of the names I heard were all over the place, including Cara & Paulie, and they potentially got far into the process. They would probably deny that rumor anyway, and I’m not even saying I fully believe it; it’s just something I got told by more than one person.
Which leads to them bringing in two legends of the game, Darrell & Veronica. Veronica had a great season on All-Stars 3, where she was a broken toe away from making the Final, and Darrell has always been a beast. However, I’m not a fan of this duo because I don’t think they complement each other as competitors, simple as that. They are a fun treat for OG fans, though!
9 Olivia is a Boss
I love that Olivia wasn’t afraid to shy from conflict and told off Tommy/Analyse in a way that was both subjective and objective. Olivia was upfront about how being lied to hurt her and how their move put Tommy/Analyse in a much worse game spot.
She wiped her hands of them and what’s funny is how Tommy/Analyse doubled down and weren’t able to fess up to their rat-like gameplay.
8 Amber B — Face of The Challenge
Apparently, Amber B is the leader of the rookie girls. I’d believe it if she were on this season.
7 Hookup House
I love a good showmance/hook-up montage, and they zipped the ball around in four minutes through widely different pairs.
You had Laurel crushing and fan-girl over Horacio, where the most we saw was her giving him a very intimate hug.
Then there were the good old-fashion hook-ups between Fessy & Colleen and Nelson & Olivia, where it’s simply two hot people wanting to bang. Nelson and Fessy had the audacity to throw around the word love when in reality, they meant horny.
And on the far end of the spectrum, you had Jordan getting into bed with Tori, where they have no idea what they are, but Tori/Jordan do know they miss the touch of each others bodies. That’s a fucking mess right there.
6 Awesome Daily
The daily had the classic extreme elements you come to love watching The Challenge, along with some physicality and strategy involved. It was clear when watching that the best teams were those who had their partner drop from before their teammate leaped to give themselves the best possible momentum; and to add on, it was clear the men who could carry their own body weight also had an advantage as leapers.
The two worst DQs were probably Veronica, who barely touched Darrell’s shoe and was vertically hanging at one point. Despite being in peril, Veronica looked chill because at least nobody was trying to remove her safety harness. Then Colleen & Kim tried a strategy where Kim would swing back and forth, except it failed dramatically because timing the jump on a moving object was tricky. The most impressive DQs came from Moriah and Analyse. Moriah was one of the only women strong enough for her partner to be in grabbing range of the flag, except Fessy missed it. Then you had Analyse, who almost stole the win for her and Tommy and was in reach of the flag herself, just missing it by a hair. What makes the loss frustrating for Analyse is if Tommy had just been a normal person going for the flag and not trying to play Peter Pan, they could have won.
Jordan pulled off a hell of a performance leading him and Aneesa to a second-place finish in the daily.
5 Nelson Finally Did It
It took 54 daily challenges, but Nelson finally did it. Honestly, I’m at a loss; Nelson’s daily challenge losing streak was one of the few things in life I actively felt invested and now that it’s over, I’m wondering what else there is to care about in life.
When TJ announced it had been 54 dailies, Nelson’s face looked shocked to find out that numbers go past 32. In all earnestness, I’m thrilled Nelson finally got this monkey off his back because you could tell the gag was beginning to wear on him. Props go to Nurys for having the foresight to have Nelson be the leaper, and with his core strength being able to reach for the flag while only clinging to her leg was remarkable. Nurys was a big part of this win, and she’s impressed me in back-to-back weeks.
4 Nurys Has A Presence To Her
Let’s stay on the Nurys hype train. Nurys posted photos of herself in Nelson’s Challenge jersey 4–5 years ago. She’s been dreaming of being on this show for years. Some of Nurys’s confessionals feel like moments she’s been rehearsing in front of her mirror at home; I don’t mean it in a bad way, either.
From hook-ups to social media drama to giving her all in the dailies and having an actual presence as a political player, Nurys is doing it all. And she fucking looks stunning while doing it as well.
They should have cast Nurys years ago! Better late than never.
3 Germany’s Greatest Exports
Collen and Kim have such a positive energy that I smile every time they’re on screen. With Turbo/Nam out of the game, they feel especially foreign to where I almost want to accommodate them. I see Colleen and Kim, and I’m like: “Oh, welcome to the Challenge. Do you need water or a snack or a Fessy body pillow?”
2 Nelson and Olivia’s Plan Actually Worked
When Nelson got power and said he didn’t want to make a big move, I was initially slightly disappointed by the passive gameplay. Then he mentioned how negatively it would look on him if, after all this time, using his power to make a big move would only put a bigger target on him, and as you know, it’s not like he wins a ton of dailies. Nelson made the Final of SLA and was going to make it on Total Madness before he sacrificed himself for Cory; he has gone far without having to make moves, so if he rocked the boat, it would be catastrophic.
Olivia shocked me because any other rookie would have gotten peeved over the idea of Nelson nominating her, and instead, she spun it to where it would be the best for both their games. Even though she risked the chance of one of the other two teams nominating her for elimination, the worst case scenario was facing Tommy & Analyse, which in no world are her and Horacio losing to them in anything. Nelson was able to keep all the Vets happy, and the process led to a newly formed alliance between Darrell & Veronica and Olivia & Horacio. It’s fucking wild how well things worked out.
1 Can’t Get It Up
The visual of the tallest guy facing the shortest guy in elimination (and in the daily) was hysterical. Kim having to give Tommy a pep-talk mid-elimination gave me so much second-hand embarrassment for Tommy, yet, I couldn’t stop laughing. Meanwhile, Analyse laid on her back disappointed while a man couldn’t get the job done, which is an incredibly relatable experience for many out there.
I felt terrible for Analyse as she’s an athletic girl who would likely do well physically with any other partner or in an individual format. Sadly, she got tied to Tommy, and while they had love for each other, he just wasn’t built for the game. At the same time, I don’t feel that bad for Analyse because she and Tommy sealed their fate when they tossed in Olivia & Horacio last week. They played a very Big Brother-esque game, got caught up in lies, were the lay-up team, and are now out.
With Tommy & Analyse out, Ride or Dies becomes a more serious game where every pair going into elimination from here on out should have at least one quality player. The question is, what players will begin to get looked at as the weak links that people want to see in elimination? Who will be willing to swing at the power pairs like Bananas & Nany or Fessy & Moriah? These are mildly exciting times.
