Here is your favorite reality TV show 60 Days In. As a social experiment, participants of the program sign up to be placed among real criminals who have been jailed for real crimes they’ve committed. The participants each have a cover story to fall back to in case the inmates get suspicious that they aren’t one of them.
Some of the participants are police officers, others are regular folks who decide to partake in the social experiment. However, the lives of those involved are in real danger and serious injuries can be inflicted (and sometimes are) on them. Here are 10 of the best and worst moments looking back through the whole six seasons of this gripping reality TV show.
Season 1, Episode 12: An Inmate Gets Beat Up For Stealing
Newbolt's lunch tray was stolen and he is furious about it. He starts ranting in the D-Pod, challenging anybody to come to take any of his commissaries from him. He is on edge and keeps saying the person who stole his commissary was a coward. Newbolt is one of the older guys in the D-Pod, he also happens to be a dealer (out of jail of course). He happens to be one of the most dangerous guys around, with a bunch of inmates taking orders from him, few people dare to challenge him. An inmate, Howerton, goes to intervene and resolve the issue. He ends up beating one of the inmates and comes out of the bunk smiling.
Season 1, Episode 4: Robert Goes To Solitary
Robert makes a desperate move. In an attempt to show the other inmates that he is one of them and not a cop he breaks the rules. He gets 30 days of solitary confinement for tampering with the security cameras. It would look like his plan backfired, but it could be considered a good thing. He did need some time alone to strategize because Robert just happens to be doing a lot of things wrong. He could be putting himself in danger with his out of line behavior. He doesn’t take the solitary confinement to heart though, he tries to express enthusiasm and respect for the authorities enforcing the rules – even if it meant he was the victim.
Season 1, Episode 2: Robert’s Cover Story Falls Apart
Robert being one of the outsiders is on the verge of being exposed. Apparently, his cover story had a flaw in it. According to his story, he was pulled over for running a stop sign and arrested for an outstanding warrant. The only problem was that he also mentioned he was driving on l-65, and after a while, one of the inmates points out that there is no stop sign on that road. The inmates have become dangerously suspicious of Robert, with some murmuring that he walks and acts like a cop. This was potentially dangerous for Robert.
Season 1, Episode 3: Tami Solves A Problem
Tami’s shower shoes were stolen by Jennifer. She puts on a strong resistance to the bullying act. She goes around and rallies a few inmates to get back her shower shoes. Though some of the inmates warn Tami of what would happen if her plan to get back her shoes fail, nonetheless she is persistent. One of the inmates tells Tami not to let anyone push her around so they don’t get the liberty to do it again. In the end, Tami solves the issue and her shower shoes get returned. That was a win situation for her and she expressed feeling good that she asserted herself as someone the inmates wouldn’t want to mess around with.
Season 1, Episode 3: Tami & Barbra Meet
Barbra is a stay at home mom and she is only beginning to learn the rules of the game and surviving in the F-Pod. She keeps to herself and avoids interactions with the other inmates. Tami makes an effort to approach Barbra and according to Barbra, she felt like they had an instant connection.
Both Tami and Barbra are undercover. Tami mentions that the reason she went to Barbra was that she felt Barbra was naïve and would have gotten herself hurt. They talked and discovered they had a few things in common. They both expressed gratitude for having the companionship of the other.
Season 6: Tony’s Friend Breaks His Hand
Tony’s friend, Justin isn’t pleased with Donyell’s sanitary habits. He complains to Tony about it and when he gets too pissed decides to throw a punch at Donyell. Tony is one of the correctional officers in the program as an inmate. Things escalated fast and Justin and Donyell get in a fight. Tony refrains from intervening in their affairs and simply watches from the sides. Justin ends up getting his hand broken. He expresses that he felt betrayed that Tony did not intervene to at least break them up. However, Tony feels Justin and Donyell had their score to settle and since it was a one on one fight, there was no need to stop them from getting it on.
Season 6: Inmate Injured In A Fight
Versace and Willie got into a fight that was inevitable. Although the correctional officers could have prevented it if they had acted in time, they did not. Willie is pissed off and continues ranting and cursing. Versace goes about his business, replying to Willies' provocative statements occasionally. Some of the inmates try to calm them down, but that does not happen. Willie is the instigator, he attacks Versace first and ends up getting stabbed multiple times. It appeared Versace had a shank. Tony points out the negligence of the corrections officers and how they could have prevented the whole incident to ensure everybody’s safety.
Season 4: The Pod Bully
Roo is one of the big guys in the pod. He is relatively muscular compared to the other inmates. He is also aggressive and cunning. Roo likes to assert his dominance by taking commissaries from other inmates (of course he also does it for the benefits). Today he is particularly riled up and talking about pushing on anybody he feels like. He is the pod bully. However, inmate, Tre, decides to stand up for himself and his friend Monte. The result? They both walk into a room and get into a fight. Tre knew a beating was coming. After the fight, his nose is bleeding, but his courage for standing up for him and his friend is applauded.
Season 1: Jeff Gets Beat Up
Some rumors start to circulate that Jeff is a pedophile and that he is in jail because of that. A particular inmate seems pissed off about the whole situation. He keeps making complaints and whispers about how Jeff is a nasty pedophile. When the inmate decided he had reached his breaking point he attacks Jeff, hitting him in the face and breaking his glasses. Thankfully, there was no major fight and Jeff recounts that he is unable to see without his glasses. Also, no major injuries were sustained apart from the broken nose. No one makes any attempt to caution the attacker and the whole incident simply dies down with some of the inmates telling Jeff to sit and be quiet.
Season 1: Robert’s Friend Gets Attacked
There is a buzz of bad blood circulating amongst some of the inmates. DiAundre is the victim of their hate. Some of the inmates express their dislike for the guy, mentioning that he eats like a female. Meanwhile, DiAndre is sitting by himself at a table, eating. One of the inmates walks to him, he behaves as though he is waiting for the right moment and then all of a sudden he attacks DiAundre. He hits him twice on the side of the face before an officer gets a hold of him. Robert learns about it and expresses that he would feel bad if DiAundre was attacked for being nice to him.