Recap: The Duel: And The Winner Is…

The Challenge

By B-Side | Thursday, January 18, 2007 | 4:21 pm | 38 Comments

tj011807 Here it is. After weeks of anticipation, The Duel finally entered its last phase: the big, super-dooper Final Challenge! Of course, it wasn’t that exciting for us because a) it wasn’t that interesting of a challenge; b) some douchebag already gave spoilers in the comments section; and c) even if we didn’t know who won, there was very little reason to care because honestly, we tune in for the petty arguments, not the fantastic degree of competition. Nevertheless, this season finale was engaging enough, I suppose. The final dash to the finish, however, ranked as probably the most anticlimactic showdown in the history of The Challenge. It’s never a good sign when the audience is left thinking, “Oh. That’s it? Huh.” Seriously, I just bumped into a filing cabinet, and that was more thrilling than the climax of this episode.The big season finale started off with the final four sitting around a table and basking in their own douchebaggery. Brad announced that he was really happy with the four people remaining, and hey, if Brad’s happy, I’m happy. Jodi then told us that if she won, she’d donate some of the money to charities — specifically, the “My Name Is Jodi And I Have No Career Path” Charity. Wes, meanwhile, told the group that he didn’t care which girl won. He just wanted to win his prize and use it to start a family with Johanna. Seed money, if you will.

After these four babbled on about what they’d do with the money, we finally headed off to the final mission. A helicopter swooped down from the heavens, scooped up the kids, and whisked them off to scenic Rio De Janeiro. “I can’t wait to be old, drinking beers with Brad, talking about this crazy thing we’re about to do,” Wes said, sadly assuming that anyone would want to be friends with him for more than six weeks straight.

Anyway, the helicopter eventually deposited the kids on the beaches of Rio, where TJ presented them with the final challenge, annoyingly titled “”The Rio Deal.” Basically, everyone had to race though a park, encountering challenges along the way until they reached a flag that would grant them access to the finish line. Yes, it was Exile all over again, minus those annoying bags of weight.

There was a twist. Albeit a dumb twist, but a twist. One guy and one girl would have the opportunity to earn a two-minute head start by kicking soccer penalty shots against their opponent. Whoever earned the most goals on five shots would win the head start.

First to kick were the girls, with Svetty kicking and Jodi defending. Surprisingly, Svetlana actually scored a goal. But nothing more. The girls then switched places, and I just assumed that Jodi would absolutely obliterate Svetty. Not so much. She could barely even hit the goal. However, after three failed attempts, Jodi finally connected. Now she just needed one more to win. Could she do it? Yup. Advantage, Jodester.

“Congratulations to Jodi,” TJ said, adding, “You killed it!” Um, not really. She only landed one more goal — and just barely.

Next were Brad and Wes, with our freckly friend stepping up as goalie first. I thought Brad would be pretty good, but he was terrible — all over the map. “What can I do to get this ball past him?” he asked us. Here’s a starter: aim for the goal.

Anyway, Brad somehow earned one goal, which meant Wes wouldn’t need much to win. Sure enough, Wes relied on his varsity soccer skills and effortlessly scored two back-to-back goals, the ball flying in like a heat-seeking missile. Fantastic. Now, can we just start this thing already?

We then went to commercial break, and when we came back, Wes and Jodi went off and running into the park. They talked about how the trail was steep, how the terrain was rocky and dangerous, how the shrubbery was prickly. All that boring stuff. The two then encountered “Stage 1,” which involved transporting four large boxes from one area to another. Of course, by the time the kids had reached this area, they were already exhausted, and the prospect of lugging these boxes around was anything but appetizing.

Soon enough, Brad and Svetlana caught up with their rivals, and then we were treated to an ever-so-fascinating sequence as all four competitors slaved back and forth with their boxes. Again, there were the typical complaints — pain, exhaustion, numbness. Whatever. Wes and Jodi soon had all their boxes transported, and now they had to arrange them so that they were all aligned with rows of colors showing and — blah blah blah. Who cares about the rules? Point was that at the end of thirty minutes, if these morons couldn’t figure out the puzzle, they could then move on.

Well, here’s a shocker. Wes struggled with the puzzle. Even worse for him, Brad soon caught up with him and the two were now neck and neck. Wes complained, “My advantage that I worked so hard to get is slowly but surely getting trampled on.” Ahem, you didn’t work hard for your advantage. If anything, you clucked about how easy it was for you to win that headstart. Let’s not get too victimized.

