The Challenge USA Season 2 Episode 1 Recap: 10 Biggest Takeaways
The 1st episode of The Challenge USA 2 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 premiere episode.
10 This Show Doesn’t Know What It Is
The first season of The Challenge USA was an interesting experiment. They took The Challenge brand and format and did it with an entire cast of people who had been on CBS reality shows but never The Challenge before. It tested whether the brand/format matters more than the cast/MTV. Challenge USA 1 wasn’t great because it completely lacked the fun and drama of the main show. And for those who love the pure competition aspect, the male cast of The Challenge USA 1 was so weak, aside from a few (Tyson, Danny, Kyland, etc.), that it didn’t feel like some intense physical game. By only casting from their CBS pool of people who hadn’t done The Challenge before, they limited themselves during USA 1.
They tried to fix that going on into this season, and I think they went too far in the other direction. Not only did they cast Big Brother/Survivor people who have appeared on The Challenge before (Josh, Paulie, Michele, etc.), but they also added five MTV cast members with massive personalities, and Tori Deal, who is still deciding what her personality will be this season.
This show is a bit of a clusterfuck. Anyone who has never watched The Challenge before will be a little confused by this show because there is so much pre-existing drama and relationships from the get-go. I feel bad for the CBS cast members/Rookies because it feels like they are getting put on the back burner. I’d say the four women we saw the most from were: Michele, Jonna, Amanda, and Tori, and those are all women who have dominated screentime in recent MTV/All-Star seasons. Are we just getting parts of the MTV show with a different label? Not even the full MTV show, just parts. You don’t get the whole McChicken. You get the chicken patty and some mayo; wait, that’s not mayo — that’s from Fessy. I’ll still blog about the show regardless; it’s just you expect something a little different.
The Challenge USA 2 feels like they’re trying to appeal to MTV Challenge and CBS Reality Fans, and in the process, they’re not appealing to either. You have people Tiffany and Tyler, who won America’s Favorite Player on Big Brother, and they feel unimportant because there’s some deep Paulie/Josh and Amanda/Michele drama. That’s not fair to them, they came here to play their own game and create their storylines, but because these MTV people already have beef over 1–18 past Challenge seasons together, they become background characters.
9 There Should Have Been An Opening Solo Daily Challenge
Cutthroat is a great Challenge season, and fans are always clamoring for a Cutthroat 2 because they enjoyed the simple 3-team format. I personally love the 3-team concept as it makes daily challenges more exciting and competitive. A real nit I have to pick is I wish we had an opening challenge with just the CBS people where the top man/woman and the third-best time overall would have been the people who get to pick teams. Or even have every player place and have the three last-place finishers pick teams.
There should have been an opportunity for the CBS people to shine so we get to see their personalities and abilities a bit more before they bring in the MTV Legends on their jet skis and steal the show.
8 Draft Picks
The draft itself was hilarious. Jonna was the correct #1 overall female pick by Josh — she is a proven winner, experienced, and her puzzle skills are crucial in a team game. Cassidy taking Cory as the #1 overall male was a hilarious pick that even Cory had to double-take. It was like watching Anthony Bennett getting drafted by the Cavs. Desi taking Wes as a fan of the show was wholesome and adorable. And if you plan on reading my blogs this season, you’ll have to deal with many loving words for Desi because she is one of the most stunning humans on the planet — gorgeous, intelligent, strong, and a force all around.
Other than that, Josh picking Paulie was hilarious. With every outfit Paulie puts on, he looks more ridiculous and shorter each time. Which like, I’m a short person — I don’t make fun of people’s height often, except Paulie keeps wearing these gigantic coats and then standing next to people like Fessy, Josh, and Monte, and it makes his size/height very apparent. If I were on The Challenge, I would do whatever I could to never stand next to Fessy or Monte.
Bananas didn’t get picked until late in the draft, except that’s because he was guaranteed to be on Josh’s team once Cory & Wes were off the board, so don’t look too deep into it.
7 Red Fish, Blue Fish, Green Fish
The Red Team is Josh, Bananas, Paulie, Dusty, Jonna, Michele, Chanelle, and Tiffany.
They are a mess. The Red team has so many prominent personalities and a lot of emotional, volatile, and selfish players. It’s hard for me to envision them doing well. Their female side lacks a bit of brawn which is crucial in team challenges; there’s generally a decent amount of lifting heavy objects.
The Blue Team is Cory, Faysal, Chris, Sebastian, Cassidy, Alyssa L, Tori, and White Alyssa.
