r/nakedandafraid • u/SpiderGhost01 • 1d ago
Episode Discussion Naked and Afraid: Global Showdown Season 1 Episode 3 Running Diary!
Episode Name: Enter the Kill Zone
Hi everyone! I hope your weekend went well. I’m going to see the Backrooms movie tonight after N&A, so I’m excited for that. Not much else to say but:
Welcome to the Naked and Afraid: Global Showdown Running Diary! Let’s get to it!
–Welcome to “Global” Showdown aka The U.S. plus Brazil and Mexico.
–Day 5.
–Jeff and Kerra take a much needed break.
–They’re looking forward to “the hunt.” So am I.
–Will Dan’s back take him out? Chances of tapping are low at 12%.
–Time for Rachel to show her hunting/fishing skills. Will she choke under the pressure?
–Rachel handles animal poop like she’s kneading dough.
–Let’s check in with Ky and Alexa!
–Ky has good energy. She’s ready to kill!
–Frank and Teal are going to build another bridge? Did they not complete it last time? I don’t remember.
–I guess this is still part of last week’s challenge still? Not sure about the editing here.
–Matt and Gabby sit at the top of the leader board.
–Matt is eager to dominate everyone. Seems like a recurring theme with him. World domination.
–Let’s check in with our southern neighbors.
–Team Brazil is going to fish because they don’t have a bow.
–Rene throws his line in the water and almost immediately catches a fish. Thriving!
–Marina looks happy. I’m happy for her. Good job by them!
–Back to the U.S. Team Mexico can go fuck itself, apparently.
–Rachel checks her fishing lines. What did she catch? Is it a giant crock?!
–It was a fish and she lost it. Not thriving!
–Rachel has a momentary emotional breakdown.
–Dan tells the camera that he’s frustrated. He’s basically calling Rachel a weak partner. What’s his problem?
–Jeff and Kerra go after a warthog. Is that a good idea?
–Jeff takes aim, he shoots, and…commercial time.
–Time to make some ginseng tea.
–And we’re back.
–I think he hit the warthog. Let’s find out!
–That arrow has lots of blood on it. Looks like the hunt was a success!
–I did not know that warthogs could run up to 35 mph. That’s the Usain Bolt of animals.
–We get our first “This is what I live for!” from Jeff. It probably won’t be the last.
–Jeff really rubs it in Matt’s face. Well deserved. I love their rivalry.
–Matt thinks Jeff got lucky and doesn’t have skill. He’s so bitter.
–Looks like there might be a hyena problem. Jeff and Kerra must fortify their boma so that the animals don’t come for their food.
–Frank and Teal and Team Brazil complete their bridge, get the 100 points, and then get to choose a tool. I guess the challenge didn’t end last week but continued as long as necessary until all teams completed it.
–Jeff and Kerra have a meat party.
–Nighttime.
–The hyenas crash the party. Everyone wants some of Jeff’s meat.
–Day 6.
–Jeff and Kerra survived the night.
–Frank goes hunting.
–He chases after a wildebeest, but he doesn’t have a shot.
–Baby rhino alert!
–Time for Matt and Gabby to hunt.
–We check in on Team Mexico for the first time tonight. I forgot they even existed.
–I can’t even remember their names.
–They’re still building their bridge so that they can access The Hunting Grounds.
–And that’s all we get from Team Mexico. Back to the U.S. So much for the GlobalShowdown.
–Frank shoots a warthog. Looks like he got a kill. Good job by him!
–Teal says she doesn’t have high expectations for Frank’s hunt. She’ll be in for a surprise.
–Matt and Gabby are still on their first hunt. Chances of success, though, are high at 73%.
–Matt sneaks up on the warthog, fires, and it’s a hit! Holy shit the warthog runs right for him!
–We cut to commercial before learning whether or not the warthog gored Matt. Let’s hope so.
– “Thank you for your sacrifice,” Matt tells his prey.
