I have seen a lot of people note that it is Team USA’s fault for keeping too big of a team when there are obvious benefits to keeping a small, more efficient unit. I get that, but the fact is, MTV is penalizing one team for getting more of their players to the final.

By adding 20 total pounds per player, it forces Team USA to carry an additional 40 lbs than Team UK. It doesn’t sound like too much, but this is a 16 Mile Trek, where that’s 40 extra lbs per mile, and adds up to 640 additional lbs in the aggregate. Also, these are not extra pounds that you add to the rowing machine at the gym; these are pounds where the weight gets put on your shoulder, and you trudge through in sustained fashion in steep terrain — not only that but the difference in teammate height matters. Having the gurney on 6'1 Leroy’s shoulder and then the same pole on 5'1 Ninja is incredibly challenging to accomplish. Team UK with Tori, Jordan, and Rogan all near the same size have the benefit of height alignment, with CT and Dee as outliers on both ends of short/tall.

How would I have fixed this problem?

Option 1: Have both teams carry the same amount of weight, but you make a rule that players cannot take more than one lap off in a row, so that forces all Team US players to take at least two laps with the gurney.

Option 2: Give each player a weighted backpack proportionate to their weight. They did this on Fresh Meat 2 correctly, and then a bit improperly on Bloodlines. It takes away the team aspect, but the checkpoints are mostly individual anyway.

9 Kam is solid, and Ninja is not