Top Shot Analysis: S4 E4 "Crossbow Crossfire"

There was a lot happening both on and off the range in this week's episode. The contestants stepped away from guns to try their hand at crossbows and blue team looked like they were going to take a step away from being petty to actually work as a team, only to trick everyone, including themselves.

There is a fair amount to talk about with this episode, but I just want to start with a question.

Is anyone else really starting to dig this season?

Perhaps it's because I'm blogging this season, or perhaps it's because I've been able to interact with some of the contestants thanks to Twitter, but as the season wears on, I just find a bigger grin on my face with each passing episode. Who would have thought there would be more to stay tuned in for after we were treated to grenade launchers in the second episode? But this season continues to impress with compelling contestants, thrilling challenges, and exciting weapons.

Anyway onto the episode.

The Challenges

I have to say I was glad to see the BowTech StrykeZone 350 crossbow in this episode. Now, I'll never tire of guns, exploding targets, or contestants with ridiculous looking earguards (seriously though, safety first) but the thing I like about Top Shot is that it has always been about more than being able to shoot a gun. I like when they bring in the primitive weapons, but I love when they bring in modern day versions of ancient weapons. If History Channel was once the channel where "History comes alive" (that was there slogan once, right?) it is certainly demonstrated when Top Shot brings in these modern day incarnations. 

I was surprised to see that the contestants practiced on a stationary target and were then put into a challenge with a rotating one. Usually the contestants practice with a simple moving target to get the feel for how to shoot the weapon at a moving target, and are then faced with  more complex moving target in the actual challenge. However there were a lot of comparisons being made between shooting a rifle and shooting the crossbow, so if there was an understanding that the contestants had basic rifle skills, this may explain the reason behind this decision. 

The challenges this season continue to impress with their complex staging that continues to emphasize the importance of team strategy as well as team shooting. This challenge posed the question of whether to send your better shooters out early and get out to an early lead, or save them for when they had an opportunity to score more points. 

The initial 3-0 lead blue team took had me questioning red teams strategy, but while blue team kept repeating the mantra "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" red team seemed to be the ones taking it to heart. Red team is continuing to perhaps be one of the most cohesive teams in Top Shot history, without being obnoxious about it. 

The elimination challenge looked surprisingly difficult. Now, I'm not saying other elimination challenges are easy, but I think I would have gotten incredibly frustrated trying to nail that tiny balloon at the top of the pendulum. The nice thing about this challenge is it continued to demonstrate the importance of consistency in these challenges. Anyone can get a lucky run going, but if a shooter perseveres and finds a pace that works for them, they can always catch up and make things interesting. 

I would take this opportunity to harp on Littlejohn for his inability to hit his final target and allow Gallagher to catch up with him, but that was a visibly difficult shot to make. We know that elimination challenges are filmed over the course of the day with practice in the morning and the challenge in the afternoon. In this episode it was clear to see the sun was setting and the shadows at the top of the wall were obscuring that final balloon for Littlejohn. That's already a difficult shot to make with the low clearance and small target size, and the poor lighting only added to the difficulty. 

The design of these challenges and the contestants skill level have kept these challenges close and exciting to watch this season.

The Contestants

I want to talk in broader terms for minute before getting into specific contestants. As I wrote above, red team is cruising this season, they have three out of four wins and are only down one team member. They have a group with diverse backgrounds, and their overall teamwork is astounding. 

However, contrast this with blue team. A team that has become sorely divided. I wanted to dig into blue team a little here, but the more I thought about the more sympathetic I became. The audience gets a week digest everything that has happened between episodes. It is easy to think that these guys should be able to turn themselves around the next time we tune into the show. But that isn't how it really works is it? These guys are on a tight schedule, which doesn't allow them a lot of time to work on team building. Last season we saw a completely different blue team, one that won the first challenge and wanted to keep winning. They did those crazy practices in the backyard of the house, which were laughable, but even the members of the team who thought they were silly, admitted they were good for building team unity. And they were right. 

This season of Top Shot has shown just how critical focus is to this game, and just how a far a team can fall when they don't have it. Going back to my initial point I can only imagine how hard it is for a team to try and wash their hands of the bad feelings left over from a loss and try and turn their attitudes around in just three days (or less). Vaughan can give all the speeches he wants (and props to him for doing what needed to be done) and his team can nod along and agree with him as much as they want, but if they don't actually commit to what he's trying to preach, they are going to continue to struggle in this competition.

