S03.E04: Outfoxed

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Participants get creative when the food runs low; a survivalist finds a clever way to get protein, while another battles a wily predator.

[jvr]

Wow, day 35 with 8 people remaining? They've skipped over a lot of time and activities (I thought I heard someone say they hadn't eaten meat in a month while the show was saying it was day 20 at one point). These people are doing super well. I can't recall if we had this many people left at the half way mark last season, I may be forgetting.

Britt, Britt, Britt... you were doing so well in the beginning, the jump in time seemed super dramatic for him. We go from him catching so much fish he is devising ways to store it to him looking gaunt, starving and battling depression. He did well even though he went out in 7th, we could possibly get a lot of taps in quick succession or this thing can go way past our set 60something days mark, he needed out mentally now. I'm guessing lots of taps soon since everyone is starving.

I was rooting for Greg and the fox lol. Those animals are so clever and it's interesting to watch them think and analyze a problem but I also wanted Greg to have something to eat. It would have been weird to watch him eat something so dog like and so intelligent though.

I was thinking I'd made two big tap order mistakes, Zack (my winner, ugh) 2 weeks ago and Britt looking so strong early, I had him as the 3rd one out. Well I was right, he was the 3rd tap! Zach once again, you loser!

1. Carleigh
2. Jim Day 3
3. Britt Day 35?
4. Megan
5. Dan
6. Greg
7. Fowler
8. Callie
9. Dave
10. Zach Day 8

In the previews for next week Callie was once again nude and said she had some bad news? I hope she won't be leaving because of something out of her control.

Edited December 30, 2016 by jvr

[Quilt Fairy]

I was not a fan of David last season, but he had his reasoning straight: Yes, as a Dad you want to provide for your family and Alone takes you away from them, but the sacrifice is so that you can provide better for them in the end. Britt is trying to weigh being away from his son for a couple of months at most vs. what half a million $ could do for him long term.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that the lack of food was affecting his thinking.

Also, for you The Selection folks, there is now a forum for that show.  Happy Holidays.

[riverheightsnancy]

Surprised about Britt, but as we have seen time and time again, this game is all about the mental. The minute these people start wanting to be at home and starting talking about what they are missing, they are already one step towards mentally creating the justifications for leaving (not that I could make it past one day!). So glad to see Fowler back on the optimistic train. I like him a lot. he has the skills.  I was hoping that he was gonna go get that duck if he did hit it though. I enjoyed Greg's "Man vs. Fox", but I was really glad the little guy won. I really didn't want to see the fox hurt by the log.  As you can see, there is no way I could do this because I do not think that I can kill an animal even a fish, even if I was starving. I found Greg's talking head to the camera, to be one of the most authentic and honest one's we have seen. His desire, and might I say need to win is pretty upfront for me. I want Fowler or Greg to win, but in many ways I actually think that Greg NEEDS it. I would be happy for either one. I think Dave is manic and completely unenjoyable to watch and I will go against the grain here, I am not a Megan fan. I think that she takes unnecessary risks, I don't dig her in the same way that I dislike Dave.  

Thanks Quilt Fairy! 

[SRTouch]

Well, tonight is the mid season dog days show where everybody is lonely, starving and about to tap. I felt a little guilty having a second bowl of pinto beans, cooking in the crock pot the past 12 hours, with corn bread fresh from the oven. Hard to recap as there is lots of bouncing around with differing contestants being shown on different days. We lose another tonight, and once again have some no shows. We have a couple folks out setting traps, but Dan the trapper man doesn't have any airtime tonight. Other no shows tonight were Callie and Carleigh.

Tonight's show opens with Fowler on Day 17 out target practicing with the slingshot. He sounds a little depressed with the lack of sunlight and amount of fish he's caught, but plans to start duck hunting with the trusty sling - and oh crappola, thinks he gets one, but Daffy just dove underwater to get away. Time for Plan B, now Fowler is going to build a duck trap - can't wait to see what he comes up with. After a short visit with Greg, we come back to Fowler planning his duck trap. Whoa, boat builder Fowler's duck trap looks like a model paddle wheel boat. Geez, he sure isn't a lazy survivalist like Dan said he wanted to be - he wants a dock to launch his paddle wheel from and is out pounding poles into the lake bed. Ok, about now I'm wondering if Daffy is supposed to hop on, and if he does how does Fowler plan to get the paddle wheel back to dock. Ah, a line from dock to the paddle wheel, and a line from paddle wheel to a baited fish hook... dude, I'm thinking go back to the sling shot. Morning of day 19, no duck, but a good fish was hooked by the duck boat trap.

