The Challenge Total Madness Episode 16 Recap And Power Rankings
The cast returns from Purgatory pumped to be on the way to the final. Nelson leaves behind a rhyming note for Cory, saying he wants Cory to have a chance to win the money and was happy to put himself in elimination. The cast heads to the bar in a scene that seems somewhat out of place, where Johnny says this has been the most draining season he has been on. Seems somewhat surprising, but the conditions of this bunker have seemed awful. We get a few clips of Melissa and Fessy saying they wanted to do this for their families, and then the alarm rings signifying things are starting up.
We get to the final, where TJ introduces the first checkpoint. The cast has to use cross country skiing to collect twelve logs and use them to light a fire. They then proceed to scale a mountainside where TJ is at the end waiting. TJ mentions specifically that winning is of the utmost importance in this final.
The first checkpoint I actually thought was quite good. Cross country skiing is no joke, and mixing that in with logs and fire in addition to a long trek afterwards made for a grueling stage. Jenny and Fessy start out way ahead, with the two of them being the first of each gender to complete the beginning stage. Cory and Johnny are next for the guys with Kaycee and Bayleigh the next two for the women. Rogan is somewhat close in fourth for the guys, with Kyle and Melissa very far behind.
Bayleigh at one point loses her balance and seems to suffer a severe injury to her leg. In the final trek, Cory is able to take the lead and seems to finish way ahead of everybody else. Jenny finishes first the women, also seemingly by a substantial margin. The final standings for the first checkpoint end up as:
Male: Cory Fessy Johnny Rogan Kyle
Female: Jenny Kaycee Bayleigh Melissa
After reaching TJ, he congratulates the players on completing the first step and says Jenny and Cory will receive some sort of reward for getting first. He then points them to the “compound” a house off in the stance the cast has to trek to. This was…exceptionally odd to spend time on. This final is already much short than the previous two, so to spend time on the cast doing something that held no competitive reasoning was crazy to me.
Upon arriving at the compound, TJ says there will be an elimination and Cory and Jenny will get to pick one person to go in, while the house will vote in the other person. Rogan clearly knows the numbers are against him, and he puts himself in elimination. Melissa does as well, saying she is not confident at all in her ability to finish. Cory decides to put in Johnny, while Jenny puts in Kaycee.
They head to the elimination, and Melissa surprises everyone by saying she would like to quit. She walks away, giving Kaycee the pass. TJ then introduces the elimination as Knockout, where the competitors start on opposite ends and run to the middle and attempt to hit a bell suspended in the air. Whoever is the first to hit it twice will win. The first round, both miss on the initial jump and have to scramble for it, with Johnny eventually hitting the bell. The second round, Johnny is able to graze the bell on the initial jump, getting the point and the win. One of the weirder and more out of place eliminations ever, and wholly unnecessary to even have it in the first place.
TJ then says that the “winners” (Cory, Jenny, Kaycee, Johnny) will be allowed to stay in the compound, while everyone else will be forced to stay the night outside. Bayleigh decides that with her injury and a night of darkness ahead of her, she should quit and leaves as well. I thought this was INSANE. Kaycee didn’t even have to do anything and Fessy performed incredibly well the first day, yet they have different night arrangements based on a technicality? Absurd decision, but that ends up being where everybody stays for the night.
Daybreak comes, and it’s an absolute blizzard when the cast arrives. TJ says this is the Final Push, with a race to the finish line. He says Cory and Jenny will get a one-minute head start, followed by Johnny and Kaycee, then Fessy and Kyle. Again, this is also INSANE. Cory absolutely smashed the first day of the final, so to barely give him any boost is crazy. The first day also appears significantly more difficult than the second, which unfortunately has been par for the course with finals these days.
The cast begins, and the opening portion is a series of signs that point to a math equation for a lock. Pretty standard fare for a final, and Johnny and Jenny are able to use it to get a decent lead. Fessy is behind him, followed by Cory and Kyle. Kayce falls way behind and really struggles with the equation. Fessy begins to lose steam, and Johnny and Jenny are able to surge ahead. Jenny finishes first, getting the win for the women. Johnny finishes behind her, picking up the win for the guys, followed by Kyle, Cory, Fessy, and then Kaycee.
Overall, an incredibly underwhelming conclusion to the season. While the winners were certainly deserving, to have the winner of the whole season be decided by one twenty-minute segment was ludicrous. Essentially, the entire season came down to one math equation and a hike in the snow (at least from what we were shown); which simply is not comprehensive enough to be a final.
Extra Notes
o In addition to releasing a new song, Tori and Jordan are also making masks to sell to the public. Please check it out, as each mask bought will also result in a donation of a mask to workers on the frontlines. Always great to see Challengers supporting the community in this trying time.
o Not Challenge related, but if anyone is in need of objective and useful COVID-19 news, check out Nate Duncan and Ben Taylor’s COVID Daily News podcast. Easily the most unbiased news aggregation service I’ve heard and gives much useful information including best practices for the virus and projections on how things are developing.
Fantasy Scoring
o NOTE: I periodically go back and check through the scoring throughout the season, so these are liable to change. If you have specific matter you want to address, email rmcintyre1699@gmail.com.
