Episode three of Kamp Waes soon started, and I thought: I am just one cushion short of being able to sit really comfortably. I grabbed another one from the two-seater next to me to fill the hollow of my back. The gin and tonic that I had already made myself was ready on the coffee table. The cat jumped on my lap, grunted, gave me the two cups of this quirky little furry shit I was allowed to eat in a day, and lay down next to me, being lazy on the couch. So, I was ready to see thirteen people being tortured.
WHAT WAS ON THE PROGRAM?
After last week’s water test, the candidates, already tired of everything that had happened before, were put on a bus to the area of Marche-Les-Dames, where they were released into the fortress of Dave, an abandoned military fortress where special forces operators are trained to orient themselves without light. Seven hundred to eight hundred meters through tight passages, alone, and with only their sense of touch and a hopefully sufficient mental image of the map of the dilapidated complex in their heads.
In addition to being a test in orientation, it was also a mental test. With infrared cameras mounted on their equipment, which immediately gave the episode echoes of The Blair Witch Project, we saw the bewilderment and – yes – panic on many people’s faces during this claustrophobic torment.
But by the time twelve of the thirteen had reached the end of the tunnel, only half an hour had passed from Camp Waes, so it quickly became clear that there was something else to come: the Tender Feet. A fifty kilometer trip through the High Fens, packed and dropped. A war of attrition that once again tested their navigation skills, but of course also their perseverance.
DID FLY HAVE ANY SURPRISES IN STORE?
Fly’s surprise came late in the episode. The first location also didn’t need any extra frills to keep it interesting: the underground complex was full of dead-end side roads, which caused panic among a significant number of the participants. It clearly seemed easier than it was: once in the dark for long enough, everyone becomes disoriented. The last few participants who were still in the complex encountered each other wandering around in the corridors, and Lode – Boomlang, which by definition was not very convenient for this test – even ended up in the same room five times.
At one point, three people – Boris, Dries and Kaat – also trudged down the wrong corridor, a path that Emma had already taken before them. But – oh irony – it had a surprise in store for Fly: it turned out to be a ventilation tunnel that was not on the map, and that led to a shaft that, with some light digging, turned out to provide a new exit from the darkness.
The surprise that was deliberately added to the game came after the first checkpoint of the death march on the High Fens: up to that point the candidates did not yet know that it would be a journey of fifty kilometers (at least, said Fly: poor card readers take 70 to 75 km). The dismay was great.
WERE THERE ANY VICTIMS?
There were still ten of them then. Until last week, all thirteen participants apparently got through the already considerable challenges with ease, but this week three were less lucky. Julien, so confident during the map study before crawling into those dark caverns, even had to shout the “No play!” command (which means: it’s not a game anymore, I’m in mortal danger) while he was still in the first part of the bunker was full, hopelessly lost. The panic that had overcome him made Fly decide to pull the plug. The first dropout was a fact.
Next up, during the Tender Feet trial, was Youssef. He started the trip optimistically (“We’re not pussies!”), but it soon became clear that keeping a sense of humor alone doesn’t make the difference. When he completed the first stage far too late, instructor Adri decided that there was no point in continuing. Dropout number two.
The most emotional goodbye of the episode came from Emma. In the first part she was the one who found the extra exit, but in the war of attrition on the High Fens she met herself. Crying hysterically, she had to hear from Fly that, because she had already gotten lost before the journey had even started, it ended here for her.
WHO MADE THE MOST IMPRESSION?
Of the ten survivors, none really excelled for the time being: they all dragged themselves through the trials with a determined step. The hyperactive Dries stood out during the Tender Feet by running for a large part of the route: it caused him to have reservations from Fly, who feared that he would not make it to the end that way, but he used some of his winnings time to take a refreshing dip in a stream before resting.
WHO IS ON THEIR LAST LEGS?
No one for now. Thanks to their exemplary composure, the ten participants who made it to the beginning of episode four made it through the considerable tests without too much difficulty. In Dave’s fortress we only saw Kaat – as she described it – ‘become bad’ for a moment: towards the end of the tunnel there was a hysterical cry, and Fly had to guide her in the last meters to the exit. But in her defense, she did end up in that narrow air shaft that wasn’t actually part of the game, and her momentary panic caused Fly to enter that far too narrow passage to the end – which some male participants would never pass through given their larger body mass. were hit – closed to prevent further misery for those still in the fort.
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2024-01-28 20:53:07
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