It’s probably safe to assume I will watch any Netflix reality TV show. Therefore, it is surprising to no one that I watched Battle Camp, a series featuring some contestants from Netflix’s best reality TV shows. It’s an entertaining program that has campers compete in a series of challenges in the hopes of winning $250,000.
It has similar traits to many other Netflix competition series, and even suffers from its common issue. However, what makes it slightly different also gives me mixed feelings about Battle Camp. Let’s talk about it.
Warning: Battle Camp spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.
Battle Camp Has An Unusual Way Of Eliminating Contestants
The premise of Battle Camp involves campers competing in a series of challenges. Based on their performance, they can find themselves on an elimination wheel. For the first few episodes, the players on the team that won the first challenge of the day would all receive immunity. This means that none of their names would appear on the wheel for that day.
The winning team then must pick any three players from the losing teams to compete in a punishment challenge. The person who performed the best in this challenge escaped having their name appear on the wheel another time. The two campers who performed the worst would now have their names appear on the wheel. Battle Camp starts with three teams: the Wolves, the Bears, and the Eagles.
The players from the team with the worst performance in the challenge would also have all their names appear on the wheel. Therefore, if someone’s team lost the main challenge, and then they lost the punishment challenge, they would automatically have their name appear twice. Additionally, the campers then vote for whoever they want to add to the wheel (not in the winning team). Someone could lose two challenges and have everyone vote for their name to go on the wheel.
Netflix takes a very complicated route for nominations and eliminations that has some positive and negative results.
The Wheel Makes Things Unpredictable
Some may say the wheel turns Battle Camp into a game about odds. The more someone appears on the wheel, the more likely they are to be eliminated. This is true, but it’s also about luck. We see quite a few times someone escaping elimination, despite having their name repeatedly on the wheel. This probably stressed the contestants out and it creates suspense for us.
I didn’t know if I should just automatically count someone out if they had their name on the wheel a lot, or just see what happens. The answer was see what happens. This really made Battle Camp hard to predict with eliminations. It also made it frustrating at times.
I Didn’t Always Enjoy The Unpredictability Of Eliminations
I enjoy suspense and surprises. However, I also enjoy it when I feel things are fair, but Battle Camp sometimes became frustrating because people who I felt didn’t deserve to leave yet (because they were playing a decent strategic or social game) left because luck just wasn’t on their side. In many ways, Battle Camp’s random way of elimination can be a metaphor for life.
You can’t always control the outcome of your life and life in general. This is not a lesson I needed to learn from a Netflix reality TV show. I also just didn’t enjoy seeing people leave when they did everything right but lost a competition or two. My favorite competition reality TV shows are ones where the contestants completely control their fate. In Battle Camp, the contestants control some of their fate but not entirely.
This may make the series thrilling for some, but it's frustrating for me. This isn’t necessarily a Battle Camp problem and more of my preference issue.
The Wheel Made Me Question Battle Camp’s Authenticity
Sometimes someone would have their names basically all over the wheel, but the single other name would somehow be eliminated. Occasionally, contestants who weren’t bringing too much to the series were eliminated, while some of the more popular contestants from other Netflix shows and the contestants bringing the most storylines were spared.
It felt at times like Netflix would decide to eliminate someone by whether them staying or being eliminated would produce the most entertainment. If I want to believe everything on Battle Camp is real, it just seemed convenient at times how the wheel worked out. Additionally, I understand it could have been editing after things happened to make the wheel results even more dramatic, and not the wheel being altered to protect someone who produces the most drama and entertainment.
I Enjoyed How The Wheel Determines The Winner
Despite my frustrations at how the wheel eliminates contestants, I did enjoy how it comes full circle to determine the winner. The final six contestants must compete again in many of the challenges or punishment challenges they did throughout Battle Camp Season 1. Based on their performances, they would have their name added to the wheel. The contestants also got to vote for who they wanted to see win. The more votes they got, the more their name appeared on the wheel.
The ending used a combination of competition wins, social skills, and a little bit of strategy. This made Battle Camp similar to Big Brother and shows like it, where multiple skills come in handy in the end. Additionally, it still involved some sort of luck. I liked the idea of the wheel more in terms of choosing a winner than eliminating a contestant.
I Want The Wheel To Remain A Part Of Battle Camp, But With Some Changes
I am still unsure of how I feel about the wheel eliminations, but I think this twist with eliminations is one of the things that makes Battle Camp stand out in this sea of overpopulated reality TV. Therefore, I would just like to see a few changes. I think the wheel definitely adds suspense and unpredictability, but maybe start the series with more contestants and more eliminations.
This would increase the unpredictable nature and maybe seem more fair if two people are eliminated each episode, instead of one on some episodes and two on others. More names on the wheel intensify the unpredictable nature because anyone could really go at any moment.
Also, I would like to see more opportunities to win safety or have campers remove their names from the wheel. Maybe there could be reward competitions where someone can win the chance to remove their name from the wheel once or gain complete safety. This would feel a bit fairer to those who are only on the wheel because their team lost a challenge. Additionally, it could create tension if someone who was going to be voted on the wheel by a lot of people wins safety.
Battle Camp is the best Netflix show to watch this week, and an exciting addition to the Netflix reality TV world. If you haven’t yet, I suggest you binge it soon.
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