Naked and Afraid XL - General Discussion

[Auntie Anxiety]

I hope Chance learned after hitching his wagon to Russell that sometimes the loudest macho guy isn't the one who is necessarily the best leader. Maybe it's what worked in the military, but it might not be the best decision in  civilian life. In any event, Chance has a real opportunity to highlight the needs of soldiers when they return from the battlefield. It would be great if he could become the face of a charity or non-profit that helps emotionally damaged soldiers.

[Juliegirlj]

No surprise that Russ bailed. What did surprise me was that Chance chose to align with Russ- Chance seems like a legitimate survivor and one would think he'd see right through Russell's false bravado. One of the women offered to show Chance how to use the casting net, and he declined, saying he would prefer to learn from Russ...

Shannon is almost the female version of Russ. I really do not see her contributing much to the group. ( a woman with breast implants <* except for reconstruction after cancer* > and being an outdoor survivalist seem almost diametrically opposed)

Edited June 6, 2017 by Juliegirlj

[Chewy101]

I think Chance still has so much caution about women, that by default he went with Russ. I think he is just on overload from this experience, and this particular group is so petty and immature that he doesn't know where to turn. His last partner had a great deal of patience and gave him space to process when issues arose, and she then, unintentionally, left him with a nurtured underbelly that is now exposed to this group of vipers.

[Chewy101]

"Ding Dong, the Russel's gone!!!" Too bad he had to wait until just before the finale to prove what a hack he is. 

The miracle meal will arrive before extraction, but I'm glad the producers waited until Russel crapped out before they provided it.

The women should have embraced their time alone together and let bygones be bygones. Every single one of them deserves a knock down on their PSR rating for complete inability to boost morale and rally. If you aren't being productive (even if it is just upgrading the atmosphere), you are not showing survivalist skills. I can see them getting all of the physical tasks done as much as the men, but their attitude is as bad as Russel's, and it's toxic. The wretched greeting they gave Fernando was shameful. I hate them all. They should have been glad to have one of their "family" back without Russel coming with the package. But props to Fernando for moving forward and not even demanding an apology. Once the B*tches were willing to include him again, he just went with it.

Chance is so used to falling behind the leader and backing him up. But the leaders in his past had to earn their position and rank to be respected and followed. Russel just decided to call himself a leader and pose as one, and Chance trusted that. So sad. The "no man left behind" mantra is for men who can't leave, not egomaniacs who refuse to return without a pig, because he wants to save face.

That moment where Russel decided he might be an embarrassment to his son...  Yes, Russel, you were a complete embarrassment. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that little confession diary makes me think he was ready to tap out long before the rains came. He was just waiting for the right conditions to finally quit. And then had the nerve to say "we should tap out together......" Ugh.

Once the fire went out, the boys should have hiked back to the other camp. The walking would have kept their body temperature up. If Russel was so worried about hypothermia, why did he think sitting on his butt for two days was going to help.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Chewy101

[LAgator77]

Has anyone checked out Chance's social media pages? His FB and IG present him as this happy-go-lucky guy with lots of friends, nothing like the emotionally stunted quiet loner we're seeing on N&A... This is a tough one, who to believe, reality TV or social media?

[Chewy101]

15 minutes ago, LAgator77 said:

 

Has anyone checked out Chance's social media pages? His FB and IG present him as this happy-go-lucky guy with lots of friends, nothing like the emotionally stunted quiet loner we're seeing on N&A... This is a tough one, who to believe, reality TV or social media?

 

Believe social media? Does anyone still do that? It's just another form of television. 

Filming wrapped awhile ago for this, so maybe he is just happy now to have made two runs on the show, survive the viper nest, and be home having learned a lot about himself and others. I'd be a happy camper to be away from this crowd. 

[riverblue22]

1 hour ago, LAgator77 said:

Has anyone checked out Chance's social media pages? His FB and IG present him as this happy-go-lucky guy with lots of friends, nothing like the emotionally stunted quiet loner we're seeing on N&A... This is a tough one, who to believe, reality TV or social media?

