‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’ episode 9 recap: Who was eliminated in ‘An Era of One’? [LIVE BLOG]
Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” having seen their whole team lose in elimination, one Challenger must hold their entire era on their back to earn safety. Cracks in an alliance begin to form as relationships across eras create paranoia and uneasiness amongst its members.
Here are the contestants still in contention for the Season 40 championship:
Era 1: Rachel Robinson
Era 2: Aviv Melmed, Cara Maria Sorbello, Derek Chavez, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, Laurel Stucky, Nehemiah Clark, Ryan Kehoe
Era 3: Cory Wharton, Devin Walker, 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 of One” airing Wednesday, October 16 (8:00 – 9:30 PM ET/PT) on MTV.
The targets this week are Rachel (Era 1), Ryan & Laurel (Era 2), Devin & Tori (Era 3) and Kyland & Kaycee (Era 4). As they return to the house, Rachel is wondering how she can go about beating the entire house as a team of one. It sounds like this week’s daily challenge will be a solo mission, but it will be interesting to see what happens if Rachel loses — will there be a men’s elimination? And if so, who will compete?
Ryan has FINALLY volunteered to be a target for the first time this season, hoping that if Era 2 can pull off a victory he can keep Rachel safe. The downside? A lot of people in the house can’t stand Laurel, so if they lose that could be a big target on their back. Meanwhile, Cory is done with Era 3 and his closest alliance is now Nehemiah from Era 2.
The Vacation Alliance of Tori, Devin, Josh and Kaycee is going strong. Since three of them are targets this week, they’re hoping either Era 3 or Era 4 can pull off a victory and keep the other side safe. Devin has basically declared war on Bananas, who attacked his showmance with Michele. This makes Michele uneasy because she doesn’t want another target on their backs. Meanwhile, Bananas is cleverly thinking up scenarios where he could miraculously get Eras 3 and 4 in the elimination tonight.
This week’s daily challenge is called “Bottoms Out.” Players will answer a series of equations (so much math this season!). However many equations they answer correctly earn them a handhold and foothold in a container they’ll be perched inside of. Players will then hang on — the team that lasts the longest will win today’s challenge and be safe from elimination. The only two players that look confident with math are Laurel and Kyland (nicknamed “The Calculator”). Era 1 earned 6, Era 2 earned 17, Era 3 earned 14 and Era 4 earned 14. That doesn’t sound like much for Era 1, but remember it’s just Rachel, so she has 6 footholds to herself. Time to hop in the container!
There’s not much action to describe in tonight’s elimination, but Rachel kicked things off with a solid performance. Era 4 hit the water pretty quickly with the exception of Kaycee, who had to hang on in hopes of beating Rachel’s time. The top performer from Era 3 was Devin and Era 2 was anchored by Nehemiah. TJ reads the results and reveals the winner of this challenge is Era 1! Rachel hung on for over 14 minutes to earn the first Era 1 victory. The losers are Era 3, so Tori and Devin will be headed straight to elimination. Rachel will have the sole power to decide who they face off against. She can’t wait to see who will offer her the best deal to help move her own game forward.
Rachel seems a little annoyed by Kaycee, who seems to think they have some sort of alliance that’s never been mentioned before. However, Rachel is intrigued by Kyland and thinks he could help her game. Pitting Laurel against Tori could also be good for Rachel, even though she’d have to sacrifice her best friend Ryan to accomplish that. Laurel also offers her loyalty to Rachel, stating if the game becomes individual she’ll have Rachel’s back to the end. Laurel barely has any friends as opposed to Kaycee and Kyland, who can offer Rachel help, but she’d be last on their long list of alliances. Following the chamber meeting, Rachel decides to send Kyland and Kaycee into the arena against Devin and Tori.
Tonight’s elimination arena is called “Cable Connection Showdown.” Players must untangle a bunch of intertwined cables and light up a motherboard that holds the logos to all 40 seasons of “The Challenge.” They’ll have to figure out which cords light up the right logos until all 40 are correct. Whoever finishes first remains in the game. The losers head home. It’s pretty straightforward and in the first battle Kyland totally crushed Devin. That’s a blow to Michele’s game, Tori’s game and the entire Vacation Alliance. That was a big hit by Rachel. The women’s contest was more competitive, but Tori edges out Kaycee, preventing Era 3 from taking another tough blow.
Following the elimination, TJ tells the players, “It’s time to switch it up a little bit.” It’s now every man and every woman for themself! However, there are still targets — three men and three women. Tori selects Derek, Ryan and Bananas as targets. Kyland selects Rachel, Aviv and Jenny.