I have tried SO hard to get into this show but the shilling by Bear for all things Walmart just makes my eyes roll back and I have a hard time focusing afterward. The delineation between product placement and “show” has become very blurred, to the point it just feels like one long advertisement.
The winners each week also have to open a box and squee over their reward of deodorant or shampoo or something and hold it up to the camera while they rhapsodize over it being their very favorite brand! Barf-inducing, that.
Someone bought me a Wal-Mart tent as a wedding gift. It is a miserable excuse for a tent, and overpriced at $40. If you want to have a good time out doors, Wal-Mart is not the place to start your trek.
Okay, that was a really random elimination. The Food team utterly failed, but they won the immunity so okay. (And apparently they have won 3 out of 6 challenges, so that’s pretty amazing.)
But the shelter team ALSO utterly failed. A pile of branches? And not branches w/leaves that might block wind, but an open tangle of woody branches? I think that could only count as “shelter” if you made an entire ring AND there were lions in the area.
But does he boot them? Oh, no, instead he boots a team because one member of it dared to point out that another team had a member who has a bad knee, and is as a result, somewhat grumpy?
I had no idea this show was even on until I started reading this thread. I’m a survival show junkie, so of course I headed straight to On Demand to get caught up
There’s a lot I like about this show. I like the fact that it isn’t a competition per se and that whatever drama there is will naturally emerge. I like that Bear isn’t as “out there” as he was when he had his Discovery show. I like that he actually overlooks what’s happening in person and that he seems to genuinely care about everyone’s safety and such.
Attitude is everything when it comes to survival; ergo, I can see why he eliminated the team he did even though other teams (I’m looking at you, Shelter Team) performed abysmally.
I was briefly back on board with this show, but the last episode killed it.
What.The.Simple.Fuck? They need fire for food and warmth, and they’re fucking around with a bow drill for hours when they have fucking firesteels with them? They should have eliminated everyone for that bullshit.
IIRC Bear kept saying while watching them that they, as a group, have no concept of the term “sense or urgency”. They’re treating it as though it’s one long extended camping trip :rolleyes:
The fire steels were the emergency backup - to use them sooner would be to essentially be declaring your own elimination. Starting a fire that way can be tough - yeah, they failed at the task, but it was the hardest of the tasks. The shelter in this instance was comparatively much easier and the shelter team botched it worse.
I didn’t really think Royce and whoever did anything to justify elimination at least compared to the failed shelter team. I wonder if the coed nature of the team played a role - they didn’t want to just end up with double male teams at the end.
Bear broke his spine in a parachuting accident and had a tough recovery. So he’s probably pretty fond of the guy with the shattered knee. So yeah he probably took the criticism personally. Which is kind of a petty way to go about this. Then again it appears he really watches the contestants in the field so he may have seen things we haven’t.
Hi, new to this forum but I have been hooked on the show so glad I found you. I would just like to add that if bear has a softspot in his heart for jeff or anybody who has struggled through such an extradinary experience, then that should have been on the table from the beginning. The criteria are fire, shelter, food, obstacle and the survivor challenge. Once you move away from those objective criteria then you move into the subjective realm. Not that there is anything wrongwith that necessarily, as long as the contestants knew. Afterall it is bears show. But the blue team, royce and kyle had established an extrordinary track record. At the risk of being off the charts cynical, my take is that not only is bear an exceptional adventurer and survivalist, he is also a great modern day p.t. barnum. That decision certainly sparked a lot of discussion. And he still has two more shows to air. What better way to spark interest than with controversy? Kyle and royce were making too straight a bee-line for the win.
Well, Kyle and Royce seemed pretty useless to me. Correct me if I’m wrong, but while on the food team the previous week didn’t they basically just stand around and watch that one guy catch all the fish? (That one guy being the same guy who totally failed the shelter this week.)
I’ve never seen Kyle and Royce do anything on their own, nor have I ever seen them take any initiative other than “Hey come do my job.” Which, IMO, is the only kind of initiative that doesn’t impress. (Bear specifically called them out for this before sending them packing.)
There could be a few scenes I’m forgetting, but after the father/son team, Kyle & Royce seemed like the weakest overall link to me.
EDIT: I did find it a bit tasteless that Kyle & Royce got the sweetheart edit all season and then all of a sudden they get the “catty bitch” edit the episode Bears tosses them.