Maybe the quiet loner is a role assigned by the producers.  Reality TV.....

[mittsigirl]

On 2017-6-4 at 9:02 PM, Maggie Mae said:

Russell taps out and leaves Chance by himself after trying to get him to tap with him. Then it looks like he takes the bow and arrow with him!!  

I hate how us in Canada are a week behind!!

[rlc]

While I don't love any of the contestants this season, I don't hate them either (except for vile Russel, of course). At this point, I give them all a pass on not being 100% pleasant/likable most of the time (except for Russel). They are sleep deprived, starving, scared, likely riddled with illnesses from all the insect bites, and stuck with the same small group of people day on and day out. They're doing fine (except for Russel). While I would have hoped that Chance had not just fallen in line with Russel, I don't hate him for it. He showed up exhausted from his first 21 days, without the benefit of having witnessed the group dynamics unfold. Russel presented himself as the leader, and Chance followed due to his military training. 

[88Keys]

I would actually believe social media before reality tv.  I'm guessing everyone was given their role to play at the beginning of filming and told to ham it up.  I looked at Chase's FB page, and he really does seem like a good guy.  I also just found out that Lacey is from Du Quoin, which is not too far from me.  Maybe I should go check out her gun shop.  :)

[Lion18]

What is Chases's last name?

[Chewy101]

16 minutes ago, Lion18 said:

 

What is Chases's last name?

 

His name is Chance Davis

[Lion18]

3 minutes ago, Chewy101 said:

His name is Chance Davis

Thank you

[ClareWalks]

Okay seriously I was about to ask WTF his name is, because people here write "Chase" and "Chance" in basically equal quantities :-P

[ghoulina]

Right? My husband and I were talking about the show after he finally got a chance to watch, and each time I mentioned him I said his name differently. I don't know what it is, but I could not keep his name straight. 

Chance.Chance. CHANCE. 

[piequinn35]

If I will have twin boys in the future, I will name  them Chance and Chase. :->

[88Keys]

I think I'm the one who called him "Chase" instead of "Chance."  My apologies.

On 6/8/2017 at 2:23 PM, piequinn35 said:

If I will have twin boys in the future, I will name  them Chance and Chase. :->

As a mom of twin boys, I advise against this.  It's hard enough to call them by the right name even when they don't rhyme.  :)

[Wandering Snark]

I think that Russell was just playing emotional/ego chicken with Chance; waiting for him to give any glimmer of wanting to quit and Russell could then happily tap out "Well buddy, it's okay, I'll go out with ya." The problem was that Chance is a freakin' rock and never once waivered. Eventually he had to give up. Which was the perfect way for him to go out... tapping out because he's "too skinny". *insert eyeroll*

I wonder what this season would have been like without the med-evacs, especially Matt and was it Lacey who finally got the women off their collective asses to get some food ("I think we need to have a day just to sit around and do nothing" is not in many survivalist manuals for example)?

The only "leaders" left were self-proclaimed/dysfunctional ones.

[dparks]

I can understand why the women were cold to Fernando on his return to camp - because not only has he been not much more than a bump on a log as Russell spewed his bullshit "men this" and "men that" garbage, but he also sided with Russel and Chance on the overnight hunt.  Basically, Fernie has just been out for Fernie, and screw anyone who rocks his calm little boat.

I'm also tired of the 'Chance Show'. Another, "Ranger this, and Ranger that", and "I'm a badass in the military" and "Woe is me"m blah blah blah. Sorry dude, but no one ORDERED you on this show. The guy also has the personality of a wet dish towel. You want to be "Naked & Alone With Just Men", then join the 'Y' and hang out in gym locker rooms.

The ladies - Amber assumed the 'Leader' role - she's Military (probably outranks Chance iirc) but as 'leader', Amber should've stepped more. She gave little Russell WAAAY too much leash. If you wanna be a Leader, then lead!

Same with Shannon - stop whining about how the men are behaving and straighten them the hell out! Shannon could bench-press Russell if she wanted. Instead she tried to change passive Mr. Do-Nothing Fernando's personality and try to get him to step up and calm the little barking dog down. Not gonna work.

