Four people underestimate the difficulty of fishing
This review contains spoilers for the entire series. To watch the series first, click here. I highly recommend doing so as it's very good.
Jet Lag: The Game is a travel and game show based on using portions of or the entirety of the world as a game board. The second season is a race to circumnavigate the world within 100 hours. Two teams of two have a strict budget of $1,000 for travel, only able to be increased by doing challenges from a set list. For the circumnavigation to count, they must travel the distance of the equator's length, and meet exactly at their start position, which is a flagpole outside of Denver Union Station.
The teams are very similar to season 1, being Ben and Adam (writers for Wendover Productions and related projects), and Sam (voiceover for stated projects) and Joseph from the YouTube channel RealLifeLore. This team composition is very good, arguably better than prior.
The show starts much more suddenly than prior seasons. Sam introduces the game very quickly, then we're immediately off to the races as both teams rush to the train station, which is very closely connected to Denver International Airport.
Both teams discuss their plans. Ben/Adam made the game and therefore got to run simulations, so they're taking what they find to be the obvious route of flying to New York City and crossing the ocean from there.
Sam/Joseph, while not having made the game, have done a solid amount of research, particularly Sam. While not on most flight boards, Denver has charter flights to Cancun, which then can go to Amsterdam. This is faster and cheaper than Ben/Adam's plan, and gets them good distance.
These are both pretty good plans. Adam and I assume Ben are both from NYC, so they should be able to finish a challenge and get the money to cross the Atlantic easily. Sam and Joseph won't have much money left in Amsterdam, but they'll be in the lead and can plan forward while on flights with no issue.
That is, if they can make the flights and not get stuck in Denver, because the security lines are ridiculously long. And even that's an understatement, somehow. Sam/Joseph manage to find a shorter alternate security line, and Ben/Adam apply for Thailand visas due to a very cheap flight later in the plans. It's worth banking on, but it'd be tight to make.
A rule worth pointing out here is that if you miss a flight that you've already purchased, the money is still gone and you have to do challenges to earn more. This is a definitive risk for both teams, and neither team decided to go for a later flight just in case this happens.
As an aside, while writing the review I noticed an editing error at 7:35 which says Ben/Adam are going to Cancun, not NYC. Completely understandable error, just thought it was neat.
Despite the long lines, both teams make their flights. A tense moment, but unimportant for the game, and invalidates my previous strategy comment. When Sam/Joseph board their flight, they point out that this is probably the only time that you'd hope someone misses a flight, which is a pretty good bit.
Ben/Adam plan to go to Milan out of NYC, with a specific flight they've seen in the simulations before, and it's very cheap. They'll only need a little more than $300 more in budget to make it, and ponder challenges to do so.
Both teams land. Sam/Joseph are doing some general airport-seeing to make their flight to Amsterdam, and Ben/Adam announce the challenge they're doing.
Run A Local Pasty Mile is an absolutely awful challenge. You have to run a mile, and eat a local pastry every quarter mile. As this is NYC, they opt for a local donut place they know well. It's a little entertaining, but clearly not healthy as Adam vomits multiple times during the challenge. There's also seemingly a time limit, which is baffling to me.
There's an edit at 13:03 where Adam says something and then a text box pops up that says "nobody knows what Adam said here, including himself", but he's definitely saying "kill me". Don't subject anyone to a pastry mile.
While the pastry mile is happening, Sam/Joseph are consistently confused by the airport's layout and not being on the flight board, and grab some completely normal lunch.
Despite me saying that the challenge is "a little entertaining", this segment is actually fantastic. The commentary between Ben and Adam is absolutely fantastic.
Once the challenge is finished, Ben sees that the flight they wanted is gone, so they'll have to grab a different flight to Milan which will cost more and get in later. They booked that flight, and then a flight from there to London due to "onward travel" requirements that are part of travel laws and not the game.
Sam perfectly guesses where Ben/Adam are heading, and note that they'll run into distance issues. Him and Joseph also boarded their flight to Amsterdam. Ben/Adam's flight gets delayed, meaning that their earlier route to Bangkok (remember the Thailand visas) isn't possible anymore. The episode ends on this note.
