Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Floor Is Lava’ on Netflix, A New Competition Series Based on The Popular Parkour Game

The new competition series Floor is Lava on Netflix takes the popular living room parkour trend and turns it into a TV show. Teams of three compete to make it across a gurgling, splashing, lava-filled room, using the only objects available to get them from point A to point B. Think Nickelodeon’s Legends of the Hidden Temple meets a less impressive American Ninja Warrior with lots of gushing red liquid below the teams as they use their athletic skills on an unconventional obstacle course. 

FLOOR IS LAVA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The show kicks off with an introduction that includes tours of the rooms, some heavily leaning on CGI models, as well as clips from upcoming contestants on the show (and a few choice examples of what it looks like to fall into said lava!), in order to give some context to viewers about what they heck they just pressed play on. Host Rutledge Wood provides mostly voiceover commentary explaining what the show is all about, including the fact that actually meeting him is part of the prize (he is mostly heard and not seen throughout the show), along with $10k and, natch, a lava lamp. It’s a decent explainer for a concept that makes perfect sense and a game show variation of it that makes not much sense at all. TLDR: jump on the objects to get across the room and if you fall in the liquid you’re out!

The Gist: Floor Is Lava is a popular internet trend where people post videos of themselves jumping from couches to chairs without touching the ground. Justin Bieber did a rather impressive one at the beginning of quarantine. The videos are often short and can be silly and a lot of fun. This series upped the ante by, ya know, making a lava-like substance, a challenging course for contestants to climb, jump, and crawl across, and for some reason… really dragging out how long it takes each of the teams to make it from the beginning to end safely.

Our Take: At first this show gave off major Legends of the Hidden Temple vibes, the popular ’90s game show on Nickelodeon, until I realized that the first group’s attempt at the course took almost 15 minutes in a nearly 40-minute episode. That Bieber example referenced above? Less than one minute. This show should be way quicker (and certainly each episode no more than a half-hour, but even spending 10 minutes per team feels way too long). The course is complicated, sure, but the whole point of the game is to make quick, snap judgements to get you where you need to be. And it turns out, watching someone fall into “lava” is actually no more satisfying than watching someone fall on their kitchen floor.

Plus, more often than not, I found myself actively rooting for these contestants to fall into the lava — and early. It was hard to find the contestants to be likeable (sigh, especially those macho triplets), and without hoping for them to get to safety, it felt like a waste of time just waiting for them to give in to the liquid.

Are the athletic attempts by each of these people admirable and cool? Yes. Could I do them? No, but if I was even going to try, it would be at home on my own furniture, a better way to spend my time than watching other people attempt to do it on this show. The idea is solid and makes sense why Netflix would want a game show of something that has already proven to be popular. But the execution isn’t quite there. Again, the drawn-out feeling is frustrating, and the fact that the host doesn’t even get to use his voiceover in a way that adds extra comedy to the show (see: Love Island‘s Iain Stirling) makes it feel like unnecessary commentary. Ultimately, anyone who is able to pull off a successful Floor Is Lava on the internet is impressive and this show feels much less so.

Sex and Skin: The team of triplets that compete in the first episode are likely hoping their appearance scores them some sex and skin, but there’s none to actually be seen here. And the fact that they compare a large statue in the obstacle course to one of their dating app matches, well, it just might earn them some left swipes is all.

Parting Shot: The first episode ends with Wood presenting the winning team their lava lamp as they celebrate their win, and he reminds us in classic game show sign-off mode, that the next episode will feature, “All new teams and all new rooms but what stays the same is the Floor is Lava!”

Sleeper Star: The contestant I respected the most is Talia from the first team, who makes the wise decision to sacrifice herself and fall into the lava so that she can help her teammates (her twin brother and mother) have a shot at making it across. So she falls into the lava but we…never see her emerge! It’s a weird editing choice as the show just picks back up with the two contestants still in the game. Are we meant to believe the lava truly sucked her up? Can’t she cheer from the sidelines? Anyway, great job, Talia.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Mom! You do pilates for a reason!” Talia’s twin brother Bryce reminds their mother as she puts her arm muscles to use. There’s a whole lot of explanation about this game that is nearly as self-explanatory as it gets, but this line gave me an appreciative eye roll, so there’s that.

Our Call: SKIP IT. This show is for someone, though I’m not quite sure who. Teen boys, perhaps? Other than that, I’m not sure what demographic will be charmed by the series that could use a bit of refinement should it come back for more. For most adults, I’d have to say anything from joining a protest to making your own living room obstacle course is a better use of your time than buckling in for this underwhelmer.

Where to stream Floor is Lava