Alaska: The Last Frontier - General Discussion

[Medicine Crow]

If I remember correctly, that "cow" was a first-calf-heifer that had a long labour & couldn't get up, at first because she was exhausted from the birthing process, but then she went numb (not paralyzed) from laying down so long.

Having lived on a ranch, you DO get attached to certain cows for one reason or the other.  It's clear to me that they do kill & butcher a cow for the freezer, but I think they ship their calves (6 to 10 mos.) to market by truck.  JMHO.

[zipbags]

So they had the finale tonight.  A couple of things..

-so Shane and his wife go to see the doctor and ask how long does she have if she gets sick...the doc says hours to days.  They get all concerned that they are so in the bush that they might not be able to get to a hospital in time.  Really?!? I think the whole moving to the homestead was BS.

-Just can't imagine Atz Lee wanting to move to this cabin...where is his family going to stay?  He has at least two kids...that cabin is too small.

-Regarding the cattle drive....really nobody can help Otto and Charlotte?  Where was everyone?

[Maharincess]

I'm starting to think that the reason Atz Lee wants to build that cabin in the middle of nowhere to get away from Jane's complaining.  She bitches, moans and complains all the time about everything.  She drives me crazy watching it on TV so I couldn't imagine living with the complaints in real life.  The way she talks bugs me too, she talks so fast. 

Edited January 30, 2017 by Maharincess

[walnutqueen]

Otto's a great guy - until he loses his temper, usually with Charlotte or another woman.  If he'd pulled that horseshit on me, I'd have knocked him off his high horse and left him to finish the cattle drive on his own, or told him to go find a man who'd take his abuse.  Oh wait, Otto'd never pull that shit on a man.

Shane probably never intended to move to that cabin, and just needed a storyline for the TV money.

Atz Lee is a spoiled special snowflake.  I don't know how Jane puts up with him.

Eivan & Eve continue to impress, and their kids are adorable.

[Diane M]

I think the 'story line' about Atz Lee building his cabin was just added to the season for drama.  It will be another hunting cabin, not a real home for him.

[zipbags]

I wonder if they could use the landing ship to go to the head of the bay...pick up the cows and then drop them off by the beach near the farm.

[iwasish]

Since when did Atz Lee have a teenage son?

The narrator said his name is Etienne(sp). I think that is French for Steven. 

Guess Atz Lee sowed some wild oats as a teen.

[Maharincess]

4 hours ago, iwasish said:

Since when did Atz Lee have a teenage son?

The narrator said his name is Etienne(sp). I think that is French for Steven. 

Guess Atz Lee sowed some wild oats as a teen.

He is Atz Lee and Jane's son. They have a couple of kids who would be teenagers now. They've kept their kids off the show. 

[RemoteControlFreak]

Oh, come on. Come. On!

I quit this show last season because so much of the content was obviously fake with the stated life-threatening danger at every turn absurdly exaggerated .  But I came back out of curiosity this week to see if anything had changed.

What an idiot I am. Not only hasn't the show toned down the hyperbole, they've doubled down on it.

For those not familiar with snow, the "record-breaking" snow fall shown in this season's first episode was maybe six inches, seven inches tops.  I can remove that with one pass of my home snow blower.  It would be zero challenge for the industrial size snow blower that Atz Lee was wielding.

Most laughable?  Eve vs. the excavator to clear a 10 foot path from the plowed driveway to the greenhouse. First she lies that the snow is "hip deep."  Again, it's about mid-shin height except for where it was plowed up.  The best way to clear this, even through the plowed-up bank, is with an old-fashioned snow shovel, a little elbow grease and about 10 minutes.  Eve's a terrible actor so the fakery of her scenes are even more transparent.

Next episode: it rains one day and the Kilcher family bands together to ford a 2-inch deep puddle. 

Edited October 9, 2017 by RemoteControlFreak
fixed typos

[SRTouch]

53 minutes ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

Next episode: it rains one day and the Kilcher family band together to ford a 2-inch deep puddle. 

Hmmm, time to chop down trees and build a bridge?

