Escaping Reality: Recent Episodes
Escaping Reality
In an effort to distract themselves from the world outside the window, 4 friends watch and discuss reality competition shows. Life may be uncertain, but reality tv is always there for you. Get ready for deep dives, hot takes, and jokes deemed funny enough to keep in the episodes. This is how we’re Escaping Reality.
Follow along @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter!
It's really over :'( (until next season!) - We're recapping the FINALE of Survivor Season 46, and oof this one is a doozy. Let's just say it didn't turn out the way we were anticipating. BUT that left us with even more to discuss than planned.
From the final 5 challenge, through to the after show: we're covering all the highlights, surprises, and weird Jeff one-liners. We have a lot of thoughts on the winner (congrats!) and even more thoughts on the losers (we love you). Plus, our usual segments slightly adjusted to include our MVP castaways of the season.
Looking for a specific segment?
- Initial thoughts: 1:21 - 7:02
- Final 5: 7:02 - 20:55
- Final 4: 20:55 - 39:08
- Final 3: 39:16 - 1:10:42
- Jeff Needs A Vibe Check: 1:10:42 - 1:13:18
- Rapid Fire: 1:13:24 - 1:21:39
We've loved recapping this season & we always love hearing your opinions as well!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's the penultimate episode of S46 and our excitement is building! We're talking Ben's voting "mistake", Kenzie's edit throughout the game, the potential downfall of Charlie and Maria's alliance, and Liz...being Liz. And of course the dreaded Q vote out and the fact that idols are a curse this season.
Plus our usual vibes checks for Jeff (peep our episode title for vibe check #1), castaways of the week, and our predictions for the finale.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcast and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
And as always thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! We're back with the latest recap of Season 46 of Survivor: Episode 11. We're inching our way to the finale & we have plenty to discuss this week. The episode was filled with tension, strategy, and, in the words of Q: 'big mistakes.'
We're breaking down Maria's threat level & her questionable decision making skills. Q's continued hilarity & Liz's continued annoyance with Q's shenanigans. And Charlie's expert game playing & potential path to the end.
Plus! of course we're vibe checking Jeff for all his behavior + crowning a castaway of the week.
We're so excited to watch this season conclude & we hope you are too!!!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Agie and Stacey were together in person this weekend, so we recorded the quickest little recap of Survivor Season 46, Episode 10. We had so much fun giggling together and recapping all things Liz, Applebee's, and Q ahead of ultimately blindsiding Tiffany. There's a lot of emotions to get through and we're doing a very quick chat to get through all of it! Enjoy!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:05)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:05-4:34)
- Episodes Recap (4:34-21:56)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (21:56-23:23)
- Castaway of the Week (23:23-25:33)
- Outro (25:33-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back with our recap of Survivor 46 Episode 9! We're talking idol usage (or lack thereof), the ongoing battle for a "move", and whether or not we would ever throw a challenge to get out a challenge beast. Plus we share our feelings on all this "spicy Jeff" talk. After vibe checking the man for over 3 years, we feel pretty equipped to have this convo.
Plus we have our usual vibe checks for Jeff, Castaways of the Weeks, and Rapid Fires.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
From a rice "negotiation" to Hunter being super hot, and everything in between, we've got a great recap episode for you. Season 46 is hitting its stride in this episode and we're here to tell you all our thoughts. It was a fun one, so buckle up, Q's taking us on a ride today.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-0:44)
- One Minute Thoughts (0:44-6:48)
- Episodes Recap (6:48-44:42)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (44:42-48:28)
- Castaway of the Week (48:28-53:52)
- Rapid Fire (53:52-59:05)
- Outro (59:05-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We made it to episode SEVERAL of Season 46 of Survivor & Team Anna just stays winning. Between the castaways left this season & the continual Jelinsky name drops, Anna keeps prevailing. In a double-elimination week that saw 2 members of Team Stacey go home... we have a lot to talk about.
Agie & Anna are recapping episode 7 and all the (very confusing) strategy that went on. We're praising the challenge banter, lamenting how we miss Outback Steakhouse, and criticizing these players once again for claiming to be Survivor Fans while forgetting their most basic Survivor history. We're talking through Ben's emotional arc, Maria's mom moments, and a whole lot about what the heck Venus is doing.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We did it, fam. We made it to the merge... kinda... as much as one can 'make it to the merge' in New Era Survivor. We're taking this opportunity to reassess our thoughts on this cast, double down on the alliances we believe in, and wonder a lot about the editing choices.
Despite the fact that we're a liiiitttle bit bored and we've certainly had enough of Jeff and his shenanigans, we're obviously still loving dissecting and discussing this season. And we're finding PLENTY to laugh about. So we hope you're still listening and laughing with us!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We've got a little dual episode wrap up for you today! We gotta talk about Episodes 3 and 4 of Season 46, an ode to Bhanu (with a side of a med evac). There's a lot to get into and we tried to cover it all. Are we excited to get into the rest of the season?
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:27)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:27-11:01)
- Episodes Recap (11:01-56:28)
- Jeff/Production Needs a Vibe Check (56:28-1:02:09)
- Castaway of the Week (1:02:09-1:03:41)
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:03:41-1:04:57)
- Outro (1:04:57-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Two episodes in one!! Your favorite podcast gals are pulling double duty in this episode - covering both Episode 2 of Survivor Season 46 AND our final thoughts on Season 2 of The Traitors (now that it's come to an end). And TBH both really only warranted half an episode in our opinions. We've got some serious pacing issues, some questionable editing choices, and some WTF moments. But there was also plenty that, in the end, endeared us even more to 2 of our favorite shows.
If you're just looking to listen to one of the two...
our Survivor discussion starts at 1:57 and goes until 34:26;
The Traitors picks up at 34:26 through the end of this podcast episode!
Happy listening :)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're backkkkkk. And so is CBS's favorite showSurvivor. 18 castaways, 1 aggressive speech from Jeff Probst, and 3 500 lb. geckos later, we have a 2 hour episode that has to be seen to be believed. There are so many chaotic and fun things happening in this episode and we have some hot takes to break it down for you. Let's get into it.
Producer's note: We did do a follow up on our preseason draft for the first 8-9 minutes. So, if you want to skip that, check the notes below for timing. Enjoy!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:25)
- Draft Follow-Up (1:25-8:50)
- One Minute Thoughts (8:50-19:37)
- Episode Recap (19:37-1:05:55)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:05:55-1:09:24)
- Castaway of the Week (1:09:24-1:11:45)
- Outro (1:11:45-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's that time of the year again...a new season of Survivor and a new season of Agie and Stacey trying to somehow dethrone the 3 season reigning champ Anna. We all took different approaches to how we "prepared" for this episode today, but by the end we were all excited to share our thoughts and get Anna's approval on our picks.
Early on we say "We're trying to do this in an hour, right?" and proceed to talk for an hour and 17 minutes so take that with a grain of salt. Special shout out to Alex from Speaking Llama, A Survivor Podcast for coming to keep us in line and lead us through our draft! Always a pleasure.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back with another Traitors Season 2 Recap! This episode we talk how we are sick of some players, the Peter's Pals Alliance, who we wish hadn't been banished early, and how we are all enjoying the challenges more.
We don't Vibe Check Alan Cumming because he is flawless per usual.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Happy New Year (to everyone except Anna), Escaping Reality Fam!
2024 is off to a chaotic start & this episode is no exception.
We've been immensely enjoying the first few episodes of the second US season of The Traitors... but we're taking this episode a little off the beaten path. That is to say: we're winging it.
While there's minimal structure to our conversation, we lead each other to all the major beats of the season so far: which cast members we think understand the game, which minions are absolute nonsense, and which tactics we think will work out best for both the traitors and the faithful.
It's a messy ride, but it's a fun one! Are you watching along with us?!?!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! We made it through thirteen 90-minute episodes and have reached the end of Survivor 45! It was an action-packed finale, so our recap is obviously packed as well. We share our thoughts on the Katurah/Jake fumble, Jake's series of unfortunate events, the challenge choices, and of course the final tribal! Congrats to Dee on a well-deserved win! And we want to know what you think, was this the best season of the New Era? Plus we vibe check for Jeff for the final time this season, and maybe give him a few props as well.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're one episode away from the finale, and all 3 of the girlies are back on the mic to discuss the silly boys and their antics and laud the ladies for playing the game despite a boy wanting your attention. New challenges, new rewards, and Agie in a foul mood. What more could we want? We're excited to see how it all plays out next week, and we had way to much fun breaking down this penultimate episode of S45.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:18-1:19)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:19-8:15)
- Episode Recap (8:15-51:57)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (51:57-55:13)
- Castaway of the Week (55:13-59:21)
- The Fans Have Spoken (59:21-1:08:15)
- Rapid Fire (1:08:15-1:10:52)
- Outro (1:10:52-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! It's another Anna & Agie chaotic special this week as we creep closer & closer to the end of this season. In true chaotic fashion... we have a lot of questions about the wild decisions that were made this episode.
We're talking all about the """SHOWMANCE""" and our disdain for the details of it, Katurah's backstory and how the tone conflicted with the timing, and... of course... the way NO ONE even thought about splitting the votes!! ARE WE OK? not really.
Plus, Stacey brings perspective even in her absence and Jake is a tree. What else is there to say, really?
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! We are getting sooo close to the final conclusion of Season 45! but, for now, we still have a lot of ground to cover. Let's get into it.
This was a rollercoaster of an episode. We talk about how the tone was a little all over the place, but kind of in the best ways?! We went on emotional journeys (lots... and we mean LOTS... of crying), laughed with da boys, and kept a long long long list of vibe checks for Jeff, who was particularly out-of-pocket this week.
We work through Jake's frustrations, call out Drew for bullying, support Katurah through all her trials this episode, and praise our girl Emily for continuing to wow us with her progress.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week we share our thoughts on Survivor Season 45 episode 9! It's just Agie and Stacey this week, with a few pre-recorded gems from our girl Anna. We discuss the Reba domination, the continued losing of votes, a possible showmance, and much more. Then we have our typical vibe checks for Jeff, Castaways of the Weeks, and Rapid Fires.
And Anna drops a shockingly hot, pre-recorded take that leaves Stacey and Agie speechless (but not for long of course, your girls have the gift of gab after all).
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! It's another Anna & Agie special this week until Stacey returns! Less chaotic than last week, but just as stellar as ever.
THE SURVIVOR AUCTION IS BACK and quite honestly, we spend A LOT of time discussing its inclusion, its items, and its updates. Plus: Jeff wields a knife!! Truly the excitement knows no bounds.
In addition to those major topics, we're further dissecting our annoyance with Bruce, our thoughts on the inconsistent editing, and the corner we've finally turned on our pal Drew.
It's a jam packed little recap, so give it a listen!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Agie and Anna are on the mic by themselves and honestly Stacey should have been there to keep us in line. We had a lot of fun recording and chatting this week, and hopefully y'all understand where we're coming from when we get a little ✨spicy✨ as we discuss this episode. These are not new issues we have, but we were very hype after Night 2 of the Eras Tour in Argentina and brought that energy to the pod. Enjoy!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:15)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:15-9:05)
- Episode Recap (9:05-59:48)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (59:58-1:02:07)
- Castaway of the Week (1:02:07-1:06:06)
- Rapid Fire (1:06:06-1:19:34)
- Outro (1:19:34-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! We said we weren't going to do an episode this week.... and here we are with an episode this week. We just couldn't help ourselves. Episode 6 had too much to discuss, so we hopped onto a spontaneous recording session in order to share our thoughts with you.
Other than praising the episode's spectacular conclusion, we're basically just catching up on our feelings about the remaining castaways, our thoughts on who might make it to the finale, and (as always) what we'd suggest to the Survivor team.
We hope you enjoy this quick & (admittedly) unplanned recap!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! We're back, to do our best to talk about a bit of a boring episode this week. We're all in agreement that it's a classic 'filler' episode to push us to the merge, so our thoughts aren't the deepest, but, oooh do we have a good time anyway!
We're talking about current Tribe dynamics, the decision made at the journey, and the castaway backstories we got this episode.
As a Trigger Warning: we discuss topics of weight loss, body image, and EDs in this week's podcast, so check out the time-codes below if that's not for you!
Here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:58)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:58-6:40)
- Episode Recap (6:40-27:00)
- trigger warning Jake's Story (27:00 - 39:40)
- The Challenge & the Journey (39:40-43:00)
- Deliberation & Tribal (43:00 - 50:00)
- Our Segments! Jeff Needs a Vibe Check, Castaway of the Week, Fans Have Spoken, Rapid Fire (50:00-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey pals - bit of a shorter recap this week because Stacey and Agie were on their own without their girl Anna. Don't worry, we still get a few voice notes from Anna, so she's not fully missing in action! We are really excited to share our thoughts on the new episode that, despite ending in a disappointing way, opened up a lot of possibilities with the tribe swap. Jeff was a little out of pocket, the immunity challenge was new, and another contestant bites the dust. We're breaking it all down for you right here.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:18)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:18-8:45)
- Episode Recap (8:45-40:36)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (40:36-43:39)
- Castaway of the Week (43:39-47:55)
- Outro (47:55-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week we share our thoughts on Survivor Season 45 episode 3, and we had a lot of them so buckle up! We discuss what is making this season so refreshing for us, the clever editing moves, the iconic idol-melting scene and so much more.
Plus we obviously have our typical vibe checks for Jeff, Castaways of the Weeks, and Rapid Fires.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us
Guys, is it just us or did the return of Ancient Voices also bring the return of a well-edited and fun Survivor episode? This one was a blast and we're breaking it all down for you. From Jeff being absolutely unhinged to the return of our LuLu-sers, we're here to talk about all of it. There's a lot of tribe dynamics to discuss in addition to some new changes and the return of old rules. But, Survivor seems to be on an upward trajectory, wouldn't you say? Let's hope it continues next week!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:15)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:15-10:47)
- Episode Recap (10:47-59:17)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (59:17-1:02:36)
- Castaway of the Week (1:02:36-1:06:28)
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:06:28-1:08:04)
- Rapid Fire (1:08:04-1:13:15)
- Outro (1:13:15-1:13:51)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality!
It's week 1 of the new season (45) of Survivor, and we're off to a rocky start... but obviously we're still having a great time talking through our feelings. We always love talking through our feelings over here.
With the premiere episode comes a LOT of ground to cover, so we're breaking down the budding tribe dynamics, the castaways we've already changed our minds about, and the quit heard round the world. We're touching base about our beefs with Jeff, why we thought someone might break their neck, and how we feel about the new 90 minute episode format so far.
As always, we'd love to hear how you're enjoying the season, so please DM us with your thoughts! Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod & interact with us there. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
Thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's back, it's back, Survivor is back!! And it's SEASON 45!! Can you believe it? We hardly can. But it's here & we're ready to watch along with you all once again.
But before we get to the season, we had to learn about the cast! After doing some research on the castaways, we knew we'd have to bring in some experts to help us properly draft our teams, so we invited back our pals Kaleb & Alex from Speaking Llama to guide us through the episode.
They did an excellent job keeping us on task as we gave our first impressions of the new lot of castaways. Give a listen to see who Stacey, Agie, and Anna draft into their fantasy teams for this season (and hear us possibly end friendships along the way).
We're so ready to start watching our favorite show again & can't wait to see how it all unfolds and take you along for the chaotic ride that is our post-episode feelings.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod & follow @SpeakingLlama to keep up with Alex and Kaleb! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Wowee wowza, we finally made it to the end of Stars on Mars. Apologies for the delay - summer got in the way of us watching. But you're in luck! This episode is a full giggle fest as Stacey, Anna, and Agie try to figure out why these celebrities signed on to play a game for a badge and the opportunity to "send a message" to Earth WITHOUT a real prize. We also fantasy-cast Season 2 and wow I hope those people are ready to play. It would be iconic.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro: (0:00-1:13)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:13-7:42)
- Ep. 10-12 Recap (7:42-29:51)
- Casting Season 2 (29:51-41:09)
- Outro (41:09-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! We're loving our summer show: Stars on Mars. But love is a complicated feeling...so, naturally we have a lot of critiques too. It's a silly show, so it's all in good fun.
In this episode we continue to suggest (what we think are) better alternatives to the show's structure and stakes. Spoiler alert: the stakes are still ZERO. We discuss the player (yes, player, singular) that we think will win it all in the end. And, of course, we have a good old laugh about the nonsensical, yet sometimes highly intense challenges.
PLUS, bonus, we spend about 20 minutes after the real conversation talking about our current thoughts on concerts - it's a good time. You really should stick around and listen (if you're a Jonas Brothers fan).
You can watch Stars on Mars on Fox every Monday through the Summer, or next day on Hulu. & let us know if you're watching so we can know that SOMEONE out there is also watching.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality after a long summer break! In this episode we continue our chat about Stars on Mars. Despite our episode title, we are all still loving the show! At the same time we have more and more questions. For example, is a D-list celeb really a "star"? And who decided Shatty Daddy was an acceptable nickname for William Shatner? Join us for more questions and even more giggles. If you haven't started the show, what are you waiting for?! Get to Fox on Mondays, or Hulu the day after for the episode drops!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Realty Fam! It's summertime & we wanted to watch something FUN and NEW and WEIRD. So, we were left with no other option than to watch Fox's new reality competition: Stars on Mars!! And honestly, we're into it. We're introduced to our competitors (the most random group of celebrities you could put together) on the incredibly realistic Mars simulation that they will call home for 24 days. Given that this is a brand new show, we have a LOT of thoughts.
We're discussing production value and set design, the game concept, and the missions & responsibilities of the cast. Do we know what any of it means yet? NO. Do we fully comprehend what it is they're playing for & why we should care? NO. But are we enjoying the heck out of the show so far? Yeah. Yeah, we are.
Episodes are airing every Monday night this summer (for 8 episodes) on Fox & streaming next day on Hulu. We hope you'll watch along with us on this wild journey into the mysterious unknown of 'space' & reality tv.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're not crying, you are. Wow, we're here to break down the entirety of the MONSTER season finale of Survivor Season 44. There's so much happening and so many important parts to discuss and we're talking through it all.
Whether you were Team Yam Yam from the start or came around by the end, there's no denying the Tika 3 (and the rest of the final 5) really made this season a fun one to watch. We still have some critiques, but it wouldn't be us without that. Congratulations to Yam Yam and the rest of the season's contestants on a great season and we'll see you soon! 🥳❤️
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-7:19)
- One Minute Thoughts (7:19-13:39)
- Episode Recap (13:39-1:14:01)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:14:01-1:18:27)
- Rapid Fire (1:18:27-1:21:13)
- Outro (1:21:13-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's the penultimate (that means second-to-last) episode of season 44 of Survivor and we're getting our last minute predictions in for how this whole thing is going to turn out! As we inch toward the finale, we're dissecting the dynamics of the Tika 3 & reflecting on the narrative of the season so far. There's so many possible ways this could end...and we're kinda talking through them all.