This first episode sets up the series pretty well, but due to the way its paced we only get one challenge and it's mainly just a bunch of airports. Not bad in any capacity, but very much a setup episode.
Episode 2 starts with Ben/Adam getting their visas approved, boarding their flight to Milan, and wondering how Sam/Joseph are doing. They then find a pretty expensive but very good flight to get direct to Singapore.
Sam/Joseph land in Amsterdam, comment on Joseph's password, and go for a challenge so they can keep moving.
Take A Photo At Your City's Top 5 Landmarks is a fantastic challenge for a travel show, especially with the public transit restriction. It's a good way to look and see why people go somewhere, especially in a situation where you're definitely not here for those reasons.
Joseph makes a comment that Ben/Adam could possibly snipe this challenge, so they've got to get done quickly even if there's a flight they don't have to make at this time. As part of the rules, if one team does a challenge, the other team can't do it.
Ben/Adam exit their flight, and do basically the exact same thing as Sam/Joseph, but with a different challenge.
Build And Ride A Go-Kart is a fantastic challenge in my opinion. It's not exactly a travel challenge, but it's absolutely genius. Not only did they get to clickbait it, but it's just a genuinely good difficult thing to do.
Ben/Adam go to a hardware store, Sam/Joseph get a move on. Both teams make a comment about the other team possibly doing the challenge their doing, which makes the disparity between the two challenges obvious and incredibly funny.
The photos Sam/Joseph are taking a pretty good. Joseph going for the intentional double chin makes for a good time, and they actually make pretty good time. A very easy $900. They immediately start a new challenge.
Visit The US Consolate is a neat challenge when you've got a group of Americans. You're not allowed to do research and once again only public transportation is allowed, so it essentially becomes a game of looking for an American flag. Not the most interesting, but not bad either.
This is the second challenge Sam/Joseph do in Amsterdam, which triggers what I'm calling the "depreciation clause". The second challenge you do in a location gives half its usual payout, and the third challenge onwards give a quarter of its usual payout. This becomes an issue very quickly and allows for absolutely zero recovery - if you miss a flight or your plan goes bad, you're screwed and the challenges become close to worthless insanely fast.
I don't think this is good game design. Obviously a game like this needs to have risks for if your plan goes badly, but you're already competing against another team with challenges that get locked out when completed. I'm not Ben and Adam, I didn't run a bunch of simulations, so maybe the game isn't interesting without this. But it really does look like the most unfun thing in the world.
Back to the game itself. Ben/Adam build their go-kart. It's a plank on 4 wheels with a bar to hold onto (not a handlebar) and a right side up bucket for a seat, spraypainted with an Italian flag. They then find a ramp, and Ben rides the go-kart. It takes two shots as the handle part fell off the first time, and the whole thing is generally unsafe, but it nets a massive $1,200.
Sam/Joseph find the Consulate, with the flag at half mast. They complete this at half value. They don't have a strategy, so they go to create one. Ben/Adam throw the go-kart away, because they can't do much else with it, then find they're $10 short for their flight, so they discuss challenges.
Sam/Joseph continue planning. Joseph finds a two-flight combo that goes from Amsterdam to Budapest to Dubai, with pretty good prices and time to do a challenge. Unfortunately, they can't book the flight as they need more than 2 hours notice, and they JUST went under that timeframe.
Ben/Adam select a challenge. Give Your Teammate A Piggyback Ride is pretty nice, and the rules are quite forgiving. It's not anything interesting, but you get to see a park. It's probably pretty fun to do, so it's a good challenge in my eyes. They complete this with half value, but it's enough.
Sam/Joseph still continue their planning, with nothing good in sight. Eventually, they settle on a non-stop to Singapore, which they'd then go to Seoul, then Los Angeles. It's incredibly expensive - even the first leg of this will need an extra $900, and the final leg is $2,200. Remember that every challenge they do right now is quarter value. Sam says that it's entirely possible for them to get to Singapore.
It's worth mentioning that the rest period - a 22 hour window where both teams cannot progress in the game - is coming up, so the plan hinges on getting a flight out of Amsterdam that would land before that period starts. The Singapore flight will, so if they can make that, the game continues.
