Castaways - General Discussion

[Guest]

Let's get back to talking about the show, please.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I didn’t find Matt entitled. He helped with fishing and coconut gathering.  He might not have been all abut going out and working every minute but he did work.

I didn't find Matt entitled until they got around to his flashback talks with his father (?) in which he expresses shame that he wasn't providing for his family. My perception was that his parents were bankrolling him so he could chase his dream of racecar driving, so he was indeed used to having things done for him. I didn't really get where Richard and Sawyer were coming from, at first, and they just seemed like a couple of dicks the way they were treating Matt. But then I started to suspect there was more to the situation than the show was telling us, and the flashbacks sort of confirmed what I suspected. I think the show wanted to downplay any negative aspects of their participants so they soft-pedaled how lazy Matt really was to make him seem more sympathetic.

[candall]

Well, it turned out Robbie was the star of the show after all.

I thought one of the most interesting parts was when Robbie was obsessing that Kenzie might have ditched him.  Did I not work hard enough?  Was she mad because I couldn't keep up?   Am I just a loser no one wants to be around?

And then he not only stuck it out to the end, he became "the core" of the remainers AND made the biggest personal changes of all the castaways.  Woot, high five, Robbie!

 

I'm very disappointed, though, that we only got to see a scant few minutes of follow-up, and then only specific players.  Wasn't the whole point of de-emphasizing the prize money and showing all that backstory supposed to make us relate to the individuals?  OKAY, I RELATE!  Is Roshanna homeless?  Any progress on getting Angel's brother here?  How's Krichelle's leg?  What was the story with Tracee anyway?  (Matt "planning to run the Indy 500 next year"--->cringe.)  Why am I not seeing Tim on Good Morning America or ABC World News with David Muir?  He's perfect for an "America Strong" segment.

 

I agree with the person above who said the show had a glimmer of winning recipe, but I think, ultimately, the producers were just too inexperienced about how to divvy up their minutes.

I enjoyed our thread, though.  See you at Survivor:  David vs. Goliath.  >g<

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, candall said:

I agree with the person above who said the show had a glimmer of winning recipe, but I think, ultimately, the producers were just too inexperienced about how to divvy up their minutes.

I'm not sure the network really believed in the show, the way they ran the last half of the season in the space of two days or whatever it was.  

I didn't mind it because I ended up binge watching it, but they don't usually do that with top shows.

I agree I would have liked to have seen some follow up, even though I'm not a fan of reunion shows.  They could have spent five minutes on it and that would have been fine.

[ProfCrash]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't find Matt entitled until they got around to his flashback talks with his father (?) in which he expresses shame that he wasn't providing for his family. My perception was that his parents were bankrolling him so he could chase his dream of racecar driving, so he was indeed used to having things done for him. I didn't really get where Richard and Sawyer were coming from, at first, and they just seemed like a couple of dicks the way they were treating Matt. But then I started to suspect there was more to the situation than the show was telling us, and the flashbacks sort of confirmed what I suspected. I think the show wanted to downplay any negative aspects of their participants so they soft-pedaled how lazy Matt really was to make him seem more sympathetic.

Matt seemed to be working pretty hard at the racing. He climbed the ranks and made it onto an Indy Team, which is not easy to do. He simply did not break into the elite of the Indy drivers. Kind of like the kid who works hard and makes it to the NFL only to be a third string QB. Disappointing and not making the big bucks he wanted but still an elite athlete. 

There was a young man named Mike on Real World London, and yes I am totally dating myself, who was trying to make it in racing. His family was bank rolling him and the London circuit was his big chance to break through and see if he had what it took to be a pro.

So I don’t think Matt was coasting off his parents money. He put in the time and effort to break into one of the highest levels in racing, he just didn’t shine there the way he needed to to make the big bucks he wanted to make. And he did work around camp, he just didn’t work the way Richard and Sawyer did. Given that Matt and Sawyer didn’t seem to produce much for all of their effort, I am not sure that Matt’s strategy was awful. And when push came to shove, Matt was the one who swam the distance to find Robbie and Kenzie. And when Richard and Sawyer made the trek that Matt made, they ended up being impressed with what he accomplished.

Richard and Sawyer would have been better off if they had simply said “Hey, we liek you but if the folks over there are cool, it would be best if you stayed there.”  

[AZChristian]

I couldn't get past Richard and Sawyer pretty much kicking Matt out of camp, but then insisting they needed to go find other people just in case the other people needed help.  Matt needed their help . . . but they decided that he apparently just wasn't a good "fit" for the kind of help they wanted to give; as a result, they made him feel extremely unwelcome.  After reading about Matt in the solo lady's diary - and Matt's own diary - they saw him through different eyes and realized that they had misjudged him and (IIRC) recognized that their behavior wasn't very kind.  

[Kira53]

On 9/12/2018 at 10:17 AM, ProfCrash said:

I don't think they are burning it off, I think it was summer programing and the summer is coming to an end.

Another good episode. We learned the fate of Eric and lost Tim and Krichelle. I expected that Krichelle would leave, her leg was looking pretty bad, she made the right call. I sucks that Tim is a medic but wasn't able to do anything to help her because of the lack of materials.

