‘Ride with Norman Reedus’ Recap: ‘The North Island of New Zealand with Josh Brolin’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season five premiere of ‘Ride with Norman Reedus’.

One would think that television shows about road trips, wouldn’t be popular in the slightest. Because anyone who has taken a road trip and enjoyed all of their benefits knows… that there is nothing like the first-hand experience. But these particular shows continue to gain in popularity, for several reasons. Such as the fact that they allow for folks to live vicariously through their host and see places that they might not ever make it to and more often than not… they tend to allow for us to get to know a big-time celebrity on a more intimate level. So, we can get a solid idea of what kind of person they are and what makes them tick and those reasons are precisely why Ride with Norman Reedus is such a beloved series.

Because this particular road trip show, really does allow for us to get to see Norman Reedus the man and the good and gentle person that he truly is. And of course, he definitely takes us to some unique and magnificent locations around the world and makes a point of teaching us about his destination so that the series has more to it than mere bike rides and pretty shots and for the start of his fifth season on the road, Norman took us to a part of the globe that few us of know anything about, New Zealand. Or to be more specific, its northern island. And well, what we were able to learn about this magical and beautiful place during ‘The North Island of New Zealand with Josh Brolin’, made for one satisfying and fascinating and downright fun, season premiere.

For it took the time to show us just how much New Zealanders love their sports, to the point where a drifting contest attracts crowds as big as football does in the United States and of course, coming to a drift contest when you’re the host and guest of a road trip television show, means you need to get in on the action. Which led to some hilarious moments as Norman and Josh were able to experience the fun of drifting first-hand, and they also visited some unique places around the island. Such as the caves where bioluminescent worms live and thrive, and they even had the opportunity to visit Hobbiton. Which is a place that was initially built as a set for the popular Lord of the Rings films, but eventually turned into a tourist attraction for LOTR fans from around the globe.

But there was mention of lessons to be found within the framework of this show, and that came about by way of more intimate moments. For Josh and Norman also spent a lot of time in this particular tale, getting to know the people of New Zealand. Which allowed for us to learn exactly how tight knit and downright friendly this community truly is. Since everyone here was open and warm to Norman and Josh and that allowed for these gents to really just hang out and get to know people in supremely relaxed manner and it also helped for them to garner all kinds of knowledge about the local culture of this island. Because they were also able to spend time in small villages populated by indigenous New Zealanders and learn about the many rich customs and traditions that are still adhered to in present day, and that really did make for some fascinating and beautiful moments for certain, since you can never go wrong with learning as much as possible about the history of other cultures.

Plus, it was also nice to see that Josh and Norman became fast friends, the kind that knew how to play off of one another’s humor to the point where they were eager to take part in silly shenanigans everywhere they went, with Hobbiton producing the most laughs of course. But what matters most, is that we got to get to know Josh Brolin a little better and see that he’s quite the relaxed and chill guy  and of course, Norman was his gracious self once again, since he was happy to take a little time out of his day to make fans of The Walking Dead smile and well, it’s just a real treat to have this show back on the air. Because not only is it a wonderful way to enjoy a beautiful road trip from a distance, but it is also a wonderful escape for this last leg of quarantine and well, now that this opening journey has come to a close, it should be interesting to see what other unique and beautiful places Norman is going to introduce us to, in the weeks to come. Until next time.

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