Anyhoo, Wes did manage to complete the puzzle, but about two seconds later, Brad finished his as well. It looked like it might be a fight to the finish. One problem though: “I’m nauseated!” Brad told us. Dunh dunh DUNH! HE’S NAUSEATED!!!!

Still, queasiness aside, Brad pushed through and even took a small lead to Wes… for the moment. Meanwhile, back at the puzzle, Jodi continued to struggle with this brainteaser. “I don’t know what the fuck to do!!” she exclaimed, her brain teased entirely too much. Incidentally, this is the same reaction she usually has to word scrambles.

After the commercial break, we returned to the ladies, who both were incapable of arranging their boxes. Time ran out for them, and they both trotted off, with Jodi having a decent lead on Svetty. “I’m not going to give up,” Svetlana then told us. “I’m not going to just hand it to Jodi.” Yeah, um, you probably will.

Meanwhile, Brad and Wes had reached Stage 2, which involved using rocks to counterbalance their weights on a see-saw. Wes managed to complete the task first, with Brad not too far behind.

They both ran up a staircase, and suddenly, Wes grabbed a flag and then… it was over. Wes had won the men’s prize. That was it? Seriously? Poor Brad. Felled by a see-saw.

The enthusiasm is palpable!

Brad told us he was bummed because that two minute advantage could have earned him the reward. Probably not. Who knows how his performance would have been changed if he’d had the lead. He might have been slower. Besides, Brad had plenty of chances to overtake Wes. It’s his own fault, not the head start’s. That being said, I felt really badly for him. I wanted Brad to win. He’s one of my favorites, and he definitely deserved to take home the big prize. Luckily, he had that sweet BMW bike to take home; so not all was lost.

As for the girls, Jodi managed to balance the see-saw, or teetor-totter, and with that, she ran off. Svetlana also conquered stage two, but we knew she was way too far behind to catch up. Sure enough, Jodi tearfully grabbed the flag, thus bringing an end to the women’s race. Congratulations… I guess. Not even Svetlana could sound particularly dramatic as she casually noted, “Oh. I lost.”

And with that, Wes and Jodi went hang gliding off the cliff. Huh? Where did that come from. It was mildly random. While they drifted across the winds of Rio, the producers then stuffed a bunch of grainy flashbacks down our throats in a boring attempt to kill time. JUST END THE SHOW. Well, Wes and Jodi soon landed on a beach where they encountered TJ and an oversized novelty check. There were hugs all around, and a crying Jodi informed us that this would change her life. That’s right. Her life would be newly enriched by the experience of giving so much to charity, right? That’s clearly what she meant. What? You don’t think she’s actually going to keep all that dough for herself, do you?

Wes, meanwhile, began to sob as he realized he’d be able to bring a whole lot of money back to his beloved Johanna. Time for some bourgeois fantasies to come true! Yay!

What did you think of this finale? And how about the season? Were you happy with the results?

Comments (38)
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38 Comments

1

zevonia

Posted January 18, 2007 at 4:51 pm

Eh, I didn’t really care who won. Sounds like a pretty lackluster episode. You did the best with what you had, B-Side so thanks for all the recaps. I hope winning all that money means we’ll never see Jodi or Wes again. Of course now Wes will reproduce and that’s not a good thing.
2

HoneyBunny

Posted January 18, 2007 at 5:19 pm

Bummer that Svetty lost to Mr. Jodi.
Bummer that Wes is a douchenozzle.
Thanks for the recaps b-side.

hb
3

Hoboscooter

Posted January 18, 2007 at 5:21 pm

This duel was definitely lackluster – you were so right on when you compared it to exile! BORING!!!!

