Say what you will about Netflix, you have to admit that they do reality shows right.

Their latest is Surviving Paradise – the titular similarity to Survivor I suspect is no coincidence – revolves around 15 people who all have to stay in pretty primitive circumstances, till half of them are lifted up, so to speak, to Paradise: a palatial home where every need is catered to and the menu extends to more than beans and rice.

Over the nine-episode first season players movie back and forth between luxury and primitive accommodations, all the while making allegiances, which lies at the heart of the game because if you mistreat someone on the way up, you’re likely to meet them again on the way down.

This ability to rise and fall fairly quickly is the hook – because unlike the players we aren’t competing for the $100,000 prize – as are the shifting allegiances.

And all was good till Episode 5: The Boat Gets Rocked, where we’re introduced to Gabe, quite possibly one of the seediest characters to ever appear on a reality show. On the outside he’s a tall and handsome teacher, while morally speaking he’s not unlike a shark, which is to say that his desire to win was all that mattered to him, and if he needed to stab someone in the back to do so, oh well.

Now keep in mind, I understand that reality shows are less about reality than highly scripted and edited entertainments, so we actually don’t know how manipulative Gabe was because the overarching narrative decided that he be a villain, and was edited in a manner to make bring about exactly that.

Though interestingly the biggest villain is the United States’ healthcare system because at least two people claim that they intend to use the money to pay healthcare costs for loved ones that they wouldn’t be able to handle otherwise.

Though the producers did their job too well to not have Gabe unknowingly contribute to the overall narrative.

Surviving Paradise is pretty entertaining, with big enough personalities to carry through anyone who enjoys such things.