I've watched a number of episodes in this series along with a lot of other survival type docudramas. I normally don't review episodes individually, but in this case I felt compelled because of the incredible ineptitude of the adults involved. I realize the series itself isn't in place to try to pick apart all the details or identify shortcomings in those involved. But here we have a woman who claims to have been to this area of the desert for years. That part, I do understand because when families are very poor they do find unusual activities to entertain themselves with. What I didn't understand was why they didn't have more provisions and why, being out in the desert, would you use water to wash your hands? Why would you allow your inexperienced boyfriend to attempt to drive a two-wheel drive truck over a riverbed that you hadn't come in over and don't know where it's going to lead? And as the other review here points out, why would you walk during the day and try to sleep at night? But mainly why would you leave the only working vehicle even if it was stuck in a ditch? Only one person needed to go back and check the abandoned truck for supplies. And why didn't they go back to their truck where at least they would survive in air conditioning until the gas ran out? I mean there are so many things that went wrong here. It appeared as if they were not rationing food or water that first day and they didn't have any hiking boots in the vehicle or any supplies in case something went wrong in the freaking desert? I live in a town near the Pacific ocean with mountains all around and I keep a go-bag in my trunk that has everything you could possibly need for survival including a whistle, flares, Mylar covers, a shovel & a solor powered cellphone charger. I mean, it is a true miracle that any of them survived.
The other review claims the average IQ is 100 but the truth is most people who make up the census represent only around 60% of the US poulation. The other 40% have an average between 89 - 92, which varies widely depending on factors like home life, addiction or so forth. I think the mom and boyfriend fall in that 40% category.
I guess a lot of people could say, well you don't know what you would do in the same situation. But I know what I wouldn't do: I wouldn't take small children into a desert without sufficient supplies; I wouldn't take them traipsing through 118° heat when I have a working truck engine for shelter; I wouldn't head in the same direction that someone already was going since going in a different direction would form two chances of coming across someone who can help; I wouldn't go off the road without having my gun ready to fire if a car does come by or place any kind of flag to indicate my location. I mean, it's almost unbelievable that people would live so close to this deadly place and yet have so little understanding of its most famous qualities. God certainly wasn't ready to end their lives.
