A Man. And His Blog.

Another good episode. It seems like the curse of every reality competition becomes true again: They only get better, when you get to the finish line of the season. They only get better, if you only have a few people to care about. They only get better, when you start to learn about who’s in this game. And I’m starting to finally learn about the teams, their ticks, their misbehavior. I wonder if there isn’t a possibility to do a reality competition show with fewer teams than 13.

Again, the focus heavily lies on No Limits. This time, it’s surprisingly not Erik, who gets all the attention, but Ike. First I’ve got the feeling it was the first episode where we heard Ike speaking, second I knew something would happen, when Jeff talked about him during the beginning – about Ike being a soldier, having a Purple Heart, being a team fighter. Then he twisted his ankle (is there another twisted ankle in the next episode? It’s kinda becoming a running gag), there is the question, if No Limits has to end the race, because of him, and there are his words of not giving up and continuing the race, at least the stage, just so that No Limits gets through, and they will see at the end of the stage. I wonder what would have happened with Ike and No Limits, when this stage would have been a two-day leg.

Then, there was some focus on the Cops. Not enough, but enough to let me realize there’s a woman in the team. Either I forgot all about Dani, or the producers have never really showed her before. Furthermore, similar to Ike, I have the feeling she spoke out for the first time (well, or I have forgotten anything she was saying earlier this season). It’s always surprising how many “new” people you can meet in a reality competition like that, even after being seven episodes in and almost arriving at the season finale. If there should be a second season for EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE, the producers have hopefully learned to get everybody some screentime (but really: You can help it with having fewer teams from the start).

Kudos goes to Fab 3 as well. And not just because they were part of this episode being the most thrilling one so far. I just loved how they were becoming a bit “idiotic” again, and how AJ and Kari were continuing their arguments. Their decision of getting the extra clue to figure out the destination of the finish line really was stupid. They haven’t thought about it at all, but I blame the situation for it. Fab 3 had two teams at the last challenge, and they will probably do anything to get out of there first. Unfortunately, they didn’t even look at the activity board and tried to get the last clue, instead they were just taking the extra mile, hoping that the challenge would be difficult enough to keep the other teams busy for 20 minutes.

But hey, it brought me the nice finish. Country Boys pretty much slow because of Chad and his inability to go uphill in speed, and Fab 3 behind them, because they weren’t able to figure out the clue. It really was a suspenseful moment, when the two teams were clashing at the stairs, Fab 3 passing them, Country Boys still confused about what just happened, and meanwhile Fab 3 and especially Kari had difficulties of their own. I always want those kinds of stage finishes in those kinds of reality competitions. But unfortunately there is not always this situation of two teams crossing each other near the finish line. But here you could see: It makes the episode more thrilling, when it finally happens. 7.5/10

The last jump for Jeff?

The last steps for Kari?

Well, this seems to be the first good episode of the show, because I liked it. Finally there’s time to focus on all the team, and finally the challenges are staying difficult and uneasy to do. I’m still surprised that the producers learned during the production and worked on their KINDERKRANKHEITEN. But yet again, EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE mostly stays completely uninteresting, because the teams and the competitors are mostly not interesting to look at, to listen to, or to root for.

But hey, at least I’m happy that the episodes don’t play on Erik’s blindness anymore. Okay, this stage of the race must have been the most difficult one for him so far, but I like that all the “Erik’s so great, bla bla” from the first few episodes is missing. I would have killed myself, if there was one more proudness from one of the competing teams, just because Erik is such a super action hero. Other than that, I found myself surprised and stunned as well that Erik made it through, and that No Limits was third through the finish line at the end. Figuring the blind guy, everybody would have thought that No Limits is out of the race within hours, but here they are, and they’ve gotten respect from the other teams. But I’m not rooting for them.

Maybe I’m rooting a bit for Fab 3, but only because I could understand their arguments a couple of episodes ago, and I can relate to their anger, when something doesn’t work like they want it to work. The search for the rug for example. Fab 3 went in first, got out last, just because AJ and Kari weren’t able to work together during this challenge. But life seems to be fair to them, and when they were going back to be one of the first teams during the kayaking challenge, I was kinda happy with them. Obviously they have resolved their previous problems for good now. Yet, I’m not rooting for them.

What about the rest of the teams? The Football Players are completely forgettable, because they aren’t characters in a reality competition; the California Girls are mostly uninteresting, because I was expecting more bitchiness from them, figuring it’s an all-girls team, and they’re from California. But they don’t even get a lot of screentime at the moment, which makes them totally forgettable as well. Same goes with the Cops, whose names I don’t know, and the other teams, whose team names I just forgot.

