Season 01

[Netfoot]

Thank goodness that's over!

When this started I thought it had the potential to be unique in the world of reality TV shows - a game that fostered cooperation rather than conflict. But no, it was the same old crap as all the rest.

I think the distribution of the prize money was far better than I expected. At least each of the three finalists got to take home a one third share of the prize money that they had been led to believe they would get. The award by the jury losers (let's tell it like it is) was a surprise, and I believe it went exactly where it belonged. Into the hands of the man who dragged all their sorry asses up that mountain to what ever height they  achieved before being eliminated.

Now, excuse me as I go and unfollow this thread because I won't be watching this crap ever again.

[suzeecat]

I remember how they built up this series before it began - a LOT!  I feel like I got sucked into a bunch of - nuthin'.  I won't be watching any future seasons.  It was really a dumb, stupid show.

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, suzeecat said:

I remember how they built up this series before it began - a LOT!  I feel like I got sucked into a bunch of - nuthin'.  I won't be watching any future seasons.  It was really a dumb, stupid show.

Yes CBS was promoting it a full half year before it's premiere and I mean promoting it every single night ad nauseam.

But all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put this show together again. Pure crap.

[iMonrey]

Punkin and Nick were tied with one vote left. What if that person had voted for Therron? Would Punkin and Nick have split the extra $250K?

The whole concept of this show was just dumb. Making it a Survivor-style voting thing just made the whole summit scaling part pointless. They might as well have all been on an island.

[Skooma]

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Punkin and Nick were tied with one vote left. What if that person had voted for Therron? Would Punkin and Nick have split the extra $250K?

The whole concept of this show was just dumb. Making it a Survivor-style voting thing just made the whole summit scaling part pointless. They might as well have all been on an island.

Or in a really cheap looking, fake studio house overrun by ants.

Edited December 5, 2024 by Skooma

[Tango64]

In their deep reflections voiceovers, did Nick say something like, "This journey has proven to me that I'm as awesome as I always thought"? Whatever the exact words, it made me laugh out loud.

[SweetSable]

19 hours ago, Tango64 said:

I watched every episode and now this finale, and I still don’t understand how this game worked. 

It didn't, at least not for me.  I'm not sure what I was expecting this show to be, but Survivor at Higher Altitude wasn't it.

[meep.meep]

What a great show they could have made and what a crappy thing they came up with.

But...we're free!  No more Dennis and Becky loo mustache twirling!  No more Amy crying!  No more Manu!  No more Mountain's Keeper maintaining the reputation of black helicopters everywhere!  It's done!

[HappyDancex2]

I wasn’t able to watch it live but found it very satisfying to watch it via FF on DVR lol.  My takeaway is that the ending was better than I had thought and this show would have been fine as a 2 part episode.  Not sure how they would pay for it but seriously nothing really happens other than watching people do excursions on vacation.

I’m fine with the winner because I felt like Punkin winning would have been just voting for the least egregious choice.  As a grouo they were forced into a lot of odd social predicaments, with most of us here questioning who was playing and privy to what rules.

Theron by luck got to the bag first on the rando elimination.  Punkin for some reason wanted to go first on the helicopter challenge.  If Nick goes first and then he chooses Trader Joe’s then she has the decision of who to boot off at the end.  And none of it is even as fair as a bag of rocks you know?   It’s hard to play the social game when the social game is dictated by accidental occurrences.

 

[Auntie Anxiety]

Goodbye show. I regret wasting the hours I spent watching your sorry ass. Good luck finding an audience if there’s a season 2. Meanwhile, I did NOT miss Amy’s crying and that look on her puss that made me wonder if she was always smelling farts. 

[SVNBob]

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Punkin and Nick were tied with one vote left. What if that person had voted for Therron? Would Punkin and Nick have split the extra $250K?

First, they wouldn't have shown the results like that.  Therron's third vote would have been revealed earlier in the three-way ties, before the lead-up to the final tie.

Second, and this is just a guess... then Therron would have cast a final vote.  (Meaning the final results would have been the same.)