–We’re back with Dan and his bitching about his partner. I’m waiting for the big blowup.
–Rachel decides it’s time to talk about team dynamics. How will Dan handle the criticism?
–Dan says “it broke his heart” that she feels the way she does. He brings a surprising sensitivity to her needs.
–Back to the other U.S. teams, who are all enjoying their own meat parties.
–Nighttime.
–Nothing happens but more meat talk.
–Day 7.
–Dan’s back is still bothering him. Chances of tapping are at 16%.
–A scroll has arrived. This gives us a chance to see teams Mexico and Brazil for .0001 seconds.
–Dan hangs from a tree with Rachel attached to his waist. I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to help his back.
–The teams meet for a score update.
–Team Mexico and Brazil are still at the bottom. Chances one of them will be eliminated first is high at 87%.
–The next challenge is a bird trap challenge. Lots of instructions I won’t bother repeating.
–Teal is looking forward to digging through animal feces.
–Looks like we’ve got an elimination coming soon! Will it happen in this episode or will we end on a cliffhanger?
–Time for the contestants to find ten seeds by digging through rhino dung. Fun times!
–Team Australia is in the lead!
–How are teams Mexico and Brazil last in literally every challenge?
– “This knife is duller than Texas’s future,” Rachel quips. Was she talking about team Texas or the state of Texas?
–Teal gives us a math lesson. Is there going to be a test?
–Jeff and Kerra built their trap faster than every other team. Good job by them. But they still have another one to build, right? Not sure why Jeff is gloating about it.
–They’re going to drag out this bird trap challenge until the end of the episode.
–Matt and Gabby finish all of their traps first.
–A string comes untied. Back to the drawing board for those two. Fail!
– “He’s a bushcrafting southern motherfucker,” Jeff says of Frank. That was a good line.
–Team Brazil is moving along. Not sure how quickly though.
–Hey, it’s team Mexico! I wonder what they’re up to? Drinking lattes while soaking up the sun?
–The trap that Dan and Rachel built looks really good. I’d buy that thing from a store (if I was shopping for bird traps).
–Teal is missing a seed! Oh, no! Disaster!
–Matt and Gabby must redo their trap. It’s impossible to know who will win!
–Frank and Teal win! Even having to go back and get seeds didn’t stop them from succeeding.
–Dan and Rachel come in second. Good job by them!
–Team Australia has a major screwup. They just opened the door for the bottom teams.
–Jeff and Kerra’s trap looks awful but I’m not a trap expert so who knows. Maybe it’ll work.
–Nope. It did not work.
–In a shocking development, Team Brazil takes third! Great job by them.
–Matt and Gabby take fourth. I’m really worried about Jeff and Kerra. It’s not looking good.
–Team Australia take fifth!
–Texas and Mexico will fight to the death in an elimination challenge. Remember the Alamo!
–Texas finishes next but it only matters for points. They’ll still be up for elimination.
–And Team Mexico comes in last. Not a good job by them.
–Jeff’s bravado feels hollow. I don’t like their chances at all. But Team Mexico hasn’t shown much fight yet, so who knows.
–And that concludes the episode.
Not a bad episode, although the two hour time slot, again, is just too long. Way too many commercials and they spend too much time on the bird trap. But we know to expect this from N&A now. They stretch it out for the advertisements.
Episode Grade: B-
What did everyone else think?
See you next time on the Naked and Afraid: Global Showdown Running Diary!
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u/Hot_Rice_2952 14h ago
Gabby is a powerhouse. I'm waiting to see Kerra do some work instead of sitting around.
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u/Busy-Song407 11h ago
Agree about Gabby. She also had no problem redoing that trap construction for what seemed like 3X until it somehow held together. I was surprised about how messy their trap construction was, however.
Although not as bad as Team Texas. I do hope that Team Texas is the loser in the elimination challenge next week, but Team Mexico is being edited as looking very weak and unorganized.