At the end, I wasn’t shocked that the Fishermen are going home. I had the feeling that this was the first episode they were focused on, and that’s why it was predictable they would be going home at the end. Their stupidity during the rug challenge already showed it, as well as their behavior to each other during the kayaking, which made them pretty much unlikable.

I have to say though, I want to do the same expedition some time. Alone the cliff jumping was cool to look at, and it’s something I really want to do myself one time. Unfortunately, Germany doesn’t have a lot of cliffs, or the basic military training would have probably gotten me into it. The only thing I did back then was jumping into a little river with all clothes on. 7/10

The confused Fishermen look for a clue...

... and lost it somewhere in the river

The first couple of episodes were boring and annoying, because it had too many teams and not enough time to introduce them to the audience. This part of the season is boring and annoying too, because the teams aren’t as exciting as I was hoping, and somehow nothing exciting happens. The teams making their sprints, getting through the stage, hurting, fighting, loving and stuff. And that’s it. There isn’t even one annoying team left in the expedition – which could be considered a good thing for the casting agencies.

Well, the only interesting part to look at was definitely the first challenge with copying the map on the body of the team mates. It was fun to see how the teams were having fun with this challenge, and it was great to see that there is a moment in this show, which is actually pressing to be fun and sexy at the same time. In addition, I had the feeling that the challenges are really becoming better with the time. I already mentioned in my review for the last episode that I was starting to like how the challenges were built, and now it’s another episode with good and actually challenging-looking (or fun-looking) challenges. Seems like the producers really have learned from the mistakes every now and then during the beginning.

Yet the episode was still not that entertaining. Erik from No Limits gets too much love again, and because it was not enough to let the love shine from his team mates, he’s getting all sorts of compliments from the other teams now. I don’t mind when they are saying good things about him, but it’s starting to get seriously annoying, when it’s happening in every damn episode. So, now the Football Players have praise for him, because the producers obviously think there can’t be too much praise for a blind guy in an expedition/adventure/reality competition like this. I know he’s blind, I know he must be a stellar character, since he’s doing the expedition, I know that since the first episode. So, please stop telling me that every 30-or-so minutes.

The Gypsies somewhat remind me of Rob and Amber from the All-Star THE AMAZING RACE season (because that was my first TAR season, and one of the two, which I watched through). Finally they are not at first place anymore, and finally they are beaten for once. Luckily they aren’t out of the expedition after winning four stages in a row (like Rob and Amber, though they only won three legs before flying home). Hopefully the Football Players are for real, when they mentioned that Fab 3 sent a signal through the expedition that the Gypsies can be beat. Hopefully it makes the show a bit more suspenseful in the next couple of episodes. Other than that, I was happy with Fab 3 winning this stage. Even though the fight between AJ and Kari in the last episode was typically childish, they proved to have grown past it and making good team effort this time. That makes them more sympathic, yet again it makes the third team member completely forgettable – did he say a word in this episode?

At the end, I won’t miss the NY Firemen. It was good that they were considered to be a friendly team by the California Girls, but they weren’t interesting. Interesting is that the Cali Girls were beating them over a couple of minutes, even though the Firemen were helping the girls last episode. Talk about karma! 6/10

It's a moment of sexiness

It's a run through scary terrain

Seems like this show is starting to become more interesting. Now that I don’t care about half of the teams, because there are either already out or not focused in the episodes, it makes me want to like or hate the remaining teams – more or less. If the editors would just start to remind me all the times that Erik is blind and that everybody (especially the Gypsies this time) is surprised about how No Limits is doing in the competition and how Erik manages to pull through the stages every time. It’s getting annoying. And it makes me want to punch Erik in the face, because he is getting screentime, though he is one of the least interesting characters on the show.

Only a couple of things were interesting. There was the fight between AJ and Kari, whenever the Fab 3 had screentime, and there was the fact that the show proves to be really dramatic, when the teams are shown, who are currently in last place. It was actually an emotional moment, when the California Girls and the NY Fireman (besides Fab 3) were desperately trying to get the key challenge done and to get their asses off the freezing mountain. I kinda like those moments in this show, but unfortunately they only seem to be part of the show every 45 minutes for only 25 seconds. Anyway, with it, I liked the touching moment between Fireman Kevin, and the even more desperate California Girl Brittany, who was about to die on that bitch-ass mountain. EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE is an adventure competition, but I always like the moments, when it’s all about people and characters, and when the episodes turn into a different way – especially when the challenges are always boring, and the scenes between them free of any suspense.

The fight between AJ and Kari was amusing though. I wanted to have a bigger clash between the siblings though, and somehow the third team member was completely left out of the conflict. I don’t even know the name of the third team member with Fab 3, and if he’s another sibling, that’s how left out he was during this episode. At the end, I was just a bit disappointed about AJ here. He was bitching to the camera, to himself, but he never showed the annoying Kari, who the boss is during this stage – especially after AJ was so dearly annoyed of his sister. Maybe that conflict is having a continuation in the next couple of episodes (or as long as Fab 3 are still in the race). That was the first episode with Fab 3 in the center of attention, and as long as the next episode brings me closer to another team, it could make the last episodes of the season interesting.

