Tough As Nails - General Discussion

[Scarybuttercupp]

I'm thinking Jorge is getting a winner's edit. We've heard a lot about his family, and he seems to perform well in almost all the challenges. I don't recall hearing as much about the other contestants' backstories as much as Jorge's. I wouldn't place any money on it, but right now, he's my frontrunner. Of course, I imagined a contestant named Paul, so what do I know?

[SVNBob]

10 hours ago, Scarybuttercupp said:

I'm thinking Jorge is getting a winner's edit. We've heard a lot about his family, and he seems to perform well in almost all the challenges. I don't recall hearing as much about the other contestants' backstories as much as Jorge's. I wouldn't place any money on it, but right now, he's my frontrunner.

You say that, but I said the same thing about Angel in Season 2.

[Diana Berry]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:30 PM, Grizzly said:

Jorge really messed up with his picks. 

I don’t know . He picked who he would get along with the best they were just out of sync that day.  I wonder if the cut on the finger didn’t slow them down. The medic had to make  sure she didn’t need stitches so I think that would have taken a bit of time from them.  Then they were playing catch up. 

[DEL901]

I’m very disappointed with the challenge design this season.  There has been only one overtime challenge with no women (the ice challenge) which was at least partially because it was designed based on the weight of the participants which levelled the playing field.  

And the women have lost every single overtime challenge they participated in.  Now the individual competition is down to five men and one women.   Did they cast the women poorly or are the tasks always geared to the men’s strengths?

 It is kind of disheartening since the women seem to be there as tokens only.  

[Lamb18]

I thought a woman beat Sergio in overtime, but I can't remember who she was.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, Lamb18 said:

I thought a woman beat Sergio in overtime, but I can't remember who she was.

You are right…I stand corrected, but that is one of five women in overtime…not a great percentage. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Very sorry to see Laura go as I was rooting for her.

good for her for facing her fear of heights. It was nice to see everything cheering her on.

[Fretful]

On 2/9/2023 at 3:46 AM, DEL901 said:

I’m very disappointed with the challenge design this season.  There has been only one overtime challenge with no women (the ice challenge) which was at least partially because it was designed based on the weight of the participants which levelled the playing field.  

And the women have lost every single overtime challenge they participated in.  Now the individual competition is down to five men and one women.   Did they cast the women poorly or are the tasks always geared to the men’s strengths?

 It is kind of disheartening since the women seem to be there as tokens only.  

We have this concern every season.  A woman DID win the whole thing last time, but as a rule they get picked off one by one.  This season is especially bad.  It makes it hard to watch, and this is probably the end of the line for me and this show.

Note to producers: there's more than one kind of tough.

[KeithJ]

Sorry to see Ilima go.  I liked her.  Was happy to see Savage Crew win the team competition.  For some reason I just didn’t care for anyone on Dirty Hands.

I also didn’t care for either individual challenge last night.  I hate team ups in individual competitions. Why exactly did everyone want Mister on their team?

Then, OT.  Did Phil even tell them to be careful as they may lose their items in the side pipes or did I miss it?  

[bunnyface]

I don't know, I've said I would follow Phil anywhere but I've been really checked out of these last two episodes.  I'm not terribly thrilled about the final next week, although I will watch it.  Maybe record it and blast through to the end.   I hate that because I feel it could be such a good show.  And I think they said the next season is already in the can so there's no chance of them fixing the issues we've had with the show.  

[sadtvjunkie]

I wish they would stop the sad sappy crap. Just show the person at their work and what makes it "tough." Everyone needs the $$ so I don't want to hear why they do. Showcase some new jobs. Alligator wrestler, big pipe plumber, window washer on high rises, waste water worker, etc. Maybe ask Mike Rowe, I kinda thought he be better at this hosting.

[RunningMarket]

Definitely FF'd through the non-competition stuff in the last episode. Way too much filler this season.

