My Exercise In Futility

I’m sick and I’m miserable right now. I have a cold, and when I’m sick I turn into a big baby. I usually spend the day under my covers in bed watching a lot of junk TV. I usually catch up on all the shows I am currently watching and sometimes discover a new reality show or two. The last time I was sick, I discovered the FOX Reality series, “Solitary.” While browsing through the Apple TV during my most recent sickness, I found out version 4.0 (season 4) of the “Solitary” series has just started airing.

The “Solitary” series pits 9 contestants against… well, themselves. Each contestant is placed in their own octagonal pod. The pod is an empty room that isolates each contestant from the rest of the world. The contestants only interact with one thing – the reality show ‘host’ known as VAL. VAL is a faceless, female sounding electronic voice. VAL provides the contestants instructions for each challenge or ‘treatment’ as she likes to call them.

The treatments are usually some sort of physical endurance challenge or nasty food challenge. Each contestant participates in the treatment in their pod. They are not aware how the other contestants are performing during the treatment. The contestants are allowed to stop participating in the treatment at any time by pressing the red button (that is usually tied to a timing device) that is in their pod. Pressing the red button indicates that the contestant has given up – if they are the first to give up on the treatment, they will be eliminated. The other contestants are not told when the others have given up  and continue with the treatment until the final contestant hits the red button.

Aside from the physical aspect of the treatments, “Solitary” adds an additional layer of competitive complexity by pitting the contestants against themselves. I believe the compartmentalized twist to the show makes “Solitary” much more interesting than some of the other reality series that are on television. I only hope after the dissolution of the Fox Reality channel at the end of March that this reality series is able to find a new home.

Season Four’s first episode already has me anxious to see more. The show began with 9 contestants. VAL had the contestants engage in aerobic activities in their pod and, using the tools she provided, they were asked to collect vials of sweat. The person who collected the least amount of sweat at the end of VAL’s treatment was eliminated. Number 6, a 40 year old mother of three, was the first to be eliminated. However, VAL through in a twist and had Number 6 replaced with a veteran Solitary contestant from another season.

After the episode’s treatment was over, VAL just leaves the contestants to themselves. For hours, they sit in the middle of their octagon with no comforts for sleep, no food, and no water. They are simply left to just sit. It’s interesting to see how quickly each contestant begins to break down. One contestant starts to hallucinate and believes he sees tiny spiders running across the floor. Others complain about the lack of sleep.

After a few hours of isolation, the contestants are given a set of dark goggles that act as a blindfold once they are worn. After putting the goggles on, the contestants are asked to spin around 9 times and then told to find their meal slots. After hours of sitting in the room staring at the 8 walls, you would think this would be  simple challenge, but it is not. As each contestant finds their meal slot, they are rewarded with a small, foul tasting nutrition bar.

It will be interesting to see how this batch of contestants reacts to the different challenges. Although the physical requirements are definitely exhausting, I think that the contestants have a much more difficult time with the mental aspect.

I’ll let you know how the show progresses. If you’re in to reality TV, check out “Solitary 4.0,” you might like it.