Gia - she is what she is. She's not as annoying as Fernando, but mostly because I don't see her putting herself out there as much as he does - otherwise, she's just decoration and there for moral support.

 

Can't wait for this season's finale - not because I expect anything big or surprising, but just because I'm tired of this unexciting bunch of characters.

 

Here's to next season's cast - get it together Discovery.

Edited June 12, 2017 by dparks

[PaperTree]

Jungle wins again.  Nice re-watching Russell bail.

[dparks]

Am I the only one who can't stop trying to figure out what's going on with Amber's eyebrows?

[PaperTree]

Chance is so cool.  Not surprised that worm Russell tried to convince him to tap out.

This gang is really a mess.  They seemed to be getting it together, then the raft building/tree cutting fiasco.  Go cut down another tree!  

I wish G luck with the trap.

Chance again offering to sacrifice himself for the group.  "Ya'all go ahead.  I got this."

Then it just gets weird

All this raft drama is confusing me.  Nice to see they got it done.

What a crappy place to have to camp.  I guess it was pointless to try and kill that big snake.

Well done guys.

And somewhere in a bar in Texas(?), Russell is still being laughed at!

[LittleIggy]

One of the women appeared to be wearing a top before the extraction. Where did that come from?

[riverblue22]

2 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

One of the women appeared to be wearing a top before the extraction. Where did that come from?

Amber made some clothes out of the mosquito netting to fight off sunburn.

[LittleIggy]

I never noticed them using mosquito netting at the shelter.

[Auntie Anxiety]

1 minute ago, LittleIggy said:

I never noticed them using mosquito netting at the shelter.

I thought it was the netting from the fishing thing, maybe strung over some leaves?

[Wandering Snark]

Glad to see they made it and that the horror is over as I too tired of this group. I really only watched because I caught the preview/interviews so I wanted to see how everyone would do. But not sure I'd do it again... mainly it was a downer of a watch. Maybe they're not all like this though?

Final thought is that for all his "negativity" etc. They would have never made it out of there without Chance morphing into Paul Bunyan...

Also, I know they are returners so they packed on weight to get by but those weight losses, whoa.

I was thinking it must be weird to see your mates in clothes after so long of staring at their privates 24/7.

[ghoulina]

I agree that I was excited for this finale, just for it to be over. This cast was really underwhelming, especially since some of the more likeable ones went out early. I don't even remember the other two girls' names, besides Shannon. That's how little these people mattered to me. 

And I was SO over production focusing on the machete 40 times a segment, like Chance was going to haul off and kill them all in a PTSD-fueled rage. 

I do want to see Russell get tore into at the reunion. 

[Lesia]

aaand, there was the food, the day before the extraction.  but how did production plant an eel....

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Lesia said:

aaand, there was the food, the day before the extraction.  but how did production plant an eel....

And the eel just stayed right there in the middle of them while they haggled over whether they'd get shocked if they speared it.  Probably in a nice little 3x3 foot box that we couldn't see from the camera angle they used.

It really has gotten to be a "coincidence" how they always seem to find a massive chunk of living protein the day before extraction.

ETA:  I'm looking forward to the reunion episode next week.  I'd like to see Chance mop up the floor with Russell, but that probably won't happen.  However, I'm not seeing this as a love fest directed at Russell.

Edited June 12, 2017 by AZChristian

[88Keys]

That was a weird finale.  Usually they edit things so it feels uplifting in the end, but this was just...meh.  They were snippy and bitchy until the very end.  I'm kind of glad it's over just so we can (hopefully) move on to a better group next season.

I feel like I need to modify my opinion of Chance a bit.  I didn't understand his insane attachment to the raft, and his taking it so personally when they suggested that it needed improvements.  I thought it made more sense to shore up the raft they had than to make a new one.  I really dislike Amber, but I felt like she was right this time in that they shouldn't have to tiptoe around Chance just because he's suddenly taking everything hard and threatening to go off alone.  He really didn't seem to contribute much, either, except for that one tree.  Of course, that could have been editing.

