[/caption]Last summer, Will Ferrell joined Bear Grylls for two days in Sweden to promote his movie, Land of the Lost. With another person to look after, Bear toned the intensity of the challenges down. Ferrell actually had a walk in the park compared to the two fans who won a chance to survive for two days in the Canadian wilderness with Bear Grylls. Bear's mission is to push both fans, Joe Mesto and Sean Lacoste, to their limits. Bear also wants each man to face and conquer their fears. Joe fears heights. Sean fears water.
The challenges the two fans face aren't fierce. Bear and Discovery can't get these guys killed so there won't be any fights between man and an actual bear for food. Bear used rope more than ever and might've repelled down a mountain more than ever. They are in British Columbia, in the Powder mountain range (I think).
As per usual, here are the highlights:
-The helicopter has no way to land on the mountain so the three have to rope down. Joe and Sean look terrified. Bear descends first and then shouts directions to the two men. Both reach the ground safely. Bear tells them they need to do two things: listen to him and trust him. If I'm in the wilderness with Bear Grylls, am I going to do anything but trust him? Surprisingly, Joe doesn't give complete trust to Bear. More on this later.
-Whenever an episode begins high on a mountain, the first half is devoted to climbing down. You know what that means: REPEL. Bear uses a rock anchor for the descent via rope. For Joe and Sean's first time, Bear puts the two together. Bear has to assure Joe that the rope will hold. It does. They are safe.
-Bear keeps the three of them tied together through rope a lot during the first ten minutes. It's better to be safe than sorry.
-Bear worries about the guys becoming dehydrated. He and the fans gather snow in their bottles. Yes, Bear doesn't advise anyone to eat snow for hydration in cold, dry air because eating snow lowers one's core temperature. As the three continue to work their way down the mountain, the snow will have melted by the time they reach the bottom of the mountain. Bear also worries about the endurance level of the fans because of the high altitude. A new environment is a shock to one's body and the British Columbia environment takes its toll early on Joe. During the narration, they using their hands and feet to climb down. You know, kicking deeply into the snow or digging their hands into the snow. Bear decides to glissade down the slope. Simon doesn't crash into anyone this time. He doesn't follow any of them down with a sled though. The three glissade safely. It looks fun.
-Bear and the fans navigated a glacier with many crevices. All that stood between them and solid, non-snowy ground was a fifty foot icewall that leads into a crevice. Bear and the fans dig an ice anchor for the moments. Bear has to assure Joe that the rope will hold, that the anchor is good. Sean repels easily. Joe struggles. He doesn't trust himself or Bear. His feet aren't planted flatly and he isn't arching back; therefore, he sort of slides down the mountain. Bear wishes Joe would trust himself more.
-The three make camp. Bear brought dinner because he didn't want the fans to kill for their food. Bear lets Joe remove the bad parts of the rabbit. Bear narrates about how most people like their meat in a pretty package. Bear feeds the fans the heart of the rabbit before cooking the rest of the animal. Joe actually enjoys the cooked rabbit. I guess it beats a raw rabbit heart. The three sleep in twenty degree temperature. I'm not sure if any of them sleep. In the morning they wake up for breakfast. They warm themselves up with tea. Bear instructs them to look under rocks for worms or grub. The fans collect a decent number of worms. The three of them eat. Bear describes the taste as simply "awful."
-The time comes for Sean to face his fear of water. It's rather dull. He freezes in the water but Bear pulls him across without stopping. After this experience, Sean repels down a mountain near a waterfall and swims in a glacial river. I think he was cured.
-Joe nearly breaks his knee repelling. He never trusts himself nor Bear. He does deliver the best quote of the episode: "I'm repelling down a mountain with Bear Grylls. This is awesome."
The rest of the episode without any major highlights. Bear's a good teacher. He shows patience and genuine concern for the individual fears of his fans. The fans clearly admire and respect Bear. Joe remarks that it's amazing Bear does this (survive in the wild) for a living.
Overall, Fan Vs. Wild was a decent episode. Next week, Bear is in the desert and his crew will be creating the conditions to demonstrate how to survive in the desert. It's the sequel to the "How To Survive In The Bitter Cold" episode that aired a few weeks ago.
I'll be back in a bit with my 2010 Week 1 NFL PREDICTIONS. FOOTBALL HAS ARRIVED!
Oh, if you missed it here are my reviews for Hellcats and Terriers: http://blogs.wcuquad.com/2010/09/09/the-foot-review-of-fxs-terriers-pilot/ and http://blogs.wcuquad.com/2010/09/08/the-foot-review-of-the-hellcats-pilot-a-world-full-of-strangers/
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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