DO OR DIE Countdown: Day eighteen

It’s a week and a day until the February 4th release of DO OR DIE!

Today: A recommended viewing! 

The Discovery Channel has a new show that’s fun to watch: LONE TARGET, about a former Navy SEAL.

Here’s the blurb from the LONE TARGET page on the Discovery Channel website:

Discovery Channel is taking audiences on the ultimate chase in a real-life game of cat-and-mouse, pitting former Navy SEAL Joel Lambert against the world’s most elite military and law enforcement tracking teams in new series LONE TARGET. With only what he can carry on his back, Joel will play an extreme version of hide-and-seek in unknown treacherous terrain with nothing but a basic survival kit and canteen of water as he attempts to evade capture in 48-hours or less. Using diversionary tactics and survival techniques gained from his 10-years of experience as a Navy SEAL, will Joel’s training, skill and cunning all help him escape?

In each episode of LONE TARGET, Joel is dropped at an unknown secret starting point, and with a small head start, must evade capture from a different elite military or law enforcement tracking team and make his extraction – in less than two days – or risk capture. Following the chase side-by-side with cameras capturing the action from both perspectives, we get to experience first-hand the thrill of the hunt as he is being pursued…

I’ve been DVRing the show (it repeats pretty regularly on Discovery, it won’t be hard for you to find the earlier eps and catch up, or even just drop in, in the middle — it’s episodic rather than serial), but I recently discovered the various info and clips on the Discovery Channel website — which are, IMO, even more entertaining.

I think my biggest complaint about the show itself is that it’s not just Joel who is out in the jungle, for example, evading capture.  He’s got at least one cameraman with him, and as I’m watching, I can’t stop thinking about what a giant footprint his crew is making (in terms of his being tracked or spotted by aircraft or drones).  I think I would enjoy the show more if Joel were alone with his own camera equipment.  Problem is, he’s rather nice to look at.  🙂  So I can understand Discovery’s desire to let the viewers see his face as he escapes and evades.  But because I’m aware that he’s not really “a SEAL out there, all alone,” I find it hard to believe that he’s not at a serious disadvantage.

I’m also distracted when Joel stops to explain the booby traps (with smoke grenades) that he’s constructing, or the reason he’s taking his current route.  I keep thinking, “Don’t stop to talk to me!  Keep moving!”  I have the same reaction when he talks — out of breath, and clearly stressed — to the camera while he’s on the run.  (“Don’t use your energy to talk!”)  It brings me out of the moment, and makes me remember that reality TV is staged.  And while Joel is entertaining and fun to watch, I’d rather see what he sees, rather than his back while he’s running, and from the eps I’ve seen, there’s been too much of that.

If I were producing this show, I’d send our former SEAL hero out, truly alone, with cameras attached to him.  And I’d send his trackers out with cameras attached to them, and then, after Joel escapes or is caught (for realz), I’d film inserts in which he shows what he did, his techniques, his equipment, the food he found to eat, etc.  I’d put him in workout gear and have him demonstrate the SEAL-level PT he does to keep in shape, and I’d also have him show us the type of SEAL training he did to learn his evasion techniques.  I’d love to have him tell us (both as a former SEAL candidate and as an instructor) at least one piece of info he learned during BUD/S that he used in his current E&E.   I’d have him talk, in some detail, about how, as a target, he’s attempting to get into the minds of his pursuers and always remain a step ahead — and what choices he made to do just that.

I’d also use voice overs (a la BURN NOTICE — remember the great VOs in which Michael describes his spycraft?) to let Joel describe what he’s doing, rather than his hard-to-hear, out-of-breath explanations made in the moment.  (Or faux-in-the-moment — this is, after all, reality TV entertainment.)

But if you enjoy watching and learning about SEALs and other special operations and special forces, LONE TARGET is worth a look.  And again, the clips and outtakes on the website are fascinating.

In fact, here’s a fun one.  Meet Joel Lambert, former Navy SEAL:
Or read his bio page here.
And see his SEAL photo album here.
Follow Joel on Twitter @Joel5326

If the embedded video doesn’t work, you can watch the clip at http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/lone-target/videos/dream-job.htm

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