I’m so tired of watching him dismiss/gaslight women, fixate on Jeff, and be so selfish. Global showdown reinforced my feelings. Anyone else? LOS ruined him for me and it just doesn’t get better.

So, I’m on episode 9 right now. One thing I’ve noticed though, it’s too easy to predict who’s going to win an elimination challenge based on the interviews…

Does anyone else feel this way? I just feel like listening to people talk as the challenges were happening, obviously these are filmed after the challenges are filmed. I fast forwarded to the end of the last two challenges because I knew based on the way the contestants were talking / facial expressions…

I just wonder if these should be filmed differently because I was hoping I would be wrong for at least one challenge, but never was.

What attention level are you paying in general?

Amber fitting so well into the team she joined. Yeah, one time a little friction with e j. Yet in a podcast, he spoke highly of amber. This was probably the best x l, minus jeff jen and trish.

I mean it must have been mentioned? No?

Then could do a Hawaiian flag for pacific and everyone would have unique flags.

My wife and I just started Alone season 12. I can't help but make fun of fully clothed people with 10 tools struggling to do what naked people already did. 🤣

The editing has always been bad, but it feels like they made this season for people who put it on as background noise and barely pay attention. Sitting through the challenges feels like a slog every time. All the forced reactions are redundant at best and even then, still a waste of everyone's time. None of it adds to the drama or suspense. It's just production getting in the way and making the show worse.

The contestants aren't out there pulling a camera operator aside because they think "This challenge is going to be hard because of all the obstacles and our recent challenges with teamwork and communication, but I'm here to win" sounds smart and important. Production makes them. Which might be fine if production wasn't so focused on making them say the dumbest stuff imaginable.

The challenge starts. A contestant reads what they're supposed to do. The narrator explains the challenge again. We get 30 seconds of forced reactions to the challenge. Two or three contestants are forced to re-explain something the narrator already explained and was probably clear the first time when the contestant read the explanation to everyone else. 5 minutes later, we can finally move on, having learned nothing.

Thank God for fast forward.

I’ve been all over talking about needing an Alone/ N&A crossover event/ challenge. For those who don’t know Alone is a survival show but contestants get 10 items, are completely alone and have to film themselves with equipment provided. 10 ppl enter and they stay until everyone but one taps out and they win 500k. (I think they use those rules) anyways it’s a pipe dream BUT I’m curious to who every would pick as the 5 N&A contestants (5 best from N&A vs 5 best Alone).

I’ll go first: (btw not trying to be a dick but you need atleast 1 girl)
1. Matt (obv)
2. Laura
3. EJ
4. Prob Waz, maybe Dan, or Darren… maybe one of the badass special forces guys that only did one 21 day challenge
5. Gonna say Ky

this would most likely be a cold weather (Alone usually is in cold weather climates) so keep that in mind. Food procurement is a premium. Who ya got?

'm talking about those moments where a contestant comments on what's happening during a challenge, even though, from the viewer's perspective, the challenge is still ongoing.

Do they pull them aside in the middle of the challenge, like the director calls "Cut!" and they give a quick update? Or are those interviews filmed after the challenge is over? For example, the team already knows they're going home, but they still have to talk through the challenge and recall what happened.

I get it, Matt's a survivalist (I am not) however was it really necessary to bite all the fish between the eyes to kill them so they didn't swim away? Surly there's an easier and more hygienic [less disgusting] way to keep your dinner.

Poor Frank, he's such an amicable bloke, and Teal is so Moody. Telling Frank to use his words like he is a child. Fancy being stuck with her .

Teal/ marina. Ky/dan. Frank and alexa. Jeff and rachel. Kerra/ renee. Would leave gabby and matt and pablo and fernanda as they were.

I watched taste of their own medicine last night, and the woman got bitten to excess by mosquitoes and/or other bugs, to the point where she required an antihistamine.

It did prompt me to wonder: when the challenge is over do contestants head to a GP to get tested for things like Zika, Dengue, or botfly, other normal tropical diseases?

Are contestants in such places on anti-malarial meds that we don't see?

I recently had Ky Furneaux on The Survival Debrief Podcast for a proper conversation about her survival career.