[Wandering Snark]

I too though Chance was a little OTT with his love for his raft, but then he did do the whole extraction for the woman who didn't stay on with it so I can see it was functional enough to not need changes.

BUT the one thing I would have totally gone nuts about were I him was when they were contemplating taking it apart to make 'kick boards' or whatever. Yeah... that would have been a spectacularly bad idea especially having seen the distance and danger of the waters I wouldn't want half my torso and flailing legs in that water for what a day and a half?

[niklj]

I really liked the segment showing them all returning to civilization. It was like watching a Ponderosa episode from Survivor. My favorite parts are always when they get to eat and see themselves for the first time. They seemed to get along a lot better once they had food. I hope it becomes a regular segment along with the reunions.

[Chewy101]

I feel like Amber took all of the frustrations she DIDN'T communicate towards Russel, and then took it out on Chance. Ironically, the most recent victim of Russel. She went from being classy about holding her tongue to an unfair insensitive shrew attacking the wrong person. If I was hungry, and tired, and everyone was ripping my raft to shreds (when it was what got me out of my initial 21 days, AND what I traveled on for hours both ways to send my partner off), I think I'd be annoyed, too. And what his previous partner understood was that he isn't used to speaking up, so she let him blurt things out, taste his words and not like them, and then refine his statements. She was mature enough to give him some space to learn how to communicate feelings without lashing out. Now he is stuck with these petty childish dimwits and he just wants to be back where there is order, and procedures. And what the heck, Fernando tells Chance to calm down (when Chance was calmly sharing his perspective), but he never once stood up to Russel when Russel was way out of line and mouthing off and insulting people left and right.  And THEN Shannon tells Fernando to stop advocating and let them speak, when she ripped him a new one for not doing that exact thing when Russel would talk. 

I can forgive so much grumpiness and crankiness on a show like this. But the hypocrisy and irony was so freaking deep and enormous, I hate everyone, and I don't blame Chance for thinking he fell into an insane asylum and started feeling crazed himself. He could have coped better with this group had he not come off his own 21 days and just fell into this. Or maybe he couldn't, because they are simply impossible to deal with. None of them are survivalists. All they do is lie around and gripe. They simply counted their moments until extraction. 

I enjoyed the miracle meal at the end, lol. I can only hope that when the producers drop it into the water, they still leave it to the contestants to have to carry the weight of obtaining it from there. 

[Liberty]

It was impressive to see three of the original females makes it to the end, and interesting to see one original male make it.  And it was the all female shelter that was occupied until the end.  One indispensable factor --- the net for fishing.  Was it quitter Russell who brought that along?

Chance had some serious challenges in his 40 days too.  Great attitude with his 'go ahead and do it your way, I'll do it my way on my own', and I bet he could have.  He added a lot to the group that they really needed.  

Giovanna was a real star and made positive contributions the entire 40 days.  Shannon seemed to be transformed during the last week, not trying to force things to go her way.

Fernando came off much better in his original 21 day episode than this one, but whatever he did got him to the end.

Thinking back to previous XL's, is it possible people who stay busy have better attitudes than those who rest to 'save calories'.  Thinking back to the XL season 1 group of Barfield/Zerra/Rupert/Beau ( mean girl group) that ran Dani Julien off.  

Looking forward to the reunion.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Liberty

[Auntie Anxiety]

Let me get this straight: Next week the survivalists have a pissing contest and then the men compare penis sizes to determine who is the greatest Naked & Afraider ever? Because we all know how quickly that discussion will deteriorate. Ridiculous to even debate it, since so much depends on partner, environmental conditions, luck, etc. 

In tonight's reunion, that blond guy who tapped about five minutes after he entered the Amazon barely said a word. He must feel like an idiot sitting next to people who managed to stay till Day 2, much less Day 40.

Amber really annoys me. 

[holly4755]

Ithink they let russel off easy, except his original partner who called him 1/2 sized.  Russel thought he was fun sized, but he was no fun. 

