Taking on 'The Challenge: Battle of the Eras' | "Thinking Thin Era"

Season 40 of the MTV staple The Challenge is past the midpoint and each Thursday afternoon, The Alabama Take continues coverage of Battle of the Eras in the form of recaps, analysis, thoughts, questions, and answers. Find it on the site every Thursday evening. 

Episode fifteen of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, “Thinking Thin Era,” begins where the show left off two weeks ago when Cory faces Josh to send “The Goof” home. The players return to the house, and Cory and Cara Maria decide that they need to align since they have no solid pacts this season. Bananas then complains to his “angels” that Cara annoys him. Soon after, it’s time for the daily challenge, a unique one where players must run through the tunnels of Vietnam to solve two puzzles and gets T.J. to ascend from one of the entries. The targets this week are Michele, Aviv, and Jenny who must perform well lest they go into elimination; with Aviv already coming in with a penalty, she is especially under pressure, which may be why she ruins her attempt with a DQ. when she breaks a barrier in the tunnel. Bananas and Rachel do poorly, too, as they do not see that the final puzzle, T.J.’s face, has two sides to the pieces. By the end of the daily, Kyland and Tori win again with the best times, Aviv heads to elimination, and Kylan gets final say between Michele and Jenny on who competes in elimination. Since Bananas loses on the men’s side, he receives the penalty for next week’s challenge. In the meantime, Tori, Cara, and Derek celebrate Michele’s birthday with some drag and there is no bar scene. Kyland hears Jenny and Michele’s case, debates sending in Michele due to last season, but he decides on Jenny to face Aviv. Tori tries some mind games to get the girls to think badly about Bananas, but it's to no avail. The elimination is a cage match of sorts: a triangular cage sits within a circle. Jenny and Aviv must get a ten-pound ball before the other and toss it over the cage. The trick is that it cannot land or go outside of the circle. Aviv puts up a fight, but Jenny gets the ball each time and scores the required two points to seal the win. Then she picks the only guys that she can for targets: Cory, Jordan, and Derek. 

What is it that’s causing many of these episodes to be dull even though the daily challenges are intriguing?  

Blaine: The season is hamstrung by the targets, which force alliances between the men and ladies as well as remove any suspense on who will be picked. As soon as Kyland won, it was Jenny versus Aviv, no questions asked. It was nice of Kyland or production to attempt to draw it out with the reference to Michele’s antagonistic control of season 39, but come on. They’ve mended fences to the point where that was a nonstarter. The tunnels made for a fascinating daily, one I wouldn’t do to save my life, but it needed more cameras, maybe. We only got specific glimpses of each player’s performance in the dark. It all goes back to the predictability, though. Love him or hate him, when Bananas causes chaos this season, that’s when things heat up. It’s not a great sign when the best part of the episode was T.J. getting some funny laughs in at the players and his face being the final puzzle.  

TD: I think Blaine nailed it with his point about the targets. It was interesting enough, and it worked well within the team structure – but once the competition turned into an individual game, the targets should’ve been dropped. It also doesn’t help that we’re down to two alliances, so you know exactly who is getting picked based on who wins.

Did Bananas truly not get the puzzle of T.J.’s face? Or did he throw the daily challenge in order to avoid making a decision? 

Blaine: I suspect that Johnny’s not that good of an actor. He wouldn’t be able to help himself and wink at the camera at some point. Though his whole “I want to punch this guy” bit did seem like an act. If he did throw the challenge, it doesn’t explain how others did so poorly with that set of blocks, including Rachel, who had nothing to worry about with a win. Aviv, though, really shit the bed this week. How do you not only break a barrier but also run a mile out of the way?! I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been off the show for eighteen seasons. 

TD: I don’t think Bananas threw the challenge, because the penalty that comes with being last could be catastrophic in the next daily event. I am pretty shocked, with his level of experience, that he didn’t check the other side of the puzzle pieces. Hey, we all have our brain farts, I guess, look at Aviv’s wild detour. 

What was your reaction to the daily challenge? Any fear of tight spaces?

Blaine: I never claim that I’d be any good at the challenge. Even in my heyday, I was slow and small. I’m not jumping out of a plane, I’m a horrible swimmer, and heights tend to get me. But I’d take whatever penalty is issued to avoid this daily challenge. Tight spaces and me don’t mix. I’ve even had that creeping sense of dread when watching Vietnam War movies and the combatants fled to these very tunnels. Luckily, the lack of varied shots in the tunnels kept my personal claustrophobia at bay during this week’s episode. I’m shocked, too, that at least one of them didn’t opt out. It was also funny that Aviv had wished for a competition designed for a small person. Well, she got it, and she shit the bed. 

TD: Look, for that much money, I’d squeeze my ass down there – although I have serious questions about someone the size of CT would’ve gotten through that hole, did they have a bigger one? The funniest reaction had to be that of my wife: “Oh noooo. Fuck no. Fuck no. Fuck no. Fuck thaaaat. Nope.” 

Confessionals:

• I don’t think we’re in for anymore big surprises this season, in terms of format, anyway. The only question is whether we go into the final with eight players or six. - TD

• I loved that elimination game. Give me that with two powerhouses like CT and Fessy, or the like. - TD

• I wish Kyland would’ve swerved with elimination, and he had good reason: Michele was ruthless to him, Nurys, and Horacio last season. - Blaine

• Nothing better than T.J. cracking up behind the players attempting to piece together his face. - Blaine

• Rachel and Jordan’s handshake could be vital or could be a lack of footage to use from this week. - Blaine