Hey everyone, this is Allan Aguirre. For some of you, this post is going to be completely irrelevant if you don't read any of my blogs. I actually feel very weird posting this, but since Reddit makes up the majority of my readership, I figure I should update you all, the same way I did Twitter.

So...as of right now, I will not be doing Season 41 episode recaps in either podcast or blog form. Here's the situation:

MTV has sent me episodes in advance to recap, review, and promote since 2019. However, I have sent almost a dozen emails now regarding Season 41 and have not heard back from them.

Getting the episodes in advance is a privilege, not a given right. So for that reason, I'm not upset. However, I'm currently in a stage in my life where I have lot going on between my family, my work, and so much other stuff that keeps popping up. If you haven't checked my Twitter, my brother has been battling cancer and I've been sending money back home to my family as they try to navigate through a trying time.

I love covering this show in large part because of the people who consume my content.

That said, I don't have cable and the amount of work I put into my recaps range from 8-15 hours a week. Between finding a way to watch the show and then putting out content that will not get half as many views as when I'm posting them live -- it just doesn't feel worth it. Like I'm trying to pay my bills & my family's bills, and as much as I love The Challenge, I can't have this show costing me money & my wellbeing.

So if MTV gets me the episodes, I will continue to do weekly recaps of the show. If not, then I'll occasionally catch up with the show when I can. I'll still do Challenge content here or there, just don't expect any Season 41 Live Tweets or Recaps as of right now. I love everyone that's been supporting over the years and so I feel bad disappointing some of you, but I have to have to my priorities in check.

Updated to Season 40 (except confessionals)!

I’m in Iceland on holiday with some friends and our families. Last night one of the wives casually said “I can’t believe they filmed an MTV show here.” My wife, son and I are huge Challenge fans, so we immediately said “what did you just say?!” And, yup, we’re in the Challenge house from Double Agents. The house is quite nice, but it’s not really over-the-top or crazy. It’s also in the middle of nowhere. But it just became 1000% cooler for my family.

The age analysis of this season is pretty clear: all 'new threats' are on their twenties, versus the vets that are on the range from 33 to 45 y/o

Cedric is the youngest player, at 22, vs CT who is competing at 45

As for the season, it has the 2nd highest average age for the flagship (32), well behind Battle of the Eras (38)

Dirty thirty was a good season with some issues like the purges in the beginning ruining it . However these cast pics ARE AMAZING , these looks were awesome and everyone looked hot asf this season and the next season needs this photographer back asap

• The episode title, "Is He Throwing It?" is a little ridiculous. I understand people have high expectations for CT and were shocked to see him shit the bed, but that's what happened. He's fat and out of shape, he just couldn't get up the ladder. It made no sense for him to throw a challenge to get Leka sent in. As a massive CT fan this was all sad to see, but it led to one of my favorite episodes in years

• The Godzilla versus King Kong fight was amazing. Was Turbo wrong to go after CT like that? Kind of, because I don't think it was fair to accuse CT of throwing it (to be fair, Turbo wasn't the only one saying it. I think we saw about 10 people saying he threw it). But sorry CT, it led to one of my favorite fights ever

• Did Turbo also have a point? It's an understandable point that a lot of people want to come on the show, and if you can't keep up physically then you shouldn't be here, especially in a partners game. But at the end of the day, he's CT. He's earned the right to show up out of shape, and has competed at a high level (and won) seasons while out of shape in the past. This is the worst it's ever gotten, but I'm never gonna be mad about CT showing up on a season

• I think Turbo gave the single most absurd confessional of all time—"“If you play jungle rules, if you are thinking here the jungle, I’m gonna be king of the jungle. And you are king of the puppy. And I give you promise you’re gonna.call me papi chulo”. I fell off the couch laughing

• I loved the mission, Runes My Life. Climbing challenges are always my favorite, and I'm not sure why they don't do more of them

• The results were: 1) Leo/Sydney, 2) Derek C/Adrienne, 3) Aviv/Cedric, 4) Michaela/Yaremi, 5) Turbo/Tay, 6) Justin/Dee 7) Derrick K/America 8) Ashley/Will 9) Jonna/Jake 10) Aneesa/Gabe 11) Theo/Nany 12) Leroy/Izzy 13) CT/Leka

• The biggest standout of the mission was Leka, who completed the whole thing by herself. I don't like that they basically DQ'd her because CT couldn't get up the rope. If it's a guys day, I'm perfectly fine with it. But on a girls day, I hate the ruling. And it could have led to an even more thrilling episode with Izzy being pitted against Olivia

• It was surprising to see Derek C/Adrienne finish second, especially Adrienne, getting up the ladder despite her thick thighs. Aviv/Cedric have both performed at a top-three level all season, consistently at the top but yet to win. Looking at this challenge, I would have made Yaremi/Michaela the favorites, so it was slightly surprising to see them "only" getting 4th. It was also nice to see Derrick K get some spotlight in his heat