During the second half of the episode I noticed that the challenges are getting better. Putting together the plow and actually plowing seemed to be the first challenge, which looked hard to do. Not climbing a mountain covered in snow, not rafting through a river, but instead just putting together some stuff and sweating while doing the challenge. I hope the producers have learned from the first three stages and bring some actual challenging challenges into the game. Until now, EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE was boring because of the forgettable challenges.

I won’t miss Team Kansas, and I definitely wouldn’t mind, if those stupid product placements (this time for Ford) would stay out of the show. It’s annoying, when an entertaining program becomes a commercial. Other than that, I have to mention real quick that the stay in the overnight camp kinda resembled SURVIVOR with snow. Did Burnett ever thought about doing a SURVIVOR season in the cold? 6/10

Brittany between being desperate, annoyed and freezing to death

AJ between being pissed, annoyed and falling apart

There are still way too many teams and characters on the show, I still haven’t started to care about one team or one single person. But it’s the third episode in a row, where the editors of the production team want me to tell that Erik’s accomplishment in not giving up and always be up and running, and it is starting to annoy me. The producers don’t have to show me he’s blind, and they don’t have to tell me all the time that it’s difficult for a blind man to do EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE. I’ve seen it in the last two episodes, now I would expect for it not to be a big topic for the rest of the season. Or as long as Erik is still in the race.

The episode was alright though. Not boring, not a burner, not interesting, but not lame. The challenges could be more thrilling, and the moments between the challenges could stop lacking in variety. Most of the ties they’re walking, running, swimming, and there’s barely any thrill or danger in it. True, they can be sucked up by the river or a sandstorm like here, but those sequences completely lack in suspense. And since the producers have chosen (whether voluntary or not) that there are no scenes involving the teams and their characters, it makes those scenes even more boring. And they are taking one third of the episode. Meaning, one third of the episode are completely forgettable.

Some moments were good though, and most of them belonged to Team Kansas. First I was laughing, when Lindsey fell from the camel (it seems like a cliché now that all the camels in Morocco are troublemakers), but when she started to half-cry and was actually hurt, I instantly felt bad about laughing. Don’t judge me, it just looked so funny, when the camel tried to throw Lindsey down. Later the episode, I liked Team Kansas’ entrance into the overnight camp, since it was the only likable moment so far in this series. It was actually emotional, I felt with the team, I felt with Mackenzie, and it brought some dramatic into the episode. Unfortunately, only for those 20 seconds, because after that, the situation was completely forgotten.

I’ve had a big problem with the overnight camp though. So, there is a stop in the middle of the leg, and the rules don’t tell that this stop is going to be used to level the chances of all the teams? The overnight camp could have been used for letting all the teams start at the same time, instead of giving the lead teams the usual head start. Very lame.

At the end, I didn’t care much about the Gypsies being the winners again, and Grandpa’s Warriors flying home. Though I was a bit confused (or maybe not) that Grandpa’s Warriors made some time good during the first day on the lake, while everybody was talking about Dick being a cool old guy, who is fit enough to probably win this race, but at the end he lost and is flying home. If there was only more focusing on the contestants and the team, then maybe I would start liking this show more. But for now, EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE is just a weak clone of THE AMAZING RACE with lost airtime and too many characters. It’s kinda the blah-show at the moment. 6/10

Down from the camel

Off to the sandstorm!

I wasn’t really thinking about continuing this little “gem” of a reality/adventure show, since I didn’t find any interest in watching this episode last week. But now I did, and now I have even less interest in continuing EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE. It’s just THE AMAZING RACE set in Morocco – the contestants are the same boring, annoying assholes like in every other reality competition; there is no suspense during the first couple of episodes, because of the sheer amount of contestants; and I’m getting annoyed with some of the contestants. In addition, I’m only two episodes in, but I already see how the editors work with the material shot: This episode was basically the last episode – same stuff, different shit happening. I was literally bored.

The challenges were boring, the trip between the challenges were boring, the stuff the competitors were talking about was boring. And why should I care about a new Mark Burnett show, when nobody tried to make EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE a bit more different from THE AMAZING RACE? I mean, even the head start rule was literally the same. The producers could have thought about sending the whole group to the next stage at the same time, but no, even here the first teams arriving at the finish line MUST have the advantage of leaving for the next round earlier. That just sucked all the way, even though it only sounds like nitpicking.