Yet another reality show team lights the world on fire all the way to the ALCS and then falls off a cliff (all you Mariners fans know what I’m talking about :D). Didn’t see that coming (I was certain it’d be Madeline and Ryan), but looking back on it, I can’t really argue with it. Royce, who could’ve quietly suggested M&R or concurred with Lucky, instead took a swipe at Jeff, which of course merely exposed his own inadequacy. Grylls only did what he had to.
I actually saw a bit of the Gordon Ramsey mentality in the decision, where not having ability less bad than having ability and not using it. If you’re strong, you’re not supposed to preen and strut and flex your muscles, you’re supposed to put your strength to good use. And especially after Grylls absolutely hammered the point that you never leave a man behind, and even more with someone who actually demonstrated that sacrifice by carrying Wilson’s pack.
Talk is cheap. This is crunch time. You coast, you roast. You want to be a champion, you gotta play like a champion. Every day, every game, until there aren’t no more games.
Updated power rankings:
Chris & Jeff - Credit where it’s due: I’d completely forgotten about Jeff’s injury before this last leg. He refused to let it become an excuse or even prevent him from doing the work of two men. THAT’S why Grylls’ never seriously considered booting them; he knows they’re the real deal. I still think they need to win one more challenge to have a good shot at winning, but this duo looks very strong and it’s hard to bet against them now.
Jim & Austin - It was a bit baffling that they failed at a task they already succeeded at once, and under much worse conditions, but at least they gave it their all, and don’t ever underestimate the physical and psychological advantage of three trips to the feast pit. I don’t think they win this unless they run the table, but the funny thing is, that actually looks like a possibility now. Slowly creeping to the front just when it matters most.
Lucky & Louie - Great heart, tremendous fighters, fantastic attitudes, but we’ve reached the point were we have to be brutally honest and say that they’re almost certainly not going to win this. They’re the only team remaining that never won a challenge, and they were pretty damn fortunate Kyle & Royce took pity on them (I would’ve gone with Robin & Wilson for obvious reasons). Runner-up would be a great finish for them.
Madeline & Ryan - Big fail on the shelter (I still can’t believe they never thought to use the grass as insulation after Grylls freakin’ explicitly told them), and that slingshot challenge triumph has to seem a lifetime ago by now. They just look completely lost now. I’m honestly starting to think that they simply never expected to last this long.
kiz - This is the first season. There are contestants who don’t understand the contest, don’t have the physical tools, or are just plain tired and hungry. In the future we’ll probably have stronger, savvier teams, but even then you don’t know how you’ll do until you’re doing it in real time. Hey, that was a pretty hairy descent. I’m not about to criticize.
I appreciate the last post but really where does the line between cooperation and competition lie. They are playing for half a mil. And royce was asked who should go. And he accurately identified the “chink in the armor”. There has to be more to this than what was shown. Bear got a bee up his bonnet over something viewers dont know about. It was an irrational decision based on what was shown on tv. Grylls needs to provide an explanation that makes logical sense.
Ok, I may have not immediately guessed that you should remove the tablet from the packaging, but I think I would have figured it out (assuming no directions on the packaging). And I definitely thought of snow as insulation.
And if. “doggedness” was considered a superior quality, that should have been put on the table. My prediction for next season “Get out alive, but only if youve been in intensive care, with bear grylls”
Royce pointed out that Jeff is “detrimentally strong headed” meaning his slowness and anxiety about his knees is a weight the whole team has to carry. If Grylls is soft-hearted about that, so be it. All I am putting forward is the idea that it should have been made known to the contestants before hand. And that you cannot expect 100 % cooperation with half a mil on the line. I appreciate that Grylls is the decision-maker but he went too far over the line into subjective territory by eliminating kyle and royce. Jeff slows down everybody.
Emotional, psychological, anxiety-ridden baggage is just as heavy and sometimes even moreso than a 45 pound pack. As in: what if his knee goes out? Can we carry him? And while Jeff has pushed through, one can never underestimate the sense of impending disaster. It weighs on every member of the team.
In fact, on one level I cant make a distinction, between Esmereldas “1000 yard stare”, Alicias “heart on her sleeve”, Donnas “I’m just no good”, and Jeff’s “my knee just so popped out on me right now” Continually draining the energy of the whole group.
