S10.E01: Game On

[Quilt Fairy]

Ten new participants compete to win $500,000 in the show's most remote location yet, northern Saskatchewan; as the survivalists set out into the wilderness searching for food and shelter, one participant...

Premiers June 8, 2023 9pm EDT/ 8pm CDT on the History Channel.

[PaperTree]

Well that was fun.  Tough environment.

I enjoy this show, but I prefer to do my camping in hotels.😎

Skinny dude is wrong.  It will be a starvation contest once it gets cold.  Then he loses his arrows.  Oops!  I like how some of them really fattened up.

Does the best shelter win?

[SassyCat]

9 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

Then he loses his arrows.  Oops!

🤯😳 Now thats some bad luck starting out the gate. I hope he (Cade) finds them. 

[LeighAnne]

Me:  I wonder if Luke will be okay.  He's from Maui, and Canada might be a big challenge for him.

Luke:  Picks up grouse he shot with an arrow, rips its head off with his bare hands.  "Nature is often brutal."

Me:  Never mind.

[Red Bridey]

Love this show that starts with: "These are trained professionals. Don't try this at home." I sit in my comfy chair drinking a glass of chilled white Bordeaux with a fat cat sleeping on my lap, and think, "Don't worry, Alone. Never gave it a single consideration!"

[Quilt Fairy]

18 hours ago, LeighAnne said:

Me:  I wonder if Luke will be okay.  He's from Maui, and Canada might be a big challenge for him.

Luke:  Picks up grouse he shot with an arrow, rips its head off with his bare hands.  "Nature is often brutal."

Me:  Never mind.

Yeah, I didn't need to see that, show.

[IdEatThat]

20 hours ago, LeighAnne said:

Me:  I wonder if Luke will be okay.  He's from Maui, and Canada might be a big challenge for him.

Luke:  Picks up grouse he shot with an arrow, rips its head off with his bare hands.  "Nature is often brutal."

Me:  Never mind.

Exact same reaction here.  My SIL said “ I think we’ve seriously underestimated Luke.”   That was brutal. Especially since I delight in watching this show with a large snack and a cold beverage.  Funny thing it’s only this show, otherwise I rarely eat while watching TV.   

[TWOPrefugee]

My manufactured drama radar pinged during the "lost arrows" segment. Come on "Cade?"  You don't remember where you walked? Not even gonna try back tracking? How 'bout checking all that footage you've been recording? Oh, but lookie...next week he decides to make his own arrows.  Bet he's never done that before.

I'm afraid this show has become just like all the others.

[AZChristian]

8 hours ago, TWOPrefugee said:

My manufactured drama radar pinged during the "lost arrows" segment. Come on "Cade?"  You don't remember where you walked? Not even gonna try back tracking? How 'bout checking all that footage you've been recording? Oh, but lookie...next week he decides to make his own arrows.  Bet he's never done that before.

I'm afraid this show has become just like all the others.

I remember in an earlier season, one of the contestants lost his ferro rod (his fire starting equipment).  He was FRANTIC, and tore his entire camp apart, but he never found it.

But he LOOKED.  

I hope we're wrong, but that Cade thing did seem a bit unrealistic.  It's not like his arrows were small and there was snow on the ground.  It's not like he dropped a $20 bill on a busy sidewalk.  The arrows should not have been that hard to find - ESPECIALLY (as you pointed out), he had a video of where he had been!

[iMonrey]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

I hope we're wrong, but that Cade thing did seem a bit unrealistic.  It's not like his arrows were small and there was snow on the ground.  It's not like he dropped a $20 bill on a busy sidewalk.  The arrows should not have been that hard to find - ESPECIALLY (as you pointed out), he had a video of where he had been!

Yeah this was weird, it was like he had already written them off like they went over a cliff or into a vortex. They can't have gotten very far, why would he give up so quickly? I don't know that the situation is "manufactured" so much as it illustrates how Cade is a poser. Some of these people talk a big game but when you put them to the test you can really tell which ones can do it and which ones just play at it.