Plus, we're not JUST looking toward the future - we're going over all the fun we had in this episode: a reward challenge! some choice Jeff moments! and so so so so so so sooooo much discussion of Carolyn! We're not mad tho, we love her. The editors? we have some questions for them as usual.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week we discuss the downfall of Danny, our thoughts on "Survivor Classic" challenges, and our love for the Tika 3. We also officially have Stacey on board with Carolyn! It only took 11 weeks. Agie also starts us off with a quick recap of her Eras Tour Nashville experience for you Swifties. And of course we have our Jeff Vibe Checks, Fans Have Spoken questions, and our Rapid Fires.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
FAM! Survivor is heating up! Season 44 is in the home stretch & we're bumping up to weekly episodes to make sure we recap it all.
We're in a silly, goofy mood for this one. Honestly, it made talking about the episode -- the good, the bad, and the FULL TILT BOOGIE -- even better than usual. This week we had a lil' of everything: a reward AND and immunity challenge; emotional moments; idol hunting; some serious gameplay; some wacky Jeff moments. And to cap it all off, Stacey is psychic.
We were sad to see this week's boot go home, but were eager to see what happens next. And even have some more predictions of our own.... Listen to hear them!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
✨SURPRISE!✨ Due to our excitement that Ep. 9 ended up being kind of a banger and had our first really "live" tribal council in a while, we decided to do a recap episode on it, instead of waiting until Ep. 9 and 10 had both aired. We're unpredictable over here at Escaping Reality - just trying to keep you on your toes.
Because this episode finally started to feel like real "Survivor" again - we're breaking it ALL down for you. And we mean, ALL of it. There's so much to unpack in this episode and there wasn't even a reward challenge. Agie is being sassy, Stacey and Anna are bringing up Jeff's podcast, and overall, we just had so much fun! Hope you are also enjoying your weekly dose of tree mail and wild idol play. See you for Episode 10 (and maybe 11)!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:09)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:09-6:25)
- Episode Recap (6:25-50:21)
- Castaway of the Week (50:21-53:38)
- The Fans Have Spoken (53:38-58:39)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (58:39-1:03:17)
- Rapid Fire (1:03:17-1:10:05)
- Outro (1:10:05-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week Anna & Agie are catching up on all their complaints with the latest episodes, the season as a whole, and, honestly, the current era of Survivor. This is what happens when we take a week in between episodes!!
Beyond our conversations about the fact that we're still in an unnecessary phase of 'merge-atory' (we hate that word, too), we're discussing how we know who to credit moves to as we enter the second stage of the game. The choices being made by the players seem to be on equal playing field with the choices being made by the editors and producers. And we have a lot to say.
Plus, FARTS. our favorite hallmark of this game.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week we share our thoughts on Survivor Season 44 episodes 5&6. We discuss “earning your spot” in the merge, 3D printing puzzles, the never-ending-love-story-plot-line, and much more. And you know we have our typical vibe checks for Jeff, Castaways of the Weeks, Fans Have Spoken and Rapid Fires.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! This week we're playing a bit of catch-up with our thoughts on the latest 2 episodes of Survivor Season 44 (episodes 3 & 4). Anna and Stacey intricately recap the plethora of idols, fakes, and advantages shuffling around the camps and work through their thoughts on who's been sent home since our last episode. We're discussing the (already) crackling alliances, as well as those potentially budding from our (spoiler alert!) semi-tribe swap.
Plus, a big 'ol vibe check for Mr Jeff, crowning our Castaway of the Week, and details on who gave us the ICK.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Episode 2 was basically about two things: birdcages and Carolyn making her screen debut in a big way. Whether you love her or not, she's definitely a character and maybe a major player this season and we're breaking down everything we're thinking about her and her gameplay in our recap episode. We're also talking about the 30 minutes of birdcage content from Jeff and speculating about whether this season has a theme even though Jeff maybe says there isn't one.
Overall, we think this season is shaping up to be a fun one. Can't wait to see what happens next week!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:11)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:11-7:54)
- Episode Recap (7:54-31:41)
- The Fans Have Spoken (31:41-35:00)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (35:00-39:02)
- Castaway of the Week (39:02-43:27)
- Rapid Fire (43:27-47:25)
- Outro (47:25-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
New season; Same Escaping Reality! Well... kinda. We've got the same great vibes in a fun new package! We're debuting our new podcast art along with this new season of Survivor & it has us feeling so good. Season 44 got off to a BUSY start. Literally anything that could possibly happen in an episode DID happen. So, naturally, we're talking through it all. Medical emergencies, Immunity Idols, new advantages, tweaks to existing concepts, and also a random Medieval tribal council set?! Honestly, we're here for it.
It's looking like it'll be a super dynamic season, with a great cast to boot - so, if you're watching along be sure to keep up with our episodes & reach out to let us know if you share our thoughts and feelings.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us
After a long, cold winter with no Survivor, the Jeff Probst groundhog saw his shadow and Survivor Spring is here! We lightly researched the season 44 cast and chose our ones-to-watch. Anna had a great track record last season, and even noticed a potential clue in the S43 logo, so let's see if Stacey or Agie can pull through this season with the best picks. If you haven't made your draft picks yet, give this a listen to help create your roster!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We've got another ✨new✨ episode type coming at you this week! For our Rewind Replays were are so excited to take you back in time to look at some of the hottest competition shows of the past. And we started strong by watching the original season of MTV's iconic Are You the One?, the show that begs the question: "If your perfect match was standing right in front of you would you even know?" And boy, did this cast of jabronis not know.
Let's take a trip back in time. It's 2014. Obama is still president and "Happy" by Pharrell is playing on literally every station. Here comes MTV with their brand new show, Are You the One? The concept: 10 boys and 10 women, all competing for their share of $1,000,000 by finding their "perfect match" in a house in Hawai'i through Getaway Challenges, Truth Booths, and Match Ceremonies.
We had literally the most fun we've had in a while breaking down this hilarious concept. I think we're laughing the entire time. Give it a listen to find out why we think this show is maybe perfect and all our thoughts on every aspect of the season including the host without the most, Ryan Devlin.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:20)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:20-8:46)
- Season/Show Recap (8:46-48:23)
- Ryan Needs a Vibe Check (48:23-58:08)
- Rapid Fire (58:08-1:07:03)
- Outro (1:07:03-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
What's up, Escaping Reality Fam!? Were popping in with a new episode format, and, tbh, we had a great time with it. We hope you do too!
We figured, instead of taking a deep dive into 1 season of a show, or a recording a standard episode recap, we'd catch up on some of the various things we've each been watching to escape reality lately. We're in some familiar territory with new seasons of the Circle and the Challenge, and breaking into new realms with Finding Your Roots. Plus, Anna's Oscar film recommendations, Stacey's Challenge incident recap (sry Agie), and Agie's love for Emily in Paris. Like I said, we had a GREAT time.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
HI FRIENDS! We've missed you since Survivor 43 ended, and we are back with a bonus episode! All three of us were captivated by The Traitors US so you know we had to chat about it. We are talking the concept, the strategizing, the cast, the host, and of course...the winner! We also share our dream cast for Season 2 and share thoughts from our lovely fans. If you haven't watched The Traitors US yet, what are you waiting for? Drop what you're doing, go watch and then turn on this episode for some hot takes. And as always, thanks for escaping reality with us!
We have arrived at the finale of season 43! And honestly, we want a do-over. Congrats to Gabler on his entirely unexpected win, but we do have to discuss our issues with the edit that got us here. We break down the last few challenges, the gut-wrenching fire-making, and the final tribal performances. Plus we share some thoughts on ways to improve future seasons, and basically make sure we never have to feel like this again. And we wrap the season up with some great Fans Have Spoken submissions and our final vibe checks of Jeff. Thank you all for trudging through this season with us, and stay tuned for more "off-season" content!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
This week was a big one - we saw the demise of one of the core relationships of the season and had a lot of intricate details about the player and their paths to the end woven into the episode. It was the first episode of the season that we all actually really enjoyed and now we're all actually so excited for this week. We're breaking down every minute for you today.
We get super excited for the finale by making wild predictions and we want to hear from you after you listen. Did we get it right? Are we naive in our picks/thoughts? Let us know! We'll be watching live and commenting on Insta so join the fun @escapingrealitypod on Wednesday, 12/14 at 8:00pm EST.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-0:53)
- One Minute Thoughts (0:53-6:42)
- Episode Recap (6:42-56:01)
- Castaway of the Week (56:01-1:00:17)
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:00:17-1:02:35)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:02:35-1:04:49)
- Rapid Fire (1:04:49-1:16:42)
- Outro (1:16:42-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're getting down to the wire, and somehow Jesse and Cody are still not up for being voted out (either by advantage circumstance or skillful hiding), and we are baffled. With a historic end to an LONG immunity challenge, we were excited to see Karla and Owen grab another immunity. Between the advantage search/scramble in the woods and 12 minutes of the challenge, we felt this episode had a lot going for it...it just didn't come to an exciting conclusion.
And, in the end, it was the end of the road for our (maybe) 19-year-old pal, Sami. We're sad to see him go, and we want to know how y'all are feeling. We'll see you next week for the penultimate episode of Season 43. Let's hope we have an exciting finish!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:36)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:36-8:11)
- Episode Recap (8:11-45:31)
- Castaway of the Week (45:31-49:07)
- The Fans Have Spoken (49:07-55:34)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (55:34-58:13)
- Rapid Fire (58:13-1:01:18)
- Outro (1:01:18-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Can you believe that we're only a few episodes away from the finale on Survivor Season 43 + we still don't know how we feel about this season? Lucky for you, we're breaking down the feelings we do understand + posing a lot of questions about the things we don't.
Is a Winner's edit really a Winner's edit if it's too obvious? How much inspiration is so much inspiration that it becomes in authentic? Is tribal council ever going to lively and unpredictable again? Why did Jeff wear a black shirt in this episode? These are just a few of the things we attempt to answer for ourselves and our listeners this week.
But, as always, we LOVE talking about Survivor (even when it's a little crappy) - so we're also giving you our own personal reasons we think you should keep watching. As littered with critiques as they may be. With just a few episodes left before the season ends, we do genuinely hope you're all enjoying watching along with us - cause, don't get it twisted, we're still having a blast.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It appears Jeff and the producers listen to our podcast because they are FINALLY giving us what we want! We dig into this deeper in this week's episode. We are also talking appropriate bread thickness for a PB&J, what makes a Tribal Council enjoyable, the Owen/James debacle, and what the heck Ryan is doing with thirty pounds of clams on his person. And on a more serious note we share our thoughts on how to be mindful of patterns in vote outs while still honoring the players' strategies. As always, we round the episode out with our Fans Have Spoken, Jeff Needs a Vibe Check, and Rapid Fire segments.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Can we just ask? What the HECK is going on with Survivor this season? We're confused and unhappy. But, of course, we're having an absolute riot talking about it - go figure! Despite this maybe being our least favorite episode to watch so far, it was one of our most hilarious podcast episodes to record. In chaos, there is joy.
We're breaking down the lack of gameplay from the castaways, the complete misunderstanding of how to hold a trial council that has befallen Jeff, and the ways in which we'd improve the 'rice wager' twist (here's a hint: we'd replace it entirely). We'd love to know how others are feeling about this season, because something just feels off to us. You can always let us know by sending a DM to @escapingrealitypod on instagram! We are genuinely curious what the consensus is, but we sure had a great time talking about our opinions this week.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Well, fam, Survivor 43 is doing something different this week, but we're on the fence about whether or not we are loving it. It was a divisive episode for all of us, so follow along as Agie tries to sort out her feelings about the amount of Gabler content she was force fed this episode. We're breaking down every moment, and good, bad, or ugly there's a lot to talk about.
As a bonus, Anna is back on the mic to bring you her thoughts and she does not hold back. We hope you enjoy our break down of the episode and we want to know if you are also having mixed feelings about this season. Did we always feel this way about tribal council? Did we always root for people we didn't actually like? Let us know and we'll see you next week to break down Episode 8 of Season 43 with you.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:06)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:06-10:17)
- Episode Recap (10:17-51:45)
- Castaway of the Week (51:45-54:03)
- The Fans Have Spoken (54:03-58:31)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (58:31-1:03:53)
- Rapid Fire (1:03:53-1:10:21)
- Outro (1:10:21-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!1
It's the merge episode, BYOB!!! For this episode, Stacey and Agie are holding down the fort, and we're having a grand ol' time. We share our thoughts on the merge challenge, the merge feat, and which players seem ready to get down to business. We also discuss the long-awaited Baka implosion and where we think it leaves the rest of their group. And of course, we have our castaways of the week, Fans Have Spoken, rapid fires, and some old fashion vibe checks for Mr. Jeff.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Is it just us or did a lot of this episode feel like a repeat of last week? That déjà vu was hitting the Escaping Reality team as they began to make their way through the episode. There's a lot to unpack in this episode -- which all 3 of us deemed as the best episode of the season so far, so it's onwards and upwards, fam. Let's keep this momentum going next week, shall we?
We debate whether or not Ryan actually "threw" the challenge or if it was all an act for the sake of television and break down all the key aspects of the episode, including some of Jeff's wildest comments yet. All that and more on our recap of Survivor Season 43, Episode 5: "Stop With All the Niceness."
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:42)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:42-7:55)
- Episode Recap (7:55-43:49)
- Castaway of the Week (43:49-46:58)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (46:58-51:31)
- Rapid Fire (51:31-58:08)
- Outro (58:08-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back with our usual Survivor Season 43 episode recap & quite honestly this show needs to get it together. As our episode title suggests: 8.5 is not a good score out of 100. You could listen for context, or you could semi-accurately assume that's our rating for this season so far. Jokes! but maybe with a little truth to it....
We're breaking down the latest episode -- talking challenges, strategy, and WHY the heck we keep seeing women go home. Plus, all of our favorite segments like Castaway of the Week & Jeff Needs a Vibe Check. Give us a listen to find out what's causing us so much frustration & what's still bringing us some good, old fashioned Survivor joy.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
And as always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We’re coming at ya hot with our recap of Survivor 43 episode 3! Tune in to hear our critiques, questions, and concerns. We were quite critical, but don’t worry it's all out of love. As always we have our rapid fire questions and vibe checks for Jeff as well.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
And as always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're easing into this new season of Survivor. And by 'easing,' I mean: we're going all in with SO much to unpack. This episode -- all 90 minutes of it -- gave us so many goodies to chat about. Not only did we get a new twist on an old advantage, but we continued to get a ton of player backstory, relationship building, and alliance discussion.
Jeff is on one during the challenge, but we have a lot of feelings about the challenge before we even start vibe checking Jeff. So grab your beads (and your friends' beads) and press play.
Plus, stick around at the end to hear us go absolutely feral for the recent Try Guys drama (IYKYK). We're hyped up and have a lot to say -- it's just like Survivor!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
NEW SEASON OF SURVIVOR, can I get an ✨AMEN✨ up in here? In a twist, Jeff has decided to explain the third season of this "new era" as if it were the first. We break down all the ways in which this man should potentially be vibe checked as well as the actual gameplay of Episode 1: "LIVIN" for you in this episode. Anna, Stacey, and Agie had a grand time talking through all the challenges, strategies, and personalities across all 3 tribes. Agie is still unconvinced about how this season is going to roll out, but Stacey's and Anna's thoughtful commentary and participation have made her excited for episode 2.
It's a bit of a longer recap because our fearless leader Jeff decided we needed an hour of content, so bear with us. We wanna hear from you - what did you like? Are you still annoyed about Shot in the Dark? Do the tweaks to the twists get you excited or do you want more? Hear what we have to think as you listen through our recap of Episode 1.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:40)
- Follow-Up on Cast Assessment (1:40-5:27)
- One Minute Thoughts (5:27-11:04)
- Episode Recap (11:04-1:00:54)
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:00:54-1:03:15)
- Castaway of the Week (1:03:15-1:06:07)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:06:07-1:10:17)
- Rapid Fire (1:10:17-1:12:59)
- Outro (1:12:59-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We made it to TJ's Final! We talk about our thoughts on the shocking 5 part final and our main takeaway is, what even are the rules?! Plus we dive into the editing of this season, the controversial DQ's and the eventual winners. Congrats to the winners who will represent Team USA in the World Competition. Not sure if we'll be watching yet, as we would like a guarantee that rules will be provided for all contestants and viewers.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and Twitter @EscRealityPod. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a rating/review on Apply Podcasts and Spotify! And make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competitions shows.
As always thanks for listening and thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's almost time to bring back Survivor, Babyyyy! Despite some raspy voices, the Escaping Reality team is extremely excited to be back talking about out favorite show. In anticipation of the new season premiere, we're sitting down to discuss our overall feelings & expectations for Season 43 -- which includes an individual assessment of each new castaway based on their promo videos, Entertainment Weekly profiles, and tbh the general vibes we got from everyone.
Plus, an update from Nick + a layout of which specific players we'll each be watching. We can't wait for you to watch this season along with us! We'll be doing weekly episode recaps as we have in the past & our DMs will always be open to chat in between episodes!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
After this recap episode there is only one episode left until we are able to find a winner of The Challenge: USA and definitely we can say who ran TJ's final the best. It's been a long journey to get here and we're breaking down the most recent two episodes for you so that you can be mentally and spiritually prepared for the final this week.
Who do you think has it in the bag? We have a few guesses and we are debating which woman and which man have what it takes to get through to the end. Spoiler Alert we also mourn the loss of Cashay as a competitor and discuss the reality of "pick me girl" energy within this cast. It's a fun one, y'all so buckle up cause we got a lot of footage to cover before the finale.
If you're looking for a particular segment, here's the breakdown:
- Intro: (0:00-0:23)
- One Minute Thoughts (0:23-5:29)
- Season 1 Ep. 9-10 Recap (5:29-40:59)
- Honorable Mention (40:59-43:40)
- TJ Needs a Vibe Check (43:40-46:18)
- Rapid Fire (46:18-49:53)
- Outro (49:53-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's been a while since we talked Survivor, and with S43 right around the corner we thought it was time to bring another Survivor Alum to the pod! We were extremely grateful to sit down with Naseer Muttalif (S41) to talk about his Survivor experience, what he does to escape reality, and his thoughts on the upcoming season. Some of us might have even teared up hearing his positive attitude on Survivor and life.