[niklj]

I liked there was a reunion and that there was no moderator. I did kiiiinda miss the aftershow and the interviews they did on FB so this was nice.

Agree they went way too easy on Russell and the whole argument with Lacey felt unfinished. "Women can't cut down trees." Then later the episode showed Amber cutting down a whole tree. And she still probably doesn't think she needs to change her opinion on that front.

Fernando had a lot more funny pieces than made the final edit!

[ghoulina]

Personally, *I* didn't like that there was no moderator, and I could have done without SO many flashbacks and "unseen moments". I felt like if someone was moderating we might have got more out of Russel. I felt he was let off easy too. And if it wasn't for that Marine dude who got injured the first day, he might have been let off even easier!! Just overall, I felt like there were a lot more topics we could have addressed, but were missed. 

Seeing the unseen clips of Lacey left a real bad taste in my mouth, though. I was under the impression that the issues with her and her teammates were mostly due to different styles of doing things. But it was much more personal than that. And I can even get her disappointment about not having a dude. Sure, the women were catching fish and they cut down trees. But there's no denying a big guy like Matt would be able to a lot more in a shorter time than a small girl like Lacey. But be careful what you wish for. Whine for a dude, and you might end up with fucking Russel. At any rate, what I was floored to see was her comments about their butts, and their sizes in general. That was just really gross. And inconsistent. A big dude would take up even more room in the shelter, be heavier on any platform you made. I just do not think I like that girl at all any more. 

And yea, that little blonde guy who was originally with Shanando said literally nothing. I do have to wonder, if Russel hadn't tapped and they wound up together on a future season, would he give blonde guy the same grief he gave Amber? Somehow I doubt it. He's just a pig. 

[AZChristian]

I loved it when the knee guy pointed out to Russell that he had pretty much just blamed Chance for his tapping out.  Yes, Russell, you DID say, "If Fernie had been there, he would have talked me out of tapping out."  But knee guy said, "Those of us who have been in the armed forces don't think of OURSELVES and how cold WE are.  We think of our TEAM.  You need to find a team, Russell."

I was cheering.

[Liberty]

13 hours ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

Let me get this straight: Next week the survivalists have a pissing contest and then the men compare penis sizes to determine who is the greatest Naked & Afraider ever? Because we all know how quickly that discussion will deteriorate. Ridiculous to even debate it, since so much depends on partner, environmental conditions, luck, etc. 

 

Cannot Wait

As they milk this for all they can we can maybe get some questions answered, like who were the meanest girls.

Could not tell who would be there, but hoping on Eva/Zerra/Barfield/Beau along with Honora and Carrie Booze.

Looking around the Disco website Zausch and Snyder now star in Dual Survival.  Melissa from the "Worlds Collide" episode is getting some work as a survival pro.  Proof that The Mt. Everest of Survival is a launching pad to financial success in the survival industry.

Hope Zausch and Snyder make it the the XL forum to promote themselves.  They would have an overlap on a venn diagram with Russell and Matt.

Snyder made one episode of N & A because of medical intervention.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Liberty

[Negritude]

On 6/11/2017 at 5:59 PM, dparks said:

I'm also tired of the 'Chance Show'. Another, "Ranger this, and Ranger that", and "I'm a badass in the military" and "Woe is me"m blah blah blah. Sorry dude, but no one ORDERED you on this show. The guy also has the personality of a wet dish towel. You want to be "Naked & Alone With Just Men", then join the 'Y' and hang out in gym locker rooms.

????????

[Chewy101]

On 6/19/2017 at 8:50 AM, Liberty said:

  On 6/18/2017 at 11:02 PM, Auntie Anxiety said:

Let me get this straight: Next week the survivalists have a pissing contest and then the men compare penis sizes to determine who is the greatest Naked & Afraider ever? Because we all know how quickly that discussion will deteriorate. Ridiculous to even debate it, since so much depends on partner, environmental conditions, luck, etc. 

