The Island Bear Grylls

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  • VerenceVerence Posts: 104,578
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    It can't be that much of a 'remote desert island' if a small fishing boat happened to just sail past...

    Maybe that "fisherman" landed on the island the day before, went inland and dropped a clean jerry can in exactly the same place as the women had left the manky one a few days previously and took that one back with him!!! :D:D:D
  • Alex_B1Alex_B1 Posts: 403
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    It can't be that much of a 'remote desert island' if a small fishing boat happened to just sail past...

    It isn't really that remote. It's part of an island chain which include some islands which are tourist resorts. I think in the last episode in the first series we see the men in one of the resorts.

    I suspect that given the location they had probably been fishing boats (may be even the odd passing yachts) in the past (the first series), the programme just never shown them. I do think the producers have given the women a lot of help, but in this case, given that it was the women who initiated the contact, it is more likely that that fishermen took pity on them because the women looked starved.
  • shirlt9shirlt9 Posts: 5,085
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    PERILLA wrote: »
    fudbeer wrote: »
    Its also very odd that they say they were all on the verge of starving with the pigs saving them.

    Yet the vegie did not eat any and she looks one of the most healthy ones there yet they have hardly mentioned how she is surviving. Surely that would make an interesting part of the programme? which makes me think they are giving her food.

    If she can survive not eating meat why cant the rest?[/QUOTE]

    I was coming on here to post the same thing. She's surviving and I wonder what's she eating and how many calories she's having. Why cant they all go on a vegetarian diet for their time on the island?

    Isnt she the one laying down sunbathing whilst they all work?..maybe thats her secret.
  • AlrightmateAlrightmate Posts: 73,120
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    fudbeer wrote: »
    Its also very odd that they say they were all on the verge of starving with the pigs saving them.

    Yet the vegie did not eat any and she looks one of the most healthy ones there yet they have hardly mentioned how she is surviving. Surely that would make an interesting part of the programme? which makes me think they are giving her food.

    If she can survive not eating meat why cant the rest?

    This is true.
    Surely the key to survival is to do whatever the vegetarian is doing isn't it?

    We have Bear's interfering face telling us how they need the calories from meat and fat from animals they kill to stay alive. It's been stressed often enough. Yet the vegetarian appears to be the person having the least problems when it comes to hunger.

    And as you say, why aren't they showing us how the vegetarian is getting by when all the others are desperate for food?
    Why aren't they showing us this, because wouldn't it be interesting in the context of what the show is about?
    What you also make a point of is that the very fact that they aren't showing us this vegetarian's magic secret can only lead people to be suspicious that something is being hidden from the viewer. Even if they're not hiding something from us they've created a rod for their own back which leads people to be suspicious of the show anyway. Which obviously isn't good in itself.
  • Nesta RobbinsNesta Robbins Posts: 30,594
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    I don't mind Julie - although if I were facing adversity, her enthusiasm might drive me mad, but had to admire her dogged determination with all her fishing. I know they up the drama for effect, but things did seem pretty grim -Julia had no meat on her to start with and was worryingly skeletal. It's a good job they're all sitting at home with family watching this on the TV, as they'd have us believe that at the very least they'd be coming home to dialysis!
  • ShappyShappy Posts: 14,531
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    Another crap week for the inept women. Throwing the can away was beyond stupid. That the medical team had to tell them to restart using it was perhaps an indication that their faculties are being affected by the lack of food/water. Either that or they're just thick.

    Lauren is the only one that stands out and the vegetarian is actually quite sensible.

    It was a shame their massive achievement of finally catching a fish was overshadowed by them soliciting one off the conveniently patrolling fishing boat.
  • toofasttoofast Posts: 2,240
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    What would possess someone, when starving and dehydrated on a remote island in extreme temperatures, to suddenly think to themselves that sunbathing would be a good thing to do???!! Why? I am missing something?

    The veggie girl appears to look the healthiest of the lot, yet we are not told what or how she is surviving on? That alone makes me doubt the authenticity of this show.
  • spkxspkx Posts: 14,870
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    Each episode is a week's worth of footage edited down into 45 minutes so it's always going to seem 'fake', in that something that may have happened days apart (e.g. a kill) will happen minutes apart on screen.

