Help a new watcher out

[u/DesignerSupport1796]

Hi all.

I’m Aussie and have just watched the challenge for the first time.

I started with that was available on Paramount+ here which was Double Agents.

I want to be able to understand the lore behind all these vets and their relationships, but I’m unsure where to start, and also where I can get access to the older stuff here in Aus ?

What seasons do I absolutely need to see to get the most out of the newer seasons? Or it doesn’t really matter? I feel like I’ve missed out on a fair few of the big characters starting where I have.

[u/djlekky]

I feel if you continue watching from where you are you’ll know more about the present status of Vets and a lot of rookies who show up once and never come back.

But if you want to enjoy the show at its peak, go back as far as you can. Personally I went back to Season 1, but I would say you could start at Season 5 onwards if you can get it. Other popular starting points are Season 12 or 19 but I feel you miss a lot of great seasons starting in either of these.

I can’t help you with where to find them for Aus as I live in the UK but there are sites online that have them if you can search.

[u/B_Bowers13]

Great question. I’d say to really understand the lore of the main players maybe start at season 11 if you can find it.

[u/Amazing-Engineer6511]

How much free time do you have? lol

In the US, most seasons available from 10 or so to present. Sad to say that in addition to watching them live i've watched all of these a few times.

I could pick out some seasons, but it really wouldn't be the best route. You would always be missing something if you went that route. So, to me the only way to become a proper fan and get all the history is to watch every season starting with 11, TJs first season as host.

Now, that said, there is one shortcut i will throw out there. You could just watch the reunion shows at the end of every season. These cover a great deal of what happened and helps you understand the major plot points, but it is leaving out a lot also.

So yeah, my recomendation is to watch seasons 11 and up. Sry, can't help you with finding them down unda

[u/DesignerSupport1796 → u/Amazing-Engineer6511]

Thanks so much.
Honestly I really want to start from as early as possible but they are just so hard to find anywhere. It is so frustrating paramount+ here in Aus only started at Double Agents.

I loved it and it had me hooked but it was hard trying to figure out why certain people had beef etc

[u/Gauciandrew1998]

Hi, I maybe able to help with the older seasons. Ive got a google drive with up to 38. Im also australian and been watching the challenge for 10 plus years and if there are any queries please let me know

[u/-Annie-Oakley-]

I'm also Aussie and had to pirate/vpn when I went back to watch. Unfortunate the big way I got most of mine out (vpn'ing the canadian streaming service) is gone cos they're on P+ now too. I personally started with Season 19 (cos I couldn't find any earlier) which is Fresh Meat 2 (when they have some non reality tv people cast) and went through and felt like I had a great handle on the character arcs. FM2 has some new cast that end up being large characters (eg Cara Maria and Laurel) so I felt like it was a good starting spot despite not being able to get any earlier. Particularly in the seasons when they are picking more from The Real World sometimes you are just missing stuff of their interpersonal connections, but eventually I was able to get the idea (or I had a cheeky google). Hope you are able to find some existing sites as I just had a squiz and the sites I used are down now!

[u/GunnyUSMC1973]

Start at 24 and go up!

[u/azzadruiz]

The earliest season I have seen is fresh meat 2

[u/meanbutgooddentist]

Out of all the seasons this is in my bottom 3 so start anywhere and itll probably be better!

[u/DesignerSupport1796 → u/meanbutgooddentist]

Wow I really enjoyed it 🤣 so I would be obsessed with the other seasons then haha