“I looked at the final challenge. … the final challenge alone made me completely sick.” That’s what host T.J. Lavin told Us Weekly after filming The Challenge: War of the Worlds – and he wasn’t exaggerating. The Wednesday, May 22, finale of season 33 was, by far, the most grueling of all.
Part two picked up where last week’s ended. Wes, Theo and Turbo were in the Tribunal and had to select who to send into the Killing Floor. Wes chose Cara Maria – so much for the Vets sticking together – but Theo and Turbo sent in Hunter. He chose to go up against Ninja Natalie and they had to walk a monster truck like a dog. After the grueling run, they all went through that day, Hunter couldn’t hold up long – he gassed out and was sent home.
Afterward, the final five slept in the pain locker only to be woken up the next morning with their first challenge of the day: geography trivia with multiple choice options. Most of the contestants chose a letter together; Ninja was the first to take a risk and was eliminated. Next, Cara Maria took a chance while the rest of the group did not; with that, she got to ride a dune buggy for the first mile of the next race – through sand dunes.
However, it didn’t really give her a lead, just gave her a break to breathe. When she got to the next checkpoint, she had to wait for someone else to arrive to play Connect Four with. When Turbo arrived, he beat her. Then Theo arrived and beat her. Then Ninja arrived and beat her. She was irritated and crying by the time Wes arrived, but did beat him.
Turbo got to the next checkpoint first: the eating portion. However, he didn’t have to eat anything – he could instead assign food to each person and keep going. So, he did, giving the men the most. The group was hungry and the food was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so they were happy to eat … until they were full. Cara Maria was the first done since he gave her very little.
After that, it was just more running to what everyone had assumed was the end – except T.J. wasn’t there. So, they instead had to get back into the pain locker and take another ride. Then they were brought to a beach where they had to run to kayaks and solve one last puzzle on the way; there were only four kayaks, which meant the last one done with the puzzle was left on the beach – even if they were in first place when the times totaled up.
It was quite an intense math equation that they had to solve; Turbo was first to get it and he tried to help Theo, but had to get kayaking. Wes got into the water second, followed by Ninja. Cara and Theo – former partners – were left fighting against each other, trying to solve the equation. Ultimately, it was Theo who figured it out first, leaving Cara on the island.
The race overall was all about who had the best time, but that didn’t stop Turbo from helping direct everyone onto the island – even Wes who couldn’t find it. After the final four made it to land, they had one last run to a finish line – because why not? – and then the times were calculated. Theo and Turbo crossed the line together, followed by Ninja, then Wes.
So, who took home the money? Turbo came in first, winning $750,000! Theo was the runner-up, taking home $200,000 while Wes came in third place, winning $50,000. Ninja came in last, going up with nothing.
The Challenge: War of the Worlds reunion airs on MTV Wednesday, May 29, at 9 p.m. ET.