Ben/Adam get ready for their flight to Singapore, and the episode ends.
Episode 2 is pretty damn good, honestly. Solid challenge spread, good bits, and it foreshadows the Singapore section pretty well. Sam lampshades this in the Nebula ad read, which removes a bit of the impact.
Episode 3 starts with Ben/Adam worried about boarding their flight. They've got an hour, and if they can't get on for any reason the depreciation clause screws them.
Sam/Joseph have a similar time crunch of 8 hours. They've got to get money, and the depreciation has ALREADY screwed them, so they need to start now. And they do!
Touch A Bird is naturally comedic, and that's all I have to say. It's funny! That being said, you probably shouldn't disturb wildlife as such. They complete this with quarter budget.
Ben/Adam buy their tickets with 38 minutes to go (and get onward travel as well), and remark that Sam/Joseph are probably losing, which is pretty funny when followed by a clip of the bird stuff. They board their flight, and are pretty much MIA for the rest of the episode save for some bits, so this episode is mostly The Sam And Joseph Show.
Sam/Joseph start the next challenge, Gamble At A Casino. The way this works is that you get some extra budget to play with, and once you've gambled that amount, you earn whatever you walk away with. (You can also gamble your regular budget, but if you lose it it's gone. That's not part of the challenges - this comes up later.)
This is a fantastic challenge. You get lucky or you don't, there's not much else unless you try card counting. Sam/Joseph opt for roulette, and end up making $400 from the challenge. They book their Singapore flight, but they're still thinking about the future flights (and they need proof of onward travel), so they continue to do challenges.
In VO, Sam mentions a key part of the plan - in Singapore, there's a bungee jumping place. Go Bungee Jumping is a challenge, and a $1,200 one at that. It'd be the first one they'd do in Singapore, which would give a huge boost towards getting the Los Angeles flight, and they need it. Remember this.
Back to actually doing things, Eat A McDonald's Item You Cannot Get In The US is the next order (heh) of business. It's not super valuable, but it allows for a meal and it's actually pretty interesting. They complete this with quarter value.
Next, Transfer A Cup Of Fountain Water From One Fountain To Another. This is a good challenge, and you get to see some fountains. Them completing this is a bit contentious, as they use a drinking fountain as the starting place, but I think it counts. Fountain's in the name, and the actual challenge is transporting water without spilling. They complete this with quarter value.
Next, Purchase A Hat Worth More Than $100. This is a pretty damn good challenge! I always love hat challenges in Jet Lag, as you are forced to wear the hat for the entire game. It's also a fun peek into expensive/luxury material goods, which I've always found to be odd.
After the hat, they discuss the fact that the challenges are less valuable here than in Singapore. They mention some strategy here - since the challenges are gone, Ben/Adam won't be able to do them once they land. It's a bit of a tradeoff.
Ascend 500 Feet To A High Point Without Touching Pavement is next, and I don't care about the challenge itself. They definitely cheated in this one - making 28 climbs of a small mound instead of one 500 foot ascension. It did add to 500 feet total, but they also lost that footage every time they went down if you want to count it that way. It's not in the spirit of the challenge, in my opinion.
Yes, they count it, but in future games challenges have much more descriptive rules to prevent this issue as well as the water fountain (which I am willing to give them.) They complete this with quarter value.
Next, Pick Up Three Pounds Of Trash. Objectively a good challenge, anyone doing something like this is a net positive. They should probably have gloves on hand next time, however. They complete this with quarter value.
Make A 30-Second Parkour Video is an incredibly funny challenge, and a great one too if someone on each team can edit video. Obviously what Sam and Joseph did isn't actually parkour, but the video is definitely the point here. They complete this with quarter value, which gives them enough to book the flight to Seoul.
Sam/Joseph head to the airport to go to Singapore. Joseph was asleep on the Uber there, which makes for a good bit when they talk about Sam waking him up. They comment on the amount of bureaucracy that must be done to travel in the age of COVID, and then get on the airplane.
That comment in mind, it is worth mentioning that in every airport and various other public spaces, all players have worn a mask. Discretion varies a bit on this, but they're definitely doing what they need to do and I find that commendable.
