‘Naked and Afraid XL’ Is the Best Show of the Summer

It’s hard to top Naked and Afraid, a show that strips a bunch of overly confident survivalists of their clothes and dares them to master the world’s toughest terrains. Yet somehow Naked and Afraid XL has done that very thing. This season has been an absolute train wreck of self-banishment, questionable survival choices, and mental breakdown-inspired screaming. And it’s been the most entertaining show of the summer.

Naked and Afraid XL is already set up to be an insane success. The spinoff survival series takes past Naked and Afraid survivalists and tasks them with making it in some of the world’s roughest terrains for 40 days. But there’s a twist: few of these returning contestants on XL are among Naked and Afraid‘s best. Some are, in fact, poor survivalists by the very metrics of this show, contestants who tapped out weeks or sometimes even days into their first wilderness foray and earned low 4’s and 5’s for their Primitive Survival Ranking (PSR). These struggling survivalists return to the wilderness in an attempt to prove their worth, only this time they’re not partnering up with just one other person. They have to share the wilderness with over 10 other struggling contestants.

Every season of XL is a delight, especially the latter installments. The first few episodes follow various two-person teams setting up camp before they’re met with the shock of their lives: another naked contestant asking to join their camp. These contestants aren’t stupid. “Surprise” new additions happen literally every season and many mention during their one-on-one interviews that they researched everyone they’re surviving alongside. Surely these naked men and women know this is coming. And yet, thanks to the magic of editing, each one of these inevitable appearances are treated like the shock of a lifetime. Seeing grown men and women begging to be part of random strangers’ cliques shouldn’t be this entertaining, but it always is.

But even if you were to remove those clearly pre-planned moments and generally bad scores, Naked and Afraid XL Season 6 has been something special. It all started with Season 10’s Kate Wentworth, Season 10’s Makani Nalu, and Season 10 and 11’s Bulent Garcan. Early in this season the trio formed a union that was doomed from the start. As Kate took on the unofficial role of camp boss, Makani and Bulent decided to conserve their energy. Entire episodes were devoted to Kate begging her teammates to hunt for food or build a shelter only to show them lounging in the shade. So when Kate dramatically announced that she was self-banishing, it hardly came as a surprise. What was surprising was that Kate took her teammates’ special items with her and once again faced absolutely no resistance.

Survivalists not wanting to work to survive has been a popular theme of this season. Makani  eventually fought for herself and self-banished from her toxic teammate who hates work, Bulent. But that didn’t happen before she broke her truly insane promise to herself that she would remain vegan while surviving in Africa. Then there was the saga of Season 3’s Joshua Bell. Joshua rolled up to an already established team (cue surprised Pikachu faces) with perhaps the smartest personal item: a roll of duct tape. He then preceded to piss off his entire team like it was his job, arguing constantly, criticizing everyone around him, and — you guessed it — not working. When Joshua tapped out it wasn’t because he was dehydrated, starving, or suffering from heat exhaustion. He was just upset that his teammates hated him.

All of this is patently insane. There is no cash prize on Naked and Afraid XL or any prize whatsoever. Contestants are only rewarded with the thrill of knowing that they survived in some of the most extreme climates in the world. Why voluntarily take this bonkers challenge, only to not try?

But wait, there’s more! Kate, a survivalist who notably ended her time on Naked and Afraid screaming while in the midst of a mental breakdown, vowed not to scream in XL. The African heat made her break that promise. And then there was the crocodile-filled lakeside camp that prompted a park ranger to appear out of nowhere and lecture three naked adults. What other show would completely break the illusion of isolation in the wilderness to have a random guy explain that predators are dangerous and these contestants are acting like idiots? Only one.

There’s no doubt that these survivalists would last longer than 99 percent of this show’s audience. And that’s the appeal, mercilessly judging insanely talented people as they do something incredible. Naked and Afraid has always been a crazy reality show, but this season of Naked and Afraid XL is proving that this franchise is the wild west of the genre.

Where to stream Naked and Afraid XL