Sarah Shoots and Misses
At FrumForum, we've decided to watch Sarah Palin's Alaska, so you don't have to. This week: Sarah grabs her gun.
A Very Special Fact-Check from our Loyal Readers at Conservatives4Palin.com:
Ian Lazaran, one of the bloggers at Conservaties4Palin.com (and apparently an avid reader of our site) wants to set the record straight on why it took Sarah Palin several shots to hit the caribou:
First:
Why did you leave out in your episode recap that the reason why she missed was that the rifle's scope was off?
This does beg the question, who was responsible for the scope being off?
Second:
You are omitting a pretty key piece of information from the show recap. Your readership is pretty ignorant to begin with.
This is all due to my own failings as a live-blogger. I was watching the show with a few other people in the living room, so there was quite a bit of chatter going on when these key factoids were being dispensed on the television. In the interest of accuracy, they have been posted.
Ian has also issued a challenge to the FrumForum readership:
I would be off ten shots even with an accurate scope :) but your readership would be off 20
Discuss!
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Closing Thoughts:
A much better episode compared to last week. This episode had a much tighter narrative and less superfluous narration.
Next week, not only do we get to see Kate Gosselin and her eight kids (because why should TLC let their opportunities for reality show synergy go to waste?) we will finally get to see Russia from Alaska!
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Update at 9:58pm
Wow, Piper Palin IS UNIMPRESSED! "Thats a tiny Caribou" she says upon being shown all the meat.
Perhaps we are FrumForum are not Palin's harshest critics?
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Update at 9:54pm
I should note that at the start of the episode, Palin said that the family needed quite a bit of meat to make it through winter, so I don't think this one caribou will be enough...
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Update at 9:44pm
We get back from commercial break, and Palin gets the Caribou!
Once again, Palin's dad shows that he is an actual expert, and is by far the coolest member of the Palin family we have been introduced to so far. He knows how to skin a caribou, in the wild!
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Update at 9:37pm
Now we are finally back at where the episode started, Palin aims, and...
She misses!
And so she shoots again, and she misses, again! My roommate counts that she tried to shoot at the caribou and failed five time.
I am sure that if I had a rifle I would fail at this to. So it is actually refreshing to see that Palin really is like us, and not sniper with skills that would get her into the Mossad.
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Update at 9:33pm
The commercial break is an appropriate time to comment on how the ads for the next Narnia movie are playing up the Jesus factor.
Or as Aslan the Lion says: "In your world, I am known by a different name..."
TLC knows the demographics of who is watching this show.
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Update at 9:28pm:
We learn that Palin's Alaksa upbringing, where she walks through cold water rivers, has made her "tough"
Palin of course, still needs to narrate, EVERYTHING. "How far do you think we've walked today?" is the typical sort of commentary we get.
However, I am a big fan of Palin Sr. He clearly has actually done this before.
Though we are 27 minutes in, and so far, no one has shot anything.
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Update at 9:23pm
It is time for Sarah to give us her random Alaska fact! It seems there are more caribou than people in Alaska.
More Palin wisdom: "The animals have the advantage, until we have the bullet in the chamber!"
We also learn that Caribou, from far away, look small, even with binoculars!
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Update at 9:20pm:
Palin and her dad fly out to the "remote camp". They are away from civilization, it is only Sarah, her dad, their family friend, and the camera crew.
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Update at 9:14pm:
First commercial break thoughts: while we do know Palin will get out of this episode alive, we are able to believe that hunting out here actually is dangerous.
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Update at 9:11pm:
According to Palin's dad, Sarah carries her own weight, whether its hunting, fishing, or politics!
And we are only 9 minutes in, and Palin's hunting expedition has already earned her (additional) praise from the Conservative grassroots. As Melissa Clouthier tweets:
Sooooo awesome. Chuck Sr. And his skulls... I'm laughing.#SPAlaska oh my, @SarahPalinUSA is not John Kerry.
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Update at 9:06pm:
This episode is beginning in medias res! TLC gets points for shaking up the narrative!
Palin is out in a field, with two other guys, including her dad. We see a Cairbou on the horizon. Palin aims her rifle at the Caribou. We see it through the gun's bulls-eye and then...
The scene cuts to black. And then three words appear ominously on screen:
"Three Days Earlier..."
It's like an Episode of Lost! or Battlestar Galactica.
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Update at 9:00pm
I love how every episode starts with the "This Show May Have Disturbing Images, Viewer Discretion is Advised."
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Tonight's episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska (9pm/8pm central, on TLC!) promises to be "controversial". We know this because Palin has told us so on twitter:
"Controversial" Sarah Palin's Alaska hunting episode tonight? Really?"
she also told us that:
"I remain proudly intolerant of anti-hunting hypocrisy. :)"
Its a little unclear exactly who first said tonight's episode will be controversial since she didn't actually link to any pre-episode criticism, but we'll take her at her word when she says that a "controversy" exists.
The preview for tonight's episode promises a both caribou hunting and wolf encounters! Will Sarah Palin survive meeting the wolf? (The answer is probably going to be "yes", but we will play along.)
We at FrumForum can't wait to see if she ends up making caribou steaks or caribou burgers. Which form of cooked meat is more rogue-ish?
As a side note, many people I spoke to about this episode were sad to learn that we will not get to see Palin hunt wolves from a helicopter. If this series gets renewed for another season, copter-wolf-hunting should be on the agenda.