Two hours of ‘reality’ bliss, Survivor-style.

There is an undeniable excitement at the start of a new season of Survivor, now in its 20^th go.  Even though this season revisits players from the past, there is an edgy anticipation in meeting the players and watching them have their initial size-up on the beach.

I always wonder how those players feel when they first step onto the beach and face each other.  Are their hearts pounding?  Are they in shock?  I am reminded of my days going to a new school…mom leads me across the parking lot to the door, and there are kids playing in the yard and laughing…there are teachers scurrying about…and I am trudging my way along into the alien landscape to meet new people and have new experiences.  Will I be accepted?  Tortured?  Outcast?

Possibility rules the new, and it isn’t always fun.

And last night, the same rules applied.  The theme of this season is “Heroes vs. Villains.”  And that’s pretty much what we had…at first.  But as the show begins and the competition begins, we are reminded that that is mostly a perception.  There is gaming and scheming on both beaches, and after awhile, one begins to see that hero or villain is just a matter of packaging.  Of perception.

That has always been the joy of Survivor.  That has been the attraction, I think.  When we see people from all walks of life isolated together, playing a game for a million dollars, we get insight into the nature of the human being.  Will there be friendship?  Love?  Loyalty?  Or will it all degrade into a fish-head soup of lies, deceit, and back-stabbing.

Everyone has ideas about how they would hold to their ethics when it comes to Survivor.  But I have a hunch that while you’re out there, it’s hard to know which way you would turn.

As Heroes vs. Villains continues this season, join the discussion at Orumai and let’s examine the show, its cast, and our own natures.

It’ll be fun…and we may all learn something along the way.

-josh

Of course, I had to tune in.  It’s right in our wheelhouse here at Orumai, right?

Maybe.

The show is the latest offering from writer David Hudgins (“Friday Night Lights”) and is based on M.J. Rose’s book, “The Reincarnationinst”.

Gruff, cynical Price Whatley (Nicholas Bishop), an ex-NYPD homicide detective turned investigator, and the uber-believer Dr. Kate McGinn (Kelli Giddish) work together to solve crimes with the help of McGinn’s patients who experience flashes from past lives.

Great premise.  Strange execution.

Right from the off, something seemed amiss in the pilot.  A boy is playing basketball.  He goes to retrieve the ball from a hallway and sees a swimming pool.  Suddenly he flashes back to a scene of abuse…someone is being tortured?  Hit with something?  Grabbed?  We’re not sure.  It’s pretty choppy, as a flashback probably would be.

Desperate for help, he and his mother arrive at McGinn’s office run by Dr. Malachi Talmadge (Richard Schiff), whose name is on the door of the institute.  Through the boy’s flashbacks, and some extremely helpful, yet grief-stricken parents, McGinn and Whatley solve the crime with the help of the FBI.

*Whew!* That’s a lot.

Choppy and a bit disjointed, the show moves along to its conclusion amicably, though with many convenient turns, overly-grim settings, and unanswered questions.  One must certainly suspend disbelief.

And not in the way you might think.

I’m not referring to belief in reincarnation or other spiritual phenomena.  Those are left up to each individual (although the show smacks us about the head with them until we are bruised into skeptical submission).  I refer instead to the many leaps and bounds one must ignore for the show to hold.  In one scene McGinn exposes the boy to triggers while Whatley shoots footage.  Apparently she is trying to trigger his past life memories.  Now, I only have an LMSW, but I can say that that might not be my first attempt at “therapy” right out of the gate.  Also, the boy never seems to receive treatment.  Rather he seems to be used as a crime-fighting pawn for murder-solving, masquerading under the guise of therapy.  Supposedly, the solved crime will win his psychological freedom.

I’m not a psychiatrist.  I’m not an investigator.  And I am not (as far as I know) haunted by past life memories.  But I can say that as a viewer, the show seemed to be a caricature, with characters acting out parts instead of being immersed in the sensitivity of their roles.  It came across as “I don’t believe, but I might!” and “I do believe, so there!”

I do applaud some things about “Past Life”.  I am glad to see a network taking on such an interesting topic so extensively in prime time.  Furthermore, the show may spawn increased interest and understanding in topics that are important not only to folks in the ‘new age’, but those who possess certain beliefs such as reincarnation as part of their religious value systems.

Bravo for that.

Let us hope that “Past Life” can resurrect itself into a more riveting portrayal of something very interesting, instead of another Hollywood imprisonment of a liberating topic.