Hide And Seek: EXTREME

[JirinPanthosa]

Is anyone else watching The Hunted?

I'm finding it interesting probably for reasons unrelated to why the producers think it's interesting. I wish they'd spell out exact rules and stop pretending that the hunters can't see the cameramen.

But it's interesting how people think when they are playing what's basically the world's highest tech game of hide and seek, based on their backgrounds. Makes me think about how I'd play.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I'm liking it so far. It's kind of funny how very-super-serious the hunter team is treating all of it. And the hunted as well, though there is significant cash on the line for them so it makes more sense. I felt sort of bad for that couple in the last episode that roughed it in the woods for a couple weeks and then were caught as soon as they stayed at a friend's house. I'm sure they were thinking that all of that sacrifice was for nothing. Also, their friend was a terrible liar. Hunters: "We're here to help keep them away from the hunters." Friend: "What are you talking about, I don't understand, they're not here, why would you think they're here."

How long do you think the first team (the criminal turned defense attorney and girlfriend) will make it? The editing seems to me to be setting it up for them to make it all the way, but since this is a new show who knows.

The trend I'm noticing so far for those who have been caught is that they panic. They get paranoid and so they try to mix up what they were doing, and end up doing something even more suspicious. For example, that team that ditched their own car and took a bus because they thought their car would be tracked, when in reality it was way easier to find them on a bus. Or the roughing-it team that thought they saw a suspicious truck so they wanted to get to the friend's house right away, when they should have just stayed put.

 

[Scout101]

That's generally it. You catch them by just waiting for them to get stupid and make a mistake. Professional team of seekers, so they're just casting a wide net and waiting for people to screw up. And the hiders aren't pros, so eventually panic, or fall back to something predictable that they know, and that's how you get caught.

You can't go anywhere you have history, shouldn't call family, etc. More you connect to your old life, faster they get you. If you do a couple unexpected things and then just lay low, you're good.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I am enjoying the show but I wish they'd stop acting like people can't see the cameras. Obviously the cameras are affecting the outcome! You approach a stranger on the beach and ask to stay at their place. They see a professional camera crew, okay, definitely not a murderer, this could be cool! Searching for the boat with a drone? Look for the one with a CAMERA CREW ON IT. When they saw the camping couple off the road, did they notice them or did they notice the camera crew? And are the lookouts looking for black cars roving about, or are they looking for the cameras set up a

Also, who else was creeped out by that guy who referenced Deliverance? Seemed like he might have been a dangerous person to run into if there weren't a camera crew there.

I want to know exactly what the rules are for what the hunters and and players can do and they can't do. Like, do you have to acquire a release before calling a person up for help? Are the hunters aware of this list? Every time they approached a girl on the beach did they have to obtain a release from them first? Obviously you can't use the lethal or even harmful force you could in a real life scenario. Is there a rule that people who sign this release are obligated to talk to the hunters?

I agree they're setting it up for the criminal turned defense attorney to be the winner. They're the first team that started, they've shown the most near escapes for them. Also there's one of the nine teams that hasn't been released yet.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I haven't watched it but the thread title reminded me of this:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Trying really hard to ignore the fascist subliminal message of the show. If you break the law, people with the intelligence and resources of the cast of 24 will read your mind and send helicopters after you!

Seems like the optimal strategy to win this game is to go camping and not give up on the strategy because your feet hurt or you want a taco.

Now all teams have been released, seems like the last team to be released will be caught next just because they seem like they overplanned the big picture without thinking about the details. They remind me of the Kettlemans from Better Call Saul.

The other three teams are starting to make me think any of them might have a shot.

Not sure how many episodes there are left. I know it ends before Survivor starts, but one week or two weeks before? If there are 3 episodes left it seems timed out for either zero or one teams to win.

Also, again. "Excuse me, sir? Do you remember seeing these two people?" "Hmm, not sure." "You may remember they were being followed around by a camera crew?" "Oh, yes! They went that way."

 

[Spot's Meow]

Seems like the optimal strategy to win this game is to go camping and not give up on the strategy because your feet hurt or you want a taco.

Yeeeah that was a pretty stupid way to get caught. Let's celebrate our not getting caught yet by driving on the major freeways that we know have cameras (as they pointed out while driving) to a populated fast food place. Then let's EAT THE FOOD IN THE PARKING LOT. Uhh maybe go back to your tent to eat your taco?

I agree that hanging out in the wilderness is a good idea. As for the two that kayaked to use an ATM four hours away, that's actually not a bad strategy. Had they been more careful about concealing their internet search history on the cloud, or maybe had someone else do the searches for them, I don't think the hunters would have caught on at all.

The issue with camping is, of course, food. You can't really pack enough food for a month in your backpack, and most people wouldn't be willing to eat the same two or three things for that long even if you could. It's almost like you need to recruit a friend to do regular food drops for you, that you can pay back later. But if the hunters are tracking that friend, it will seem suspicious that they go out to the woods for a couple hours every week.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

With a $250,000 purse though, don't you deal? Or find some little cash only farmstand?

