Top Shot (Season 4)

[9mmepiphany]

Be sure to watch Behind The Shot for interesting insight into the shooters.

Chris was a weekend shooter. He usually shot once a month or once every couple of months before he decided to enter Top Shot. His friends asked him if he really thought he was good enough to compete and his answer was, "There's only one way to find out."

He is very competitive and very confident in his fundamental skills, focus and determination. He was open to instruction, as he knew he didn't have much experience with the different weapons...his favorite platform is the shotgun...but he picks up new techniques very quickly because he isn't handicapped by being invested in prior technique.

He believed the best shooter in the house was Will.

There is also a lot of insight in Blue Teams dysfunction and a very different look at the personalities of Gabe and Chee

 

[AethelstanAegen]

It was a good one. I was glad to see Chris pull off the win...what a close final round!

 

[Mr. D]

I was actually rooting for Chee until he was eliminated. He was a very strong performer. After that, I hoped Kyle would win - I actually liked him. I certainly don't mind Chris winning, though. It seems like he is a great guy. I would NEVER have thought Greg would make it to the very end. Too bad this was the last season. Top Shot is one "reality" show that is worth watching. BTW, did anyone else think it would have been easier to shoot the center target first and the outside ring last on the lever-action challenge?

 

[oldgold]

Told my son-in-law early on it was going to be either Chris or Chee. Greg was a suprise.
Chris lacked the "attitude' most LEO's and military guys have. They seem to think they know everything and paid little attention to the pros. Chris, however, knew he needed all the help he could get.

Gabe represents what I'm trying to point out. He thought he was a pro with any weapon yet he couldn't hit a gumball at 30 feet ! With a scope? Out here at my range we shoot golfballs at 25 yards [75 feet] with pistols.

Congrats to Chris, fine job.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Chris had a little attitude about him that i didn't care about. He wasn't nearly as open to instruction as say Kelly. But he won so maybe he really didn't need the advice? who knows.

I gave this some thought overnight and talked to folks who know/have met him...and one thing stands out about him when he shoots. He is extremely focused.

Being focused when shooting or during instruction is very boring to watch...so I doubt it would make it off the cutting room floor.

What would make you think he wasn't open to instruction?

I don't recall any scenes where he challenged the instructors.

The only team challenge where he didn't do well was the first one with the resetting targets. The only shooter who was more consistent was Will

 

[Capybara]

Watched it last night with my son, we were both happy that Chris won. Greg was a typical macho d***, really a stereotype overly cocky jock, although I will give him props that he can shoot, he has talent.

I think Chris made it because he was focused and precise as well as open minded. He was a keen observer, learned the new skills (Atlatl?) quickly and he rarely got flustered, whereas ALL of the other "pros" did, often to their downfall.

I wanted Kyle to win or Gabby, they were both good, strong shooters as well as nice. I just wrote a story on the photography of Top Shot for an industry magazine, I interviewed the publicist and the cinematographer, the story will appear in www.hdvideopro.com in the next issue. As of three weeks ago, they had not yet picked up the show for Season 5 but I think that they pulled pretty good ratings for Season 4 so I am optimistic they will get picked up by History.

I may get a chance to visit the set if they shoot Season 5, that will be fun.

 

[valnar]

Too bad this was the last season.

Where did you hear that?

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Too bad this was the last season.
Where did you hear that?

So far it hasn't been picked up for a 5th season yet. I'm not sure if it's been cancelled but so far it hasn't been renewed or scheduled for season 5.

 

[Husker_Fan]

I thought it was pretty neat to see Chris come from slightly behind on the last station and beat Greg on the grenade launcher. Especially since Greg was a champion grenadier and Chris had never shot a launcher before.

 

[parsimonious_instead]

I thought it was pretty neat to see Chris come from slightly behind on the last station and beat Greg on the grenade launcher. Especially since Greg was a champion grenadier and Chris had never shot a launcher before.

