Todd Sampson's BodyHack 2.0: Episode 2 Recap

The first episode of Todd Sampson's BodyHack which I wrote about last week here in my recap saw Todd hang out with cannibals and rolling around in the streets.

In this second episode, Todd is invited to hang out with an Iraqi shock troop in the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul. At the beginning of the episode where Todd meets the troop, he encounters a young sniper who is only 21 years old.

The soldiers then share how many ISIS militants they killed the day prior, a few say they've killed 5, one guy says 50. For ten days, Todd embeds himself with the troop assigned to the commander.

If you think this is edited/scripted war to make for interesting television, then you're watching the wrong show. Sampson sees himself actually alongside real soldiers firing real bullets and projectiles at Islamic State militants. You also see the militants firing back at the troop.

As they enter a recently reclaimed part of the territory, advertisements featuring women can be seen blacked out as a sign of who was once occupying the space before it was recaptured.

We are then treated to some interesting scientific facts about how stress impacts the body and it can have serious health side-effects like altering your digestion and raising cholesterol levels, increasing your chances of heart attack significantly. But apparently, it's mostly in your mind and using different techniques you can reduce the effects of stress entirely.

After a twelve hour shift of battle, they go back to their quarters and Todd is treated with a traditional Iraqi meal. Then they share home videos of ISIS militants being blown up and shot, with one soldier proudly showing Todd photos of ISIS militants that he has shot.

The next day it is raining and Todd has to stay behind because apparently, it is great weather for the ISIS militants to hunt their snipers. The weather clears up and Todd heads out with the troops. They reclaim a derelict house and a dog runs out freaking Todd out big time.

Then Todd and the 21-year-old sniper are held up in the house where the sniper is looking out the window for militants while Todd sits against a wall freaking out over every noise that he hears.

After another long shift, the troop returns back to base where some bad news is delivered. Todd's roommate has been pinned down by enemy snipers and they hope that by nightfall he'll be able to get out.

And fortunately, once night comes, Todd's roommate makes it back alive. It's quite touching to see Todd is legitimately happy that he has come back alive.

On that positive note, Todd goes and hangs out with some medical volunteers who are constantly being subjected to high levels of stress and treating people with bullet wounds and other serious injuries. One of the hazards is driving an ambulance that has had projectiles fired at it.

In one scene a soldier who has been shot in the arm is seen and heard screaming in pain as the medical staff assess him.

Just outside of the trauma centre bombs and gunfire can be heard, not a single person inside except Todd is bothered with the conflict ensuing around them because they've become desensitised to it.

In one of the most confronting scenes, Todd returns back to the troop and one of the soldiers (a sniper) who was only 27 years old is killed. The effects of war hit everyone and regardless of how well they are trained, the emotion washes over everyone and it is quite heartbreaking to watch.

It turns out when they were pinned down one of the soldiers was with him (pictured above) and held him when he died. When he returned he had to wash the blood off of his uniform before he could greave.

Shortly thereafter, their commander gets a phone call and they're called back to the frontlines. An anger has swept through the unit and everyone is now recharged and motivated to fight ISIS even harder.

Fortunately the battle for Mosul was won, but the fight against Islamic State continues. This episode was even more confronting than seeing a cannibal eat rotting flesh from a human skull in episode one.