Thursday, September 7, 2023

DCBLOG Challenge WRAP: The Challenge USA Season 2 - Week One

BY DC CUEVA 

Whether it's that hurricane that soaked L.A. and Vegas or living through all of that heat, then congratulations to you... you've survived those dog days of summer. But with that taste of fall in the air stretching from Not So Scary Nights with Mickey & co. in Florida to football about to kick off in Kansas City, it's also back to school season for those who follow the fifth major pro sport... as The MTV Challenge has just kicked off a new cycle. And we at DCBLOG are back to covering our primary beat.

When we last covered The Challenge back in March earlier this year, Ride or Dies saw a classic confrontation in the $1 million final that pitted four teams with two multiple champions, a worthy rookie team and a pair of all-out veterans who duked it out for 100 hours in the European wilderness. In the end, it was Tori & Devin that took their first title rings... and as for one of those six runners-up who fell to them in that marathon, her ex Jordan came back on the World Championship that followed on Paramount+ and added that honor to his three titles.

And after that long offseason of sorts, we begin anew again with Season 2 of the CBS version of this longstanding MTV staple... and we all know what happened last time out with that controversial final, but other than that, it was an eventful season. This time around, another all-star cast of alumni from Big Brother, Survivor and The Amazing Race have heard the call from TJ Lavin to suit up... but just as they think that this is just a season for themselves to prove themselves, an invasion of jet skis will tell otherwise. And that more than breaks the ice for an opening act that will set to the tone for this summer and fall, including a titanic battle off the bat in the elimination chamber.

After the break, DCBLOG kicks off not only a new cycle of covering The Challenge in Season 2 of The Challenge USA and its double-hour opening act... but also a brand new tradition of sorts on here as we relaunch our weekly MTV episode posts with the all-new Challenge WRAP. We hope you like it.

As mentioned here back in July -- and to reflect this blogger's new reality of balancing hobby with family responsibility, as our second decade begins DCBLOG is reimagining our approach to weekly episode coverage going forward. We have tried out this format of doing episode write-ups in a traditional manner at times before, but now this will become permanent as these recaps will feature top moments, analysis and other things of interest. And our famed SocialPulse feature will now appear at the end of these posts and in embedded highlights form, all from -- for those traditionalists who still prefer to call it -- the place that we'll still refer to as Twitter. Now, edition #1 of Challenge WRAP, and the Things to Know of Week 1 from a few weeks ago -- offered to you a bit later than first planned (but for reasons to be explained if you're in the know of what I got planned next).


    THINGS TO KNOW    
EP. 1: "The Riskiest Season Yet"

🇺🇸 VETS INVASION - After that experiment of an all-CBS cast last year, so what could Season 2 offer us? We all remember Season 29 seeking the chance to have rookies and non-winners the chance to get a season to themselves (and if you've been keeping tabs on that simmering hotstove, that may be the case for Season 39 when we get there)... but not everything is guaranteed when this summer's CBS Challenge crew joins up with TJ to start this season off. After all the pleasantries, the MTV vets decide to rain on their parade by arriving in on jet skis... and a draft ensues among the entire group that splits the players into teams of three of Blue, Red and Grey -- a modern-day Cutthroat. And the teams are drawn this way:
● RED - Josh, Bananas, Paulie, Dusty, Jonna, Michele, Chanelle, Tiffany
● BLUE - Cory, Faysal, Chris, Sebastian, Cassidy, Tori, both Alyssa's
● GRAY - Wes, Monte, Tyler, Luis, Desi, Michaela, Amanda, Ameerah



🇺🇸 DEMANDING OPENER - Once all the teams are set, they then set off on the season's opening challenge - and one that's isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination: carrying ton-pound statues around a huge forest, and completing puzzle checkpoints along the way. And to make things that much more tougher: it contains the names of the veterans who've came into this game unexpectedly - and those who are their vendettas have to deal with it. And after that tough go, it's the blue team who take control first.



🇺🇸 LET'S PLAY THE LOTTO - Where TJ Lavin calls home, Nevada is one of only a few states with no state lottery... but there's still an abundance of ping pong machines for bingo and keno in every Vegas casino. That forms the basis for the latest twist as far as those who get chosen to be in elimination: a lotto ball hopper being used for nominations and the house vote, followed by the host using another ball drum to determine the chosen player's opponents. Plus as it was a year ago on Spies, Lies & Allies, the players' preferences of who they will get to throw in aren't exactly as secret as they intended it to be... all coming before a first elimination that ultimately sees Ameerah have the ultimate rookie enigma: first to go home after being defeated by Challenge alum Michele... much to Amanda's chagrin.





EP. 2: "Blurred Battle Lines"

🇺🇸 POP-OFF QUEEN - Michele's win eventually leads to something that Challenge Nation has been used to -- and in our case, since her inaugural MTV season on AYTO Season 3: it wouldn't be a season with the one with the freckles without her deciding to pop off. That first arena was almost a foregone conclusion that this faceoff with the Sole Survivor and the Pop-Off Queen became the first showdown of this season.

🇺🇸 POLES & GIRL POWER - Week 1's second challenge sees the players take above the lake to try and make platforms using poles... and Amanda's strength helps her and the teams get through this rigorous mission where balance and upper-body strength are paramount. Many a huge splash sees only ten get across safely, and sees the green team win immunity... which then leads to the CBS ladies form an alliance to try and make their case for becoming the group in power. Tiffany, Michaela, Desi, Michele, Chanelle and the two Alyssa's all bring their a load of things from unfinished business and experience to muscle and a strong will that they will make their voice heard all this fall.

🇺🇸 BATTLELINES - And the CBS ladies make that presence felt in the first big moment of this Challenge: whenever the chips fall into their appropriate places, a matchup between a couple veterans or former champions certainly raises a lot of people's attentions. And it doesn't take long for the first of these to go down: our defending MTV champ against the 2-time All-Stars winner as Tori takes on Jonna in a modified version of Balls In. And once Tori pushes Jonna to grab that first ball, it becomes clear that the Tori who rolled over Jenny on WOTW II was back... game over after a few sets.




     #DCSocialPulse     
Season 2 Premiere Week

Finally, the 'Pulse and Twitter highlights from this two-act premiere -- which features many a post by the Devil. Week 2 of this Challenge comes your way here ahead... and we'll also introduce you to Challenge Nation's newest parents (and they're not who you think) and reconnect with some old friends some two decades out from a memorable stay in that happy place that I'm about to go to again. Stay with us...
























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