I agree with @sadtvjunkie- showcasing different, yet "tough" jobs would be great. It's not just the traditional trades. I remember that some questioned Michelle the baggage handler when she was first on, but she proved to be skilled in certain areas and an asset to her team. (Plus, lifting those suitcases day in day out is not easy.)

[Scarybuttercupp]

Despite its faults, I enjoy this how and I'll be sticking with it. I like seeing "real" people, not wannabe actors and models with their perfect bodies and immaculate hair and makeup. The schmaltz is over the top, but I can fast forward through that to get to the actual tasks. Although I kind of wish they would do a women-only season, because the tasks are mostly physical and very few women would stand a chance against the men, despite their skills and experience.

[aemom]

That was a very badly designed task where the stuff could fall into the side pipes.

I liked Ilima as well, and now there are no women left in the individual challenges. Today was more geared for a woman, but then she had no chance to win with that problem today.

The ladder challenge last week for example, it's harder for a woman to haul up the wood and pound in those nails.  Men are just physically stronger and they are always going to have an advantage in those types of challenges.  Last season seemed better balanced. 

The schmaltz is getting too much for me too, and I just FF through it all.

[Diana Berry]

On 2/16/2023 at 7:41 AM, KeithJ said:

Sorry to see Ilima go.  I liked her.  Was happy to see Savage Crew win the team competition.  For some reason I just didn’t care for anyone on Dirty Hands.

I also didn’t care for either individual challenge last night.  I hate team ups in individual competitions. Why exactly did everyone want Mister on their team?

Then, OT.  Did Phil even tell them to be careful as they may lose their items in the side pipes or did I miss it?  

I think they said he had experience.  I think he was trying to help Lima out by picking her but he should have picked someone from the opposite team. 
 

The young guy seems to be getting the winners edit jmo.  I think it will be down to him and the tall loud guy.  Sorry their names haven’t stickers with me 

[SVNBob]

6 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

 I think he was trying to help Lima out by picking her but he should have picked someone from the opposite team. 

Only in retrospect.  But Mister was trying to do the same thing Jorge tried to do in that other pairs challenge two episodes ago: set things up so that two members of the other team would go into OT.  That's why also Jake and Larron immediately paired up after Mister picked Ilima.

Mister got the same results as Jorge did though.

[bunnyface]

Happy for the winner.  It was a good win.  

[mlp]

I was rooting for Mister but I liked Jorge too so I was happy with the ending.  I was also exhausted just listening to Phil's instructions before they started.  That last course was grueling.   I was sort of surprised they all made it through.

[Taeolas]

So next season is filming up here in Canada. I wonder how much money Hamilton paid to get production up here? It's a good choice of a city, in easy range of Niagara Falls and Toronto (and Buffalo) for other locations, and it is probably the poster child for "Industrial City" up here in Canada. It's also in easy range of a lot of car manufacturing if they want to make a deal with Ford for a challenge.

 

Considering Canada rarely gets any attention on TAR (because the American legs tend to be American and TARCAN I'm sure), I suspect Phil was happy to have a chance to explore/see some of the Great White North for a change. 

*Edit* Also, last summer, they had an advertising campaign for TAN up here in Canada, recruiting Canadian contestants. Many of us figured that would lead to maybe 2 Canadians in an upcoming season. 

 

Now that we know they filmed in Hamilton, it's more likely they're aiming to do an implicit CAN vs USA set up. The teams may not shake out on national lines but we're probably looking at an even 6-6 split between the countries. 

 

In any case, I do believe this is one of the first major US Competitive Reality shows to film a season in Canada (and not just be the Canadian spin off of a US series, like TARCAN or TopChef Canada), or a Canadian show brought to the US networks. (I think one of the dating shows may have done some episodes or maybe a season in Banff, but I'm not really aware of any other series that have fully filmed up here for a major US network)

Edited February 24, 2023 by Taeolas

[Lamb18]

I'm glad Jorge won. I've liked him from the beginning. He is such a responsible young man, plus good at his craft. Everybody on the show were responsible men and women, but i guess I was comparing Jorge to other young male reality show people.