Ben/Adam have finally landed in Singapore, with $1.26 to their name and no plan. They need to go to Sydney, Australia before they get back to the US (remember the distance requirement), and the money required is about $1,200. Bungee jumping is an easy option, there's a place right there and that's worth $1,200.
The video cuts to when Sam discussed his plan of going to the exact same place to bungee jump as a required piece of said plan. This is a fantastic edit, and immediately shows that Ben/Adam are getting a huge advantage by doing this.
Ben/Adam run into the actual real not at all fake Bruce Willis, get changed and refreshed, and go bungee jumping. The footage cuts right as they start falling.
Obviously this is a fantastic episode. Hanging out with Sam and Joseph doing stuff in Amsterdam is a great time, and having them get immediately screwed when Ben/Adam land in Singapore is even better. I know I trashed on the depreciation clause earlier, and I do still dislike it, but the flow of this episode is perfect and that's only because of that clause.
Episode 4 starts with re-emphasizing Sam/Joseph's bungee jump plan, and then cuts to Ben/Adam actually bungee jumping.
Go Bungee Jumping is a great challenge, obviously only available at bungee jumping places, but the value of it is clearly balanced to be one of the harder ones. It's an absolutely wonderful time to watch, and cements that I will have to do it at some point.
Sam/Joseph land in Singapore and immediately realize that not only they're screwed, but that Ben/Adam will likely continue to screw them. They still have a flight to Seoul, but they don't have a plan, so they work to create one.
Ben/Adam absolutely don't know this, and go for another challenge just to use the pre-rest-period time well.
Travel One Mile On Water Under Human Power is a decent challenge, with the distance being difficult enough to make it a challenge for sure. Ben and Adam lampshade this in the video, as well as make me realize no human in the world has any competency to remember songs and music. They complete this with half value.
Everyone heads to a hotel to finally get some rest as per the rest period. Game progress can't be done here, and yet both teams have a member awake at 4am Singapore time. Sam gives a good summary of Singapore's economy during this.
In the morning, both teams have breakfast as they should, and see some sights before the rest period ends. Ben gives some good commentary during this.
The game starts anew. Ben/Adam book their flight to Sydney, then to Fiji as they need proof of onward travel. They've got 4 hours to do challenges afterwards, so they go to do some.
Sam/Joseph also start. They know for a fact that Ben/Adam are here and have way more money, and Sam/Joseph's current plan just won't work as they want it to. They ditch that and go for the hail mary of Singapore to San Francisco. They need a lot of money and they've got one place to do so with another team able to snipe challenges, but if they do it they absolutely win.
Unfortunately, they cannot win on challenges alone within Singapore, so they've got to get just SOME money, and then gamble it to hopefully win money to get back home. But they do need to do challenges here, so they have to.
We'll get to reviewing Catch A Fish later, mainly because it goes terrible for Sam and Joseph. They have zero luck, get interrupted, and lose their plastic bag. They move on.
Eat At A Michelin Star Restaurant is a great and pleasant challenge, and it's worth noting that both teams are aiming for this. Ben/Adam go immediately since they're not distracted by fish, and get to score it. The food looks great! They complete this with quarter value.
Ben/Adam mention the distance requirement (which is why they're going to Sydney) and move on to board their flight just as Sam/Joseph arrive to learn that it's done. Things aren't looking great for them. The new plan is to drink a local liquor, have fun at a casino, and hope for good luck. They've gotta turn $450 (the amount they'll get for both challenges) into $2,000.
In the meantime, Ben/Adam's flight gets delayed. The airplane they're riding to Sydney was damaged by lightning, and the aircraft team needs to verify it's still usable. The episode ends here.
I hate to say it, but this episode is very transitional. The next one is kinda like this too. It's not bad, it's a fun sequence of events, but everything from the end of episode 3 feels like a domino effect of the bungee jumping sequence.
The final episode starts, recapping the lightning strike moment. Meanwhile, Sam/Joseph struggle to even find the bar to get drunk at. They consider public drinking, but think better of it. (I looked it up, and I think they would've been fine to do so - it seems to only be illegal after certain times.)
