'Physical: Asia'

[⚠️ SPOILERS FOR 'PHYSICAL: ASIA'! ⚠️]

Is it safe to talk about 'Physical: Asia' now without spoiling it for people who haven't caught the finale? 

I followed both seasons of 'Physical: 100'. You know how much I eschew reality shows. But this series got me hooked. I was literally nervous while silently cheering on my 'fav' athletes and marvelling at their strength and discipline in training to get here. 

Of course I would watch 'Physical: Asia'. I didn't think I would be rooting for the respective countries per se. It's probably like 'I have to root for Team Korea because you threw all my favorite tv athletes from 'Physical: 100' into the team'. I don't know the other teams, and I don't particularly care about them. And I still don't really care about them after the show. LOL 

There was this cliffhanger at those sack throws. I was like, if Korea loses this, I'm not watching the rest of the episodes. Oof. I honestly like the camaraderie between Team Korea. They're also elite athletes. They're not just ridiculously strong. They had the chops to strategize and figure out the optimal methods to win or to succeed in a quest. 

Anyway, Team Korea won Team Mongolia in a neck-to-neck finish. 

This could be a lot of nifty editing and all. But the way the production team has done it, subtly or even overtly showcased each competing team's strengths and weaknesses, leading the audience on to form opinions about them, fairly or otherwise. Say, I didn't like Turkey's cockiness. They were chaotic and messy and they talked too much. Also, I really didn't want Australia to win. 

There's this whole discussion and accusations thrown at the production team about rigging the show to have Korea win. They also said that the Korean production team picked the final participating teams and not the respective countries' production teams. This is television after all, hello? Also, Team Korea has participated in Physical: 100. They know what it takes and train like hell for this show with a different team format. They never underestimated the strength and skills needed. That's the home ground advantage. 

I like the clips and all coming out on the socials. They're absolutely crushing it on social media. The competing teams visit one another and seemed to have fun. Sure, it's funded and directed by the production teams, but what the heck, the humans look like they genuinely enjoy one another's company and filming what it was that they had been told to do.

I'm going to take it with a pinch of salt and simply enjoy the... physical aspects of it. Regardless of what it is behind the scenes, the participants gave it their all, and honestly, it made for good television.

And the point is, seeing those athletes grunt and work, I know how much work that requires to get to that level of strength. It's total motivation for me to get my lazy ass to the gym. How I wish watching it also means I've exercised away those calories and built muscles in that two hours or so in each quest. HAHAHAHA.