Tim's departure was a surprise. He had all the skills he needed to survive but the down time got to him. I know a good number of folks who have served in the Armed Forces, a decent number of those folks were in one of the Special Forces units, and they all talk about how hard it is on their families. The time deployed and the inability to communicate is insanely hard. And then when they get home and reinsert themselves into established routines is a huge challenge. I am sure that the tension that comes with participating in missions and preparing for those missions is enough to keep Tim and folks like him occupied and challenged mentally, so they have less time to reflect on their families. Sitting on an island trying to survive with all the downtime that comes with it probably made it harder to justify being away from his family. Especially since his daughter handed him a list as to why this sucked.

I really like the vibe between Robbie and Kenzie. They seem to mesh well together and are able to help each other. Tim fight into their little group pretty well. They have a good attitude and are looking for ways to make it suck less.

Matt, Sawyer and Richard have a totally different dynamic. Sawyer and Richard are kind of dicks. Matt is struggling and their attitude is that he should suck it up and go into the jungle to try and find something to eat. I get their point, you need to do something to survive, but when someone is that spent and you have been eating more you can get the guy a fucking coconut. Then again, Matt is being a bit whiney, he didn't have much at his last place and he spent a lot of energy trying to get out of there so he is spent, but if he was on his own he would have to find something to eat. Expecting that the other guys are going to simply had him food is a bit much. Sawyer and Richard did not have the food find the Krichelle and Tim found and have harvested their food. I don't think they found the rice that Kenzie and Robbie found. Kenzie and Robbie and Tim seem to be able to augment the food that they found with fish and fruit. The three bros seem to have coconuts, the occasional fruit, and the like. It is too bad Matt did not find Robbie and Kenzie but I am not sure that Matt would pull his weight at their more laid back camp.

Terry seems to be doing well on her own. I am not sure what she is eating but she seems to be pretty chill and happy with being on her own.

So we have 6 people left. I will be surprised to see how long Matt holds on. If the preview is right, Matt is going to try to get to the island with Robbie and Kenzie.

Terry had Matt's bag which was full of good food supplies.  The irony was that Matt packed the best bag and had no food at his camp.

[spankydoll]

On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 8:23 PM, AZChristian said:

I couldn't get past Richard and Sawyer pretty much kicking Matt out of camp, but then insisting they needed to go find other people just in case the other people needed help.  Matt needed their help . . . but they decided that he apparently just wasn't a good "fit" for the kind of help they wanted to give; as a result, they made him feel extremely unwelcome.  After reading about Matt in the solo lady's diary - and Matt's own diary - they saw him through different eyes and realized that they had misjudged him and (IIRC) recognized that their behavior wasn't very kind.  

Acting like Lord of the Flies douchebags on national television.  Those boys aren't too bright. 

Good for Robbie in surviving the most extreme season of Biggest Loser ever.  He's a gem. 

[IDreamofJoaquin]

I just caught up with this and watched it within a week.  I actually liked the show and found it "wholesome" and I'm okay with the producers trying to give us uplifting stories of struggle and human nature.  I have tons of other shows I can watch where they compete or do trashy things.  I also was happy to see people mention Siberia as I had totally forgotten about it!!!   I liked how they showed little bits of their lives slowly (example...Richard getting married....then showing the kids later on)  I liked they decided to take one major lifetime event and show how each person celebrated it during the eclipse. 

I loved Tim and Krichelle's dynamic, I thought he seemed so genuine and I was glad he expressed his feelings of gratefulness towards her. My dad and I were both wanting a Tim update but I couldn't find anything.  What I did find during a search was that coral can't grow in your frickin' body so that must be some Hawaiian myth.  I'm assuming Krichelle's father is not in any serious trouble any longer and was okay being exposed on tv.  

I love that Terry lasted so long on her own but she also seemed to have the most available resources.  Still being okay with your own mind for over a month is really something. She is sweet but it's not my kind of sweet. Telling Matt she loved him and that Rashanna will be with her always was just too sappy for me.  But the world probably needs more nice people like her. 

Eric's segment pissed me off because his wife pissed me off.  Thanks for taking part in upholding this countries racist standards and not telling your parents their "traditions" are bullshit, Elise.

I could not stand Matt.  I don't know if it was his crooked face but I really didn't like his lifestyle either.  He's so worried about his parents having to keep working but he gets to take off and live on a fuckin' island for a few months while they work and then he gets to sky dive and drive race cars?   And he seemed shady as hell, taking from Richard and Sawyer what he needed and not giving Kenzie and Robbie straight answers.  If he meant to go back he should have done so immediately. It wasn't a testament to him adapting, it was a testament to how kind Robbie and Kenzie were. 

Almost every post I read was about how Richard and Sawyer sucked but I still liked them a lot and was okay with them not being on board supporting Matt.  I liked Richard a lot early and but was disappointed he kind of let Sawyer take the lead in being harsher to Matt.  But he's from Sequim and I will root for anyone from WA.  Sawyer was just okay. 

Kenzie and Robbie seemed like they were the ones who needed the island the most.  Robbie had a positive turnout and Kenzie seemed like she just needed a break from her lifetsyle.  She seemed tired and sick and burnt out in her segments.   They were both tough as hell and stuck it out through some really terrible days.  I will say the talk Robbie had with his kids where one of his children told him they get made fun of because of his weight and he said "no way" like 5 times in a row bothered me.  Robbie has probably been made fun of his whole life because of his weight, he works with children, he has four children - he knows perfectly well this is something that would happen. I felt for the kid having to kind of argue with him saying "they do too". Like just say I'm so sorry someone said that to you instead of making your child defend themselves for a question YOU asked. 

Edited October 13, 2018 by IDreamofJoaquin