Expedition Overland feat. 5th gen 4Runners - Central American Expedition - Episodes

[Jhalko]

It's the most boring shit I have ever watched. but I still watch it in hopes that something exciting might happen.

I just went back and watched an episode from the Moab season and it was really good. Seems like they had a formula that worked back then.

You mean actually using 4wd and camping in remote areas with amazing scenery? I'm sick and tired of watching border crossings.

I'll keep watching but when my wife is complaining about the lack of off-roading there is clearly a problem.

 

[jicko]

Quite disappointing..... I was EXCITED waiting for this season.... now, I wished I werent...

:fish:

 

[doubleroses]

I think valid points have been made on both parts. Personally I did like season1 more because of the off roading aspects. Season 2 does lack some of that and I agree that it should include more for future seasons.

The sponsorship was noticed right away and it was annoying. Yea, I'll get a CBI rear bumber down the road but they're killing the vibe with the Toyota sponsorship. The episode where they met the toyota engineers was nothing but advertising.

I enjoy the Overlanding aspects. I know it's not always wheeling and Maxtrax. This season they truly focused on their cultural expierence vs their off roading expierence. It shows the diversity of Overlanding. I think it's great to see a different angle of Overlanding.

If you don't like it then at least you know what you want the next time you go Overlanding. I prefer the mountains over Baja stuff every day. But I also enjoy diversified trips.

 

[JWaldz]

I'm tired of being the bad guy around here to close threads cus members can't keep their cool. Yall play nice. No personal attacks.

:llama:

 

[wfo9]

You know, for someone who doesn't pay a dime for any of this entertainment, you sure have done a lot of complaining throughout this thread. I get that you may consider what you're doing as constructive criticism, but you really come off as an entitled douche. Then again this attitude is pretty common among YouTube viewers so it isn't particularly surprising.

I see your point, but he is sort of paying indirectly by purchasing products made by the sponsors.

The key here is these guys are getting paid to produce this stuff and setting a tone for future product development.

I understand everyone has different uses... and ideas of what overlanding is. And there were some cool cultural diversity things in this season.

However, everyone (including the sponsors) would be getting a heck of a lot more out of this if they actually pushed some boundaries and added a little offroading excitement. But I feel in this case, they would edit out anything related to the truck really breaking down or failing in some way (which is reality).. It just does not feel real....

 

[jamgolf]

I watched some the early stuff and enjoyed the Alaskan series. Even the parts that had nothing to do with off-roading/over-landing for instance the narrative of the native tribe: their history, their land, their way of life from an (almost) unfiltered view and visiting other authentic places such as Chicken, Alaska. Also the wives kept the series more interesting. It was more of a window into their lives while they left their kids home and embarked on an incredible journey/trip. I mean many would like to do that (myself included) - but few will actually be able to do it for a variety of reasons, most importantly practicality. They have pretty cool wives that share their passion for over-landing.

I started watching this season with even more anticipation. I liked the earlier parts in Baja where the show dwells into TRD history a bit and visits with some accomplished racing folks. After that it has been a drag. What is it really about? They are going from one place to another without really doing any justice to any of these places. What is the point of showing so much footage of border crossings. Is there no scenery pretty or otherwise to show? Even if they just show them driving around on beat-up roads, or poverty or whatever, that would be better than what they have selected to make the episodes.

Absence of the interesting characters (wives), and introduction of new characters (I can't even keep track of who is who now since characters are coming and going) and viewers are not really familiar with these new guys. Seems like the show is just some random guys driving somewhere.

I actually fell asleep watching episode 8 (which I admit seemed actually better than episode 7).

I will watch the remaining episodes just because I have already started but I am not really enjoying it much. But what else is good on TV anyway. I'd rather fall asleep watching their border crossings than most other stuff on TV.

 

[wfo9]

Does anyone else keep thinking "boy scouts" while they are watching this. They got so darn excited when that guy crashed on the moto....

Nothing wrong with it... but that entire mentality is what seems to make it so boring. They need some crazy red necks along to spice it up a bit. We have plenty here they could recruit. Plus they can fix just about anything with a torch and some metal.

 

[Forest RnR]

This season seems more like a travel show with some very capable, but underutilized trucks. I still enjoy it, but prefer the past seasons as well. Does anyone else think what the two wives are doing (Rallye Aicha Des Gazelles) is more interesting?

 

[LawnDart]

This season seems more like a travel show with some very capable, but underutilized trucks. I still enjoy it, but prefer the past seasons as well. Does anyone else think what the two wives are doing (Rallye Aicha Des Gazelles) is more interesting?

Their race is far more of a compelling story, and we've only seen like 15 minutes of it.

 

[MyHigh]

I really don't think it's all that bad, for someone seriously thinking about doing a trip like that through South America I find it informative. I find that if I didn't like something they did on their show, it's usually because I'm mad at myself for not thinking of the idea first.