Switch over to Dave, who is pleased with how warm his shelter is keeping him. Geez, is he getting skinny, or does he just look thin because of the scruffy beard and wild hair. Looking around his shelter, it does look nice and cozy, big pot of stew and fish ready to cook. Yep, looking good to me, and he has plans to keep improving things, but he got little air time tonight - almost a no show.

Next up Megan, who is shaving her legs while complaining she has yet to catch any fish. Hey, good thing she knows her plants, but 17 days with no protein - not good. I had high hopes for her fishing when she made spring fish traps in first episode, but maybe she'll start getting them if she chums and uses natural bait like we saw Britt and Callie do. Ah, fish on and another swimmer going in after a fish, but no joy, fish got away. Hmmm, just a thought, but maybe they should try a stick for a bobber. Wouldn't always stop fish from diving and getting tangled, but then couldn't hurt to have a float pulling the fish off the bottom. In contrast to a couple good looking (and warm) shelters, Megan is still in what I thought was going to be a temporary short term tarp shelter complaining of the cold and getting lonely. Day 20 opens with Megan celebrating catching a fish with her spring trap. Again, she ends up going in water to get the fish. According to a popup, this is her first fish after 20 days of only eating plants - yeah, only protein except what's in the ration packs that we aren't supposed to talk about.

Next up, Greg, who is eating plants without knowing what he's eating. He puts on a little show like he's been poisoned - reminding me of Justin's antics last season. Fishing has slowed, and he's still trying to snare a pig. No hogs, but trail camera shows a foxy bait thief. He's in survivor mode, and now is thinking of snaring the thief and eating canine whatever. Day 23 - no fish and fox still stealing bait from the snares. Sooo, new trap, a deadfall, hoping to smash cute little foxy.... fast forward three days and we see foxy sniffing around and avoiding that nasty deadfall while taking the bait... ok, I feel sorry for Greg, but I'm now rooting for foxy. Dayum, 4 nights later, now up to day 31, and foxy must have been studying the blueprints. You just know there's been a lot of close calls we're not seeing, or this area has had other trappers, because this fox has seen deadfalls before. Another night with foxy stealing the bait and Greg admits foxy has outfoxed him, says he's not wasting anymore effort trying to catch him. Uh oh, his failure has him depressed. 

Day 19, we get to visit Britt. Dude looks to have a nice shelter. Must be doing ok, as he has time and energy to be thinking of a way to make a wood trough urinal so he can avoid going out to pee in the middle of the day. Hope that is just a for-show busy-work project, again reminiscent of last season's kelp urinal Justin rigged up. He started out thinking he'd be needing to preserve all the fish he was catching, but hasn't caught anything for over a week and is now hunting for edible plants and talking low energy levels and wondering just how skinny he'll get. (Ok, enough already, he has the ration pack everyone was given, plus two more packs as 2 of his ten items.) He's also setting snares, but he wants rabbit instead of pigs. Next visit to Britt is on day 34. Still suffering from food shortages, but I see continued work around camp and pert near a log cabin - though made with small logs. 23 days since last fish, and no luck with the traps. At least one trap was sprung, but whatever it was escaped by chewing through the fish line... ah if only he had picked the 3.5 lbs of snare wire as one of his choices. Day 35, more depression and sitting around looking at pictures of wife and son... they're working hard making it sound like he's about to tap. Ah, but we've see that every season, so and so is about to tap and they keep chugging along... nope, next scene he's on the sat phone saying come get me, I wanna go home! Shucks,  I had him as an early tap, but he did a heck of a lot of work and had a good shelter, sorry to see him go.

Final thoughts on our mid season starving dog days episode... I really wish they would just admit to the rations we know everyone has. At one point last season they told us what some of the ration packs consisted of. IIRC, there were three or four different choices, from dried beans, legumes, rice, jerky, pemmican, chocolate etc. This season we're back to not knowing what the ration choices were, or how much is in the choices of packs. Just want to point out that the gear list on the History channel site says everyone was given 1 ration pack (which included water), and everyone except Fowler took at least one additional pack. Britt and Megan, who moaned and groaned for the camera about nothing but edible plants both had ration packs. Come on show runners, you don't need to hide those rations from the viewers - this is Wizard of Oz, don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain crap. Next week looks like Fowler is on a building spree, more N&A crossover blurring, a starving Dave screaming, and Greg building a raft.

Edited December 30, 2016 by SRTouch
Wording changed

[LittleIggy]

Dave's shelter was pretty awesome, but he was so thin to start with that I can't see him lasting.

No, Britt, you couldn't have kept on going but for missing your family.

Hooray for the fox! That is one smart animal!

How did Fowler plan on retrieving any ducks caught by his trap? Didn't he say that the weight would drown the poor thing? Was the weight tethered to the platform?

