Taking On 'The Challenge: Battle of the Eras' | "My Real Friends Era"

The Challenge ventures into its fortieth season! Each Thursday afternoon, The Alabama Take provides coverage of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras in the form of recaps, analysis, thoughts, questions, and answers. Find it on the site every Thursday. 

In “My Real Friends Era,” the sixth episode of the season, The Challenge: Battle of the Eras begins with all of Jenny’s teammates giving her grief due to her complaints on wearing the target again instead of Kaycee, whom Olivia argues in confessional is the more valuable player. Soon after, Jenny joins her era for the daily where groups of three must race to an open field of dirt to gather oversized helium balloons, bring them back to starting point, and manage it all while both crossing a deep, muddy ditch and keeping the balloon in one piece. That very ditch costs Derrick a leg which gives Era I no favors. The key aspect is keeping each balloon from popping while crossing through an open, square structure designed with spikes – a sure danger to any balloon, as any child will attest. After the balloons are gathered from the field, the eras can then decipher a riddle – all of which are the same for the groups – in order to unlock the chest to claim victory. However, the teammates to do it the fastest may not be the winners as the game is decided by the number of balloons paired with the shortest time. That puts Era IV in the winner’s circle, and since Jenny lets bygones be bygones, she and Josh begin decisions on which Era sends in players: Era II’s Bananas and Laurel or Era III’s Cory and Jonna. The chosen pair will face off against Brad and Jonna from Era I in elimination this week. Feeling the love after a win, Josh wants input from all of the players on his team, but diverts from their agreed plan quickly when Bananas lets him know that he can make amends from a slight in The Challenge: USA 2. Rattled, Josh decides it’s Cory and Jonna who will fight for their stay. In between it all comes the drama of Johnny Bananas warning Michelle that Devin may be using her and her attraction for the game and not amorous evenings. Devin is rightfully upset, and nothing seems settled after they talk. In the week’s elimination, “To The Point,” dodge balls are thrown onto spikes and players can play defense or offense. The winners with the most balls on the spikes when all balls are out of play wins. Brad and Cory come down to the last play, and Cory wins 4-3 with the smart strategy of chest pass rather than Brad’s aggressive style of throwing. Brad figures it out, but it’s too late. In the women’s division, Rachel handles Jonna easily. Rachel goes up 5-0 early and stays in control for the remainder of play. Rachel realizes all of the players in Era I now from the original Road Rules show. And if I’m not wrong, the Road Rules’ teams in Real World Versus Road Rules Challenge – the original show – won more than they lost. Next week’s targets will now be Darrell and Tina from Era I, Nehemiah and Aviv in Era II, Nia and Jordan from Era III, and Kyland and Michelle in Era IV. 

Both Kaycee and Jenny have one championship each. Who’s the more valuable asset? 

Blaine: I thought Olivia’s assumption about Jenny being less of a player than Kaycee to be unfounded and odd. Put the two head to head in any aspect of a final, and Jenny would beat Kaycee more than she loses. Olivia has more familiarity with Kaycee, which doesn’t determine the worth of a player. But when it comes to The Challenge, you have to factor in the social and political. Both components have been huge this season. Jenny, unfortunately, has been on less seasons than Kaycee, yet Kaycee has won her championship in less time. It can’t boil down to the nicer person, who often gets the shit end of a stick on The Challenge, as both of these ladies aren’t troublemakers or drama queens. It’s that Jenny does not have the connections. It doesn’t matter. I’d draft Jenny over Kaycee every day of the week. Look, just give us Kenny Clark again. Why keep the best Challenger of all time away from the game? 

TD: I’d lean toward Jenny, here. They are both immensely talented physical performers, with Jenny getting the slight edge because she’s stronger than Kaycee. They also both struggle in the political aspect of the game; however, Jenny has a bit more of a personality than Kaycee. Kaycee’s relationship with Nany has opened a few more doors in that arena, though. It’s a close race, but, again, I’d have to pick Jenny if I had the choice between the two.

With Era I derailing more and more each week and Jonna’s elimination in this episode, how do All Stars champions stack up against competitors on the main series? 

Blaine: I noticed Jonna can compete time and again on All Stars where her limitations aren’t as pronounced. Here, though, she seems out of place as does Aviv and Averey (whom I’d completely forgotten was on the show this season until the camera picked her up at the bar). It’s part politics, but it’s also the level of these new players. They’re in shape, they can be intense, and they have the youthful desire to win. And yeah, that “Vacation Alliance,” which was referenced again by Josh and Tori this week, runs so much of the show. Put them on different teams next season and don’t allow them to help one another, producers!  

TD: Sadly, I do believe the glory days of the Era I competitors are behind them. We saw it with last week’s shocking elimination of C.T. – in a game seemingly tailor-made for his strengths, no less. Derrick’s injury this week doesn’t help the image that these are a bunch of olds trying to win a young person’s game. They also seem to have lost their biggest advantages. As seasoned vets, they should have the upper hand when it comes to strategy in the daily challenges. However, they haven’t found a way to work as a cohesive unit and win some. Physically, while they’ve all lost their fast ball, so to say, elimination is the great equalizer and a place where they can actually have a physical advantage over younger opponents. This season is telling a different story, though. Rachel provided a little relief with her win over Jonna, but by and large, it’s hard to imagine any Era I competitor winning the final. I think what this tells us is All Stars should be viewed in an entirely different lens, almost like a different universe in the MTV multiverse. The game is just different from the main Challenge.

A glance online reveals fans’ complaints of how the production have mishandled the season’s structure for such a massive and fan-favorite cast. What could be changed for Season 50 or beyond? 

Blaine: I don’t know that I’m smart enough to construct a better seasonal layout, but something has to give with targets. A couple of weeks of it seems enough: too many opportunities to have players throw a game or not care about who is in elimination. The losing team should probably go straight into elimination, sure. But shouldn’t there be a new method? The Challenge does a great job of switching rules and gameplay around during a season. There better be more coming, especially now that Era I is all but cooked. Though not deliberately assumed by producers (unlike how the Cara Maria versus Laurel feud likely is), Devin versus Bananas can be great for the season and the show. That should be maintained! 

TD: One thing from the past I’ve always wanted to see return is the use of some kind of points-based scoring system. It was used in the early days of The Challenge, and it led to some fierce competition. I’d love to see that kind of emphasis on the actual game play return. You can still have the political side of things for eliminations and such, but making a scoring system really makes things all about winning, which I think would be a great addition to a season that’s setup like this. I do hope a change in format is coming soon, before teams get too lopsided and challenges become too predictable. I don’t know if that means combining teams, drafting new ones, or moving to an individual challenge, but I think something needs to happen soon to keep things fresh.

Confessionals:

• Yes, Cory, you should know a lot about newborn babies! He was a baby-making machine for a few years! Lord! - Blaine

• No update on Derrick’s leg? Come on! That Era is getting smaller and smaller! The producers and their edits at least had the smarts to give us C.T. and a comment when he returned from his possible back injury after a high fall in the water. - Blaine

• Two quick hits on Josh: Bananas proves that Josh can be played like a fiddle with a dash of emotion and Kyland’s stare at him when he walks back the team’s decision is good TV. - Blaine

• Gonna go along with Blaine and question why we didn’t get any kind of update on Derrick’s leg. Seems to me that’s a pretty big storyline that needs resolution sooner rather than later. - TD

• One thing I think production is doing well is keeping the karma points in the dark, and only teasing us with them. We know every eliminated competitor has done them, but we don’t know their exact scores or how they’ll be used – just that they’re important. That should make the reveal to the cast and viewer that much bigger and better. - TD