The Hero: Survival of the Fittest

MANILA, Philippines - The Hero, the newest adventure-reality series hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is a combination of real-life drama, adventure and strength (physical, mental, emotional and moral) of the participants. It is like The Apprentice, Survivor, The Amazing Race and even Fear Factor all rolled into one — and more.

 The Hero is the greatest adventure-competition. It is the most daunting test of courage, strength, self-sacrifice, trust and integrity for nine individuals who are housed in a luxury condominium in Panama, where they are billeted throughout the entire series.

Like The Apprentice, the participants in The Hero are all housed in one place and they get to do tasks that will test their skills and endurance. Like The Amazing Race, they get to travel by land, sea and air to do the challenges, although at the end of the day, they still find themselves in the same house.

After every challenge, the participants in The Hero reconvene inside the war room at the penthouse and assess their task with The Rock. Then they vote for the one who will do the solo Hero Challenge, where the money to be won will be added to their cash pot or can be kept individually.

Like Fear Factor, the participants have to overcome their fears to do the challenges that will face them. Like Survivor, the participants have to work as a team to complete the challenge, although no immunity awaits any of them but a cash prize is at stake.

In the first challenge, two people had to rappel off a skyscraper and swing toward each other to hold each other’s hand so they could get a six-digit code. In another challenge, two people had to ride a chopper while four had to navigate the town looking for locations.

In the third episode, one had to bravely rappel down the Centennial Bridge in the city and solve a riddle to win the cash prize of $50,000. “Where can you find cities without people, forest without trees, streets without cars, oceans without water?” A map.

The nine people joining the show are Marty, a construction worker from New York; Darnell, a field service technician from Washington; Athena, a cheerleader from Massachusetts; Charles, a police officer from California; Patty, a married mom who holds three jobs from Massachusetts; Rachel, a single parent-teacher from South Carolina; Shaun, a professional wrestler and sports entertainer from Maryland; Dave, a trauma surgeon from Texas; and Lydia, a personal trainer/fitness instructor from California.

Inside the condominium, there is a TV monitor that details the group’s challenges for the day, with rules and instructions. The team selects the person/people who will do the challenges or somebody can volunteer.

The participants are subjected to a cornucopia of emotions the whole time they are in a condominium in Panama. You see tears, anger, fear, disappointment, loneliness, excitement, surprise and happiness.

With the obstacles, temptations, offers and punishing challenges, the participants sometimes inevitably fight, connive, shout, cry, help each other or hate each other.

In doing the team challenge, The Rock dangles a huge amount to any individual in the team. There were those who were tempted to accept the cash offer ($35,000 or even $50,000), while there were others who declined right away.

The show focuses not just on the “physical challenges” but also on the “mental and moral” aspects. It tests one’s honesty and integrity while doing the challenges. At the end of the series, the winner gets a grand prize of $1M, which is life-changing for anyone.

The Rock may come as terrorizing wrestler inside the ring or he may be larger than life as a celluloid star more often than not, but in The Hero, he is a charismatic host and a genuinely gentle motivator who understands what the participants are going through.

The Hero airs every Thursday night at 9 on AXN.