Now for this week's Top and Not-so-Top Shots.

Not-so-Top Shots:

Gregory Littlejohn, Mr. Friendship bracelet himself. The thing about Littlejohn is, I'm starting to come around to him. Not in a, "This guy is pretty cool" way, but more in a "I'm am completely fascinated by this guy" way. Littlejohn is, for better or worse, becoming this season's standout character. Season 2 had the irritable coaching of Jay Lim, which quickly faded when he had no one else to coach. Season 3 had the irritable coaching and mind games of Jake Zweig. Littlejohn is neither of these things. He isn't someone who is trying to dominate the way his team is run, and he isn't someone who is sullying the unspoken honor of this competition through manipulation (unless he is, in which case, he's a genius). He's simply a guy who likes to have his friends around him. I have a theory  that every reality show has a character that is representative of the kid no one wanted to play with during grade school. On Jersey Shore, it's The Situation. On Deadliest Catch, it's Captain Keith. I think Littlejohn is Top Shot's version of this character. These people suddenly find themselves forced into social situations, and it overwhelms them. It can go two ways, the person pushes the people they are surrounded by away (The Situation) or they bring them uncomfortably close (Littlejohn). Colby has tweeted his own confusion as to Littlejohn's ability to put this tremendous amount of weight on relationships with people he has know for less than two weeks. It was also evident by Colby's dazed expression over what has become know as the "friendship bracelet ceremony". He just couldn't seem to understand how Littlejohn and Gallagher had become so close, and Gallagher seemed to be right there with Colby. 

Back tracking a little, Littlejohn is also have a clear problem with nerves in this competition, and his inability to knock an arrow allowed the red team to regain their composure and lead themselves to a win. From the preview of next week's episode, this doesn't look like a problem that is going away anytime soon, but Littlejohn might. 

Oh, and how about his closing comment about how that blue team better realize that they shouldn't send him to elimination if they don't want to send someone else home? HELLO? LITTLEJOHN? If your team is headed to elimination, someone is going home regardless if they nominate you or not. C'mon man.

I'm also going to throw up Gun Fauxeri for again saying he wanted to be in the elimination challenge. No you don't.

Top Shots:

Augie Malekovich finally started to speak up in this episode. I was beginning to forget this guy was here. He gets marks for expressing the confusion I think most of us were feeling during the bracelet ceremony. He also had the line of the night with his "31 year-old man giving a 36 year-old man a friendship bracelet" outrage.

Also speaking up this episode, Iggy Keyes and Gary Shank. Keyes is starting to finally look more comfortable in front of the camera, while Shank, like Augie, was a guy I had all but forgotten about. I hope we continue to see a little more from all three of these guys as the season continues.

That's it for this analysis. Let me know your thoughts on friendship bracelets and the like in the comments.

Come back tomorrow for the Friday Surprise addressing a question Colby raised on Twitter during this weeks episode. 

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Top Shot Recap: S4 E4 "Crossbow Crossfire"

Where to being on this one? This season of Top Shot continues to get progressively better as the contestants get progressively stranger. It is episodes like this that make me wish I didn't separate my recaps from my analysis, but that serves a purpose, namely keeping my thoughts straight. So unfortunately, I won't be commenting (too much) on a lot of drama in this episode until tomorrow. For now, let's take a look at what went down in "Crossbow Crossfire"

The episode started with Terry Vaughan nailing Michelle Viscusi's target to the wall and Gregory Littlejohn wrapping it in one of his friendship bandanas. This was quickly followed by, what my mother likes to call, a Come-to-Jesus led by Vaughan. The fracture in the blue team runs a lot deeper than what the cameras have been showing, and despite Vaughan's encouraging and level-headed words of wisdom that his teammates needed to pull themselves together, it seemed that blue team was destined to once again struggle through the team challenge.

On the range the contestants found they would be shooting a modern version of an ancient weapon, the BowTech StrykeZone 350 crossbow. (A weapon that proved as difficult to say as it was to shoot for the blue team*) The key to StrykeZone was the reload, something expert Chris Brackett took extra care instructing the contestants on. There was no clear advantage during the practice, but there was a slight edge for the red team since Tim Trefren's experience as a big game guide made him familiar with the weapon.

