First, I completely forgot they did this season in British Columbia, Canada at an amazing log cabin lodge near Whistler Peak (world class snow skiing btw). I feel like this was the last non-tropical location (excluding finals relocation) until the Czech Republic season.

Second, what an impactful group of Fresh Meat castmates! Laurel, Cara Maria, Teresa, Brandon, Mandi who all became regulars to legends, plus Badass competitors like Noor, Pete, Jeff and CJ (RW Cancun but was a rookie), and motherfucking Carley, who has to be the most unlikely Challenge champion of all time. This has to be one of the most competitive casts top to bottom of all time, as the weakest cast member on paper won the entire season (giant asterisk=Landon literally carried her to victory, but she championed through one of the toughest elimination slates/finals even while blacking out like a zombie!😂🤘). For some reason, I misremembered Kenny/Laurel winning the final since they utterly dominated the entire season and damn near cried in joy when Landon/Carly pulled it off.

Third, the eliminations were the most strenuous of nearly any season. Running on rough terrain in high altitude for several miles while carrying 40-60lbs in a backpack OR the vertical hike while carrying weight in buckets on a pole was brutal…especially in the dark. They condensed the season as well towards the end by having nightly eliminations with no breaks between challenges OR the final!! That was a huge disadvantage to Landon/Carly then Noor/Jenn who did those rigorous night eliminations less than 36/24 hours before the final. This makes Landon’s willpower win with Carley over a fresh Kenny/Laurel that much more impressive!

Fourth, can we just talk about Landon some more?!?! After rewatching this for the first time since the original airdate, I’m convinced he is the most dominant and best Challenger of all time…all while being a total class act, supportive/patient partner, and straight up nice guy. If he had any other female partner (except maybe Katelynn), the competition would’ve been an absolute blowout. And even though he plays a terrible social game, he pulled an unheralded baller move by forcing Wes and Evelyn into elimination after they’d used him and CJ with no appreciation, ruining both their games.

Now for some catty comments. I always loved Evelyn, but she showed some real nasty behavior this season, even prompting CJ to call her out and say he’s never seen a four year old on the show! It’s rare that CJ openly talks shit and she deserved it. Not a good look.

Sarah Rice started showing some of her bad behavior this season as well as a poor sport, even towards Katelynn, who has to be one of my least likeable challengers of all time. I felt bad for Katelynn drawing heat from cast mates related to her gender identity, but man she talked a big game and just sucked as a competitor. This began many seasons for Brandon having shitty partners with Katelynn as his first.

What happened to Noor, Pete, and Jake? Those guys were all legit challengers.

Overall, this was a fantastic season and one of the toughest, including dailies. I’m not sure there’s ever been such a dominant team performance as that demonstrated b Kenny and Laurel or an individual like Landon. I encourage new viewers to watch this season or as a great rewatch.