‘The Challenge’ Finale: T.J. Lavin’s First Twist Is Truly Dirty

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for The Challenge Season 41 Episode 19, “Finale Part 1.”]

There’s always a twist in The Challenge‘s finals, and ahead of the airing of Wednesday’s (November 26) first part of the finale, we knew host T.J. Lavin was going to offer the remaining teammates a chance to stake a claim for another partner during the overnight. What we didn’t know was that there’d be another twist that was even more diabolical.

The final four teams competing in the Vets and New Threats final were: Cedric Hodges and Michaela Bradshaw, Turabi “Turbo” Camikran and Sydney Segal, Theo Campbell and Adrienne Naylor, and Olivia Kaiser and Yeremi Hykel. After being whisked to the Andes Mountains by helicopter, T.J. informed them that day one of the final would find them completing five different checkpoints, while tethered together.

The first, “River Run,” saw the contestants kayaking down a river and clocking a series of familiar symbols scattered across the shorefront — the deer, the pyramid, the ring, the runes, the dolls, the crimson X, the priest — that they’d have to remember to complete a puzzle. Wrong answers earned a four-minute penalty, and Sydney and Turbo notched two of those disadvantages, while the others got one each. Meanwhile, Michaela and Cedric found themselves flailing in the water after falling from their raft and still dealing with her twisted ankle issue, while Olivia and Yeremi were operating at different speeds, literally, and Turbo and Theo were both in major pain.

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The second checkpoint, “Rune Memory,” challenged the players to match the runes, and this time, they could ask T.J. if they were right as many times as they needed … which was a lot. Turbo’s controlling nature came out in a big way as he insisted that his partner not touch anything while he took charge, but the proof was in the pudding as they finished well ahead of the others.

Checkpoint three, “Cube Alignment,” was essentially a Sudoku-style puzzle built with blocks covered in colors, and Sydney figured it out without issue. They were absolutely smoking everyone at this point without question.

Turbo was in agony on his way to the fourth checkpoint, but he pushed through — “Pain is my massage, blood is my makeup, I’m going to enjoy it,” he insisted — and that’s when the real whopper of the game was revealed. They arrived lightyears ahead of the others, only to discover that they’d have to wait for the next team to arrive to compete in the fourth. The challenge, “Stair Machine Joust,” required them to compete with another team to see who could outlast the others. So that grueling effort to get ahead was possibly for naught as a result, and they were (rightfully) furious. They could’ve walked to the checkpoint without all of that head (er, leg) ache. The good news was it gave them a beat to rest while they waited for the next team, Olivia and Yeremi, to arrive, and Sydney (practically alone in this heat) handled business for them to move on with just one try, while Olivia and Yeremi would have to try again… twice. Michaela’s ankle pain was so intense that she had to get it wrapped, but Cedric took Olivia out on the climber. Third time was the charm for this team against Theo and Adrienne, after the latter decided to try and win, even after Olivia offered for both teams to take a rest. Whoops.

Sydney was also carrying her team in the fifth checkpoint, “Strobe Pond,” since Turbo also couldn’t swim, and she had to go suit up and retrieve the last key for both of them. It turned into an all-new threats heat as Cedric, Yeremi, and a very, very reluctant Adrienne were the ones who took the dip for their teams, too.

By the end, when T.J. brought up the option to stake a claim, she was probably seriously considering it… and she might not have been the only one, either.

We’ll see what madness day two of the Season 41 final for The Challenge holds when next week’s finale airs.

The Challenge, Wednesdays, 8/7c, MTV