People have criticized reality TV shows for how scripted and contrived they feel. The "reality" label feels ironic or a joke because the shows often feel more manufactured than a lot of dramatic shows like soap operas. In 2014, the Primetime Emmy Awards recognized this criticism and split up its reality category, so now there's Outstanding Structured Reality Program and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program. In 2003 though, the Emmys added the category Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, which is for talent or game shows where people show off their capabilities for some kind of prize or some amount of cash. This British series would seem to belong in that competition category along side past nominees like CBS'
Survivor. Yet, the way that the show also infuses fictional elements into it in such a blatant fashion blurs the line in terms of being able to give it one specific label.
If I were to compare this series to anything, it wouldn't necessarily be Survivor. It would be ABC's The Mole (2001), a show that featured 10 contestants trying to figure out which one among them is a spy. Nine of them were actual contestants and one is simply pretending to be a contestant. They are given physical challenges and even mental tests or puzzles to solve. The one contestant pretending tries to undermine the other nine and stop them from winning the challenges or solving the tests or puzzles. The group then has to figure out who that person pretending is. Each episode a person is eliminated or "executed," which is almost exactly how this British series operates.
Instead of a spy, the person here is pretending to be a murderer. In order to sell this conceit, the host of this series, Bobby Mair puts on a persona that is one-third game-show host, one-third sports commentator and one-third actor playing the role of camp counselor, as if pulled from
American Horror Story: 1984, a Ryan Murphy-produced, slasher spoof. Mair's persona is also coupled with murder scenes that are performed in cinema-like quality. Those scenes are inserted, much in the way that Errol Morris would insert reenactments into his documentaries, except this British series isn't trying to heighten the reality of their clearly faux situations and scenarios, as it is simply trying to set itself apart. The murder scenes though are at times meant to be arch and comical, campy in the theatrical sense.
Unlike The Mole, the challenges and tests are confined to one place. Therefore, this series doesn't have the elaborate production design and budget of The Mole, which took its contestants to exotic locales in other countries, at times taking over castles and villas. Here, everything happens in a sleep-away camp for teenagers and involve simple and cheap things that can be set up and accomplished there. If one is familiar with the recent series, HBO Max's Karma, it's very similar to that.
This series has 11 contestants and all of them are young and sexy.
The Mole had a diversity of ages. Everyone here seems to be under the age of 30, which makes it lean more toward
The Real World or
Jersey Shore in terms of what it expects. What it expects is young and sexy people being young and sexy. This is particularly the case for two of the guys who are frequently shirtless or showing off their muscles. Some of their personalities are rather cliché. The show leans into that, compelling the contestants to wear outfits that conform to those clichés. One guy is dressed as your typical jock. He's labeled "The Tough Guy." Similar one-dimensional personalities are attached to the others.
It would be one thing if the show concocted games or tests that really put the contestants through any kind of ringer. There's fun to derive in watching these people play the paltry games that the series presents. Compared to shows like The Mole or even Karma or even Survivor, this series isn't that compelling. This show purports to have a killer on the loose, but I never felt any danger. The contestants felt more in physical danger in Survivor or the series Naked and Afraid than they do here. Yet, it's amusing in a Scooby-Doo way, which this series does reference.
Not Rated but for 14 and up.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 5 eps.
Available on CW.
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