The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions—Week 8 MVPs

Welcome back, fam. It’s time for another installment of the weekly awards ceremony that is The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions MVPs.

Week 8 Recap

Week 8 was the equivalent of March Madness—mascots! Shenanigans! Chest-bumps! And most-importantly, intense competition! Even the cliffhanger ending is equivalent to waiting until Monday night for the championship.

The episode begins with a scene out of a Japanese horror movie: a bloody ghoul, part-Carrie, part-Samara, creep-walks towards The Oasis. (Is it just me, or did anyone else squeal with delight to think somehow, this would be the week’s challenge? Producers, take note!) But no, it’s just Laurel, defying Regina George’s rules of dress-up, yet still catching Nicole’s eye.

“Laurel looks like she just killed my ex-girlfriend. But… she’s a pretty woman, she is. She’s tall, she’s attractive, I don’t know if she’s ever been with a girl, but if I’m with her, I’ll probably make her a lesbian obviously.”

A lust triangle ensues, between Nicole, Laurel, and Cara Maria, which also gives editors the convenience of revisiting the Laurel/Cara Maria backstory. Save that thought.

After the commercial break, we pivot to a prank plot device involving chips in the Underdog girls’ beds. Amanda’s overreaction outshines (Sm)Ashley’s, but cannot hold a candle to the Camilanator. #BitchBye < “Freckled motherf******!”/”You’re a f****** wasp, bitch!”/”Let me show you how fat I am.”

Finally, we arrive at this week’s challenge: Fallout. The competitors are loaded onto a platform suspended in the air about 15 feet above a body of water. In a guys vs. guys, girls vs. girls matchup, the only goal is to “stay out of that water” as the platform turns totally vertical, then swings another 180 degrees, and so on, until all the bodies are littered into the water.

“Most people look at this and think it’s all about the arm strength,” Camila voices over, “but you do have a rope to work with.” Her vision, plus a little luck, set her up for success, as she fashioned herself an impromptu harness, which helped her outlast Cara Maria; everyone else. Congratulations, Camila, for keeping yourself out of this week’s elimination.

Jillian’s MVP: Shane

If Camila’s vision was Bill Gates, then Shane swooped in and Steve Jobsed the f*ck out of it. In the men’s matchup, Shane was a goddamn kamikaze. Rather than vie for the rope, he divebombed the Champions, taking out Bananas, Darrell, and CT all at once, and boy was it glorious. The Underdogs came away with the win, and even though Cory held on the longest, he benefited from Shane’s sacrifice. That’s why Shane’s my Week 8 MVP.

I’ll turn it over to my esteemed colleagues to finish out the episode.

—Jillian

Jillian,

We do not see eye to eye very much on this. Week 8 was good, but it left me feeling pretty uncomfortable.

I felt like MTV spent so much time building up the Nicole/Cara Maria/Laurel love triangle as a fun thing, but it was actually really heavy. We spent more than half the episode on the will they or will they, as if some sort of hilarious outcome was likely. Meanwhile, Laurel caught feelings—complicated, scary new feelings—that made her feel vulnerable. And then, we learned that Nicole doesn’t really exactly understand what feelings are or what they mean.

Sure, The Challenge house, ahem, The Oasis, is obviously not a place where true love blossoms like a Disney story (#nowplaying Rihanna’s “We Found Love”), but it made me sad to see Laurel’s conflict and turmoil. Also made me sad to see that Nicole couldn’t even process her “choice” of mates when actually pressed about it. Those kinds of characters are funny in SNL sketches about bachelor parties, but on The Challenge, it was a major bummer.

OK, enough caring about dumb people. Let’s get an MVP. Shane is definitely a valiant choice. He played a great game for his team, he played smarter than everyone else, and he did something that few would do. But he didn’t do something that no one has EVER done before, like my MVP did.

Josh’s MVP: CT

CT is my MVP, because he did the incredible, he got Bananas to stop talking. It was a moment and if you were checking your IG likes you may have missed it. We were still in the afterglow of Camila v Amanda and Johnny was rehashing it.

Bananas: She came in and was like ‘I’m gonna light all these fires and create all this bull$#!& and I’m not gonna be here for it. We’re more upfront with it dude”

CT: So if she’s throwing grenades its stirring the pot? You do the same thing.

Bananas: When did I do that?

CT: (medium pause) Are you serious?

Bananas: Yah.

CT: (longer pause, smiles) That’s all you do.

Bananas: (no response)

CT’s previous greatest moment in Challenge history (and at minimum the second best moment in show history, with Bananas stealing Sarah’s money as the top moment) was wearing Bananas as a backpack and throwing him through a trash can. But this week he equaled that feat with his words. And that, my friends, was not something we thought he had in his repertoire.

See ya next week,
Josh

Take it easy on Nicole, buddy. Even with my official stance of Love = The Enemy, Nicole is still inbounds. She’s playing the game inside the game. And because Laurel caught feelings and Cara Maria just likes the attention, it’s a game she cannot lose. It only stands to benefit her. In conclusion, I ain’t mad at it.

Kelaine’s MVP: Camila

Most weeks, I yell at the TV, incredulous, trying to figure out how Camila even got in The Challenge in the first place. How unimpressed I am with her athleticism, her “puzzle” acumen, her overall gamesmanship. But after last night, I bow down.

I was still not convinced when she poured gasoline on the fire fight that didn’t even involve her, getting Amanda all worked up about pranks (again). I didn’t think The Camilanator was anything special, just for getting drunk and yelling idle threats at the rookies.

Then, from across the pool, she showed she was more than just a hot-head. She is a full-blown MASTER of shit-talking. While Amanda dropped some corny ass insults, Camila spit back, in rapid response:

Let me show you how fat I am! (takes her shirt off)

I’ll beat your ass in a second! (then drops it low, shakes her ass)

You are so uggg-leee (while doing this dance in bunny slippers)

And it doesn’t stop there, folks. Because Camila extended her dominance when she beat Cara Maria and Laurel, arguably the two strongest female challenge contestants of all time, in holding on for dear life. All she did was use her brain, wrapping herself in the rope rather than just hanging from it. As we’ve seen more and more this season, The Challenge is (ironically) a thinking man/woman’s game.

ALWAYS TALK SHIT IF YOU CAN BACK IT UP,
Kelaine

Did we get it right? Antagonize us with your best hate-speech, you freckled motherf*****s! And catch up on past episodes starting here.