That's probably my favorite part of watching this show. Seeing people handle and fire weapons they've never even touched before, and often doing quite well with them.

And seeing the teams gel together and fire crew-served weapons with reasonable efficiency and efficacy is always fun, too.

 

[jawman]

I've been watching Top Shot since the first season aired and it's definitely saddening that they aren't sure if they should renew it for a 5th season. I hope they work something out. I think Kyle, Chee, and Chris were my favorites. There were others but I can't really remember their names as they didn't make it that far. I didn't like Greg because he was always trying to stir something up with other people in the house, and had an offensive attitude to a lot of other people for what seemed like no legitimate reason. He wasn't that good either and just got lucky that he got as far as he did. There were so many times when he snuck by by the skin of his teeth. I think Kyle and Chee were some of the best and if they had half the amount of luck that Greg had, they would have been able to stay longer and Greg would be the one leaving early. And I will echo what others have said about Greg being the cocky, jock, macho, d-bag type guy. Also if you watched the Behind the Bullet episode, Greg was the one who formed a secret mob alliance to try to take out people from the competition by forming an alliance of people who would never shoot each others' target and would only shoot at who they all agreed to. No wonder the blue team couldn't get along, they could all smell what was in the air and knew something wasn't right. What a cheap, heartless, backstabbing bastard Greg is. No one ever likes "that" guy. I'm glad he didn't win, and even happier that he got as far as he did and still lost. Karma maybe? To me it was apparent that his callous attitude was a defense mechanism and a veil put up to hide his feeble emotional system and low self esteem. It's a shame that people are like that but that's just my $.02 and my psychology side speaking out. Overall, I was glad to see Chris win, as he was actually a nice, good guy with nothing but the best intentions. It goes to show that anyone from any background can succeed at shooting, even if they don't have military or LE experience. Chris was one of those types that absorbs knowledge quickly and can retain it easily and recall it when needed in order to succeed. Good for him.

 

[parsimonious_instead]

I've been watching Top Shot since the first season aired and it's definitely saddening that they aren't sure if they should renew it for a 5th season. I hope they work something out. I think Kyle, Chee, and Chris were my favorites. There were others but I can't really remember their names as they didn't make it that far. I didn't like Greg because he was always trying to stir something up with other people in the house, and had an offensive attitude to a lot of other people for what seemed like no legitimate reason.

Greg was both grating and weird, with his odd bandana ritual and excessive reverence for departed players. He frequently expressed contempt of the others' shooting skills while being overly confident in his own.

I actually found him less pleasant to watch than last season's Jake Zweig.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

I actually found him less pleasant to watch than last season's Jake Zweig.

At least Jake was up front and honest about being a d-bag. Greg was a snake in the grass. Always shooting everyone else's capabilities down (especially Chris) while trying to chest thump himself.

 

[jawman]

Yeah, Greg did overrate himself repeatedly, like in the episode when he said he shot more targets than Will and that Will only shot 1 target and should go to elimination. Thankfully Will stood up and said "that's not possible, I hit at least 4 total because I hit 3 in a row before so and so came up." And Greg's face immediately went red, yet he continued with his lies to cover his own ass and throw others under the bus. I wish they would show the hit statistics to the contestants that we the viewers get to see, because for that challenge Greg had one of the worst percentages and a lowest hit counts, yet he claimed to have one of the highest and best scores while falsely claiming that others did poor when they actually did better than him. And let's not forget what started it all, the very first episode when Greg eliminated Frank, it was only by 1 target, and Frank was a janitor, and Greg has years of military and LE experience (once again, Greg got EXTREMELY lucky and should have been eliminated on the first episode). When Greg won he replied "deuces Frank" and walked away without shaking the guys hand or anything. Right away I knew we had another low life d-bag.