Naseer generously shared about his Sri Lankan background and ways that he works to support his community. We appreciate his openness and vulnerability SO much and we hope you enjoy it too. He also kept it real with one of our favorite rapid fire questions.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow us on Spotify. Don't forget to give us a rating & review! And you can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram and @escapingrealitypod on Twitter.
Be sure to follow Naseer on the following social media pages:
Instagram @muttalifnaseer
Twitter @naseermuttalif
TikTok @naseermuttalif1
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/NaseerMuttalif
We're hitting our Challenge: USA stride! Its episode recap time & we've finally come to the individual game. With this turning point comes a renewed enthusiasm for the players AND for us. It's all coming together now.
We're talking through how this shift in the game will affect strategies, challenges, and alliances; Who we're still enjoying & who is clearly not an editor's favorite; should Sarah be allowed to compete in the men's challenge & should they even have gendered challenges at all?! Will our faves be the ones to take it home? As we creep closer to TJ's final, our predictions are solidifying.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's that time of the week! A new episode to catch up on The Challenge USA! We're recapping episodes 5 + 6 on this one &, not gonna lie, we're feeling a bit of a lull in the season. So, naturally, we're unpacking all the reasons we're maybe feeling a bit bored by the gameplay. But, we're obviously including all the parts & players we're still fully obsessed with.
We're looking at TJ under a microscope, laughing about how rugged the environment is, and seriously questioning the amount of foreshadowing in the edit. Plus, we explain why we think they should just wrap it up & give Tyson the crown + the money right now.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back, back, back again, and this time we're here to break down 2 episodes of The Challenge: USA (on CBS). With Nick out this week, Stacey, Anna, and Agie were joined by none other than fellow reality TV aficionado and podcast co-host Donny Hadfield-Smith (@realdonnywood)! He is the co-host of I Am The Cute One: A Nostalgia Podcast which recaps a lot of your favorite shows and movies from your childhood so go check him and Chelsea out.
This episode is a wild trip. Agie's internet keeps going in and out so hold on to your hats as we dive into what is going on with the BB23 alliance and how their infighting is affecting their game. We also maybe drag TJ just a bit as we dive into his (and Agie's) favorite challenge: TRIVIA. It's a fun one for all involved. Donny's laughter is contagious and I hope you're ready to giggle through this one.
If you're looking for a particular segment, here's the breakdown:
- Intro + Special Guest: (0:00-4:36)
- One Minute Thoughts (4:36-15:05)
- Season 1 Ep. 3-4 Recap (15:05-45:08)
- TJ Needs a Vibe Check (45:08-49:34)
- Rapid Fire/Honorable Mention (49:34-55:18)
- Outro (55:18-56:03)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The whole crew is here this week to talk about a new show, The Challenge USA! We talk about our past Challenge watching histories, which players we have our eyes on—both for gameplay and just cause they are easy on the eyes—and our thoughts on playing with your ex. And of course we vibe check TJ Lavin because no reality tv show host is exempt from a good vibe check.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back to talk about the latest season of The Circle! The Circle season 4 is out now on Netflix & since (most of us) enjoyed covering the previous seasons, we couldn't wait to chat through this new one! What is the show still doing right? where can it continue to improve? does it need a host at all!? All questions that will be answered.
Without totally beating a dead horse... we're rehashing our existing gripes with the show while considering the new additions and adjustments. It's not that we're unhappy with the changes, we just wish they were a little more extreme! Whether it's the pace at which players come into the game, the length of the episodes, or the general concept of 'catfish' in the Circle: we have strong feelings.
Come with us as we talk about season specifics as well as more general critiques of the show's concept - all while keeping it fun and hilarious, as usual ;)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The time has come to say goodbye to Survivor Season 42, and we're not letting it go without giving you ALL our feelings on the final episode. The Escaping Reality gals are back this week to talk from final five to final tribal (and beyond... to the pizza party) and WOW do we have a lot to say.
While the episode gave us an immaculate winner, the events of the episode weren't all that groundbreaking, which gave us plenty of space to wrap up some overall season feelings within the context of the finale. We're chatting last minute advantages, fire-making pros + cons, a beautiful final tribal from ALL involved, and a healthy dose of vibe checks for our pal Jeff.
We're so enjoyed covering this season of Survivor & we can't wait to do it again in Season 43. For now, stay tuned to see what we'll watch & discuss in the meantime (and send a us a DM if there's a reality competition show you want us to cover!)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The girls are back and recapping the penultimate episode of S42!
We chat about the fall of Omar and the rise of Maryanne, as well as the ways Romeo may be playing more than it seems. And of course we give our predictions for the winner. Plus, some great discourse on how Jeff maybe gets his inspiration from his Peloton bike.
Our show is about escaping the chaos of this world, but we do recognize the importance of staying aware and advocating for justice. Towards the end of this episode we discuss the recent racist murders in Buffalo, a city two of our cohosts call home. If you would like more information on how to support the impacted communities, send us a DM!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's Agie, Stacey, and Anna in the chat today, and we had a doozy of a time trying to get this recorded for y'all. From technical difficulties to laugh breaks, we had so much fun talking about Episode 11 and can't wait to hear your thoughts.
There is so much to unpack from the "Do or Die" to comparing this week's challenge to its previous iterations in previous seasons. We also are talking editing, vibe checking Jeff, and bringing back "Fans Have Spoken" thanks to your last-minute submissions. Let's get into it!
If you're looking for a particular segment, here's the breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:06)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:06-4:20)
- Episode Recap (4:20-43:16)
- The Fans Have Spoken (43:16-46:51)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (46:51-52:00)
- Castaway of the Week (52:00-58:51)
- Rapid Fire (58:51-1:05:34)
- Outro (1:05:34-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Can you believe that we've made it to final 8? The game is really heating up and with only 3 episodes left after this one, there's still a lot of game left to play. Listen to us break down all the things that we think are going to be important as we enter the final stages of this game: who has what it takes to win and who is just superfluous at this point?
Nick is back to help us talk about the episode, and in light of last week's monumental one, we're maybe not sure how to feel about this one. Let us know if you agree.
If you're looking for a particular segment, here's the breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-2:34)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:34-7:16)
- Episode Recap (7:16-38:07)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (38:07-40:09)
- Castaway of the Week (40:09-42:59)
- Rapid Fire (42:59-49:03)
- Outro (49:03-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Settle in for our recap of a hugely important episode. We always appreciate when diversity is addressed in Survivor, so you already know we had MANY thoughts about this episode. Listen for our takes on representation, allyship, white fragility, straight men being...straight men, and TV shows that the disgruntled Survivor 'fans' should consider watching instead of Survivor (cause you’ve got other options so don't let the door hit ya on the way out). We'd like to give a HUGE thank you to the Black players on this season, and the Black alumni who shared their insights and experiences this week. A few we listened to and highly recommend are linked below.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The Pod Has Spoken w/ Jeremy Collins
Purple Pants Podcast with Brice Izyah and Wendell Holland
Rob Has a Podcast with Jamal Shipman
We're post-merge and knee-deep in some seriously good Survivor, my dudes. Season 42, Episode 7 was littered with goodies and we're talking through it all!
Not only did this episode give us a new take on the Beware Advantage, it gave us a million more reasons to BEWARE of Jeff. We're unpacking all of the completely out of pocket Jeff moments, and all of the continued strategies that caught us by surprise (in the best way). We're talking social games, potential Winner's edits, poor negotiations, and players that made us cry. Things are really starting to get good & we are HERE for it.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's Merge time, Baby!! Well... almost. We've got a few hoops to jump through first.
We're back with our coverage of the latest episode in Season 42 of Survivor! Episode 6 finds us finally at the individual game, after a few lackluster weeks, it comes much anticipated. Since we all watched Season 41, we knew much of what to expect with this episodes twist, but, as Jeff intended, the decision making process differed with a new set of players (duh).
We're talking through the twist and it's outcomes & ALLL of the strategizing, alliance scouting, and genuine relationship building we see play out in this episode. We're highlighting some of the key players & our personal Castaways of the Week. Plus there is SO much to vibe check Jeff for (and a lot to thank him for too!). And, of course, we have some feelings about the Applebees of it all.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Talk about "turning back time"--another Survivor episode in which not that much happened yet the girls had a grand ole time recapping. And we pinky promise Nick will be back soon! We chat about Jonathan’s waning patience, Lydia’s body positivity moment, confusing voting choices, and much more. Plus, some of our best vibe checks of the season for "Mr. Jeff". Don’t miss this riveting recap of Survivor Season 42, Episode 5!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Wow, for an episode in which not that much happened, Agie, Anna, and Stacey had a ton of fun breaking down this episode. Nick is away so the girlies will play. We had a few chuckles along the way as we break down each and every moment from the episode. Do we think Daniel is out of time? Do we love Taku and Jonathan more than we originally thought? Who are we actually rooting for leading up to the merge?
You'll hear our thoughts on all of that and more as we dive into our recap of Survivor Season 42, Episode 4 "The Vibe of the Tribe."
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:15)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:15-4:27)
- Episode Recap (4:27-38:46)
- The Fans Have Spoken (38:46-46:11)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (46:11-48:59)
- Castaway of the Week (48:59-51:09)
- Stacey’s Last Thoughts (51:09-52:14)
- Rapid Fire (52:14-57:50)
- Outro (57:50-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We thought we were still in the early doldrums of a new Survivor season, and WOW we were underprepared for the season's 3rd episode to come out swinging so hard! We were absolutely gripped to our tvs for this one. Between the insane and dangerous challenge sequence right through the most chaotic tribal council, this one left us with SO much to discuss.
So we're doing just that! Talking all through the aforementioned challenge & tribal, and all of the moves that played out along the way. Some major speculation about what we feel may happen in the fallout of this week's events & our takes on who we feel came away with the most damage.
Plus, all of our usual segments and occasional tangents ;) The tides, the ties, the HAIs, the lows, and the rules of these dang idols. Enjoy!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Let's talk episode 2 of Survivor 42! And this week we have a special guest--welcome back to the pod, Alex from Speaking Llama: A Survivor Podcast!
In this episode we discuss the players who have pleasantly surprised us and reminded us to never judge a book by its cover. We also discuss the infamous Maryanne/Zach 'budding romance' and Jeff’s audition for host of The Bachelor. Speaking of love, Alex shares his one true love, Australian Survivor, making us all want to watch. Plus we have our usual segments of Jeff Needs a Vibe Check, Castaway of the Week, The Fans Have Spoken, and Rapid Fire.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
IT'S BACK! Survivor is BACK with a brand new season and a stunning 2 hr episode to kick it off! We're stoked to be covering a season of Survivor once again in real time + we hope you're excited to join us!
Not only are we hitting all the key points of ANY new season discussion (castaways, what to expect this season, overall vibes), but we're bringing back all of our favorite segments-- VIBE CHECKING JEFF, crowning our castaways of the week, and getting to the nitty gritty answers in Rapid Fire. There's so much to unpack between old twists, new advantages, budding tribe dynamics, and an unexpected pull from the game. Let's get into it!!
Plus, we're catching you up on all the fun we had at the Brice & Wendell's premiere watch-party in NYC + ALL the feels we have now that the pod has officially been in person together. I could cry just thinking about it now.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back, Escaping Reality Fam! Can you believe it's time for another season of Survivor already!? We hardly can, but we're so ready for it.
We're doing something new (for us) this time around & giving our first impressions of the Season 42 castaways -- based on the CBS cast bios, social media content, + other preview interviews/media. We're loving these castaways so far & are so eager to watch how they play the game.
Will our initial thoughts ring true? Will or minds completely change? Will we be right or wrong for judging these books by their covers?! Only time will tell.
We hope you'll be watching along with us this season, so stay tuned for new episodes weekly.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to another episode of Escaping Reality! Have you found yourself thinking: what’s one type of reality competition show we haven’t covered yet by in our 100+ episodes? Well, the answer would be: A singing competition! And while we aren’t watching a specific singing competition for the pod just yet, we thought it would be fun to have a chat about a the singing competition show genre.
We have very mixed opinions on singing shows from where they began to where they are now. Plus we share what our own audition songs would be along with some other enticing rapid fires.
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod so they can join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality! After some much needed New Year's rest, we're back! While we wait out the weeks until the next new season of Survivor... we thought it would be fun to have a more general conversation about a genre of reality competition show, rather than focus on one show in particular. Since it's Valentine's weekend, we thought the perfect type of show to discuss would be the infamous reality dating show!
Now, we're covering both reality dating competitions + shows, and of course explaining our feelings on what the differences are and what make for better watching experiences. Plus, it wouldn't be an episode of Escaping Reality without a VIBE CHECK, so we're vibe checking the entire genre (and media industry, tbh...) in talking about what makes the casting & editing of these shows so problematic.
We're sharing our V-day plans, our ideas for future dating competitions, and our campaign for Netflix sponsorship. We hope you enjoy this episode + let us know if you want us to cover other reality genre's in this more conversational format!
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPodand on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And stay tuned to hear about what we'll be watching next!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our favorite listeners, the Escaping Reality Fam! From us to you, we cannot begin to describe how grateful we are to spend another holiday season with you all. 🎄🎅🏻
That being said, we wanted to find a way to bring some holiday cheer to both our December and yours so we decided to watch Season 1 of 12 Dates of Christmas, available on HBOMax. And, what a joyful time we all had! We might even believe in love again after watching, stranger things have happened. Enjoy our analysis of the "magical advent calendar" and the narrator extraordinaire, Natasha! Let's celebrate the holidays together by following our leads on their journey to find someone they love to bring home for the holidays! ❤️
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro + Christmas Traditions (0:00-8:46)
- One Minute Thoughts (8:46-17:13)
- Season 1 Recap (17:13-1:02:42)
- Natasha Needs a Vibe Check (1:02:42-1:08:23)
- Rapid Fire (1:08:23-1:17:10)
- Outro (1:17:10-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We did it, fam! we've come to the end of this much-anticipated and historic season of Survivor. We were so excited to discuss it, but so sad to see it come to an end! With a 3 hr finale episode, we had LOADS to get through - yet somehow managed to distill all our thoughts into a comprehensive recap.
Of course we're talking about the journey to the final vote & our feelings on everything that happened along the way (especially where the final 3 players are concerned). But, we're also reflecting on the season as a whole + what we hope to see going forward.
We're holding space for fire-making goodness, a loooong talk about 'winner's edits,' and Stacey gives a public apology to the one and only Jeff Probst. Plus: the jury, the after show, the Ponderosa content, and all our usual segments. If you can believe it, we actually had rapid Rapid Fire questions this time!
We've so enjoyed recapping each week of Season 41, and we can't wait to do it again in the spring when the new season premieres. We hope you'll join us then + stick around to hear what we're going to get up to in between!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's the breakdown:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:37 - 7:06)
- Finale recap (7:07- 55:48)
- Aftershow & Ponderosa (55:48 - 1:04:06)
- Fans Have Spoken (1:04:06 - 1:07:32)
- Castaway of the Season (1:07:32 - 1:12:37)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:12:37 - 1:16:35)
- Rapid Fire (1:16:35 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And stay tuned to hear about what we'll be watching next!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The penultimate episode of Survivor Season 41 has come and gone & we're giving you ALL of our thoughts as usual! This episode is particularly exciting, as we get to share our final thoughts and predictions before knowing how it all wraps up!
We're discussing the multiple ways in which we could see the finale playing out, our increased love for Erika's game & how the editors owe her a serious apology, and our confusion and speculation regarding Danny & Deshawn's curious lack of strategizing.
Plus MAJOR vibe check of Jeff today...much deserved. We ruminate on possible final 3 match-ups with some Fans Have Spoken replies and discuss the ever-present and looming weight of the jury.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:34 - 8:40)
- Episode 12 recap (8:40 - 41:19)
- Castaway of the week (41:19 - 43:38)
- Fans Have Spoken (43:38 - 49:22)
- Ponderosa (49:22 - 51:03)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (51:03 - 56:04)
- Rapid Fire (56:04 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
This season just keeps delivering! Episode 11 of Survivor Season 41 was a powerful one & we had a great time discussing all of its aspects this week.
From a new & 'dangerous' twist (Jeff's words, not ours) to a emotional & impactful tribal council, this episode had us on the edges of our seats the whole way through. With the added context and perspective from our recent interview with Wendell Holland (go listen if you haven't already!) it's even more amazing to see the work of many Black Survivor alumni who spoke up to initiate change from CBS coming to fruition on our screens. We loved watching + we hope to see more in the future! We're talking all about our thoughts on the above + our feelings on where Erika & Xander stand in the current game and the latest content coming out of Ponderosa.
Of course, we have all our usual segments: Fans have Spoken, Jeff Needs a Vibe Check, Rapid Fire, and Castaways of the Week!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (0:38 - 5:44)
- Episode 11 recap (6:11 - 45:37)
- Fans Have Spoken (45:37 - 47:49)
- Ponderosa (47:49 - 50:06)
- Castaway of the week (50:06 - 52:52)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (52:52 - 55:17)
- Rapid Fire (55:17 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from RuPaul Charles and the entire DragRace UK Season 3 cast! And, wow, what a fun episode theme we had this week. It's finally finale time and we're going to crown our winner of UK Season 3. Agie and Nick may not have originally agreed with Ru's pick, but we had a lot of fun trying to sort through our feelings on the air. And, you get to try and figure out what happened along with us.
We're discussing our aggressive feels about who we thought should have won as well as the season in general. We are breaking down each aspect of the finale and giving you all our normal segments, plus an extra toot/boot the looks for all the eliminated queens looks! It was such a joy to cover DragRace UK Season 3 on the pod these past 10 weeks and thanks for coming on this journey with us!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:31)
- Previous Episode Context (1:31-1:58)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (1:58-21:49)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks Part 1 (21:49-26:13)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (26:13-30:47)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks Part 2 (30:47-35:21)
- New Episode Recap Part 3 (35:21-45:46)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (45:46-47:14)
- Rapid Fire (47:14-52:55)
- Outro (52:55-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're beyond excited to share this episode with you all! We had the absolute delight of welcoming Wendell Holland to this special episode of Escaping Reality! Wendell (winner of Survivor S36 Ghost Island + returning player on S40 Winners at War) is the first winner we've had on the pod & we could not be more grateful for the stories & perspective he shared with us.
