By Iain Harrison

Let's deal with the main dramatic element first. Did anyone notice how choppy the editing was in this week's episode? It was almost as if Jake had a story to tell, but it didn't fit the narrative. According to Mr. Zweig, three out of the four malfunctions he experienced with the STI pistol were left on the cutting room floor. Whether these were self-induced or due to the gun and ammo is probably not going to be resolved, however, his stoppage drills as portrayed left a little to be desired.

Having seen firsthand how a different perspective from behind the camera can make a scene appear entirely at odds to the one perceived by the participants, I'm forced to trot out my first rule of reality TV; it's all in the edit. My second rule of reality TV is; if you don't give them the material, they can't use it against you. If you want to avoid being portrayed as blustering and foul-mouthed, then you really need to watch what you say or do around the camera, which admittedly is a lot easier said than done when they're rolling 24/7.

After Jake quit, you could almost hear the producers scratching their heads, trying to figure out how to resolve the crisis. Bringing back Mike Hughes was a good choice and one that may well prove fateful for a number of the remaining competitors, as his performance with the Sako TRG was inspiring. He managed to remain calm and collected enough to figure out that single-loading the rifle after a miss was going to be a lot quicker than ejecting the magazine, throwing a few rounds into it, reseating and working the bolt handle. After Phil ran the gun dry with the other magazine on the ground, his fate was pretty much sealed.

Next week sees one of the biggest props yet to make its debut with notorious 3-gunner Matt Burkett. Who doesn't like a little MP5 full-auto action?