However, Trefren quickly learned the danger of touting one's experience on Top Shot, as he found himself benched by the blue team for the team challenge. The challenge featured contestants going head to head shooting at a rotating target. The number of targets would increase in each round. The first contestants would have one target each, the second, two and so forth through six contestants. Each target was worth a point, but when a contestant hit all of their targets the round was over, and their opponent would have to cease shooting.

The red team found themselves in quick hole after the first two rounds, down three to nothing. However, slowly but surely, they crawled back and made this challenge into a real contest. Blue began to make some critical errors with Vaughan hitting the same target twice and Littlejohn freezing up knocking his first arrow. While Trefren could not participate in the challenge, he was quite a vocal presence, coaching his teammates through the challenge. That coaching, combined with the smooth shooting of Chee Kwan and Chris Cheng, led red team to their second consecutive win and sent blue team back to the nomination range.

At the house, it was Colin Gallagher who fell on the sword this week, calling himself out for his poor performance. Littlejohn reluctantly offered himself up as well, but commented that he felt Vaughan should have spoken up more about his performance. On the range Gun Fauxeri made a bit of a fool of himself by hitting the outside ring of Gallagher's target. In the end it was Colin and Littlejohn who were headed to elimination.

They discovered they would be shooting the Smith & Wesson M&P40, a favorite among law enforcement. Top Shot featured its first ever female expert, Julie Golob, to help Littlejohn and Gallagher. Again, during practice, neither contestant seemed to hold an advantage over the other, both struggling to hit a moving target from a stationary position.

The elimination challenge marked this season's first appearance by balloon targets. Each contestant was faced with a large wall that had a triangle cut out of the center of it. Going head to head the contestants had to shoot a small target on the left or right of the triangle, releasing a pendulum with ten balloon targets (big targets on the bottom, small ones on top). Each time the pendulum swung it would get stuck on the opposite side and the contestant would have to hit the small target on the corresponding side to release it again. The objective was simple, first contestant to shoot all their balloon targets would win.

After an even start Littlejohn began to pull away with it, the score at one point being 9-4 in favor of Littlejohn. However, nerves (and shadows, more on that tomorrow) once again proved to be Littlejohn's weakness, and Gallagher managed to catch up and make it an even match at 9-9. This didn't last long though, as Littlejohn managed to hit his final target and pull out a win.

Gallagher was sent packing, but not without a parting friendship bandanna from Littlejohn, who seemed to like Gallagher a whole lot more once he knew he wasn't going to be around him anymore.

Phew! Writing that was kind of like holding your breath for a very long time. Those are facts, come back tomorrow for the opinions, because we're going to have some fun.

Next week: Pirates!

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets


*A cheap shot, but I couldn't resist.

Top Tweets Vol. 4: Twazed and Confused

Once again I am forced to wait for tonight's episode to be posted online sometime tomorrow morning before I can watch it. Foiled again by Full Metal Jousting and work. However, I was once again able to follow along with Colby's live tweeting of the episode. This week's tweets took a bit of an odd turn. Colby was clearly agitated by some of the tweets he was getting that were complaining about certain details of the show. He kept making jokes about drinking while watching and tweeting the episode, but after a while it seemed like he was getting legitimately tipsy. Which, well, doesn't really matter I suppose, I wouldn't have minded a brew or two if I had been able to watch tonight's episode. Again, just an interesting departure from the norm.

And now, to the tweets!

• Colby mentioned that he was back on the ranch, prepping for Season 5.

• P.S. that ranch is located in Agua Dulce, Cali. (Agua Dulce means "fresh water" in Spanish. Not only is this blog informative, it's educational!)

• Colby's favorite gun to even be used on the series is the full-auto Tommy gun used in Season 2

That, unfortunately, is pretty much it for this week. The rest is Colby responding to people criticizing the show and giving outlandish responses to questions that probably could use a real answer. He's also still tweeting almost an hour after the show ended, and he usually signs off pretty quick once the episode ends.  

Any thoughts? Hit the comments.

It's been a weird night on Twitter, can't wait to watch what went down in the episode. Next week I'm hoping to actually watch the episode when it airs since I'll be a spring break (life of a college student).

Check back tomorrow afternoon for my recap of "Crossbow Crossfire." 