For these team challenges, Fessy, Cory, and Chris are a solid trio of dudes. A guy like Fessy is perfect for a team season because you have someone who can carry extra weight and be the fastest guy in anything requiring sprinting. My only question is, who will solve the more intricate puzzles on this team? They killed the opening challenge, pulled off the win as a team, and worked well as a unit. If there’s a difficult puzzle, who is the person stepping up?
The Green Team is Wes, Monte, Tyler, Luis, Desi, Michaela, Amanda, and Ameerah.
It’s funny how things work because I thought this was very clearly the best team, and then they came in last in the daily challenge. Desi and Michaela can lift as much as Tori and are probably better in puzzles than her; them on the same team is dangerous. Wes brings experience and leadership, Monte is gigantic, Amanda is a puzzle person, Tyler was an all-around comp threat on Big Brother, and Luis/Ameerah are fit. I still firmly believe this is the best all-around team. They just fucked up the first challenge, plain and simple.
6 Amanda Is a Perfect Reality TV Mess
They had 3 female spots for MTV Legends, and one went to Amanda, even though she’s never been to a Challenge Final, let alone win a Championship. Honestly, it’s a testament to what Amanda brings to the table from a drama/entertainment standpoint. I can’t stop laughing at the idea of someone casually watching CBS who has never watched The Challenge before, and then this tiny girl comes on, throws up Devil Horns, and begins immediately talking shit about her enemies Tori and Michele.
It’s hysterical. Amanda isn’t a lousy competitor, but she isn’t some powerhouse, either. And instead of keeping herself low-key, she is out in the opening, has more enemies than friends, and has no interest in offering an olive branch; instead, she’s got a gun with little to possibly no bullets in it, and she’s still going to shoot. Blanks make noise.
I will say her fuck up on the first daily challenge was massively detrimental to her game. If Amanda had memorized all the symbols and the Green Team cruises to victory, her team would’ve viewed her puzzle prowess as key to the team. Now, because her lack of size/brawn, she is a liability, especially with the drama she brings. This episode was a L for Amanda because that daily challenge fuck up really will hurt her.
5 Jonna 3.0 is Even More Awesome
I’ve been a gigantic fan Jonna from Day 1. I consider the Jonna who rebuted on All Star 1 as Jonna 2.0. She came in under the radar, really found her footing in the game, made her first Final, and finished tied for 1st with KellyAnne among women. Then she took that momentum and built upon to win back-to-back championships.
Jonna is no longer under the radar and to me she is Jonna 3.0. The only woman in Challenge history to be the 1st Place on three seasons in a row. I love her deserved confidence and the way she is carrying herself.
Her confessional: “After winning back-to-back, I think my reputation is now you don’t wanna see Jonna in a Final. And I’ll be honest with you. You don’t wanna see me in a Final. Because I’ll take your money” was perfection.
4 Michele already has a status
We know Amanda hates Michele. The amount of hate is entirely unwarranted. What I did find interesting was Jonna saying she doesn’t trust Michele, and it’s because Wes warned her before the season. Wes has never done a season with Michele, yet he felt so strongly about Michele. This is crazy to me because Wes will work with almost anyone.
I know Wes is a big pre-game DM’s person, and I wonder if Wes slid in her DM’s and something went wrong or he heard something from someone else. I don’t know, but it’s not a great status for Michele going into only her third season. If Amanda hates you, she’ll make going on Twitter harder for your life. That’s not a real problem. If Wes and Jonna are against you, those are issues because they are people who can win dailies and eliminations and make power moves.
3 Michaela is ready to play
We got robbed of Michael on Spies, Lies & Allies, and I love that she and others are coming into this game ready to play. I love that she focused on getting a power male out of the game. 12 of the 16 votes went to men. She’s coming into this season ready to fight and play the game. It’s going to be interesting whether we see the vets steamroll like they always do, or will we actually get a good Rookie vs. OG War?
2 The Voting/Twist
The secret voting is cool, and it allows players to make rogue power moves we usually wouldn’t. I think there will be a lot of online paranoia, where people believe production will put 16 balls with the same name in the Hopper so they can rig eliminations, etc.
Conspiracies can be fun. I can’t wait to see social media react when a 1/15 or 1/16-voted person gets put into elimination. Hell, it could happen next week.
Eliminations are often the best part of The Challenge. I think ending the premiere episode for a CBS audience who maybe doesn’t know the show without an elimination is a thoughtless move. If someone sees an awesome elimination, they’re more likely to tune in again next week for another.
We will tune in on Sunday, but to me, it is an idiotic move not to have an elimination this episode.
