Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons is the fifth season of the MTV reality game show, The Challenge (at the time known as Real World/Road Rules Challenge).
Battle of the Seasons premiered in early 2002 and took place in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In each episode, the cast competed in a challenge, and the top three Real World and top three Road Rules teams would become the "Inner Circle" and have the power to vote off teams. The "Inner Circle" was determined by a cumulative score that would be tallied on a leader board. The final six teams would compete for a final prize worth $300,000.
This is the first edition of Battle of the Seasons series, with the second Battle of the Seasons, following in 2012 with a completely different format.
Format Separated into teams of Real World and Road Rules, each cast member is paired off with a castmate from their original season and they gain points after each daily mission based on their performances. The pairs with the most points cumulative from each team form the "Inner Circle" and vote off another pair from their own team. The individual winning pair of each challenge also earn additional prizes. After five pairs from each team are voted off, the final three Real World teams and final three Road Rules teams compete against each other in a series of challenges before the final race, that earns the winning teams $300,000.
Contestants + Real World team Male partnerFemale partnerOriginal seasonFinishSean DuffyElka WalkerThe Real World: BostonWinnersMike MizaninCoral SmithThe Real World: Back to New York WinnersDanny RobertsKelley LimpThe Real World: New Orleans WinnersNorman KorpiBecky BlasbandThe Real World: New YorkEpisode 8Mike LambertFlora AlekseyeunThe Real World: MiamiEpisode 6Stephen Williams IVLindsay BrienThe Real World: SeattleEpisode 5Mike JohnsonSharon Gitau The Real World: LondonEpisode 4 Jon BrennanBeth StolarczykThe Real World: Los AngelesEpisode 1+ Road Rules team Male partnerFemale partnerOriginal seasonFinishTheo VonkurnatowskiHolly BrenstonRoad Rules: Maximum Velocity TourRunners-upDan SetzlerTara McDanielRoad Rules: Northern TrailRunners-upTimmy BeggyEmily BaileyRoad Rules: USA – The Second AdventureRunners-upJosh FlorenceHolly ShandRoad Rules: Latin AmericaEpisode 8Adam LarsonJisela DelgadoRoad Rules: The QuestEpisode 6Chris MellingBelou Den TexRoad Rules: EuropeEpisode 5Chadwick PelletierPiggy ThomasRoad Rules: Down UnderEpisode 4Yes DuffyVeronica PortilloRoad Rules: Semester at SeaEpisode 1
Gameplay Challenge games Hang Man: Teams must hang on a pole as long as they can. The contraption is made so after one team member falls, the other team member will fall immediately. Winners: Theo & Holly B. (Team Road Rules) Musical Inner-Tube Tango: In a game similar to musical chairs, teams will dance around a pool. Once the music stops, they must get an inner tube around their head. After each round, there will be two less inner-tubes. If one person from a team does not get an inner-tube, the whole team is eliminated. Winners: Stephen & Lindsay (Team Real World) Vertical Limit: Each member of the team will climb as high as they can on a rope with buoys on it in three minutes. They will gain a point for every buoy they pass. If they fall off the rope, they cannot get back on, and the number they ended on will be their final number. Winners: Danny & Kelley (Team Real World) Slam Dunk - Teams will bungee jump together back to back and try to score into hoops valued at 5, 10, and 15 points. Winners: Theo & Holly B. (Team Road Rules) Ladder of Doom: A relay race where each member needs to climb down a ladder over a 50-foot basin and retrieve a flag and bring it back to the top of the ladder. Winners: Theo & Holly B. (Team Road Rules) Round 'Em Up: Teams will enter a ring on horses and have a maximum of 15 minutes to round up at least one cow and get it into the pen. Winners: Sean & Elka (Team Real World) Rush Hour: Teams will have to move one car out of the puzzle by moving other cars within the puzzle forward and backwards. The cars are not allowed to make any turns. Cars are also not allowed to hit any other cars; if this does happen, the team will be disqualified, and receive a score of 0. Teams will be sequestered for fairness. Winners: Sean & Elka (Team Real World) Hands on the Saturn: Teams must have at least one whole hand on an ice sculpture of a Saturn sedan at all times. After two, three, and four hours, competitors must place another extremity (hand or feet) until all four are on the ice. Five minute breaks are allotted every three hours. Winners: