by Gina Scarpa

Following last night's finale of The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, I have to say that it wasn't as grueling as seasons past - but I'm okay with it. After all, who wants to compete in something when there's an excellent chance you're going to end up in an ambulance? It was difficult and challenging, but not impossible, which made a very good race to the finish line!

The teams have jumped out of the plane and take off running into the desert but it's not long before Sam resorts to walking, while Devyn complains she can't feel her feet. For them, it's going to be a LONG race. At the first checkpoint, teams have to complete a sudoku type puzzle with rocks in order to move on. Frank brags that he's the smartest person there, then quickly follows that and says he can't do puzzles under pressure. Well, that's not helpful, is it? Dustin and Trishelle yell at each other almost the entire time, while Brooklyn makes up some time and finishes first.

After another helicopter ride, the next checkpoint has teams throwing a ring, attached to a rope, and landing it on a pretty small hook. Every time they miss, they have to take a shot of warm milk that's been sitting out in the sun. How nobody puked is beyond me. Brooklyn finishes first again, with San Diego close behind, and Vegas bringing up the rear. When Sam starts walking again on the way to the third checkpoint, Frank and Zach start screaming at her, picking her up, and basically dragging her there. I know there's money on the line, but it's a bit much.

The third checkpoint asks teams to build a device to move eight tires (or four if you're Vegas) to the next area. Even though San Diego arrives first, Brooklyn builds their device and takes off first, but they did a pretty shoddy job. Zach and Frank man up and carry those things all the way to the next helicopter ride, where a large dune climb awaits them. When San Diego reaches the top, they find out they're reached their campsite for the night and get a ten minute head start the next day.

That sounds like great news, except there's an overnight challenge too. Three members (or one if you're Vegas) have to stay up all night, stand in a little box in the sand, and hold on to reigns for a camel. Most people get about two hours of sleep, except Sam, who gets in about four so the guys are fully expecting her to pick it up the next day. With temps dropping into the 30s, Sarah can't help but cry, and Devyn steps out of the box accidentally during a game of tic tac toe, and earns her team a one minute penalty.

On day two, TJ shows up on a quad and sends teams off towards the finish line. After climbing another huge dune, the next checkpoint is a giant word search. And I mean giant! Teams must decode letters in the words found to get numerical values and open a lock. Even though Brooklyn catches up after a sixteen minute deficit, they are the last to leave - on a puzzle no less! Going into the last checkpoint, San Diego is in the first, then Vegas, and then Brooklyn.

The final checkpoint asks teams to fill sieves with sand and fill a sandbox but since it's a sieve, it leaks the sand as you're walking it over to the sandbox. It's not only frustrating, it's exhausting. When San Diego finishes that, they're off on their final climb and when Sam slows down, Frank shoves her hard into the sand. It's amazing that you can't punch someone, but you can throw someone to the ground at full force. This isn't Sam's first shove either - remember that Marie knocked her down to the ground a few episodes back as well.

Despite their complete dysfunction most of the season, San Diego makes it to the top first, winning $250,000. Trishelle and Dustin were able to work well together and finish in second, winning $50,000 and Brooklyn ends up in third, but still takes home $40,000. Well, I was hoping for a Brooklyn win but there's no denying that in many ways, San Diego was just a stronger team.

(Image courtesy of MTV)

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