One Way Out: Discovery Channel Show Combines Science, Exciting Escapes

As far back as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the acts of escape artists, who put their lives on the line for the entertainment of millions of people. Whether it was trying to get out of a tank full of water or escaping from a building before a bomb went off, these escapes would often be quite thrilling, especially since they often had elements of genuine danger. Such is the case for One Way Out, a series that aired on the Discovery Channel earlier this year and was recently released on DVD. In this show, various scientific topics and how they can be applied to a variety of escapes are explored. As with other escapes, these can be quite dangerous and could prove harmful or even fatal should something go wrong. Let me tell you more about this rather fascinating and exciting series.

The star of the show is Jonathan Goodwin, a professional escape artist, who puts his life on the line as he performs one escape after another. In each episode, he would explore a specific scientific theme in order to prepare for a rather dangerous escape. Among the themes examined were how excessive spinning can affect the body, how much weight an object can take, and how long one can stand cold water. Jonathan would not be alone in preparing for his escapes. He would receive help and advice from his longtime friend Mikey Nelson, and engineering expert Terry Stroud would also offer advice as well as build the contraptions for Jonathan's escapes.

Every episode began with a little test that would begin to help Jonathan understand the trouble that he would be undergoing later on. These tests would be escapes that often had the threat of pain that would be trivial compared to the major escapes that he was planning. For example, he would have his hands glued to a chair and would have to escape while objects would strike him, or he would be bound and gagged, with a scorpion in his mouth, and would have to get free with as little movement as possible, lest he would be stung. Following the tests, Jonathan would explain to the home audience what he had in mind for that episode's final escape, and what sort of additional preparations he would have to make before performing such a dangerous task.

In the next act, Jonathan would further test scientific principles in a variety of ways. He could fall while holding items such as an umbrella to see which one would slow his descent the most. He would spend time in icy cold water and then find out how it would affect his ability to perform simple tasks. He could have Mikey stand on top of him, adding weights along the way, until he could no longer stand the pressure. These experiments would help give Jonathan a better understanding of how the escape should be performed. In the meantime, the preparations for the escape would be ongoing, with the proper contraptions being built and, if necessary, emergency plans in place in the event that something were to go horribly wrong.

The second half of the show would be devoted to Jonathan's final escape, which would often be full of peril in one way or another. He might be tied up and buried alive within a coffin, trapped within a tank of icy cold water, or chained to a stake and running the risk of being burned. Jonathan's mission was to escape from his bonds and get away before he became injured, or worse, killed. Adding to the suspense of these escapes was that they were divided into two acts, with one act devoted to the final preparations, and sometimes, the start of the escape, and the other focusing on the rest of the escape. Somehow, Jonathan would survive each encounter, and at the end of each episode, he and his friends would comment on the experiences and sometimes explain how they would do things different.

I bring the latter point up because there are times when Jonathan is not entirely successful with his escapes. During the aforementioned buried alive escape, he managed to break free of his bonds, only to spend a long time digging out of a lot of dirt. For fear that the dirt may cave in on Jonathan and crush him, his friends quickly freed him from the coffin. Another episode had Jonathan locked in a box flooded with water. When he failed to pick a lock to open a door, his collaborators raced into action to rescue him from a drowning death. These failures added to the suspense, as it leaves the viewers, and even Jonathan himself, unsure of whether or not he will survive to escape another day.

To date, there have been eleven episodes (an hour long pilot that aired in 2008, plus the ten half-hour episodes that aired earlier this year), and every one of them is quite fascinating. As mentioned, the escapes, both on the small scale and the large scale, can be filled with suspense, especially when Jonathan has a tough time trying to get out alive. At the same time, learning about the scientific principles behind the escapes give the series an educational feel, as it makes viewers aware of, and appreciate, some factors of science that they may not have been aware of or knew little about before. This mix of education and suspense makes for a rather enjoyable half hour series. I cannot say when or if more episodes will air, but one can now find the first eleven episodes on a two-disc DVD set. I checked in out from my library recently, and it is definitely worth your time.

The art of escaping can be quite dangerous, and Jonathan Goodwin knows that sensation all too well. Nevertheless, he is always willing to put his life at risk for home viewers while at the same time helping them learn about the ways of science. One Way Out is certainly one of the better shows that I have seen in recent years, and I hope that they bring it back for more episodes someday. In the meantime, be sure to hunt down the DVD set and check out the excitement for yourself. If you are a fan of escape artists like I am, you are certain to not be disappointed.