ramble June 30, 2014 Share June 30, 2014 (edited) Mountain man Luke and homeschooling mom and triathlete Lindsey are dropped into the dry and thorny landscape of Africa’s Namibia. A lack of food, fire and the difficulty of navigating the thorny landscape threaten to keep the intrepid team from completing their 21-day survival challenge. A slightly bland premiere. I think they got along well & were laid back enough that there was just no drama. However the landscape didn't seem to provide much either so it was a quiet episode. I did think TPTB seemed to enjoy showing the rotting animal corpse a little too much. The maggot orgy was disgusting. I was glad to see them attempt to make shoes. The size of the thorns was horrifying. Overall a pleasant if slightly vanilla episode. Edited June 30, 2014 by ramble Link to comment
StatMom June 30, 2014 Share June 30, 2014 I missed the beginning, but it seemed like a lot of time was spent just sitting around. They are starving, so they were just laying there. I don't know if it's hypocritical of me or what, but I don't mind it when they kill and eat stuff like snakes, but the bird nest... that got to me. 1 Link to comment
ramble June 30, 2014 Author Share June 30, 2014 The bird nest bothered me more than the snakes also. Because I have a snake phobia so dead snakes are my favorite kind & because the (purported) mama bird flying around made my mama heart hurt a little. I don't blame them though. They'd been eating berries & grubs up to that point. I bet those birds were delicious no matter what they truly tasted like. 1 Link to comment
ElleryAnne June 30, 2014 Share June 30, 2014 Same boat. Thinking about that mama bird made me feel a bit ill, but I don't usually mind it when they kill snakes. Well, maybe a little bit. There's always a part of me that wants to scold them for killing anything when they just chose to be there for a show. Then I remember I eat eggs myself, and that they were probably hungry because there's a cameraman eating a Snickers bar in front of them or something, and I'm back to not minding the snake-killing. But I still felt sick about the birds nest stuff. Is this the first time they've had to build a fire to signal a truck for rescue? Link to comment
lottiedottie July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 The difference between killing an animal to eat it and eating eggs is that eggs are simply unfertilized. No reason to feel sad about eating them. Watching them kill those baby birds made me sad, which is stupid because I eat meat. I guess I just can't handle it when it's not in plastic wrap on a styrofoam tray. I would never last as a hunter-gatherer. Last night my husband and I were flipping channels and managed to watch not one, but two episodes of this show (never saw it before). We caught this episode and the Bolivia one with the witch and the know-it-all. This show seems to have a whole lot of boring--the fact that they can skip several days in the editing and are left with the boring stuff that they actually show makes me wonder how much more insanely boring the stuff is that didn't make the cut. It doesn't seem like anyone is willing to go to great lengths to actually survive their circumstances--they just kind of eat what little food they can to get them through till the end. And I really don't get what is to be gained by the participants being naked. I feel sorry for the ladies...who wants to have a view of a man's dangling junk? That's not attractive on anyone. 1 Link to comment
ari333 July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 lottiedottie And I really don't get what is to be gained by the participants being naked. I feel sorry for the ladies...who wants to have a view of a man's dangling junk? That's not attractive on anyone. I think it's the titillation factor maybe (?) I love dangling junk. :) But I see your point. I'd like it if it were my husband's. A stranger's junk maybe not so much. (I guess it depends....) I wish they could have a couple of staple items in addition to the one they get to choose to take with them. I mean a fishing pole, a net, a bow and a couple of arrows or IDK what, but it would give them something to do and we'd have something to watch other than the starving lethargy saga. 3 Link to comment
lottiedottie July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 I wish they could have a couple of staple items in addition to the one they get to choose to take with them. I mean a fishing pole, a net, a bow and a couple of arrows or IDK what, but it would give them something to do and we'd have something to watch other than the starving lethargy saga. I agree! I think if they had a few basic tools it would make for more interesting viewing. These people are just sitting around eating a bug every now and then (or a parrot head). 2 Link to comment
rainsmom July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 I loved that they had a large animal that they could skin and work with, at least a little. Scary that it died from rabies, though. *shudder* Nasty, nasty disease. Easy to forget that it's still common in a lot of countries. The birds made me sad too, but I also understand that that's how nature works. If I were 17 days without food, I'd be willing to rob the nest too. I'm surprised there's not more hunting and trapping done on this show. I think they're naked and have only a couple of items because that makes them more vulnerable. They're at more risk. I would enjoy a show where they had a few more (rustic) items and had to carve out a little home for themselves, but I think it would be a different show. 1 Link to comment
nottopbravo July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 Is this the first time they've had to build a fire to signal a truck for rescue? Did I miss something? I thought they were picked up by a chopper on a road. What was with throwing the whole bird (feathers and all) into the fire? Ever smell burning feathers? Link to comment
ElleryAnne July 1, 2014 Share July 1, 2014 I thought they were picked up by a chopper on a road. It was a chopper? I guess I should watch the show on a larger screen! :) Link to comment
StatMom July 12, 2014 Share July 12, 2014 And I really don't get what is to be gained by the participants being naked. I feel sorry for the ladies...who wants to have a view of a man's dangling junk? That's not attractive on anyone. Agreed! Of course the "why" is not really survival-related, but just some excuse to put naked people on TV. But couldn't they give them some skimpy outfits and call it a day? I mean, that's got to be easier than going through later and blurring everything out. 1 Link to comment
PityFree July 14, 2014 Share July 14, 2014 (edited) Agreed! Of course the "why" is not really survival-related, but just some excuse to put naked people on TV. But couldn't they give them some skimpy outfits and call it a day? I mean, that's got to be easier than going through later and blurring everything out. I think it is just an extra thing to make sure they have as few resources as possible. I know that skimpy outfits would be a very minor resource, but I could see them ripping a man-thong into strings to use as cord or using it to make a slingshot so they could hunt. Or using someone's soiled loin cloth for kindling. IDK. I am just brainstorming here. Now, granted, I have asked myself many times why they didn't use the bags they give the participants as a fishing net, too. If they have a rule against using the bags for anything, they could easily make a rule about, for example, not using a tube top to filter water. They could still have a catchy title: "Half-Naked and All Afraid!" OK I just realized that if I were producing this show, they would not even get the bags. Adam and Eve didn't have messenger bags. I would make them carry their firestarters and machetes in their mouths and each half of the map would have been henna tattooed onto the back of the participants. That would make it even more important to work together and for neither to drop out. (If there are any producers out there who want to make *my* version of the show, call me!) As for the Erection Problem , can't they put something in between their bodies? Like a piece of bark? A flat rock? Or can't the girl be the big spoon?? That would be better than freezing to death. Edited July 14, 2014 by PityFree 1 Link to comment
henripootel July 29, 2014 Share July 29, 2014 Scary that it died from rabies, though. I kinda wondered about that. I've seen two rabid kudu (in Namibia, no less) and they looked pretty ratty. Rabies is bad for them too, and by the end they look far worse than the one they found in this episode. My first thought was that they found a rabid kudu (easy to spot - they kinda just stagger around) in the filming area and shot it. This would explain why the thing looked fairly healthy-ish and wasn't swimming in maggots when they got there (as it soon was). You can also eat animals that've died from rabies - folks in Namibia do so, but they take care with the butchering and they cook the shit out of it. Not sure I'd have risked it, which is too bad as kudu is yum-my. Link to comment
Talented Tenth August 25, 2014 Share August 25, 2014 And I really don't get what is to be gained by the participants being naked. I feel sorry for the ladies...who wants to have a view of a man's dangling junk? That's not attractive on anyone. I beg to differ... Link to comment
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