[Quilt Fairy]

24 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

I really wish they would just mention admit to the rations we know everyone has. At one point last season they told us what some of the ration packs consisted of. IIRC, there were three or four different choices, from dried beans, legumes, rice, jerky, pemmican, chocolate etc. This season we're back to not knowing what the ration choices were, or how much is in the choices of packs.

Food options (each counts as 1 of the 10 allowed items):

1. 5 lbs of beef jerky (protein)
2. 5 lbs of dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix (starch and carbs)
3. 5 lbs of biltong (protein)
4. 5 lbs of hard tack military biscuits (carbs/sugars)
5. 5 lbs of chocolate (Simple/complex sugars)
6. 5 lbs of pemmican (traditional trail food made from fat and proteins)
7. 5 lbs of gorp (raisins, m&m’s and peanuts)
8. 5 lbs of flour (starch/carbs)
9. 2 lbs of rice or sugar and 1 lb of salt

[SRTouch]

23 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

How did Fowler plan on retrieving any ducks caught by his trap? Didn't he say that the weight would drown the poor thing? Was the weight tethered to the platform?

That what I figure. A line from shore to trap, another from trap to rock to baited hook. Way to complicated, but probably made as much for something to do as any expectation of it actually working. Really, did that trap get that much further out than he was able to shoot the slingshot. We only saw him shoot at a duck once, and it took, what, 18 shots to hit his practice target. I thought it crazy to risk one of his only two rubber slingshot bands on his paddle wheel trap contraption.

22 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Food options (each counts as 1 of the 10 allowed items):

1. 5 lbs of beef jerky (protein)
2. 5 lbs of dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix (starch and carbs)
3. 5 lbs of biltong (protein)
4. 5 lbs of hard tack military biscuits (carbs/sugars)
5. 5 lbs of chocolate (Simple/complex sugars)
6. 5 lbs of pemmican (traditional trail food made from fat and proteins)
7. 5 lbs of gorp (raisins, m&m’s and peanuts)
8. 5 lbs of flour (starch/carbs)
9. 2 lbs of rice or sugar and 1 lb of salt

Ah, thanks. Now, if only we knew what each person chose. I look at that list and see a lot of stew/soup making material, especially if stretched with local plants and fish - maybe that was what Dave had in that stew pot we had a glimpse of when panning around his shelter - he's one of those who chose to take two ration packs. I think a lot of the survival type shows miss the boat when it comes to cooking their meager rations, so I was happy when they showed Megan making a soup of her fish and consuming pretty much the whole fish. She got lots more nutritional value with her soup than she would have gotten frying, grilling, or smoking that fish.

[GreyBunny]

35 days for the 3rd tap out, pretty good.  So far it appears Patagonia is easier than VI.

Oh Britt, I was hoping he'd make it to the end.  When he started talking about how he wanted to go home I knew he was a goner.  Once that gets into your mind there's no purging it.

I liked the duck trap, even though it caught a fish - close enough.

Clever fox FTW.

[Scaeva]

5 minutes ago, GreyBunny said:

35 days for the 3rd tap out, pretty good.  So far it appears Patagonia is easier than VI.

Weather seems to be the big thing that culls the herd.

Season 2 had a lot less rain than Season 1, and that cast lasted longer as well. Season 1's cast seemed like like they were under a constant deluge, and more than half of them were  gone by Day 9.

How far out is Season 3's cast from winter?

[holly4755]

I think they are very close to winter, which is why they want stocks. Not so much wild life around in the winter. 

What I have not seen is what one of the youtube videos I saw before the show (it was by  an independent person but some how sorted in with show videos) anyway what this one person said was that there were a lot of cattails there and that it was an excelllent preservable food. It was a mix of carbs and oils with some protein value. There was edible tops and reds and the roots if dug up ion fall could be ground into a powder and preserved. here is an article on them Cattails – A Survival Dinner  

as to Dave staying on, I believe his youngest child was in his teens, people with smaller children have a harder time parting from them. because they grow and change a lot, but a month seems doable, the longer, the more the child will change. . 

[Liberty]

3 hours ago, GreyBunny said:

When he started talking about how he wanted to go home I knew he was a goner.

Wonder if that is the editing, that the editors foreshadow the show's quitters.  It is possible that others have the same thoughts but are not getting the exposure the goners get in their 'final' episode.  It seems that none of them quit at the end of an episode unless they were given exposure during that episode.

It is entirely correct that when they feature someone talking about 'home' in an episode, it is much more likely they quite that episode.

[humbleopinion]

Enough of the stumble cam footage, editors.

Lack of creativity by the participants to get fish except for Fowler.

Wonder if he will extend his dock out further to give his little paddle boat a better launch to deeper water and reach sunshine.

