You vs Wild

Have you binge watched every grub eating moment of Naked and Afraid? Sat through each double-crossing episode of Survivor? Shook or nodded your head at every wild setup presented in Could You Survive? Do you yell at the TV when someone decides to “drink the water” or consume that “mystery meat” or reach for some seriously sketchy mushrooms?

I am that person.

I yell at the TV.

Enter the Netflix series You vs Wild! I was thoroughly entertained by this new entry in the survivalist show genre and here is why:

1. For nostalgia. I may be dating myself, but as a child, I had several books where I could pick the outcome. At the bottom on my paperback, it would read “turn to page 25 if you want Ann to take the road through the forest,” or “turn to page 32 is you want Ann to go by sea.” I loved reading these books at a kid and when I found a series that allowed me to select the outcome, I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm!

2. It’s interactive! The main character, Bear walks you through a series of scenarios and asks you-the viewer to select his next move from a series of options. You have the opportunity to create a new story each and every time you watch which was absolutely amazing! You can't say that about a lot of shows right now- actually you can't say that about any show right now! Most of us tend to yell and scream at the TV and hope that the characters will magically hear what we're telling them and do what we told them to do… like, for example, “ Girl, those leaves look like poison oak, I wouldn’t use it for…! “ or “make a gypsy well! Make the gypsy well! !” Now, you…and I can both yell at the television AND have the option to direct the main character. It was this novelty that really excited me. I was able to pick up my remote and select the option that I thought would be best and then I got to watch it play out on screen. You can't Fast forward to see what happens next but you can always rewind to pick another option if you want. At times, your option may be so horrible that they'll tell you to go back and pick another option!

3. It’s family friendly. Sure there are a few moments where you may have to explain a couple of things, such as eating grubs (not to be tried at home) and one possibly awkward scene involving bear poop (the animal, not the main character) that may require parental explanation. Otherwise, there is no cursing, no nudity and no violence. There is even an episode on rescuing a Saint Bernard dog.

4. It’s adult friendly! This is an awesome group activity- with your roommates, a little Netflix and chill night or watching on a warm summer night from a projector in your backyard (we're still in a pandemic and all ).

5. Last, it's educational I learned some new tricks some useful facts I didn't know before and some techniques should I ever need them if I'm stuck in a desert, tundra, rainforest or abandoned mineshaft. These skills may not be useful to me at the moment but at least I'll be able to spout random facts around my friends, strangers and even flex on a couple of Jeopardy questions (miss you, Alex Trebek).

So, if you’re ready to test your survival chops, from the comfort of your own home, give You vs Wild a try. Oh, and eating the mushrooms is almost never a good idea.