Other than that, the adventure part wasn’t hilarious or even good. Team Kansas has troubles with their horses, the California Girls have troubles with their horses, another goof even fell from the horse (yeah, not funny at all), and over was the horse riding. I wondered why the horses were having so much screentime, when they were just part of the trip to the first challenge. And then I was wondering why the football players couldn’t see the holes in the bucket and were so shocked, when the water was leaking. Okay, that might have been the funniest bit of the episode (it proved a cliché: football players equal dumb people), but it was over soon as well, and the episode started focusing on different stuff again. Again, not interesting, not funny, I couldn’t care less about the contestants

Furthermore, I was starting to get annoyed with Mom’s Army and the Gypsies. The former team annoyed me with the talks of the sisters about their mom and how they’ve always tried to push her mom to the edges. Then I asked myself how mom was even thinking about joining the adventure, when she clearly had too much fear and was missing her lady balls. The latter team annoyed me with their talk of recapturing the lead position from the country boys, just because they know the land and they know how to kayak in flat water. Uninteresting guys, so please stop talking about your egos.

Other than that, I noticed that EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE isn’t just an exact copy of THE AMAZING RACE, but it is edited together like the worldwide race. This episode focused on the same people the last episode was focusing on, and the others were left off. Probably because they are becoming more important in the later stage of the race, since one of them was winning it; maybe because they didn’t have anything to say and were basically shit-boring characters. But the show should start thinking about showing the other teams as well, because I can’t even remember half the names of the teams.

At the end, I was happy that Mom’s Army took the trip home and won’t be annoying me anymore. On the other hand, I don’t know if I’m going to continue to watch the show. From experience I know those kind of shows tend to be more thrilling in later stages, but I don’t know if I should waste my time with it until then. 4.5/10

Stupid horse makes stupid things

When a sister talks trash about her mother...

Well, if this wasn’t just a remake of THE AMAZING RACE, then I don’t know. This really was just a toned-down version of the CBS race, this time just set in Morocco, so ABC doesn’t have big production costs, and so this whole thing looks more exciting and dangerous. Figuring that Morocco is a pretty hot state (meaning the temperatures), and good-looking too (meaning all the dunes and cliffs and stuff). During the premier episode, I really sensed I wanted to go there too, having this adventure. I just don’t know if you could call it an impossible expedition – somehow I was imagining something completely different under that title, but that’s maybe just because I actually didn’t go on reading what this show was about.

Anyway, the premiere was alright, but showed why it is not superior to EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE: I really have to remember 13 teams with three members each., especially in an episode 43 minutes long? Of course that’s impossible (hey, it’s in the series’ title after all), and of course it means I couldn’t get much of the competitors, because the episode wouldn’t focus on all of them. Remembering, there was nothing about the California Girls and The Cops in this episode, and maybe even one or two more teams, which didn’t get any screentime. Which also means they are either completely boring, or they were one of the teams, who eventually landed in the final stage of the show, making it for the big money. Instead the episode showed a lot from the team with the blind guy Erik, as well as the Latino girls, Mom’s Army and Grandpa’s Warriors – with the exception of No Limits, not really mention-worthy teams with interesting characters, instead just plain boring and downright annoying. Of course the Latinos were fighting themselves during the first day, and of course they were the first ones to go home after this episode. Fortunately, because they really annoyed me with their fights. And it doesn’t look good, when a team is already fighting on the first day of a race.

The two challenges… well, i couldn’t say a lot of words about them, because there aren’t any words. The challenge with finding the water was okay, but I was surprised that it took them so long to realize there might be water under the sand. Even I knew that, and it was the first thing I was thinking about, when the first team was looking for water. No way they all didn’t know about finding sand under the water. Oh my Gawd. Anyway, it was a bit idiotic that the latter teams could use the holes already digged. What a shame that one of the first teams done with this challenge didn’t have the guts to bury the hole shut and leave it for the other teams to unbury the water again. I clearly would have wished for a crazy scene like this, when one of the middle or latter teams comes to the challenge and sees a team closing the hole and flipping out because of it. The second challenge, as exciting as it might look like, couldn’t have been more boring though. It is just not fun to see teams repelling, because it hasn’t any value for being entertaining or thrilling in a reality competition like this. I just found Mom’s Army to be touching here: First I really couldn’t believe how mom was not able to repell down, but when her daughters started to cry, it had a touching sub tone.

Well, I can’t say any more about the teams, and therefore not care who came in first or second, but I’m glad the Latinos came in last, because I don’t need them. Other than that, I hope the makers of the expedition pulled some exciting challenges off their heads to not make EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE look like a cheap and sandy copy of THE AMAZING RACE. The premiere was alright, because of Morocco, but it failed on any other level. 5.5/10

Do not smoke the camel!

That's a cliffhanger in real life