You don’t get to see many war images in the Putin and the West. The BBC’s documentary series about the new Cold War between Russia and the West mainly shows the political and diplomatic movements surrounding the war in Ukraine. President Zelensky and other Ukrainians wear combat clothing, but otherwise you mainly see elderly men wearing ties.
Putin and the West (NPO 2) was initially a three-part series that only showed the run-up to the war, from the Russian capture of Crimea in 2014 until the invasion in 2022. This has now been supplemented with two new episodes about the first year of the war. . Monday was the end, but you can imagine that we are far from finished with the series.
This final section, “Escalation,” deals with Ukrainian efforts to obtain more weapons from the US and its allies; about the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain exports; about the nuclear threat; and about the rocket that landed on Polish territory – this last story was not properly covered.
It is impressive how many important participants producer Norma Percy got in front of the camera and how freely they talk about a war that is still going on. The Western perspective is still dominant, but the fact that everything is shifting in the world can be seen in the participation of African diplomats and politicians and in the important role that China has. Unfortunately, there are no Chinese players in the series. They do have Xiang Lanxin, professor of international politics, who calls on the West not to return to the ‘cold war mentality’ that ignores that there are now “several centers of power” in the world.
The dispute between the West and China is: do you want to fight to victory or do you want peace with the loss of the eastern territories? Belarusian UN Ambassador Valentin Rybakov sneers: “Good luck to anyone who wants to defeat a nuclear power on the battlefield.”
Playing torture chamber
The fact that the Dutch cannot yet imagine that they will ever experience a war on their own territory is evident from the enthusiasm with which TV makers play war. Last week the fourth season of Camp Van Koningsbrugge, in which participants must attend a boot camp. In the final episodes they were handcuffed and hung from the ceiling in an enemy camp with a black bag over their heads, while they were forced to listen to hard metal. Playing torture chamber – I don’t know.
This week the adventure game followed at the same time Hunted into the Wild VIPS (NPO 1). Twelve famous Dutch people have to survive in a Norwegian forest for a week and stay out of the hands of human hunters. As is known, there is a scarcity on the VIP market, so the participants are not that well known. This professional viewer only knew five of them, including the Sex Sisters.
Biologist Mátyás Bittenbinder and ecologist Sterrin Smalbrugge should be used to some nature, but here they complain a bit. The terrain is too rough, everything is wet, everything hurts. After one day of climbing in the wrong direction, morale is already dangerously low. The TikTokkers Appie Mussa and Pieter Valley are quite visible with their light blue backpacks. Presenter Loiza Lamers (Holland’s Next Top Model) and singer Do steal the show with their lavish camouflage look. Their experience Expedition Robinson It paid off: they covered the most kilometers in a radiant mood.
This first episode is not very exciting yet. And I keep thinking of real hunted refugees at Europe’s external borders and other nasties that I see on the news. Perhaps more of a game for peacetime.
Wilfred Takken and Amber Wiznitzer have been appointed permanent TV critics of NRC. They already temporarily filled in for Rinskje Koelewijn and will from now on provide the Zap section every other week.
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