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

Oh, I’m so glad to find somebody’s home, here. I tuned in tonight because I love snow & Alaska and it was so disappointing. It could’ve been a half-hour episode and I mean 21 minutes. 

How many times did we see the graphic of the Tree-trunk/snowshoe-Style “Bridge” for Otto to drive the old tractor over? Or the graphic explaining Shane’s proposed cabin?

Worth watching - ONCE - Otto getting the rig running and Atz admiring him;

ONCE: Atzlee and “the girls” (hate that like I hate Jane’s false lashes) felling the trees and the explanatory graphic thereto;

ONCE: progress on Chez Shane (with graphic);

ONCE: Eve gets certified on yet another piece of heavy equipment. Go, gurl...er, woman. 

And next week Jewel is back to handle a chain saw? Why does that seem to me to be a desperation move, calling in the family celebrity?

I’ve loved watching this show but many more epis like this one and I don’t think even ff’ing will make me stay. 

Edited October 9, 2017 by BckpckFullaNinjas

[iwasish]

They lost me with the car Eivan put together out of "scraps" for August. And the whole set up for painting it. If they have all that stuff to paint and repair.. why does most of their equipment look like shit?

Then the BOAT he makes for he and his family to cruise around in? I was thinking it would be some makeshift cobbled together contraption ... but all semblance of a hard scrabble life is gone with that.

All fakery.

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

On 10/9/2017 at 1:33 PM, iwasish said:

All fakery.

Yeah..... I tend not to be an all-in kinda guy, but the more I see of this — and read comments like yours, @iwasish — the more I think the family and producers are dazzling us with bs, way more than just showing some oddball, talented, successful rural folks. I say again: a half-hour Show would be wonderfully interesting and far  Less contrived, but bless me if the advertisers seem to be lining up to buy the spots in an hour-long program, so I guess they’re doing something right. 

Just not in my viewer’s eyes. 

Edited October 10, 2017 by BckpckFullaNinjas

[Medicine Crow]

I really tried to "get into" this season, but Jane in HD with the false eyelashes digging out of the blizzard was the last straw.  Deleted all episodes & cancelled future recordings.  I'm out!!!

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

On 10/28/2017 at 10:56 PM, Medicine Crow said:

I really tried to "get into" this season, but Jane in HD with the false eyelashes digging out of the blizzard was the last straw.  Deleted all episodes & cancelled future recordings.  I'm out!!!

I’ve got 2 eps on my DVR list that I can’t bring myself to watch. Think I’ll be following your lead soon.

[Medicine Crow]

Okay, I "broke down" & watched the buffalo escape!  Who was the genius that thought barbed wire would hold a herd of buffalo?  That was hilarious!!!

[iwasish]

On 11/7/2017 at 0:41 PM, Medicine Crow said:

Okay, I "broke down" & watched the buffalo escape!  Who was the genius that thought barbed wire would hold a herd of buffalo?  That was hilarious!!!

There was supposed to be a couple hundred buffalo, it didn’t look like anywhere near that number. Nor would that many fit on that boat. 

[vast wasteland]

Just saw that Atz wrote a book

https://www.adn.com/arts/books/2018/02/10/atz-kilcher-memoir-combines-tough-truths-with-homestead-tales/

[humbleopinion]

Clearing the cobwebs from this forum....crickets chirping.....

They're baaack....

The show returns Oct 7th...not that anyone cares.......

[AZChristian]

I enjoy the show, but there's not  much to snark about.  These appear to be real people - a family - working hard and smart, with little drama.  The antithesis of "Alaskan Bush People" . . . for whom the term "snark-worthy" was created.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

I enjoy the show, but there's not  much to snark about.  These appear to be real people - a family - working hard and smart, with little drama.  The antithesis of "Alaskan Bush People" . . . for whom the term "snark-worthy" was created.

Yup.  I'd love to snark on those Bush People, but I cannot bring myself to even hate-watch that dreck.  :-)

[AZChristian]

1 minute ago, walnutqueen said:

Yup.  I'd love to snark on those Bush People, but I cannot bring myself to even hate-watch that dreck.  :-)

I'm an active snarker there . . . but I just comment on what others have written on a FB page I belong to, or on this forum.  Not watching that mess.