In addition to being a prominent member within the Survivor community, Wendell can also be seen on HGTV shows including Home Town Takeover, Beach Cabana Royale, and hosting Hot Mess House. He also designs furniture with his company Beve Unlimited
Of course, we're talking all about Survivor -- Wendell's audition process, what it was like to experience the game's first tie, the highs and lows of returning in season 40, and his thoughts on season 41 so far!
Plus, we're chatting The Challenge, journaling, watch parties, gratitude, the power of manifestation, and, our favorite topic, what Jeff Probst smells like. This episode is a perfect combo of pure joy and behind the scenes intel!
Major thanks to Wendell for coming on the pod! If you found this episode because of Wendell be sure to let us know. You can subscribe on Apple or follow on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
If you're looking for more Wendell, you can find him on social media in all of the below places!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wendellholland
Instagram:
@WendellHolland
@briceandwenpresent
@beveunlimited
With the finale of Survivor Season 41 just weeks away, we're getting some beautiful ends to the storylines that won't make it to the final episode. This episode was full of emotional moments and big moves -- and we LOVE to see it.
We're talking all things narrative arc, representation, and the importance of the edit painting a well-rounded picture of the castaways. Plus, who is playing a solid game and who is still getting the subtle edit treatment, despite only 3 episodes being left.
We're Vibe checking Jeff as always + sharing our castaways of the week AND our thoughts on who the final 3 might be. Plus, much love for Shan + Ricard, and some continued discussion of friendships vs alliances in the context of Survivor and real life.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:24 - 5:46)
- Episode 10 recap (5:46 - 43:11)
- Castaway of the week (43:11 - 47:06)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (47:06 - 49:43)
- Rapid Fire (49-43 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Happy Thanksgiving Escaping Reality Fam! 🦃🍽 From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for coming on this journey with us, and letting us take you on a reality competition show roller coaster for over 1 year! What an exciting thought for us! So, genuinely, thank you for coming along with us and supporting us.
As a thank you, we decided to record a special Thanksgiving episode that talks about our traditions and also 4 episodes of Bravo's Top Chef! We watched Season 2: Episode 6, Season 5: Episode 3, Season 10: Episode 3, and Season 12: Episode 6 if you want full context by watching the same episodes. We picked any episodes that had a elimination challenge that was Thanksgiving themed and we had an interesting time discussing them. Some of us were more jazzed than others cough Agie cough. We hope you enjoy our takes on Top Chef Thanksgiving and we are so excited to share it with you! If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a breakdown:
- Intro (0:00-1:39)
- Thanksgiving Chat (1:39-8:47)
- One Minute Thoughts (8:47-17:07)
- Episode Recaps (17:07-38:01)
- Judges Need a Vibe Check (38:01-42:09)
- Rapid Fire (42:09-53:43)
- Outro (53:43-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back (1 day early!) with our recap of the second-to-last episode of RuPaul's DragRace UK, Season 3. With Episode 9, we have an in-depth discussion of the roast and a full conversation about how this has maybe become a two-person competition. We also are discussing the rest of the roast prep, or lack thereof, before the most exciting "Oh My Goddess" Runway.
We also touch on the idea of mini challenges (and how iconic they are) and why we are not getting them this season. Between no mini challenge and no consultation with Ru (or anyone else for that matter), we actually get to see a lot of the roast so we have a lot to discuss. Dive on in with us and let us know what you're thinking about the upcoming finale next week.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:44)
- Previous Episode Context (1:44-3:00)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (3:00-27:56)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (27:56-36:36)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (36:36-45:11)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (45:11-46:20)
- Queens of the Week (46:20-47:22)
- Rapid Fire (47:22-53:12)
- Outro (53:12-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're slowly but surely inching toward the end of the season, and with this latest episode things are getting...questionable. This week, we've got a double elimination that has us wondering: where do we go from here?
We're breaking down the events of episode 9 and chatting through where we stand: What's going on within the Black players alliance, how are the editors shaping certain players narratives, and who we feel is gearing up to take the win.
Plus, we're having a grand ole time talking about how we would replace this week's Stew reward, our favorite new Taylor Swift & Adele tracks, and all of the things we'll miss about King Naseer. Plus plus -- stay tuned for a sneak at the end of this episode for a very special guest on the pod coming soon.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (0:53 - 5:12)
- Fans Have Spoken (5:12 - 16:17)
- Episode 9 recap (16:17 - 37:29)
- Ponderosa Content (37:29 - 43:30)
- Castaway of the week (43:30 - 48:36)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (48:36 - 51:44)
- Rapid Fire (51:44 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We've got a quick recap for you this week because with only 4 contestants left and everyone absolutely CRUSHING IT, Nick and Agie didn't have that much to argue about! What an exciting development for our RuPaul's DragRace UK Season 3. Don't worry, we're still basically a combination Ella Vaday/Kitty Scott-Claus stan podcast, but we promise to share all our thoughts.
We're breaking down the entire episode for you - from the over-acting in Bra Wars to the very confusing edit that the producers foisted upon us all as we started Untucked. Overall, this episode was a FABULOUS showing for our final 4 and we were excited celebrate all their accomplishments this episode! Enjoy!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:49)
- Previous Episode Context (1:49-2:53)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:53-19:30)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (19:30-24:00)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (24:00-30:03)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (30:03-31:37)
- Queens of the Week (31:37-32:15)
- Rapid Fire (32:15-36:23)
- Outro (36:23-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back, Besties! We're coming at you with a speed-round recap of Survivor Season 41 episode 8. We jump right in discussing the pace of the episode within the season, the shifting relationships, & the absolutely unacceptable vibes Jeff is exuding.
As this episode transitions us fully from pre-merge to post-merge game, we're pointing out who we're appreciating more and what we think the story is being set up for. We're talking repeated challenges, papaya-gate, Ponderosa content, and more!
Plus, all of our usual segments, including what could possibly be our only officially RAPID rapid fire segment!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:23 - 4:50)
- Fans Have Spoken (4:50 - 6:42)
- Episode 8 recap (6:42 - 39:27)
- Castaway of the week (39:27 - 41:10)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (41:10 - 43:07)
- Rapid Fire (43:07 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Let's get fugly -- cause "Friend, you gotta love yourself!" Immediate vibe check for RuPaul saying that when she was explaining the theme of this week's episode. But, in spite of a weird start, this was an ✨amazing✨ episode of RuPaul's DragRace UK, Season 3. We're nixing the mini challenge and jumping right into our "Fugly Beauty Pageant" with 3 rounds of basically rapid drag with a new theme each time.
This episode is a fun twist on a classic ball and gave us tons to talk about! Nick and Agie were truly having so much fun and 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨 we are beyond excited that one of our favorite girls, Kitty Scott-Claus, finally gets a much-deserved badge. Between the three rounds of competition and some very tight critiques, this episode will keep you on the edge of your seat, so strap in and let's talk about it.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:23)
- Previous Episode Context (1:23-2:20)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:20-8:41)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks + Challenge Prep (8:41-28:47)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (28:47-45:02)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (45:02-46:10)
- Queens of the Week (46:10-47:04)
- Rapid Fire (47:04-51:02)
- Outro (51:02-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
After last week's 'to be continued...' we waited on baited breath for episode 7 & it once again delivered! With the reveal of last week's game-changing twist results we hit the ground running into what would be an episode full of surprises and strategy.
We're chatting through our feelings on some noteworthy castaway moments & potential turning-points in the gameplay this season, as well as doing the math on what advantages are still around and in play.. because tbh it changes too often.
Plus, we're talking through the dynamic tribal council & some of the expert choices production is making this season. Along =side our usual segments.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:27 - 7:35)
- Fans Have Spoken (7:35 - 17:11)
- Talking about Production & Editing(17:11 - 24:09)
- Episode 7 recap (24:09 - 45:52)
- Castaway of the week (45:52 - 50:00)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (50:00 - 52:16)
- Rapid Fire (52:16 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Let's play the Snatch Game! This week is a special week for Escaping Reality because not only are we recapping episode 6 of DragRace UK (and playing the Snatch Game), our dearest friend of the pod Jessie R. is joining us to break it all down with us. You know her, you love her, you've heard on the pod before and she's back to have some fun with us.
And, let us tell you, this was a FUN episode. Between the reading challenge, Snatch Game, and a fruity 🍑🍉🍒 runway there was almost too much to discuss in one episode. Ru is on a rampage telling girls to change their Snatch Game characters while we discuss the importance of dynamics when it comes to comedy. What type of comedy do we prefer? You'll have to listen to find out.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro + Our Cohost for the Day (0:00-5:08)
- Previous Episode Context (5:08-5:53)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (5:53-39:56)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (39:56-49:44)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (49:44-55:09)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (55:09-56:41)
- Queens of the Week (56:41-57:43)
- Rapid Fire (57:43-1:03:56)
- Outro (1:03:56-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
What's that?! A 2-part episode?! Ok, Survivor, we see you... and we suppose we'll wait patiently for some resolution. Until then, we're breaking down everything that's going on thus far in episode 6 of season 41 (and, p.s., it's a lot in a very short amount of time)
Not only are we seeing some alliances start to (potentially) crack, but we're also seeing the budding beginnings of new alliances and partnerships because it's MERGE time! ...sort of... we're walking through the rules the castaways are facing this merge & the fallout of it all. PLUS: Exile Island is back, baby!!! Our old friend is bringing some new opportunities, which we're quite honestly a little confused about. Listen to us sort it all out as we go!
Of course, we're vibe checking Jeff, answering some rapid fire questions (which, tbh, this week are full of confusion due to the rules of the new twist), and sharing our castaways of the week.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (2:06 - 5:27)
- Episode 6 recap
- What are the tribes up to (5:27 - 13:55)
- The Merge twists (13:55 - 31:58)
- Post-merge gameplay (31:58 - 38:47)
- Exile Island (38:47 - 50:47)
- Castaway of the week (51:38 - 54:26)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (54:26 - 59:06)
- Rapid Fire (59:06 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hello, hello, hello! We're back and ready to party with our Draglexa's and the remaining 8 queens of Season 3 of RuPaul's DragRace UK. I don't know about y'all, but they are really bringing the heat and it is a great season so far. That being said, RuPaul might disagree. This episode we simultaneously have maybe the best runway of the season alongside the worst performance in the challenge so far.
We're breaking down all of RuPaul's comments, the downfalls of the teams, and how to improve the commercials if they were given another chance. Listen to us also talk about Little Mix more than necessary and poke fun at the weirdest mini challenge in the history of RuPaul's DragRace herstory. It's a good one fam, so buckle up for another wild ride.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:17)
- Previous Episode Context (1:17-2:24)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:24-34:15)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (34:15-44:25)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (44:25-58:01)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (58:01-59:45)
- Queens of the Week (59:45-1:01:03)
- Rapid Fire (1:01:03-1:06:30)
- Outro (1:06:30-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam! We're back with our recap of the latest Survivor Season 41 episode & we are keeping the momentum going from last week! We're happy to report that it was another amazing episode that left us with loads to chat through.
Not only did we continue to see beautiful moments of narrative storytelling for our castaways, but we also saw new and continued advantages coming into play -- truly the best of both worlds, as Hannah Montana would say. In this episode, we're chatting through our thoughts on the inner workings of the hidden idols & the questionably named, new 'knowledge is power' advantage.
Plus, sitting in our feels about the budding relationship between Shan and Liana AND the heartfelt arc we're seeing for fan-favorite, Naseer. Of course, we're taking a moment to vibe check our pal Jeff & his weird choices. And, for once, rapid fire is actually pretty rapid! That's called growth, people.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (3:22 - 8:00)
- Episode 5 recap (8:00 - 53:40)
- Castaway of the week (53:40 - 56:46)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (56:46 - 1:01:50)
- Rapid Fire (1:01:50 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The anniversary week is just the gift that keeps on giving. We're coming at you with our final episode drop of the week, with our recap of episodes 1-6 of The Challenge, Season 37: Spies, Lies, and Allies. Now, we know, we know, The Challenge is on episode 11 currently, so we're a bit late to the scene. We were debating how many chunks of episodes we wanted to do for this new series, so bear with us and imagine you just watched Josh and Fessy get into a fight and that's the last thing you know. And, listen to us be low key wrong about some things based on the latest few episodes 🙈.
Overall, we're just so excited to chat about a show that Nick, Agie, and Stacey have been enjoying for many years. We're diving into what makes this show great as well as the differences between Jeff and TJ and ALL THE TEA on the showmances that start and end in the Challenge house. It's such a fun episode and we're so excited to watch the rest of the season with y'all. TJ Lavin and CT forever, tbh.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro: (0:00-1:29)
- Context of The Challenge as a Show (1:29-18:50)
- One Minute Thoughts (18:50-24:02)
- Season 37 Part 1 Recap (24:02-51:03)
- Honorable Mention (51:03-55:26)
- The Fans Have Spoken (55:26-58:40)
- TJ Needs a Vibe Check (58:40-1:04:07)
- Rapid Fire (1:04:07-1:14:50)
- Outro (1:14:50-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back with another episode of RuPaul's DragRace UK Season 3. And, it's Nick's favorite episode: the SONG CHALLENGE. And, this time RuPaul has decided that she wants to do two different versions to see what is better: an upbeat pop song or a mid-tempo ballad. Spoiler alert: it's the mid-tempo ballad and the underdog team truly brings the 🔥. Between the recording, the choreography, and the performance, we have so much to discuss.
Nick and Agie are also talking about our new found love for River Medway and the gag of the double shanté. What do think? Was it deserved? Let us know what you think! We're also breaking down the performances and the juiciest Untucked yet! This was a fun episode y'all and we had a BLAST breaking it down for y'all!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:14)
- Previous Episode Context (1:14-2:13)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:13-33:16)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (33:16-42:28)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (42:28-51:45)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (51:45-52:54)
- Queens of the Week (52:54-54:11)
- Rapid Fire (54:11-58:07)
- Outro (58:07-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE? 1 year, nearly 90 episodes, multiple seasons of various shows, and countless learning experiences... Escaping Reality is celebrating our 1 year anniversary of podcasting! We couldn't have done it without our listeners, so we took to our Instagram asking for your questions for this latest episode.
In this episode, Nick, Stacey, Agie, & Anna are reflecting on how we feel 1 year in and sharing stories of how we all met (well...most of us), how the podcast came to be, and what we all value most about each other.
Plus, some more fun questions about our personal aspirations outside of the pod, what are some shows we'd want to cover as one-off episodes & what are some shows we'd never want to cover. We're sharing some of our favorite other podcasts, our dream guests, and what we'd write our reality tv centered thesis about!
This is a fun one, filled with many memories of the past year & reflections on how much we've grown & where we want to go in the next year! We're still having a blast & we hope you are too!
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The latest episode of Survivor Season 41 is here & it's A GREAT ONE. We're finally feeling like the Survivor standard that we know and love is evident in this episode. The editing is on point, the strategizing is exciting, and we're not spending any time looking for advantages!
We're discussing the fallout from the prior week's tribal council, the challenges (and the lackluster rewards, and the attempted throwing of the competition) - there's a lot to discuss, as we feel like we're finally getting to know the tribe dynamics.
Plus - a classic vibe check of Jeff, some fun rapid fire questions, and sharing our Castaways of the week.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:05 - 5:57)
- Fans Have Spoken (5:57 - 18:50)
- Episode recap (18:50 - 46:22)
- Castaway of the week (46:22 - 50:24)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (50:24 - 52:51)
- Rapid Fire (52:51 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're wrapping up our coverage & commentary on season 3 of Netflix's The Circle with our podcast on the last batch of episodes! Agie, Stacey, Anna (and kind of also Nick) are here to talk through what we loved about the season & what we think could still use some improvement.
We're talking about last-minute players, the latest new twists to the game, and the absolutely gag-worthy reveals when the players finally get to meet. In addition to our usual segments, we're giving our takes on the final rankings (and the math involved), the overall strategizing of the players, and the heartwarming moments that made us love this season so much.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts (1:23 - 6:37)
- Season 3 Part 3 Recap (6:37 - 52:42)
- Honorable Mention (52:42 - 58:18)
- Vibe Checks (58:18 - 1:01:28)
- Rapid Fire (1:01:28 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hello, hello, hello. RuPaul and the queens of UK DragRace Season 3 are BACK and we are living. Maybe not so much for Victoria Scone's ✨untimely✨ exit and def not for RuPaul's very casual comment that did NOT confirm her return in Season 4. This is our personal plea to RuPaul Charles to EXPLAIN HERSELF.
But, after the gag of Victoria Scone leaving, this episode has no end to the gags. They just keep coming. And, Nick and Agie are here to break it all down for you. Between the hilarious mini challenge "Findr" and yet ANOTHER ball themed around camping and the outdoors, we have just too much to cover. Let's dive on in together and talk about budding friendships, all the runway looks, and make sure that we get to all our normal segments. You've got us #vibechecking the judges, naming our Queens of the Week, and answering some of the silliest rapid fire questions yet. Let us know who you're loving so far!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:41)
- Previous Episode Context (1:41-2:50)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:50-23:56)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (23:56-39:04)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (39:04-44:35)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (44:35-45:28)
- Queens of the Week (45:28-46:13)
- Rapid Fire (46:13-52:00)
- Outro (52:00-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Honestly, we're still riding the high of new Survivor episodes coming each week & enjoying recapping all the action for you! The season continues to roll along in episode 3 at it's promised break-neck pace, but is it what we want? Hear from all 4 of us about how we're feeling about all the aspects making this game shorter & faster.
It's clear we're in the New Era of Survivor now, but we're feeling like the show may be in it's Impressionist Era -- looks great from a distance, but when you start to get close & analyze it... things get a little messy. With that, we're talking all about the stylistic editing choices, what we're being shown & not shown of alliance building, the state of the challenge, and the continued saga of new advantages.
Plus, as always, Vibe checking our pal Jeff, and running through our picks for Castaways of the week.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro: (start - 2:34)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:34 - 8:58)
- The Fans Have Spoken (8:58 - 15:59)
- Episode 3 Recap (15:59 - 50:24)
- Castaways of the Week (50:24 - 52:57)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (52:57 - 55:52)
- Rapid Fire (55:52 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Phew-ee. This episode was a doozy. From a mini "challenge" that was really just a disguised way to stir the pot from the producers to the very real repercussions of Krystal Versace's comments during this challenge, we really went on a ride. The fat-shaming and other comments allowed all the queens to share a very real moment, and we break it all down for you.
We also, obviously, discuss the maxi challenge: "Dragoton," RuPaul's response to Peloton, and truly it is ICONIC. And, then we have a Red Carpet runway that Nick and Agie have a fight about for every queen. With all of that, you'll also hear us do all our normal segments: #JudgesNeedAVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire. Who are you rooting for going into next week?
