The Challenge Rides or Dies Official Mega Trailer Breakdown

20 min readSep 29, 2022

I will be breaking down the Trailer of the Challenge Ride or Dies as I do every season. There are no spoilers in this article that you won’t figure out by watching the trailer super slowly. YES, there are spoilers, but they are spoilers via inference and analysis. Essentially, if I see something with my eyes, I’m going to point it out. Above is the trailer in video form.

Also, if this trailer has some errors, I apologize. I went through an 8 hour nightmare that involved driving hundreds of miles just to login into Medium account to post this.

The trailer opens with a dramatic sky view of the elimination arena for this season, followed by TJ Lavin introducing the format by saying: “For the first time in Challenge history, these are some of the greatest bonds of all time.” It is a funky and overly-dramatic sentence. What are some of the greatest bonds? Barry Bonds. Covalent Bonds. James Bond.

They give us dramatic pan-in shots of five different unbreakable Ride or Die pairs. First, we see Nelson & Nurys, two exes whose bond is so strong that Nurys was able to overcome Nelson cheating on her on National TV if it meant she got to be on The Challenge. Then you have besties Laurel & Jakk (they are actually good friends).

After we get a look at Devin & Tori, true Ride or Die allies, it’s not like Devin hasn’t said a plethora of mean things about Tori or yelled/gaslit her just last season. And it’s not like Tori was helping Emmanuel in the final elimination last season against Devin. Again, an unbreakable bond.

There is a shot of Kaycee and her brother Kenny — it’s like watching two separate walls of paint drying next to each other. Then you have Amber & her BF Chauncey who have known each other for less than a year, but at least they look gorgeous together. During these shots, we get a sound byte from Kaycee saying: “I got your back,” and one from Michele saying (about Jay): “I would do anything for him.”

There is a couple of actions. Two players get suspended in the air, vertically hanging on what looks like a swing/trapeze-type bar. We see one of those players’ teammates (Nelson & Nurys) jumping off a building and trying to connect/catch their teammates. Behind the players in the air seems to be some flags 10–15 feet away. I’m guessing the tiebreaker for this challenge is not only catching your partner but making the most distance upon impact; touching the flag would be the maximum score.

A player tries to Tarzan-rope over water from a shipping container onto a platform.

Nelson & Nurys are the first pair featured. He gets a sound byte saying: “Nurys and I used to date, but we’re definitely better as partners.” Which is something I feel like I’ve said when I’m friends with a girl who dumped me and people ask if I still have feelings for them.

In one shot they are competing in an intense daily carrying six tires on their shoulders as they traverse the woods. On the tire is the name of major world cities where they likely will have to organize them based on East-West coordination. To be honest, you could give Nelson an hour to try and learn the spelling of each city, and I don’t think he’d get it done. We see Nelson & Nurys working out in the pool, and their bodies look stunning.

Laurel & Jakk get featured next. She refers to him as family. Jakk drove from LA to Montana for Laurel’s graduation from Vet school. That’s genuine friendship.

Michele & Jay are up next; there are shots of them competing in both the jump off a building and a mini-final/endurance comp where players are carrying large barrels. In the second photo, you can see to the left of them that Tori/Devin successfully converted their jump. Michele says she would jump in front of a train for Jay, which is a bit much for me.

Fessy & Moriah enter the picture with Fessy saying: “For us, it’s definitely death do us part.” Wild to paraphrase something that implies marriage when they are two “platonic” friends.

Devin drops his quote about him and Tori evolving from enemies to friends as we see them compete in the dailies. They look like they are doing well, and Devin is looking fit.

Back to watching paint dry, we see Kaycee embrace her brother as they are drenched when coming out of the water after the daily challenge where players Tarzan from the freight container to a platform. We see them competing in a challenge where they jump across moving cars, and Kenny successfully converts a jump. Kaycee talks about the advantage of being the only family members paired up this season.

Kailah and her husband Sam decided that after three months of marriage, the natural next step in their relationship was going on The Challenge. He calls it their honeymoon. They compete in a mud pit challenge that gets featured a lot in the trailer. On All-Stars 3, Kailah would joke around about Sam saying he doesn’t want her to come back a loser — now, we get to see how he performs!

Rookies Olivia Kaiser and Horacio Gutierrez get a PRIME featuring. First, we see them running with a background that is the exact as the one where Nelson/Nurys are carrying tires. Then we see them jumping off a platform into some water.

After this, there’s a scene with them standing on a surface with TJ next to them as they put together a puzzle waiting for his approval. They succeed and embrace each other. It is this shot where I see Olivia’s body and go, “Woah.” I knew this girl was gorgeous and in shape, but she has a stacked fit athletic build where she looks like she could fuck someone up in a Hall Brawl. Horacio is a former collegiate soccer player as well. During these moments, Olivia says that she and Horacio might be rookies, but their goal is to win the Final. Just the fact they have these unknowns saying the world Final is enough to have me perk up.