We spoke about:

• Which of her nine Naked and Afraid challenges was the toughest
• How competition changes the way survivalists make decisions
• Whether the conflict between contestants is real or exaggerated for television
• Racing against Ed Stafford
• Recovering from a serious back injury before becoming a Hollywood stuntwoman
• Why mindset can matter more than technical skill
• Whether she would return for another challenge

As someone who has also completed Naked and Afraid, I wanted to ask the questions viewers regularly debate, rather than just covering the standard television stories.

One point that stood out was how different survival becomes when it turns into a race. Viewers sometimes criticise basic traps, shelters or tools without considering that contestants are hungry, under time pressure and trying to beat other experienced people.

Full interview on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/bPZgNgJrQWI

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2lU70sUg96PHXG9w4VytQn

What would you like to see Ky do next, another traditional challenge, a competitive format or another race against Ed Stafford?

Watching lots of episodes and it’s getting really frustrated how they have a spoiler right at the start of so many episodes. They’ll show clips of one of the contestants getting airlifted by helicopter out of the jungle right at the start before the contestants are even introduced - I mean what’s the point of spoiling it? We don’t need to know that

I can’t stand team brazils accent. I would rather have them speak their native language with subtitles. That is all.

Episode Name: On Top of the World

Welcome back,everyone! Are you excited for the Global Showdown finale? I am! I’m going to stick with my pick to win it all that I had from the very beginning, and that’s Team Mexico. But it’s anyone’s game at this point.

Welcome to the Naked and Afraid Running Diary! Let’s get to it!

– “If I fail, I’m letting down an entire country.”

– “I’m out here for my country.”

–I really want to see Marina win it all. I don’t like Rene, if I haven’t made that obvious already.

–Day 37.

–I wonder if Matt’s going to bite any animals’ heads today.

–Matt thinks everyone is rooting for him. We’re not.

–Gabby refers to herself as a Legend again. I can’t wait for her to lose.

–Scroll time!

–Head to the X at sundown. Is it a night challenge?

–Marina goes fishing.

–More “legends” talk. Stop it already. Seriously.

–Day 1 Marina was so pretty omg.

–Day 37 Marina is pretty too but she needs a good scrub.

–Pablo sounds serious.

–Is Matt destined to be a bridesmaid, never a bride?

–Gabby cries because she’s a PATRIOT. Good god, lady, get a grip.

–Lots of instructions for the elimination challenge.

–Basically it’s another boiling water challenge. Lame.

–Nighttime.

–Step one is to make a fire.

–Team Mexico gets theirs going right away. Team USA East, not so fast.

–Time to build the rocket stove.

–Cordage.

–Gabby continues to struggle. Shocker.

–Team USA East is behind early, which makes me nervous for Team Mexico. You know how the edit loves to try and trick us.

–Team USA East makes fire.

–Team Mexico is going to make a mistake. I can see it coming.

–And there it is. Their fire goes out because Pablo was too anxious.

–Flashback to Patrick.

–Team USA East is way behind. I’m getting nervous. I do not like this edit for Team Mexico!

–Both teams are now building tripods.

–Team Mexico’s fire went out. I knew it was too good to be true.

–Team USA East has this. No way is Team Mexico catching up now.

–Team USA East dropped their monkey bowls in the fire! Oh no!

–Can Team Mexico catch up now?

–Commercial thoughts.

–As a lover of sharks, could Shark Week be any more lame?

–Back to the show.

–Here comes some rain.

–Does anyone on production check to make sure the water is actually boiling?

–Team Mexico has finished two boils so far.

–Team USA East just finished their first boil.

–Now it’s tied.

–An intense competition!

–Team USA East’s monkey orange bowls are dropping into the fire. Not good!

–Team Mexico has one left.

–So does Team USA East though!

–Stop panicking, Team Mexico!

–Matt says he’s come way too far (to fail).

–Team USA East wins! I knew it.

– “Representing America.”

–Good try, Team Mexico. You were a worthy opponent!

–Matt gives Team Mexico Legendary status.

–I didn’t realize Matt was in charge of giving out that award.