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:38)
- Previous Episode Context (1:38-2:28)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:28-27:34)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (27:34-36:24)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (36:24-46:23)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (46:23-48:13)
- Queens of the Week (48:13-49:48)
- Rapid Fire (49:48-53:53)
- Outro (53:53-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
With the emphasis on 'FUN' we've been getting from Jeff Probst so far this season, we had to stop and ask ourselves: is this fun?! Of course, WE are having fun watching & chatting about Survivor 41, but is the new game inherently 'fun'? Jury's still out on that one, but come along with us as we try to sort out out feelings.
We're still fresh off the season premiere, but WOW the game is coming at us quickly. We're covering some of your questions in 'Fans Have Spoken,' leading us into convos about Jeff's audience interactions & the mysterious (yet, maybe forgotten) Monster. Plus, discussion of 'what's fun' here & does Survivor underestimate their audience?
Of course, we're also breaking down and giving out commentary on what actually happens in the episode -- what the castaways are getting up to, the twists & challenge, and how Tribal Council goes down (and our opinions on how the vote played out). PLUS, as always, we're vibe checking our pal Jeffrey + closing it out with some Rapid Fire questions.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (start - 1:32)
- Initial Thoughts ( ~1:32 - 7:55)
- Fans Have Spoken (7:55 - 17:30)
- Is it fun? Is Production making it fun? (17:30 - 27:14)
- Episode 2 Recap (27:14 - 47:29)
- What each tribe is up to; twists; challenges; tribal council
- Castaways of the Week (47:29 - 50:10)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (50:10 - 55:30)
- Rapid Fire (55:30 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Soooo, as we predicted in our Meet the Queens episode, these ladies brought the heat to the DragRace Werk Room/Runway. Front entrance looks that left us gobsmacked, to a a runway double header that is sure to make you turn your head, this episode was a doozy. Thankfully, Nick and Agie from Escaping Reality are here to help you sort it all out.
We're also discussing first impressions, overall favorites (we 👀 you @Victoria Scone), and loving on the mini-challenge. Trust us, you should watch the 10 minutes of the mini-challenge if you watch nothing else this episode. It's one of the single funniest thing we have ever watched -- fully cackling. We also discuss the ever present reminders of the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the queens shares a pretty significant life event with the rest of the other girls. After that we're tooting/booting literally ✨1000✨ outfits so stay tuned for all our thoughts on this mini ball maxi challenge. We're also vibe checking the judges, picking queens of the week, and answering some rapid fire questions.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-2:40)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:40-20:32)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (20:32-41:26)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (41:26-47:58)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (47:58-49:41)
- Queens of the Week (49:41-51:01)
- Rapid Fire (51:01-56:32)
- Outro (56:32-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're knee-deep in the Circle season 3 & still loving it! In this episode, we're chatting through the 2nd drop on Netflix (episodes 5-8), and, for the middle of the season, there is still plenty new to talk about!
We're diving into our shifted opinions on the players, as well as our predictions for how we think the game might play out based on what we've seen; having a chat about the new twists & games that pop up; AND answering some hilarious rapid fire questions about who our dream guest host of a game would be & what profession we'd want out finsta-circle profile to be if we were given the 'Gift of Popularity.'
Plus: Vibe checking Michelle & production & showering love on our Honorable Mention -- James! And now that we're reaaally into the game this season, we're analyzing the strategies at play & questioning all those that still think it's important to weed out the catfish.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (start - 1:47)
- One Minute Thoughts ( 1:47 - 10:22)
- Episode 5-8 Discussions (10:22 - 42:51)
- Honorable Mention (42:51 - 47:16)
- Vibe Checks (47:45 - 50:21)
- Rapid Fire (50:21 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
IT'S HERE. The moment we've all been collectively & patiently waiting for.... Survivor is BACK! Season 41 is finally here and we're ready to dive in. This is LITERALLY what we've been preparing for on our entire podcasting journey.
Once we work through our sentiments and emotions, we're getting right to the good stuff -- talking about this self-proclaimed 'New Era' of Survivor and all the adjustments and additions that come with it. Discussing in depth our reactions to the long-awaited CBS Diversity initiatives, as well as the retirement of the catchphrase 'Come on in, Guys.' Beyond those production elements, OF COURSE we're expressing our initial thoughts on these new castaways, the new twists and advantages within the game, and what we speculate might be coming this season based on the first episode edit. Plus, revealing our pick's for who we think will make it to the end this time around.
We're saving our Fans Have Spoken for the top of next week's episode & reformatting Honorable Mention as we watch live, but our other segments are back: We're vibe checking a long overdue Jeff Probst & actually rapidly answering this week's Rapid Fire.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (start - 2:06)
- Initial Thoughts ( 2:06 - 9:39)
- A New Era of Survivor (9:40 - 24:56)
- Production, Diversity Initiatives, and ‘Come on in, Guys’ (24:56 - 45:57)
- New Castaways, New Twists & Season 41 Discussion (45:57 - 1:01:30)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:02:53 - 1:06:22)
- Rapid Fire (1:06:22 - 1:11:43)
- Castaways of the Week (1:11:43 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows. And tune in next week (and each week after) as we recap Survivor 41.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey queens! We finished our rewatches of RuPaul's DragRace UK Seasons 1 and 2 just in time for Season 3 to start! We are brining you are very raw, very real reactions to the 22 minute promo for the Season 3 queens "Meet the Queens of Season 3" on Wow Presents Plus. So, go give that a watch for context and let's get into it.
Overall, I think you'll hear that we're VERY excited for not only a new season of DragRace but a new season of the UK franchise. Though we definitely critique the lack of diversity, we also celebrate all the exciting new queens that are cast this season. We are living out our Broadway/West End dreams with at least 4 of them having background in theater/dance, so you know this season is going to be 🔥.
Catch up with meeting these queens before you start the new episode, available at 11am PST on Wow Presents Plus on Thursdays. Our recaps will be out every Thursday morning so you can hear us recap last week's episode before you watch the new one. See you then queens. ❤️
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-2:45)
- Previous Season Context (2:45-5:08)
- New Episode Recap + Toot/Boot the Promo Looks (5:08-48:43)
- Queens of the Week (48:43-52:57)
- Outro (52:57-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Circle, message: "Where did you find such a ✨STELLAR✨ cast? Their game play + a CLONING twist? Y'all must be trippin', this was too much fun." Send.
Guys, let's just take a second to celebrate the fact that not 2 weeks after finishing Season 2 for the pod, did Netflix drop the new batch of episodes for Season 3. So, here we are ready to discuss and break it down with y'all. And, let's just start by saying that this season is SURE to be a fave. From A+ casting to gag worthy moments all over the place, we are still reeling but hungrily waiting for the next batch of episodes.
The challenges (shout out to "Honest Review" 🧑🍳💋) and players (we see you Daniel ⭐️) are just about the best we've seen from the jump on the Circle and you'll have to listen to the end to hear about all the moments that had us laughing til we cried. There's a lot of them.
We have all our usual segments, including a few "Fans Have Spoken" as well as some vibe checks for the entire production team alongside our honorable mention Michelle (orange, not blue). This was a fun one guys and we are so excited to for the next set of episodes for season 3!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro: (0:00-2:01)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:01-8:51)
- Season Part 1 Recap (8:51-45:09)
- Honorable Mention (45:09-52:18)
- The Fans Have Spoken (52:18-1:04:43)
- Michelle Needs a Vibe Check (1:04:43-1:08:35)
- Rapid Fire (1:08:35-1:23:50)
- Outro (1:23:50-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're heading back across the pond for RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 2, in anticipation of the start of Season 3 on September 23rd! We're keeping the momentum from our first episode, and diving back into what's making this season stay fresh (spoiler alert: it's Covid and another amazing cast)
In this episode, you'll find our normal segments like #JudgesNeedaVibeCheck, Honorable Mention, and Rapid Fire, plus a serious chat about the Covid break & its effects and implications-- namely, the value of drag in a world where the Arts are shut down indefinitely; how each Queen is bearing their personal story; and how production is tweaking challenges & runway themes to feel original.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our love of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One Minute Thoughts ( 1:04 - 7:05)
- Cast of Queens (7:05 - 15:56)
- The COVID Break (15:56 - 23:07)
- Challenges & Runway Themes (23:07 - 28:34)
- Quieter Moments (28:34 - 35:29)
- Top 4 Queens (35:29 - 42:31)
- Judges Need a Vibe Check (42:31 - 47:53)
- Honorable Mention (47:53 - 50:24)
- Rapid Fire (50:24 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Racers, start your engines, the Escaping Reality team is taking you across the pond for 2 weeks to discuss RuPaul's DragRace UK Season 1 (and Season 2 next week) in preparation for the start of UK Season 3 in the fall. This week, we dive into what is different about the UK franchise and discuss all the ups and downs we experience together. We all agree, though, that this franchise feels "fresh" even though it's the same competition as the US version.
In this episode, you'll find our normal segments like #JudgesNeedaVibeCheck, Honorable Mention (shout out: Blu Hydrangea), and Rapid Fire, but we also bring you all our thoughts on what gems and delights this season holds. From Baga Chipz (enough said) to the role of feedback in a profession-based competition to the softer moments discussing real issues facing the LGBTQIA+ community, this season has everything you could want from a season of DragRace and more. So, come join the discussion with us!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our love of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro: (0:00-2:00)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:00-11:26)
- Season Recap (11:26-58:48)
- Judges Need a Vibe Check (58:48-1:03:17)
- Honorable Mention (1:03:17-1:06:50)
- Rapid Fire (1:06:50-1:20:18)
- Outro (1:20:18-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Circle, message Netflix: "Season 2 of The Circle is definitely a step in the right direction. We had so much fun watching and reviewing." Send message.
Hey there, Escaping Reality Fam, we are so excited to be discussing Netflix's The Circle: Season 2. We're breaking down all aspects of the show now that we have seen both seasons and talking about how the changes for season 2 really upped the ante in terms of what potential this show actually has. From more entertaining casting, to games/twists that actually caused some chaos in the Circle chat/rankings, we think it's fair to say that season 2 was a definite step up.
We have all our usual segments, including a few "Fans Have Spoken" as well as some vibe checks for the entire production team. Also, fair warning, Agie and Nick have a full 5 minutes where they discuss their love of Chloe. Take a listen and let us know what you think -- do you agree? Correct answer: yes.
This was a fun one guys and we are so excited to start watching Season 3 next week!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro: (0:00-1:37)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:37-8:36)
- Season Recap (8:36-45:15)
- Honorable Mention (45:15-58:51)
- The Fans Have Spoken (58:51-1:05:32)
- Michelle/Production Needs a Vibe Check (1:05:32-1:09:52)
- Rapid Fire (1:09:52-1:22:30)
- Outro (1:22:30-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back, Escaping Reality fam!! After a brief Summer hiatus, we're here with another episode in our usual format, covering a fan-favorite & relatively new reality competition show: The Circle!
This week we're diving into Season 1 of the US version of the Netflix hit series & talking all about what the point of the competition is, how it reflects the real-world in it's social-media social experiment, and tbh how we would suggest improving it a bit.
All our segments are back, so were taking some listener questions in Fans Have Spoken & of course, giving a heaping helping of vibe checks. Plus, we're chatting through the players we loved, the things we wished they had done, and the "challenges" that went nowhere!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro & Life Updates (0:25 - 4:32)
- Initial Thoughts (4:32 - 14:14)
- Overall feels & the show's concept (14:14 - 23:37)
- The challenges aka the activities aka the games (23:37 - 26:38)
- Gameplay & is there any? (26:38 - 38:47)
- Honorable Mention (38:47 - 44:38)
- Fans Have Spoken (44:38 - 48:03)
- Some suggestions for improvement (48:03 - 52:00)
- Vibe Checks (52:00 - 01:00:57)
- Rapid Fire (01:00:57 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to another Escaping Reality Interview Episode !! This time, we were fortunate enough to sit down with former Survivor player & fellow podcaster, Peih-Gee Law!
You might know Peih-Gee as an absolute fan-favorite on Survivor: China (15), or from her return to the game in Survivor: Cambodia (31). If not, then maybe you know her from one of her numerous endeavors in her time since the game. She caught us up on everything she's been up to since then & especially on how she's been Escaping Reality recently.
In addition to hosting Survivor Game Nights during the Pandemic on Twitch, Peih-Gee has been co-hosting the podcast Reality Escape Pod, exploring the world of immersive gaming from all angles.
During our conversation, we covered all things Survivor -- playing once, playing twice, playing authentically; online discourse amongst the fans; the Ponderosa experience; recruitment & casting; legit exhaustion; and so much more! Plus, we're talking extensively about ESCAPE ROOMS and how jewelry trade shows are actually great preparation for playing Survivor.
Major thanks to Peih Gee for coming on the pod! If you found this episode because of Peih-Gee be sure to let us know. You can subscribe on Apple or follow on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
If you're looking for more Peih-Gee, you can find her + her projects in all the below places!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PEIHGEE?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peihgee/?hl=en
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/peihgee/about
Podcast (Reality Escape Pod): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reality-escape-pod/id1554984790
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/peihgeeplays
Lo Rador Jewelry: https://www.loradorjewelry.com/about-lo-rador.html
We're bringing you the slightly edited (for clarity) Instagram live episode of the pod that was curated by questions from all of you. In one of our favorite episodes yet, we answer all your burning Survivor "Fans Have Spoken" questions.
We had so much fun with y'all, answering questions live and also answering your fan submission questions on Instagram live. We absolutely love the Escaping Reality fam and are so grateful for y'all engaging with us on this reality tv journey. In this episode, you'll hear our thoughts on the hottest castaways, whether or not we believe Coach's Amazon story, and a few of our takes on RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars 6 (as a bonus). We sure do love a tangent and we definitely go off-roading in this episode, but I think you can see we love our fans and loved answering all your questions.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It was inevitable...and now it's hear for your listening pleasure: Our Survivor Zaddy Episode! If you listen to our pod, you know we never shy away from admitting which Survivor players we are undoubtedly (and sometimes embarrassingly) attracted to. So, we figured it was time to properly round them up and categorize our choices.
We're breaking it down into different rounds of qualifying HUNKS -- who you're bringing home to mom, who you keep as your dirty little secret, ACTUAL Dad Daddy, and more.
We had a BLAST recording this one, so we hope you enjoy. If you do enjoy, be sure to let us know so we can plan more content like this for you in future episodes. Tell us as well: did your favorite Survivor Zaddy make the cut?!
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We've got a fun episode for y'all today! As we were watching the 40 seasons of Survivor, a conversation that came up a lot was: who was the best to ever do it, even if they didn't win? And, we debated this a lot. So, we decided to actually hash it out and decide who we think probably could have (or should have) a win and potentially why they never will.
The clearest example of this is the goddess/queen Cirie Fields. She is our 'North Star' in this conversation as we bring names to the table and debate whether or not we think they actually deserve the title or not. We had a lot of fun debating this topic and we would LOVE to hear your thoughts, so slide in those DMs or comment on our post about this episode so we can hear who you think we missed!
If you're looking for a particular segment, time stamps are below:
- Intro (0:00-1:47)
- A Player Roundtable Discussion (1:47-46:56)
- “Rapid Fire” (46:56-57:40)
- Outro (57:40-end)
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam -- we're back with the final installment of our Survivor re-watch mini-series.
This week, our listeners voted for us to re-watch Survivor S15: China. Truly iconic, thank you for choosing such a great one for us to dive back into! We had so much fun reassessing the players & asking the hard hitting question: why was this season so strong, yet so many after it were not?
Theming & casting were so impeccable in Survivor China, so we're looking back at all the highlights, and using our 40-seasons worth of wisdom to cast a new light on things.
You guys submitted some great Fans Have Spoken questions about particular players, so thank you for those! Plus: we didn't vibe check Jeff in our original S15 episode, so we're having plenty of fun making up for that lost time.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:55)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:55-8:50)
- Changed Castaway Impressions (8:50 - 20:02)
- The Fans Have Spoken (20:02 - 38:25)
- What makes this season so inimitably good? (38:25 - 47-35)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (47-35 - 54:10)
- Rapid Fire (54:10 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
THE FINALE of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under is upon us and Agie and Nick are here to break it down with you. We're having lots of feelings about the season in general and we invite you on our journey to figure it out together. We're talking about how the edits and overall storylines for each queen affected how we enjoyed the season and we want to hear what you think!
Other than our reflections on the season as a whole, we're CROWING A WINNER BABY. Congrats to our girl Kita Mean! And, we toot/boot the queens' "Best Drag" looks and they were truly out of this world. We obviously have to vibe check the judges one last time this season and also do some rapid fire. Listen through the end to hear what we think they could do to make Season 2 even better.
Thanks for a great season of Drag Race and letting us try out this new "live" episode format. Let us know if you'd be interested in having us chat about Season 14 as well!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:39)
- Previous Episode Context (1:39-2:57)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (2:57-37:29)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (37:29-43:34)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (43:34-56:46)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (56:46-58:16)
- Rapid Fire (58:16-1:02:54)
- Outro (1:02:54-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hey Escaping Reality Fam -- Happy Summer!
As we conclude our host-picks for this re-watch series, Nick takes us all on a second round of Survivor Samoa. We're exploring what happens this season when you're not absolutely blinded by Russell Hantz & can attempt to pay attention to the real events going down!
We're rehashing whether or not we gave Natalie fair criticism, and highlighting some other individual players who got unfairly forgotten over time (and definitely didn't deserve it cough Monica cough). Plus, talking extensively about whether or not this season should be considered a turning point in the show's history.
You guys submitted some great Fans Have Spoken questions that we're answering at the top of the episode. And, of course, stay tuned through the end to hear your favorite #JeffNeedsAVibeCheck and Rapid Fire segments!
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe & leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality competition shows.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's time for a Talent Show Extravaganza and the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under are definitely doing...something. Shout out to Art Simone for the funniest 5 minutes with absolutely no context for what her talent actually is ❤️. We're breaking down the talents, Raven and RuPaul's critiques of them, and how they all went down in front of the judges. We're also reflecting on the season as a whole and talking about what caused us to have such a 'mushy middle' of queens every week and whether or not we actually enjoyed it.
