Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Special Forces: World's Toughest Test episode "Panic." Read at your own risk!
We're three episodes into Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 2, and there are already some significant changes that I appreciate when compared to Season 1. The cold setting vs. the desert was a big upgrade, and while this installment featured some celebrities dropping like flies, they overall hung in it a bit longer than many in the opening season. Which made me consider there's been something of a big change in the staff's behavior and treatement of the celebs this time around, and I'm not at all mad about it.
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test airs weekly on Fox, and streams the next day with a Hulu subscription, and Season 2 has made a clear shift from how the staff behaved in Season 1. While they're far from pampering the celebs, I've noticed them take a softer hand with celebrities than we'd previously seen.
The Staff Isn't Quite So Verbally Brutal To The Celebrities
While I understand the purpose of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test is to emulate what the military goes through when applying for Special Forces selection, none of these celebrities are actually trying to be in the military. Many of them are retired athletes who, as Nastia Liukin confirmed to CinemaBlend, are struggling just like everyone else, while other cast members include reality television stars who got in way over their heads. Nobody on this show truly needs some aggro dude screaming in their face to make them feel like they're going through hell. They're already in it.
It seems like someone involved with the show agreed ahead of the second season's production, because I've noticed far less verbal abuse from the staff regarding the daily treatment of celebrities. Sure, many staff members will still be shouting, "Fail" when someone doesn't perform a challenge correctly, but we also have more moments of understanding. I loved the sympathy Jack Osbourne received when he opened up about his struggles with MS since diagnosis and how not being the most physically capable of the pack was a trigger. Their compassion helped him stay in the fold, though I can't say it helped reality star Savannah Chrisley, who exited ahead of the water challenge.
Why I Like This Change Compared To Season 1
The staff showing a bit more compassion in Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 2 feels like a step up from Season 1 because it's leading to fewer voluntary withdrawals that I feel are instigated by the staff. I think back to singer Melanie Brown, who performed quite well in the Season 1 challenges, but still handed in her armband while back at the barracks, making it seem clear that tension with others, compiled with the staff's loud insults, factored into her decision.
I want to see celebrities quit Special Forces: World's Toughest Test if they truly can't take the physical duress, but not because the staff is goading them to drop out. I am fine with the show's drill team getting loud with celebrities when they're being insubordinate as well, such as the latest case with Dez Bryant trying to return after making his exit. Just being mean because you can wasn't all that entertaining for me, however, and it seems that behavior toned down in Season 2 thus far. We'll see if it holds as the season continues and the remaining participants continue to run through challenges.
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test airs on Fox on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Season 2 feels like it's flying by with so many exits in the past two episodes, so here's hoping the remaining celebrities can stick it out longer so we don't have a short season.
