Season 42 is heading back to Thailand, and it’ll be the show’s fifth time filming in the country. Thailand has warm weather, diverse filming environments, and (probably the most important factor) it’s relatively cost-effective to film there.
So far, The Ruins, Rivals 2, Invasion of the Champions, and War of the Worlds 2 have been filmed in the country. These are some of the most popular Challenge installments, so Season 42 will have some stiff competition, but which Thai season is the best?
Of course, this is subjective — but I will be assessing the seasons based on the storylines, level of competition, daily challenges, legacy on the franchise, and general fan reception.
4. Invasion of the Champions
Invasion had some great storylines that impacted future seasons — it’s where the Lavender Ladies formed, Nicole met Laurel, Zach and Jenna rekindled their relationship, and CT returned after Diem passed away. Many fans were happy with the season’s winners, but the format had flaws. Fans were upset that the Champions didn’t compete against the Underdogs in eliminations, and the team format was done poorly. There wasn’t a huge incentive to win daily challenges when your team wasn’t going to the Fortress, and then the teams dissipated in the final, which kind of made the team division pointless.
3. The Ruins
In 2009, when the cast for this season was first announced, it was jaw-dropping. It had some surprise returns, and it was obviously filled with juicy drama. And we saw that when the season aired, but The Ruins caters to the drama lovers. The competitions are weak, imbalanced, and in some cases, outright dangerous. By design, the Challengers really didn’t stand a chance at winning, and the only real saving grace was Wes’ sabotage causing the Champions team to implode. Once he left, the season got a little less interesting, and it can be difficult to rewatch because there’s so much negativity surrounding this cast.
2. Rivals 2
In 2013, this season had almost all of the veterans that fans wanted to see on The Challenge while merging them with the standout newbies from Battle of the Seasons (and a few rookies from recent Real World seasons). The problem here? Most of the rivalries were fake and overblown. There wasn’t a whole lot of team drama this season, which we saw on the first Rivals, but the season still had its share of memorable fights and drama. It’s clear production was more concerned about giving the fans the faces they wanted to see (not a bad thing), but there’s one notable struggle with this season. The male teams had almost no reason to compete on a female Jungle day, and the same can be said for the women when it wasa male Jungle. This made the competition feel slow, but by the time we got to the final, the format did a good job of giving us decent competition.
Also, there seems to be a really grainy filter placed over all of the footage from this season, which was an odd choice.
1. War of the Worlds 2
Out of all the seasons in Era 4, it seems that War of the Worlds 2 gave us some of the most memorable moments. We watched our first on-screen engagement, Team USA was heavily divided, and there was one of the most debated eliminations in Challenge history. At the start of the season, the teams appeared imbalanced, with most of the power being on the US side, but that didn’t fully ruin the competition. The American players usually took the opportunity to force one of their own players onto the Proving Ground, which seems foolish, but it did keep the game interesting. As the season progressed, the drama didn’t slow, but Team UK dwindled into a leaner team. Then, they gained Jordan and Tori, so by the time the final was approaching, there was some serious US vs. UK competition. It’s a shame this season is so hard to find, because it’s a fun rewatch and one of the best seasons from the past 10 years.
Stop Being Polite 