[Handymanmarty]

I dont mind this show.......but I, like others, like to watch train wrecks. Otto is supposedly a very learned man, however, he acts as if he has a 5th grade education. The only person I cannot stand is Jane. She is a self centered, always complaining, acting like an idiot, bit(you know the rest). I did laugh until I peed when she earned her scope ring. I just assume your choices for a wife are limited where they live.

[Maharincess]

I used to love this show when it was an authentic show about their daily lives.  The last season was so damn fake that I couldn't watch it.  Their lives are really interesting so I don't understand the fake, scripted crap. 

@Handymanmarty, I agree completely about Jane, all she does is bitch, whine and complain.  She seems like a total bitch to me. 

[SRTouch]

14 hours ago, Maharincess said:

I used to love this show when it was an authentic show about their daily lives.  The last season was so damn fake that I couldn't watch it.  Their lives are really interesting so I don't understand the fake, scripted crap. 

100% agree... I stopped watching a couple seasons back when - oh - Otto talked about bartering a steer to pay for his hernia surgery  (thought his net worth was like... oh 3 or 4 million).... or maybe I stopped watching when they were taking a helicopter ride to hunt for deer because they were on the edge of starvation... nah, I think it was the often repeated "have to hunt/fish to fill the empty freezer", while google maps shows a Safeway a few miles from the homestead. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by SRTouch

[walnutqueen]

Go fuck yourself, Atz (and your idiot progeny AtzLee, too).  No wonder Jane is bitchy, being married to that piece of work.  

Fucking idiots, the lot of them.

Show me the difference between the Kilchers and those Alaskan Bush People ...

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

Show me the difference between the Kilchers and those Alaskan Bush People ...

To me, just my opinion, the difference is that the Kilcher grew up living the homesteaders life - so they were actually successful before the TV show. Problem is, the production company opted to ignore the actual hard work and ingenuity it takes to live the life and play up fake drama story lines. I wouldn't even mind the fishing and hunting stories if we didn't have to hear about how everybody will starve if the hunt fails. There were times when I enjoyed the show - mainly times when they used ingenuity to make something. The Kilchers actually made stuff that was useful (even though sometimes their made for TV creations would have been cheaper and easier to obtain at a store).

Yes, ABP were often making something - but their creations were almost always destined for the junk heap. Heck, sometimes we saw them destroy perfectly good items to make some nonsensical BS something or other. Then there were times when it was obvious that they could make/buy a simple item item to make their lives easier, but didn't bother. Two quick examples that woild have made their shipping/hauling sideline easier - a collapsible cart to wheel their deliveries around villages, or a pulley/come-along so that it didn't take a half dozen people to load/unload items.

Another example of the difference. We saw a portable saw mill on both programs. On ABP they used a chainsaw-mill (commonly called an Alaskan Sawmill) used - but for slabs, not for dimensional lumber. Later, we saw A portable mill being used on Last Frontier putting out usable lumber a band sawmill. Oops, later on ABP they built a homemade bandsaw mill that quickly failed (or was shut down as soon as the insurance company saw it).

Anyway, as I said in an earlier, the good times on Frontier are few and far between.  I recorded three "new" episodes over the past weekend, but fear what is new will prove to be a couple reruns with pop up comments or "never before seen" clips that were edited out the first time around. I may watch (with my finger hovering over the FF button) or may delete them without viewing.

Edited October 8, 2018 by SRTouch

[Medicine Crow]

Is there a thread for Mountain Men?  I'm sure there was!!

[walnutqueen]

I just meant that the Kilchers are every bit as fakety fake fake as those Alaskan Bush People (I couldn't even get through ONE episode of those grotesques!).  They pretend to live that life because it pays their bills.  That's how they made their living even before TeeVee - charging tourists  to see the old timey ways ... and they're still doing that.

