New survivor accounts emerged Tuesday confirming that about 750 people paid thousands of dollars each for a berth on the battered blue fishing trawler, seeking a better life in Europe. This could change as the competition goes on, but without villains to root against or a clear sense of what’s at stake, viewers may not feel compelled to stick around much longer to care who earns what.Survivors said women and children were trapped in the hold as the ship capsized and sank within minutes to one of the deepest spots in the Mediterranean. Though in this inaugural episode the easygoing personalities of the celebrities and the respect everyone shows each other is nice, no one seems able to admit to anger or frustration or any of the other real emotions that bond an audience to the competitors. Additionally, the fact that the pairs not currently engaged in the mission watch and comment to host Samantha Harris (“look at that shot he just made!”) during the other team’s trials further adds to an odd, video game feel. Though the contestants spend some time slogging through the mud and crawling under barbed wire, the jumpiness of the camera never let’s the viewer soak in the grueling nature of the course. When Quince gets bogged down in his military gear and starts to sink into the choppy waters, he’s immediately pulled out but a nearby rescue team, not his teammates. STORY: Desmond Tutu Calls for Protest, Cancellation of NBC’s ‘Stars Earn Stripes’Įven given the hectic atmosphere enhanced by POV cams and dizzying jump cuts, the action itself is not very engaging, possibly because the stakes are so low. Cynically, one knows an insurance company has already made sure that there’s no real danger to be had, a point reinforced by producers and the repeated phrase “redundancy of safety.” Yes the competitors and soldiers are using live ammunition, but most of the “dangers” are movie-like effects - random explosions and helicopters circling low to create a militaristic atmosphere. And despite claims of danger from every sector, there’s never a feeling of truth to it. The inclusion of the military is an insulting partnership, undermining the gravity of what the military is actually about. But it sums up the feeling of the show - it’s a playground. “We don’t really talk about that,” he replies, and she apologizes. In an awkward moment in the pilot episode, Laila Ali cavalierly asks her partner if he’s ever killed anybody. Worse, after merely one exercise the celebrities already begin talking about how they “understand what the soldiers have been through.” Doubtful. It does seem to belittle the soldiers’ experience to turn what they do into a competition. The complaint that the show unfairly sanitizes the gruesomeness of war is valid. There are extreme amounts of platitudes offered by the contestants to the military, and while the reverence and deference towards the soldiers may be well earned and deserved, it does not make for interesting television. There have been protests in recent weeks that the show attempts to turn war into entertainment. General Wesley Clark oversees the proceedings as a kind of Master of Ceremonies, watching the competitions from a Mission Control center whose setup makes for uneasy comparisons to video games. 'Bachelorette' Stars JoJo Fletcher, Jordan Rodgers on Hosting 'The Big D' and Why TV Couples Can Feel "Set Up to Fail"
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