It's pretty easy to be an armchair quarterback, I suppose. This show "Naked and afraid" is supposed to be a reality show with an on-site camera crew documenting two people, a man and woman (who are unacquainted), as they attempt to survive three weeks in a remote part of the world without even the clothes on their backs.
The first episode takes place in a Costa Rican jungle.
Apart from one video camera each to help document their story, Kim and Shane are each issued one item of their choice to help with survival. She has a machete, and he has a flint-and- steel fire starter. So, it's not exactly Adam and Eve (and for that matter, there's no sex in this episode so forget about watching it if that's your primary interest).
The nudity becomes boring after the first minute or so. They are both outdoors types, physically well built and athletic, although at age 45 he's developing a bit of a spare tire (which is gone after 21 days of near starvation--gee, maybe I should sign up for an episode!). Clearly they are both comfortable in their skin and do not exhibit much inhibition. That said, Kim weaves some rudimentary loin cloths for them both early on, and she wears leaves over her breasts for much of the time, although they never do find a way to protect their feet.
I was surprised at how cold the jungle was for them. I have been to the rain forests of Costa Rica in September and it was quite hot, and people do go there at Christmas time to enjoy a nice warm surfing vacation. But, I suppose when you're hungry, unclothed, and being rained on every other day, you're going to get chilled at night.
I was also surprised at how difficult it was to get food. In a tropical jungle, you are literally surrounded by living creatures. It's such a rich ecology that I found it hard to believe there wasn't something edible within three feet of any given location. Shane admits early on that he's not a jungle person; he is not used to having a canopy of trees over his head.
Nonetheless, both he and Kim seem to know a lot about wildlife. It was cool to see him capture and decapitate that nasty snake--that really was a courageous act, given it is one of the most poisonous creatures in the world and one of its kind nearly killed the producer a few days earlier. I was waiting for them to down a howler monkey and feast on it for supper, but Shane put the kibosh on that idea, reporting that the animals were far stronger and more ferocious than the humans could imagine.
In many parts of Africa and Asia, creatures such as grasshoppers, beetles, grubs, ants, larvae, etc. are regularly dined upon. I suppose it's easier said than done, especially with no nets, skewers, or cooking vessels.
But it was distressing to watch them just sitting there, day after day, becoming weaker and more listless and even less able to forage for food. The turtle and the snake appear to have been their only meals during the entire three weeks, and for Kim at least, the turtle turned out to be a bit of a disaster.
The NY Post reports that Kim actually received some food and an IV for dehydration after her food poisoning scare, and Shane actually broke three toes on the fourth day (they didn't say what treatment he received, if any), and this was not related during the show, so I knock two stars off for dishonesty and non-disclosure.
Shane has some anger management issues, as Kim points out more than once. He had a pretty awful childhood and in fact I found myself sympathizing with him, although I did not agree with his annoyance at Kim. Kim, for her part, is charming and level headed and it's interesting at the end that she is the one with the energy and drive and the diplomacy to carry the day, insisting that they approach the pick-up spot hand-in-hand, as friends and not as the extremely drained and irritable co-conspirators that they had become. And I loved Kim's war paint that she put on at the end--very cool!
Despite the cheating, it was still fun to watch, somewhat agonizing at times as you empathize with these tough but increasingly desperate people struggling to get a foothold in a very unforgiving place.
EDIT: My review was entirely about the first episode. Since then, I have watched a second episode during which they were up front about the crew coming in and administering medical help for an infected foot. Kudos to them for being straightforward about it.
The first episode takes place in a Costa Rican jungle.
Apart from one video camera each to help document their story, Kim and Shane are each issued one item of their choice to help with survival. She has a machete, and he has a flint-and- steel fire starter. So, it's not exactly Adam and Eve (and for that matter, there's no sex in this episode so forget about watching it if that's your primary interest).
The nudity becomes boring after the first minute or so. They are both outdoors types, physically well built and athletic, although at age 45 he's developing a bit of a spare tire (which is gone after 21 days of near starvation--gee, maybe I should sign up for an episode!). Clearly they are both comfortable in their skin and do not exhibit much inhibition. That said, Kim weaves some rudimentary loin cloths for them both early on, and she wears leaves over her breasts for much of the time, although they never do find a way to protect their feet.
I was surprised at how cold the jungle was for them. I have been to the rain forests of Costa Rica in September and it was quite hot, and people do go there at Christmas time to enjoy a nice warm surfing vacation. But, I suppose when you're hungry, unclothed, and being rained on every other day, you're going to get chilled at night.
I was also surprised at how difficult it was to get food. In a tropical jungle, you are literally surrounded by living creatures. It's such a rich ecology that I found it hard to believe there wasn't something edible within three feet of any given location. Shane admits early on that he's not a jungle person; he is not used to having a canopy of trees over his head.
Nonetheless, both he and Kim seem to know a lot about wildlife. It was cool to see him capture and decapitate that nasty snake--that really was a courageous act, given it is one of the most poisonous creatures in the world and one of its kind nearly killed the producer a few days earlier. I was waiting for them to down a howler monkey and feast on it for supper, but Shane put the kibosh on that idea, reporting that the animals were far stronger and more ferocious than the humans could imagine.
In many parts of Africa and Asia, creatures such as grasshoppers, beetles, grubs, ants, larvae, etc. are regularly dined upon. I suppose it's easier said than done, especially with no nets, skewers, or cooking vessels.
But it was distressing to watch them just sitting there, day after day, becoming weaker and more listless and even less able to forage for food. The turtle and the snake appear to have been their only meals during the entire three weeks, and for Kim at least, the turtle turned out to be a bit of a disaster.
The NY Post reports that Kim actually received some food and an IV for dehydration after her food poisoning scare, and Shane actually broke three toes on the fourth day (they didn't say what treatment he received, if any), and this was not related during the show, so I knock two stars off for dishonesty and non-disclosure.
Shane has some anger management issues, as Kim points out more than once. He had a pretty awful childhood and in fact I found myself sympathizing with him, although I did not agree with his annoyance at Kim. Kim, for her part, is charming and level headed and it's interesting at the end that she is the one with the energy and drive and the diplomacy to carry the day, insisting that they approach the pick-up spot hand-in-hand, as friends and not as the extremely drained and irritable co-conspirators that they had become. And I loved Kim's war paint that she put on at the end--very cool!
Despite the cheating, it was still fun to watch, somewhat agonizing at times as you empathize with these tough but increasingly desperate people struggling to get a foothold in a very unforgiving place.
EDIT: My review was entirely about the first episode. Since then, I have watched a second episode during which they were up front about the crew coming in and administering medical help for an infected foot. Kudos to them for being straightforward about it.