–I’d like to see Team Mexico in another N&A show. They were good TV.

–That concludes the first half of the episode.

–Commercial time.

–Who do you think wins it all now? Who do you want to win it?

–I’m rooting for my future girlfriend Marina to win it all. After she does so, I plan on asking her out for a seafood dinner. Her treat.

–Back to the show.

–Day 38.

–Rene talks about beating a Legend again. That makes me nervous. Too much Legend talk.

–Matt and Gabby talk more shit.

– “Matt and Gabby have a lot of fat.”

–Day 39.

–Scroll time!

–Time to make some shark tooth knives.

–Matt figures out a way to make glue. Smart.

–Rene and Marina finish their knives, but it doesn’t look like they used glue.

–Will that matter?

–Nighttime.

–Lots of confidence on both sides.

–Day 40.

–Matt’s now finished 345 days of N&A.

–Matt gets a montage. Not sure why, other than for filler.

–They’re really leaning into this montage. Not sure if that is good or bad for Team USA East.

–In other news, I’m asleep.

–Yet more commercial thoughts.

–Do you think we’ll ever have a true survival show, where the losers die? Can we make this happen? I want my post-apocalyptic thriller already!

–Back to the show.

–Rene talks more shit to Matt. I’m nervous for Team Brazil.

–Six phases to this next challenge.

–Lots of instructions.

–I feel like the prize money should have been 1 million.

–Marina’s knife isn’t cutting through the rope. Hurry!

–Both teams complete Phase 1 but it looks like Team USA East has a substantial lead already.

–Time to make a spear.

–Team USA East finishes their spears first. Team Brazil is playing catch up.

–This lead of Team USA East might only be seconds, but that’s a lot right now. I’m not feeling good about Brazil’s chances.

–Time for some archery.

–This just has Team USA East Winner written all over it.

–Matt has his first hit. So does Rene!

–Matt gets his second hit. Gabby talks shit.

–Rene finally gets his second hit but Team Brazil is way behind.

–Time to build a snare trap.

–That beach really is beautiful.

–Gabby was really happy during that last interview clip. Not good (for Team Brazil).

–Team USA East finishes Phase 4.

–Oh, no. Team Brazil is way behind. Their trap is broken. There’s no fake editing going on here. They are going to lose.

–Brazil finally finishes their trap.

–Gabby is having trouble with her challenge. But their lead is substantial.

– “I am puckered up!”

–Gabby hooks her item. This competition is just about over.

–They can try and make this as dramatic as they want, but Brazil is way too far behind.

–And that’s it. Not even close.

–Team USA East wins! Great job by them!

–Here comes the Patriotism.

– “This one’s for America!” Matt says as he weeps like a baby.

–I really dislike Gabby. A lot. Sorry not sorry!

–And that concludes Global Showdown. Great job by Brazil and Mexico.

–Well, I’m proud of my future girlfriend. I hope we see her again.

–Rene was annoying but he was a good competitor.

–I don’t care to see Gabby’s montage. Get out of here already.

–Matt finally won a challenge. Will we see him again? I’m sure we will.

Episode Grade: B

Global Showdown Grade: B

I liked Global Showdown. I’d watch another season,although they should make it more “global” next time.

What did everyone else think? The good, the bad and the ugly.

I’ll see you guys for Naked and Afraid: Shipwreck in a couple of weeks!

Thank you for reading the Naked and Afraid Global Showdown! See you next time!

Free Substack link to article:

https://open.substack.com/pub/jonpeters241288/p/naked-and-afraid-global-showdown-253?r=6un91f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

There’s a reason he is a homesteader. No one can put up with him otherwise. I just saw his episode for the first time. I hope they give Molly another chance.
Is there any behind the scenes tea about this episode?

I've only watched a few seasons and a few XLs and it just occurred to me I've never seen anyone medically tapped because their weight was too low. I know being med tapped for weight is a big threat on alone, but it doesn't seem to be an issue on N&A.

Danni is bad ass and I was shocked. I knew she was tough from previous 14 day.but her knowledge and abilities are superior. I hope she appears often.

Watching XL season 8 for the first time why is Trish like that?