Cobb Salad

Having watched most of (maybe all?) of the episodes, especially the ones in Africa whenever one of the survivalists is sitting alone at night in their shelter worried about the wildlife noises nearby I’ve wondered about the mindset of these people when they say “I want to continue” especially after their partner taps. Sitting in the comfort of my home watching this I know they’ll be okay because Discovery isn’t going to broadcast an episode of a show that resulted in someone’s death. As for last Sunday’s episode, I don’t recall any other time where a professional athlete was on the show. I guess he really didn’t think the whole thing through before signing up. At the start he mentioned how he enjoyed being naked so that might have been what interested him in doing the challenge, lol. The woman (don’t remember her name) likely had a thorough understanding of what she was getting into and would experience since her wife did the 21 days a while back.

In the end they said she lost 40 lbs. She didn’t look like she weighed that much to start with. She’s made of tough stuff. From her remarks at the end it sounded like she is happy having done the challenge although she had a very tough time doing it. Too bad she got some bad fruit, at least it didn’t force her out of the challenge. The last 2 challenges were in Columbia, I really didn’t keep track of the exact locations but the differences in location between the 2 were like night and day. Maybe the weather was very different from the days they were filmed since the prior week they were able to start a fire on the first try and last night it took them until the next day although I wonder how hard either of them looked for something dry to light up.

I rolled my eyes at the self proclaimed armchair “survivalist” and her statements about knowledge regarding the show and her abilities. I’ve watched plenty of Naked and Afraid and wouldn’t last a day out there but I don’t have the same level of interest in the show that this woman does. I thought the only place a boma is ever built on this show is Africa. I don’t think that one is necessary where they were in Columbia. Yeah, with the rabid interest this woman has I think she would have known that. Or maybe it was just me 🤷‍♀️. In her intro that comment she made about Dan was just weird. I did not notice the building at the end but I was only half watching. There was a brief comment about how long they’d need to walk IIRC. I thought I heard 4 miles. They did show how much weight each person lost at the end (I don’t remember what it was … maybe 15 lbs.?). It didn’t seem like they faced much in the way of challenges like others have faced so I was wondering how “real” this was as well. Honestly at the start I was expecting that podcaster to quit about 2 or 3 days in then complain how hard it is, like other quitters have said in the past.

Unfortunately for the crew this shuttle mission didn’t include a trip to the ISS. IIRC they didn’t have the ability (i.e. the needed parts or whatever) to dock the shuttle to the ISS so this as a last minute solution wasn’t possible. Will try to watch to see how they cover this part of the mission.

I agree. It was nice to see people we haven’t seen too much of either, plus they all got along well! During the segment where they are all eating the armadillo I think I heard Ky say “it doesn’t taste like chicken” which I found funny, since whenever people eat something strange the comparison always seems to be that it tastes like chicken, 😆 I also do not blame Elise (I think that was her name?) for being hesitant with eating the armadillo meat, I don’t think that’s on the list of meat that lot of people would like to eat. Too bad they couldn’t catch that snake, it might have been easier to deal with eating, who knows.

According to IMDb, no. There are clips on YouTube though.

I was grossed out too @SassyCat . With the number of women who have previously appeared on the show I can’t believe they’re having one talk about that time of the month only now. I remember seeing something online a while back about what they do in these cases so I’m sure it’s happened before, they just didn’t talk about it during the show. I was paying attention most of the time although I fell asleep towards the end so I missed the extraction. A difference I’m seeing so far vs last season is they have some fairly competent people, no one has proclaimed how great they’re going to do then tap out 2 days later. At least that one guy made it halfway before tapping.

Same here. I enjoyed watching 2 competent people for 2 hours who seemed to get along well during the 21 days. At the start when Shell said “I’m not looking to make Africa my bitch” I figured she was tough enough to make it through. The only thing that bothered me was Cole letting Shell eat both catfish - thinking about it later I guess he did it knowing his own limitations while trying to help someone who he practically just met and really didn’t know that well make it to the end. Thankfully later he was able to score a big kill for the both of them.

It’s not. It’s a win for the streamer since it doesn’t have to negotiate with cable operators for access. All they need to do is make their content available for people to purchase. We the consumer lose in the end.

Not that it had anything to do with the story about Natalia I was wondering through all of this what kind of marriage they had before they adopted her. IIRC back during the episodes aired last May I think Michael accused Natalia of ruining or breaking up his marriage. At the time I had a hard time believing that. After this last series of episodes it’s obvious that it was because Kristine went nuclear on Michael.

I agree, that call at the end was a money grab. I came across another article during the week (I don’t remember where offhand) and it mentioned that go fund me from months ago and how little it raised. I cringed every time that lawyer came on screen. I get that he’s paid to defend his client Michael but why in the world did the show give him the opportunity to try to discredit Natalia? I think the legal analysis should have been limited to the disinterested lawyer Beth Karas. She seemed to have cut and dry comments about what happened here. According to her intro she’s been following this case since it hit the news so I thought she offered valuable insight. Also, where was Natalia’s lawyer?

@Hedgehog2022 I found a recent online article that mentioned Kristine lives in Florida now.

