Extracted Season 2 Is Great, But I Am Conflicted About One Family’s Decision

I adored the first season of Extracted, but I have been having mixed feelings about the second season, which is available with a Hulu subscription. We have already witnessed even more infuriating moments than in the first season. However, overall, the series has captured my attention and kept me wanting to return every week.

Strategy shows are some of my favorites, and there are a lot of enthralling ones out there, but I easily embrace more. Extracted Season 2 feels a lot more cutthroat and strategic than the premiere season. The premise lends itself to that type of gameplay, but people have been maximizing it this year.

I am not sure I enjoy this part of the Fox series.

Warning: Extracted spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.

Usually, I Enjoy Ruthless Gameplay On Reality TV, But I Think This Extracted Moment Maybe Went Too Far

In Extracted Season 2 Episode 7, “Breaking Points and Power Plays,” Luke’s family, Daniel and David, decide to target Rhoman and his family, Dallas and Lynsey. They put a code in a communal book to trick Dallas and Lynsey into telling Rhoman to give up his fire-making equipment in exchange for more warmth, fire, and food.

They also told Doug’s family, Alec and Dayton, about this deception. This plot carried on for a few episodes, with it working perfectly. Now, in other TV shows, I may have loved this level of ruthless gameplay. I am not an honor-and-integrity person when it comes to reality TV. You should play cutthroat if you’re trying to win a game. However, something about Daniel and David’s decision to target Rhoman and manipulate his family just didn’t come off entertaining.

Extracted already seems like a hard show because people are trapped in the wilderness. They’re barely surviving; it’s physically and emotionally draining. People only last because of their ability to use their survival skills. Rhoman was one of the youngest people on the show, and we have seen in the past others around his age give up.

It was inspirational to see him have a hard time and overcome mental and physical barriers to thrive in the wilderness. His brother, Dallas, also seemed to have no confidence in him, but was changing his mind. Additionally, Lynsey seems like such a kind woman, and that adds to what makes watching her get manipulated even harder to stomach.

It’s not like David and Daniel are targeting a family that was insufferable and wronged so many people. It’s just a nice woman and her kids.

But, I Also Understand That Dallas And Lynsey Screw Over Other Families, So In Some Ways, Karma

Also in Extracted Season 2 Episode 7, we witness Dallas and Lynsey tell Alec and Dayton the wrong crates to find the supplies they need for their father. However, Lynsey genuinely makes this mistake. She isn’t trying to be ruthless or play this intense game. Her son, Dallas, however, is trying to be a bit of a reality TV villain by not correcting his mother’s mistake.

He also then emulates iconic TV villains and kind of leans into the villainy by telling everyone he knew Lynsey gave the wrong crate number and didn’t help her by saying the right one. He wanted the supply for his brother.

This confession makes things harder for Lynsey because she gets unfairly accused of vicious gameplay. This act is an accident on Lynsey’s part, but Dallas makes the decision not to help her or Dayton and Alec. Depending on how strongly you believe in karma, one could say that the trickery is the universe restoring order by punishing them for this betrayal against Alec and Dayton.

Lynsey And Rhoman’s Kind Nature Makes It Hard To Root Against Them

I am writing this before seeing the Extracted Season 2 finale. I don’t know who wins it, but I am rooting for Rhoman the most to win. I didn’t know what to make of Dallas, Lynsey, and Rhoman when the show started, but I have grown to like Lynsey and Rhoman especially. They may be a bit naive (according to Dallas), but they genuinely seem kind.

As much as I say I love a good villain, at the end of the day, I root for the kind people to win. There is also an innocence about Rhoman, maybe because of his age, that makes it feel uncomfortable to watch these two grown men manipulating and lying to him and his mother.

Targeting them instead of the other teams feels so unnecessary (even if Rhoman is one of the strongest left at that point). Lynsey has also always tried to play fair, while this isn’t the first time Daniel and David have done and said rude things to others. Even if Rhoman ended up quitting if their plan succeeded, I don’t think I would have rooted for Luke’s family.

The Decision Highlights A Problem I Have Been Having With Extracted Season 2 And The Families

I don’t watch many shows about survival, but I am often most intrigued by seeing people overcome the obstacles presented in the wilderness. How do they survive with limited food supplies? Will wildlife take them out? What happens with the unpredictable weather patterns? I get plenty of ruthless gameplay on other competition shows, so I want to see people actually trying to survive.

Extracted Season 2 has leaned more into strategizing and ruthlessness from the families. It doesn’t make it more fun to watch. It just makes me annoyed with some of the families and hope that they lose. It doesn’t add to the show as much as the show thinks. I wish we got less of the families plotting against each other and more of the survivalists trying to make it. That’s much more interesting to me.

The stuff with the families is definitely interesting and entertaining, but Extracted needs more balance between things happening at HQ and things happening in the wilderness. Season 2 made it more apparent that we don’t see enough of the family members trying to survive.

It Is A Good Reality TV Moment That Gives The Show Some Buzz

If David and Daniel had made this move on another family, I could have been on their side. They lost my support when they chose Rhoman as the victim. As said before, I am not about honor and integrity on reality TV (to a point). It just needs to happen to a contestant I like less.

I think this move has been one of Extracted's biggest yet. It’s given the show an iconic reality TV moment and probably helped create some buzz. There is a reason the show dragged this out for several episodes, and then we instantly saw David and Daniel leave the game.

I hope Fox renews Extracted for a third season, but if not, this isn’t a bad final iconic moment, especially how it all turned out. Their deception fails to produce their desired results.