[mertensia]

I can live with Jorge winning.

[SVNBob]

One of the things I liked about this season was the through-line about tough men showing emotion and that being an additional strength, not a weakness.

Though it was mainly centered around Sergio and his family's loss; by the end, there was also the sit-down he had with Jorge where the younger man broke down about his own familial loss, Ellery breaking down when he lost OT, the 3 finalists all getting emotional seeing their video messages just before the final competition, and Mister tearing up about his disappointment that he didn't win in his post-finals THs.  And there's probably more moments like these that I don't recall off-hand.

Good on Phil and the team for doing their part to help normalize men displaying emotions.

[Lantern7]

I don't think I care about this show. Well, not enough to keep track of names and storylines. Phil's recapping in the start of the episode is welcome, but I don't attempt to get that invested.

I'll still watch . . . not bother to fast-forward through backstories . .  but I probably won't take notes. I probably won't recognize players coming back to oversee tasks ("Wait, they call his guy 'Hanger'?"). Tough as Nails is what it is . . . another Phil Keoghan-led show CBS can neglect while putting out Survivor and Big Brother on a regular basis.

Man, I hope Mister doesn't go into flashbacks anytime he sees a knot. Thinking about it, maybe there should be research into balancing the scales. We got to the final five, and only one guy had been eliminated. Like I said . . . I believe that if you write to Phil and the other producers about that and tearjerker backstories (which don't really bug me), he'd at least take things into consideration. No "People on the Street" bullshit from him.

Next season: Canada! Maybe we'll be getting a battle between US and Canadian workers? I hope it winds up interesting.

[Taeolas]

I think I'm really looking forward to the next season now specifically because I know it's filmed up here in Canada. 

Filming in the Hammer makes a lot of sense. Hamilton is basically Canada's Pittsburg; a city with a strong steel making history that had some hard times (not as hard as Pittsburg) but it's been rebounding a lot, especially in recent years.  When Canadians think of an industrial city up here, Hamilton is the one most of us traditionally think of.

And as far as "Tough" jobs, Southern Ontario has all the variety that California has, if not more. 

* Hamilton has the steel making history and normal city 'tough' jobs (concrete laying, construction, pipe laying, etc....)

* A big rail network both passenger (GO) and cargo (CN/CP) for a rail challenge. In fact, most of the transportation in the region is done by rail, not by ship, so there may not be as many cargo dock views this time, but may be more railyard views.

* The Vineyards of Niagara Falls are nearby for agricultural tasks (I'm pretty sure the promos show some vineyard work)

* Southern Ontario is a major bread basket region in general, so lots of agriculture they could tap into however they want.

* Southern Ontario (Windsor especially but also other cities) are major auto manufacturers, both full cars and car parts, so that Ford truck prize could also have a challenge at a Ford plant.

* Tech "Toughness": They aren't likely to go there unless they want a more balanced challenge, but Waterloo Ontario is nearby, and it's Silicon Valley North, with a major STEM University (UWaterloo) that incubates a lot of tech startups. 

* There might not be as much military focus since they are on a foreign (if friendly) land, but it is possible; they could head up to CFB Trenton and touch on "The Highway of Heroes". 

[Diana Berry]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:07 AM, bunnyface said:

Happy for the winner.  It was a good win.  

It seemed he was getting the winner’s edit.  Happy for him.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

On 1/12/2023 at 1:49 PM, Grizzly said:

I want whatever they sprayed on Sergio's back. He went from writhing in pain to hopping up in the planter to tamp down the soil.

It might have been a magnesium spray. I use it whenever I get leg cramps from hiking and biking.

