The Challenge 40 has done Era 1 way too dirty, and it's hard to watch

When MTV announced the cast for the landmark fortieth — 40! — season of The Challenge, I couldn't have been more excited as an early fan of the series. I might have been a bit too young to have been watching back then, but I was there when the show was still called the Real World/Road Rules Challenge.

In that respect, I was so excited to see the likes of Jodi, Mark, and Rachel back in a season that wasn't All Stars. But that excitement was soon humbled by the way the game quickly and without warning took shape not in the favor of my favorites.

The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras brought back 40 familiar faces from the franchise and divided them into four teams, or eras, of 10 players. Each "era" represents a different time period for the franchise, grouping the cast members together based on when they first started competing. Naturally, Era 1 consists of cast members originating from the glory days: the '90s and early '00s.

So far this season, Era 1 has had a frustrating run of bad luck, losing every mission and becoming a presence in every single arena match, losing at least one team member every time. As someone tuning back into The Challenge's proper franchise almost specifically for Era 1, it's been a tough season to watch with all my favorite players getting picked off one by one by one...

Era 1 deserved better from The Challenge 40

By the sixth episode, Era 1 already went from 10 players to four players, the least amount of any other Era. Bless Tina for pulling out a pleasantly unexpected win in the arena against Era 2's Emily. If Rachel hadn't beaten Era 3's Jonna, the team would have really been looking worse for the wear, especially after Derrick was injured during the Cloud Catcher daily challenge.

Era 1 consists of the people who laid the foundation and made this show what it is, and the other competitors don't seem to respect that. Instead, the in-fighting among Era 2 somehow makes them stronger with the frustratingly adept politician Johnny Bananas steering their ship. He's technically an Era 1 cusp, but he has no real allegiance to them. But he's a different conversation.

When Jodi, a true veteran of the franchise and one of the first competitors to be a sole season winner along with Wes in The Duel, was eliminated first after the premiere's mass exodus lost Mark and Katie, I realized The Challenge 40 was going to be a rough ride. Era 1 would need to put up a huge fight to compete with these unbreakable alliances and all the recent history between the other eras.

And it's the alliances and recent history that are personally souring the viewing experience of the season. Bringing in narratives and grudges from past seasons isn't the move. Too many players are concerned with repaying favors from the past and not voting certain people into the arena to maintain good faith. When in reality, the strategy should be getting strong players out sooner rather than later.

If Era 1 can't win a daily challenge, why would you want to send them home? Wouldn't you want to run a final against a weaker team? It's not like I want Era 1 to skate by on pity, but whatever works, you know?! Some of these players in the later eras think they're being smart by playing for self-preservation. Well, by doing so, they're missing the bigger picture and underestimating the real vets.

It's not like Era 1 wasn't stacked! They either have or had Rachel, Brad, Derrick, Darrell, Jodi, and CT for crying out loud. And it's not like Mark, Tina, Aneesa, and Katie don't have impressive resumes either. On paper, they should have been able to hold their own this season. They have simply been screwed by the voting process in The Chamber as the other eras hash out their various deals or whatever they have going on.

Ultimately, whether it's a difference in age between the other teams, the challenges themselves, or just your average, everyday bad luck, my No. 1 draft picks are going through hell out there this season. As I said, Era 1's chances of winning a daily challenge and staying out of the arena aren't looking good. But if they could just get it together and stay out of the arena one time...

These sound like the gripes of a frustrated Era 1 fan who isn't getting their way, and maybe that's all they are. But The Challenge 40 seems to highlight how much the series has changed and evolved and why it was necessary for Mark to spearhead the creation of The Challenge: All Stars on Paramount+. This show looks like The Challenge and acts like The Challenge, but we're a long way from the Gauntlet days, folks.

Watch The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras on MTV.