 

[Spot's Meow]

With a $250,000 purse though, don't you deal? Or find some little cash only farmstand?

That does require you to get cash out of an ATM, which comes with its own issues. I think the guys who are in the camper have it good because you could actually set that up with a friend ahead of time to be stocked with food. Though in this case I guess they didn't know they'd end up in the camper until that couple offered.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

For a quarter million dollars though, don't you tolerate having swollen feet for another week or two?

I've thought a little bit about how I would play if I were ever on the show. (And since it doesn't seem like a show that will have multiple seasons, I don't think posting this has any risk of giving away my strategy if I actually did appear. But if that's wrong may need to desperately delete this post in a year or two.)

First, all the people who are closest to me and very obvious would be my Diversion Team. The people I hang out with the most, my immediate family. They'd have no real idea where I was, but they'd be using burner phones, calling each other. Sending emails to each other with random babble that looks like secret codes. If they had the time and it wasn't too inconvenient, driving into the middle of nowhere and back for no reason.

My real team would be people I have reason to think would be loyal but am not in frequent contact with. Extended family, former coworkers, friends of my mother from her coop housing development. People who I don't talk to frequently but I either used to talk to frequently or talk to a family member frequently. When I signed up for the show, before the hunt started I'd find ways to talk to them face to face and ask for help. Like, go to game night at the housing development and talk to her friends who know me without her knowledge, find out who might have a summer home or something I could stay for a few days. Nobody who was actually helping me would know who else was helping me, they'd get a call, pick me up, drop me off, I'd walk a mile or two and somebody else would pick me up. Maybe they'd drop me off near a Greyhound bus station just to make them think I took the bus.

Assuming that if I was on the show it'd be near my home, the New England area, I'd keep the Appalachian Trail as a fallback. If I thought all my plans were compromised, I'd have somebody drop me at a trailhead near the part of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, the stretch in the middle of nowhere where in some cases people haven't been found who have desperately wanted to be found. (I wouldn't be afraid of getting lost cause camera guys would be there). That way, even if they figured out where I was odds are they couldn't find me. I wouldn't try to do that for 28 days, but maybe the 10 days after all my other connections were figured out.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

No captures this episode. Makes me wonder the number of winners. Anywhere from 0-3 I'd believe.

I'd be shocked if the Kettelmans weren't caught very quickly. The other three all have a shot.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

So it's not David & Emiley. Survivor starts in two weeks so must be only one episode left.

English and assistant are chronologically very early so I still strongly think they haven't long left. I'd believe either Lee & Hilmar or (Forget name) & Ammad or both winning.

I wonder how David reacted when he found out that they had their calendar since day one.

 

[Scout101]

Not well

They're all making the same mistakes: moving around too much, using highways, etc. Now this other group is taunting the hunters online, which is going to lead to their IP address blowing their cover.

Gotta move around a little at first, but if you've gotten some cover, just lay low. If you barely got away before, can't use the car anymore, gotta get another one. Burner phones you can use once, but should dump after that. People sticking with the same things too long, establishing a pattern, and that's getting them caught.

 

[FormerLurker]

Has anyone else realized that, except for the not killing the contestants, this show is "The Running Man" (at least the version from the original book)?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

A lot of them underestimate the hunters. Like Sandra & Thu didn't understand plate readers existed. Or the college kids who didn't realize the downside of playing with total strangers is that they have no reason not to screw you.

Best strategy would be to just camp out for 28 days and bear being uncomfortable. Short of that you want to stay with 'friends of friends'. Who are close enough to you to be invested in helping you, but not so close that they are obvious.

David had the right idea. He just didn't know they had his calendar. And he didn't have a backup plan off his planner to be able to ditch the car connected to Blaze.

Any bets on who wins if anyone? Two of the teams left are at 20+ days in their narrative.

Anyone know if these teams were actually being hunted at the same time or not? The timeline is to edited you can't tell.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm glad two of the teams made it. It raised an eyebrow for me at the end that they had a fixed escape plan that was something the hunters could guess, but neither of the teams that got that far got screwed by it.

I was surprised Stephen and English were one of the winners. On day one they seemed inept.

Bring on Survivor.

 

[Spot's Meow]

The editing of the timeline for some of the teams seemed odd, especially Stephen and English. They only "started" their hunt a couple of episodes ago, and they would skip several days at a time it seemed. You'd think they were on day 6 or 7 and then all of a sudden we've skipped ahead to day 25. Like where did they even go for that whole chunk of time?

Whereas with David and Emily, we would check in with them every few days. Do we know what day they were caught on?

I like the show and would watch again, but I do wish the editing wasn't so odd.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I got the impression Lee & Hilmar are the ones who might survive in a real world fugitive situation. Stephen & English would never have gotten such commitment from strangers to helping them if they weren't on TV.