Overview
- The season premiered on Wednesday, Aug. 5 with two episodes that locked in three permanent teams and named the season’s captains.
- The premiere delivered the first elimination when Cedric Hodges lost the Arena match and was sent home.
- Season 42 revives the 2010 Cutthroat format: 24 competitors split into three teams compete for a $500,000 prize and the winning team’s captain has final authority over how the money is divided.
- New episodes stream weekly on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. Eastern on Paramount+ and the platform’s lack of a native free trial has sent viewers to third-party short trials and passes such as Walmart+’s 30-day trial and DIRECTV’s 5-day trial to watch for free.
- The cast mixes long-running vets and crossovers, and personal storylines such as Nelson Thomas’s return competing with a prosthetic highlight how the show’s move to streaming may change audience access and the franchise’s business model.