Manhunt, Episode 2: Follow the Leader?

Episode Two – Day two, 25 hours into the game. The contestants rank as follows: JK, eliminated; Wesley, 3 contested hits; Joe, 2 hits; Mandy, Jesse, Karen, James, Lyzz, 1 hit; Jim, Lucas, Nicole, Romey, Ed, no hits. The show opens on Mud Pit Trail with the remaining contestants waiting for a decision regarding a "Possible Rules Violation," lodged by Wesley. He claims that he was only hit two times by Big Tim, not three. Big Tim is very clear about his mathematical abilities, "I hit him 3 times, 1, 2, 3," he snarls into the camera, holding up his handy counting device. Finally, the decision is announced that Wesley has been marked only two times, and the game is on again. The group chooses the "Dead Man’s Gorge" route.

Grassland Road, 6 miles to Safe Zone. The hunters assemble at the tunnel. Rain places a grenade in the rock wall. Big Tim reminds them of their mission, "I want eliminations." Meanwhile, the group is moving through the grasslands. It’s obvious that Wesley is still a marked man. He charges up and down the trail, speaking in a nervous, rapid-fire patter. Lyzz says Wesley, "Has a flavor of panic in his voice," and is rattling the group. They now enter deep jungle and pick their way carefully through the dense undergrowth, scanning the trees for the hunters. They reach the rope bridge at Dead Man’s Gorge without incident, 1 3/4 miles to the Safe Zone.

The rope bridge is a v-shaped apparatus; one rope at the bottom and two on either side at waist-height, which form handles. Shorter vertical ropes connect the three main horizontal ropes. The contestants strap on support harnesses which are clipped to a safety rope strung above the bridge. They cross single-file, one foot in front of the other, holding onto the handle ropes, trying to keep their balance. Despite the fact that they’re just "pathetic suburbanites" they all cross safely in rapid succession, minus a sway or two. Mandy is proud of her accomplishment, "I have two older brothers who are very protective. This is a chance for me to prove that I can do things completely on my own."

The group moves out rapidly into the forest on the other side of the gorge, while the camera pans to the hunters moving up behind. Rain fires off a shot through the dense foliage, setting off a stampede. Her shot misses and she radios ahead to Big Tim. He shoots at the rapidly moving backside of the group, who are attempting to climb over a huge fallen tree, en masse. He misses this shot, as well as his next two. The only hunter left is Koa. The group has now emerged into a grassland area. With one shot left, he races up on Mandy, who is hiding in the grass alongside the trail. He sneers at her, calling her a "little journalese." Mandy is resigned to her fate. "Hit me, hit me," she says. He fires at point-blank range, leaving a huge raised welt on her arm. A cease fire is announced.

Safe Zone. The paint-free group shares a high five; James and Karen hug. It’s time for the gauntlet vote. The group decides to finish Big Tim’s work and vote for Wesley. We hear the big guy’s opinion on the matter: "I may have had 3 misses, but make no mistake – I will have my hair!" Major Hazard sounds like he’s due for some new additions to his voice box menu.

The group explains their unique individual reasons for voting off Wesley. Joe says that when someone is being a problem or is a "terribly weak link," they have to vote them out. Lyzz reluctantly says that Wesley "panics," mouthing "sorry" at him afterward. Delicate thing Karen says that Wesley "has more energy than I do." Leader James says that he has been looking for a "tail-end Charlie" but has not seen one. Meanwhile, Wesley has gone into some kind of Biblical trance, muttering "let it be spoken, let it be done," a la Yul Brynner. Wesley states what we already know: "If they’re threatened by you, they’ll want to get you out quicker. It allows them to feel better about themselves by saying ‘Oh, because he is good,’ but the bottom line is they don’t want him here right now."

The gauntlet course this time is a thickly tangled cleft in a wooded ridge. Wesley must first race up the ridge and then down towards the flag. He moves out very fast, evading the hunters’ shots on the way up the ridge, but is hit by Big Tim on the way down. BT bellows his triumph, "Hit! I told you I’d get you, you belly-achin’ punk." He points his finger at the camera. "There is no dispute about that." Sounds like his ego is the biggest part of his anatomy.

Wesley continues his protest. "I thought the gauntlet that I ran, it wasn’t fair. They should’ve just blindfolded me and say ‘just stand there.’ There was no way of winning; it was unbeatable." James acknowledges Wesley’s worth by saying, "Wesley is the most fit guy out there and in a running contest he could beat me, so it was stupid he was eliminated. He was just one less threat." If it was so stupid to eliminate Wesley, then why did you vote for him, James? Is the sight of the younger guys zipping past you getting to you?

