Dedicated fans of reality shows centered around survival skills know that in the wild, securing essentials like shelter, fire, water, and food is paramount. On the lineup of shows featured on a recent Sunday, the focus was undoubtedly on the latter – food, glorious food.
In an episode of “Naked and Afraid: Castaways,” viewers followed the journey of Bulent, who had been on a mission to capture a cunning pig he aptly named Houdini. Armed with scavenged aircraft wire from a wreckage, Bulent’s obsession with his porcine target had led him to part ways with his fellow teammates, Na’im and Kerra. Thus, when members of another team stumbled upon Bulent, they were not only surprised to find him living solo but shocked to witness him preparing and enjoying a meal of smoked and jerkied pork from none other than Houdini himself. Bulent, not known for his social graces, initially rebuffed their presence but eventually extended an invitation to share in the unconventional BBQ experience, despite the meat’s less-than-ideal state due to the absence of cooking heat. In the world of deserted islands, culinary ingenuity knows no bounds.
Meanwhile, on “Survive the Raft,” living conditions were comparatively more comfortable, featuring real mattresses, a kitchen, and barbecues. Nevertheless, securing sustenance was still a challenge, often requiring the castaways to try their hand at fishing for dinner. For Merrissa, a vegan with a penchant for vocalizing her dietary preferences, this posed a significant challenge. Her fellow rafters, carnivores by nature, pushed the boundaries of her dietary tolerance as they gutted, filleted, and cooked fish on deck. Merrissa, prone to emotional outbursts, expressed her dismay at the auditory and visual aspects of fish preparation. Her exasperation with the situation was palpable as she struggled to reconcile her vegan principles with the realities of survival. The tension between dietary choices and survival needs created a rift on the raft, with some castaways growing increasingly annoyed by Merrissa’s rigidity.
Lastly, in the new spinoff series, “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,” the theme of survival remained central, albeit in the context of a zombie apocalypse. While the character Daryl Dixon is familiar to fans, the setting has shifted to France, introducing a new challenge: mutated zombies known as “burners.” These zombies earned their moniker due to their unique ability – their blood and touch burn human skin upon contact, akin to acid. In essence, these reanimated corpses, who sustain themselves by feasting on human flesh, possess a built-in cooking mechanism that adds an extra layer of horror to their existence.
After an encounter with a “burner” left a searing handprint on Daryl’s arm, he discovered that he had a wound from this fiery foe. To prevent the spread of the injury, cauterization emerged as the grim solution. As the show’s characters grapple with the horrors of the zombie-infested world, the theme of survival through unconventional means remains at the forefront.
In this lineup of survival-themed shows, the quest for sustenance takes on various forms, from unconventional island BBQs to navigating dietary conflicts on a raft and confronting mutated zombies with lethal attributes. Survival, it seems, can manifest in remarkably diverse and sometimes unexpected ways in the realm of reality television.
