'The Challenge: Lies, Spies And Allies' Blog: The Worst, Dumbest Final In Show History And CT's Legacy
*Spoilers Obviously Ahead. Again, this is your warning*
Alright, let me just start this by saying appreciate everyone interacting during this season of The Challenge. I know it's niche but we all love the show and hate Fessy. Good to have a crew together again. I'll be blogging Challenge All-Stars every Friday and anything that happens within the show world going forward too. We'll try to do some audio stuff too if needed whether it's on Twitter spaces or whatever. Let's get into the Final.
The single worst final in show history
I can't get over how stupid this was. I have to find a way to break it down more, but I need to vent. I know, I know. Each season they are trying to find a way to make the final different. We don't need to outside of single event, team event or duos. Pretty simple here. All the twists, all the bullshit just ruined it. It made the entire final worthless. The entire last 1.5 episodes were pointless. It mattered nothing. I'll get into it more.
Nelson doesn't know shapes
Obviously we start the day with orange team vs purple team. One team is loaded. One team has CT, Devin, Emy and Tori. The other team has Nelson, Kyle, Nany and Kaycee. So one of the parts of the final was carrying this missile and then solving a puzzle having to move a couple other missiles to get three squares. Nelson wanted to make a triangle. Why? Big brain thinking.
Needless to say that didn't work out. If you have to make three squares never try to make a rectangle or a triangle. That's not the goal.
Elimination
This was clearly going to happen when they teased it last week. Whatever team finished last after the first day was going to go against each other in an elimination. So we get Nelson vs Kyle and Nany vs Kaycee. I love it. Give me people dating each other and having to eliminate the other person during a final. I thought for sure Nany was going to lay down and eliminate herself without really competing. Poor Nelson. Dude just can't win. Kyle smoked him pretty easily in the elimination.
The thing that ruined it all
So after the elimination we get the twist. We're going to duos but Kaycee gets to pick her partner as does Kyle. What the fuck? So the entire orange and purple team meant nothing? The final basically was this last part. Kaycee gets the biggest advantage (CT) simply because she finished last. Fuck that.
The dumb final
And now the dumb final was just run up a mountain, memorize a 20-digit code, run down the hill and punch it in. Wow! Great work! I miss the days of having to eat gross shit, stand on tree stump overnight in freezing weather, having to run miles, all that stuff. Can we get back to that? I don't know why we changed with all this, but it really sucks. It's not even enjoyable to watch.
Kaycee doesn't deserve a title
Alright legacy talk time. Kaycee doesn't deserve a title next to her name. She was in last place for 90% of the final and then won one checkpoint. That's not a title. This is some Mickey Mouse bullshit.
CT's legacy
CT gets his fifth title and first back-to-back. It's clear he's the 2nd best contestant in show history behind Bananas. I really wish we could get the big names all back together for a season so we can see this revamped CT who keeps his cool and not punch people out. Let me see what he'd do now vs just being the intimidating CT back in the day. The man just knows how to run a Final. It took him forever to get his first title which ultimately is why he likely won't pass Bananas, but what makes him dominant showed up. He's great at puzzles. He's not necessarily a great runner but he knows how to pace and run during a Final. Physical? No problem. He's the best thing going on the show.
The decision
Not exactly shocking that CT and Kaycee decided to split the money. CT worked with Devin and Emy the entire season. The real question would be if they shared with Tori and Kyle. But CT has a soft spot now and with Kyle having a kid on the way he decided to share. Felt right to give each team $100k while CT and Kaycee walk away with $400k each. Not a bad pay day.