Post by amplify26 on Apr 17, 2023 0:14:39 GMT -5
E4 is a nice break from the drama from E3, as the conflicts were not as...dramatic.
Coming back to this after a rewatch, it does feel like Endurance: Tehachapi is a palate cleanser from the high drama that is Endurance: Hawaii. We get a "back-to-basics" feel in terms of location (back to California we go), the relative lack of twists, and a more low-key cast throughout the season. carsonvega does a good job in describing the dynamics amongst them; him mentioning about how there are other ways of being a compelling character beyond being a huge part of the game stands out. Franke notably, for example--he wasn't the strongest at challenges, but he had a witty personality and that shone through in particular.
What's interesting about this season is that the conflicts were because of how tight everybody was, in contrast to Hawaii (and later, High Sierras), in which the conflict was because a number of teams were targeting a lone wolf. Even in the beginning of the season, the alliances constantly shifted to the point Daniela couldn't pinpoint which teams were in her's. They only targeted Blue and Gray because Gray voiced out their allegiance, which was bit more strategic rather than petty.
Also, Isaac and Jeszie's fight represented the peak of this conflict--because each of the team members had something with the other side, they couldn't bear with giving the Samadhi to any of them. It led to Erika and Amelia (somewhat ironically) volunteering to give up the Samadhi so to bring peace.
Another thing which intrigued me was because everyone was so interconnected, there wasn't a definitive underdog team to root for. The first gut would go for the Purple Team, in that they seem to be mismatched, but by the end they proved to be the strongest underdog team. Not because they won, but because they managed to work together and find a way to get into that dominant alliance. In contrast, it seemed like Red played more of that role in the social side--Purple and Green had a strong alliance, and Red almost functioned as a third wheel. That contrasted from Hawaii and High Sierras, in that one team stood out as being targeted from the rest.
Overall, Tehachapi sticks out as being the hippie season from the rest, but there's a lot of white-and-gray morality involved in trying to keep other people safe while saving themselves. In contrast, High Sierras has so much gray-on-gray morality, in which we get no true heroes.
