Ed is great, the guest survivalists are great, but boy oh boy does this show push a new low in the survival genre thanks to an overdose artificial drama and unnecessary scripting.
Each episode sees Ed up against a different guest survival expert in a week-long race to a finish line set by a bloke named Woody. Sounds decent enough. Unfortunately what follows is an hour-long avalanche of contrived garbage. Bummer.
On the positive, some appropriate skills for the race at hand do sneak their way in from time to time. Thanks to what can only have been a oversight in editing we are treated to Matt Graham making a really practical improvised water container by splitting, carving, and then sealing some wood to help him across a desert. But as usual the rest of the editing is on point and we are shown no further useful skills. Ahh yes, there is Ed suckling from the teat of a dead marmot he's hollowed out and filled with water. Nice one Ed. I'll keep that one handy in case I ever want to spend a month on my toilet.
With that little ray of positivity aside this really is just an awkward, forced mix of bushcraft/survival and a very tedious race. It fails entirely at being a race because every bloody episode they try to convince us that the week-long ordeal came down to a sprint for the line, and it fails at showcasing survival skills because the skills are either practical and get skimmed over, or are overly elaborate, inappropriate, ill advised or useless.
By far the hardest part of First Man Out to watch is the decision-making from our trusty survivalists. The production folks are obviously in there meddling away to create drama, but it just falls flat and the result is pretty well a manual on what not to do. Terrible decisions of note:
- Running across the desert in the midday sun with no water.
- Getting completely soaked while fully clothed. Repeatedly.
- Descending into a dark, bat-filled cave to find a shortcut.
- Drinking unsterilized water. Also repeatedly.
Of course with each terrible decision we cut over to an equally terrible justification, either from Ed & Co or old mate Woody who definitely isn't getting paid enough for the thought gymnastics he's doing.
If you're into bushcraft give it a miss. If you're into action and adventure races give it a miss. Come to think of it I can't think of anyone who shouldn't give it a miss.