Ben/Adam's flight keeps getting delayed. Their flight to Nadi, Fiji is late enough that it's not too important, but they'd rather take an earlier flight straight to the US, so this is causing problems. They consider alternate options.
Sam/Joseph continue to struggle finding a bar, and when they finally get seated, they can't even get liquor from Singapore anyway since the bar they get seated at doesn't even serve it! This removes the money they'd get from that challenge.
With that said, the team IS having a generally good time, which does net them the $300 from Have A Good Time. With the depreciation clause and the dwindling challenge count, it's great to have a throwaway challenge like this, which also allows teams to go do something neat.
Ben/Adam's flight to Sydney is finally given the go ahead, and they can make it to the Fiji flight in time as well. They assume that Sam/Joseph are on a flight as well.
We see Sam/Joseph at a casino, gambling the $20 they still have in their budget to have some fun. They went for 17 black, which did hit, but there was a minimum bid they didn't meet so it went nowhere. It continues to go nowhere, they go broke, but then the challenge's required time hits and they get more money. Well timed.
Ben/Adam won't be allowed into Fiji unless they get proof of onward travel, so they select the fishing challenge on the flight into Sydney.
Sam/Joseph continue to gamble, it continues to not go well. They go broke again, then 17 black hits after they go broke. Obviously this was never a great plan, but anyone could've puzzled this out. even them. They didn't have a choice. They concede and solidly DNF.
This means that it's time for the Ben and Adam show, which everyone loves I think. They need money to get onward travel from Nadi to be allowed on the flight, and they don't have the most money, so they've gotta get it going.
They go for Catch A Fish. This is a good challenge, but only because nobody knows how hard fishing actually is and no other reason. Beyond the inherent comedy of not being able to do something that should be such a clearly easy task (it's not), fishing is pretty boring.
They get a license and gear, have a nice moment with the fishing gear salesman, and struggle to catch a fish. The line is unwieldy, the rod falls apart, and the actual fisherman aren't getting anything anyway.
They move to the net. No luck with that, but they do spot some minnows further in the water. Ben offers to take a full-on dip into the water near the minnows, and actually gets really close to doing so. Adam spots a tiny tiny minnow in the net, which absolutely counts, preventing Ben from going shirtless and allowing them to get onward travel, which goes into the US as well.
From Sydney to Nadi, then to Los Angeles. We're in the home stretch. The team refuses to do anything in Fiji since it's winter there and therefore dark and cold. There's a pretty good exchange about Fiji water, which I actually agree with Ben on, and another good exchange about where Sam and Joseph are.
They only need $80 to get to Denver, so they go Get Drunk On A Local Liquor. This is a great challenge. Anything related to "the local items" is usually a wonderful choice for travel shows, and we get to see Ben drunk again.
Adam gives a flash tour of the Santa Monica Pier and they book the flight tickets and head back to LAX to board their final flight. I think Ben is talking to his mom during the phone call in this sequence.
They make it to Denver, get on the shuttle to Denver Union Station, do a pretty bad high five, run to the starting pole, and finish the circumnavigation. Minus the break time, they've done it in 92 hours.
There's some good bits at the end. A random passerby asks what happened, Ben and Adam wrap the episode, they tease season 3 (oh boy will I get there!) for the ad read, and we get to see Sam (but not Joseph for some reason) arrive at the pole.
A solid amount of the final episode feels like procedure, especially once they get the flight to Los Angeles, but this is a great final episode. It feels more important, strangely.
Overall, this is a great season. It's better than the first in my opinion, with more interesting challenges and scenery, better team composition (Joseph is great), and just generally seeming like a fun time. I don't really want to do United States Connect 4, but I'd love to play Circumnavigation at some point.
I still do think the depreciation clause was a bad choice. While Sam and Joseph definitely screwed themselves with not enough planning, I do think that the issue goes back to the massive amount of challenges in Amsterdam that they got quarter value on. There's so much money there that completely just disappeared.
There's a suggestion in the comments of the final episode that says this clause should be proportional to distance of the first challenge - if you take transit to a suburb or a close by smaller town, you'd be farther away and therefore be able to get more of the value, even if it's not all. I think this is great, and if they rerun this game (and they should) they should try this out. jezzaftw wrote that, and it's an idea worth crediting if nothing else.
