‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’ episode 5 recap: Who was eliminated in ‘An Era Tradition’? [LIVE BLOG]
Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” an exhausting challenge leaves an era questioning one of their own, while another era can’t get on the same page. A long-standing rivalry between two teammates comes to a head and erupts. Champions collide in an epic, nail-biting elimination.
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, CT Tamburello, Darrell Taylor, Derrick Kosinski, Rachel Robinson, Tina Barta
Era 2: Aviv Melmed, Cara Maria Sorbello, Derek Chavez, Emily Schromm, 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 “An Era Tradition” airing Wednesday, September 18 (8:00 – 9:30 PM ET/PT) on MTV.
8:07 p.m. — Heading into tonight, the targets on each team are Tina & CT for Era 1, Emily & Nehemiah for Era 2, Tori & Devin for Era 3 and Olivia & Kyland for Era 4. As the challengers return to the house after the last episode’s elimination (Aneesa and Horacio were eliminated), CT reveals he volunteered to be target this week because Era 1 may be losing daily challenges, but they’re crushing eliminations. It could be the only way to keep their team intact. Nehemiah isn’t as comfortable and hopes to stay out of elimination at all costs. Meanwhile, Olivia confronts Josh for volunteering to be a target, and then backing out at the last minute and letting Kyland take the fall. Classic Josh. He admits he is scared of facing off against CT, so he refused to nominate himself. Now Olivia has lost all trust in Josh. Kyland says “This is definitely strike one, and we’re not playing baseball, so I’m not gonna wait for three.” The next day the contestants enjoy a day by the pool filled with grilling, cocktails and tongue-swapping. Eventually night falls and even more hookups take place, including a new showmance blooming between Devin and Michele. Devin knows it’s a stupid move, but he can’t control himself.
8:11 p.m. — The next morning Nehemiah tries to lock in a deal with Devin. They’d like to agree that if either wins today, they’ll throw Era 1 and Era 4 into elimination. Devin doesn’t fully commit though, saying he has to speak with Tori first. Devin also has strong ties to both CT and Olivia, so there’s a lot for him to consider. Later, we learn more about this supposed “Vacation Alliance,” a group of friends within the house who spend a lot of time together in the real world. They’re trying to downplay it, but others in the game know this alliance is real and it’s dangerous. The Vacation Alliance includes Josh, Kaycee, Tori and Devin. Josh says people are just jealous they always dominate the game. Sorry Josh, you’ve never dominated anything on “The Challenge.” But it’s nice that you’ve aligned with three actual champions.
8:15 p.m. — The players arrive at this week’s daily challenge. In “Fast Pass,” teams will pick up a giant Y-shaped beam. They’ll navigate that beam through the trees, until they come to some sandbags. They must collect four sandbags and bring them back to their team station, where they’ll each have one large balance beam. Once they drop them off, they repeat the process and go collect four more sandbags. Then, each era will select two players to balance that beam with the sandbags. The first era to get it done will win today’s challenge and be safe from elimination. The losing team’s targets will go straight into the arena.
8:30 p.m. — The challenge begins and Era 1 immediately falls behind. Tina is frustrated, stating that nobody will listen to her or her strategy. They aren’t the only team arguing — this challenge is definitely bringing out some rage. Jordan and Tori are getting into it over on Era 3 and Tori reminds us, “I am on a team with my ex-fiancé.” Era 4 is working together the best so far, and they’re the first team to reach their sandbags. Era 2 is in second place, followed by Era 3 and then Era 1. As the teams begin to collect their second bunch of sandbags, some members of Era 2 begin to realize Laurel is nowhere to be found. She’s just standing around. Is Laurel purposely throwing this challenge for some reason? In the confessional Laurel admits, “Emily is competition, why would I want her here?”
8:35 p.m. — Era 4 has collected all of their sandbags and Kyland and Michele successfully balance the beam. They are the winners of this challenge and now Kyland and Olivia will have all the power tonight. Era 2 finishes next, followed by Era 3. Era 1 gets last place, so Tina and CT will be heading into tonight’s arena. Tina and CT begin arguing and everyone just looks on, watching the complete disaster of Era 1 unfold. Eventually, Tina and CT apologize to each other and admit they’re just frustrated. Meanwhile, Emily & Nehemiah and Tori & Devin will have to plead their case as to why they should not be sent into the arena.
8:45 p.m. — In the chamber, Kyland & Olivia begin hearing arguments from Devin & Tori and Nehemiah & Emily. There are rumors about deals being made, alliances throughout the house and everyone is on edge. Meanwhile, CT & Tina offer no input, stating both teams are equal so they have no preference who they face off against. Devin brings up the deal Nehemiah tried to cut with Devin, which completely catches Emily off-guard. It’s not looking good for Era 2. Later, Olivia and Kyland talk privately. They trust Devin and Tori because they typically follow through on their deals, but they’re going to give it a minute to let everything sink in.
9:00 p.m. — When Emily and Tina return to the house, they let everyone else on Era 1 and Era 2 that Era 3 and Era 4 are working together. Rachel, who has remained pretty quiet all season, has had enough of Devin. The next morning things are pretty calm in the house, so Michele decides it’s the perfect time to ask Laurel why she doesn’t like her. Laurel isn’t interested in this conversation and basically tells Michele to stop trying to be friends with her. In walks Cara Maria, who can relate to Michele. She says, “Michele, I can be your friend outside of this, come with me.” This just enrages Laurel. Later, Cara Maria tells Emily what went down between Laurel and Michele. Then she reveals that Laurel wanted to throw today’s challenge so Emily and Tori would have to face off in the arena. Next, Cara Maria approaches Laurel directly and asks here why she’s such an asshole to Michele, Emily and Darrell. “Maybe the problem is you, Laurel,” she says. Obviously this sets Laurel off and a screaming match ensues.
9:15 p.m. — After all the drama, the players finally enter the elimination arena. Kyland & Olivia reveal that the duo facing off against CT & Tina are Nehemiah & Emily. The game tonight is “Getting Hammered.” Players must remove 100 nails from one board and nail 100 more into another board. The first one to complete this task and hit their button will win this elimination. The women are up first. It’s a pretty simple game, so there’s not much to describe as Tina and Emily attack these nails. I will say, Tina’s strategy for removing nails is much more effective than Emily’s, and she takes an early lead. By the time Emily starts nailing, Tina is halfway through her board. Just minutes later, against all odds, Tina hits that buzzer and eliminates Emily from the competition! This is the first elimination round Emily has ever lost.
9:25 p.m. — The men are up next. Will either of them be able to successfully copy Tina’s winning strategy? No. They quickly realize Tina’s strategy was her own little miracle. They’ll have to remove these nails the old fashioned way. It’s a pretty close battle to the finish, but in the end Nehemiah pulls out the second upset of the night, sending “Challenge” legend CT packing. It’s always a bummer to see CT go home, but congrats to Nehemiah!
9:30 p.m. — As the winners tonight, Tina and Nehemiah get to pick next week’s targets. They choose Brad & Rachel from Era 1, Bananas & Laurel from Era 2, Cory & Jonna from Era 3 and Josh & Jenny from Era 4.