Dan & Tara (Team Road Rules) Sidekick Showdown: Similar to the game show, The Newlywed Game, team members must match answers to their team member's responses to personal questions. Winners: Mike M. & Coral (Team Real World) Blockhead: Each member of the team has a responsibility: a swimmer and a builder. The swimmer must go into the ocean and retrieve cubes. The builder then must build a tower at least 4 cubes high with all the same color face of each cube facing outwards. Afterwards, one player must stand on the structure and blow a whistle. Winners: Timmy & Emily (Team Road Rules) Siamese Wrestling: Team members will be bound together back to back wrestling another team. The teams need to pin down (a shoulder touching the mat) the other team for three seconds. It will be broken into two rounds: the first round will be two minutes and the second round will be a sudden death. Winners: Timmy & Emily (Team Road Rules)
Final challenge For the final mission, the Ultimate Teams (Sean & Elka for Real World and Theo & Holly B. for Road Rules) must delegate tasks for each team members to accomplish. The finale is divided in a relay race to collect fish. Once the teams collect their fish and solve their puzzle, they must climb a rope ladder to the top of a cliff and cross the finish line. Kayaking: Two teams will race on their kayaks to a buoy with a pair of fish hooked to a carabiner. After unhooking their fish, they must kayak to the yacht. Free Dive: The two next teams will deep sea dive into the ocean and to retrieve their next set of fish and allow the next team to pass. Longboard: The final two teams will swim in tandem on a longboard, unhook their last set of fish from a buoy, and swim out to the beach shore. Fishticks Puzzle: After retrieving all of their fish, the teams will then stack them from the smallest fish to the largest fish and transfer them from one end of a stick to another. Once completed, the team may advanced to the rope ladder and cross the finish line. Winners: Team Real World (Sean & Elka, Mike M. & Coral, and Danny & Kelley)
Game summary EpisodeWinnersInner CircleEliminated#ChallengeTeamPrize Winners1Hang Man Road RulesTheo & Holly B. Danny & Kelley, Mike M. & Coral, Norman & Becky Jon & Beth Chadwick & Piggy, Theo & Holly B., Timmy & Emily Yes & Veronica3/4Musical Inner-Tube Tango Real WorldStephen & Lindsay Dan & Tara, Theo & Holly B., Timmy & Emily Chadwick & Piggy Mike M. & Coral, Sean & Elka, Stephen & Lindsay Mike J. & Sharon5/6Vertical Limit Real WorldDanny & Kelley Danny & Kelley, Mike M. & Coral, Sean & Elka Stephen & Lindsay Dan & Tara, Theo & Holly B., Timmy & Emily Chris & Belou6Slam Dunk Road RulesTheo & Holly B. Danny & Kelley, Mike M. & Coral, Sean & Elka Mike L. & Flora Dan & Tara, Theo & Holly B., Timmy & Emily Adam & Jisela8Ladder of Doom Road RulesTheo & Holly B. Dan & Tara, Theo & Holly B., Timmy & Emily Josh & Holly S. Danny & Kelley, Mike M. & Coral, Sean & Elka Norman & Becky9Round 'Em Up Real WorldSean & Elkarowspan=6 colspan=4 10Rush Hour Real WorldSean & Elka11Hands on Saturn Road RulesDan & Tara12Sidekick Showdown Real WorldMike M. & Coral13Block Head Road RulesTimmy & Emily14Siamese Wrestling Road RulesTimmy & Emily15Handsome Reward Real WorldSean & Elka
Scoreboard TeamsEpisode13/45/6689101112131415 Sean & Elka102944557494114131 150169186WINNER Mike M. & Coral162543547187104123143 158174WINNER Danny & Kelley142343547089107122138 154172WINNER Theo & Holly B.2034537393108127143 161178194LOSER Dan & Tara153146577087103123139 157176LOSER Timmy & Emily18335061759393111128 148168LOSER Norman & Becky1323384964 Josh & Holly S.1225384968 Mike L. & Flora6243445 Adam & Jisela11203243 Chris & Belou71929 Stephen & Lindsay92941 Mike J. & Sharon521 Chadwick & Piggy1926 Yes & Veronica17 Jon & Beth8 Teams The contestant is on the Real World team The contestant is on the Road Rules team Competition Bold indicates the Inner Circle The team won the final challenge The team did not win the final challenge The team came in first in the mission and won a prize The team was safe from elimination The team was eliminated by the Inner Circle
Episodes
Reunion special The reunion special, Real World/Road Rules Challenge Battle of the Seasons: Inside the Inner Circle, was aired live on May 27, 2002 and was attended by the contestants who were in the Inner Circle until the season finale. The special was hosted by Lindsay Brien from The Real World: Seattle and Mark Long from Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure.
References
External links
MTV's official Road Rules Website MTV's official Real World Website