Naked And Afraid XL Overview: Survival Of The Fittest?

The premise of "Naked & Afraid XL" is that twelve contestants (all of whom previously appeared on "Naked & Afraid") must survive for 40 days (instead of the usual 21).

They are in the Oranoco River Basin in Colombia. Temperatures can reach 120 degrees. There are snakes, cayman and I'm not sure what else. Everyone is dropped off separately and must locate the others. Each is given a knife and a map.

"XL" is marketed as a "societal challenge" since being able to work as a team is just as important as the mechanics of survive. I'm not big on shows where all the contestants fight with each other (so I was seriously hoping "XL" wouldn't be one of those).

One team (referred to as the "Alpha Males") is at Roca Diablo (or Red Rock). They include EJ, Jeff and Hakim. Hakim gets major stomach cramps and has to tap out at the beginning.

There is another team of women at Rio Negro (Black River). They are Laura, Eva and Dani J. Dani finally finds the others after wandering around a while. Dani's eye is badly swollen. She uses the Saladio plant to heal it. Eva slices her finger to the bone and is stitched up WITHOUT anesthesia. That girl is tough!

Team 3 is at Cano Verde (Green Canyon). They are Luke, Chris and Honora. I'm not sure why Honora is even on this show. She had to tap out of her initial challenge due to heat exhaustion. As predicted, Honora is upset because Chris is snarky with her. She throws all their survival items into the river. Say what? I suspect Honora was just added to create drama. Chris finally retrieves most of the items and he and Luke carry on.

Team 4 is is at El Bosque (The Forest). They are Shane, Danielle (Dani B), and Alana. Since Shane has professed not being a big fan of women, its funny they put him with two. As predicted, sparks fly and Shane takes out on his own.

Going into the final episode, there are eight people out of the original twelve left. Hakim, Honora, Dani J and Shane have tapped out. Jeff and EJ (who are still exceptionally strong) tell the others they want to travel to the extraction point alone. The other team feels spurned. Laura and the girls kill a cayman. It's good eating for everyone else (except for Dani B who is holding tight to her vegetarian vows). They even share some with EJ and Jeff.

Everyone makes it across the water to the extraction point. They are joined in the swim by river dolphins. That was cool. There are hugs all around.

The final episode has the contestants discussing their ordeal. Everyone is there including Hakim, Honora, Dani J and Shane. There is the usual drama with Honora. I think she needs some psychological help. Shane also talks about how he felt excluded from the girl's group.

What did we learn from this ordeal? Drama uses up badly needed calories. Working together and being supportive of each other is what gives everyone through to the other side. Something else interesting emerges though.

Of the four that left early, one was for medical reason (Hakim) and one shouldnt have been there in the first place (Honora). But Shane and Dani J I believe had the skills to make it. They were excluded from the group due to their personalities. Do groups subconsciously pick a few members to "cannibalize" in order to increase cohesion among the others? If so, that's a scary idea. Especially because I have the feeling I'd be the one being cannibalized. This topic may require future research.

Beginning Primitive Survival Rate or PSR (which they're calling "XLR" on this show):
Team EJ: 7.9
Team Eva: 8.2
Team Shane: 7.6
Team Chris: 7.8

Ending PSR:
EJ and Jeff 8.4
The other team of six 8.3

Favorite Quote:

"Survival has to be lazy."- Alana to Shane. There's something to be said for this. You have to know when to expend calories and when to conserve them.

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