Before this show even started, I read an article from some "Outside" magazine (I may have the name wrong), where the reporter met Atz Lee walking up to the "homestead"  eating Taco Bell.

 

3 minutes ago, Medicine Crow said:

Is there a thread for Mountain Men?  I'm sure there was!!

Yes :  http://forums.previously.tv/forum/2549-mountain-men/

[Medicine Crow]

Thanks @walnutqueen ... much appreciated!!

I'm signed on to all three topics but there hasn't been much to talk about, I guess.  The season in Canada starts later than the U.S., so ...

I will say I'm liking the new guy with the hunting dogs & I hope Eustace isn't gone for good.  I'm on Episode 7 of the new season.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Medicine Crow
Add more.

[Finchers]

Joining the discussion! Hi everyone 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Finchers

[walnutqueen]

7 minutes ago, Finchers said:

Joining the discussion! Hi everyone 

Hello, @Finchers, and welcome!

[Renee C]

Okay I’ve been reading comments for quite awhile and I keep seeing ppl annoyed about the “need to fill the freezer” parts in most episodes and alluding to the fact there’s a grocery store near by. Yeah they have plenty of money and yeah they could buy their food! However if you would truly listen they explain why they don’t! They choose to eat off the land and are healthier for it!! You know they aren’t going to starve simply from having cattle that can be killed in an emergency. When they talk about empty freezers they are referring to the fact that they are running low on their preferred foods which are homegrown veggies and seafood and meats they have hunted and harvested themselves. I highly respect people who have plenty of money to hire outside help for chores and can go shopping for all their food, yet prefer and enjoy doing it themselves!!  Very enjoyable program in my opinion!!

[cathy7304]

What's up with Shane's cabin? I know that Shane was seriously hurt, but why is it taking so long? I mean , what the heck? Seems like they are in their 3rd or 4th year.

Edited November 5, 2018 by cathy7304

[walnutqueen]

13 hours ago, cathy7304 said:

What's up with Shane's cabin? I know that Shane was seriously hurt, but why is it taking so long? I mean , what the heck? Seems like they are in their 3rd or 4th year.

He needs the TeeVee $.  MS ain't cheap - and his wife has it.

Oh, and what's up with Atz "senior" and his new floating home?   Last time I gave a shit, he was married to a long-suffering lady.  No wonder she only tolerates him occasionally.

[Jeanne222]

Jane has toned it down a bit this season.  She thought she was just the cutest thing then social media have her an earthly and I think the network had a talk with her if the show was to go on!

I notice she's not in many of the family scenes.  Just kind of doing her own thing with her greenhouse.

Ottos another one that's full of himself and what's with grandpa living on that boat in the middle of nowhere?

I can hardly wait for The Last Alaskans to return with real people!

[seahag50]

I have pretty much stopped watching this program....I watched the last one the other day and FF through almost all of it.   I grew up on a farm and pretty much knew how to do what they do....trust me these people bore me....give me a good detective show any day

[cathy7304]

How lucky for Otto that he "found" that abandoned barge to make his floating homestead out of?  Has he become senile? How long is this farce going on? I thought he was vital to the cattle drive. How is the work getting done at his homestead? Does he really except poor Bonnie to do everything? Maybe Bonnie will find a new homesteader by the time Otto comes to his senses.

[walnutqueen]

It's Atz who is boatsteading (floatsteading?), not Otto.    Apparently, Otto's herd will all get eaten by predators now that Atz isn't there to ride range and protect them.   ;-)

[cathy7304]

On 11/29/2018 at 1:19 AM, walnutqueen said:

It's Atz who is boatsteading (floatsteading?), not Otto.    Apparently, Otto's herd will all get eaten by predators now that Atz isn't there to ride range and protect them.   ;-)

Sorry, I misstyped (sp?). I meant to say Atz sr. Otto will probably have to send Jane and Charlotte to protect the herd. Oh, good lord.

[brgjoe]

Yeah, I thought that Atz Sr. floating barge idea was one of the dumber things I've seen on that show. 

Atz Lee;  Hey dad, I am going to build a cabin out in the middle of nowhere...just because!