I still think Lee has the edge. I made a careful note of who had spouses and kids back home because those are the ones who eventually wind up using them as an excuse to tap out. They start off saying "I'm doing this for my family!" then when the going gets rough they start crying about how their family needs them to come back home. Lee has grown kids and grandkids, and thus far hasn't mentioned a wife.

I know we've seen lots of hunting and we've seen them putting down animals before, but seeing Luke literally rip the head off the grouse was a step too far IMO. I found that really horrifying.

I'm getting a kick out of Alan. "Holy shiznickels!" indeed. That was a great shot of that owl and an interesting story about his dad.

1st bear melodrama of the season. I could barely see it. They need to stop playing up the "bear threat" every season, nothing ever seems to come of it.

Quote

Those who build log cabins usually don't last long on Alone.  They expend all their energy on building a shelter, and then have none left to procure food.  But the cabin that one lady was building looked sturdy!  

My thoughts exactly. It seemed like Jodi's main purpose for coming here was to build a log cabin. That should never be the focus.

[mlp]

My favorite so far is Lee followed by the teacher.  The cast skews much older this season so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.  

I wonder how the woman with extensive surgery on her leg got accepted.  She's older too.  I'd think she might be a liability.  Now that I've said that, she'll probably go a long way.  

I agree with the comments above about Cade and his arrows.  It didn't look like he made any attempt to track them down which is what any normal person would do not to mention a big game hunter.  I didn't find his whining endearing.  

I wish they'd have a season somewhere without bears.  I'm sure no one got mauled or eaten or it would have made the news but just knowing they're around makes me nervous.

[rmontro]

Figures that the professional hunter would lose his arrows (Cade).  But just because we didn't see him hunt for the arrows doesn't mean he didn't.  His "this isn't a starving contest" sounded like famous last words though.  Didn't he see last season?  The winner literally won by fasting.

Funny how Lee was yum-yumming as he ate the raw Roe and Alan could barely choke down the cooked ones.  Got to admire him eating them anyway, since he clearly disliked them so much.

 

[azprimadonna]

My favorites are also Lee and the teacher.

Spoiler

I looked this up and Lee is the brother of Rikko Dewilde from Life Below Zero--one of 14 kids.  He is skinny, but so knowledgable.

 

[Red Bridey]

Granted, I am a late-comer to this show...only discovered it existed during my covid shut-in period so I am basing this opinion on just three seasons, but from what I have observed, the Great White Hunters who on Day One are gunning for the bear, the elk, the big game that they have successfully killed in their ordinary lives, never can figure out how to survive when the big game successfully avoid being hunted by them. The ones who manage to last a while are the subsistence survivalists who can fish, trap small game, know their edible plants and berries and who can eke out a real living off of the land. So I am sure Cade is pissed off that he wasn't able to bring down that protected caribou, but maybe he should TRACK his missing quiver instead of bears (it's staying in one place after all), and maybe he should try to go fishing for a change. My money is on Lee. His indigenous skills will take him far, I think. 

[humbleopinion]

Thanks for confirming my thought balloon when I heard Lee's last name and home community.

Lee also gave us two ominous foreshadowing...admonishing himself for carelessly laying his glasses and axe down despite how important both are to him.

Lee, tie your spectacles with paracord around your neck..we are all going to yell at our teevee every time we watch you put them on the nearest log.

Wrap colored cord around the neck of the ax to make it stand out from the ground and foliage.

Fernando took months to make his kayak, one participant took weeks to weave a too small fishing net...

Lee whips his paddle raft, his fishing net, his rod and reel  and is eating fish from those projects in a matter of a couple of days.

Enjoyed how the backstories of the participants enrich the show.

Very touching and well done.

Cade, you lead people deep into the wild and you cannot retrace your fresh, ginormous foot prints back to recover the 9 arrows? Not good advertisement for your business.

I am going to chalk it up to his inability to immediately find his arrows to his brain frying out because he knew he made a big fat avoidable blunder, the guilt he felt about leaving his wife who had a medical and emotional situation and his thinking his advantage over the others and half million slip away.

The northern Saskatchewan blueberries look tons more delicious than the ones on my veg bin.

