Ideal Antics on 'The Challenge All Stars: Rivals' | "You D-Rival Me Crazy"

Is that the sound of the world becoming a Turbo fan? 

That he sleeps in the living room to annoy others, that he reprimands castmates for leaving their dirty dishes in the common area – which is not his bedroom he’ll have them know, that he continues to use the phrase “pussy chicken,” that he angers over the competition “farting or make noise,” that even Steve finds him simultaneously fascinating and scary all adds to Turbo becoming a presence I never thought I’d enjoy on The Challenge. Put him on every season. 

Plus, he’s got a point: clean up your damn dirty dishes. 

Another story line of late and likely for a few more weeks is that of Shane versus Frank. The two make for good rivals, and had they been paired as a team for the season, The Challenge would’ve had magic on its hands. 

Instead, the two begin this week with more scenes of their bickering, bickering that is slowly boiling. Shane takes most with a smile, but Frank’s blow-up at the end of the last week’s episode promises more to come. 

Elsewhere, Dario complains that his social game isn’t the best, and one has to wonder if it’s because he sent his only friend home. Nice move, Dario. 

The daily challenge takes the cast to the same cliff that production used in Season Forty, and it’s too bad that Devin wasn’t on hand to call them out on the repeated use. The return of the scenery, the ATV being on a track of sorts, and the similarities of that daily in Battle of the Eras made for a ho-hum challenge, and if viewers aren’t fans of Adam and Steve, then it was even worse than that. They get along nicely and do well. This week, they get the vote for the other pair for elimination. 

While Adam and Steve pair like peanut butter and jelly, Veronica and Katie work so well together a casual viewer would question what their beef would be. They struggle with the daily challenge and along with Melissa and Nicole, they fail to touch the dangling star – which, by the way, is a free band name for anyone reading. 

It does put all four in jeopardy of the house vote. Frank’s strategy here is baffling and almost as dumb as drunk Melissa, who’s infamous for taking a small insult and turning it into a personal affront. Were I Nicole, I’d try to keep the drinks out of her hands. It’s every season she’s on she puts at least one foot in her mouth at the local bar. 

Frank can’t manipulate the players like he’s accustomed to doing, so instead he makes the choice of voting for himself and Sam. The bonehead move, though, is where he turns to Turbo and Nany to explain that he doesn’t “have to say you.” When you do that, you may as well say them!

It leads to Dario and Ashley making a return to The Jungle to face Turbo and Nany, in the elimination for the second week in a row. 

I wasn’t on board with Adam and Steve picking Turbo and Nany and not just because I’d changed my tune on Turbo. They seem like possibly allies, and as well as Adam and Steve have played the last few weeks, more could’ve been accomplished here politically. Take into account that Shane was practically begging for Frank to go in, and there was hay to be made with a different choice. 

The elimination, a game of continually holding up a board while the teammate pieces together a puzzle on its heavy plank, fits Turbo’s strengths well. Though he and Nany have to change every three minutes per the rules, Turbo and Nany win and send Dario and Ashley packing. 

Dario and Ashley’s mended fences remind us it’s always about the friends we make along the way.   

Confessionals

• I know I mentioned it above, but Turbo sleeping on the living room couch as a possible game move and a certain vexation is The Challenge when it’s at its best and funniest. 

• With Dario and Ashley going home, once again stars will be a part of the daily challenge. Here’s to a more inventive way of getting them into a pair’s hands. 

• Chemistry of the cast has been lacking in one way or the other, but production needs to step it up, too. It’s time for a big T.J. twist or two. 

• Frank lines up to be an ideal villain for the show: smart, cocky, manipulative. He manages it all while avoiding the particularly cruel and personal insults most devolve into making. And he’s much more interesting than the likes of a Faysal, who at times could be the wallpaper in the house.