Reality Round-Up: The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion: Episode 13 Review

Season 39 of the MTV reality competition series The Challenge is heating up. This season Battle for a New Champion can only come down to one champion in the end, unlike the last four seasons where it was a male and female duo to come out on top.

This season's cast all have one thing in common and that is none have ever been a Challenge champion. This season started off with the first four episodes of the cast eliminating each other (two males and two females) after the daily challenges.

Along with those eliminations came the rest of the contestants adding to the final prize pot which started off at $300,000 and got up to $406,000. As always these competitors know anything can happen on The Challenge.

Every player on The Challenge must be prepared for chaos (literally) as this season of Battle for a New Champion, starting on episode five host T.J. Lavin and the MTV producers have brought back former champions (one each episode) for the “Chaos Phase.”

In this phase, the former champions have a draw of two poles with them having names of the two contestants sent down in the elimination arena and a third pole which is the “chaos club.”

If the chaos club is picked the former champ has the choice to face any contestant to eliminate, except the ones safe from immunity due to a daily challenge win.

Not only are eliminations involved with the “Chaos Phase” but if successful the former champion will also steal and go home with $10,000 from the final prize pot.

From episodes five to nine former champs have gone 4-1 eliminating four competitors and have stolen $40,000 from the house’s final prize pot.

Those former champs were Jordan Wiseley Devin Walker, Kaycee Clark and Tori Deal taking out Ciarran Stott, Callum Izzard, “Big T” Fazakerly and Melissa Reeves.

As money slipped away and numbers dropped, the house responded from episodes 10 to 12 as the competitors defeated the champs and defended $30,000.

That was Kyland Young, Ravyn Rochelle and Michele Fitzgerald beating former champions Darrell Taylor, Laurel Stucky and Cara Maria Sorbello.

Now up to episode 13 “El Saboteur,” things in the house are starting to get tense. The number of contestants and the prize pot have been the same following Melissa’s departure in episode nine, alliances are starting to turn on each other to form a new one to make a move in the house.

In the episode, the contestants are playing “Getting Tanked” and split randomly in four teams of four. Three players from each team must enter the tank, which is full of water and letter tiles, attempting to find the letters needed to spell out “Challenge Champion.”

They will pass these letters to the fourth player on top of the truck who will collect and spell out the phrase at the back of the truck.

Team four of Berna Canbeldek, Corey Lay, Ed Eason and Olivia Kaiser completed the challenge the fastest, giving them a win and granting them immunity heading into the elimination.

The team also had to pick one male’s name to automatically send down to the arena and they picked Horacio Gutiérrez Jr., who was also sabotaged by his team that is in another house alliance. Also, Olivia and Horacio competed together last season as “Ride or Dies.”

The house afterward had to deliberate one other male name to send in the arena and the most votes came down to Kyland who will be going into the arena for the third time this season.

At the arena T.J. and the directors brought back five-time finalist and champion of the season “Cutthroat” Brad Fiorenza who is a legend in the game. At the draw, Brad picks the pole with Kyland’s name sending him into elimination.

The two battled in “What’s Going Down” and had to go down a five-story tower, sliding the planks on each floor to be able to drop to the bottom.

They must collect 10 large, numbered balls and bring them back to the top, dropping them down a chute in numerical order. The player who deposits all of their balls first wins.

During the challenge itself, you can see that Brad’s age did catch up to him a little bit as Kyland’s endurance powered him to a dominant win knocking off another champ for the fourth straight episode and keeping the prize pot at $366,000.

This improves Kyland to 3-0 down in the arena and 2-0 against former champs which should scare the house as a whole when he returns. But after four straight episodes with the same number of contestants… things are only going to start getting intense as alliances will collapse.

Matt Cabram is a fourth-year majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email mwc5817@psu.edu