‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’ episode 6 recap: Who was eliminated in ‘My Real Friends Era’? [LIVE BLOG]
Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” a challenger must decide between righting their past wrongs or creating a new divide. Another player tries to protect a “friend” in their relationship, but only creates a problem for themself. An entire era grasps at anything to turn the game around.
This year, the longest-running reality competition series embarks on its monumental 40th season. “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras” features 40 legendary competitors from the series’ 26-year history representing their “Challenge Era” in an epic battle for the ages where legends will collide as they strive to immortalize their names as Challenge 40 Champions and earn their share of the one million dollar prize. As usual, “The Challenge” is hosted by T.J. Lavin.
Here are the contestants still in contention for the Season 40 championship:
Era 1: Brad Fiorenza, Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Rachel Robinson, Tina Barta
Era 2: Aviv Melmed, Cara Maria Sorbello, Derek Chavez, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Laurel Stucky, Nehemiah Clark, Ryan Kehoe
Era 3: Averey Tressler, Cory Wharton, Devin Walker, Jonna Mannion, Jordan Wiseley, Nia Moore, Tori Deal
Era 4: Jenny West, Josh Martinez, Kaycee Clark, Kyland Young, Michele Fitzgerald, Olivia Kaiser, Theo Campbell
Below, read our full recap of tonight’s episode, titled “My Real Friends Era” airing Wednesday, September 25 (8:00 – 9:30 PM ET/PT) on MTV.
8:05 p.m. — After winning last week’s elimination, Tina and Nehemiah named the following targets for this week: Brad & Rachel for Era 1, Bananas & Laurel for Era 2, Cory & Jonna for Era 3 and Josh & Jenny for Era 4. After returning to the house, Bananas says he hopes he’s made enough connections in this game to avoid the arena, even if everyone hates Laurel. Over in the Ear 4 bedroom, Jenny complains that she’s already been a target. She’s upset that nobody on her team will volunteer. She’s tired of being disposable while Michele does nothing. Olivia admits in the DR that she and Michele have an alliance, Kaycee is the best player on their team, and Jenny is definitely a scapegoat. Kaycee says relationships are “the name of the game” and it’s Jenny’s problem, not hers.
8:10 p.m. — The next morning, Josh talks strategy with Tori. They have an alliance with Era 3, but Josh is also tight with Bananas and Laurel from Era 2. Josh does have a history of crossing Bananas and admits he can’t be completely loyal to everyone. Foreshadowing? Meanwhile, Brad and Rachel are fully convinced they’ll be sent into the arena. Era 1 is on life support. In another corner, Cory thinks he’s being targeted because he’s tied to Jonna, who refused to volunteer herself last week. Her refusal to do so backfired, because she was nominated anyways and now she just looks shady. Over by the pool, Bananas warns Jenny that if she keeps helping Era 4 win, she’ll continue to be a target. He calls Michele being “boo’d up” with Devin is bad news for Jenny. They have too much power and reach in this game. Bananas thinks Michele really likes Devin, but says Devin is just using Michele as a pawn in his game. He wants to break it up.
8:15 p.m. — The next day the players arrive at their fifth challenge. In “Cloud Catcher,” helium-filled balloons are connected to color-coordinated poles. Three players from each team will race across a field, through the obstacle and start grabbing their balloons. One at a time, they’ll race them back and through a giant pergola. Once they have collected all their balloons, they will reveal a giant riddle they must solve. The team that finishes the riddle with the most amount of balloons attached to their station, in the least amount of time, will win today’s challenge. The targets on the losing team will go straight into tonight’s arena. TJ blows the horn and we’re off to the races!
