Top Shot Episode 4

[kevin c]

Oooh, Oooh. The Blue Team gets theirs. This I gotta see on the air, ASAP. I'll even watch the commercials. Drat, those evil producers and editors have got me!

[jar]

I'm enjoying watching the show, but can't help thinking that I'm seeing some really mediocre shooting overall, sprinkled with only a few moments of brilliance.

I realize we haven't seen much from Blake and J.J. and a couple others yet, but seriously.....this is all the better they could do, in terms of casting this thing?

I can think of several truly excellent all-around shooters, guys who can shoot anything well and have proven their ability to quickly master a strange gun, and none of them are on the show!

Ah well.....like I said, I'm enjoying it, and I do think it's good for the game.

Having to give up 30 days of your life is a big deal. So is giving up editorial control of your image, if you make your full time living from shooting related stuff. I think I saw here somewhere that that's why Matt B didn't do it.

[Tim James]

I'm not so sure about those "steel backers." It looks like there's a lot of flak coming out the back of them during the slow-mo introductory parts. Maybe it's just the disintegrated bullet?

Why didn't anyone on the blue team go inspect the prop afterwards? I would have been crawling all over their sets right after each match to make sure they didn't screw something up. Perhaps it was against the rules.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Tim James

[Bubber]

I'm not so sure about those "steel backers." It looks like there's a lot of flak coming out the back of them during the slow-mo introductory parts. Maybe it's just the disintegrated bullet?

Why didn't anyone on the blue team go inspect the prop afterwards? I would have been crawling all over their sets right after each match to make sure they didn't screw something up. Perhaps it was against the rules.

I seem to recall seeing the projectile going through the thin metal backing, or at least seeing a hole in the metal. But I'm old and misremember a little. later rdd

[Loves2Shoot]

but only by a LITTLE instead of A LOT.

If you are gonna make that shot, you need to make the shot I would have thought Kelly's smiley face would have taught you that

I just wish you guys actually got to do more shooting and more a more extensive practice time.

[ajg308]

What I want to know is how they are going to determine the "Top Shot" with only 6 epsisodes left, but 12 shooters in the competition?

[Skydiver]

What I want to know is how they are going to determine the "Top Shot" with only 6 epsisodes left, but 12 shooters in the competition?

You asked for more shooting and less drama, we'll give you more shooting...

It'll come down to the use of projectile weapons... Both teams will be taken out to the range for what looks like a regular practice before the team challenges. The weapons will be paintball guns and this time both teams got to practice at the same time. At midday, they get the ride back to the house in the vans.

When they step out of the van back at the house, Colby is there and issues them each a paintball gun. (How he'll do it while keeping his hands on his waist, I have know idea.)

The paintball battle will be within the confines of the house and the immediate area around the house. Caches of extra air and ammo were placed randomly in and around the house while they were at the range. The person with the least hits amount of paint on his body come sunrise the next day will be declared the winner.

That should give about 18 hours of time to get footage that can be editted into 6 episodes. :-)

LOL!

Edited June 29, 2010 by Skydiver

[Ahab]

Now that would have been cool.

[XRe]

No one would've been able to move after the first 20 minutes of that massacre... I still maintain they should've left the "t" out of the name of that game...

[murkish]

I.E. Paintball Finale

When does this show air? I have remote in hand.

[bbbean]

But lately I've been more and more disappointed that you never get to see the marksmen shine in their particular area of expertise.

I agree completely. I'd much rather see teh team challenges set up a la a 3 gun competition, with the USPSA guys running with pistols, the long range guys knocking down targets at 500+ yards, and opportunities for the historic arms or cowboy shooters to show off their skills. Seeing a marine sniper shoot a bow and arrow is interesting, but not nearly as interesting as seeing him do what he's good at.

[kcult]

I agree completely. I'd much rather see teh team challenges set up a la a 3 gun competition, with the USPSA guys running with pistols, the long range guys knocking down targets at 500+ yards, and opportunities for the historic arms or cowboy shooters to show off their skills. Seeing a marine sniper shoot a bow and arrow is interesting, but not nearly as interesting as seeing him do what he's good at.

I have to slightly disagree. I do enjoy seeing someone at the top of their game do what they do best, but I also like to see that same talented person try to apply the gift to something else. Think Michael Jordan's attempt at baseball. Plus, I shoot pistols at the local match, shoot skeet with my Dad, shoot rifles with my pals and hunt deer with a bow and arrow. I know a little of what it takes to shoot all of them well, so I'm interested in seeing how a marksman transitions. :2cents

[HuskySig]

I've enjoyed each show so far. The only head scratcher for me so far is why did they use a TZ-99 instead of a Sig P226?

[Jeff686]

I'm not sure that sending the weakest members of the team to the Elimination Challenge is the best way to win. Sure, you are keeping your team as strong as possible, and minimizing the number of chances of personal elimination. However, that has to be balanced with the opportunity to eliminate other possible winners. Who knows how long there will be a 'red team' and 'blue team'. They might rebalance the teams, or merge them! At some point it has to be 'each man for himself'.

For example, what if a few people agreed to try to send JJ to the elimination instead of Jim. The idea being to ambush Ian after he'd volunteered to face Jim.

Food for thought.