Safe Zone Camp. It’s started to rain and the group strugglesto put up the tents. Joe provides some insight on the group’s interactions. "People are starting to get a little tense; little things can become big things. James had a great knowledge of military tactics, but as for being a people-leader – that means opening up your mind a little bit and relating to people. He’s started to alienate himself from the group a little bit." James gives the group one of his pep talks. "I honestly thought we would have a laggard or two; but I’m impressed, nobody here has a military background. A lot of you guys are pretty young too. Everyone’s behaving like responsible adults." Jim, the oldest member of the group at the ripe age of 36, looks suitably impressed as he scarfs down some chow. James continues, "I have a lot of outdoor skills, navigational skills, to guide me through. It seems that they respect me. Everyone’s respecting me as the leader." Nicole has a different perspective. "When James took on that leadership role, he needs to do this for himself, I kinda felt. The thing was is that James spoke a lot about all of his qualifications, so we all knew about them. So, maybe it’s true and maybe it isn’t, we’ll see." We see a clip of James informing the group as to the way the "military does it."

The camera switches to night-time black and white, glowing eyeballs and all. We have a continuation of the previous night’s hanky panky, featuring a nocturnal peep-show. We see Romey the bartender, who has done an outstanding job of doing nothing at all remarkable, doing a shimmy in her underwear, to overtures of "sexy mama!" She peels back the tent flap, inviting Joe to join her, accompanied by some light-hearted music. Romey explains, "At the end of the day, we’re all so tired and we’ve all experienced such similar things, that we don’t have the inhibitions that we would normally. Everyone seems to be really affectionate. We broke down all kinds of physical barriers. Whoever you’re next to, put your arm around them. Whoever you’re next to, you give him a kiss on the cheek - you become instant family. Families touch and love each other – so we do." We see a tangle of bare arms and legs in the tent, as various group members obligingly follow Romey’s advice.

Meanwhile, mighty hunter Big Tim is still obsessing about his prey, even in their so-called Safe Zone. We see him creeping towards the family love-in, eyes glowing, snarling, "They’re laughing now, believe me, the laughing stops tomorrow." Don’t get too close, big guy; you might just get distracted from your mission of total annihilation.

Minister Jim has left the kids to their frolicking and gone outside for some quiet reflection. Jim talks about how much he misses his wife. "You can’t put a price tag on how you feel about somebody. I thank God and ask him to help me through this part where I’m really missing her." Jim has all the qualities necessary to be the Rodger Bingham of the rainforest. Let’s hope he lasts long enough for us to get to know him better.

Morning of the third day dawns gray and rainy. Hit count: JK and Wesley are eliminated; Jesse, James, Karen, Lyzz, 1 hit; Mandy and Joe, 2 hits; Lucas, Romey, Nicole, Jim and Ed, no hits. The group wrangles over the route to take as they crouch over the map. The men are divided over whether to take the mountain route or the pass. Lyzz protests against taking the mountain route. Ed retorts, "You can make it up the mountain, honey." James finally declares that they will take the pass.

Blackout Pass. The trail leads to a tunnel carved through the base of a small mountain. We see Rain planting grenades in the rock walls and stringing trip wires. Big Tim and Koa are in the forest. Big Tim tells Koa, "Grab your gear; we’re burning daylight."

Viper Trail – 7 1/2 miles to Safe Zone. The group is walking down a grassland trail. Lyzz speaks, "As time goes by, we’ll find more people finding their strong points and more people finding their weak points." We take stock of the injured members of the group. Lucas has hurt his ankle and walks with the aid of a long stick he calls his, "third leg." James still favors the knee he injured on the first day. He says, "I’m holding my own with everyone. That’s about all I’m doing with my knee is just hanging in there. I’m trying not to slow the group down. I’m trying not to lose that leadership role." Meanwhile, James’ right-hand-man of the previous episode is getting restless. Joe says, "I think the winner’s going to be myself, because I have the advantage of bursts of speed, which people here don’t have or don’t have because of injury." We see him radioing back to James that the group needs to get back on the road and he tells the group that the stronger runners should stay in the back and the weaker runners should move forward. This is too much for James, who calls him aside and says "OK, listen Joe, while you’re taking command, you’re (bleep)ing up tactics here." James tells the camera, "It (two squads) wasn’t designed to be that way. I have no problem with not being leader, but while I am, I need people to listen to what I have to say . . . especially with my experience compared to theirs." Joe responds, "James and I bumped heads out there. We both have pretty big egos and a lot of pride. We both handle leadership positions in a little bit of a different way. I think he (James) guides more with an iron fist. We need a leader who can listen a little bit more, but for James, it’s ‘my way or the highway.’ I think everyone’s getting a little tense right now; we need to chill out."

Blackout Pass – 5 1/2 miles to Safe Zone. The group comes upon the tunnel and they’re majorly nervous. James tries to keep everyone focused and behaving in a "military fashion." They creep into the funnel single-file, holding onto the shoulder of the person in front of them. James chants "Don’t panic," as spooky music plays in the background and the group whimpers under their breath. We see an endless replay of stumbling figures with fear-glazed eyeballs, who never get any closer to the distant glow of the tunnel’s exit. Suddenly, the first grenade explodes and off we go!

The women shout, "Let’s go, let’s go," while James hollers futilely, "Don’t panic!" There is a long, endless plunge to the exit, accompanied by the noise of exploding grenades, all in spooky Halloween-vision. The group finally bursts through the opening and streams down the trail. Rain rappels down to the trail from the atop the tunnel entrance.

