To me, the whole idea of Dual Survival was to show that 2 people with skills that compliment each other and make up for each other's weaknesses was better than 1 person going it alone.
Dave was great at trapping and procuring meat with multiple methods. (pretty impressive when he killed a 6 ft gator with a paring knife and a stick, and stealing honey from a killer bee hive, well this is how legends are made). Really solid skills all around. Rope climbing skills, orienteering, and good old Redneck know how.
Cody was great at making fire in very primitive ways and making things using primitive methods like weaving baskets, shoes, Flint knapping to make a knife, weaving vines and grasses to make cordage. But you would starve half to death with this guy until you got used to eating bugs. he never set a single animal trap or caught anything with meat in the entire show's history that I recall. And the barefoot philosophy is just crazy.
Step on some broken glass or hawthorne and all that barefoot hippy nonsense goes out the window.
Joe Teti is actually a lot better than I thought he would be at first, but he is no Dave Canterbury. Dave above all, knew the value of teamwork, and would give Cody the respect he deserved to keep the teamwork in place. Joe would survive better by himself. Any teamwork is accidental. He views Cody as a hindrance. He would evac an area at 15 mph and run for 36 hours straight. But he is forced to plod along at Cody's pace and you can tell, he isn't liking it. Cody actually wants to go slow, since it gives him more time to teach, which seems to be one of his main drivers.
But Joe has a tenacious survival mindset and is of course in great physical condition. he also does a good job at thinking through problems. He is clearly a high speed - low drag operator. But not a good team mate for Suzie Homemaker.
The original chemistry was pretty good as well as entertaining. The Joe and Cody show, not so much.
I thought I heard M. Hawke was going to replace Cody. That would likely be a flop even though he is very skilled. 2 military types that have the same skillset, will not demonstrate the basis of the show, ie. 2 different skillsets complimenting one another. The show will also lack the interesting aspects of a hippy and a military type personality trying to get along.