Edited June 11, 2023 by humbleopinion

[SassyCat]

Re: Lee. I did notice the family resemblance as soon as I saw him. Even his mannerisms. The genes are strong in that family.

I think he will win if he doesn’t misplace his glasses and yes! He does need to make himself a glasses cord. He is way more able to withstand the cold, compared to Luke the head ripper-offer, burly man from the tropics.

Jodi with her cabin building, I think will do well. It looks like she ends up building a micro cabin, just barely enough to fit herself and her stuff without extra leg room which will be good for keeping the heat in a smaller space. Unlike the huge mansion cabin one of the women on last season was building and wore herself out doing so. I forget her name. 

[Blackie]

On 6/8/2023 at 10:56 PM, PaperTree said:

Skinny dude is wrong.  It will be a starvation contest once it gets cold

 

No kidding, has he ever watched he show?

 

On 6/10/2023 at 12:01 PM, iMonrey said:

I still think Lee has the edge

 

I agree, Has there ever been an indigenous person on the show before? he has lots of different skills and life experience. He has no extra weigh though, but I think with his net he will have a lot of fish coming in for a long while. At least this year they are allowed to use nets right away.

 

 

On 6/10/2023 at 3:56 PM, mlp said:

It didn't look like he made any attempt to track them down

 

The time clock made it look like about an hour or so, but that isn't very long.  A quiver full of arrows isn't small and it will be exactly where is fell, its not like the caribou is going to pick it up and hide it.

 

5 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

The northern Saskatchewan blueberries look tons more delicious than the ones on my veg bin.

 

 

Wild blueberries are the best!! One year while camping on Lake Superior I think I ate my body weight in blue berries !  LOL!

 

So there are reindeers on Reindeer Lake.

[madmax]

On 6/10/2023 at 1:23 AM, TWOPrefugee said:

My manufactured drama radar pinged during the "lost arrows" segment. Come on "Cade?"  You don't remember where you walked? Not even gonna try back tracking? How 'bout checking all that footage you've been recording? Oh, but lookie...next week he decides to make his own arrows.  Bet he's never done that before.

On 6/10/2023 at 12:01 PM, iMonrey said:

Yeah this was weird, it was like he had already written them off like they went over a cliff or into a vortex. They can't have gotten very far, why would he give up so quickly? I don't know that the situation is "manufactured" so much as it illustrates how Cade is a poser. Some of these people talk a big game but when you put them to the test you can really tell which ones can do it and which ones just play at it.

Yeah, that was ridiculous.  I have him pegged as someone who'll be tapping, anyway.  He already started talking about missing his family...

On 6/10/2023 at 3:56 PM, mlp said:

The cast skews much older this season so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.  

The cast is A LOT older than previous seasons.  There are  3 older than me and I ain't no spring chicken.  Only one under 30.  Maybe this is the season for us mature individuals...

On 6/11/2023 at 3:50 PM, Red Bridey said:

from what I have observed, the Great White Hunters who on Day One are gunning for the bear, the elk, the big game that they have successfully killed in their ordinary lives, never can figure out how to survive when the big game successfully avoid being hunted by them. The ones who manage to last a while are the subsistence survivalists who can fish, trap small game, know their edible plants and berries and who can eke out a real living off of the land. 

You are 100% correct.  I hesitate to say much else, as I don't know the seasons you've watched and might inadvertently spoil something.

18 hours ago, Blackie said:

Has there ever been an indigenous person on the show before?

I believe Woniya was indigenous.

[Blackie]

58 minutes ago, madmax said:

19 hours ago, Blackie said:

Has there ever been an indigenous person on the show before?

I believe Woniya was indigenous.

 

I can't remember her but now that I think of it the winner from last year (whose name I forget) was an Indigenous person from Mexico or partly at least. (if I remember correctly but obviously my memory not great!)

[iMonrey]

17 hours ago, Blackie said:

I can't remember her but now that I think of it the winner from last year (whose name I forget) was an Indigenous person from Mexico or partly at least. (if I remember correctly but obviously my memory not great!)

Juan Pablo. And Lee does remind me a little of him, skill-level wise.

[Blackie]

51 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Juan Pablo. And Lee does remind me a little of him, skill-level wise.

yes they have similar skill levels. I had picked JB to win last year because I could tell he was willing to really suffer and do whatever it took to win. I think the prize money really meant a lot to him. Lee has the skills and temperament to win, but he already is a business owner so I don't know how much pain he is willing to go through just to win. He will go far because he has his net set up already. Once it gets into winter, I don't know how long he can last because of his low body weight. Unless he is just as good a hunter as he is a fisherman.

[AZChristian]

1 minute ago, Blackie said:

Once it gets into winter, I don't know how long he can last because of his low body weight. Unless he is just as good a hunter as he is a fisherman.

I seem to remember Lee saying that he preferred to fish in winter as the video showed him digging a hole in the ice.  He has experience doing that, which most of the others may not have.

[Blackie]

2 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I seem to remember Lee saying that he preferred to fish in winter as the video showed him digging a hole in the ice.  He has experience doing that, which most of the others may not have.

 

I just went and read Lee's bio so I am all in, Lee for the win!, and I haven't even seen more then half the other contestants lol! I need to go rewatch the part on how he made his fishing rod, he said he copied some other contestant's design from a prev year? Did Lee have to bring something special to make it? Why doesn't everyone make one, or does it come down to choice of your items you are allowed to bring?

[madmax]

5 hours ago, Blackie said:

I need to go rewatch the part on how he made his fishing rod, he said he copied some other contestant's design from a prev year? Did Lee have to bring something special to make it? Why doesn't everyone make one, or does it come down to choice of your items you are allowed to bring?

He didn't bring anything special, nothing that the other contestants could bring as well.  He just carved it like the previous contestant, I can't remember who it was.

Others may not make one because they don't think they have the skill to carve it.  Just like some don't build sturdy shelters, or furniture, or what-have-you.  It's not part of their skill set.

[meep.meep]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:01 AM, iMonrey said:

 

I still think Lee has the edge. I made a careful note of who had spouses and kids back home because those are the ones who eventually wind up using them as an excuse to tap out. They start off saying "I'm doing this for my family!" then when the going gets rough they start crying about how their family needs them to come back home. Lee has grown kids and grandkids, and thus far hasn't mentioned a wife.

I'm liking watching Lee and hope he makes it far.  In addition to what you mentioned, he has a real reason to want the prize money.  He's the only pilot to serve his village and wants to get a new plane.  That takes money.

[Jeanne222]

Care. How could you lose the carrier and the arrows?  Didn't you hear them drop?  Didn't you notice the shift in weight?

It's so quiet there.  Surely you'd hear 7 arrows fall and the case with them!

Isn't there something about if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it.......

[HurricaneVal]

Maybe the mighty hunter was making too much noise tromping around and talking to the camera that he didn't hear it.  Or he's trying to manufacture a narrative "story" to dominate screen time in as a strategy to bolster his post-Alone survival training/guiding/hunting business. 

[susannot]

On 6/11/2023 at 3:50 PM, Red Bridey said:

Granted, I am a late-comer to this show...only discovered it existed during my covid shut-in period so I am basing this opinion on just three seasons, but from what I have observed, the Great White Hunters who on Day One are gunning for the bear, the elk, the big game that they have successfully killed in their ordinary lives, never can figure out how to survive when the big game successfully avoid being hunted by them. The ones who manage to last a while are the subsistence survivalists who can fish, trap small game, know their edible plants and berries and who can eke out a real living off of the land. So I am sure Cade is pissed off that he wasn't able to bring down that protected caribou, but maybe he should TRACK his missing quiver instead of bears (it's staying in one place after all), and maybe he should try to go fishing for a change. My money is on Lee. His indigenous skills will take him far, I think. 

That is exactly what I thought upon first viewing of this show.  I am not at all impressed by the Great White Hunters.  I am impressed by the middle-aged women from Wisconsin, or wherever, who know how to forage edible plants, live off the land, and build a freaking log cabin.

[Yeah No]

21 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Maybe the mighty hunter was making too much noise tromping around and talking to the camera that he didn't hear it.  Or he's trying to manufacture a narrative "story" to dominate screen time in as a strategy to bolster his post-Alone survival training/guiding/hunting business. 

Those were my thoughts.  One of the aspects of this show we rarely hear about is how much extra effort and time it takes for them to film themselves all while trying to survive out there.  They all have advanced survival skills, but maybe not as much skill in doing that plus filming themselves at the same time in a new and strange environment, at least not to the extent they have to film for this show.  Add to that the fact that the ground there seems to be covered in a blanket of plant life to the point that one of them mentioned how it was hard to see tracks in the ground because of it, so tracing their steps might prove to be a little harder than usual for them.  And with the increased attention they have to pay to filming themselves they might easily make a mistake they usually wouldn't make, like dropping their quiver full of arrows and not noticing it.

[mlp]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

One of the aspects of this show we rarely hear about is how much extra effort and time it takes for them to film themselves all while trying to survive out there.

I think about that a lot.  If I were a survival expert (which I am the farthest thing from), having to deal with all those cameras constantly would be the thing that would absolutely deter me from competing - even for the huge possible reward.  They can't even stalk prey without setting up cameras first.

[cheewhiz]

Well, well, well, my little old Province of Saskatchewan is the setting for my favorite show. I was so surprised! Anyway, I am way down south in Saskatchewan and have never been up north.

I love this show and am so excited it's back!  Lee for the win!!

[DropTheSoap]

On 6/10/2023 at 5:56 PM, rmontro said:

Figures that the professional hunter would lose his arrows (Cade).  But just because we didn't see him hunt for the arrows doesn't mean he didn't.  His "this isn't a starving contest" sounded like famous last words though.  Didn't he see last season?  The winner literally won by fasting.

 

I just started watching. Cade bugs me. “I’m a professional hunter” and “I lost all of my arrows.”

Good. Go home. You’re annoying. 

[DropTheSoap]

Since he stripped a live birch for the moose call, that was when I was over him for sure. 

I’m certain there’s fallen birch in the area. The wood rots right away but not the bark. He just doesn’t seem like he respects nature, and instead wants to kill stuff and get angry and yell at what he can’t control. I hope he doesn’t take that anger out on people around him. All that yelling is probably why can can’t hear a quiver fall in a forest. 

[Jeanne222]

I'm finding this season really boring and fast forwarding the show.

I think producers need to take more of a look at season after season dropping survivors off in remote spots with nothing much to kill or eat is getting more than boring fast!

I did hear the woman say she's not staying there hungry and ensuing health issues that follow.  That statement tells me former players have health issues from taking their bodies too far down the no food for days path.

So few posts re this season.  Everybody must be as bored as I am!

[erylin]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:46 PM, Yeah No said:

Those were my thoughts.  One of the aspects of this show we rarely hear about is how much extra effort and time it takes for them to film themselves all while trying to survive out there.  They all have advanced survival skills, but maybe not as much skill in doing that plus filming themselves at the same time in a new and strange environment, at least not to the extent they have to film for this show.  Add to that the fact that the ground there seems to be covered in a blanket of plant life to the point that one of them mentioned how it was hard to see tracks in the ground because of it, so tracing their steps might prove to be a little harder than usual for them.  And with the increased attention they have to pay to filming themselves they might easily make a mistake they usually wouldn't make. Read about $150 no deposit bonus codes and other casino features since an informed gambler knows about the top casino and 150 dollars bonuses without deposit. Like dropping their quiver full of arrows and not noticing it.

I believe the contestants on that show are highly skilled survivalists and filmmakers, and that they are fully capable of filming themselves while surviving in the wilderness safely and effectively.

Ok, it's true that filming themselves adds an extra layer of complexity to their challenge, but the contestants are well-equipped to handle it. They are given lightweight camera equipment that is really easy to use, and I know that they are trained on how to film themselves effectively while also surviving.

The fact that the ground is covered in plant life is actually a boon for filming. For example, the contestants can use the plant life to conceal their movements and make it more difficult for predators to track them. That's all.