‘The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras’ episode 7 recap: Who was eliminated in ‘Trust In Your Era’? [LIVE BLOG]
Tonight on “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” the players are taken to never-before-seen heights. The winners must make a heart-breaking decision as to which of their friends must fight in elimination. Target selection causes chaos as player numbers dwindle, leaving less room to hide.
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: 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, 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 “Trust In Your Era” airing Wednesday, October 2 (8:00 – 9:30 PM ET/PT) on MTV.
8:05 p.m. — After winning last week’s elimination, Cory and Rachel chose the following targets this week: Darrell & Tina (Era 1), Nehemiah & Aviv (Era 2), Jordan & Nia (Era 3) and Kyland & Michele (Era 4). As the players return to the house, Era 1 is down to just four players, meaning they’ll automatically swap being targets each week. At least they’ll avoid the drama of choosing. Meanwhile, Cory is over Era 4, saying they’re “winding me up” and “testing me.” He’s not happy that Josh threw him into the arena and he’s ready for payback. His top alliance is now Nehemiah from Era 2. Rachel also reaches out to Nehemiah, saying she’d like Era 1 and Era 2 to work more closely together. She apologizes for not communicating with him prior to selecting him as a target. She says if Darrell and Tina have the power after the next challenge, Nehemiah and Aviv are fine. The problem is that Era 1 has performed awful, and don’t really have much bargaining power. Nehemiah nods, but he really only feels loyalty to Cory and Nia. Bananas questions why he and Nehemiah have already been targets, yet Ryan has skated by despite being the worst performer on the team.
8:15 p.m. — The players throw Devin a birthday party, complete with drag queens and “strippers” aka Ryan and Derek. Devin and Michele discuss the risk of being a “couple” in this game, and while Michele is ready to be “Facebook official,” Devin seems a bit more apprehensive. The next morning, the players head to their next challenge called “Leap of Faith.” In this timed event, four players will take a flying leap off a 56-story helipad, grabbing a colored flag that corresponds with a box containing puzzle pieces. Because Era 1 is short on players, only one will get to work on the puzzle. The team to finish the puzzle first wins today’s challenge. This is Darrell’s worst nightmare. He’s terrified of heights. Era 4 is up first, and his teammates quickly realize how difficult it is to pull players (Josh) back up after he’s taken the leap.
8:35 p.m. — It took 18 minutes to get Josh back up to the helipad, so that’s an indication this challenge will take longer than expected. Era 4 is jacked, but they seem to lack endurance. Luckily, they don’t miss any flags and Theo grabbed the bonus flag, chopping three minutes off their time. They complete the puzzle in what looks like about an hour. Era 2 is up next. Bananas grabs the bonus flag and gets pulled up in just nine minutes, opening up with a huge lead over Era 4. Nobody misses a flag and Era 2 completes this challenge rather quickly. They’re definitely ahead of Era 4. Bananas praises Derek’s strong puzzle skills, and continues blasting Ryan for his inability to contribute anything to the team. Era 1 is next, and Tina immediately grabs two flags, resulting in a five-minute penalty. Era 1 just can’t catch a break. Next, Darrell overcomes his fears and grabs one flag, plus the bonus flag earning them three minutes off their time. After getting the rest of the flags with no errors, Era 1 may be able to beat Era 4’s time. Last up is Era 3 and Devin quickly grabs his flag plus the bonus. The rest of the team makes this look easy as well.
8:45 p.m. — TJ reveals that Era 4 is the loser of this challenge. That means Kyland and Michele will head straight into elimination. The winners by less than one minute is Era 3. That means Jordan & Nia will have the power to throw either Darrell & Tina or Nehemiah & Aviv into the arena. Back in the house, Michele reveals she’d rather go up against Tina than Aviv in the arena. But does she have the power to sway Jordan & Nia. Later on at the bar, Olivia tells Nia that she’s falling for Theo. Another love connection hits “The Challenge.” Meanwhile, Cory continues to clash with his teammates. Devin tells him if Michele wins the arena tonight, she’ll make Cory a target. Cory is furious that nobody is sticking to the “rotation” they all agreed upon. He’ll be cheering for Michele to lose.
9:00 p.m. — Nia tells Rachel that she wants to see the underdogs do well. That makes her lean towards throwing Nehemiah & Aviv in the arena. The problem is she’s friends with everyone. Rachel tells Nia to take a shot at the stronger team while she has the chance. Later, the players enter the chamber to plead their case to Jordan & Nia. Kyland says he doesn’t care who they throw in against him. Jordan is brought to tears as he thinks about making this decision. The next morning, Jordan breaks the news that they’ll be throwing Darrell & Tina in the arena to face off against Kyland & Michele. Tina is heartbroken. Darrell remains calm and cool, but doesn’t really want to hear anything about it from Jordan or Nia. He’s already resting up and mentally focusing on eliminating Kyland. While Darrell sleeps, Tina tells Jordan and Nia they made a weak move.
9:25 p.m. — Tonight’s elimination arena is called “Boxster-Phobia.” Players will have to escape from boxes by navigating their way through sliding doors and rods. Also, each door has a number on it that the players will need to crack a code at the end. Whoever does so the quickest will win tonight’s elimination. Loser goes home. First up is Michele vs. Tina. Michele gets through the box the fastest, but does she have the code calculated correctly? No. She has to go back and review the numbers. On her second attempt, Michele finds herself side by side with Tina, both trying to unlock their codes. After several attempts, Michele finally prevails and sends Tina home. Next it’s Darrell vs. Kyland. Darrell gets out of the box first, but has he done the math correctly? No. Slow and steady wins this race, and Kyland sends Darrell packing. Era 1 is now down to just two players.
9:30 p.m. — As the winners of tonight’s elimination, Kyland and Michele choose the following targets for next week: Derrick & Rachel (Era 1), Derek & Cara Maria (Era 2), Cory & Averey (Era 3), and Theo & Jenny (Era 4). There are some salty feelings at this point. Both Cory and Jenny are sick and tired of being thrown in while other members of their respective teams refuse to volunteer. Bananas is annoyed Ryan is out of the hot seat as well. While Era 1 looks like a lost cause, Bananas starts brainstorming how he can dismantle the alliance between Eras 3 and 4.