 

[Sere81]

I just don't get it. I have absolutely zero interest in these T5 guys or what they are doing. I'm sure what they are doing is great and all but that is not what I was seeking out.

 

[doubleroses]

I just don't get it. I have absolutely zero interest in these T5 guys or what they are doing. I'm sure what they are doing is great and all but that is not what I was seeking out.

The T5 group was the highlighted part of this season so far.

Now, now, now, Negative Nancy.

 

[LawnDart]

I think the humanitarian stuff is great. I think what we'd like to see is a 60/40 split with a struggle to get to their destination, and then that down time to be about the people there.

Also the stuff where the dude is trying to hook up with the French backpackers was really uncomfortable. Also seriously I almost gave up with the whole show when they spent five minutes on Taylor Swift. Nope.

 

[RedMagik]

I dug Team 5, but that's probably because my background in medicine and giving aid like that. Regardless I like this season, probably cause I'm more into overlanding than crawling. The boarder crossing are getting repetitive but almost confirm how, as fun as this trip would be I would forgo it simply because of the crossings.

 

[CharlestonFisher]

Anything out there competing with this? Seems like there are a lot of technical tutorials on YouTube, but no real storylines.

 

[st8rocks]

Anything out there competing with this? Seems like there are a lot of technical tutorials on YouTube, but no real storylines.

Obi One Kenobi riding motorcycles from England to South Africa. It's on netflix. They are are motorcycles but still cool. Better than season 2 of Expedition Border Crossings.

 

[DocTrup]

The T5 Doc doing surgery to remove that little girl's tumor was pretty cool from a middle-of-nowhere medicine standpoint. As far as the storytelling/offroading/overland journey balance: watch some of the videos over on JK-FORUM or Project JK. Those are about 43 minutes long (last I checked) and are about 80% crashing over rocks and kicking up dust, breaking axle shafts and diff gear teeth, and 20% story and socializing.

Blast me if you want for being a prior Jeep guy, but here I am now, gaining respect for the capability and community our 4Runners have. These guys are putting together a weekly upload and though it may not be perfect or highlight the nuances of the overland/offroad journey, it's not horrible.

That being said, if anybody on here has a couple of brand new T4R's complete with stage 7 IVD lifts and all the other gear these guys have, and the means to pay my bills for a couple months, I'd be down for participating in and filming a truly offroad-centric "Runner-mentary".

 

[LawnDart]

No one is blasting anyone.

Morpheus voice: "What if I told you it was okay to critique something with the intention of providing positive feedback to make it better..."

Honestly, I'd be happy to lend some of my gear and time towards filming a tv pilot. Again I think EO could be a lot better by reverting to the Yukon's style of more driving with the culture being the human interest aspect along the way.

I don't know what got borked in the editing bay, but someone should have raised their hand and said, "dude most of these episodes have WAY too much border crossing going on!

Actually I can tell you what the problem is, the editors are the EO crew themselves. And what happens is that what they think happened, while being there, is sometimes more important than it really is. And as an editor myself you need to be impartial and willing to say, "this isn't part of a good story, lets eject this series of events in the effort of the greater idea." And that's a hard thing, and I think it's what trips up Clay and Scott.

The T5 Doc doing surgery to remove that little girl's tumor was pretty cool from a middle-of-nowhere medicine standpoint. As far as the storytelling/offroading/overland journey balance: watch some of the videos over on JK-FORUM or Project JK. Those are about 43 minutes long (last I checked) and are about 80% crashing over rocks and kicking up dust, breaking axle shafts and diff gear teeth, and 20% story and socializing.

Blast me if you want for being a prior Jeep guy, but here I am now, gaining respect for the capability and community our 4Runners have. These guys are putting together a weekly upload and though it may not be perfect or highlight the nuances of the overland/offroad journey, it's not horrible.

That being said, if anybody on here has a couple of brand new T4R's complete with stage 7 IVD lifts and all the other gear these guys have, and the means to pay my bills for a couple months, I'd be down for participating in and filming a truly offroad-centric "Runner-mentary".

 

[Range]

They should change the name to "Expedition Conversations feat. 5th Gen 4Runners and how good they look when parked" I was so excited to see the 5th Gen in action but it seems more like a reality show than actual trekking and driving.

 

[jwkilgore]

They should change the name to "Expedition Conversations feat. 5th Gen 4Runners and how good they look when parked" I was so excited to see the 5th Gen in action but it seems more like a reality show than actual trekking and driving.

Regrettably, that's where the television money is these days. Next season will feature driving back roads in the deep south. They'll start in Georgia with cameos from Honey BooBoo and Mama June; there will be a web episode where they install special heavy-duty springs for the passengers. Then over to Louisiana where they'll race through swamps against Jase and Willie Roberson's souped up mall crawlers.