S03.E08: Of Feast & Famine

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, ClareWalks said:

Unpopular opinion: I don't fault any of these folks for leaving for ANY reason. If they feel they're done, they're done. I guess most folks want to see these people stay out there until they are just barely hanging on and slowly starving to death like Sam and Dave, but I find it uncomfortable to watch people go out like that, and it would be torturous to watch *everyone* go out like that. I was surprised Callie left but I can't blame her or be annoyed with her about it. 

I tend to agree with you.  I've been in situations (NOT survival, I'm a city-slicker) where circumstances beyond my control (like Callie's spider bites) would have made it easy to quit, but I'm stubborn and determined and have to do things MY way.  Once that circumstance is resolved, then I might quit if it was MY choice, and I wasn't forced.  I get where she's coming from.

Go Fowler!!!

[ClareWalks]

4 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

I'm not all that knowledgeable about nutrition, but seems to me fish would be a poor choice to try to maintain his weight. I wonder which of the food rations packs he chose to take - remember he took two packs.

Yeah, he definitely needs a more diverse diet, and just more calories in general. