mythreecents

WalnutQueen, I've only lived on the island 3 years, having moved from the East Coast. You can't beat the trees and the seas out here, I see why you'd miss it. I'm down in Victoria so missing the Up Island gossip. I do have several friends that live up that way but none have ever even heard of the show--they must have kept a pretty low profile! And yes, TV peeps do a great job of ruining a good thing! In this case, for sure.

So happy the show returned to VI, because I'm here and enjoy seeing a setting I'm familiar with. Although I must say I did enjoy last season more than I thought I would. So sad about this pairs business. This is the first episode I've watched all of, and my fears are confirmed: too much bottled reality style that I can see in a gazillion other shows. No introspection. Too much whining. Too little backbone. Too homogenized characters. Too few true characters. Too much third party type camera work that took me out of the premise. Too little shaky, first person, right there with you cameras. Too much together. Too little 'Alone'. Two doesn't work. Too bad. :(

Being on Vancouver Island, I really, really enjoyed the last 2 seasons. But then to my surprise, I tuned in tonight and actually liked Patagonia better--so far so good! Thought Mr. Adopt-a-trio would tap out as soon as he was rain-whiny. Ms. Herbalist's bamboo chair was neat, she seems to have a real mindset of making a home, and I'm dying to see someone display real skills like that. Mr. Boar Hunter might be difficult to watch but it is a survival show; and I do love bacon so I can't be a hypocrite. I'm terrible with putting the names to the faces, so please excuse my nicknames til I get to know them all better.

I started out LOVING this show, and although I've watched every episode (more than once, thanks to History Canada's penchant for re-running things to death), I lost interest halfway along and am not as invested in the outcome as I'd like. Boo. I'm not sure if it was the editing, maybe? In any case, my main reason for watching the finale will be to see the dog/wolf/false alarm/bait & switch/editing shenanigans. And I think David might just hang in there to squeak out a win over Effen Larry.

I kinda thought, and from the contents I'm in the minority, that Nicole actually tapped out for health reasons. I've no doubt she misses her kids too, and I do believe that "mother's guilt" plays more of a role than fathers', as someone upthread mentioned, the men seem to be using their children as fuel to do well, tough it out, make them proud. But to get back to Nicole--once her food sources dried up (thought she'd have more foresight), I think she suffered more than the others because of her MS (especially as she manages it holistically and diet is such a huge part of it). I think because she refuses to use her illness as an excuse, it was by default she said her kids. Or not. And yeah, when's the wolf/dog/puppy showing up?

I tend to agree with this. Nicole, from the beginning, has had such a positive, upbeat attitude that it's easy to buy into the idea that she's had an "easy time". She was lucky in the fish department but I believe that even if she hadn't had that location, she would have made her own "luck". As to concerns about her looking haggard or letting her health suffer, I don't think she looks any worse for wear than the men, and I don't think she's stupid enough to risk her health. She's taken the time and figured out what she had to do to manage her MS holistically; typically folks that invested in their own health don't take unnecessary risks and it may be even be argued she'd take far less of a risk. I do think of the final four that F'ing Larry and David are the two with the 'stick-it-out-because-money-may-buy-happiness' factor. Both Jose & Nicole I think may not be "hungry" enough. I'm not good with predictions, so won't hazard a guess. And I'm cranky beyond crankiness that the "Alone: Deeper Cut" episodes have such teensy tiny captioning for the extra part. Can't read it unless I stand in front of the tv and don't want to be that close to F'ing Larry when he gets going.

Actually, the tide either takes it back out, or every few months, there's "beach sweeps" by intrepid boaters looking for treasure, so the garbage isn't ever there very long. The cove is not easily accessible from land, so we don't get down to clean it out ourselves before either waves or other boaters take it away.

Weighing in on the "seeding the beaches" theories: I don't know what the producers are doing, obviously, but I can attest to the fact that with the changing of the tides, an unbelievable amount of stuff can show up on the shoreline. We're on a small cove, and everyday the beach looks different. In the past few months alone, I can recall enough articles of clothing to open a thrift shop, part of a canoe, a seal carcass, a beach ball, an anchorage buoy, a blue bag of recyclables, several boat fenders, a half dozen gas/water jugs, and enough giant logs to outfit a midwest US state park in cabins. Never saw the same quantity and variety of flotsam and jetsam in a lifetime on the east coast, but here on VI, it's crazy pants. So, the amount of "found goods" doesn't surprise me at all.

From the VI-WILDS site: During Jan/Feb: "the bears do not truly hibernate, but enter a state more similar to a deep sleep. Unlike true hibernators, their metabolic activity is still close to normal, and their body temperature does not drop more than a few degrees."