I just finished the series and I'm happy that Jorge won. The only way he could've won against Jake and Mister was by hauling ass and not pausing the entire time, which he did. At first I couldn't stand Jake because I thought he celebrated too much when we won overtimes. But the last few comps he was in, I was impressed how he came back from behind. For instance in the final overtime he was physically strong enough to lift 2-3 bags of concrete, and had the fortitude to know he needed to do that to win the challenge. No one lifted two at a time until he did. Larron on the other hand, moved slowly and made a couple poor decisions that cost him seconds here, seconds there, that added up to him being eliminated. Even if he was strong enough to do the task, he wasn't fast enough overall to win. An example was in the final overtime, it took him multiple seconds to climb in and out of the excavator every time, when Mister shot out like a bolt of lightning. During the jackhammer part, Larron walked over to put the iron bar into the holder and walked back. Maybe he was injured and hurting but those slow movements cost him.

Overall I thought it was a good, decent season. Some of the challenges weren't as good as previous years. The sob stories did get annoying. I hope next year they cut some of those down. But I'm glad Jorge won, it was definitely well deserved.

[mlp]

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2023/06/tough-as-nails-season-5-premiere-date-schedule/?fbclid=IwAR3Q3EofGijEMSTSOs2LfGVRqp8oGiPiw9Ydvy57BXgwDhHJxiwJkbXMq10

[DEL901]

https://ew.com/tv/tough-as-nails-season-5-cast-photos-bios-revealed/

[grooveshinney]

Here’s an interview with Dustin, one of the Canadian cast members

https://globalnews.ca/video/9797918/edmonton-firefighter-lands-spot-on-new-season-of-global-series-tough-as-nails

[Lantern7]

I didn’t realize the first episodes were airing tonight until just now. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[preeya]

3 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I didn’t realize the first episodes were airing tonight until just now. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

 . . . . and it is on for two hours tonight. Then I understand it will air twice a week on Fridays and Sundays at 8 pm ET.

[Grizzly]

I found it odd that they didn't tell us how many rolls of sod each team rolled up. So far I'm liking everyone except maybe Paul. 

[Taeolas]

The Hammer is representing and as a Canuck I'm happy at how well we're doing so far. 

I'm also glad they mixed the teams up and didn't do a US vs CAN send up like I'd anticipated them doing earlier. 

The teams themselves seem fairly balanced. And it's interesting the 2 Fire Fighters ended up on the same one. 

Loving the Bluenoser (Haligonian/Nova Scotian) and the old guys so far. But everyone is doing well and seems to be good people so far.

And damn, those challenges seemed tough, worthy of TaN. Glad to see there was legit judging of the work too. I wonder if that sod field was already basically written off. Or maybe the show basically bought it so they could do whatever would happen to it. If it takes 2-3 years to grow properly, I'd hate all the 'waste' from amateurs harvesting it. 

 

On a side note, I do wonder since TaN is filming in the Hammer, if TAR:CAN might've done a TaN/Hamilton leg 'hosted' by Phil. Of course that would be a TAR:CAN thing and not a TaN thing. :)

[preeya]

10 hours ago, Grizzly said:

So far I'm liking everyone except maybe Paul. 

Me too.

[eel2178]

13 hours ago, Grizzly said:

 So far I'm liking everyone except maybe Paul. 

I totally wanted Jessica to be the one who clocked out. Something about her rubs me the wrong way, although I haven't figured out exactly what it is yet.

[mlp]

Is it my faulty memory or were the first challenges more complex and more difficult than in previous seasons?  I was worn out just watching.  There must be a lot of instruction that goes on that we don't see.  I find it hard to believe that every contestant already knew how to operate all the equipment featured.

I wonder what they would have done if one of the final two had been someone who was afraid of water and/or couldn't swim.

[Lamb18]

Watching right now. Paul is too full of himself and showed his jackassery during the sod challenge. Kenji and Akeela are my favorites and was happy to see them pair up. Glad they both pulled through the individual challenge. Akeela is from my area and Kenji looks like he could be, but he's from Ohio.