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! Spoiler alert: there's no booted looks and RuPaul doesn't need a vibe check, Rhys does. Queens of the Week are part of our rapid fire, so stay tuned til the end to hear what we're thinking coming up to the finale.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:47)
- Previous Episode Context (1:47-4:13)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (4:13-39:34)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (39:34-42:49)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (42:49-50:54)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (50:54-51:51)
- Rapid Fire/Queens of the Week (51:51-59:05)
- Outro (59:05-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Hi Escaping Reality Fam! I hope you have been enjoying our rewatch series -- we have been having so much fun hearing your thoughts and engaging with you all about each season. For Season 17: Gabon this week, we had SO many Fans Have Spoken comments that we tried to incorporate all your comments into the show. If you submitted, make sure you listen to hear your comment or question during today's episode!
In addition to Fans Have Spoken, we're discussing theming, our misjudgment of castaways from our previous episode, and whether or not Gabon deserves to live in this "Golden Age" of Survivor. You'll have to take a listen to hear what we think. We're playing "what if" with lots of different scenarios and discussing what makes Gabon so entertaining when, in reality, it maybe shouldn't be.
As Stacey says at the beginning of this episode, "There's a season for everyone, but not every season is for everyone," and we're so grateful to all of you for going on this journey with us! We also have #JeffNeedsaVibeCheck and Rapid Fire, so listen til the end to hear them! Enjoy!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-3:01)
- One Minute Thoughts (3:01-10:40)
- The Fans Have Spoken (10:40-29:50)
- Revisiting Season 17 (29:50-56:35)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (56:35-1:01:18)
- Rapid Fire (1:01:18-1:15:04)
- Outro (1:15:04-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH QUEENS!! Episode 6 is up next on our recap series of RuPaul's DragRace Down Under, and Nick and Agie basically just gush over the joyful werk room full of gay rubgy players and the remaining queens. Just want to give a quick note. The sound on this week's episode is ~busted~ so just make sure you turn up the volume so you can hear us! 😉
This week's episode, we're discussing the mini-challenge "Whatcha Packing Down Under" and breaking down each and every one of the makeovers of the stunning men of the gay rugby league. It was a super fun episode, and we think you'll hear how much fun we had recording as you listen. We also discuss what it means to be a drag mother (in and out of competition) as well as the best way to go about 'family resemblance' in this challenge.
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! In Rapid Fire we're playing "Whatcha Packing Down Under" just like the queens on this week's episode so stick around to hear it. If you want to play with us on Instagram or Twitter, you know what to do.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:56)
- Previous Episode Context (1:56-3:12)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (3:12-35:59)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (35:59-45:11)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (45:11-54:17)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (54:17-55:04)
- Queens of the Week (55:04-56:37)
- Rapid Fire (56:37-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We may have watched all available seasons of Survivor, but we had some unfinished business. In this mini-series of episodes, each of our hosts has picked a season that they feel deserves a 2nd look! Whether we were too harsh, too chaotic, or too distracted, there are a few seasons that, with some added perspective, we could dive into even deeper.
It's Stacey's week to pick & she had us revisit season 14: Fiji! This was probably our most chaotic episode when we first watched & recorded, so we were all eager to watch with fresh eyes and calmer souls. And it did not disappoint! The season ha way more to offer than we remembered. Plus, we were able to take a much more focused approach to watching the (much deserved) winner's arc.
We're talking about our changed castaway impressions, thoughts on an old season now that we've seen all 40, some cast-based 'Fans Have Spoken' questions, Vibe Checking Jeff, and Rapid fire!
Have a listen & let us know: have any of your Fiji opinions changed along with ours? And stay tuned until the end of this episode to hear about Agie's pick for what we'll be re-watching next & why.
If you liked this episode, be sure you're subscribed on Apple or following on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
Can you believe we're basically halfway through the first season of RuPaul's DragRace Down Under? There have been conflicting reports about how many episodes there are this season with the return of Art Simone, but we're assuming this is the halfway point. And, Episode 5 DID NOT disappoint.
We've got the "Library is Open" Reading Mini Challenge AND a comedy advertisement maxi challenge in the same episode and what an episode this made! So many lines crossed, so much pent up aggression let out in the reads. These Down Under queens pushed Ru and the other judges to the limit with their "yeast spread" pitches and some were almost too much to take in, literally. This week also FINALLY sees some validation for our Kiwi queens, and we couldn't be more excited to celebrate Elektra Shock and Kita Mean!
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! In Rapid Fire we also make ALL SORTS of predictions for Episode 6 -- the makeovers! We're so excited for next week!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:47)
- Previous Episode Context (1:47-3:08)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (3:08-37:17)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (37:17-44:27)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (44:27-52:33)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (52:33-54:08)
- Queens of the Week (54:08-55:32)
- Rapid Fire (55:32-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We may have watched all available seasons of Survivor, but we had some unfinished business. In this mini-series of episodes, each of our hosts has picked a season that they feel deserves a 2nd look! Whether we were too harsh, too chaotic, or too distracted, there are a few seasons that, with some added perspective, we could dive into even deeper.
Anna is up first and she picked (shocker): S10, Palau! A contentious season for this group. With some fresh eyes & a more focused watch, everyone was able to get something new out of it this time around. We're talking story-arcs, players we mis-judged (for better or worse), moments we mis-remembered, and PREMIUM JEFF CONTENT.
Have a listen & let us know: have any of your Palau opinions changed along with ours? And stay tuned until the end of this episode to hear about Stacey's pick for what we'll be re-watching next & why.
If you liked this episode, be sure you're subscribed on Apple or following on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
We have another special surprise for you Escaping Reality Fam -- another interview with a past Survivor contestant!
We had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with former Survivor player Sabrina Thompson Mitchell. Sabrina, owner of Kuu Productions, is a self-proclaimed story teller and it shows. In one of our most riveting conversations yet, you can absolutely see how Sabrina is both a story teller and production dynamite. Her ability to weave a story from the most minuscule question will have you on the edge of your seat.
In this episode we're talking: Sabrina's life before Survivor & the subway breakdown to which she credits her journey to Survivor; finding a creative outlet and community even in her own neighborhood during a pandemic; her work with CBS and other Survivor contestants to ensure diversity is preserved and valued going forward; plus, you MUST hear how she was cast on the show -- trust us, this is a story you DON'T want to miss! AND, we get some tea on what it's like to actually reach final tribal -- so all you future Survivor players, take note!
You can follow Sabrina on Instagram @sabjuda to see what her production company is working on now (you'll want to see what they're doing)! And be sure to leave a review on this podcast letting us know if you found us because of Sabrina!
If you liked this episode, be sure you're subscribed on Apple or following on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
Thank you again to Sabrina for taking us down memory lane & thanks to y'all for Escaping Reality with us!
Episode 4 is up next and RuPaul brought us a good one with a design challenge full of op shop goodies. We also have a SPECIAL GUEST Joe Lee (@joeleegreengiant) to help us unpack the SHOCKING return of one of the previously eliminated queens, Art Simone. We don't know about y'all but we were SHOOK to our cores and had very mixed feelings about her return (mostly excitement but also confusion).
We're talking about shade/cattiness entering the workroom in full force and the injustice of no one sticking up for our girl Elektra Shock. We also discuss the background/understanding that Ru and Michelle have of Australian (and Australian drag in general) and how that affects the judging process on this season. Joe brought so many fun theories and ideas to the table -- we can't wait for you to hear all of them. Drop your thoughts in our DMs after you listen!
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! It's like we're opening a RuPaul's Drag Race time capsule to relive the best previous design challenges and bring back moments.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro + Introducing our Guest (0:00-9:22)
- Previous Episode Context (9:22-12:42)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (12:42-46:54)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (46:54-1:00:05)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (1:00:05-1:12:29)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (1:12:29-1:17:10)
- Queens of the Week (1:17:10-1:20:21)
- Rapid Fire (1:20:21-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back for another extra special episode of Escaping Reality! This week we're sitting down with fellow podcaster David Yontef, host of Behind the Velvet Rope, to hear all about his podcast, his famous guests, and his reality tv perspectives.
Behind the Velvet Rope is a Pop Culture Podcast dedicated to Real Housewives, Bravolebrities and other relevant icons. Host David Yontef asks his guests all the pressing questions YOU want answered. New episodes drop 5 Days A Week, Monday-Friday! David came to visit us on our show to tell us stories of some of the favorite guests, how he finds balance between friendship & pressing for juicy answers, and his thoughts on the current state of reality competition shows.
Be sure to subscribe to Behind the Velvet Rope for your pop-culture podcast fix & follow @davidyontef and @behindvelvetrope on Instagram to keep up on all the amazing guests they have on the show. You can also subscribe to Behind the Velvet Rope on Patreon for special bonus episodes. And be sure to let us know if you found our podcast because of David!
If you liked this episode, be sure you're subscribed on Apple or following on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review! You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
Thank you again to David for joining & Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We are so excited to bring you our recap of Episode 3 of RuPaul's DragRace Down Under and this time, WE BROUGHT FRIENDS. Escaping Reality fam, you know and love Stacey, and she's HERE to chat (finally!!). We are also so excited to welcome Agie and Stacey's friend from college Jessie! She's an AVID DragRace fan and joined us to share her feelings about this new season of DragRace.
Episode 3 is all about the SONG CHALLENGE and we're looking back on past DragRace songs and breaking down the beautiful episode this week where the queens wrote verses for and performed "Queens Down Under." We're loving on Maxi Shield and fighting with the judges about their critique of Elektra Shock. We're also giving an ode to "old school drag" and discussing the differences between DragRace seasons of the past and now. We also loved, loved, loved the revelation about Elektra Shock's life (and her dance studio) and the support she got from the other queens. There's a lot to unpack in this episode, and having four of us on the pod def made the episode long. ENJOY.
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! Make sure you listen to the end to hear a CRAZY story about Stacey's prom. Trust me, you'll want to hear this one.
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro + Introducing our Guests (0:00-14:06)
- Previous Episode Context (14:06-15:54)
- New Episode Recap Part 1 (15:54-51:34)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (51:34-1:05:32)
- New Episode Recap Part 2 (1:05:32-1:19:03)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (1:19-03-1:22:02)
- Queens of the Week (1:22:02-1:24:35)
- Rapid Fire (1:24-35-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
This just may be our favorite episode to date...
We had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with former Survivor player & absolute content queen, Lauren Ashley Beck! And, y'all, she had us reeling with stories about her time on the island & what she's been up to since.
In this episode we're talking: what you didn't see on the island & how Survivor struggles to accurately depict strong social strategy in their edits; finding a creative outlet and community engagement on TikTok during a pandemic; being a Survivor STAN & what that means within the game; plus, all about who Lauren stays in touch with from the Survivor world & if she's ready to play again!
You can follow Lauren on social media (and you absolutely should) for incredible content and her tiktok series 'Survivor Secrets' to hear even more beyond what she shared in this episode: @laurenashleybeck on TikTok & @laurenashleybeck on Instagram -- And be sure to leave a review on this podcast letting us know if you found us because of Lauren!
If you liked this episode, be sure you're subscribed on Apple or following on Spotify + don't forget to give us a rating & review. You can always follow for more content @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @escrealitypod on Twitter.
Thank you again to Lauren for joining & Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The ✨audacity✨ of RuPaul and Michelle Visage to give us "Snatch Game" on episode 2. We're honestly still recovering. That being said, wow what an episode.
We're breaking down the entire episode and, let me just say, we had a LOT to say. We start with a discussion of how every queen is bringing a different type of drag to the table, so how can the judges actually compare them and then we ask if we think Michelle, Rhys, and Ru are going to be the only judges all season. We see you, Australia, being very COVID-conscious.
We also discuss the role of 'Australian humor' (and its differences from American humor) in the reception of Snatch Game as well as our impressions of each of the queen's performances. We are squabbling with the judges on their critiques of the kind of unprecedented BOTTOM SIX and giving you why we think it was maybe a little aggressive. We also gab about our love for Anita Wigl'it and her hilarious work as Queen Elizabeth II. And, then we discuss the lip sync and a SHOCKING elimination.
We've got all that PLUS "Toot or Boot the Looks," #RuPaulNeedsaVibeCheck, Queens of the Week, and Rapid Fire! It's a fun one, y'all!
As always, just a reminder that these opinions are solely ours as fans of RuPaul's DragRace. We are not drag professionals and are incredibly grateful to watch and share our of this show with y'all!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:52)
- Previous Episode Context (1:52-6:29)
- Episode Recap Part 1 (6:29-42:46)
- Toot or Boot the Runway Looks (42:46-51:07)
- Episode Recap Part 2 (51:07-1:13:59)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (1:13:59-1:15:24)
- Queens of the Week (1:15:24-1:16:13)
- Rapid Fire (1:16:13-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
After 40 seasons and a multitude of podcasts and side conversations, we decided to sit down and discuss our various ideas for Survivor themes and twists! We're joined by Anna's brother Joe (Survivor fan & future lawyer) to chat through our season pitches and their possibilities.
We're covering the logistics of our proposed twists, the tribe divides in our suggested seasons, and the returning players we would cast to fit our formats. It's a culmination of our survivor knowledge and preferences & boy, it's a fun time. Check it out & let us know: what's a season of Survivor you would love to see them try?
Be sure to give us a follow on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The first official episode of RuPaul's DragRace Down Under came out this week and Nick and Agie are breaking down the entire thing for you!
We're talking the difference in ~sparkle~ between DragRace in the US vs. Down Under and breaking down all the drama these queens are stirring up immediately. We have some poignant moments and confessionals from queens talking about their experiences with both weight and race. Shout out to JoJo Zaho and Kita Mean for being so vulnerable with us as viewers ❤️.
We're also "tooting" and "booting" the looks of the "Get to Know You Ball" with the categories "Born Naked" and "There's no Place like Home." And, when we say naked, we mean NAKED. Hello, Australia and New Zealand, y'all good? We also STAN both Rhys Nicholson and the greatest lipsync of 2021 to "Tragedy" by the Bee Gees. It's a PARTY! We've also got all our normal segments: #RuneedsaVibeCheck, Queen of the Week, and Rapid Fire.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:40-2:09)
- Episode Recap Part 1 (2:09-29:31)
- Toot or Boot the Looks (29:31-51:12)
- Episode Recap Part 2 (51:12-58:15)
- RuPaul/Judges Need a Vibe Check (58:15-59:28)
- Queen of the Week (59:28-1:01:10)
- Rapid Fire (1:01:10 - end)
For more information on the Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal land campaign, click here. To donate to WorldVision in order to build a "better future for First Nations Australians," click here.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Escaping Reality Fam -- we appreciate you all so much as we are transitioning into our summer full of fun Survivor and RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under content. That being said, we had a member of the pod out with her fam this week celebrating her sister's graduation (we miss you Stacey) so we don't have a true Survivor "episode" this week but rather an audio version of our Instagram Live from 2 weeks ago. We're so excited to do more of these in the future so ENJOY listening back to our reflections on watching 40 seasons of Survivor and starting a podcast in the middle of a pandemic. We did that. And y'all helped!!
In this episode, you'll hear us literally cheers to watching all 40 seasons and talk about what we learned along the way. We also give a brief explanation of how the pod came to be and answer fan questions like "What season do we recommend for newbies?" and "what winner would we be?" (and so many more). This episode is as raw and UNCUT/UNFILTERED as we have ever been so enjoy a peek behind the curtain as we discuss everything we've been through.
We are so incredibly grateful we had y'all with us on this journey and cannot wait to continue to grow and discuss with you going forward. Make sure to check back every Wednesday for new Survivor episodes and every Friday for RuPaul's DragRace Down Under episodes!
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
G'day Escaping Reality Fam! Are you so excited to join us on a new journey in conjunction with Survivor? I hope so because we are so excited to be able to watch a show in real time with you and discuss. And, you guessed it, we're starting with RuPaul's DragRace Down Under, airing on Wow Presents+ starting on May 1st!
In our first episode, we're looking at the trailers, the Q&As with the queens, and their published promo looks to bring you our thoughts on these 10 exciting new queens. We're giving you a peek into our background with DragRace, our favorite queens/winners of the past (our DragRace 'herstory' if you will) as well before we dive into the "episode".
Nick and Agie are taking the reins and they're giving you a vibe for each queen PLUS they're tooting and/or booting all the promo looks. We're also loving on Maxi Shield, Art Simone, and Etcetera, Etcetera (the roach look? GAGGED). We also give ourselves drag names and aesthetics in Rapid Fire. Can't wait to hear your thoughts and talk DragRace with you all!
Since this is a new type of episode we tried to keep our format with a few adjustments. But, we wanted to have clear segments. If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:20-2:28)
- Our DragRace “Herstory” (2:28-21:18)
- “Episode” Recap (21:18-32:34)
- Toot or Boot the Looks (32:34-43:35)
- Queen of the Week (43:35-45:21)
- Rapid Fire (45:21-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
Survivor episodes drop on Wednesdays and RuPaul's DragRace Down Under episodes drop on Fridays!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The moment you've been waiting for...the perfect cap on our 40 season watch-through of Survivor: we're sharing out definitive rankings!
We're walking you (and each other) through our season order from bottom to top. And we're stopping all along the way to fight about it.
Give it a listen & be sure to let us know if our rankings line up with yours. Do you agree with one of us over the other? Did we all make the wrong choices? Did your favorite season not even make the top half? We want to hear from you! We'll have each of our listings, as well as blank templates for you up on our Instagram, so be sure to check those out and play along.
Though this might be the end of our 40-season watch-though, we're certainly not done with Survivor + beyond! Stay tuned to see what we'll be watching next...
You can always find us on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Escaping Reality Fam -- can you believe that we made it to 40 seasons? We're out here watching 40 seasons in a year. Thanks for coming on this journey with us, let's dive on in.
We're using this episode to give justice to every single winner and dig deep into our feelings on almost every single one who played (we're looking at you Adam Klein, narrator extraordinaire). At the end of the day, we loved getting to celebrate this seminal season as a beautiful retrospective of 20 years all wrapped into one season. We talk about the arguments for and against fire tokens, as well as our thoughts on the improvements to Edge of Extinction (tl;dr: it's the people).
We're truly obsessed with this season and really have quite a lively debate about the final 3 deliberations and the criminal under-appreciation of Michele Fitzgerald and her gameplay. We also talk about the Cops-R-Us alliance finally making their alliance work. And, whether or not the jury was actually rooting for Tony or if they thought Sarah could win, but was foiled at fire. We've also got all our normal segments including "Fans Have Spoken," Honorable Mention (we each pick one), #JeffneedsaVibeCheck, and Rapid Fire.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (1:10-2:53)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:53-10:53)
- Season Recap Part 1 (10:53-40:03)
- The Fans Have Spoken (40:03-43:05)
- Season Recap Part 2 (43:05-1:10:23)
- Honorable Mention (1:10:23-1:15:39)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:15:39-1:20:14)
- Rapid Fire (1:20:14-1:37:22)
- Outro (1:37:22-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's time to draw some lines! As we approach the (at the time of this podcast) final season of Survivor, we wanted to take a hot minute and let you know our feelings on all the past winners.
