You vs. Wild Season 1 Review

April 17, 2019 at 4:11am
By Jason Stettner

This is a Netflix Original Series that presents an interactive style where you assist Bear Grylls in survival. The goal of the series is to allow you to make choices that will impact his ability to survive. Will he eat the poo, or just ignore it and continue on. That sounds silly, but it is an example. Most of the time you actually need to make right choices or you'll fail.

It's a nice showcase of surviving, but at the same time it doesn't go in with enough depth to be helpful. In one case I had him collect water and he mentioned that having a clear container will kill bacteria over a certain amount of time. It later shows him drinking from it and it looks clear, I would have liked to know the time it takes. Perhaps even an estimation, it touches on helpful survival tips yet doesn’t go all in.

It also feels incredibly scripted, which something like this probably needs to be by design. Each moment just felt so well thought out and that made it feel fake. There was never any danger as you'd just be forced to go back. I didn't feel a sense of defeat, or that my decisions were bad. It opens up choices the further you progress, and in that sense it adds some replayability I suppose.

I will definitely note that Bear Grylls does an excellent job of keeping the viewer engaged. He certainly knows how to put on a show and was the highlight here. I've heard of him, but haven't watched any of the prior content he has been a part of. I like the idea in regards to what Netflix did here, but at the same time the execution could have been better. It's too easy to get to places and predictable.

There just wasn't enough danger and many times it came across as silly. It was however mostly well shot, really neat angles that were dynamic. It flowed well despite being spliced up segments and you knew what you were aiming for. Again, it starts out more linear and then gets slightly more dynamic as things progress. It's more narrative driven and then it becomes focused on having you survive. The choice selection UI is clean, precise and easy to handle.

The Conclusion

You vs. Wild Season 1 isn't an amazing experience, but Bear Grylls really does put on a good show and it's a neat format. This certainly won't be the end of this type of content, I just wish they would have taken things further. I liked hearing about the survival facts, I expected more depth however. If people are thinking of these moments when they're out in the wild, it needs to have more exact information.

Bear Grylls was excellent here and in a cheesy sort of way, I did feel he was communicating effectively with me. That being the sense that we're the camera, and he's interacting with us. They showcased some gorgeous locations, found some neat creatures and explored some cool places. You get frozen landscapes, warm jungles or even spooky caves. The pacing was fast so you can go through it quickly and I had some fun with this. It's light, easy to watch and a decent time.

You vs. Wild Season 1 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Content Access was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 6.0