Just to weigh in on smoking fish: the smell of cooking attracts bears (it's right in the BC wildlife handbook! Be careful bbq'ing in the woods!); the smell of salmon smoking might as well be an invitation to dinner. If I were Nicole, knowing the bears and how close they were, I wouldn't smoke fish. The great black shadow moves easily through old growth forested landscape catching a scent in the breeze he turns and moves in close hears laughter sees smoke mouth watering hunger peaks no one sees as he approaches, unaware of what circles, watching then melting back in trees having recognized grill smells beast grumbles and slowly moves off them no wiser for close proximity what's wrong with these creatures-hot dogs, again?

The "wolf" looks like it could be any one of a number of the mixes that are used for sledding in the North, and of which there are tons of "rescues" here on VI. But maybe it's a wolf, just thought it would be fun to throw that out there. :)

Okay I'm just gonna wade into the Land of Strange Theories here. The footage of the wolf leaping at someone doesn't look at all like a wolf to me, it looks like a dog, wagging tail and all. I think (drum roll please) it's the WINNER'S dog coming to greet the WINNER when the team comes to tell the winner the news. Now all we have to do is find out which of camptestants has a dog. Brilliant, what? Or you know, it's a coastal wolf...whaddo I know? I don't, however, think for a second that Nicole's campsite was a given based on her medical state, sex, or what ever. I think she's thriving because of her mindset. While the rainforest may be completely different than the African savannah (or wherever she did the lions thing), her mindset of being part of the ecosystem and respectful but not terrified of her companions in it is what's setting her apart. And I just feel the need to stick up for poor Desmond for tapping out, again, as I see his name has come up. I would have made fun of him too, but for our own experiences. We moved out here to VI just 2 years ago, as I said way back upthread, and stayed for the first month in a cottage on a beach that could easily be in one of the campsites. Let me tell you, these woods can be eerie, and completely unlike the forest in the rest of the continent (and certainly on the Eastern seaboard). The denseness of the growth, the sheer enormity of the trees, the untangible aura of prehistory, it's a very different feel, and I can see someone who's completely at home in other wilderness being thrown for a loop here. ( Come to think of it, that's another edge for Nicole, being from the Pacific Northwest this is not unfamiliar to her).

He did say cedar, which is great for smoking. Cedar planked salmon, yum. Trying to figure out why I haven't been enjoying the most recent episodes as much as the earlier ones. For some reason, I am having trouble seeing them as individuals, and telling some of the them apart. I don't know if I'm not paying enough attention, or it's the editing (some week seeing them, some weeks not), but I totally thought that Mike & Randy were the same person and had to go home to Barbara leaving behind the board games and personal sized sweat lodge and boat. Then I realized one guy has long hair, too late. And I confuse Effin' Larry and Justin until last night, when someone said they missed Effin' Larry so I knew that guy had to be Justin. (Loved that he did that climb for veterans with PTSD, love that it re-energized him). Jose & Nicole stand out for obvious reasons, their personalities are unlike anyone else's on the show. And Limpet Man depresses me listening to him. Go home, Limpet Man. So, whether it's from the editing, or me not taking notes, I have much less investment in the cast than I thought I would at this point (with above noted exceptions). I too would like to see more of the footage of the camps, the how and why of certain things. I understand the point of the "but they are ALONE" vs "but it's SURVIVAL SKILLS" argument, and think there could be a better balance in editing between the psychological stressors of being truly alone, and the how-to practical aspect of setting up camp in the rainforest. And yes, please, History stop with the "cliffhanger" treatment. You can only see Nicole whisper "Look, it's a bear" so many time before going yes, yes it is. I think there's enough to sustain interest without the manufactured drama.

I haven't seen the promo yet, so I'm not sure how the wolf/wolves are being presented, but Vancouver Island wolves are pretty shy, elusive creatures. When we first moved here and were doing research into which creatures were most likely to rip us from our beds and eat us alive (outdoorsey folk we were not), we decided in order of abject terror: cougars, bears, sea otters, banana slugs, wolves. On the spoiler front, I'm a spoiler junkie, and this is not a show that would be ruined for me by knowing ahead of time that say, David started hallucinating, wandered into the woods, found Larry, thought Larry's swearing was a chicken clucking, and tried to rip his legs off like a drumstick and both had to go home. I'd watch the hell outta that, even knowing it was coming. Looking forward to tomorrow night!

I know that reality tv isn't always...well, real. But, I was so disappointed to read this because I don't recall hearing ANYTHING about a shoulder problem during her episodes, does anyone else? It would be one thing for the producers to exaggerate or play up an edit for added drama, but this seems not quite fair to Tracy or us. I mean, we could decide for ourselves if it was her fear of being out of control at the bear cub, or fear of the bears in general, but this shoulder thing wasn't in the mix. Boo! And my money's still on David to go next, unless he dissolves into a soul-sucking pool of bitter self-pity mixed with religious and parental guilt and is washed away with the tides in the next rainfall. Or you know, he finds a bucket of fried chicken and a Coke on the beach and that fills him with renewed vigour and takes it as a sign from Jesus that he needs to stay "FOR HIS CHILDREN"!