The Fox series Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test pits celebrities and athletes against each other in a series of tests that are essentially modified versions of real Special Forces military training. The competitors on this five-week series includes actors like Stephen Baldwin, Kyla Pratt, and Denise Richards, and athletes Cam Newton and Golden Tate, as they face their fears and attempt to endure the rigorous 10-day training camp. Few will last, but who will actually makes past day one?
SPECIAL FORCES: WORLD’S TOUGHEST TEST: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: An overhead shot of the choppy ocean off the coast of Wales gives way to a boat carrying a load of celebrities. Stephen Baldwin tells Brody Jenner, “This is the ultimate in gnarly, bro.” Poetry, so soon?
The Gist: Sixteen celebrities, including reality stars, actors, and athletes, are brought together to endure Special Forces military training, which includes some brutal mental and physical tests administered by a group of men simply known as the staff. This season begins as these competitors are already on their way to a remote fort off the coast of Wales where they’ll live and train for ten days. Soon, their boat is overtaken by another, filled with the staff, who brutally grab each of them and put a black fabric bag on their heads. They’re then driven 200 meters off the coast of an island and one by one, they’re pushed off the boat and told to swim to shore. While many of these contestants are relatively young and fit athletes and seem to not struggle with the swim, Denise Richards and Stephen Baldwin, who are among the oldest contestants in the group, at 53 and 58, respectively, can barely make it unassisted. Once on shore, they all stand shivering and given a rucksack of dry clothes, a numbered armband, and then they are told they’re about to endure ten days of treacherous ocean warfare.
Along with Richards, Baldwin and Jenner, the rest of the cast includes actresses Christy Carlson Romano and Kyla Pratt, soccer player Landon Donovan, Olympians Nathan Adrian, Jordyn Wieber and Marion Jones Thompson, football players Cam Newton and Golden Tate, motocross legend (and husband of Pink) Carey Hart, Bachelorette stars Ali Fedotowsky and Trista Sutter, and models Alana Blanchard and Kayla Nicole.
Over the course of the challenges, competitors can either voluntarily withdraw (VW) by removing their armband or will be eliminated by the staff in charge. As the show progresses, we hear more about each contestant’s motives for being there, and while it would be easy to judge most of these folks for trying to extend their 15 minutes of fame, it becomes clear early on that this is not a show for the faint of heart, and everyone here is in it to either improve their survival skills, or prove to themselves that they can handle being outside their comfort zone.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? While many of the harsh challenge that this cast has to endure are reminiscent of Fear Factor or The Challenge, this show differs from those in that there is no sabotage or strategy at play here, the contestants are generally in this simply to prove to themselves that they can do it.
Our Take: Special Forces is shot in a way that goes for maximum dramatic effect – none of the participating staff break from their stern style, not even when speaking to the camera in confessionals, and many of the challenges are filmed against dramatic music or in slow motion to lend gravitas to the whole endeavor. It’s effective, especially when cast confessionals are spliced in. The show doesn’t really allow for that much light-heartedness, so instead of poking fun of Denise Richards and Stephen Baldwin’s age or lack of physicality, instead they’re given a platform to talk about how their using this as an opportunity to prove something to themselves or overcome fear. It’s actually a smart way to allow us to empathize with personalities who are often a punchline.
The thing you, you also kind of expect people like Baldwin and Richards to struggle. Special Forces is a little like Dancing With The Stars in the sense that it’s an incredibly physical show that relies in part on athleticism, which puts some of its contestants at an immediate advantage. But it wouldn’t be an interesting show without that broad spectrum of skills represented, and giving them more of a story arc is what keeps them in the game.
The show is also structured in a way that makes it addictive and hard to look away from – we’re immediately pulled in to the assembled cast of celebrities who think they have what it takes to make it, and the draw of the show is to see who can make it through. While I’m here for that journey, I have to admit that the conceit of the staff constantly bark orders and berate the contestants for “not having what it takes,” gives Gordon Ramsey more than Marine sergeant and I’m more invested when the staff actually speak to the contestants one on one like humans.
Sex and Skin: There are some wardrobe changes out of wet clothes, but nothing more.
Parting Shot: Stephen Baldwin sits in the medic’s office and tells the doctor that he has an acting gig after he finishes filming this show. “The one condition for that gig is that I not get injured,” he says. “I. CANNOT. GET INJURED,” he says gravely to the doctor. “I cannot get injured. What do I do?” It’s a bizarre performance he’s giving, it comes off as a threat despite the fact that the doctor has nothing to do with whether or not Baldwin injures himself. “I’m not quite sure why you’re asking me,” the doctor says, “but I will pass on your concerns.”
“I think you should,” Baldwin says before the show cuts to scenes from the next episode.
Performance Worth Watching: Denise Richards gets more screen time than any of the other contestants in the season premiere because she certainly has a compelling story to tell. When asked why she chose to even participate in such a grueling show (which, in many ways, she’s not physically capable of handling), she admits she wants to push herself out of her comfort zone. She describes two instances, a road rage attack on her car as well as a sexual assault as a teenager, that traumatized her and which she felt unable to defend herself. While it seems unlikely that she’ll complete the ten-day challenge, she has given us reason to root for her.
Memorable Dialogue: “If these recruits think they’re coming on a European holiday, they’ve got another thing coming,” former Marine and chief instructor Rudy says with an evil glare that is, I think, his resting cheerful face.
Our Call: Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test is, admittedly, not the kind of show I typically gravitate toward. But I’ve found myself fully invested in this cast of characters right away. This is more than just a group of celebrities assembled to win a pot of money, there’s actually some interesting storytelling going on with several of the competitors that’s honest and personal (and, okay, yeah, sometimes a little melodramatic) and the challenges are exciting to watch. STREAM IT!
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’ Season 3 on Fox, Where A New Crop Of Celebrities Endure Harsh Military Training Simply To Prove They Can Do It appeared first on Decider.
