When Darrell, Devin, and Amanda were eliminated in one fell swoop during the Purge, the Redemption House made sense. Having everyone think they got rid of 6 players at once, then giving the players an actual chance to make it back into the game. It was a fun twist that showed anything can happen in the game. By setting The Purge up as three rounds, if you lost then you’ve lost fairly because you had three stages. Although there some bad luck based on teams in round two, and the Purge tested only physical aspects of the game.

The Redemption itself was a bit lackluster — it was very chance-y. The right female won out of the group, and Tony winning is good for the show. By beating a legend like Darrell, it gives the younger players a bit more validity in the game. Tony got lucky, and he isn’t better than Darrell, but it was awesome seeing an upset like that. We always need more Darrell — he was just a casualty of the format.

The Redemptions make sense due to the way the double-cross has been implemented into the game. The double-cross has rewarded bad physical players (Jemmye, Nicole, Aneesa, and Veronica), and has allowed them to throw good players into elimination (Jenna, Kailah, Tori). It sucks when a player loses due to a system that rewards other bad players.

However, the amount of focus put into Redemption has been insane. MTV has an online site, a streaming app, and people who would watch this content if they made it digital-only content. It would also make people actually use the MTV app, and maybe they will watch other shows on the site. By the way, if you miss it like I do, Daria is on the MTV app, if you miss Daria.

Marie, Amanda, and Devin have all been featured in the Redemption House as stand alone personalities. Marie has been at her best in that house. That fans are getting annoyed with the episodes doesn’t help. I love almost any episode of the Challenge — however, people are wearing thin with the pace. They might be trying to stretch it for 18 episodes and show every storyline, but it just feels like too much. The Challenge used to have a lot of half-hour episodes which were shown as re-runs all the time. Making these shows one hour events with no dedicated format, will continue to anger fans, who’ll quit the show or won’t watch live. Why devote time to a show that changes airing time midseason after successful ratings?

Redemption blows, and here are some ideas to fix it.

Idea #1: Like Exile in Exes 2, have weekly Redemptions for people to stay in the game. I think Redemption players should play the same elimination occurring that week for the real game. In this scenario, Darrell, Shane, and Devin would’ve played the Cory vs Derrick elimination. The winners would play the Ammo vs Tony elimination, then the Jordan vs Ammo elimination etc. This happens until the game reaches its midpoint, or until the end when they earn a spot in the final. Imagine if Darrell won like 10 Redemptions to make the final? It’s weirdly plausible.

Idea #2: Let them run a final or become teams (either one big unit or separate groups). When Devin noted Redemption players becoming a team, it was a twist that I could get behind. It was a fun theory, especially if they trimmed some fat and only 6 to 10 eliminated players got to run the final against a team of normal finalists. This would be a great twist for anyone keeping a lay-up in the game.

Idea #3: They should’ve just done a Duel 3. We all want another Duel. Several former players have said they ‘d come back for a Duel: Tyler, Laurel, Brad, Wes, Emily, etc. Give us what we want.