TV Review: The Deadliest Warrior

Enjoying Netflix Instant play on my television, I decided to check out the Spike TV series, Deadliest Warrior. I had watched one episode previously, comparing Billy the Kid and Al Capone. At some points it seemed rather silly, with the various historians backing their interest against the other, amounting basically to a "my dad can beat up your dad" rant. And, unfortunately, that element seems to be a recurring theme in each episode. But perhaps the show's greatest drawback is that it fails to achieve its primary goal; that is, predict who would win in a fight between various warriors. I feel as though I can say this because their methodology is so flawed I wonder how they can take it seriously. Perhaps the best example is the episode, "Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz." They continued the same style of tests they did with other warriors, which is to basically test the damage their weapons cause (which may have had more credibility in other episodes such as "Samurai vs. Viking" since they primarily used hand-to-hand weapons). Now, because the American M67 grenade makes a bigger boom than the Russian grenade, the Green Berets get the advantage there. They also test rifles, pistols, and a hand-to-hand weapon. I think the point lost on the show was that weapons don't make special forces special. It's their training and specific types of missions, which were in no way accounted for in their testing. There is also a problem in not recognizing the differences in modi operandi between different warriors. They paired ninjas against Spartans. Spartans had the advantage because of their large shields (making the shuriken ineffective), and the fact that ninjas don't typically use armor. But not accounted for is the fact that ninjas don't line up in ranks and fight large scale battles; they don't wear armor because they emphasize agility and stealth. We don't say running shoes are better than work boots simply because we can run faster in the former. They have different applications, just like different warriors. So, if anything, this show is useful for the fact that you might learn something about the weapons that various warriors used and what they do to pig cadavers. For speculating who would win in a fight...not so much.