In future seasons, they moved onto fake units of currency as opposed to real ones, which mitigates the issue entirely. This is also not a bad choice.
All in all, this season, in addition to the previous, helped set a damn good framework of travel game show, had some great moments, and helped solidify Ben and Adam as a good duo. People don't look at this one much from what I see, but it's worth a watch and the occasional rewatch.
And beyond the show, it's a nice look of the globe and a bunch of cool places. I kinda want to go to Singapore now.
"Adam, the world is a beautiful place, and I'm glad we went around it together." - Ben Doyle, 2021(?), inebriated in a terminal at LAX
That would be where I end it, but the full challenge list is public, so I can review the challenges that weren't done or even mentioned, so let's go do that.
Win A Top-Tier Prize In A Carnival Game isn't necessarily a bad challenge, but it's on the same tier as Catch A Fish where it seems way easier than it actually is. That being said, it's also a more interesting challenge to watch, so it's certainly better, but I'm inclined to say it's too hard.
Capture a National Politician On Camera is just a duty to your country, I'd imagine. People should know what our political leaders are doing. Good challenge.
Ride Three Miles On Rollercoasters is pretty neat, but the execution is likely difficult. Not because of issues mentioned in the series, but because you often can't easily find the length of these things.
Spot A Kangaroo In The Wild is probably just a poke at Australia. That being said, it's not a bad challenge, and I'm vaguely surprised that Ben and Adam seemingly never considered it for that leg of their trip.
Walk From One Side Of A Country To Another. Absolutely not, no fucking chance. There's some tiny countries, but even then this is wild to even write for the list. We know there were some joke additions, such as the go-kart challenge, so this is probably that.
Find Every Bill And Coin is a fucking fantastic idea. I'm so sad this never happened, currency collection is always something I see and think is cool. The prize should be "$500 plus the total of the bills and coins needed" though.
Build A Sandcastle Of A Building You've Seen During The Game is pretty fun, but another harder than it seems activity. It's also more interesting than the fish, and I'm surprised it never got considered either.
Eat A Meal In A Municipality With A Population Of Under 1,000 is pretty fun, but this never would've happened - all teams stayed in their cities, and the travel distance to and from would've made a lot of flight times impossible.
Touch Snow...does Fiji get snow? They possibly could've done this. That being said, this feels like an obvious challenge choice even if it does seem slightly nothing, so it's pretty good.
Retrieve A Shell From A Depth Of At Least Ten Feet Underwater would've been nice, but there's nowhere it would've been done from what I can think of. Australia, maybe Fiji, but both were in winter, so not a great plan.
Get Your Clothes As Dirty As Possible And Then Clean Them At A Laundromat is a pretty funny challenge, and I'm surprised it never got done since it seems pretty easy.
Visit An Unpopular Museum is also pretty funny, and I think it would've been interesting to see one of these.
Ride At Least One Mile On An Animal That's Not A Horse is a pretty good challenge, but the ability to actually do this seems extremely limited.
Eat A Bug. I'm actually vaguely disappointed that this isn't in the show, I've wanted to do this myself. Very good challenge, a thing you can absolutely do but not everyone will.
Rent An Electric Scooter And Drive It One Direction Until It Runs Out Of Battery. What? Baffling challenge. That would take SO long, you'd have to go SO far, and I don't think they thought about the return trip at all. That'd never be worth doing.
Skimboard Twenty Feet seems like a good challenge. 20 feet is not a long distance, but water travel stuff is never as easy as you think it is. Another one I'm surprised didn't get considered for Australia, but the value on it isn't super high.
Fully Submerge Yourself In Water Somewhere Cold is not great health-wise, and way too easy to combine with other challenges. Ben and Adam could've potentially skipped getting drunk, and that's not good.
Attend The Entirety Of A Local Sporting Event is fun but not enough value for how long that takes.
Win A Game Of Paintball is a wonderful challenge except that most paintball places need advanced reservations, which is an issue mentioned in a show. You can't just go do the thing even if it's there.
Ok, that's everything. I've talked too much. Go watch Season 3 - I'll be rewatching it soon, and it'll be the next review unless I get Nebula.