Overall, if you set aside Lete, the season ended with some of my all-time favorites winning. At the same time, if the girls won, I would have been fine with it. It was a very unique Challenge setup where so many things would fluctuate, and there were always some moving parts that also changed things in odd ways. Even one time, having four people, with Orange having 5 people, was lopsided in the end. At the same time, that could help or detract as far as winning it all.

I do think who won deserved to win, and a few of my all-time favorites won in literally one swoop, if you count Bananas, whom is number one for me. CT, as a body of work, is also up there for me, and I always want him to do well. Then, Tori is my new Top 2 favorite of all time. I think she deserves to be talked about, or is even more relevant in some cases today, as Bananas. As a complete body of work, Bananas is clearly a number one player of all time.

The finale was a bit odd to me. I lost track of how far either team was ahead of the other team. I was not sure of the rules with regard to CT using medical to what I think was skipping a portion of the course. No one mentioned a penalty, and so what happened when CT went to medical? The team Orange just moved on without him, and Tori was whispering for him to be disqualified. Then, same with Cassidy. How long was she out as they carried her to the end like it was the final seen in Platoon or Band of Brothers, where they are in wartime? Did the two’s downtime offset each other? Because, again, that is in part where I was lost.

Plus, maybe it is because the distribution of money segment, which is dialogue, coupled with the overnight, it seemed like things dragged without action for a period of time.

Tori doing a number 2 outside on camera while ducking behind a mound of dirt would have been gold.

I am not sure why I felt like it was anticlimactic for me.

I think because my top picks basically all won, which is unprecedented, because usually, my favorites and top picks lose to someone unless one of them wins, but the others lose. Having 3 of my favorite players win in one swoop made things look easy, or something I cannot articulate fully here.

Speaking of the distribution of money, Tori deducted one dollar for each player as a joke and then split the $550 Million prize money for the win. Adrienne, whom was very impressive this season, won 25K in the mercenary challenge against Rachel. She actually gave her 3 teammates each 5K. The was pretty cool of her, considering it was an individual challenge when she won that money.

Tori was an excellent leader, winning multiple eliminations. If you include the USA & World Champs spin-offs, Tori is a 2-time winner now, while making the finals 8 times in 11 seasons. She is also 10–3 in eliminations.

During the final, Will, Bananas, CT and Tori were at each other, bickering about running versus them walking the course and trying to get her to stop pushing them to move faster. Tori had won the Ride or Die Challenge championship and then lost two others (USA on World and then Spies, Lies & Allies); she made the finals.

Maybe because four people left the show early was why it ended lopsided. I lost track of what was taking shape, and those disqualifications happened fast and were really never discussed again.

Cassidy became the latest casualty to go down in a final because of exhaustion, but, like I alluded to above, she did complete the task with the help of her teammates. I saw her and Michelle originally on Survivor, back when they stopped allowing chickens to be killed for the sake of their TV show, but otherwise, I do not know much about Cassidy besides what went down this season. She was on anther season a few years ago, and as far as her future being on the show, I wonder, but if she does it again (if she does), she must train to get through a final. I suppose it’s impressive that she got that far this season.

We mentioned Adrienne, whom, again, was great this season. She is way stronger than I remember last season. She was also an excellent Captain. Speaking of strong competitors, there is no one close to Lete today, although Adrienne is strong. Lete is serious player; however, when you set aside Bananas and her relationship, her social game is a bit rough for people. Plus, she is tall and intimating when she yells at people. She does need to learn how to play the game, maybe; otherwise, she will always end up angry at someone. As a player, she is excellent. As a human, she seems great for Bananas. He would be lucky to be able to be with her.

She has the best chance to win it all in due time. She reminds me of when Turbo first started on the show. It was never a matter of if he would win; it was when he would win, and he already won one. If she stays the course, she will win one very soon.

As far as CT winning it again, making him a six-time champion on The Challenge, he had his ups and downs this season. He was brought along for his puzzle work, which did pay off; however, his play was weak for a few episodes. He evidently blamed his divorces or ex-wives on his bad play. In reality, he was noticeably in horrible shape last season and was a little better, but not really, considering his play this season. He needs to do some serious training for him to be a truly top player based on his play and not being carried along, like in part he was this season.

Bananas won his 8th Challenge. He played a great game in this Cutthroat Challenge. He actually stayed under the radar rather nicely after he had won in Episode 1’s elimination win over Cedric.

Will also won this season. He went under the radar compared to his debut season last year.

I think Tori helped keep both Bananas and Will in place.

Michele won and was indeed better physically this year, but her athletic skills were called out this season when Tori replaced her in an elimination challenge. Her social skills are very good, and her friendship with Tori is in part what helped get her through to the final. She especially does well in water challenges, which, in the last final she made, was all water. This year, she was not only weak on some challenges in general; she also almost went down in the mini-final. She was ahead of the guys while they were bickering with Tori. She had Tori’s back the entire way, and, again, she noticeably kept up with Tori. She did not do one elimination challenge this season. She was called into it a few weeks ago, when Tori stepped in to do it.

Michelle has won Survivor and now, The Challenge. Maybe she can try for the Triple Crown if she can win Big Brother.