Rest of the week looks like so: Analysis on Thursday, Friday Surprise, and Talkin' 'bout on Saturday.

Follow me on Twitter @cswiets

Talkin' 'bout Tim Trefren

Tim Trefren, the strong, silent type

In Talkin' 'bout I take some time to help cross promote a contestant who has been gracious enough to follow me on Twitter. Today I take a look at red team member Tim Trefren. This is the last contestant from the current season who is following me, so unless that changes in the next week, my next post will be about Season 2's Jay Lim.

Trefren hasn't gotten much screen time in these first few episodes, but he's on the cusp of breaking out. As long as he continues to shoot consistently, he'll quickly become red team's second most prominent member (because Sumpter will clearly continue to be the dominating red team spokesperson).  

Here are a few places you can go to learn a little bit more of Trefren.

As always, you can follow him on Twitter @TimTrefenTS4

Trefren works as a big game hunter in a family business called Trefren Outfitters. Their official site can viewed at the link below. It gives an interesting insight into hunting in the more rural parts of America, like Wyoming.

http://trefrenoutfitters.net/

Like Terry Vaughan, Trefren has also doing some blogging for this season. He's blogging for Outdoorlife.com, providing additional insight into each episode. You can read his latest post about "Shotgun Showdown" by clicking the link below, and you can view his previous posts by clicking on his name in the byline.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2012/02/top-shot-how-not-make-mental-mistakes

Also, if you think Trefren has what it takes to be History's Top Shot, or if you just enjoy his presence on the show, make sure to like him on Facebook by clicking the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Trefren-Top-Shot-Season-4/162534093849812

That's all for this week's edition, I'm hoping to generate some more followers, and make some more contact with contestants so I can keep doing these posts.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @cswiets to get the latest updates on new posts.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Friday Surprise: Taking a Look at Top Guns

I've started to establish (what I hope is) a pretty good posting schedule, but schedules are boring, especially if I'm posting the same thing each week. So each Friday I'll try and shake things up a little bit by posting something a little outside the box. Last week I mapped out what an All-Star season of Top Shot might look like. This week, I'm taking a look at the H2 spin-off series, Top Guns.

See how they put a bullet in the "U" so you know it's really about guns?

Top Guns is not so much a competition show as is it an exhibition show. Think (British) Top Gear where they go around and just drive cars. Instead of hitting the road, Colby, an expert and a marksman hit the range and test out a variety of weapons, all with a similar theme.

I originally considered making Top Guns a part of my regular recapping duties, however the show doesn't add much to understanding Top Shot beyond the weapons, not that that is a bad thing. What it does though, is make Top Guns a very casual show, perhaps the most casual show in reality TV currently on the air. This doesn't mean Top Guns isn't exciting, or boring, in fact it's quite interesting. On Top Shot Colby can only give the contestants (and in turn the audience) a bare-bones description and background of the weapon. Top Guns goes deeper giving a more fleshed out history of the weapon, accompanied with footage of the weapon in practical use, not just on the range.

For this post I caught up with the first three episodes of the series and there were few things that stuck out to me right away. The first was that there was no direct mention of this show's connection to Top Shot until episode three,  which featured Season 2 contestants Chris Reed and Jay Lim. However, the first two episodes both featured experts regularly featured on the show, and past contestants as the featured marksmen. Now, this is a separate show, but I was surprised that they didn't even mention it in the opening dialogue of the first episode that this was an offshoot of Top Shot.

The next thing is how loose this show feels. Sure, there is a basic structure to the program. First Colby introduces the three guns being tested then brings out the expert, and finally the marksman. Then he sends them to the range to test the guns one at a time. After testing each one, Colby gets a turn firing off a few rounds, before each shooter chooses a weapon, and they have a "friendly shoot-off."But from there it has a much less scripted feel than Top Shot.

On Top Shot the contestants are told exactly what to do, but on Top Guns, when the expert and the marksman are sent to the range, they have some freedom to play around. Top Guns clearly has a lower budget than Top Shot, there are no exploding targets and you can often see where entry points have been taped over on a target rather than replacing it. This is bare-bones shooting. Paper targets at varying distances. Again, this isn't a bad thing, the show has a very calm pace to it. No one's running around or rushing to see what the thing they need to do next is. The past contestants seem to enjoy themselves more here with the weight of competing off their shoulders.