We're walking you (and each other) through our definitive ranking of Survivor winners, complete with individualized criteria for how and why we made the choices we did. And some of us made some...choices.
Give it a listen & be sure to let us know how you think we did! Do you agree with one of us over the other? Did we all make the wrong choices? How would you have ranked these winners? We want to hear from you. We'll have each of our listings, as well as blank templates for you up on our Instagram, so be sure to check those out and play along.
You can always find us on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Thanks for coming back for Part 2 of our discussion of Season 39: Island of the Idols. As mentioned in part 1, there were many, many social, political, and personal issues raised by the cast of Survivor Season 39 and, because of that, we wanted to ensure we found the time to discuss each of them.
TW: sexual assault/sexual harassment/inappropriate touching (see Dan/Kellee section in the time break down if you would like to skip this section entirely)
In Part 2, we're taking the time to discuss the situation with Dan and Kellee (TW) as well as all of the issues discussed by this cast (often at tribal councils, and including Jeff in the discussion). From race relations to historic milestones, from the #metoo movement to women's alliances, there was a lot to unpack. We also loved that a season of Survivor finally didn't shy away from not only airing these conversations about race and women but making them the center of the narrative for many of the castaways. The conversation about Dan and the inappropriate touching is more serious and focuses on the role of production when a situation like this arises.
This is not our normal "escape" type of episode, but we hope you enjoy our discussion of all of these monumental moments. We would love to discuss with y'all as well, so send us your thoughts on insta DM or email, we would love to hear what you think as well.
Here's a break down of what we're getting into in Part 2:
- Intro (0:00 - 1:10)
- Women’s Alliances/Women Empowerment in the Game (1:10 - 17:20)
- Jack and Jamel Accountability and Racist Comment (17:20 - 25:55)
- Missy and Jeff 2 Black Winners (25:55 - 29:55)
- Trigger Warning Dan/Kellee Discussion (29:55 - 55:30)
- Outro (55:30 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
So, Island of the Idols. We know it's a controversial one in the Survivor community and because of that we actually broke up our break down into two parts. You get two episodes of your fave 4 Survivor fans chatting in one week. We pulled our conversation about the more poignant moments of the season into its own episode, so come back tomorrow for that.
TW: sexual assault/sexual harassment/inappropriate touching - though we do not discuss the Dan/Kellee situation in depth in part 1, it is mentioned.
In Part 1, we're talking everything else. We the theme of "Island of the Idols" - we see you CBS making a pun 😉. We also gave our opinions on how we would have improved it. We loved Sandra and Rob, but we have some notes on how to get them more involved. We also discuss alliances, the insane number of final two deals, and a truly "live" (to quote Jeff Probst) Final Tribal.
We get into our love of Lauren, the rise and fall of 'DKChillin', and Nick's undying love for Noura. In this "Baby's First Survivor" there is lots of gameplay to unpack and Rob/Sandra side eye to enjoy. We agree that this season gets overshadowed by an extremely unfortunate incident, but we found some players and some true Survivor gameplay in what was left behind.
As always, we found the funny in a season riddled with emotion and real problems by looking for an Honorable Mention (Jamal), #Jeffneedsavibecheck, and Rapid Fire questions.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (1:10 - 2:07)
- One Minute Thoughts (2:07 - 13:02)
- Season Recap (13:02 - 1:21:30)
- Honorable Mention (1:21:30 - 1:22:20)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:22:20 - 1:25:28)
- Rapid Fire (1:25:28 - end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
As the wise angel Lady Gaga once said: 'I'm on the Edge!' - and then Survivor said 'same, bro.'
We're out here on the Edge of Extinction and we have some very mixed feelings. We're working through our wide range of opinions on Survivor's 38th season and having a hoot along the way. Not only are we talking extensively about the theme and the adjustments we would have made, but we're also touching on returning players, new advantages, and how the big twist effected our impressions of the winner.
We're starting the whole episode off with a chat about merge buff colors, kicking off the episode to be a great time. Plus, we're vibe checking Jeff per usual, speaking our truth about Rick Devens, and swooning over Wardog (if you don't believe us, look him up on instagram -- the man is a 10). This was a fun one, so give it a listen & let us know whose opinions you most align with!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-3:25)
- Fans Have Spoken (3:25 - 6:06)
- One Minute Thoughts (6:06 - 12:17)
- Season Recap (12:17 - 1:10:30)
- Honorable Mention (1:10:30 - 1:12:42)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:12:42 - 1:16:10)
- Rapid Fire (1:16:10-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
What's good Escaping Reality Fam? Better late than never, right?
Season 37: David vs. Goliath. Wow. I feel like we, as a podcast, are the David that have almost defeated the 40-season Goliath that is Survivor. But, here we are -- delving into Season 37, a Survivor darling, and one that we were a bit split on tbh. A hot take for sure. This season is a master class in casting and editing, which makes for a LOT of talking among this foursome. Buckle up, kiddies, we got lots to discuss.
We're breaking down Nick's winner's arc/storyline and why watching the Davids succeed was so satisfying. We also take a journey through the bible with our discussion of the theme and its objective STRENGTH. We see you CBS, you're figuring out. We also just talk about the incredible strength of this cast overall and how we were truly obsessed with them all: from the "Mayor of Slam Town" to 'Ned Schnebley' - they all have their own strengths, and we think you'll agree. We've also got #JeffNeedsAVibeCheck, Honorable Mention (we each picked our own), and Rapid Fire like always!
No Fans Have Spoken this week - DM/email us with your thoughts for next episode!!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:00-1:49)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:49-10:30)
- Season Recap (10:30-1:09:38)
- Honorable Mention (1:09:38-1:18:45)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:18:45-1:23:07)
- Rapid Fire (1:23:07-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's time for Survivor: Spooky Island! wait... no ... that's Scooby Doo. Survivor: Ghost Island! We're talking all things Survivor Season 36 in this episode and we have soooo many feelings on the theme.
We've been eagerly awaiting another good theme, and we finally got it. But, does it make for a good season overall? You'll have to listen to find out. We're talking tie breakers, alliance play, and nameless white women.
We're diving into much more + your favorite segments: Fans Have Spoken, #JeffNeedsAVibeCheck, & an extra chaotic rapid fire section.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:53 - 7:21)
- Initial Thoughts (7:21 - 15:08)
- Season 36 Discussion (15:08 - 1:11:08)
- Honorable Mention (1:11:08 - 1:14:33)
-
JeffNeedsAVibeCheck (1:14:33 - 1:19:25)
- Rapid Fire Questions (1:19:25 - end)
You can always follow for more from us on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- Be sure to leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify & share our podcast with all your friends.
Thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're coming at you with another episode of Escaping Reality featuring our pal & fellow podcaster -- Lara from Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast! Lara is here to share about her pod, how she's been Escaping Reality, and gab with us about all things Survivor S35: HHH (and there is lots she brought to the table).
We're mulling over our thoughts on the 'theme,' if that's what we're calling it; our idol and advantage conspiracies; plus, diving deep into alliance pairs and fire making challenge!
We're chatting loads about specific players, but, as always, hitting you with our pick for Honorable Mention, vibe checking Jeffrey, and discussion what our own alliances might look like on Survivor in The Fans Have Spoken.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro & Luxury Items (start - 12:00)
- The Fans Have Spoken (12:00 - 19:20)
- Initial S35 thoughts (19:20 - 30:00)
- Season Recap (30:00 - 1:23:00)
- Honorable Mention (1:23:00 - 1:27:27)
-
JeffNeedsAVibeCheck (1:27:27 - 1:34:41)
- Rapid Fire Questions (1:34:31 - end)
Be sure to check out Lara's podcast Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast wherever you listen & leave a review letting them know you heard this episode! You can follow them on Instagram @IdolChatterPodcast and on Twitter @IdolChatterPod
You can follow us for more content on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Happy Wednesday Escaping Reality Fam! Can you believe we've made it to Survivor Season 34: Game Changers? And, for their 34th season, Jeff Probst and the Survivor producers concocted a special brand of joy for us all to watch by bringing back players who changed the game or knew when an opportunity to change the game was upon them.
We're discussing how you get the title of "game changer," the strength of the theme and the players chosen to return, and all the twists, turns, and firsts that the production team decides to throw at some of our favorite returners (cough Cirie Fields cough). We also take a deep dive into a controversial and heartbreaking tribal council that centered on the outing of Zeke as transgender and the concept of 'bitter juries' and how you can manage your jury in order to avoid that. We've also got The Fans Have Spoken, #JeffNeedsAVibeCheck, Honorable Mention, and Rapid Fire like always!
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Intro (0:34-1:33)
- One Minute Thoughts (1:33-7:12)
- Season Recap Part 1 (7:12-1:03:56)
- The Fans Have Spoken (1:03:56-1:10:35)
- Season Recap Part 2 (1:10:35-1:21:17)
- Jeff Needs a Vibe Check (1:21:17-1:26:10)
- Honorable Mention (1:26:10-1:28:01)
- Rapid Fire (1:28:01-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify! Make sure to tell your friends about the pod and have them join you (and us) on our journey through reality television competition series.
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's time for another new episode of Escaping Reality & today we're welcoming a special guest and fellow Survivor podcaster -- Ashley from Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast! Ashley joins us to catch up and chat all things Season 33: Millennials vs GenX. We're breaking down the twists & firsts, our thoughts on the theme, and some of our favorite castaways. PLUS were follow-up our discussion of S31 Second Chance with a listener submission for our Fans Have Spoken segment & giving Jeff a HARD vibe check.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- Guest Intro (1:13 - 11:50)
- The Fans Have Spoken (11:50 - 16:50)
- Initial S33 thoughts (16:50 - 23:40)
- Season Recap (23:40 - 1:14:00)
-
JeffNeedsaVibeCheck (1:14:00 - 1:21:30)
- Honorable Mention (1:21:30 - 1:24:30)
- Rapid Fire Questions (1:24:30 - end)
Be sure to check out Ashley's podcast Idol Chatter: A Survivor Podcast wherever you listen & leave a review letting them know you heard this episode! You can follow them on Instagram @IdolChatterPodcast and on Twitter @IdolChatterPod
You can follow us for more content on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
What would Wednesday be without a new episode of Escaping Reality? And, it's a juicy one! This time, we're discussing Season 32: Kaôh Röng, or Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty 2. Wowee wowza, we have a lot to unpack in this season from a debate about how to pronounce the location to our first iteration of our NEW segment: "The Fans Have Spoken." Shoutout to listener Ian for sharing his thoughts with us! We break down the many twists and turns (including "Remove a Juror") along with the record number of medical evacuations. And then we just have a big ole love fest for Cydney and Michelle. Settle in, it's a fun one.
If you're looking for a specific segment, here's a break down:
- One minute thoughts (3:40-9:52)
- The Fans Have Spoken (9:52-17:48)
- Season Recap (17:48-1:20:00)
- Honorable Mention (1:20:00-1:23:20)
-
JeffNeedsaVibeCheck (1:23:20-1:26:30)
- Rapid Fire Questions (1:26:30-end)
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Oh boy, do we have an episode for you! In what was collectively one of our favorite seasons of Survivor so far, almost too much went down. We're unpacking Second Chance + doing our best to cover it all, but, guys, this season had EVERYTHING.
We're diving into discussions of casting, theming, and the implications of calling it a 'second chance.' Talking about every new height this season took us too with twists, turns, & tribe swaps.
We're getting into our favorite players (and our picks for hottie of the season), stellar gameplay, & a heated and healthy debate about the winner, their final tribal performance, and the pervasive emphasis on EMOtion.
In the spirit of debate: we're talking 'alliances' vs 'voting blocks' and, as with any great mash-up of returning players, the eternal battle of 'old school' vs 'new school.'
PLUS - we're hitting you with our honorable mention, rapid fire questions, and the best Jeff moments in #JeffNeedsAVibeCheck.
Be sure your subscribed & that you leave us a rating/review if you listen. You can always follow for more @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
The Escaping Reality team wanted to celebrate making it officially three-quarters of the way through all 40 seasons of Survivor. So, we decided to give our "hot takes" on Survivor after watching 30 seasons and debate them with favorite friend of the pod Tom from Dumpster Dive!
Taking a nod from the "Unpopular Opinions" subreddit on Survivor Reddit, we decided to figure out what our unpopular opinion or hot take was and share it with our friends. And then we mercilessly pick apart each other's arguments (but, like, in a fun way). From themes to players to production/editing, we tackle it all. Let us know what your Survivor hot take is, we want to debate with you!
Be sure to check out Dumpster Dive wherever pods are heard, and follow on Instagram @dumpsterdivepod - you can also find Tom @thetomhamlett. Be sure to leave them a review saying Escaping Reality sent you.
Be sure to subscribe to Escaping Reality & leave us a rating & review if you liked this episode. You can always follow for more @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter!
Thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Realty with us!
Next up on the pod, we're discussing Season 30: Worlds Apart, or White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar if you like to run out of breath when naming a season. We, as a collective, had a hard time nailing down our feelings about this season so get ready for a nice, healthy debate. It's a wild ride across the entire season, but we're here to break it down with you.
We bring out the big guns to discuss not only the strength of Worlds Apart as a theme, but also touch on the idea of problematic men mistreating women. Shout out to Jeff Probst for trying to hold them accountable, we see you Jeffrey. The biggest debate is between Agie and Nick about our winner: Mike. Take a listen and let us know: are you #TeamAgie or #Team Nick? Let's just say, this one gets a little ~spicy~. As always, you're in for some Rapid Fire and #Jeffneedsavibecheck (but this time it's for a good reason). Let's get into it.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to another episode of Escaping Reality, where we're diving into our impressions of Survivor Season 29: San Juan del Sur aka Blood vs Water II. This episode we're joined by fellow podcaster and pal, Cix Hamlett from Dumpster Dive: a reality tv trash recap.
We're chatting all about Blood v Water as a returning theme (and arguing over which iteration is superior), the return and revamp of Exile Island, and, as always, our wonderful (and not so wonderful) castaways.
Plus: Survivor is making history with the first ever FEET ONLY challenge, and obviously we have to talk about it; Kindness is the 19th castaway and we're annoyed; and, of course, Jeff needs a vibe check.
Be sure to check out Dumpster Dive wherever pods are heard, and follow on Instagram @dumpsterdivepod - you can also find Cix @cixhamlett. Be sure to leave them a review saying Escaping Reality sent you.
Be sure to subscribe to Escaping Reality & leave us a rating & review if you liked this episode. You can always follow for more @escapingrealitypod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter!
It's an extra special interview episode with Survivor alum & all around wonderful human: Brice Izyah !
Brice was a castaway on Survivor S28: Cagayan and made a splash as a member of the Beauty tribe. In his time since being on the show, Brice has continued to make an impact as an advocate & catalyst for increased diversity in the show's production, and as the outspoken host of the Purple Pants Podcast, where he dives into a multitude of topics like reality tv, pop culture, mental health, and much more.
We sat down with Brice to chat all about his experience before, during, and after Survivor & his hopes for the show's future. Plus, he's sharing how he's been Escaping Reality, taking us behind the curtain of the Zaddy calendar, and answering our most pressing question: What does Jeff Probst smell like?
You can find Brice on instagram @briceizyah and @purplepantspodcast & on Twitter @BriceIzyah and @PurplePantsPod
Be sure to Subscribe to Escaping Reality & leave us a rating/review letting us know if you found us through Brice! You can always follow for more at @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram and @EscRealityPod on Twitter.
Thanks for listening & Thanks for Escaping Realty with us!
Today, we're talking Season 28: Cagayan, a season that we believe anyone can enjoy, even a Survivor newbie. So, grab your bestie who refuses to watch and bring them on this journey that is currently available on Netflix. We're talking about what made this season so enjoyable: from terrific all-around casting to one of the strongest wins (and winners) we've encountered thus far.
We also discuss the strength of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty as a theme (and how it could maybe be improved) along with the enigma that is Kass and our collective OBSESSION with Woo. We're bringing you Rapid Fire, honorable mention, and a breakdown of Tony's high-risk, high-reward strategy (and who we want to see him play with in the future).
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Today, we're talking Season 27: Blood vs. Water - or maybe more appropriately, Season 27: Tyson Finally Wins. FAIR WARNING: This episode is a long one because we had some differing opinions and we had to figure it out on air. We debate the difference between 'old school' and 'new school' Survivor (and where we think that distinction comes from) AND the overarching pros and cons of our illustrious winner Tyson. Dive in with us because we're not sure where we stand at the end of this.
We also discuss how we think production decided on the returning players (and their loved ones) when conceptualizing the season, the strength of Blood vs. Water as a theme, and the continuous use of Redemption Island (for good or bad). We're bringing you Rapid Fire, honorable mention (with a shoutout to Big Brother), and a twist on our favorite segment: #Jeffneedsavibecheck (except this week it's about Tyson). It's a wild ride, so buckle up cause you're in for a roller coaster of emotions.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to Escaping Reality -- in this episode, we're diving into Survivor Season 26: Caramoan aka Fans Vs Favorites the sequel! Would we call these castaways 'favorites'? listen to find out!
This season had so much to unpack. We spend equal parts getting silly talking about the returning players & more seriously analyzing the places where casting (once again) fell short -- the negative impacts of the lack of representation & the exploitative nature of calling back Brandon Hantz. Plus we get into the very different styles of gameplay seen in our final 3.
It's not all so deep though -- we’re pulling no punches in rapid fire where we’re sharing our favorite Cochran moments, best quotes of the season, whether we want to see a single one of the fans play again, and which of Dawn's many, many cries made us say: that’s enough.
Be sure to subscribe to Escaping Reality & leave us a review/rating is you liked this episode. You can always follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter.
Thanks for listening & Thanks for Escaping Reality with us.
We're so excited to be back with another episode! We hope you enjoyed our interview with Missy last episode, we can't wait to have more Survivor alums join us!
Today, though, we're talking Season 25: Philippines. There's a lot going on in a season where one tribe gets annihilated (much like Anna's favorite season, Palau). We discuss bringing back returning players with purpose, i.e. because they were medically evacuated in a previous season, and also the reappearance of religion as a driving force behind your game play.