8:30 p.m. — Just minutes into this challenge, Derrick hits a bad landing in the mud pit and thinks he’s broken his leg. As if things couldn’t get worse for Era 1. As he screams in pain, Rachel and Brad realize how hard it is to move these balloons through the pergola, quickly popping two of them. So far Era 4 is looking the best at keeping their balloons safe. Era 2 and Era 3 both look okay, but Jordan is screaming at everyone on his team, frustrating everyone. Era 1 is just a hot mess. Derrick is in slightly less pain, now running with a severe limp. At least he’s not completely immobile. After all the balloons are collected, it looks like Era 2, 3 or 4 could all win this. Era 3 finishes first, followed by Era 2, but this is really about who has the most balloons, so Era 4 is still in this. Once everyone completes the challenge, TJ reveals the winner is Era 4! That means Josh & Jenny will control tonight’s chamber. The losers are Era 1, so Brad & Rachel will be in the arena. They’ll face off against either Laurel & Bananas or Jonna & Cory.
8:45 p.m. — Once again Josh has peoples’ games in his hands and neither Bananas or Cory trust him. Cory knows they need to get Bananas out of the game, but will Josh take that shot? Over on Era 1, they’ve resigned to going into elimination every week. Brad says if he loses one more time he’s ready for a flight home. Rachel says they can’t guarantee anyone safety because they’re a team of losers, so they can only prove themselves in the sand. They have absolutely no negotiating power. Next, Josh asks his Era 4 team to help him make this decision. Olivia says they may never have another opportunity to get Bananas AND Laurel out in one shot. Kyland says this shouldn’t even be a discussion — Bananas and Laurel should go in. Era 4 has an alliance with Era 3. Why go back on it now? Down in the chamber, both Eras plead their case to Era 4. Once alone, Josh tells Jenny they should do what’s best for them, not their team — going against everything he just told his team five minutes ago. Jenny likes Bananas and Josh wants to prove he’s loyal to him, so they decide to nominated Cory & Jonna. This does not go over well with their Era 4 teammates. Jenny doesn’t care, stating Michele didn’t nominate herself to keep her own game safe, so Jenny can throw anyone she damn well pleases into the arena. You can’t complain if you aren’t willing to risk your own game to gain power.
9:00 p.m. — Josh and Jenny explain their decision to Jonna, who is flabbergasted. She asks them if they really think Bananas or Laurel will save either of them later in this game. Neither Josh or Jenny are very high on their list of alliances, so why are they trying to impress Bananas? Jenny explains that she feels like she’s alone in the game, but Jonna feels the same way and would like to work with Jenny. Cory has a more threatening response. He tells Josh he’s not going to complain because he didn’t get the win. If he goes down in the sand that’s fine, but when he comes back he’ll have to go after the two people who sent him in — Josh and Jenny. At this point, everyone needs a drink and they head to their little private bar. As drinks are flowing, Josh and Cory continue their conversation from earlier. Cory once again states, “It’s done now. I know where [you] stand.” If Cory wins he’s coming back with Josh in his crosshairs.
9:10 p.m. — As everyone leaves the club, Bananas tells Michele that he hopes Devin isn’t using her for game purposes. Michele relays that information to Devin and there are fireworks. Devin tells Michele she shouldn’t tell him things that make him want to beat someone up. He looks a little drunk, so that’s probably not helping the situation. The next morning Devin confronts Bananas. At least he slept on it. Bananas said, “That’s not what happened at all.” He says his words are being twisted, but they’re not at all. It’s just Bananas being Bananas. Rachel sits back and enjoys watching chaos happen between other Eras.
9:25 p.m. — It’s time for the elimination. In “To the Point,” players will launch balls at a wall of spikes until all their balls are gone. Whoever has the most balls on spikes at the end will win this challenge. The loser will go home. Brad and Cory up first. It quickly becomes apparent that this is more difficult than it looks. It’s not easy to aim the balls directly at the spikes. After a long, close battle, Cory wins by a score of 4-3. Next up is Rachel vs. Jonna. After another epic battle, Rachel prevails 5-3, sending Jonna packing.
9:30 p.m. — As the winners of this elimination, Cory and Rachel pick targets for the next challenge: Darrell & Tina (Era 1), Nehemiah & Aviv (Era 2), Jordan & Nia (Era 3) and Kyland & Michele (Era 4). That’s a wrap!