The choice of marksman so far has been interesting. The first episode featured Mike Seeklander, the first contestant ever eliminated from Top Shot. It may seem like an odd choice, but they don't just pick random people to compete on Top Shot. Even the contestants who are eliminated early have come from impressive backgrounds to get them into the competition. However, Seeklander was bested by Colby in the shoot-off, so maybe this guy just doesn't perform too well in front of a camera. The second episode featured the return of Season 2's Jamie Franks, someone I mentioned last week as a choice for an all-star season of Top Shot. Franks made it to the individual part of Season 2, and seemed to be enjoying himself a lot more without George Reinas around, especially when Colby completely missed the paper shooting his automatic in the shootoff. As a I mentioned Jay Lim showed up for episode 3 to work with Chris Reed. I warmed up to Lim right around the time he was eliminated in Season 2, and it was nice to see him come back.

The marksman and the expert put the gun through its courses, shooting them from varying positions, or trying to recreate how it was used during the height of its popularity. Now mind you, this isn't like Deadliest Warrior on Spike. As I wrote earlier this week, Top Shot, and now Top Guns, have never been shows that promote gun violence. They aren't looking to see how much damage these guns would do when used on a person. Instead they work through the mechanics of the gun, what makes it unique, and what makes it effective. They take about what kind of materials its made out of and how it was engineered. Truth be told, this might be a show more in line with History's original programming mission than many of the other shows it currently airs. It's surprisingly educational and informative.

Despite a veiled connection to Top Shot, the show is clearly being filmed at the same time as Season 4. Each episode has featured the same expert that was featured on that week's episode of Top Shot, and they are shooting one or more weapons that were featured on that week's episode of Top Shot as well. It was at this point I began to wonder about History's strategy in airing these episodes. Top Shot airs on Tuesdays at 10/9 C p.m. and Top Guns airs the next day. Now, I don't have H2, so I've been watching Top Guns episodes on Hulu, but I have to think that going straight from Top Shot to Top Guns is a bit of a let down, simply because there is a steep drop-off in the excitement level. I think it would make more sense if Top Guns aired the day before Top Shot to amp up anticipation for that weeks competition. There are three guns featured each week, but in the first two episodes only one gun came from Top Shot. In the third episode, featuring shotguns, all three were Benellis featured on "Shotgun Showdown." Airing before Top Shot would leave the audience guessing as to what weapon would be featured in the actual competition, because if there is one thing Top Guns is missing, its any semblance of dramatic tension.

The show brings in top shooters, so you know that even if they struggle a little with a weapon, they are going to be able to hone it in. Colby is the only real question mark, being an experienced shooter, but not in a competitive sense. He might not shoot well with a weapon, but since there isn't anything really at stake except bragging rights, there isn't much to worry about.

However that doesn't mean the show isn't enjoyable. It's almost deathly formulaic, but featuring new weapons and new shooters in each episode helps hold off the monotony. Even the final challenge isn't always a straight shoot-off. The first two episodes pitted the guns and shooters against each other to find who could be most accurate with what weapon. The shooters then counted up points based on their shots on the target. However in the third episode, the shooters decided to exhibit their prowess with each shotgun. Jay Lim used the Vinci and shot all four clay targets (two thrown, two launched). Chris Reed took the M4 and shot five water jugs at 25 yards, and nailed one at 75. Colby went 7/8 shooting plates with the Nova.

It's clear Top Guns is still a show trying to find its legs. It still is working on trying to find what works and what doesn't. Take for example the first episode, where marksman Mike Seeklander gave a grade to each rifle he shot. Now whether this was something he did on his own or something he was instructed to do by a producer remains to be seen, but the grading system has not shown up in the two subsequent episodes.  Nor should it, to a casual viewer like myself who doesn't know much about weapons, a letter grade on M14 Carbine doesn't mean much.

Overall, Top Guns isn't a necessary companion to Top Shot, but fans of the show will like this supplementary spinoff. The promise of more past contestants and more chance to see Colby shooting are enough to keep it entertaining.

What do you think? Is this show a solid companion or a pale imitation of Top Shot? Hit the comments and let me know your thoughts.

Come back tomorrow for another "Talkin' 'bout" post.

Follow me Twitter @cswiets