Kudos for Britt on his sturdy home.

No puma was going to breach the wooden walls, it would have to walk in the front door to attack him.

However, it looked like a fire trap as the green logs dried and became kindling...but he tapped so...

Dave's house should be on Tiny House Patagonia.

The triangle front door is bamboo-tastic.

Fishing line caught in the pesky reeds making the decision of going into the drink a necessity.

Megan got her shoes wet, probably not thinking straight but she finally got a fish.

Guess no one wanted to bring cordage(in form of a hammock) as one of their items to weave a net to help snag their swimming protein.

Weather, a non issue at this point at Day 35.

No steady dripping, no flooding, no gale force winds, no trees dropping to dead fall on the participants living in the woods.

Plenty of dead wood on the ground so everyone should be warm and no one dropped their ferrous rod into the fire (shout out to Randy Champagne)

The tease for next week's episode:

Fowler's wall of horizontal bamboo project looks like Zen wall covering sold at IKEA and in the spirit of Lucas' yurt from Season Uno.

Dave's promo for National Sushi Day as he scarfs down some roe, the whole sac in one slurp.

Dave, please no talking with your mouth full and wash your hands(extreme close up of your grungy fingers as you scooped fish into your gob as per last week) before you eat.

Editorial blurring of Caitlan's booty, but from what we see... she's not starving.

Carleigh's decision to sleep on the beach...the puma is seeing a burrito.

[qtpye]

Did Dave bring a vial of cocaine as one of his 10 items? I like enthusiasm, but that seemed almost slightly manic

So sad about Britt, he was one of the most entertaining.  I hate it when people use missing their family to tap out, but I can not judge, since I would not last ten minutes on Patagonia.  If I did have the survival skills, I think I would power through for the money, but that is very easy to say sitting on my warm comfy couch.

I have never done any type of hard core camping.  Does anyone who has know around what time it stops being fun and you want to go in and sleep in a real bed and enjoy the pleasure of having a toilet and central heating?

[Ocean Chick]

Little Fox will be the last one standing FTW.

I knew Britt would be an early tap, but at least he made it to 35 days.  That's pretty good.  And some of those shelters look pretty darn good.  This whole group is lucky that they all seem to have bamboo available, which is something the 2 VI groups didn't have.  So much easier to make things from bamboo.  Lightweight but strong.

 

Quote

I have never done any type of hard core camping.  Does anyone who has know around what time it stops being fun and you want to go in and sleep in a real bed and enjoy the pleasure of having a toilet and central heating?

I don't know about anyone else, but I start missing a flushable toilet about.... day 1, more or less.  It's the one luxury I can't seem to do without these days.  Peeing/pooing in the woods has never appealed to me at any age.

[riverheightsnancy]

31 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Did Dave bring a vial of cocaine as one of his 10 items? I like enthusiasm, but that seemed almost slightly manic

So sad about Britt, he was one of the most entertaining.  I hate it when people use missing their family to tap out, but I can not judge, since I would not last ten minutes on Patagonia.  If I did have the survival skills, I think I would power through for the money, but that is very easy to say sitting on my warm comfy couch.

I have never done any type of hard core camping.  Does anyone who has know around what time it stops being fun and you want to go in and sleep in a real bed and enjoy the pleasure of having a toilet and central heating?

Uh, 1/2 a day for me (much shorter if there are wild, snarling animals or snakes). When Britt started talking about being dirty, that was a bit telling. I think that being more dirty than we are accustomed to being in our modern world is required for a person who wants to go back to nature. I remember hearing a stat once that Americans use more soap, and bathe more, than any other country at any other time in history. So, I think a person has to be able to let go of some of the modern conventions regarding cleanliness to be successful as a camper or outdoorsman.   I agree about Dave being a bit manic like. I have to wonder if the contestants wean themselves off of caffeine and other substances (alcohol, cigs, pot, etc...) in preparation for a show like this. I think that would be very smart. 

[cooksdelight]

Quote

How did Fowler plan on retrieving any ducks caught by his trap? Didn't he say that the weight would drown the poor thing? Was the weight tethered to the platform?

Once the duck takes the bait, the rock goes overboard and drowns the duck by dragging it down under the water. Fowler has the little boat tethered to his dock or in his hand, so he can quickly pull it back and retrieve his catch. Pretty ingenious thing, if you ask me. I can't wait to see what he builds next. If he can get past the darkness and missing people at home, he can win this. But I was yelling at him as he was building his dock, "Hey, Mr. Boat Builder, why don't you build a small raft??"

