How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Alice doesn't travel," he said. "You want Alice? Shoot the scene here."
…Derek didn't want to hear about it. "Save your pretty little lake for an air-freshener commercial."
Mickey said, "If it's good enough for Disney, it's plenty good enough for you, mate." (4.50-53)
Even though Alice is the perfect alligator for his show, Derek is about to quit just because he can't have his way and bring her out into the Everglades. And then he tries to make his show seem too good to use the false wilderness set Mickey built. Ugh.
Quote #2
Over Derek's objections, Mickey insisted on conducting a rehearsal so he could demonstrate the safest way to handle the big snake.
Derek barely paid attention. "Piece o' cake, mate," he kept saying.
"Sometimes she bites," Wahoo reminded him.
"Ha! Never show you're afraid, because animals can sense it, said Derek. "Do you even know what true primal fear smells like?" (5.71-74)
You know what is going to happen to him, right? Exactly what he deserves. This scene shows that when an expert is giving you advice, you really should pay attention. What's worse is that Derek gives them advice on how to handle wild animals. Can we get another ugh? Ugh.
Quote #3
"That's the worst excuse for a python I ever saw!" It was Derek, lurching to his feet. "You call that a snake? Ha! I call it an overstuffed earthworm." (5.104)
When Derek attacks Beulah, trying to get the sleepy snake to fight him for the camera, Mickey jumps on him to make him let go. Instead of apologizing for abusing Mickey's animal, Derek immediately thinks he was right and insults Beulah.
Quote #4
Although loyal viewers of Expedition Survival! never would have guessed, Derek Badger dined like a king during his televised survival missions. (6.47)
One of the messages in Chomp is about how unnecessary luxury and excess are in making a person happy; fine dining is one way Derek treats himself better than everyone else.
Quote #5
"Derek displayed the raw scrapes on his knees and a scabby lip. "This is all your fault."
The director thought: I'm not the clown who climbed on the alligator's back.
Raven said, "The most important thing is that nobody got seriously hurt."
"No, the most important thing is my show," Derek snapped. (8.5-8)
Instead of taking the rightful responsibility for his escapade with Alice, Derek blames the director who had no part in it. Derek's pride will not allow him to recognize reality, even when it bites him on the khakis. It also clouds his mind so that he believes the show is more important than human life.
Quote #6
"Be sure and tell them we're the number one rated survival show on TV!"
"Right."
"Broadcast twice weekly across all eight continents!"
"Eight continents?" whispered the director.
Raven put a finger to her lips. "Let it go." (9.58-62)
One of the reasons Derek has built himself up to be so grand and all-knowing is that people like Raven keep him ignorant and let him make so many mistakes without having to take responsibility for them and learn from them.
Quote #7
"Call the hotel," he told Raven through her headphones. "Tell them to move me to a room with a Jacuzzi. Chop-chop!" (11.103)
While his crew and hired wranglers sleep out in the Everglades wilderness, Derek hires a helicopter to take him to a fancy hotel every night. How is that for real and rugged?
Quote #8
Those cheap weasels at the network had offered to renew Derek's contract with a 10 percent raise that he considered highly insulting, and well below what was necessary to maintain the proper lifestyle of an international television star (and now yachtsman). (12.120)
Hmmm… we wonder if Derek will ever take the hint that he might only be worth as much as his employers are willing to pay him.
Quote #9
Most people who were nearly drowned by a twelve-foot gator would feel grateful to be alive and not eager to repeat the foolhardy behavior that had gotten them into that situation. No such contemplation entered the mind of Derek Badger […] His reckless brush with death actually made him feel invincible. (12.122)
Invincible means Derek feels like he can't die. Since we're pretty sure death is a fact of life for all living creatures, nothing seems like a better example of how ridiculously full of himself Derek is than barely escaping death and interpreting it as being somehow above dying.
Quote #10
Predictably, Derek pitched a tantrum, cursing and hollering like a brat. He drop-kicked a plastic bottle of mosquito repellent into the woods. He dumped a tray of turkey sandwiches into the mud. (14.125)
When Derek finds out he cannot sleep in the hotel because of a storm moving in, he goes bonkers. Of course someone with this much pride thinks his life is at the center of the universe and that no one else matters as much as his personal desires. Does Raven take on any of the responsibility for his reaction?