Additionally, there’s a shot of them pinballing inside a moving bus filled with marked balls. It reminds me of the moving freight train from War of the Worlds 2 that gave teams trouble. The Olivia/Horacio segment ends with a non-sensical explosion.

Did I take some ayahuasca?

More action shots. Players race into a mud pit. Nelson pretends to be angry and smash his helmet into the ground after what is likely another daily challenge loss for him.

Amber’s boytoy Chauncey takes a gnarly fall into some water.

There is a nighttime daily challenge where players are at the top of a skyscraper and have to walk across a thin platform bridge with obstacles included. It is a terrifying challenge, doubly frightening for whoever has to walk backward. I can’t tell who is competing in the second photo. The cheekbones remind me of both Jordan & Fessy. Size-wise, the guy looks more like Jordan. Except the girl looks like Moriah more than Aneesa.

Michele drops a sound byte: “If you fuck with my partner, you fuck with me.”

A player ziplines down into the water for a swimming challenge. TJ tells the players: “Trust no one. Especially me.” There is then a *big reveal*.

TJ brings in Bananas & Nany as a twist at some point. Though it’s not really a twist, I guess… I don’t know, man.

We see Nany & Bananas behind a table in what looks like the power position of a tribunal/interrogation scene. She gets into it with her former partner and friend, Turbo, angrily telling him: “Why don’t you sit the fuck down and act like an adult.”

Nany was always patient and understanding with Turbo, so her being this angry adds a ton of weight and tension to the moment. My guess is Turbo lost his cool because Nany chose to talk to him like a normal player rather than someone she has to baby, and he took it as a threat to his life.

TJ brings in another surprise with Darrell & Veronica. Again, doesn’t feel like that much of a surprise anymore.

There is another interrogation scene, and it seems as though Jay & Michele win a daily challenge as they have Veronica pitching her thoughts to them. Queen V comes to play as she says: “It’s a numbers game. You should want to chip away at those numbers.”

After Veronica’s pitch, you can see Jay internally struggling with himself because whatever Veronica is saying is making sense, except it would probably mean making a big play. He might not have the cajones after how going big is what did him in on both Survivor & Double Agents.

Tori has an intimate moment with Devin talking about her relationship with Jordan and how she put her sadness on him. Devin says they never really got to have closure, either. It gets set up in a way where you know Jordan is going to be walking through the door in a few hours.

Nam Vo went to the Tori Deal school of reaction faces before the season. TJ’s third *surprise* pops up as Aneesa emerges. Aneesa looks almost excited as she does when someone decides to take a shower. Then Jordan appears, stunning the crowd. Devin & Tori look genuinely shocked.

While I do believe Tori expected Jordan at some point, I don’t think she expected him to show up with Aneesa. His partnering with her best friend is a curveball.

Tori and Jordan get heated at a bar. She says: “You decided at one point in time that you weren’t done with me.” The line begins to make more sense when we see Jordan getting friendly with some of the other female competitors. Essentially, Jordan had told Tori that he still loved/wanted to be with her, yet, now Tori is watching him cuddle up other people. While I usually enjoy dunking on Tori and could easily say Jordan had to watch her be with other people on TV (including a Walmart version of himself), I think Tori’s feelings are valid. Tori might still love Jordan, and while she maybe isn’t ready to be back with him, she definitely isn’t prepared to watch him make out with one of the competitors at the bar as he wears a cowboy hat.

Jordan says he didn’t do any of this to get back at her, and she flat-out calls him a liar. Again, I’m actually on Tori’s side with this one. Jordan was initially supposed to do this show with Nia, where if those two were together and all over each other, it would have felt very spiteful.

They show Jordan & Nurys cuddling. That’s a big power play by Nurys to potentially set herself up for future seasons. Tori is shown crying.

Sidenote: Jordan’s big toes are randomly painted black.

The night vision cameras show some under-the-cover sex going on. We then see Tori cursing out and crying at Jordan, saying: “We said we love, why would you get in my bed.” Based on the context, I assume Tori & Jordan are the two who were under the covers (not him & Nurys), except Jordan isn’t committing to them being an item again, which leads Tori into an even more confused and frustrated tailspin.

Bananas drops the sound byte: “Make no mistake, he is still messy Fessy.” As he says this, we see Fessy in a hot tub with Gabby Allen and then cuddling in bed with Laurel. A Fessy/Laurel child would be a mega athlete who would not work well with others in any way.

Also, I’ve just received news that the blonde in question is not Gabby Allen.

Kailah & Sam have trouble on their honeymoon as she audibly groans in the club and says: “It’s not me it’s you.”

Aneesa declares Horacio the new hot guy. We see him get friendly with Laurel by the pool and in the bunks. Things get serious when Laurel says: “I thought you were single, which makes me feel really dumb.” Horacio being messy is an added element I did not expect.