[cowgirlwen]

After hearing some spoilers prior to the finale, I was worried that the eliminated hikers would be voting on who was getting the entire remaining pot of money.  (An outcome that had my blood boiling.)  But in the end, the show sort of redeemed itself, by giving each of the final three contestants their share of the remaining pot as promised at the beginning, and then having the eliminated hikers vote on solely the leftover money.  That was an acceptable alternative to me.

However, I didn't like how the eliminated "jury" members kept referring to "game play" and "strategy" when they were deciding who to vote for.  It made no sense, much like the entire season of this show.  They were supposed to be a group of inexperienced individual hikers that were to work together to get to the top of a mountain in 14 days.  Why would that mission even have to involve "game play" and "strategy"? 

I think the original premise of this show would have played out much better than the Survivor-style game it became.  If we had 16 inexperienced individuals who literally had to climb a mountain, with no production-made obstacles or assistance, no looming Mountainskeeper, no instructions, no elimination voting, etc., it would be something worth watching.  Sort of like "Alone" on a journey.  LOL!!  Now that's a show that I could get behind!!

[gibasi]

I will not watch a second season. As it was I fast forwarded through so much of every episode including the finale. I thought it was crazy that Tony got a vote. And seeing Amy again (and of course she was crying) made me remember how much I disliked her. 

I was rooting for either Nick or Punkin to get the extra money. So it was a good end for me. Therron was just too needy as far as I was concerned.

[millennium]

What is the deal with women who say "oh, you betrayed me, you hurt me, you lied to me, I'm 56 years old and you crushed my last chance at realizing my dreams for me and my family ... so I'm going to give you an extra $250,000."  Jeanie AND Amy.   Nick looked right at Jeanie and said "I always intended to bring you to the summit" (right up til the moment I decided not to)  and she swallowed it whole!  

 

[JH Lipton]

4 hours ago, millennium said:

What is the deal with women who say "oh, you betrayed me, you hurt me, you lied to me, I'm 56 years old and you crushed my last chance at realizing my dreams for me and my family ... so I'm going to give you an extra $250,000."  Jeanie AND Amy.   Nick looked right at Jeanie and said "I always intended to bring you to the summit" (right up til the moment I decided not to)  and she swallowed it whole!  

 

All the false crap about "Nick helped me up the mountain" made me sick.  He and Pati and Amy and Jeanne voted off the people who would help them most up the mountain.  And Jeanne is one minute crying about how Nick betrayed her and she will never speak to him again.  Just say it like it is -- the money goes to the person with the least melonin and the most testosterone.  Own up to your misogynoir.

As usual, Black women have to work 10 times harder to get half the result.  The last one was the worst: "Punkin played honestly and kindly and got us up the mountain, and Nick "betrayed me, hurt me, lied to me,but he has a penis so I have to vote for him."  Barf.

[seacliffsal]

Yep, there was an awful lot of talk about 'betrayal' and being voted out by those they trusted, but very little mention of the fact that they, too, had betrayed others and voted out others.

This whole show never made much sense to me.  Vote out those who helped the most.  Feel entitled to go to the summit even though they kept slowing down the group and never would have made it as far as they did without a lot of help from others. Yes, I watched the entire season (because I'm like that...) and am really glad that the scenary was beautiful so it wasn't a total waste of time.  Oh, and there were laugh out loud moments-mainly surrounding the mountain keeper helicopter.

And, I'm just going to say it-the very best part of this show was reading all of the comments everyone posted!  A big thank you to everyone.  However, should there be a second season I won't be here.

[millennium]

20 hours ago, JH Lipton said:

All the false crap about "Nick helped me up the mountain" made me sick.  He and Pati and Amy and Jeanne voted off the people who would help them most up the mountain.  And Jeanne is one minute crying about how Nick betrayed her and she will never speak to him again.  Just say it like it is -- the money goes to the person with the least melonin and the most testosterone.  Own up to your misogynoir.

As usual, Black women have to work 10 times harder to get half the result.  The last one was the worst: "Punkin played honestly and kindly and got us up the mountain, and Nick "betrayed me, hurt me, lied to me,but he has a penis so I have to vote for him."  Barf.