Atz Sr:  Hold my beer...

I mean, that's the sort of stunt you would see those nimrods from Alaskan Bush People doing.  They must be running out of ideas now.

[AZChristian]

Jane posted on FB that the earthquake was very strong in their area.  Her daughter was in lockdown at school in Anchorage and she couldn't get to her, but everyone is okay.

[cathy7304]

What is Atz sr going to do when the lake freezes over and he can't get to shore?

[AZChristian]

I still wonder why he wanted to move off on his own . . . doesn't "homesteading" infer creating a family home?  His wife keeps talking about how much she misses him.  Why didn't she go along?

[Jeanne222]

Tonight I unset my recordings to not record Alaska the last frontier!  Otto, AtzLee and Jane are too full of themselves!  I thought Jane was bad but watching the episode where AtzLee rounded up the family to help the homesteader build his cabin was too much!  What a big look at me know if all is he!

and Atz driving that raft in those kinds of weather..he is nuts.  He's no homsteader.  He's a nutjob!

I'm done with all of them!

Edited December 12, 2018 by Jeanne222

[Robertmc]

I’d like to see if Shane ever finished the house he’s been filing for seven season now 

[xtwheeler]

On 9/26/2017 at 12:50 AM, Maharincess said:

He is Atz Lee and Jane's son. They have a couple of kids who would be teenagers now. They've kept their kids off the show. 

He is Atz Lee's from a previous relationship, and Piper is Jane's from a prior relationship. They have chosen not to include them in the show. They do not have any biological children together.

[kwnyc]

My wife found this show at the start of our shelter in place, and she has been binge-watching all 9 seasons; I've joined her.

And I'm familiar enough with reality tv to know that there are narratives and script grafted on (heck, I know writers who have worked on reality shows).. And I think most of the fans of the show know this. I'd like to see more of a real documentary style that just shows how they work and make things, but I guess Discovery knows what buttons to punch.

I respect the family for being genuine individualists. They aren't like some of the culty families on reality TV with a weird religious side that keeps their kids from real education, and leaving the next. It seems like all of the kids have left at some point, and they've ben to college, and done other things, and some have come back to the homestead by choice.

I also don't buy the whole "starve this winter" thing, because, yes, they are driving distance to a supermarket. But I respect that they do subsistence hunting and eat everything they shoot, and use the other parts. That's the interesting part to me, and I've lived in big cities since I was born.

And I love Jane. She's the one who ISN'T fully bought into the "Kilcher culture," and will say stuff that's utterly real in the face of their "this is the family way" thing.

Atz seems like he's a lot happier as a grandfather than he was as a father. Atz Lee also seems like he forces himself into the "man's got to do what a man's got to do" box, which is an old school way of being a jerk. In an odd way, he and Jane are actually good for each other. I also respect that they keep their kids off the show, mostly.

And of course Eiven and Eve are just nice people. (At least on TV). Hell, I ordered a t-shirt from them.

I've watched enough shows that I can now yell at Otto for one of his "wacky schemes" and see how Charlotte can talk him down. 

I respect the way they choose to live, and they certainly aren't living a wasteful life, and are trying to keep things sustainable.

)I also want to know about their neighbors: the Russian community that settled there in 1900 and still speaks with Russian accents!)

 

[humbleopinion]

My Kilcher fever broke when I learned this.....

Googlemaps shows Safeway a 19 minute drive away from the Kilcher Homestead

But you two enjoy your binge......

[MelinaBallerina]

I've watched several seasons of this show, but finally had to sign off.  The hype about how they're all living as homesteaders and having to get ALL their food from their livestock and hunting, then they have all these huge machines (excavators and such), was a turn off.  Those cost $$$$$.  Even just renting one is huge, much less actually owning one.  I've moved on to Homestead Rescue.  There's not as much production fiimflammery there (especially since the Raney's broke with the original production company that was hyping "CONFILCT" for the drama)  I don't understand why that show doesn't merit a thread on this forum.  Oh well, there's a FB fan page that the Raney's have joined, so we get actual contact/videos/comments from them.