Fans still have a while to go before seeing Chris Hemsworth rocking the hammer again in Thor-mode for the Russo brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday, but there’s no wait required to see the actor showing off his impressive badassery in other ways. The second season of his unscripted series LImitless, now subtitled Live Better Now, is finally available to stream via Hulu subscription and Disney+ subscription, nearly three years after the first season. I’m pretty sure Thor never had to deal with pepper spray or game night electrocutions, though.
The second season of Limitless comprises three episodes of high-octane and high-intensity situations that do indeed test the limits of the human body in various ways, such as fear-abating cliff dives and playing drums in front of a screaming audience for the first time. For the episode “Pain,” the Australian agreed to go through some minor electrocutions, as well as getting doused with pepper spray, and it’s for a reason that I was surprised I could actually relate to: long-held chronic back pain.
Speaking with TVInsider about that episode and others, Hemsworth was asked why he went through such terrible experiences, and he said it was all about trying to find a way to successfully fix or work around the constant back troubles, saying:
Because I’ve struggled with issues with my back and back pain for years, since I was 15. And if someone was going to offer up a solution, I was onboard, whether or not it would mean I’d have to stimulate some more pain to get there. I’m now being a little gentle with myself and having more compassion for the pain and looking at it as, this is my body trying to protect me and saying, “Hey, just go gentle today,” rather than what I had done for years, which was try and stifle that and compress it and remove it and avoid it and deny it.
It's like listening to a mirror...or whatever makes more sense. Having dealt with pinched nerves and muscle problems with my own back for decades, I can 100% sympathize with the decision to go far outside the box to find relief. In Hemsworth's, that box is full of Jenga pieces.
In the episode, Hemsworth and his pals Aaron Grist and Luke Zocchi each get electrodes taped to their chests and stomachs, with a controlled set of shocks encompassing the first part of the process. Then things get more difficult as the mini-electrocutions are delivered as the guys engage in a social activity: playing Jenga! Not that all that much Jenga-playing happens, with each of the men laughing and reacting maniacally as they get jolted.
One goal with these experiements is to see whethever or not a secondary form of pain can successfully get someone to refocus their receptors so that the initial pain isn't felt anymore. Kind of like how if you have a bad headache, stubbing the shit out of your toe on a bedframe can temporarily make said headache dissipate.
Elsewhere in the episode, Hemsworth teams up with a special forces unit led by someone who, instead of being an expert on pain management, is more of a professional pain-deliverer. Perhaps the most bizzarely excrutiating part of the four-stage process involved everyone getting their faces awashed in pepper spray and then grouping up to pull 300-lb. tires by rope, all while the gases and fumes from flash grenades further impede their sight and breathing abilities.
Everything the special forces unit went through sounded and looked like pure hell, and I don't think anyone should expect to see Chris Hemsworth making a repeat appearance. As he put it in the show:
I've never been pepper-sprayed before, and...I don't wanna be pepper-sprayed again.
For all the aches and pains that Hemsworth went through on Limitless, he actually
wasn’t allowed to attempt surfing a 40-foot wave as he'd aimed to, due to insurance issues with Disney, who didn't want him injuring himself before Thor's big return. Thankfully, the actor wasn't dealing with any such painful experiences with his family at the series’ premiere event in July.
All three episodes of LImitless are currently available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. Watching the show hasn't exactly helped my own back problems, but certainly made me grateful about not suffering electrocution pains at the same time. It's the little things.