As for Jake, he was pretty despicable. Remember, he was the first contestant in the history of the show to quit the show on their own decision before even going to the elimination round because he was too afraid of being eliminated, so he would rather eliminate himself. The only loser is a quitter, and that's exactly what Jake was. Losing just means you'll win another day. Even if you go to compete in something and don't win, you gain the experience and knowledge to take with you another day. But not trying at all and quitting is for the real losers. Jake was a football coach and I feel really bad for the kids he coaches, having a jerk like that as a coach. The guy is a terrible role model. I also feel bad for his wife because the guy had such a totalitarian, bigoted my-way-or-the-highway type attitude, and really disrespected the female contestants on the sole fact that they were women. The guy was a complete and total scumbag.

 

[Kingofthehill]

Watched it last night with my son, we were both happy that Chris won. Greg was a typical macho d***, really a stereotype overly cocky jock, although I will give him props that he can shoot, he has talent.

Call Greg what you want, he did seem very polite and professional to Chris when he lost. He was very polite even though he lost and he was very calm and acted like an adult even to lose.

He seemed like an overall decent guy and only jumped on the back of those that personally went after him. I was happy to see either guy win.

 

[RBid]

This seemed like a weak season. I still enjoyed watching it, but I felt like the competitors were generally less impressive than previous seasons'.

I hope Season 5 happens, and that it brings in some great shooters.

 

[allaroundhunter]

I felt like the competitors were generally less impressive than previous seasons

I completely agree. I think that Chee was the best shooter in the group. Chris is good, but I don't see him making it in the competition circuit.

 

[beatledog7]

I enjoy the show, and I hope it continues to select the kinds of shooters it has thus far: people from all over the place in terms of their shooting background.

For Season 5 they should bring back the first three eliminated in normal competition from the first four seasons and team then against the top three non-winners from the same seasons. That would show whether the results were valid--that the shooters left near the end really are the best shooters. The team rounds are supposed to weed out the weakest shooters, and wouldn't it be interesting to see the early-out team smoke the final four team?

Sportsmanship and fair play are one thing; self-interest is another. Once you get done with teams, a shooter who really wants to win would like to see two things happen in each challenge: he stays safe from elimination, and the guys who go to elimination are his chief competition. In other words, he'd try to use elimination against guys he thinks can beat him. The idea that you send the poorest performer on a given day is honorable, I suppose, but not realistic.

IMHO the best shooter ever to hit the show was George, the guy who I think threw the title in Season 2.

 

[longhair75]

This season had a lot more shooting and a whole lot less house drama. I was pulling for Gabby

 

[Mike J]

I was glad to see Chris win. It is no wonder that Blue team never did really gel when Greg had created a "clique" within the team. I believe he deserved to lose & I can understand why some of his teammates resented him. I was very impressed by Gabby. That is one tough lady.

I was left kind of wondering if Gabby & Chee might be spending some time together after the show was over with.

 

[4kdave]

I agree with Beatledog that would make for a great season.

 

[jawman]

I agree with all of the above. I liked Gabby and would've like to see her win. She could shoot a hell of a lot better than Greg could. Blue team suffered thanks to Greg's weasel-like tactics. He was a poison for that team. The red team was the exact opposite and was full of comradeship and teamwork.

 

[TyGuy]

Goes to show you that training can make you a great shooter, but there's something to be said for innate ability too.

 

[Vector]

Watched it last night with my son, we were both happy that Chris won. Greg was a typical macho d***, really a stereotype overly cocky jock, although I will give him props that he can shoot, he has talent.

I was no fan of Greg's, but he did not strike me that way at all. He seemed goofy and overly sensitive, not a macho head case.

I also respected the way he lost with graciousness. Many people losing by one shot for all that money and prestige could very well have acted differently.

 

[Capybara]

I agree, he did lose the finale with grace, I give him that. But did you see his audition tape? My wife was in the room, doesn't even like or watch the show and when she saw Greg's audition tape clip, even she said, "what an a-hole." Cracked me and my son up.

He just seemed to want to stir things up, which I know reality tv producers love, its all about manufactured drama.