[SRTouch]

31 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Once the duck takes the bait, the rock goes overboard and drowns the duck by dragging it down under the water. Fowler has the little boat tethered to his dock or in his hand, so he can quickly pull it back and retrieve his catch. Pretty ingenious thing, if you ask me. I can't wait to see what he builds next. If he can get past the darkness and missing people at home, he can win this. But I was yelling at him as he was building his dock, "Hey, Mr. Boat Builder, why don't you build a small raft??"

Absolutely, little raft with bamboo duck blind tethered to shore with his 50m of 550 paracord ? sitting out there in the middle of the big Lake armed with only his trusty slingshot. Oh, and he could have a couple fish lines in at the same time.

[ethalfrida]

5 hours ago, riverheightsnancy said:

Uh, 1/2 a day for me (much shorter if there are wild, snarling animals or snakes). When Britt started talking about being dirty, that was a bit telling. I think that being more dirty than we are accustomed to being in our modern world is required for a person who wants to go back to nature. I remember hearing a stat once that Americans use more soap, and bathe more, than any other country at any other time in history. So, I think a person has to be able to let go of some of the modern conventions regarding cleanliness to be successful as a camper or outdoorsman.   I agree about Dave being a bit manic like. I have to wonder if the contestants wean themselves off of caffeine and other substances (alcohol, cigs, pot, etc...) in preparation for a show like this. I think that would be very smart. 

Great point about the coffee, cafeine, etc. But someone did make herb tea.

[Quilt Fairy]

There are 2 things confusing me about the story of Greg, the pig snare and the fox.  First, apparently he was using fish guts for bait.  We see the fox take the bait 3-4 times over a period of about 10 days.  To me, that implies that Greg caught some fish during that time, because otherwise, where was he getting the fish guts for bait?  Or would there have been enough in the fish he caught early on to keep rebaiting the snare at that point?  (Full disclosure, I have never gutted a fish in my life, but if they were catching 2lb trout in the beginning, there can't be that much guts in them.)

The second confusing thing is you know what we never saw during that entire time?  We never saw a damn pig!  If they're not at least wandering around in that area (which he should see on the trap cam) then his snare should be in a different spot altogether.

ETA: Greg's voice reminds me of someone, an actor I think, but I can't figure out who it is.  Anyone?

Edited December 30, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[lidarose9]

Lack of food takes its toll. It doesn't matter how good your firemaking or shelter-building skills are if you're half-dead from hunger. If I was signed up to do this show, I would have researched about the area to find out what food sources are available and then practiced building and using food-gathering devices ahead of time. Using only materials I'll have in Patagonia. So I was not starting from square one once I got there. 

There seems to be a rule here: When someone is massively starved for a really long time and starts talking about missing their family, they are really saying, "I'm hungry." In other words, if they were catching fish regularly, they wouldn't miss their family so much. In other words, missing family is proportionate to starvation level. This is not to say these people don't truly miss their families. It means they have more inner strength to resist the urge when not starved.

Also about the manic guy (Dave?) -- his teeth are really white. He's had them bleached. Which seems odd to me. Reminds me of the woman on Naked and Afraid that had on those really enormous thick black fake eyelashes out in the middle of the African desert.

[cooksdelight]

That's 'cause Dave wants his own reality show. I think several people go into this with that in mind. Dave makes me nervous. He's the one of the group I'd not want to be stuck in the wilderness with.

[Charlesman]

Some really good shelters so far this season. Thought last week's were good, but, Dave's rocks. 

[Canada]

I'm so glad to find I'm not the only one who finds Dave to be a bit crazy.  I wanted to be generous and say he's fun-loving, enthusiastic, or exuberant.  Nope, I think he's gone nuts.  Shame, as he seems to have real talent.  But, as cooksdelight said, I wouldn't want to be stuck out in the woods with him and his craziness.  I feel like he may be forced to tap out for medical reasons.

I thought Britt would go far, but I guess that was wrong!  He did pretty well, though.  I guess my picks now would still be Callie, plus Fowler and mystery trapper guy (Dan?) who we haven't seen much of yet.

This is my first season watching, so I'm wondering... have people always had this much trouble finding protein sources?

[humbleopinion]

Wonder if whitening strips was one of Dave's 10 items.

His profile clip makes him look like a cult leader.

Dave and Caitlan are using the show as an audition for their own lifestyle show, if Alan didn't bag a show then they are in line behind him.

He could quit the prison and just host an outdoors show.

Preacher Dave went well into season 2 before he figured out how to get enough fish to sustain him.

Thinking the remaining of this season's participants will either tap out or figure it out how to feed themselves.

Does the actor with the Greg voice have a Canadian accent?

[lidarose9]

33 minutes ago, Canada said:

This is my first season watching, so I'm wondering... have people always had this much trouble finding protein sources?