I’m sad Brad didn’t win, but happy they didn’t show Wes proposing to Johanna on air. Although I did prepare myself to hear it when he was crying on the beach. Ahh, good times.
4

MTVwhoreInTX

Posted January 18, 2007 at 5:28 pm

the actual final challange was just weird. i’m happy for Wes. i wanted him to win. BTW, Wes officially retired from future MTV challenges on the after show. kudos for going out on top. im bummed svets and brad didnt win but they both got BMW bikes. yay! thanks for the great recaps B-Side.
5

B-Side

Posted January 18, 2007 at 5:34 pm

The only good part about Wes winning was that you just know Danny was wicked jealous!
6

silentfire

Posted January 18, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Yeah it was sorta anti-climatic. I don’t like how they made the reunion online, stupid thing keeps buffering every other minute. Ill have to watch it another day lol. Anyway I was suprised brad was so close to wes, I felt bad that he lost because it was very close but then I remembered how he completly missed 4 shots to the goal…How do you miss it when it’s so frikken huge
7

newtrino

Posted January 18, 2007 at 8:27 pm

Melinda’s probably feeling like she made a mistake right about now. Those two and those other two hooking up on their season was such a crapshoot, she could have been paired up with this winner instead of that loser.

I’m a dork, and watched the reunion live feed (what can I say, I’m a sucker for ‘live feeds’) It’s pretty uneventful, but I did like when Beth tried to lay the smack down on Diem and her fake-ness.
8

Barbie071979

Posted January 18, 2007 at 8:42 pm

I loved when Beth got onto Diem and called her out for being fake. She was sitting in the reunion trying to look like
Holly Housewife, knowing good and well she was whoring it up with Derrick last challenge. BTW, I love Wes, he is a machine and I’m so sad he is retiring from the show.
9

nerrawllehctim

Posted January 18, 2007 at 8:51 pm

Hey, I saw spoilers too, but I got 2 different ones, so I was surprised when I knew which one was true. From now on, ban spoilers from being put in the comments.
10

shiaobundan

Posted January 18, 2007 at 10:57 pm

Very boring finale. Its too bad Jodi the man won.
11

dubbledubs

Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:08 am

For a season where the main event was a head to head duel between contestants, why not add that element to the finale? Even if it was best 3 of 5 on all of the Duel events, where they alternated in choosing a random card would have been more enjoyable. This challenge was so… blah.

At the very least they should have taken away the 2 minute lead thing, because then the competitors would have been neck and neck throughout.

Oh well. Good job Wes. You Outwitted, Outplayed, and Outlasted… oh wait. That’s something else entirely.
12

jla85

Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:22 am

I’m so sad that manly Jodie won. Am I the only won who was happy that she got called out for not donating her money to a biblical camp on the aftershow?

I’m happy that Wes won, although a little disappointed about the lack of a proposal on the aftershow! I at least wanted some kind of big gesture to Johanna, after all the talking he did. However, I did very much enjoy Beth calling out Diem for always hooking up with someone on the challenges. I do not particulary like Beth, but I thought her comments were rather enjoyable. I also like how everyone tried to blow up her relationship with Nehemiah, when it was in reality just a friendship.

Just a quick question. When they did the second part of the challenge with the weight aspect of the teeter-toter, I’m surprised no one thought of standing further down on the plank. Wouldn’t standing down further make it easier to balance with less weight? Just a thought.

P.S. B-side, you’re amazing with your recaps.
13

dubbledubs

Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:33 am

And as a random additional comment, is it me or is that Suzie chick that hosted the reunion show is the absolute worst?
14

WhyDoIEvenCare?

Posted January 19, 2007 at 6:12 am

I have to agree, YAWN. The challenge was a foot race with a couple of boring challenges thrown in. Watching people put puzzles together and balance on a teeter-tooter, not exactly riveting.

Anyway, I agree with Dubbledubs, take out the 2-minute headstart, and it might have been more interesting.
15

MissKatrina

Posted January 19, 2007 at 6:35 am

Stupid Wes and Jodi…ugh. But I figure that if Wes marries Johanna, he is no longer a menace to the rest of the female population, so that’s good.

I agree that the final challenge was LAME. The producers really phoned that one in.

I think Wes will be back for more challenges. He is like a virus; it’ll go dormant for a while but it will come back, nastier than ever.
16

WhyDoIEvenCare?

Posted January 19, 2007 at 6:59 am

*Reunion Show*

God I hate Diem.
So Much.
17

cincy_josh

Posted January 19, 2007 at 7:25 am

Now Wes can pay Johanna’s dowry.

I thought it was hilarious when the stupid jock Jodi struggled with the puzzle.