@kwnyc Early in the episodes back in May they mentioned when Natalia was born the doctors in Ukraine told her mother it was better for her to give her up because of her medical condition because she never would have been able to care for her on her own. Last night they showed her biological mother who said she wants Natalia with her. I can’t imagine how she feels if she knows the stories about what happened with Natalia over the past 20 years. Good question about the Barnett’s finances, perhaps they were living above their means? I think Michael was an assistant manager somewhere - or something like that, I don’t recall hearing that he had some high 6 figure salary. Those comments about Kristine proclaiming that advance money was hers, who knows. IMO if the little people couple they interviewed were able to adopt Natalia she probably would have had a more stable upbringing, although she still had those preexisting issues from being in the orphanage in Ukraine.

I agree, Natalia needs a professional therapist to help her deal with what she’s been through. Watching the segments where she goes back to her old neighborhood and sits on the swings and reminisces made me wonder if that was really a good thing to do. When planning this show I wonder if the producers consulted with any mental health professionals about the impact this could have on her. Yes!!! All along I’ve felt there was something “off” about the Manns but if Natalia is happy with them what do I know. Anyway, for them it’s been a 10 year thing so now it’s over … what’s next? MORE drama!

I’m skeptical about that ending - Natalia has been living with the Manns for around 10 years and now after they’ve legally adopted her there are issues and they’re done with her? I think it’s more like the cameras stopped rolling and everyone went home so they need to get them back somehow. I suspect Natalia has ongoing issues that need to be dealt with. At least this time Michael behaved well enough that we got some answers but his talking about how he was a victim, ugh. Nice way to muddy the waters. Then how Natalia forgave him, was that part of the script for the show? I really wonder if she’s forgiven him. I know in general it’s a good thing to forgive so you can move on, but here with all the abuse she suffered I just don’t know.

Tonight is the last episode. I’m sure they’ll repeat it ad naseum.

I thought the follow up with that old woman last night was a waste of time. Who cares what she thinks. She’ll never be convinced that Natalia was unfairly aged up. Through all of the Natalia’s revisiting the past and talking with people from her time with the Barnetts I hope she finds the peace she needs to move on with her life. IMO I think it’s a waste of time only because you’ll never get these people to actually tell you anything meaningful. Something that angered me was the part of the story where they mentioned the people who were responsible for her re-aging besides the judge - the family friend/physician and the social worker (or whatever her title was, she wasn’t qualified to determine Natalia’s true age). I guess they couldn’t get them on camera for an interview like they did with the dentist. I think Natalia said something about suing them in last night’s episode? Kristine may think she’s “done” with Natalia - maybe that’s why we haven’t heard anything from her but I suspect it’s not really over yet.

Not that I’m aware of. It appears the only talking she’s done is through the text messages she exchanged with Michael. What I find interesting is this series has been showing only Michael’s video testimony and not Kristine’s. They were both charged, why haven’t we seen anything related to her testimony?

I’ve been wondering about the GED place too. In last night’s episode they showed the paperwork for the GED place saying Grade 9 (or something like that) - that’s a huge jump for someone who at the time had a 1st grade education. Did they ever test her before hand? Oh wait, they probably got the snow job about the “Barnett Academy” and those “courses” she took, lol. About Michael and Kristine IMO Michael’s milking this series for all its worth apparently. I wish we didn’t have to watch any new material with him at all last night. I guess Kristine is keeping a low profile, lol. I’ll say it again, these two are very, very lucky they weren’t sent to prison for what they did to Natalia.

That meeting between Natalia and Michael was awful. All he said was how much he was a victim - ugh. He is abhorrent. I hope Natalia eventually realizes she’s not going to get much more of an answer to what happened than she’s gotten already. Michael is interested in only himself and Kristine isn’t going to offer anything because there’s no defense for all of what she’s accused of doing. That whole part of the story where Kristine wanted to turn Natalia into a genius made me wonder what the story was with her other two sons, the ones whose faces are always blurred out when they show family pictures. Why go outside the family when you’ve got 2 other children to exploit? I think by the time the re-aging took place Kristine discovered Natalia wasn’t a genius.

Oxygen also has its own series profiling neighbors who don’t get along however the 2 episodes I watched were their versions of stories I already saw on “Fear Thy Neighbor”.

People Magazine article about the upcoming series: https://people.com/natalia-grace-accused-trying-kill-adoptive-parents-speaks-in-new-docuseries-8414516

6 parts???? How much more is there? I’m sure we will see a lot of rehashing of what we saw before. I guess since the series from the Barnett’s side was 6 hours it looks like this one gives Natalia equal time. We’ll probably be spared Michael Barnett’s histrionics here.

James should have considered that since she’s not able to work and her husband left her that her finances were not that great. He probably also saw her as an easy mark as I’m sure other people around him saw him as the dead beat that he was. Something I was wondering during the part of the segment where someone was banging on his door looking for the money he owed them if that person was a loan shark. I found an article online that said he had a gambling habit so no wonder he was constantly looking for money. A couple of shows on Oxygen (Snapped, Floribama Murders) profiled this case too: https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/martinis-murder/woman-cooks-neighbors-head-stove-stabbing-ice-pick-dismembering-body

Yeah, co-signing and letting a neighbor/friend access your bank account is never a good idea. You might as well be waving bye-bye to all of your money. I’ve always figured when you loan money to someone you’ll never see it again. James didn’t deserve what he got but with the way he was treating Angela what was it going to take to end this. Then he wanted to borrow money from her father. Was he going to ruin that man’s credit as well? I guess Angela didn’t own a gun, I don’t recall how many other times on this show that the killer didn’t use a gun to murder the victim.