So far this seasons seems to be the worst for food. In past seasons, some people have had more luck than others with location, which seems to be the main variable. It really doesn't matter how good you are at fishing or trapping if there is no game or fish around. Pretty quick, the wildlife and fish know enough to avoid the campsite areas. The people who know about edible plants have more options. Some people manage to limp along with the occasional mouse from a deadfall trap. Once the food resources dry up, the boredom and loneliness become unbearable.

[Quilt Fairy]

45 minutes ago, Canada said:

This is my first season watching, so I'm wondering... have people always had this much trouble finding protein sources?

Yes.  At least, no one has ever found a good, consistent food source.  You should check out one of the early episodes in season 1 where Alan did his Julia Child impression while gutting and sautéing a banana slug. Comedy gold. 

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, Canada said:

I thought Britt would go far, but I guess that was wrong!  He did pretty well, though.  I guess my picks now would still be Callie, plus Fowler and mystery trapper guy (Dan?) who we haven't seen much of yet.

Ah, Dan the trapper man! He was my pick to win, but so far he's a no show. He's had, I think, just one short clip where he said he planned to hunker down and do as little as possible to survive. Followed by a scene where he chops down a small tree. I was left wondering at the seeming contradiction, as we never learned what the "lazy survivalist" needed the tree for.

Carleigh, the backwoods Alaskan carpenter, is essentially another no show I picked to go far. We saw her expend a lot of time and effort on a wickiup type shelter, only to have the roof collapse. Geez, show runners, you left us with her homesick and crying, and now no sign of her for weeks. I'm hoping she just had a good cry and has been kicking ass ever since, and just hope we'll eventually see how she corrected her failed roof. Maybe, not having much airtime is a good thing, with the producers planning to give them more time once the field thins out. 

Quote

This is my first season watching, so I'm wondering... have people always had this much trouble finding protein sources?

Well, each season has had it's own challenges. The first season, the contestants arrive on Vancouver Island just at the start of the stormy rain season with really little idea of what to expect. Second season started filming earlier in the year, so they had more time to establish sites before bad weather, as well as lessons learned from first year. Good example is looking at where folks looked for food. Season one had bow hunters expecting you get some game. Season two contestants had learned that the sea was the grocery store, so people left their bows at home. Current season, the reliable sea has turned to a fresh water lake, and a lot of what previous seasons relied on has disappeared. Back to hunting and trapping - but so far we haven't seen any success. What I keep thinking is that any success at trapping/hunting will diminish as time goes by and the game moves away from the stinky and noisy two legged intruders. So, if they haven't gotten anything after a month, their chances certainly aren't improving.

[Canada]

They do seem to employ strange use of cliff-hangers in this show.  This week, Greg reappeared, when a few episodes back he was lost in the woods and I don't recall that ever being followed up on.  Previously, there was someone at the end of an episode talking about a big cat in the dark, but, again, I don't remember they ever showed what happened after that.  Am I just missing parts of the show??

[cooksdelight]

@Canada, watch season 2 and the joy that a mouse brings! :). When it's dead, that is.

Edited December 31, 2016 by cooksdelight

[SRTouch]

43 minutes ago, Canada said:

They do seem to employ strange use of cliff-hangers in this show.  This week, Greg reappeared, when a few episodes back he was lost in the woods and I don't recall that ever being followed up on.  Previously, there was someone at the end of an episode talking about a big cat in the dark, but, again, I don't remember they ever showed what happened after that.  Am I just missing parts of the show??

Nope, they seem to enjoy leaving us with unexplained little mysteries. Season 2 we were treated to weeks of a clip of Jose getting dunked in the ocean before it happened. Three quarters of the Season we saw previews of a wolf charging someone but the season ended with no one actually being charged. We get these clips of something happening - then nothing.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

@Canada, watch season 2 and the joy that a mouse brings! :). When it's dead, that is.

It was MUCH more entertaining watching the emotions a live motherfuckin' mouse brought.  ;-)

[Scaeva]

2 hours ago, Canada said:

They do seem to employ strange use of cliff-hangers in this show.  This week, Greg reappeared, when a few episodes back he was lost in the woods and I don't recall that ever being followed up on.  Previously, there was someone at the end of an episode talking about a big cat in the dark, but, again, I don't remember they ever showed what happened after that.  Am I just missing parts of the show??

I thought I had missed a scene where Greg found his way home. I guess not.

I figured that his being lost would amount to nothing, but it is weird that the cliffhanger wasn't followed up on. Maybe the missing wolf from last season's previews guided Greg back to his camp.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Scaeva

[LittleIggy]

I bet it smelled around Britt's shelter since his urinal dumped the pee close by it.

[Canada]

16 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I bet it smelled around Britt's shelter since his urinal dumped the pee close by it.