I wish they would have show elapsed time at each finish to know how much Wes one by and Jodi beat Svet by. I bet Svet was at least 1/2 hour behind.
18

Ubiquitous

Posted January 19, 2007 at 7:49 am

I too was bored by this challenge’s “finally”, although I was rooting for Svet to win. Ditto for the online reunion show. I wish I had watched long enough to see Beth call out CancerGirl, though.
19

charcoal2006

Posted January 19, 2007 at 8:18 am

dubbledubs, you’re right suzie the host is very annoying. I hate having to watch these fake vj’s and mtv hosts.
20

juxtapoeser

Posted January 19, 2007 at 9:36 am

what was up with the ace bandage things on Jodi’s arms?
21

Woogie101

Posted January 19, 2007 at 10:32 am

I’m always disappointed by the finales of the challenges. Last night I looked away for a second and I didn’t even realize Wes had won. The regular episodes are way more exciting than the lame finales. Thanks for the great recaps, B-Side!
22

jozeyg

Posted January 19, 2007 at 11:09 am

Did you see how Diem reacted on the Reunion show when Beth called her out for being fake. She had the most shocked looked, and it was very prissy. And just because Beth mentioned something about her and CT, Diem gets all high and mighty like ‘no one talks to me like that’ Oh my god, i wanted to slap her. Even CT was kinda telling her to calm down cuz they were just kidding and she said “well, i don’t care..i don’t like that kind of aggression towards me” I dunno, she didn’t seem that happy during the whole reunion show. CT probably told her “let’s just be friends”
23

raggedy_andy

Posted January 19, 2007 at 12:01 pm

It was pretty boring, so I can’t blame you for getting it wrong (or, if I got it wrong, I hope you don’t blame me ), but I think Jodi actually finished her puzzle. Also, on the Aftershow or the Reunion, they showed that Brad finished only around a minute and a half before Wes (though, as B-Side said, we don’t know if he would’ve performed as well if there were no headstart).

I doubt Wes is really going to retire. Also, he said that Johanna was the one who didn’t want to get married (she wants them to finish school first).

It would’ve been hilarious if they did the carabiner thing with the flag at the end. I wonder what they’ll do with the next Challenge.
24

MissKatrina

Posted January 19, 2007 at 12:21 pm

Dammit, why did Wes have to go and be normal and want to finish college? That pasty schmoo is giving me fewer and fewer reasons to dislike him. I might have to switch to hating CT instead.
25

shiaobundan

Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:06 pm

Dubbledubs!

Agreed. Susie is TERRIBLE! She lets these A.D.D reality show stars walk all over her, talk amongst themselves… etc. Its almost sad, because she seems really sweet. I think at one point in the show she said “I’m about to cry” (pretty quietly) when she couldn’t get the cast to listen to her questions!

And Beth… I don’t know if I love her or hate her. VERY immature and stupid for her to talk shit to Svetlana because Kina and Svet cried in completely different contexts. But then I LOVED it when she talked back to Diem.
26

jess_in_st_paul

Posted January 19, 2007 at 1:45 pm

Juxtapoeser, I think Jodi’s bandages were from her arms chafing on the surf board during the last challenge.

The final was boring. Jodi looked horrible on the after show. I thought maybe she’d get a good hair cut with all that money.
27

sillage

Posted January 19, 2007 at 2:49 pm

what a lame final challenge,
it sucked. the obsticles sucked and the stupid 2 minute advancement almost guaranteed who the winners would be. I really thought brad was going to pass wes up and win it all. then to see wes win, pissed me off. i am glad he is going to retire from the challenge. i am getting tired of looking at him cry. big ass dude, trying to make everyone thing he is so tuff crying like a baby. he looks so ugly when he is crying. not like he is cute when he isn’t. just uglier! they should have had harder obsticles and different pathes to take so they wouldn’t know how far away there competitor was. or even if they were ahead or behind them. i think it would have been more interesting. rather than brad or svet seeing the other persons getting that flag knowing they were right behind. expecially brad since he was so close. i feel sooo bad for him. he tried but it just wasn’t good enough. glad jodi won. maybe she won’t come back neither!!!
28

dangovich

Posted January 19, 2007 at 3:25 pm

I think it’s high time they took a page from the Apprentice and forced the finalists to work with previously ejected cast members in the Final. It would be great to see Wes have to work with Evan, or CT with pretty much anyone. It would really liven things up and perhaps create more repercussions for douchey behavior.
29

