The Challenge All Stars 3: An Almost Perfect Final

We’re now a week removed from The Challenge All Stars 3’s final, and we have our winners. Wes and Jonna were took home the title, and many viewers are happy with the outcome. It was an exciting final, and there are a lot of positives to come from it.

The Good

Every single stage of this final was competitive. We often watch one team maintain a lead throughout the first day, only to see a reset on day two. Not in this final. The fact that we had different stages made it so each leg had its ups and downs.

It was also a good mixture of partners, but then we had the individual, one-on-one stages. This made it so one partner could not determine the fate of another person, though it did make the game slightly less individual.

For the most part (and we’ll get to this later), the point system made the leaders pretty clear. Over the years, I’ve learned to never trust the times we see on the screens. In this case, times didn’t matter. The system was clear enough (first place gets 4 points down to last place getting 1) and the winner of head-to-head comps gets 5 points. At no point did I doubt the accuracy of the winner. And after watching some of the more recent seasons, it’s great to know the person who won really won.

So-So

There are a couple of components in the final that are kind of hit or miss. Mostly, this revolves around how points were accumulated.

Throughout the season, TJ warned the cast that the stars would play a role in the final. In the end, the bonus was fairly minuscule, just five points for one person. Ultimatley, it didn’t make a difference for Jonna. She would have earned her spot in day 2 regardless of her bonus points. Meanwhile, Nehemiah was only safe in the second stage because he got a bonus from the stars.

Then, some people were upset that the accumulation of point earned too small of a reward on the second day. And yes, it did feel fairly small, but compared to other finals it wasn’t insignificant. Sometimes we just see people earn a two minute advantage on the second day. Avoiding a mid-final elimination is very beneficial.

The overnight portion was also anticlimatic. For some people, it might have been a let down. Personally, I was not upset because the rest of the stages maintained a great amount of competition. Finals don’t need to bring people to the brink of death, they just need to be somewhat challenging and continuously competitive.

The Problem

When we look at the second episode, the editors clearly didn’t pay too much attention to the scoring.

Before the kayaking, we can see Mark and Brad’s correct scores. After, we see their scores have flown up. This is because the scores posted include the men’s results of the King of the Hill competition before the game is actually played.

After we actually watch King of the Hill, we see the scores posted again. This creates the illusion that Brad should have been safe (because his 5 points weren’t added after winning the head-to-head competition) and Nehemiah should have been in the day two elimination.

Ultimately, based on the rules of the final, the correct people advanced. It was an editing mistake, but some people were (understandably) confused by the blunder. We can see Jonna’s score progress correctly, while Brad’s score is adjusted on the wrong timeline.

Ignoring this, I was very happy with the final. Every stage felt meaningful, and it created a cool back-and-forth dynamic throughout. It seemed like anyone could win, but the change in leadership was not without its merits. Hopefully, this is implemented on All Stars 4.