That's what I said to myself!  What a terrible idea, to dump your pee right outside your shelter!

[AZChristian]

Yep, must have smelled bad.  So he tapped out.

[cooksdelight]

I think the only reason he did that is because he saw someone else try it last season... maybe? I'm no wilderness expert but I've camped enough to know you never leave your urine or feces near where you're camped.

[seasick]

12 hours ago, Scaeva said:

I thought I had missed a scene where Greg found his way home. I guess not.

I figured that his being lost would amount to nothing, but it is weird that the cliffhanger wasn't followed up on. Maybe the missing wolf from last season's previews guided Greg back to his camp.

This drove me to distraction last season.  This year maybe my expectations are lower.  But then again I moved and was with out cable for a month (MOST unusual for me!)  but I was able to binge-watch the first 3+ eps. when everything got turned on.  I think when I had to wait the whole week for the next episode my anticipation grew. 

 

9 hours ago, Canada said:

That's what I said to myself!  What a terrible idea, to dump your pee right outside your shelter!

I thought the same.  Figured if you're going to do that just stand at the front 'door' and whizz.  Don't have to 'put your shoes on' for that either.

I think Gregg has the best chance of winning at this point. Fowler is a contender but ; young kids-- they do seem to call to you in hard times.   I agree Dave is a bit too hyper.  Think maybe he's playing it up a bit for the camera .  He's got all those outdoorsy rock climbing buddies to show. ( I think.  He's the one who was hanging on the pegs on his back porch)  Nice shelter tho!   But I didn't realize all those boughs were bamboo! They looked like pine needles!  He reminds me a little of Mike from last season--all happy and enthusiastic until he needed his Barbara fix.

This season the personalities are not as strong and distinctive.  Of course hard to beat F'ing Larry and Mike the orphan-- and Nicole full of cheer all the time.   

[Juliegirlj]

That little fox was so cute that I was rooting for it instead of Greg. Not sure why he didn't make a snare on the outside of his deadfall trap. 

I wanted Britt to do well because he lives in my Mom's town... 

Have none of the contestants ever tested themselves on a very low calorie diet to see how their bodies react?!

Yay for fish soup. Very surprising others don't use that technique when cooking their catch. So much more nutritious to get all that bone broth goodness!! 

[SRTouch]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I think the only reason he did that is because he saw someone else try it last season... maybe? I'm no wilderness expert but I've camped enough to know you never leave your urine or feces near where you're camped.

Absolutely, just copying Justin and his seaweed/kelp urinal. Neither a good idea from a field sanitation point of view. I understand not wanting to put on wet clammy boots to go out and pee... dude that's time to use those sandals everybody gets. Also, as he was complaining of being stinky, putting on his dirty hat and sleeping in a dirty sleeping bag I couldn't help but wonder if he really was going without washing. Sure they only get 1 bar of soap, but that doesn't mean they can't take steps to practice good hygiene. You really can get by without flush toilets and hot and cold running water and still practice good hygiene, as we've seen others accomplish - heck, we even saw Megan shaving, and more than once we saw people washing and even a tarp sauna. They're lacking in animal fat so old time homemade soap is out, but they have wood ashes so can make lye. Just thinking out loud - well to my keyboard - but I think I'd try to wash my hat before I'd  just wear it stinky. Course the other thing is trying to dry stuff after you wash it - remembering Mitch with his moldy clothes in the rainforest.

[humbleopinion]

Britt complained about his aromatic hat in an early episode so has literally been on his mind (and noggin) from the get go.

Didn't a past participant show how  us how they used smoke to "dry clean" their stinkys?

Guess he doesn't mind his shelter smelling like an open trough urinal but his BO and scalp smell drove him to distraction and to tap out.

Wonder why only one fox was interested in Gregg's trap?

No other nocturnal visits from boars, less clever foxes, curious creatures that go bump in the night?

Dave's unnatural energy level on camera means he is still getting enough calories through his fishing, gathering and rations.

Sooner or later we will see him crash and burn unless he starts becoming immobile like Dan, Low Energy Man.

[TVbitch]

Britt: I'm not tapping out, I'm tapping in!

Me: Dude, you JUST tapped out! 

I almost have more respect for the "I can't take it anymore! I'm outta here!!" people, but I guess some need to re-story it to allow themselves to go. It must be hard to swing from "I'm doing this FOR my family" to "I'm missing precious time with my family and should be there with them." I don't really think the family would agree, but I'm sure the time distortion of being the bored, lonely, suffering one makes it seem like you are gone forever.  

Edited January 1, 2017 by TVbitch

[cooksdelight]

I'd miss my dog more than people. Dogs don't understand when you leave and don't come back for a long while....

[holly4755]

Dogs think you are coming back from the 100 years war when you take out the garbage.  