IMO, no one on the show deserved a dime.  The final three was a poor group to have to choose from.  There were no Punkin standout moments (and I hate having to actually say Punkin), Therron was a screaming drama queen and very entitled, and Nick was a walking premature midlife crisis.    To be honest, the show demanded very little from the players.   I bet on any weekend, those slopes are filled with New Zealand families climbing to the top.  That last stretch to the summit looked easier than some kiddie slopes I've seen. 

But I agree -- Jeannie and Amy voted for the only white male.  It seemed they would rather give the money to a backstabber than a gay black man or a black woman (who is also gay, though I'm not sure the others knew it).

Oh, and the way Amy faked out Punkin at the end, making her think she was going to get the money ... that was just sick.

Edited December 8, 2024 by millennium

[SVNBob]

25 minutes ago, millennium said:

a black woman (who is also gay, though I'm not sure the others knew it).

I think they knew she was gay.  She was out about that.  She kept her military experience in the closet instead.  (Or would that be a foot locker?)

[JH Lipton]

27 minutes ago, millennium said:

IMO, no one on the show deserved a dime.  The final three was a poor group to have to choose from.  There were no Punkin standout moments (and I hate having to actually say Punkin), Therron was a screaming drama queen and very entitled, and Nick was a walking premature midlife crisis.    To be honest, the show demanded very little from the players.   I bet on any weekend, those slopes are filled with New Zealand families climbing to the top.  That last stretch to the summit looked easier than some kiddie slopes I've seen. 

But I agree -- Jeannie and Amy voted for the only white male.  It seemed they would rather give the money to a backstabber than a gay black man or a black woman (who is also gay, though I'm not sure the others knew it).

Oh, and the way Amy faked out Punkin at the end, making her think she was going to get the money ... that was just sick.

The fact hat there was no drama with Punkin (and that’s not the wildest name I’ve seen for Black women) is what should have earned her the special cash.  As a sergeant in the Air Force, it’s probably a while since she’s had to do obstacle courses (that’s what the recruits are for!), but she just buckled up and got through.

[MarylandGirl]

9 hours ago, millennium said:

IMO, no one on the show deserved a dime.  The final three was a poor group to have to choose from.  There were no Punkin standout moments (and I hate having to actually say Punkin), Therron was a screaming drama queen and very entitled, and Nick was a walking premature midlife crisis.    To be honest, the show demanded very little from the players.   I bet on any weekend, those slopes are filled with New Zealand families climbing to the top.  That last stretch to the summit looked easier than some kiddie slopes I've seen. 

But I agree -- Jeannie and Amy voted for the only white male.  It seemed they would rather give the money to a backstabber than a gay black man or a black woman (who is also gay, though I'm not sure the others knew it).

Oh, and the way Amy faked out Punkin at the end, making her think she was going to get the money ... that was just sick.

I love "walking premature midlife crisis"! And that annoyed me how Amy faked out Punkin, too.

I kinda wish the twist would have been that they could have picked one of the eliminated players to get the other $250K. 

[North of Eden]

Having started the thread, I should close my own circle and give a comment.

It started off strong but became a slog with the repetitiveness. Would have great benefited from a 60-minute run time.

All complaining aside it redeemed itself in the final episode when out of nowhere there came a Tribal Council (I'd swear I heard strains of the Survivor theme in the soundtrack) but anyway....yeah I was so excited that people were going to get called out.

It was a nice way to end it and good to see everyone back including the would be villain of the season Swetka who got booted so early.

I was happy with either Punkin or Nick winning...just not Therron. His over the top drama all season was grating.

A season two? I don't know. Could be one and done. But if they come back more varied tasks are a must.

Now please bring on....THE AMAZING RACE!

[Red Bridey]

So glad this stupid show is done. I will also delete this from my queue because I hated it so much. I'm okay that Nick won the extra money, as long as the other two got some. Though if I were them, I would be pissed that they weren't going to share *all* the money per the original premise. But whatever. As long as I never have to see or hear any of these people ever again. And if I ever see the Korean Cockroach at a hospital I am admitted to, trust me, I will try to kick him in the nuts if it's the last thing I do. Of course, he'll probably quit his job and make a career of competitive reality shows. Next stop: Traitors or House of Villains.