For more information about the teams and seasons, see main article: Endurance (TV series)
Series overview
Season 1: California (2002–03) The following episodes are the episode list for Endurance. Episode seven, fifteen, and sixteen are specials. The seventh episode recaps the events of the first six days of the competition. The fifteenth and the sixteenth episodes reunites the cast nearly one year since the series has started.
Episode description
Right to Stay In the series premiere, 20 strangers arrive on an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where they meet the host, J.D. Roth, who explains the rules to them: every day, there will be a mission that will give one of seven teams a Pyramid Piece, an important item needed to win the game (the pieces are Courage, Heart, Knowledge, Leadership, Commitment, Perseverance, Trust, Discipline, Strength, and Luck), and the following day features a Temple Mission, which gives the winning team a chance to send two other teams to the Temple of Fate, where one team is eliminated. But first, the competitors must compete for the right to stay on the island, and by the end of the day, 6 of the 20 strangers will be eliminated before the game even begins. In the challenge, called Timeline, they have to hold onto two rings while their ankles are held up by bungee cords. The first 3 girls and guys to let go are automatically eliminated. In the end, Shane Peltzman, Ron Newrauter, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Lacey Elick, Heather Ichihashi, and Cree Howard are eliminated, leaving 14 players to compete in the game, where the grand prize is of their choice.
Fate Falls The 14 Endurance players compete in the partner selection challenge, where a colored ball representing the 7 team colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and gray) will drop from a match stick- like pyramid. The person who catches the ball chooses the guy and girl for that colored team. Jon Crocilla and Sabrina Lloyd become the Yellow Team, Aaron Thornburg and Jonna Mannion become the Blue Team, Christian Justice and Ashley Gudzak become the Red Team, Trevor Wilkins and Lana Neiman become the Green Team (even though Trevor was originally to be paired with Chelsea Myers), Brandon Hendrix (who was originally to be paired with Lana) and Layla Brisco become the Purple Team, Skyler Russell (who was originally to be partnered with Layla) and Chelsea becoming the Orange Team, leaving Max DeLeo and Jenna Jimenez as the Gray Team. Later, the team chooses their Pyramid Pieces: Perseverance (Yellow), Courage (Blue), Leadership (Red), Commitment (Green), Strength (Purple), Luck (Orange), and Heart and Trust (Gray). The teams then choose their grand prize trips: Belize (Yellow), Africa (Blue), Australia (Red), the Amazon (Green), Costa Rica (Purple), Bali and Komodo (Orange), and the Galapagos Islands (Gray), and the game begins...
Tilt The 7 teams compete in their first Endurance mission: one member of each team is harnessed to a pole on a platform and must hold on to their partners. The winning team is the team that manages to hold on the longest. In the end, the Blue Team comes out on top, receiving the Knowledge and Discipline Pyramid Pieces, and control over the Samadhi, which will allow them to handicap another team, which will leave them at a heavy disadvantage in the first Temple Mission. The Red, Yellow, and Gray Teams form an alliance to go against The Brotherhood, an alliance consisting of the Blue, Orange, Green, and Purple Teams. However, at The Rock, the season's official meeting place, the Blue Team betrays their own alliance by giving the Samadhi to the Orange Team. They crack the Samadhi open, revealing a rope with 3 knots in it...
Knotted Up In the first ever Temple Mission, the teams have to untie a huge knot in their team-colored rope, and the first team to do so wins. Because they got the Samadhi, the Orange Team has 3 additional knots to untie. In the end, the Blue Team scores a second consecutive victory. In order to get rid of the Green Team (because Trevor has begun to annoy everybody), the Blue Team sends the Gray Team up along with them, hoping that the Green Team will be sent home. Shockingly, the plan backfires and the Gray Team is the first to be eliminated.
Plant the Flag The six remaining teams are shocked when the Blue Team receives a note from the Gray Team, accusing them of betrayal. Once this is cleared up, the teams compete in their next challenge: the players on both teams are connected by a pulley system; while one member plants one of five flags onto their team triangle, the other member retrieves the next one. The winning team receives the Gray Team's Heart and Trust pieces, the Samadhi, and the option to trade their trip for the Gray Team's. The Yellow Team wins, but they decide to keep their trip to Belize. Lana learns that Trevor has told the others about what happens at the Temple of Fate, so she tries to cover up the secrets. After taking a surprise survey at The Rock, the Yellow Team gives the Samadhi to the Purple Team, which contains a note that forbids them from competing in the next Temple Mission.
Squeeze Play With the Purple Team banned from the Temple Mission, the five other teams are left to compete. Based on the survey taken the previous night, they have to show their answers via colored rocks. Every time a player gets a question right, they move up farther into a pyramid. As they play, teams will be squeezed out, and the winner is whoever can get all of the questions right and reach the top. In the end, the Red Team scores a victory and they choose to send the weakened Purple Team, along with the Orange Team, to the Temple of Fate. After Layla and Chelsea spend some time together, both teams went up to the Temple, where the Purple Team becomes the second team to be eliminated.