[Silver-hyren]

I was definitely on-board with Jessica calling Paul out in the van after the first challenge.  I get you’re in a competition and racing against another team, but she was asking for clarification from someone about a task (I.e. communicating with a teammate) not standing around wasting time.  Also just the words “stop talking” when said to a woman (by a man) rubs me the wrong way.  I did not find his apology sincere at all.  If his intent was (as he said) to encourage his teammates to keep working, he could have said that (“Hey guys, let’s keep working!”).  He strikes me as the kind of guy that believes he’s the best at everything but we’ve seen now in two challenges that he’s not.  It seemed like everyone was having issues with him as crew boss at the beginning.  All he did was yell and get angry at people without giving clear instruction.  Also have to wonder if production was behind her “apologizing” to him the next day.

That said, I was rooting for Yassi to win the final challenge.

[Grizzly]

Very disheartening that we've had all women in overtime so far. Not a great episode for Yessi to show her dad. First as crewboss, she lets a good lead slip away by accepting subpar work on the trailer floor. Then in ot, puts the wings on backwards and took forever to fix it.

The 3 ft height requirement in the individual challenge really made it harder. It pushed a lot of people to use bendable materials to get the height. It seemed like there were several structures that failed right away. Disappointed to not see everyone's time.

[Pepper the Cat]

Dang, I really liked Carly.

I can’t but think that the first people in the motorcross race would have an advantage because they had a clean, unused course. Later teams had a used, messed up course. 

[Lamb18]

Rats, I was hoping Paul would lose. 

[Taeolas]

7 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Dang, I really liked Carly.

I can’t but think that the first people in the motorcross race would have an advantage because they had a clean, unused course. Later teams had a used, messed up course. 

I thought the same as well, but with the way things were cut, I think they regroomed the mudpit after each round to try and even things out. Still, even with grooming the early rounds were probably on firmer territory than the later ones. At the very least I would have hoped they did a trial run or two before the actual competition so the first team didn't have as clean a track. 

 

Making the Woops was a good challenge, and changing the muddy shocks also was good. But I didn't really care for the mud race as the individual challenge. It didn't really feel like a "Tough" challenge (but slogging through the mud with a 1/3 body weight log isn't easy). 

Losing 3 women so quick is rough, but this one seemed a fairly balanced challenge that anyone could have won or lost. Carly lost because she fell for the power wash trap I think. If she hadn't taken the time to get the power washer (and then forgot to loosen the lugnuts before lifting the ATV), she'd have been in the competition more. 

[jpgr]

I was so hoping Paul would have to punch out and shut his smug mouth....

[Browncoat]

It would have made my day if Paul had had to punch out.

[Silver-hyren]

Carolina: Let’s measure this and make sure it isn’t too high!

Paul: Get this [expletive deleted] string out of here!
Also Paul (in the van later): There needs to be one person in charge and we need to listen to them.

He can punch out any time now.

I felt for Carolina.  I think she wasn’t an effective crew boss because nobody was listening to her and she just shut down as a result.

[jpgr]

I already didn't like Paul, but going over to "help" Carly finish the job was the ultimate arrogant prick move. Would he have done the same if his rival was a man? I sincerely doubt it.

[KeithJ]

What a terrible individual challenge.  It’s no coincidence that the fastest time was in the first heat and that everyone in the later heats got stuck.  Even if they tried fixing the course between heats there’s no way it would have been even close to the same between heats.  

[Lamb18]

Akeelah is one of my favorites but right now I am finding her so annoying. She blames others on her team for not working hard enough (while she did) but she caused so much wastage by slinging the baskets around and apples falling onto the ground. Savage Crew probably picked up as many apple baskets as Dirty Hands, but a lot of those apples didn't make it into the bins. Dirty Hands was much more careful to get their apples in the bins. I wonder how Savage Crew watched all those apples flying out of their baskets.

I'm liking Jessica more and more.

[Lamb18]

Congratulations Kenji on the win! And Jessica for taking second place!

[Lamb18]

Also hurrah for Cheryl for winning overtime!  I like Marcus so sad that he lost, but at least he's still in the team competition.