Previously on “The Challenge: Total Madness”: Jenny and Rogan maintained their positions as finalist competitors by overcoming Dee and Nelson respectively.
The remaining competitors are understandably enthused about making it to the finale. After a night of celebration & reflection (the latter in regards to Cory as he is reminded that Nelson sacrificed himself for Cory & his family), the finalists arrive in a snow-covered area surrounded by hills and small mountains. Host TJ Lavin declares the remaining players will move across twelve miles and scaling some 9000 feet of elevation all through the snow starting with a ski race where the competitors have to take twelve logs to a checkpoint before setting the logs on fire to complete the race. The first race begins & with a majority of the competitors slipping & sliding while taking their logs to the checkpoint.
Johnny Bananas, Fessy, Cory, Kaycee & Jenny lead the pack, but the other competitors are pushing through to catch up including Bayleigh who falls and declares her left knee has suffered some type of tear. Cory and Fessy eventually pass Bananas with the latter being the first to light his logs. Cory too lights the fire before Bananas follows suite. For the ladies it’s Jenny & Kaycee in first & second place respectively.
Cory eventually passes Fessy on their march toward the next checkpoint as Kyle becomes the last male competitor to light his logs and Bayleigh the third female before Melissa. Cory is the first to finish the checkpoint for the men & overall. Fessy is next, followed by Jenny, Bananas, Kaycee, Rogan, Bayleigh, Kyle, and Melissa. Bayleigh gets checked out by the doctors, but refuses to quit & go to the hospital. In a shocking twist, host TJ Lavin reveals that Cory and Jenny make up the final Tribunal of the season with the decision of who is going home… after finishing another trek via a mountain where the only path is by using a rope attached to the side of the rocks to a base.
It’s almost nightfall by the time everyone arrives at “The Compound” with Cory and Jenny having to make the biggest decision of the season of who will fight for their chance to enter the final Elimination Round. Rogan steps up and nominates himself, with Melissa doing the same for the women. Jenny decides that Kaycee should go in while Cory looks at Bananas as the biggest threat, voting for him. Before we can even find out what this Elimination Round is, Melissa opts out and eliminates herself. After the surprising result, Rogan and Bananas square up for “Knockout”: a race where the goal is to ring a bell stationed between them two times in a best of three series. While it seems like an easy Elimination Round, the bell is a lot higher than it looks with the snow removing any type of solid base. The first heat sees both missing repeatedly before Bananas eventually rings the bell. The second round begins and it’s a photo finish with Bananas winning.
As a reward for Cory, Bananas, Jenny & Kaycee get to actually enter “The Compound” while the rest have to stay outside in the snow & cold. Bayleigh’s mind finally broke when she found out she’ll have to be outside of the night; apparently going to the hospital to end her run in this finale. The next morning arrives and day two of this finale begins with the snow coming down during this race to the finish line. In one minute intervals, the competitors start with Jenny & Cory going first, followed by Kaycee & Bananas, then Fessy & Kyle. It’s blinding moving forward for everyone.
But it isn’t just a race after all with a series of numbers on posts littering the path that must be calculated to unlock & finish this checkpoint. Fessy is the first to solve the math, followed by Bananas, and Jenny. Kaycee has to go back down the hill to unlock checkpoint while Kyle and Cory respectively finish the checkpoint. Fessy eventually gets passed by Jenny & Kyle while Kaycee is timed out and forced to move past the checkpoint with a great disadvantage between herself & Jenny. Cory makes up great ground, passing Fessy, Kyle and reaching Bananas. Jenny, however, is the overall first person to complete this race. A few moments later Bananas crosses the finish line. Kyle comes in third place overall, second place for the men, with Cory in third.
Episode High(s): Brains & Brawn. This wasn’t the most riveting finale in “The Challenge” history with the jockeying for positions being the most interesting parts. With that being stated, this finale proved, yet again, that it takes more than brawn to survive a finale with the final, math-based checkpoint being the difference maker. So many times have puzzles & equations separated the chaff from the wheat, and in the snowy tundra it happened yet again for the likes of Cory, Kaycee and Fessy.
Episode Low(s): Melissa Quits. While Bayleigh quit as well, it’s disappointing to see Melissa actually give up right before the Elimination Round. If she would’ve at least tried it would have made her journey thus far look worth it.
Finale Winner(s): Jenny & Johnny Bananas
Eliminations: Asaf (Episode 1); Jenn (Episode 2); CT (Episode 3); Ashley (Episode 4); Jay (Episode 6); Tori (Episode 7); Jordan (Episode 8); Bear (Episode 8); Kailah (Episode 9); Jenna (Episode 9); Wes (Episode 10); Mattie (Episode 11); Swaggy (Episode 12); Nany (Episode 13); Aneesa (Episode 14); Josh (Episode 14); Dee (Episode 15); Nelson (Episode 15); Melissa (Episode 16); Rogan (Episode 16); Bayleigh (Episode 16)
Most Embarrassing Athletic Display: Fessy. Now this is one of the worst examples of “embarrassing”, but Fessy losing so many leads during this journey was insane. Apparently the most physically gifted competitor left, Fessy was outclassed by Cory, Bananas, and even the widely accepted weakest male competitor left in Kyle when it came to climbing & moving through snow.
Competitor of the Week: Bananas. Definitely now “The Challenge’s” greatest competitor, Bananas survived an onslaught from Mother Nature topped off by an Elimination Round, walking twelve miles with incredibly thick snow, and Father Time (not to mention going against a losing streaks that has plague his “Challenge” career for six seasons). This season was the perfect storm for Bananas that resulted in him walking away with both the money and the unofficial award for being “The Challenge” G.O.A.T.
Episode Summary in Five Words or Less: Old is the new young.
