Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix’s latest reality competition game show ‘Floor is Lava‘ has a very simple concept that can whisk away its viewers from one episode to another. The binge-able series is named after the household game that we used to play as kids, but instead of parkouring and clinging to furniture and curtain rods, though, it will take the initial premise of not touching the floor to an extreme endpoint.
In this outrageously elaborate obstacle course, contestants make their way from a room’s entrance point to its exit point, swinging from chandeliers and leaping across various props and furniture pieces, which are sometimes placed in a misguided manner on purpose. If they fall at any point, it will be into a pool of bubbling red liquid, or “lava.” Since no one has a death wish and this is, in fact, just a normal game show, that lava is not real lava.
Is Floor is Lava Scripted?
While most reality shows that we see do somehow end up being elaborately scripted, ‘Floor is Lava’ is one that seems genuinely authentic. Of course, while the host, Rutledge Wood, mostly known for his role on ‘Top Gear,’ is given a script, – which he uses to describe each obstacle course at the start of the episode, introduce us to the teams, and then narrate the happenings while they go through the course – the actual competition aspect of it is very much real.
Even though the contestants jump off massive boxes, hang onto rods and nets, and step on museum artifacts, what makes the show truly entertaining is watching team members try to guide one another across the hurdles. Their bits of advice hilariously backfire most of the time and some contestants even end up taking one for the team and disappearing into the lava, only to be presumed “dead.” Hell, some of them even end up hurting themselves on the way to the finish line trying to make some incredibly dangerous leaps.
Passing the obstacles in all is more intuition and common sense rather than strategy, so to script every aspect of it would be almost impossible. When teams enter the room to start their journey, their interaction – with each other and with the obstacles – has some incredibly candid moments, which of course, depends on their respective personalities. In each episode, three teams tackle the same course, so it can get a little boring as well. Thus, the entertainment hangs solely on to the realness and how effective or ineffective the contestants are as teams.
Having an incredibly refreshing combination of physical challenges, laughs, and second-hand embarrassment all rolled into one, ‘Floor Is Lava’ does tend to remind us a bit of ‘Wipeout,’ ‘ Legends Of The Hidden Temple,’ and ‘Game On!’ Therefore, just like in those, only the post and pre reactions of the contestants could be scripted, but the contest itself seems to be genuine. And of course, you also have to take into account the clever editing which definitely smoothens out any rough edges that might hinder your viewing pleasure.
Read More: Where To Sign Up For Floor is Lava?