TheStink1325

Posted January 19, 2007 at 3:35 pm

OMG – the Survivor car curse totally crossed over to The Duel!!! Brad and Svetty won the BMW bike and thus did not win the final…spooky!
30

Leah3t

Posted January 19, 2007 at 9:04 pm

That was an entertaining season but an unentertaining finale. SNORE. i think even if the challenges had been more interesting though, i still would have been bored to watch jodi win. she has no personality. wes crying was pretty funny to watch. im sure he was exhausted but after having to listen to him talk like a hardass all the time, i was mightly entertained by that.

poor brad. and i liked svetty a lot more than i did on the show.
31

WhyDoIEvenCare?

Posted January 21, 2007 at 8:29 am

Well, it seems that the Inferno 3 will be airing sometime soon (Ive heard everything from January to March). New people and new host, supposedly John Cena. Back to the old “Good Guys” vs “Bad Asses” theme.
32

nursecoco

Posted January 21, 2007 at 9:27 am

THE AFTERSHOW***
DIEM LOOKED TOTALLY MISERABLE SITTING THERE, BUT HOW COULD YOU NOT NOTICE CT WHISPERING IN HER EAR THE WHOLE TIME? SO WHY WAS SHE SO MISERABLE? I LOVED HOW BETH TOLD HER SHE WAS THE “MOST FAKE, SHALLOW, SUPERFICIAL PERSON” AND DIEM ACTED SO HIGH AND MIGHTY SAYING SHE “DOESN’T LIKE THAT KIND OF AGGRESSION” …UM, WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? (SITTING THERE ALL PRISSY ACTING?) I HATE HER!!!!! CT CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER. HE PROBABLLY SEES THIS NOW. BUT THEY EACH HAVE ONE ANOTHER AS #1 (FRIENDS) ON THEIR MYSPACE PAGES AND PICTURES OF EACH OTHER TOO!
33

reeeeelbigfsh

Posted January 21, 2007 at 10:01 am

Can anybody confirm who is on Road Rules? I’ve read all of these people so far (but obviously it is only 6): Cara, Veronica, Kendal, Susie, Kina, Adam, Abram, Danny, Shane, and Derrick.
34

k37744

Posted January 21, 2007 at 11:31 am

i started the ‘next phase of my life’ with $3,500 and a pregnancy test.

is that wrong?

i had no idea those two idjits were “attending school” as it were. i hope they don’t really blow all that cash on a wedding. it’d be a damn shame to be sidelined by a word jumble later on in life and only have killer wedding photos to buffer the fall.
35

WhyDoIEvenCare?

Posted January 21, 2007 at 12:20 pm

“Under the description of the site it says a blurb about the new castmembers of Road Rules. While including Abram (South Pacific), Adam (The Quest), Kina (Extreme), Shane (Campus Crawl), Susie (Down Under) and Veronica (Semester at Sea), it also says the names of eight complete unknowns. MTV still hasn’t updated the Road Rules website to reflect this, but it seems the pool of replacements to replace kicked-off Road Rulers is compromised of only eight people. The eight people are:

Angel, Dan, David, Ivory, Jerry, Kristen, Monte, Tori”

I will be working hard, and voting under multiple aliases to remove Kina.
36

Ubiquitous

Posted January 22, 2007 at 4:42 am

Wow, apparently I gave up on the lame online reunion show before Beth called CancerGirl out on her fakeness. I hear they’ll be airing it Thursday night with a “suprise” guest (Tina, according to the lame host).
37

Hoboscooter

Posted January 22, 2007 at 2:09 pm

I think they implemented the 2 minute head start b/c the trail wasn’t big enough for 4 people running at the same time. Once again, it probably comes down to poor preparation and not picking a better location.

As for the online reunion – I loved Svetlana for telling Beth she was only invited b/c she got punched in the face! And even better was Beth totally knew it!
38

B_ran

Posted January 28, 2007 at 12:00 am

Over on the Inferno III wiki page, there’s someone named Madison Kopale listed and it says she’s from RW Denver. Does someone leave Denver? I bet Brooke gets fired from Outward Bound…

Recap: The Duel: And The Winner Is…

The enthusiasm is palpable!

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Recap: The Duel: And The Winner Is…

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