Just a few days after the dramatic season finale of Naked and Afraid XL‘s second season, we’re back to catch up with the survivalists and hear about their post-South Africa experience. In the Naked and Afraid XL Reunion, we catch up with out favorite survivalists and see how they’re doing after the extreme adventure.
From the get-go, this reunion special was way cooler than I imagined, and we got the kind of inside information that I relish. There are many cogs that go into making a show like Naked and Afraid, so I give a special nod of acknowledgement to the series production company, Renegade 83. (I’ve talked about Metal Flowers Media before, the company that casts the series, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned the series production company.) They also make the survival series Man, Woman, Wild, which I watched for a while before getting tired of the drama.
It’s interesting that the survivalists met together in a classroom ahead of time. I’m sure hearing the dangers directly from the area’s game wardens was eye-opening and terrifying. It makes me wonder if the predator safety brief was the only advance info that they were provided by the series, or if they got any info about flora and fauna. Also, since they had game wardens, that leads me to think that they were on a game reserve. Could the survivalists have actually caught any of the wild game?
For the reunion special for last season’s XL cast, it was nice to have everyone in the same location where they could interact. What is your reaction to an episode that was essentially a clip show interspersed with unseen footage and post-show interviews? I found it really fun to watch.
I think some of the scenes that they showed tonight were better than the “A” material that they used during the episodes. I wound it hilarious that when a pair of male lions got too close to the crew, the safest place for them was in the cast boma! I thought it was a pretty insane fact that a lion could close a distance of 50 yards in only 3 seconds, and would have sounded particularly threatening coming out of Mr. Spooky-voiced Narrator’s mouth.
If you missed it, take a look…
Tick-ick
I have never seen a tick in the flesh, and after this season of XL, I never want to. Please tell me that North American ticks aren’t as huge as the ones in South Africa! I’m not sure which of Stacey’s T.M.I stories was the grossest: the tick under Stacey’s eyelid, or Tawny picking a tick off of Stacey’s bum. Either way, it makes me love clothes Soooooo much.
Heavy
I’m glad that the show’s medical team had a mid-challenge weigh-in; and I’m shocked at how much weight everyone lost in only 20 days. Jake lost over 30 pounds!!
Buffa-whoa!
Cape Buffalo are some of the strangest animals I’ve ever seen on TV. I would love to see one in real life, but preferably from the safety of a Jeep.
Yertle the Turtle
I still don’t understand why Naked and Afraid participants don’t turn everything they catch into a soup. That turtle would have looked much tastier in a pot of boiling water. And if I was in a survival situation, I would have been eating as many testicles as I could! Man-meat is still meat.
And we can always count on quipster Jake to deliver the perfect zinger. His response to tasting testes, “I was surprised that turtle testicles tasted so delicious.”
Super Pooper
The survivalists were so desperate for food that they ate nuts that they dug out of elephant poop. Tawny, Alyssa and Phaedra’s loved ones will never kiss them again.
And not-so-super poopers
The group’s high-protein diet led to group constipation. And it became a topic of conversation. Because when you’re naked and picking ticks off of each other’s super-soft bits, getting scatological seems like the logical next step.
Pearly Whites
Clever Phaedra brushed her teeth with charcoal and looked like an Oreo cookie-mouthed nightmare. When the group started feeling ill-effects from the fruit, would consuming charcoal have helped them? I believe that one of the posts on the Episode 7 message board offered this suggestion.
Dirty Dog
I’m not surprised that Dirty Darrin was stinky. He looks like the kind of man who has a permanent pong. I’m sure that there are women who find a musky man as fragrant as French perfume, but his co-survivalists would have been more impressed if he was catching them a meal, instead of them catching a whiff. It makes me glad that I don’t have smell-a-vision.
Don’t Eat the Fruit!
The never-before-seen moment when Ryan was forced to tap out was heartbreaking. This accomplishment meant so much to him and I hope he’s gotten over the disappointment of not lasting the full 40 days. And whenever the blues creep in, at least he can feel proud of himself for building a pretty sweet beard brush!
The scene of the crime
The final four took a pilgrimage to the fruit tree to see the source of pain for so many of their friends. Sadly, the show didn’t reveal the specific bacterium that caused the illness. It shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out with a simple fecal culture. (Of course I write this like I know what I’m talking about, but I really have no clue. Someone with medical knowledge please confirm; or please tell me I’m full of crap.)
Breakfast of Champions
It was so fun to see the first meal that The Four Horsemen ate after returning to civilization! And just like we saw in Jeff’s post-XL shower video, junk food is the meal de jour.
After Effects
After the extreme starvation of Naked and Afraid XL, both Alyssa and Phaedra lost a lot of hair. Both women were lucky to have had luscious locks at the beginning of the experience, so even a handful or two shouldn’t be too noticeable.
But even stranger, Jake experienced freaky deaky facial paralysis that must have been pretty disconcerting. I wonder if it was Bell’s Palsy, which usually clears itself up in a month or two.
This was a nice way to remember a season that had a lot of disappointing moments. I’m glad that everyone seemed healthy and happy. And whether they made it the full forty days or not, all 12 of this season’s XL participants were part of something unique that few have experienced. As Stacey said, “We are forever bound in our weirdness.”
More Naked and Afraid XL
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 8 “The Last Roar”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 7 “The Sickness”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 6 “Deadly Consequences”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 5 “Rock Bottom”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 4 “Too Many Chiefs”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 3 “Human Prey”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 2 “Man on Fire”
Recap: Naked and Afraid XL Episode 1 “Lions at the Gate”
Naked and Afraid XL Season 2 preview
Interview With Jake Nodar
Jake Nodar’s 4 butt-kicking survival tips