Five Seasons With Dark Undertones

A lot has happened on The Challenge, some aired and some unaired. Every season has its share of drama, but some seasons take it to the next level. These are the seasons why Challengers fall victim to series of misfortunes, unhappy events occur, lives get ruined due to the drama. While some of these events are aired during episodes, other seasons have events swept under the rug that production would rather forget.

5. Battle of the Exes 2

Many Challenge fans regard Exes 2 as one of the best seasons, but there’s no denying the sad undertone of the first half of the season. Both Diem and Knight appeared on the show and would pass away before the first episode aired. To be clear, their passings have nothing to do with MTV, but the fact the two beloved Challengers died shortly after this season will forever be associate with Exes 2. Diem’s condition was caught on camera. While it brought out the best of CT who immediately came to her aide, watching Diem struggle with the return of her cancer is heart wrenching to watch.

4. Rivals 3

Many of the rivalries on this season seemed forced, but a couple of events on this season would turn it into a negative experience for most. In the end, Sarah had her prize money taken by Bananas and severed any possibility of a friendship. There’s also the fact that people died while scouting locations for the final challenge. This was an outside company hired by MTV, and while MTV is not responsible for this, it’s sad to know this accident is associated with the The Challenge.

3. Battle of the Bloodlines

There is one indecent that defined this season, and it’s more sad to watch than entertaining. Cara Maria ended her relationship with Abe during this time, and viewers would follow the timeline of her making out with Thomas, Bananas revealing the hook up to Abe, and Abe freaking out on Tom during an Aftershow. I’m all for sloppy love triangles, but this incident resulted in trauma for Abe and Cara Maria. Watching the reunion is painful, and while Cara Maria knew she was ready to close her chapter with Abe, she showed remorse for how she did it. On the other hand, Abe showed understanding but was unset by the lack of transparency. For these two, the relationship was not about entertainment, and viewers didn’t know how to feel about Cara’s strategy this season.

2. Final Reckoning 

In terms of forced drama, Final Reckoning is the ultimate season. Production paired people who had serious beef with each other outside of the game, such as Tori and Derrick H., Zach and Amanda, and Chuck and Britni. However, knowing the events that would unfold on this season, you can sense the pressure building throughout the season. Hunter has struggled to overcome the trauma from having his prize money stolen, and Devin would deal with the recent passing of his father. Unless your name is Ashley, no one had a good time this season.

1. The Ruins

Any time I see a clip from The Ruins I feel a black cloud looming over the season. The cast was malicious and the season showed the worst in people. Early in the season we see a cast divided by Wes and Kenny’s drama. While this is somewhat entertaining, it’s also prying into very personal issues. We later see Brad and Darrell getting into a fight that would cost both men their games, despite the fact that there’s respect between the two. The biggest issue with the season is found with Tonya. Mentally, she was unwell. She was going through personal issues and her relationship with alcohol was a serious cause for concern. We see her disoriented when fighting with Veronica, but this is not an excuse for the ways other cast members treated her. From bullying to an alleged incident of sexual assault, Tonya was mistreated this season. Production doesn’t have footage of the alleged incident, but they don’t have footage of Tonya during the time when the event occurred. The people who were supposed to protect her failed to do so.