Rookie Johnny Middlebrooks is hyped up during the mud pit daily challenge.

They show Amber struggling during the challenge where players get trapped inside a moving bus, and then we see a player submerge into the water trying to carry a giant puzzle piece or object.

Jay tells Michele: “I would die for you.” These two are way too overdramatic and unrealistic with the lines of affirmation they are dropping. Stop saying you’ll die for me. Make me know your love is real by saying you’d be willing to co-sign my mortgage.

Elimination time. TJ announces the arena’s name this season will be “The Zone.” It’s so corny that I love it.

We see an overhead shot of a new version of Hall Brawl and a zoomed-out sky view of two puzzle mazes. They show us brain and brawn.

Some “spoilers” are coming ahead.

This season’s variation of Pole Wrestle had a sliding pole down the middle, and it looks like the two players will each be playing on their own separately. I assume the Pole is a way to make the elimination more of an endurance-based game and a way to determine a better system of breaking the tie. Maybe the elimination won’t be determined by who rings the bell; instead, which team got the most positive difference in the allotted time.

Based on the photos, you can see Horacio is one of the players competing in this elimination and that he got to the pole quicker.

Some medieval shit is happening as two players have their bodies attached to giant spinning wheels. Based on past eliminations, the players are probably memorizing a pattern or trying to solve a puzzle.

There is an elimination where Nurys is lying inside a disgusting glass box filled with a gross sewage-looking substance. Nurys looks a little too caught off guard for someone who normally lays in bed with trash anyway.

A picture of Laurel in the arena gets lit on fire.

The editors show more Hall Brawl footage and Chauncey is having a great time watching.

A player (likely Nurys again) gets dropped on their bank into some gunk. They pant out and show every player other than Laurel & Jakk had their faces melt via a fireball, thus meaning when Laurel got taken out, Jakk was the last felt. They superimpose Olivia draped across one of the giant wheels, which means we know she and Horacio go into at least two eliminations this season.

TJ stands in front of a stone with three swords in it. They show Jay tell someone: “The Draw is where you get the dirty work done.” I feel like it’s fair to assume those three swords will act in a similar function to the Kill Cards from Free Agents.

The trailer spices up a bit. The voice of a teared-up Olivia says: “It’s just the lack of respect,” while the editors show a huffy Horacio. Nurys tells someone (likely Nelson) to toughen the fuck up.

Devin accuses Michele of lying, and she comes right back at him, asking, “what the fuck did I lie about?” I wonder if Devin smokes cigarettes because he likes the nicotine or because it masks the smell of his odor from not wearing deodorant.

There’s more Nany & Turbo drama as she tells him: “You don’t know what a friendship is Turbo.” Turbo liked calling Nany his mom until she decided to discipline him.

There is a daily challenge where two players coming from opposing sides must cross a bridge over water and knock their opponent off. As you can see, one player takes a massive fall. They proceed to show a player getting medically taken away.

A Bananas sound byte pops up with him saying: “This season, the rookies are badass.” European rookies Kim & Colleen finally get some shine.

They show some vet turmoil. Nelson stumbles to the ground, looking gassed out in a challenge. Nany has some words with Laurel where she says: “Don’t shut me down when I’m trying to talk.” Laurel looks receptive and apologetic as Nany is her friend.

Turbo yells at someone (while on a boat): “Don’t act like idiot now. I’m going to see you all one-by-one in elimination.”

It looks as though we are getting Turbo vs. the entire house this season.

Big Brother rookies Tommy & Analyse get shown running during the mud pit challenge. These two do not get featured much and what makes this one glimpse extra embarrassing is that it looks like the teams behind them are chilling and have already completed the daily challenge.

Euro rookie Kim looks to have barely converted during the Tarzan-swing daily challenge.

Nelson tells Jay & Michele: “There’s going to be a point where we’re going to have to come after each other.”

I assume Nelson is referring to what is likely another Vet truce as we had last season where teams were waiting for someone to take a big shot.

Bananas pitches to Darrell that the two of them need to stick together. Typically, I’d assume this is Bananas lying to Darrell before he snacks. This time around, I believe it’s legitimate as Bananas sees Veronica as someone Nany could beat in a Final or elimination.

Things get a bit overdramatic from here.

Tori & Devin are on a boat as a sound byte of hers gets played saying: “We were best friends, and now we are enemies.” I’m 99% sure it’s a comment about Jordan.

Laurel yells at someone to “Get the fuck out of here.”

God, I’m glad Laurel is back.

Devin with a voice of shock says: “This is insane to me.” Someone probably told him that most people shower daily.

They drop a quick action shot of players hanging over water by ropes carried by helicopter.

Our last scene is Johnny Bananas asking Nany: “Do we have to do this on camera?” My guess is he’s referring to nominating Turbo for elimination because, in each scene where Turbo is on camera, Bananas looks so uneasy and unlike his usual shit-starter self.

Nany tells him to get out of her face.