Tonight on The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras, the epic, two-part final comes to a close as the finalists battle for their chance at a share of $1 million dollars. TJ’s karma vote twist could see someone’s dream taken away from them. Heading into today, Jordan had won every checkpoint and built up a solid lead among the men. Jenny won two of three to lead the women.
Here are the contestants still in contention for the Season 40 championship:
Era 1: Rachel
Era 2: Derek, Johnny “Bananas”
Era 3: Jordan, Tori
Era 4: Jenny, Kyland, Michele
Below, read our recap of tonight’s episode, titled “The End of an Era Part 2,” airing Wednesday, Jan. 8 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) on MTV.
The challengers continue the grueling two-day final, but what they don’t know is that karma votes from the previously eliminated contestants will account for two full checkpoints.
It’s 11:26 p.m. and the exhausted competitors are counting coins at the bottom of The Sinister. There are thousands! Hours pass and sleep deprivation begins to impact their mental states. Every 30 minutes they are interrupted and forced to sing “Show Me the Way the Way to Go Home.” After building up a significant lead at the previous checkpoints, Jenny looks completely checked out. She gives up on counting and decides to sleep it off, hoping one bad checkpoint won’t stop her from winning.
At 2:25 a.m., Derek is the next to call it quits, hoping his count of 6,088 coins is correct. If it is, Jenny’s half-assed estimate of 6,052 was pretty spot on. Tori was the last to finish at 4:30 a.m., but what matters is accuracy. After resting for just a couple hours, the challengers are greeted by TJ, who has the results. Below are the results for this checkpoint.
Men
1. Derek
2. Jordan
3. Kyland
4. Bananas
Women
1. Rachel
2. Michele
3. Jenny
4. Tori
Tori is devastated that she stayed up all night just to get last place, but TJ tells her, “You will not quit.” He reminds everybody that today two Challenge champions will be crowned. The next checkpoint is called “Submerging Terror.” The challengers will swim to a raft, read directions, and then swim through a cave to a hidden beach. There, they’ll collect one paddle before swimming back to the raft. Next, they’ll have to dive beneath the raft, retrieve a key from a cage, unlock a bangka boat, and paddle to Sinister. TJ blows the horn and the race is on. Below are the order of finishers for this checkpoint.
Men
1. Jordan
2. Derek
3. Bananas
4. Kyland
Women
1. Jenny
2. Tori
3. Rachel
4. Michele
For the sixth checkpoint, the challengers swim out to a sandbar and compete in a speed math contest. In head-to-head matchups, whoever completes the math puzzle first can swim back to Sinister and continue the challenge. The loser must wait to compete against someone else. In the end, Bananas is left in the dust and forced to stay on the island until every other competitor reaches Sinister. Michele, who was the last to actually swim back from the island, puts her aquatic skills to work and passes by Tori and Rachel on her way. Below is the order of finishers for this checkpoint.
Men
1. Jordan
2. Derek
3. Kyland
4. Bananas
Women
1. Jenny
2. Michele
3. Rachel
4. Tori
The final checkpoint of this epic final is “Champion’s Cove.” Challengers will swim to a buoy, then swim into a cathedral, retrieve an underwater scooter, and follow buoys to collect their last token. The order of finishers is below.
Men
1. Jordan
2. Bananas
3. Derek
4. Kyland
Women
1. Michele
2. Rachel
3. Tori
4. Jenny
With the final officially over, the challengers celebrate before hearing the final results. But how did everyone’s points stack up? For each checkpoint, first place was worth four points, second place was three points, third place was two points, and fourth place was one point. The karma points were worth two full checkpoints, meaning whoever has the best karma will get eight points added to their score, six for second, four for third, and just two for fourth. TJ reveals karma has not altered the men’s results of this game, but it did cause some movement in the women’s standings. Below are the final results of The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras.
Men
1. Jordan ($400,000) – 31 points
2. Derek ($75,000) – 27 points
3. Bananas ($25,000) – 17 points
4. Kyland ($0) – 15 points
Women
1. Rachel ($237,500) – 24 points
1. Jenny ($237,500) – 24 points
3. Michele ($25,000) – 23 points
4. Tori ($0) – 19 points
Jordan has won his fifth title and a $400,000 prize. Rachel’s karma points took her from third place to a tie for first with Jenny, so they split $475,000. This is Rachel’s third Challenge win and Jenny’s second. Rachel’s is exceptionally impressive because her entire Era 1 team was wiped out early on and she managed to survive to the end. Not only that, this is her first time competing in a decade. What a finish!
Next up — The Challenge All Stars: Rivals will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 29 on MTV.