Watched this "Triple Threat" reunion show, and it was all gracious and filled with comrade-re, with the men even giving humble props to one another. And then, Matt. One I never would have expected to be mouthy, just has to say "I could have done better with the hunting in South Africa than you guys did." Boy did he kill the room. But everyone smoothed it over and they continued. That was still so unnecessary. And THEN he says he regrets that he had to leave before he could "share the wealth" and teach them all of his mad skills, ugh. I liked him better on the show than here. How would he have felt if the men said they would have handled a bum toe better than he did? Unnecessary.

That girl with the ridiculous tattoos across her chest reminds me so much of Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope.), which led me to a stupid thought:  do you think the show will ever do a celebrity version of this? B-list actors have already ruined Dance on reality TV, why not ruin this as well.

They all had their civilized faces back on, and I actually enjoyed hearing them talk about their experiences, where I worried I wouldn't. They played so nicely together. 

[Auntie Anxiety]

I turned it off after about halfway through. Too much patting themselves on the back for my taste. 

[Chewy101]

1 hour ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

 

I turned it off after about halfway through. Too much patting themselves on the back for my taste. 

 

I completely understand that, but I felt like they patted each OTHER on the backs enough where I could watch the encounter with some enjoyment. They did a whole lot of building one another up. Every minute I waited for a hissy fit, and I was relieved it didn't happen. Of course, Russel wasn't invited.  But it's interesting how mellow everyone gets when they are fully clothed and "culturally armed." 

And If I pulled 40 days off, whether I made a fool of myself or not, I might preen a bit in the moment myself. They are only feeling it among the other survivors. If I never check their social media and find out what attention whores they are, I can like them just fine for just this episode.

[Liberty]

Was strange to see so many of the 12 participants did not finish the 40 day challenge.  Guessing they wanted each season to have 4 representatives and not everyone can get away for the event.

AA, they continued the back-patting during the 2nd half hour.  Eva was a big part of that as was SL Hall Jr.  Lacey interjected how she felt like a failure not completing the 40 days, and how much she respected those who finished.

Surprised to see the clip where Jeff was exposed as a dick in season 1, of course he explained it away with the demands of survival living.

Was interesting to see them with a bit more fat on their bodies.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Liberty

[Juliegirlj]

Wow, Matt is kind of an ass. I thought I liked him. 

My favorite from all the seasons and shows is still Jake ( the gay horse trainer). He is humble and confident, with a good head on his shoulders. Not to mention, good looking and funny. 

[piequinn35]

^Whose Matt? the big one or the small one? there were 2 Matt's in s03 that did not finish, I hate it when I couldn't watch it coz we are 1 week behind. :(

And it looks like Chance gained 100 lbs since then.

[riverblue22]

I thought it was pretty funny how full of themselves they came across...like they are the gods of survival!  True, I could never attempt even a 3 day survival challenge but I am sure there are plenty of trained people out there who could have accomplished the same things.  They just aren't paying attention to reality TV.

Matt the hunter did enjoy pounding his chest and claiming title of the great hunter.  It looked to me like he had a much better bow and arrow than the Africa folks had and that made the difference IMO.

[mamadrama]

5 hours ago, riverblue22 said:

I thought it was pretty funny how full of themselves they came across...like they are the gods of survival!  True, I could never attempt even a 3 day survival challenge but I am sure there are plenty of trained people out there who could have accomplished the same things.  They just aren't paying attention to reality TV.

Matt the hunter did enjoy pounding his chest and claiming title of the great hunter.  It looked to me like he had a much better bow and arrow than the Africa folks had and that made the difference IMO.

Matt was in very good health during his stint. He got injured but they removed him almost straightaway. The South African people, on the other hand, were dehydrated, starving, and half of them suffering from tick bite fever in 100 degree weather. That's a whole other ballgame. Matt assuring everyone that he could have killed game isn't any different than one of us sitting back on our couches and saying it all looks easy. 

I thought it was funny that they acted like gods of survival, too. I mean, most of them just kind of laid around and conserved energy for most of the day. I realize that is a kind of surviving, too, but it's not like any of them were actually thriving. Jeff and EJ maybe. They seemed to have done a good job. 

So did Matt just get really good editing or what?