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u/Grouchy-Pass6981 1d ago
I agree too many commercials but still love the competition! Looking forward to next week.
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u/PigletHuman218 23h ago
The commercials are a lot, but I honestly don’t think they have any control over that as a show. I think that’s the just the overall network or even tv service.
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u/Busy-Song407 10h ago
The commercials really get stacked up one on another in the last 20 minutes. There seems to be hardly 5 minutes of footage between commercial breaks at that point.
It's hardly as if this is spine-tingling tension. I've just learned to put the commercial breaks to good use refilling beverages and taking bathroom breaks.
I also started watching the Storm Chaser program that follows. That gets to be quite intense. The people on that program all seem different variations of crazy.
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u/Busy-Song407 11h ago edited 9h ago
Really enjoyed the synopsis, SpiderGhost01
I'd give it a solid B. Better than last week's make-a-trap challenge. But for me the highlight was not at all the competition. It was the Ranger Talk.
I think this bird trap is for people who have a lot of time on their hands and a knack for craftswork, so essentially a great choice to make the physically strong competitors do this under time pressure. I enjoyed the Matt takedown, as limited as it was. Even Gabby couldn't get this done well.
I am most impressed by Dan and Rachel's bird trap construction ( note how I initially don't include Rachel, because he doesn't either). Theirs was one very tight unit of very straight sticks that meshed well, and I was also impressed by the stick he had wedged up under the trap to support it. He's a very self-centered jerk, but I thought his bushcraft on this one was really the best, even better than Frank and Teal's. I'm very happy that Team Brazil also came through, although we really didn't get a great look at their finished product.
The hunting stuff was OK. I'm curious as to why there were so many warthogs available in that particular area, well away from them deadly rhinos.
The highlight for me was the South African ranger talk about Hyenas and the need for a very strong Meat Boma. It was interesting to see how Jeff and Kerra did theirs. I was a bit worried how it backed into their sleeping boma.
I missed the ranger talks with the other groups, so I can't really comment about their Meat Boma construction plans. I'll have to watch that bit over next week. That was really the highlight of the entire 2 hours for me.
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u/SpiderGhost01 10h ago
I liked the meat boma construction as well!
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u/Busy-Song407 9h ago
It occurs to me a good bushcraft competition might be to have the contestants make a functional fishtrap that nets more than one planted fish.
Those fishtraps seem like notorious failures all the time.
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u/Busy-Song407 9h ago edited 8h ago
Kudos to my new unsung hero, Ranger Tiaan Coetzee for his star performance as Meat Boma Master.
He was more memorable than any of the competitors.
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u/FragrantCommission17 Cast Member 9h ago
I would argue that Dan’s bird trap was beautiful in part to Rachel cutting such perfect, straight, even sticks and having them all laid out in order for him to put together. 😜 I was very proud of how ours turned out. WE took the time and did it right.
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u/Busy-Song407 9h ago edited 9h ago
Good for Rachel for having done the best prep work of all. I'm sorry that I missed that part and omitted her contribution.
That was the only one that really looked well-done
I'll make sure to pay better attention when I re-watch this episode.
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u/Super_Selection1522 2h ago
"Back to the US. Team Mexico can go fuck itself, apparently".
Did an actual spit take laughing so hard I almost fell off my survival sofa. Chances of my cats feeding on my dead body soar to 43%.
Not laughing at Mexico. The global teams deserve better air time. Laughing at/with Running Diary for keeping it real.
Chances of falling asleep if there is another fire challenge.... 100%. PSR: 0. WAIT, found my beer. PSR soars to 1.7
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23h ago
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u/nakedandafraid-ModTeam 23h ago
Your comment was removed for being uncivil towards contestants. Outright insults and attacks against the contestants are against the rules. Please keep comments civil.
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u/ModMiniWife34 15h ago
Love the running diary!! Also loved Ky’s comment after finishing: Smack talk me, baby!!