| Host | Claude Dartois |
| Genre | Survival Reality TV |
| Episodes | 9 |
| Original Title | Mauvais joueurs |
13 players are dropped on a desolate island and asked to live under extreme conditions as they compete against each other and betray one another in order to find their way to a luxurious villa for a chance to win 150,000 euros. They can make alliances, but the one rule here is that there are no rules!
This French survival show wants to act as if it’s doing something truly surprising and new but, standing in 2024, we have seen this mess so many times before. With no surprise factor at this point, even surrounding the player relationships and the circumstances surrounding the choices that everyone makes is a bit boring at this point.
Let’s discuss this – the moment everyone sees host and popular French reality TV star Claude Dartois, everyone starts to lose their minds, more so when they realise that they have to stay in a desolate camp rather than the beautiful villa. I mean, are we to believe that their contracts pulled a bait and switch? Sure, it was really shocking a few years ago when this insanity was starting out and all, but at this point, we are over this mess and no one is shocked.
Moreover, the strategies and the incessant and unnecessary backstabs feel scripted and extremely fake. Two people suddenly start to fight over lentils for no reason and the way they just burst out into hurling abuse is not just funny but also unbelievable. And sure, one might say that it’s because people felt threatened and stressed but it’s clearly a poorly orchestrated stunt to entertain us which, unfortunately, doesn’t work anymore.
That being said, I think the game’s voting processes were quite fun and had something going for them. The first round was surprising and did get me by surprise. You can tell that they tried hard to move things around and make it as shocking as possible. However, after the first elimination, the pace slows down again with the mindless bickering. In fact, every time the contestants are left on their own they go down the spiral of mindless bickering over and over again. It’s very annoying because we have seen these same discussions taking place multiple times in other shows and they have lost their charm at this point.
Another annoying thing that reality shows have started to take up is calling themselves experiments. Whether it be Love is Blind or Don’t Hate the Player, these shows love setting themselves apart but do nothing different to achieve that. Apparently, this show is an experiment also, but I am not sure what’s new here. The games are entertaining, sure, but the circumstances are quite old. Also, what are we experimenting with? The Trust (and a million other shows) has already made people question each other while running after a bunch of money. So I kept trying to figure out what the experiment part was. I couldn’t come up with anything.
Either way, at the end of the fourth episode, we have new additions and members losing their minds at the thought of giving up their comfortable lifestyles. It’s hilarious to watch grown adults act like petulant children instead of strategising well enough to strike at the right moment. These infuriating moments will make you scratch your head and make you wonder why every other reality TV personality is almost a clone of each other and annoyingly so!
Don’t Hate the Player Review: Final Thoughts
This reality TV show is nothing new and apart from some fun games and surprising twists there’s hardly anything to look forward to. The extremely annoying contestants don’t make you root for them because they make bad decisions and constantly fight with each other over the smallest perceived slight. All in all, almost similar to every other reality show.
Don’t Hate the Player is streaming on Netflix.
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