Unfortunately, there is no chill-out time here either, as the group encounters a continuous rain of exploding grenades and smoke as they streak into a large field. Big Tim and Koa are crouched in the grass, waiting for their prey to run past. Big Tim jumps up and shoots James, then chases after him and shoots him again. Mandy hides in the grass and tries to wait it out. Big Tim is still chasing James, yelling, "Somebody’s getting their head shaved," as he shoots him for the third time. "Mark!" he bellows. Rain misses all her shots.

Koa races after Karen and hits her on the run. He proudly announces into his headset, "Mark, I have a mark!" In rapid succession, he shoots Ed and an unidentified woman. (As of press time, UPN’s website does not show an updated hit count.) A cease fire is announced. Mandy comes out of hiding. Big Tim gloats. To the camera he announces, "No questions about this one; someone’s getting shaved." Jim has managed to slip past all the hunters and remains unmarked. But a big drama has emerged around James and Nicole. James had been racing right behind Nicole when she tripped and went down, causing James to fall as well. He stumbled to his feet, but couldn’t get away fast enough from Big Tim. Now, James says that he has "mixed feelings" about Nicole, and wonders if she tripped him on purpose. James faces the group, issuing one last command, "Listen up guys; I’m out."

Meanwhile, the angry hunters wait. Their prey is not falling into line quickly enough. Rain takes a lesson from the Big Tim School of How to Win Friends and Influence People, snarling at the group to "Get up here guys, get up here." When they huddle dejectedly, she shouts, "We want to see your faces." Koa obediently echoes, "Bring it in, right here." Rain proves her own mighty hunter standing, as she steps up to Karen saying, "And you, you got lucky today. I wanted your hair and I’ll get it later." The big guy now addresses his troops. "You folks still think you work together well. I’ve been on a lot of teams; I think you look like a pile of crap."

Big Tim, who is apparently also a professional wrestler known as The Prototype (see right) now moves to slake his hair-lust. He decides to soften up his audience a little first by showing off his counting skills once again. "There’s 10 of you left, that means that 10 of you can look. This man is about to join a secret club; 9 of you will join that same club." He then shaves James’ head right down the middle, skunk style. The humiliation ritual goes on and on. Big Tim taunts James as he carefully grooms the runway carved on his victim’s head. "I think they may have prescription drugs that may cause impotency, but may get your hair back. You’re going to find out whether bald really is beautiful. You take this back to the folks; you let them know how much you were humiliated." Careful viewers will note as Big Tim lifts his arm to shave James’ head that scalps are not the only body parts the big guy likes to shave.

Big Tim can’t bear to tear himself away from his captive audience. He grits his teeth as he addresses them one more time. "There’s going to be one lucky one, that means that nine are going to look like that," as the camera zooms in on James’ stooges-do. "And keep in mind," he continues, "The rain gives us better cover." Rain coaxes the reluctant Big Guy away as he tries to dart back to the group and take one more swipe, saying, "Come on, come on boy."

OK, enough already. Big Tim, Rain, and Koa, aka John Cena, Raye Hollitt, and Kala’i Miller, seem to think they’re acting out a real-life version of the short story, The Most Dangerous Game. (author Richard Connell) Somebody should tell these would-be big game hunters that this is just a game. You are getting paid for this job. You will have to declare it to the I.R.S. like everybody else. It Is Not Real. Lighten up. Even the drill instructors on Boot Camp had a sense of humor and knew how to smile. And they had a real job.

The group is left to lick their wounds and say goodbye to James (left). We see Karen, his light-of-love say, "I have mixed feelings about it right now. It was hard to watch James getting his head shaved, because it was humiliating. I saw it as part of the game. The group is getting narrowed down. Each of us feels like we have a shot at the quarter of a million dollars." Plucky James tries to leave on an upbeat note. "Hey, good luck," he says, as the camera follows his stubbly head towards the forest. Lyzz provides her perspective on the situation. "We’d all pretty much counted on James being a real solid leader in the group . . . all of a sudden, I saw all sorts of our plans kind of going down the tube." Helpful Ed remarks, "It’s a whole different game, folks."

Jim is now the group leader. He runs up to Karen, saying he’s going to "take James’ spot." Karen says that she is right behind him. Jim explains his initiation ritual. "You know when James kind of handed me over the mantle; what he did, he gave me the compass. The group is like ‘OK, Jim, let’s go.’ " Now let’s see, Jim is nice, unmarked, and the new leader – he’s got my vote.

Mandy chants to herself, "It’ll be fine; it’ll be fine. We can handle it; that’s the importance of team work." The Nicole and James drama still rages. Karen says that James is "pissed off" about getting tripped. Nicole cries that her feelings are hurt that James would think such a thing.

We leave the group with a quote from Nicole, “I think we might be better off. I don’t think it’s the end of the world.”

Next week’s episode shows the group enjoying some swimming, diving, and bikini displays, interrupted by the occasional ambush.

Melinda Smith is a technical illustrator and writer with a background in graphic arts. She and her family live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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