We spent most of our time talking about the final 4 and the general 'silliness' of Mike Skupin and his return; but we spend plenty of time talking about our collective love for Malcolm and Denise. In the words of Nick, "I would step in front of a bus for either one of them." We're bringing you Rapid Fire and the return of our favorite segment: #Jeffneedsavibecheck. It's a wild ride and we're excited for you to join us.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts and/or follow us on Spotify!
As always, thanks for listening & thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're so excited to welcome our first Survivor Alumni to Escaping Reality!
Season 39's Missy Byrd joined us to talk through Season 24 (because it's incredible, and she had great taste) - plus, she's shared all about her experiences before, on, and since the show, as well as a peek behind the production curtain.
We spent most of our time talking about this season's players in our deep dive, since this is one of the best casts we've seen in a while, but we're also unpacking the controversial Colton story arc, the Men vs Women divide (...again...), and our favorite Tarzan AND Troyzan moments. Don't get it twisted.
Missy joins us for the first 30 minutes of our season 24 discussion, and pops back at the end to answer some of our rapid fire questions and spill even more Survivor tea.
Thanks again to Missy for coming on this episode! You can follow Missy on Instagram @themissybyrd on Twitter @themissybyrd and on YouTube to keep up with all her adventures.
Be sure to give us a follow as well on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter @EscRealityPod -- If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts (and make sure to let us know if you came because of Missy, and want us to do more interviews with former players!)
Thanks for listening & Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Happy New Year Escaping Reality Fam! We have a special surprise for you on this lovely first day of 2021! We have our first crossover season episode with our friend Tom (@thetomhamlett) from Dumpster Dive with Tom Hamlett (@dumpsterdivepod). He comes to us with a ton of reality competition love and an allegiance to Dawn!
We're unpacking Survivor Season 23: South Pacific. Honestly, it's less of an unpack and more of an accidental predictions for Season 26 (even though we haven’t seen it yet).
We’re talking about the role of religion on the players and the game as well as how deserving Sophie was of her win.
We also discuss the value add of redemption island on a second round and Coach’s evolution over 3 seasons. We also start our stan of the one and only John Cochran - a love affair that will continue in season 26. With that and rapid fire, we are truly just having a party with our podcast friend Tom! Enjoy!
You can always follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram and @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Be sure to rate/review/subscribe & tell all your Survivor-loving friends to listen!
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's Redemption Island and redemption is certainly called for. We're unpacking Survivor Season 22: Redemption Island, but, honestly, it's less of an unpack and more of a narrow exploration into the one and only Boston Rob.
We're spending a big portion of the episode talking about the man of the hour -- how he won, if it was impressive, why bring him back in the first place? But in a season that didn't have much (in our opinions) beyond the Rob-narrative, we've still got a handful of other topics to bring up.
The addition of redemption island & returning players are discussed, but we're also breaking down the titular conflict of Episode 10: "Rice Wars" and revisiting the show's struggle with representation, and the handling of conversations that come up within the narrative regarding race.
Lots to chat about for a season we didn't love. Plus, we're naming the entire cast (sans Boston Rob) as dishonorable mention... jk, but they might as well be.
You can always follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram and @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Be sure to rate/review/subscribe & tell all your Survivor-loving friends to listen!
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us
We’re back at it! And, first season after Heroes vs. Villains, we’re not really feeling the high-on-Survivor vibes anymore. We still found plenty to talk about, though probably some tangents will be a surprise! In this episode, we're jumping in to discuss the success (or not) of casting post and All Stars season and why we should (or should not) rely on a tribe split based on age.
We couldn't talk bout this season without the first (and maybe only) double and simultaneous quit as well as our love for Jimmy Johnson. We also discuss our absolute SHOCK that Chase didn’t win and that he does not mention his career in Survivor in his life in 2020 in country music. Chase, we need answers.
We hope you enjoy this deep dive into a season that the franchise would probably rather forget.
You can always follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Be sure to leave us a rating & review and share with your Survivor-loving friends!
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's been 20 seasons and 20 episodes to discuss them ! Which means: it's time to close ranks. We're sharing how we each rank the first 20 seasons of Survivor & having some friendly discussion about why we each think our list is the right one.
In ranking the seasons, we're also shedding some light on what factors affected the orders -- re-watchability, diverse casting, likable winners, etc. It's different for all of us (which means we're bound to have some disagreements).
If you've been listening along as we covered seasons 1-20 on Escaping Reality, see if you can guess who ranks which season where based on what's already been said! You can always follow for more content (and opinions) on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter at @EscRealityPod.
Be sure to subscribe/rate/review our show & share with all your Survivor-loving friends!
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to us all! We have almost made it to the end of 2020 and we are halfway through our deep dive into @survivorcbs. We’re almost as shocked as you are that we’ve come this far!
We're diving deep into our feels on what it means to be a hero or a villain and which strategy works better in the game. Plus, we're digging into what it is about this cast that makes us say, “All Stars could never.” We’ve got big, dumb moves and a second helping of Russell Hantz to dissect and argue about. Will your favorites earn their reputation as a hero or a villain? Or have they learned from their mistakes from the last time they played?
This season was one for the ages and we had way too much fun breaking it all down (just look at the time stamp on the episode). As always, we’ve got our honorable mention and rapid fire questions! We threw in a dishonorable mention as well - do you agree?
If you found us after binging Season 20 on Netflix, we’re so excited to have you. Go back and listen to our recaps and conversations about the other 20 seasons to get the backstory on some of your favorites from Season 20.
You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe & let us know what you thought of this episode.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's been 19 seasons and we're a little pooped. It took us a little while to warm up to Survivor: Samoa, but, once we did, we found plenty to talk about. In this episode, we're jumping RIGHT in to discuss the evolution of hidden idols, the importance of having a tribe leader, and the differences between winning the game and being considered the best player.
We couldn't get into this season without talking about the iconic Russell Hantz - so, don't worry, we're doing that too! Plus, we go deep unpacking Natalie's winning 'strategy,' and final tribal performance. In a season jam-packed with wild moments, we're also taking time to talk through the controversial storyline of Ben--his aggressive behavior and racist comments--and production's lack of accountability for their offensive players and perpetual racist narratives.
We get serious & we get silly - indicative of the rollercoaster of emotions we felt while watching this season of Survivor!
You can always follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Be sure to leave us a rating & review and share with your Survivor-loving friends!
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Escaping Reality Fam! We're back with another holiday bonus episode all about The Great Festive/Christmas Bake Off.
We're getting into the holiday spirit by talking about the 3 seasons of Great Festive/Christmas Bake Off. We have a friend and fellow baker, Mel, joining us on the pod this week and she's here to share with us all her feels about the bakers and some of her baking secrets.
On top of that, we're talking all about the format of a baking competition show, the difference between British and American competitions, and the beautiful judges named Paul and Prue. And, as always, you can hear all about the challenges during rapid fire questions!
You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe & let us know what you thought of this episode.
Our friend of the pod, Melanie, is on Instagram at @mabcat.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
We're back to talk Survivor Season 18: Tocantins ! And WHAT an iconic cast of characters we have here...
We're diving deep into our feels on JT, Stephen, Taj, Sierra, Tyson and, of course, the man/the myth/the legend that is Coach. Plus, we're digging into what it is about this cast that enhances the season so much (even if we don't agree on the players themselves). Spoiler alert: we think it has to do with how pretty they all are.
On top of that, we're talking all about the exile alliance, the warrior alliance, and the adorable friendship of JT & Stephen. And, as always, our honorable mention and rapid fire questions!
You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe & let us know what you thought of this episode.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
For a season that the Escaping Reality team collectively described as 'meh,' we had a lot to say, and it mostly revolves around the host with the most Mr. Jeffrey Probst.
We're talking about our perceived reason for Jeff's feelings this season, the return of the Exile Island twist, the brilliance of Bob's fake idols, and whether or not the castaways were "too mean."
PLUS - the challenges this season were on another level and we break it all down. Let us know which one was your favorite on Instagram or Twitter!
You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe & let us know what you thought of this episode.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
Welcome back to another extra-special BONUS episode of Escaping Reality! In this episode, we're joined by our new friends & fellow Survivor podcasters, Kaleb & Alex of the podcast: Speaking Llama, to play a little bit of Survivor-themed 'would you rather.'
It's a game of get-to-know-you, and we're learning a ton about each other's Survivor preferences. Besides some friendly spats about those, we're getting into reasons why we would go on Survivor, what our strategies might be, and how we would align with (or betray) one another.
Be sure to check out Speaking Llama on apple podcasts & spotify to catch Kaleb & Alex having in-depth, Survivor debates. You can follow them on Instagram @SpeakingLlama for more!
Follow Escaping Reality on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod and on Twitter at @EscRealityPod -- let us know: how would you have answered the questions from this episode?
What did we ever do to deserve something so good as Season 16 of Survivor? In one of our longest episodes yet, the team is merely scratching the surface of this epic season (which is, collectively, one of our faves).
Where to even begin...? Is it the impeccable cast of returning 'favorites'? The thrill of quits & med-evacs? The savagery that is Jeff Probst commentary? There's just so much to cover.
We're diving right into topics like Jeff's biased hosting tendencies, the (finally) good iteration of Exile Island, the brilliance that is Cirie and how she'll never win this game, and the overly-aggressive challenges that left our castaways wrecked.
PLUS - everyone is picking their own individual honorable mention this season, or maybe dis-honorable, you'll have to listen to find out.
You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe & let us know what you thought of this episode.
Thanks for Escaping Reality with us!
It's the holiday season & to help get into the spirit we're switching gears for another BONUS episode of Escaping Reality. We're pausing on Survivor for a hot second to watch Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship.
This episode we're talking all about our own holiday preferences and traditions, how this style of competition show differs from others (specifically Survivor), and our takes on the show's host and judges.
Plus, we're joined by extra-special guest & friend of the pod -- Ellen! Ellen is an incredible fashion photographer and long-time friend of Anna and Nick. Check her out on Instagram @Welcome_to_Marsz
Be sure to let us know if you like these bonus episodes, or if you want us to cover more non-Survivor shows in the future! You can always find more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. Make sure to rate/review/subscribe!
We're back with another episode of Escaping Reality covering our binge-watch of Survivor & the first time we have spent at least 10 minutes drooling over the location. In discussion of Survivor: China, the team is getting their passports ready to rush to China when we can finally travel safely again (post-COVID).
The season was a doozy, so we're breaking it all down for you. Despite our collective appreciation for the season, we still found a way to have some disagreements. Typical. China is the perfect backdrop for our long, in depth conversation.
We're diving into culture as theme, the validity of throwing a challenge as "strategy," and why Courtney had a chance at the title of Sole Survivor. Plus, closing out the episode with our (dis)honorable mention and rapid fire (mostly about the players and Jeff, because obviously).
Follow along for more Escaping Reality content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. We'd love to hear your takes and how you would answer this episode's rapid fire questions and what you think about Survivor: China.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe to support this podcast & share with all of your Survivor-loving friends!
We're back with another episode of Escaping Reality covering our binge-watch of Survivor & it's our most chaotic yet. In discussion of Survivor: Fiji, the team is heated, and, honestly, we feel it's a reflection of the season giving us conflicting emotions.
The season was stressful, so we're stressed too. Despite our apprehension, there is still much to be talked about. Fiji has an overall vibe of production trying exceptionally hard to make it a strong season but the castaways not living up to it.
We're diving into toxic male personas, jury behaviors, the Yau-Man/Dreamz debacle, and the absurdity that came along with the initial twist. Plus, closing out the episode with our honorable mention and rapid fire (which, tbh, are not so rapid this time).
Follow along for more Escaping Reality content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. We'd love to hear your takes and how you would answer this episode's rapid fire questions.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe to support this podcast & share with all of your Survivor-loving friends!
It's the 13th season of Survivor and this is basically an Ozzy stan account/podcast now. The team is discussing the idea of race and diverse casting, the worthiness of Ozzy and Yul for being at final tribal, the effect of Penner's mutiny, and the savage turn of Jeff's commentary.
In this episode we dive into the concept of loyalty, who played a better social game - Ozzy or Yul, and why this season was so successful. Plus, rapid fire questions talk about the castaway no one ever discusses (Cao Boi) and gives you our bonus feels on Jeffrey Probst and his development as the host of our favorite show!
This season is beloved by the entire Escaping Reality team and we would love to hear what you think - follow Escaping Reality for more content & to chat with us about your thoughts on each season we cover @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on twitter.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe if you liked this episode & share with any of your Survivor-loving friends!
We're back talking about Survivor season 12: Panama: Exile Island ! The team is a little split in our feelings on this one, but, as always, we're filling a whole episode with our thoughts regardless of where the season falls in our individual rankings.
This season is full of comedic gold, and we sure did have a laugh remembering it. We're diving into better alternatives to Exile Island, the rules & regulations of hidden immunity idols, and one of the most boring final tribals ever.
We're musing on medical emergencies, challenges we think we could win, and Survivor's love for giving away a big glass of milk at rewards. Plus, Anna's on the defense for Shane & Cirie is an inspiration to couch potatoes everywhere.
You can follow for more content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you about our thoughts on this season.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe if you're enjoying this podcast & share with your Survivor-loving friends!
It's the 11th season of Survivor and we're also confused about what happened. The team is feeling some sort of way about how long you keep returning players, Danni's "strategy," and the problematic nature of eating sacramental chicken.
In this episode we dive into the concept of "sportsmanship" vs. "being good at sports," the "socializing" game, and why Brian should play again (preferably in an alliance with Rob C). Plus, rapid fire questions pit Nick vs. the rest of the team!
This season was an interesting one with a very secretive winner and we could hear all your thoughts on Danni and her strategy all day - follow Escaping Reality for more content & to chat with us about your thoughts on each season we cover @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on twitter.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe if you liked this episode & share with any of your Survivor-loving friends!
It's been the most fun binge-watching and discussing the first 10 seasons of Survivor on the podcast, so we're switching it up for a special BONUS episode to have a little extra banter about some of our favorite elements of these 10 seasons.
What better way to capture the pure nostalgia of early 2000s television than revisiting another game from our childhood: MASH! Remember the children's category game you would play to predict your future? Well, we're playing it, but with a Survivor twist. Listen to hear how it works out for us, and be sure to check out @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram for your own template with all of our hilarious category options.
Like this episode? Let us know so we can plan more bonus content for you! Be sure to leave a review & find us on social media to connect (@EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter)
It's the 10th season of Survivor and we have a lot of strong feelings about it. The team is polarized on their opinions of Survivor: Palau, so we're taking you through each of our thoughts on this season's castaways, theming, and overall impression on the franchise.
In this episode we dive into the concept of 'being deserving,' playing the 'social game' vs being 'sociable,' toxic masculinity, and adults who bully each other. Plus, our honorable mention & rapid fire questions!
This season is iconic and we could keep talking about it for much longer - follow Escaping Reality for more content & to chat with us about your thoughts on each season we cover @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on twitter.
Be sure to rate/review/subscribe if you liked this episode & share with any of your Survivor-loving friends!
We've made a promise to watch every season of Survivor, and, inevitably, they can't all be good. Sometimes the season is even worse than the reality we're escaping. We're talking Season 9: Vanuatu this episode and we had a surprisingly fun time doing it.
In this episode we're talking disability representation, defining our ideas of 'riding coattails,' and sharing our picks for least-memorable castaway. Plus, it's men vs women again...but worse! We're making the most of it; listen and let us know if you agree.
Keep Escaping Reality with us @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram and @EscRealityPod on twitter.
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It's time for our first All-Stars Season recap! As reality tv fans, we love an All-Stars season full of returning player, and Survivor season 8 has a ton to unpack. We're diving into our thoughts on all the returning players & what it means to be an 'all star' in our longest episode yet.
We talk: Rob & Amber's iconic love story, players who left the game, friendships vs alliances, Survivor fandom, and much more. Listen and let us know whose ideas you most agree with!
Follow Escaping Reality on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod & on Twitter @EscRealityPod for more content.
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We're here to talk about one of our favorite seasons of Survivor -- Season 7, Pearl Islands. Even if you're not the most die-hard Survivor fan, you know about the players this season. We're breaking it down & sharing our favorite Sandra quotes, favorite Rupert moments, and our impressions of Survivor legend: Jonny FairPlay.
Also in this episode: we're talking challenge snafus, impeccable theming, what it means to be a quitter, and reasons why Jeff looked SO good this season.
Be sure to rate/review if you like this episode - you can always follow for more @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter.
We're re-capping season 6 of Survivor & it's a doozy. This season we find our castaways in The Amazon, divided initially into groups of men and woman...problematic commentary ensues! We're talking sexism, diversity, and much more in this episode. Listen to hear Nick and Agie argue over the meat challenge & find out what foods would give us cause to get naked and throw away our shot at immunity.
Escape Reality with us @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on twitter
It's time to talk about Survivor: Thailand...and we're not about it. This season hasn't aged well & we're diving in to unpack all of the reasons it's on the bottom of our lists. Unsurprisingly, we still have a lot to say! We're talking production choices, unsavory players, Jeff coming into his element, and so much more. Listen and let us know your thoughts on this controversial season.
Follow for more Escaping Reality content @EscapingRealityPod on Instagram & @EscRealityPod on Twitter.
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It's time to talk about Season 4 of Survivor, and we're all a bit luke-warm about the whole thing. It's not our favorite season, but we sure did have a lot to discuss. In this episode we're talking: baby Boston Rob, implicit bias, and lame challenges; taking a deep dive into alliance categories & the reasons why we would each go on Survivor.
Have a listen & Escape Reality with us!
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In this episode we're talking all about Survivor Season 3: Africa. Which really just means we're talking about our love for Ethan Zohn (no one's mad about it). We're unpacking our thoughts on title vs actual location, problematic players, representation, and the very concept upon which we were founded: escapism!
Follow for more Escaping Reality content on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod & on Twitter @EscRealtyPod
We've watched season 2 of Survivor, and we're ready to speak our truth. The team is talking dumb challenges, tight alliances, harsh Outback conditions, and #JusticeForJerri. It's 2001, Colby Donaldson is a full 10, and we have a lot of feels about that.
Escape Reality with us on Instagram @EscapingRealityPod & on Twitter @EscRealityPod
The team is kicking it off their 40 season binge of Survivor the only way possible: Season 1, Borneo. Love it or hate it, you can't deny it's essential to the development of reality tv as we know it. We're talking rats & snakes, proto-voting strategies, and Jeff doing stuff we hope to never see again
Welcome to Escaping Reality - the podcast where we talk about reality competition shows to escape from the reality that is America in 2020.
Nick, Agie, Stacey, & Anna sit down to introduce themselves and their podcast