    As far as I got from last night, the veggie is eating coconuts, limes and other fruit, however presumably while there may be enough for her there isn't for all ten of them
  • makavelli132makavelli132 Posts: 1,297
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    So who charges the Gopro batteries then? My personal one only lasts about 2 hours max so seems a bit odd.
  • ShappyShappy Posts: 14,531
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    Solar power?

    No idea how the medical team and Bear monitors the island anyway outside of when they use the satellite phone to summon them. I reckon they have to send a report at the beginning and end of every day documenting the day's events which they don't show.
  • silversoxsilversox Posts: 5,204
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    When the women went to retrieve the jerry can from that festering pond, the narrator said that it had been there for ten days. So does that mean that they hadn't eaten for ten days? A lot of the time, when the women seem to be behaving in an odd way it's as if they are being directed what to do. e.g. take the two cans and dump them. They didn't have any idea what they were doing.

    They don't seem to make use of the salt water - a good way to rinse out said cans and even perhaps to keep meat in for a bit longer. Salt is known as a good way of curing yet they don't seem to make use of it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,833
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    Anyone else think they will have a medical team monitoring them maybe once every day?

    No way do I believe they would be left there taking in no fluid, lying flat out sunbathing with their kidneys giving up :confused:
  • pubeypubey Posts: 202
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    Firstly - I've got no problem with Bear making sure there's adequate water and food there if they're willing to find it. That's part of the show and it'd be boring if they got dropped on a desert island with minimal fresh water, edible veg and meat.

    However the 'intervention' last night got me really worked up. The women's general stupidity caused their situation. If they were in danger then they should have pulled the plug.

    Halving your water in take to try and make some ridiculous pork fridge was moronic. Then just chucking a perfectly good jerry can which could have been easily washed and sterilised is just absurd. I appreciate they're under stress and pressure, but that's the point of the show - they failed.

    I hope Bear calls them out for the number of terrible decisions they've made.
  • Alex_B1Alex_B1 Posts: 403
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    So who charges the Gopro batteries then? My personal one only lasts about 2 hours max so seems a bit odd.
    I'm pretty sure the professionals would use longer-lasting battery than you. Anyway, it had already been revealed last year on Channel 4 website that there is a drop box system on the island for picking up filmed footage and replacing batteries.
  • WolfsheadishWolfsheadish Posts: 10,400
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    I'm a vegetarian myself, so I can't claim to be any kind of expert on meat, but perhaps someone else could comment on this; would it not have been possible to preserve the meat by salting it? I'm thinking if they'd planned ahead (and I realise their failure to do so has been part of their problem all along) they could have distilled some sea water and used the resulting salt for preserving any animal/fish they killed? What about smoking the meat? Is that feasible in that situation?

    I admire the tenacity of these women, but they seem to have no clue how to organise things or how to stay one step ahead of starvation. There are so many things they should have been doing in the early days while they were still strong instead of wandering around lost! They could have had a certain amount of wood and coconuts stockpiled at least. They could have been doing most of the chores in the early morning and evening instead of in the heat of the day. Who goes hunting at midday??

    *rant over*
  • robbleonarobbleona Posts: 6,261
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    I'm a vegetarian myself, so I can't claim to be any kind of expert on meat, but perhaps someone else could comment on this; would it not have been possible to preserve the meat by salting it? I'm thinking if they'd planned ahead (and I realise their failure to do so has been part of their problem all along) they could have distilled some sea water and used the resulting salt for preserving any animal/fish they killed? What about smoking the meat? Is that feasible in that situation?

    I admire the tenacity of these women, but they seem to have no clue how to organise things or how to stay one step ahead of starvation. There are so many things they should have been doing in the early days while they were still strong instead of wandering around lost! They could have had a certain amount of wood and coconuts stockpiled at least. They could have been doing most of the chores in the early morning and evening instead of in the heat of the day. Who goes hunting at midday??


    they get 5-star hotel treatment off screen anyway.
  • LaceyLouelle3LaceyLouelle3 Posts: 9,682
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    Chucking the 'manky' jerry can was obviously very stupid but if the veggie was so bothered about it, why on earth didn't she go and get it back herself?
  • welshblobwelshblob Posts: 1,101
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    I'm thinking if they'd planned ahead (and I realise their failure to do so has been part of their problem all along) they could have distilled some sea water and used the resulting salt for preserving any animal/fish they killed? What about smoking the meat? Is that feasible in that situation?

