Thoughts On Expedition Impossible: Episode 2

Okay, I promise I won't be doing recaps or posting thoughts after every episode of Expedition Impossible, but considering my critique of the show earlier in the week, I thought it was fitting that I follow it up with another after watching the second episode.

After watching the premiere last week, I felt confident that I was going to enjoy the show, although there were a few aspects that I felt needed to be improved. Watching the second episode, it became more clear that those small nitpicks probably weren't very fair judging from the one episode alone. For instance, I wrote that I felt that there wasn't any real navigation going on in the show, and that the contestants were being led down clearly marked routes to ensure that they didn't wander off somewhere and die. If you saw the show last night, you know that that isn't the case, as we watched a couple of teams wander around looking for a checkpoints. In fact, it was the lack of a clearly marked trail that brought some added drama to the event, and made for a much closer finish. After watching the events unfold in the show, I think it is safe to say we'll probably see some other teams get a bit lost in future episodes as well.

I also criticized last week's challenge a bit, saying that once one team figured it out, all the other teams were able to piggy-back on their success. That wasn't the case this week, as the challenges were demanding on all teams, and some struggled more than others to accomplish the tasks. I have to commend the producers for coming up with some unique and interesting things for the racers to do, combining both physical strength and mental cleverness. If the challenges going forward are more like they were last night, then we'll have some entertaining episodes in store for us all.

Finally, I thought the show did a better job of keeping us informed of where all the racers were at any given time. The editors gave us good updates on progress and it was fun to watch the teams go head to head. The coverage was starting to feel like an adventure race, albeit one that provides coverage of all the teams involved. I'm also still enjoying the great HD footage of Morocco, which simply looks amazing.

After two episodes, I think it is safe to say that I'll be tuning in for the remainder of the season. Judging from the preview of next weeks show, it looks like things are going to get very intense. It should be fun!