[Sean Gaines]

the only thing I wish would change, is not letting the other team vote off who they want. I would let the respective team choose thier weakest link. Let the guys who can shoot, shoot! For entertainment value, you have some guys who can really shoot lets see them do it. right now as it stands they have voted Blake off twice, everyone on both teams knows he is one of the top shooters. What we keep seeing is the, so called "weaker shooters" shooting. I would rather see the top shooters shooting.

Also,Maybe another challenge, incorporated into the original challenge, were if someone has a beef with someone they can challenge that person to a one on one elimination.

But overall, I enjoy the show, its great to see your fellow team mates, and shooters, on TV going for the big bucks!!!

[XD Niner]

The thing I like the most about the show is that it is bringing a large audience to action shooting sports that may find they are actually intrigued by these types of competitions.

[Chris iliff]

Show is good. I wish I could see the shooters shoot.

[Corey]

finally got to watch this episode and liked it. was hoping for 2 AR events instead of one but oh well. elimination challenge looked fun and challenging. I kinda figured Jim would be the first person at least voted into the elimination.

Next episode it looks like the fun and games for the blue team is over and more drama is about ensue.

Its official, im hooked!

[kevin c]

Got a chance to review the elimination challenge when the episode came up On Demand. Though the primitive version I have doesn't allow pausing or slo-mo, it really does look as though Jim had a blue target swinging in sync with an overlying red shoot target. The show's own slo mo replay shows both being hit with the blue directly behind.

That replay, along with others, including on Iain's run, also shows penetration and clear bullet holes and fragmentation of the metal backers, including the red plate backer of interest here.

Jim said he was taking a calculated chance that there wouldn't be blue plates behind the reds as he shot them, but, as far as I can see, he had no chance at all. Even if he had hit the steel backer on the front target (and maybe he did?), it may not have stopped the shoot through. and he was also shooting a plate whose backer already had a hole in it. Similarly, Iain's strategy wouldn't have made a difference if he was the one second up. If he had taken all three red targets in Jim's situation, he would be the one who went home.

Now, if the slo mo footage is all stock, or if better images can be gotten than what I have available to me right now that shows things differently, or the contestants can speak definitively to the contrary, then I withdraw my analysis/interpretation.

[iainmcphersn]

Similarly, Iain's strategy wouldn't have made a difference if he was the one second up. If he had taken all three red targets in Jim's situation, he would be the one who went home.

That was my impression too. In fact, my daughter kept repeating that it was not fair because that blue plate and red plate were aligned from the start.

John

[SA Friday]

Episode 4 is now on Hulu to watch.

The plates looked aligned for Jim to me as well.

Andre is pure unadulterated dead weight...

[Cold Absolute Zero]

And he is friggin' Army, no less!!! Send the squinting, one eye only shooter packing. How does somebody in the Army shoot so poorly with an AR-15? UGHH!!

TOP, you and I both know that unfortunately there are many people in the profession of arms that are not as proficient as they should be The guys who couldn't care less, shot MM on their quals and flagged people with their weapons used to drive me nuts.

I agree that he's the weakest link on the team and should be eliminated next.

On another note I am very glad that there are quite a few IPSC guys on this show. I can easily see how an ignorant producer could ignore this segment of shooting sports and omit this talented pool of shooters from the show, fortunately this is not the case. It was nice seeing the one GM to shoot this challenge clean the COF. It would be nice to see more practicing and familiarization but I am happy that they are making the target, shooting and down range effects very visual for audiences to keep their attention. I look forward to the remaining episodes.

CAZ

[Charles Bond]

Could someone explain the logic behind Iain's elimination round scheme? I'm dotting the I's (missing the point) on this.

Why jeopardize one of the best shooters on the team sending him/her to the elimination round. I mean... it wasn't like Jim was really far behind, anything could've happened. I would've sent Jim against Tara, the two poorest team challenge performers.

I'm just saying...

My theory is that Iain believed that Jim would be sent to the elimination round and that he could easily best him. Doing so would make the members of his team hesitate to send him back to the elmination round in the future. As it turned out the elmination challenge was much closer than at least I expected. But I still think Iain accomplished his objective. He took his "turn" first against one of his team's weaker shooters. There is no question he is one of the team's stronger members.

Another idea is that by nominating himself, he indeared himself to a couple of the other members of his team who will show their appreciation at some future point by not sending him to elmination against say JJ. While what they are doing right now is team play, it is not a team show. The individual winner gets the prize and unlike the prime time show where a vote gets you sent home, in this show a vote gets you into the elimination round but only your individual perfromance failure sends you packing.

Will this approach work to his benefit in the future? Like yourself, I am going to have to stay tuned to find out.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Charles Bond

[Charles Bond]

Several of you seem to think Andre is the weakest link and whether or not that is true is yet to be determined. Maybe he is not as good as he should be but maybe he is just not used to shooting for a crowd or feels pressure because it is on film and it is affecting his performance.

We can not under state the edge that USPSA shooters have in this type of setting just because every time they go to a match they perform in front of their peers on each stage and are used to it. While we take it for granted, those who do not shoot matches on a regular basis have to deal with possible public performance anxiety in addition to solving the shooting challenge.

[Corey]

another think about Iain and wanting to go into the challenge himself. he figured he would be able to beat Jim, but as the other blu team members pointed out, he also gets some extra trigger time with a select firearm and also get to see something no one else on the team has yet. If there is a movement challenge down the road, he will have a 'slight' upper hand.