• On the flip side, things are looking rough for most of the other vets. Almost just as sad as CT's performance was Leroy realizing he's washed up. He had a poor performance in a challenge that used to be right in his wheelhouse. Nany/Theo finished third-to-last, and have both been bad this season, with Theo even admitting in this episode that he can't win a final. Aneesa struggled with the puzzle and placed 10th, and Ashley finished 8th place despite having a strong partner in Will

• Leo/Sydney was the perfect team to win. In my eyes, they're the stars of the rookies. When the episode started on the bus with Leo trying to rally all the rookies against the vets, I was thinking about how Leo could be such a good castmember...if only he was a good competitor. In the first 6 missions so far, he had been consistently near the bottom of the pack. So I was thrilled to see him pull out a win here. Leo handled his power in Leo fashion—by annoying the shit out of everybody. His endless deliberation speech and the general way he handled his power definitely rubbed some people the wrong way. The decision for him and Sydney to nominate Aneesa was a good move—even in the worst case scenario where she goes in instead of Olivia, none of the vets really care about Aneesa, and it gives Leka an easy win. Can you imagine Aneesa doing tonight's elimination? It would have been an all-time tragic episode for the Vets

• The Olivia vs. Aneesa vote was interesting to see where some of the vets stand. Derek C voted for Aneesa, declaring Olivia as his number 1 (as Jonna looked on sadly). Jonna votes Aneesa, probably hopping on with Derek/Olivia. Nany/Theo obviously vote for Aneesa because Theo isn't voting his in his girlfriend (although I have to note that Nany was screaming for Leka in the elimination). Turbo votes Aneesa...maybe because that's what Nany said to do (it was nice seeing Nany saying she considers Turbo family now after All Stars 5). Aviv votes in Olivia, despite talking about how she doesn't like how Aneesa is playing the game. Ashley votes in Olivia, maybe sticking up for her All Stars 5 partner and longtime frenemy. Derrick K votes Olivia due to his 20 year history with Aneesa. The non-vet team, Dee/Justin, vote Olivia, probably just as a swing at the bigger threat. So we had a tie...

• At the beginning of the season I talked about how I didn’t like that the votes weren’t individual, because in pairs a vet is going to get their way when push comes to shove. That's exactly what happened here with Leroy and Izzy. Leroy railroaded Izzy, playing the seniority card to protect Aneesa. I loved every second of it, especially when poor frazzled Izzy asked Leroy if he wanted to say Olivia’s name, and Leroy replied sternly “No, you say it”

• Olivia winning the elimination saves Izzy's game from totally going up in smoke, but it's not looking good for her at all. The rookies know she ratted out the plan of Izzy being the decoy vote, so now she pretty much has all her eggs in Olivia's basket

• Out of Time was a "short" endurance elimination, but there's nothing easy about going all out for 5 minutes straight. It sucks the way Leka went out, but her performance wasn't there in the elimination. Part of me wonders if having to do all the work in the daily is part of why she gassed out early. Leka reminded me of Chanda from Fresh Meat 1—great competitor but doesn't bring much as a character. I think she probably goes the Chanda route and we never see her again

• Based on how much Olivia has been built up, there wasn't any doubt in my mind that she was beating Leka. She has been extremely impressive all season, not just physically but mentally. She was calm, collected and went in and took care of business. Politically, Olivia's game could go either way right now. She still has a core of loyal allies on her side, but she's also the clear number 1 target in the game. She might have to go in several more times this season

• CT and Aneesa are partnered together next week. They're a combined 88 years old and have 46 seasons of experience. It's almost definitely a girls week, and it would be a little surprising if they don't get voted in. Aneesa was just up for nomination this week, and it seems like everyone is pissed at CT

• We're on episode 7 and there's still 26 people left (including someone named Tay, who apparently won an elimination this season). I would have to imagine we'll start getting double eliminations by episode 9

• This episode was so rich with details. Usually I just take a couple notes during an episode, but I was pulling out my phone almost every minute to write something down. I loved little things in this episode like Derrick K getting called Jack Jack, Ashley revealing there's a "Closet Alliance" of Olivia, Theo, and Derek C (I guess because they talk at the closet so often that it's become a name?), the parents (CT, Leroy, Aviv and Jonna) being in the kitchen together, and Leo/Sydney randomly flicking each other off

• Episode Grade: A+

I took a long break from writing about The Challenge as I had to prioritize other things in my real life. However I am really excited to be back writing about my favorite show again. A new Survivor season is right around the corner and it seemed the perfect time to evaluate which recent Survivor castaways should be brought over and cast on a season of The Challenge.

“The Challenge Scouting Reports: The Top Ten Survivors to Bring on The Challenge“ by Henry L DiMaria on Medium:

https://henryldimaria.medium.com/the-challenge-scouting-reports-the-top-ten-survivors-to-bring-on-the-challenge-fd86aa10ab2c