WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE CHALLENGE AHEAD!
Ready?
Season 38 of The Challenge is here: Ride or Dies, which pairs up competitors with one family member, friend or significant other as pairs try to win money. There are sure to be twists and turns that we’ll see throughout the season that might change everything.
As usual, we’ll do some power rankings each week to see who’s in the lead … and who could fall short.
In this week’s episode: IT’S THE PREMIERE! The pairs arrive, others are added late — including one set of legends — and one pairing is sent home after the first elimination.
1
Bananas and Nany
How can they NOT be the top pairing? We’re talking about the GOAT and a competitor who has made two straight finals before coming here.
2
Turbo and Tamara
Honestly, I’m putting them here so Turbo won’t get mad at me. Because, as we saw with Laurel on the yachts and with Devin making a joke about how the daggers in The Zone were real and how Turbo should know that, the former champ isn’t messing around this season. And that’s trouble for everyone.
3
Devin and Tori
They won the elimination in The Zone: “You Move I Move,” a human-sized recreation of one of those games where you try to get a ball out of a maze. Kailah said Devin’s coffee table in his home is one of those, so that worked out well for him.
These two are strong vets, so you know they’ll be leaders throughout the season.
4
Johnny and Ravyn
They won this week’s challenge — Bolas for Blood, in which the competitors had to remember information about each other that added up to certain numbers, grab the numbered ball from a muddy pit and put it on hangers — and then made a huge power move, nominating three pairs that had vets in them before choosing to throw in Kailah and Sam.
Then, we learned there’s a draw to decide which of the other three teams nominated is safe … and that safe team gets to choose one OTHER team to be safe. The team left standing goes into elimination. We’ll get to that in a sec.
5
Jakk and Laurel
A well-navigated first ep for the two of them. Jakk knew that Colleen was lying about the reality show she claimed she was on before The Challenge and used it to his advantage. And Laurel is one of the GOATs of this series. So I have to put them high up.
OOOOOP! 🤭 Jakk said: 🧾🧾🧾 #TheChallenge38 pic.twitter.com/kbkFn89Xa2
— The Challenge (@TheChallenge) October 13, 2022
6
Jay and Michele
I’m super intrigued about these two. Jay is already plotting to work with the rookies and form an alliance of his own, which could be a very smart move.
7
Chauncey and Amber
Amber’s a former winner and having a significant other who’s there will make them a strong pairing.
8
Faysal and Moriah
This is giving the benefit of the doubt to Faysal, who’s crashed and burned badly in past seasons. The hope is he’s learned from his mistakes and can add the social/political game to his strengths in the physical aspects of the show.
We’ll see where the flirting with Colleen goes.
9
Nelson and Nurys
Nurys is already canoodling with Johnny, Nelson is flirting with Olivia … what a start for these two.
🤯 🤯 🤯 #TheChallenge38 pic.twitter.com/pmtWuKogLm
— The Challenge (@TheChallenge) October 13, 2022
10
Tommy and Analyse
Extra points for Tommy getting in with the crowd already, his social game may really help them stay for a while.
if there's one thing the challengers know how to do: it's how to throw a party! 🥳 #TheChallenge38 pic.twitter.com/900GVQC5ve
— The Challenge (@TheChallenge) October 13, 2022
11
Nam and Emmy
I might be underrating these two. Nam has looked strong at times in the past, and hopefully he doesn’t have to leave early.
12
Horacio and Olivia
Not sure what to make of these two quite yet. Olivia’s social game is good and, as she noted, Horacio’s a little quieter.
13
Kim and Colleen
First ep and Colleen’s already lying? And they were nominated for elimination? Yikes.
14
Kenny and Kaycee (had to leave the show)
No word about what this was about, hoping these two are OK!
15
Sam and Kailah (ELIMINATED)
Ugh, a bummer that the married couple got eliminated. Nice to see them for one ep though!
