The Battle of the Eras final has begun, and TJ revealed that competitors’ final times won’t be the only thing determining the winner. Karma points will be added to the equation.
As we’ve seen throughout the season, eliminated players had one final task. They rated every remaining Challenger on a scale of 1-5, but they didn’t know how these scores would impact the remaining players in the end.
At the final, TJ said that the people with the most karma points would get an advantage and the people with the fewest points will be penalized. Presumably, this will be in the form of time adjustments.
No one expected that there wouldn’t be a twist on Battle of the Eras, but this one seems a bit simple. It feels like an attempt to really dive into the Taylor Swiftiness of this season’s theme rather than an opportunity for people to directly help or hinder their opponents.
The Challenge has never been a show about friendship and making morally sound decisions. Just 10 seasons ago, the theme was “Dirty Thirty,” a season based on assembling the dirtiest players to ever participate in the game. Battle of the Eras, on the other hand, wants to reward players who are people pleasers and make safe moves.
Essentially, Jenny is right: It’s just a popularity contest. She’s concerned about her points because she took a long break from The Challenge. Most of the Era 4 players didn’t know her and didn’t support her, so they’re not going to give her a lot of karma points. Plus, there’s Cory, who’s giving Jenny a low score because Jenny sent him into The Arena. Essentially, this is punishing Jenny for winning challenges, getting power, and defying the odds.
We also need to consider that a quarter of the cast left on episode 2 in the Era Invitational, but they still got to give out karma points. It’s funny to hear Amanda give Tori one point because she “hates” her, but these point assignments are barely based on the events that happened this season. Instead, they’re all based on prior relationships.
In the end, some people are likely to benefit from this twist. Rachel, for example, is likely to be respected for battling her way through the season. There’s also Derek who had solid friendships that let him lay low for the bulk of the season. He seldom had power and rarely had to send people into the Arena, so he didn’t make many enemies.
But here’s the thing: Challenge fans often like the villains. Johnny Bananas might not have a strong karma score because he made some malicious moves… and they were some of the best moments of the season. Essentially, MTV’s star competitor showed up, made the show interesting, and will get punished for it.
I’m glad MTV tried to implement a twist, but this one is unlikely to resonate with viewers. It’s going to reward the people who didn’t do much this season, but the people who were entertaining and made interesting moves are more likely to get penalized. And if it’s a time adjustment, there’s no real way to overcome it. It just gets tacked on (or reduced) at the end, and competitors just need to deal with it, which diminishes the efforts of actually excelling in a final.
Stop Being Polite 