The urinal - it would work when there is snow on the ground, but if I remember dances with wolves correctly, you want to pee outside your  camp to keep some animals away, to claim the land. However the urinal would work if it were flushed and the other end went to a drop off ( I think last year it was on a very steep slope.)  and or it was snowy cold. No cold breezes in the tent except through  the urinal hole.  Well at least we know he watched previous episodes. 

[raven]

Go Fox!!  Tricky Mr. Fox had a lot of personality.  I enjoyed watching him circumvent the trap and (sorry Greg) had to laugh at Greg admitting defeat. 

It seems like we are speeding through this group, it makes me curious as to how long the winner ends up staying.   The shelters look pretty good for the most part, excepting the one that collapsed last week.  I'm not really invested in anyone at this point; I did like Fowler and his duck trap and look forward to seeing what he builds next.  When he thought he had hit the duck with the slingshot, I'm saying "yeah but, how will you get the dead duck to you??"  LOL. 

Dave does seem happily manic but maybe he's always like that. 

Well bye, Britt.  You had a a good attitude in the beginning but hunger got you.  Didn't he seem to have a good supply of fish last episode?  I guess it was a few weeks long gap, the editing is off, what with Greg being lost and then...not.

Fox - 1.  Yay!

[riverheightsnancy]

I have been pretty distracted by the editing this season, and if it proves out, Dan won't win and is getting the Jose edit. (i.e., has all the skills, but doesn't make it to the end and because, perhaps, his filming is either boring or not enough or just hyper-fixated on some singular things [like Jose and his rumination on his boat], they may just be opting not to show him that much, because why bother?) We will see if my theory holds out by the end. I mentioned early in the season my thoughts on the editing and how heavy handed the editors are for this show and my thoughts on the potential winner back during episode #1, so we will see. 

[seasick]

On 12/31/2016 at 6:00 PM, SRTouch said:

Ah, Dan the trapper man! He was my pick to win, but so far he's a no show. He's had, I think, just one short clip where he said he planned to hunker down and do as little as possible to survive. Followed by a scene where he chops down a small tree. I was left wondering at the seeming contradiction, as we never learned what the "lazy survivalist" needed the tree for.

Yes, interested to see why  'Lazy' Dan had to cut down a live tree with all the dead wood around.  That would take less effort.  Perhaps he did it for our benefit --because he did say "That's how you fell a tree".  I had no idea you needed to chop thru the trunk! Thanks Dan!    I'm all for conserving energy, but I think boredom is a real enemy out there. I think it rates next to hunger, so I don't think he'll do well.   And I'm not sure what the point of counting his strides was to measure his distance to camp.  What difference does that make.?   

On 12/31/2016 at 0:40 AM, lidarose9 said:

missing family is proportionate to starvation level

 

I totally agree.  I'm not sure they even realize it, but I think missing family is very often code for hunger. 

But when I hear them complain about hunger I don't see most of them doing it with a fishing line in their hand. And I'm shocked that no one has built a raft yet.   I think fish is their only hope for food so I think they should keep trying things there--getting to deeper water, fish traps, whatever--but more time and energy on the lake fishing. 

[dgpolo]

Something I've been curious about. Are they all around the same lake? I know they are some miles from each other but can any of them see the boat that comes for the tap outs? Would they be able to tell how many have gone and take hope, or determination or something from that info?

[seasick]

12 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Something I've been curious about. Are they all around the same lake? I know they are some miles from each other but can any of them see the boat that comes for the tap outs? Would they be able to tell how many have gone and take hope, or determination or something from that info?

Hmmm.  That's interesting. I hadn't thought about that.   Actually the point of the show is to insure that they don't have any idea about the others.    However it is possible that they could arrange to do the film pick-ups and doctor checks at random times and days.    That way if they see a boat they can't tell if it's a normal visit.

[qtpye]

Quote

but I think missing family is very often code for hunger. 

I agree.  At least Britt made it a month and Nicole was in the final 4.  The worst was that teacher guy who could not make it one day.  In his intro he talked about how they were adopting three boys and he was more then fine with leaving his wife alone during this stressful process, because the money would be life changing.  He was the positive attitude guy.  All of a sudden, after one frickin day, his wife needs him and he has to go back to her to support the adoption.  You could tell the guy was just too embarrassed to say he just could not cut it.  He did admit that it was a shame he took the place of someone who most likely would last more then one day.

I don't even believe the guy was even that hungry or bored yet.  He had rations and should still have an adrenaline rush from starting the competition. It almost seemed like he could not stand any type of discomfort or maybe he got scared of animal noises in the night?  I know it is very easy for me to judge from my safe and warm home, but it was very disappointing.