"The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons" is the new season of the long-running competition series on MTV. With "Road Rules" long gone, it's all "The Real World" alumnus -- save for one group from "Fresh Meat" and "Spring Break" challenges -- and this season pits cast-members from various seasons against one another in groups of four.
Things were especially awkward for the team from "The Real World: Austin," Danny Jamieson and Melinda Stolp. They met on the show, got married and then got divorced. And now they're back, having to work together toward the $250,000 cash prize. Another showmance that got real, and then fizzled, created tension for "The Real World: Back to New Orleans" cast, with Ryan Knight and Jemmye Carroll.
It's going to be even tougher for Danny and Melinda going forward, as the other half of their team -- Lacey Buehler and Wes Bergmann -- found themselves the first two people eliminated from "The Challenge." Now these exes will have to come together to represent "Austin" on their own against four-man teams from other seasons.
While The AV Club says there are genuine moments of great competition -- applauding the difficulty of the tasks on this show -- they don't like that it's bogged down by a lot of drama that may be impenetrable to viewers who didn't tune in to every episode of every prior season someone was on. "It’s just a shame it has to be swaddled in so much reality drama from people most of whom have gotten much, much too old for this," their reviewer wrote.
Keep up with the action -- and drama -- as "The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons" continues on Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on MTV.
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