The First Six Days A recap special of the first six episodes, with deleted scenes, and a preview of the remaining seven episodes shown at the end.
Waterlogged The teams compete in their third Endurance mission, where one member of each team holds onto a rope attached to a huge bucket, while the other players put water in them, in hopes of making the bucket heavy for one team and forcing them off the platforms that they are standing on, which will make them lose. The winner receives the Purple Team's Strength piece, the Samadhi, and the option to trade their trip for a chance to go to Costa Rica. Despite Lana's best efforts, the Yellow Team scores their second victory, but they once again decide to keep their trip to Belize. The alliance between the Red, Yellow, and Blue Teams (formed after the Gray Team was eliminated) began to falter as Ashley targets the Blue Team for their pieces and Sabrina considers giving the Samadhi to the Red Team. Ultimately, the Orange Team gets the Samadhi for a second time, and the handicap is that 1 foot of their rope will be cut in the next Temple Mission.
Eruption The teams have to hold onto ropes attached to some water balloons, and the winner is whoever can hold on the longest without letting go, which will release the balloons. Because they got the Samadhi, exactly 1 foot of the Orange Team's rope is cut. In the end, the Blue Team wins yet another mission, but due to some manipulation from Sabrina, the Blue Team spares the Yellow Team and sends the Green and Orange Teams to the Temple of Fate, each for a second time. At the Temple, despite depending on their Luck piece, the Orange Team becomes the third team to leave the island.
House of Cards In honor of those who built the Great Wall of China, the teams build their own walls, with chocolate acting as cement. The catch? The boys on all teams are buried in sand and have to hold their walls up, while the girls have to build them. In the end, the Green Team wins and receives the Orange Team's Luck piece, but they decide to keep their trip to the Amazon, instead of trading it for Komodo. Meanwhile, Ashley learns that Sabrina is turning against her, but they eventually learn that friendship is more important, and thus, they stick together. At The Rock, the Blue Team is given the Samadhi, which will give them a 15-second disadvantage in the next Temple Mission.
Dial In The final 4 teams must crack a decrypted question (which team left Endurance first) and then give the right answer (Gray Team). Despite being forced to wait 15 seconds before starting due to the Samadhi handicap, the Blue Team still manages to score another victory. Later, they shock everyone when they decide to send the Yellow Team (because Aaron has found out Sabrina lied about having a crush on him), along with the Green Team, to the Temple of Fate, and Sabrina vows revenge if she returns. At the Temple, despite having the Orange Team's Luck Piece, the Green Team becomes the fourth team to leave the island.
Build a Pyramid As the title suggests, the final three teams must use different shaped pieces to build a pyramid, and the winner receives the Samadhi, the Luck and Commitment pieces left behind by the Green Team, and the option to trade their trip for the Amazon. The powerful Blue Team wins for a sixth time, and decides to trade their trip to Africa for the Amazon. At The Rock, they give the Samadhi to the Yellow Team, but when given the decision to remove it, they pull it completely out of the game, creating a level playing field for the final Temple Mission.
Leap of Fate The final 3 play in their last Temple Mission, where they must jump over their team-colored bars as they swing down at them. Whichever team can jump the longest will guarantee themselves a spot in the final two, while the other teams are automatically sent to the Temple of Fate. The Blue Team manages to score their last victory before the final challenge, and the Red Team becomes the last team to leave the island.
Don't Drop the Ball Before heading to the Temple of Fate, the Yellow and Blue Teams compete for the Red Team's Leadership piece and their trip to Australia. They must hold up a huge ball and whoever drops it or lets the ball touch their heads loses. The Yellow Team wins, but turn down the chance to visit Australia. Going into the final competition, both teams are tied with five pieces (Blue has their Courage piece, the Knowledge piece, the Discipline piece, Green's Commitment piece and Orange's Luck piece; Yellow has their Perseverance piece, Gray's Trust piece, Gray's Heart piece, Purple's Strength piece and Red's Leadership piece). At the Temple of Fate, both teams compete in the final challenge, where the Blue Team wins it all and becomes the first ever Endurance champions.
Reunion The 7 teams of Endurance reunite to relive some of their best and worst moments. During the special, the teams and the audience vote on which guy and girl they want to see return for season 2. The players vote for Max and Jenna (the Gray Team), but J.D. decides to wait until season 2 to reveal the final, official results. The special ends with a preview of the new season.
Best of Endurance: California Another recap episode; this time, J.D. reviews the entire season.
Season 2: Desert (2003–04) The following episodes are the episode list for Endurance. Episode twenty-three and thirty are specials. The twenty-third episode recaps the events of the first six days. The thirtieth episode recaps the most dramatic moments of Endurance Season Two.
Episode description
Drop-Out