A bunch of teams go on a series of missions, which each culminating in a quiz and/or transportation to a new exotic destination.
The quizzes are bad. Very bad. Either woefully simple, or something no one would know and has to guess about, with or without an obvious clue in the question itself. Each team has different challenges and questions, so some get a far easier time of it than others. Regardless, each team spends 5-10 minutes of camera time tediously and repetitively debating the answer, which is only going to happen if they are being intensively coached by the producers.
Most teams get quickly eliminated, often after very little screen time. Then new teams pop up in the midst of the show, apparently already having completed the preliminary challenges. The general impression is that most teams didn't provide good content for the show, and/or got tripped up early on by the pick-a-random-answer quiz questions.
It appears that the producers then recruited some additional teams to get more footage for the series. Except those super-teams are massively scripted and guided through the challenges, and obviously not the normal every-day Brits they work very hard to portray themselves as. Eg, a team in the medical profession also has a variety of the same uncommon adventuring skills. Extra "duh" points for the convenient rock climber who tries to downplay their skills by proclaiming a discomfort with heights.
But that's the theme with the super couples: they ham it up as bumbling ordinary blokes who persevere by virtue of luck, cleverness, and hard work. It's probably meant to appeal to the average viewer: "If they can do it, so can I!" But with the heavy-handed scripting, coincidences, and editing blunders, it all just comes across as deceptive. And for good measure, some vanity shots of the guys emerging from frolicking in the ocean at the various luxurious villas they stay at while being dutifully waited upon by Black locals - while the lodgings of the other teams are mysteriously never shown at all.
I can't count the number of times teams conveniently knew exactly what to do, and enthusiastically did it ... even when it involves apparent trespassing that the supposedly random locals nearby would likely view as an attempt at breaking and entering. Or the cuts away from an especially arduous part of the challenge to show the team members suddenly emerge victorious on the other side. And one scene of the same team discovering and investigating a location was blatantly filmed at least twice, with some heavy filtering thrown in to make full daylight look like dusk. Plus a slip-up in the editing showing a "dangerous" animal a team had to work near was actually tied in place. And loose items in a suitcase being neatly arranged when opened, after supposedly being lugged around rough terrain. Etc, etc.
But the scenery was nice, and the filming was excellent. Good music, and 007 fans will like the movie references. The series is watchable, though I probably wouldn't have bothered if I knew how scripted it was earlier on. The main detraction is the fundamental dishonesty in presenting this as a reality-based competition.
The quizzes are bad. Very bad. Either woefully simple, or something no one would know and has to guess about, with or without an obvious clue in the question itself. Each team has different challenges and questions, so some get a far easier time of it than others. Regardless, each team spends 5-10 minutes of camera time tediously and repetitively debating the answer, which is only going to happen if they are being intensively coached by the producers.
Most teams get quickly eliminated, often after very little screen time. Then new teams pop up in the midst of the show, apparently already having completed the preliminary challenges. The general impression is that most teams didn't provide good content for the show, and/or got tripped up early on by the pick-a-random-answer quiz questions.
It appears that the producers then recruited some additional teams to get more footage for the series. Except those super-teams are massively scripted and guided through the challenges, and obviously not the normal every-day Brits they work very hard to portray themselves as. Eg, a team in the medical profession also has a variety of the same uncommon adventuring skills. Extra "duh" points for the convenient rock climber who tries to downplay their skills by proclaiming a discomfort with heights.
But that's the theme with the super couples: they ham it up as bumbling ordinary blokes who persevere by virtue of luck, cleverness, and hard work. It's probably meant to appeal to the average viewer: "If they can do it, so can I!" But with the heavy-handed scripting, coincidences, and editing blunders, it all just comes across as deceptive. And for good measure, some vanity shots of the guys emerging from frolicking in the ocean at the various luxurious villas they stay at while being dutifully waited upon by Black locals - while the lodgings of the other teams are mysteriously never shown at all.
I can't count the number of times teams conveniently knew exactly what to do, and enthusiastically did it ... even when it involves apparent trespassing that the supposedly random locals nearby would likely view as an attempt at breaking and entering. Or the cuts away from an especially arduous part of the challenge to show the team members suddenly emerge victorious on the other side. And one scene of the same team discovering and investigating a location was blatantly filmed at least twice, with some heavy filtering thrown in to make full daylight look like dusk. Plus a slip-up in the editing showing a "dangerous" animal a team had to work near was actually tied in place. And loose items in a suitcase being neatly arranged when opened, after supposedly being lugged around rough terrain. Etc, etc.
But the scenery was nice, and the filming was excellent. Good music, and 007 fans will like the movie references. The series is watchable, though I probably wouldn't have bothered if I knew how scripted it was earlier on. The main detraction is the fundamental dishonesty in presenting this as a reality-based competition.