    I don't know much about salting or smoking really but I think its all about learning from your mistakes and evolving. In the first series the guys found that fish that had caught in their nets that had died had gone off by the time they had pulled them in due to the temp of the sea. So I think they pulled the nets in more often.

    Also the first series was 4 weeks and this on 6 weeks which I think was due to the fact that the guys in series one were just managing to get their act together by the time it finished. Part of that maybe due to them knowing they were going home soon but its also probably due to they had got into a good routine, learning from their mistakes and adapting and ultimately their environment and community will evolving. Look at the guys last week, they made a raft to try and catch more fish and also beds that were off the floor after being bitten by sand flies. Maybe a really long period such as year on a proper sustainable island maybe a better experience which is sort of what the bbc castaway show was supposed to be.
  • pubeypubey Posts: 202
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    fiagomez wrote: »
    because she didnt want to drink from it as it had meat in it and had contaminated the jerry can...

    but she must've realised that she had to abandon some of her principles aside because of desperation for water....

    but that's the whole point. it's a metal can. wash it and sterilise it and it isn't 'contaminated'.

    pretty sure trying to smoke or preserve pork is going to be hugely difficult and very much trial and error. Pork is notorious for going bad easily. They were best off pigging out (no pun intended) and using the leftovers as bait.
  • HeatherbellHeatherbell Posts: 9,940
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    pubey wrote: »
    but that's the whole point. it's a metal can. wash it and sterilise it and it isn't 'contaminated'.

    pretty sure trying to smoke or preserve pork is going to be hugely difficult and very much trial and error. Pork is notorious for going bad easily. They were best off pigging out (no pun intended) and using the leftovers as bait.

    I agree re the jerry can . I couldn't understand the logic in dumping it :confused:. I was thinking "Good grief, I know we are in an age of throwaway/disposable stuff , but really , a perfectly salvageable, and more importantly essential piece of their survival kit ?" A good wash out in the sea and then a boil up of some sea water within it and it would have been fine .
    Yes, pork is very unpredictable and not something to take a chance with . As they found out .
  • CythnaCythna Posts: 3,102
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    toofast wrote: »
    Still no mention of what the veggie is eating. She's a walking miracle.

    According to the Website a single coconut has 1.000 calories. With the Yucca and berries she'd not starve.
  • CythnaCythna Posts: 3,102
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    Interesting to compare what the two teams have had to eat:

    Women:
    Two snakes
    One fish caught, one 'begged'
    Three pigs
    Barnacles
    Yucca
    Almonds
    Berries
    Coconuts

    Men:
    One croc
    Many fish from Vic
    Barnacles, any thing else?

    Apart from the unbelievable idiocy of putting pork in the jerry can, I can't see that the women are doing so bad.
  • starrystarry Posts: 12,434
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    PERILLA wrote: »
    Anyone else think they will have a medical team monitoring them maybe once every day?

    No way do I believe they would be left there taking in no fluid, lying flat out sunbathing with their kidneys giving up :confused:

    They have a resident doctor but whenever she speaks it sounds like she is reading from a script. It seems obvious that she can't do most of the medical work and that the real medical assessment isn't shown.


    A problem in this is that the story arc can get repetitive. Start off ok, things get worse then desperate and then by the end it's all a nice happy ending.

    The funniest line in this for me was Grylls saying "and i'm not being dramatic about this". He's always being overdramatic in his comments to try and create suspense when there isn't much, as we know they will not be left to die or just taken off the island before the series is up.
  • welshblobwelshblob Posts: 1,101
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    Have both camps got two metal jerry cans or have the men just got the one?
  • machobobmachobob Posts: 649
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    I'd be completely crap in a survival situation and most likely wouldn't go the full mile, either dying through starvation, dehydration, stupidity or plain giving up.

    Having said that, the women are bloody useless.
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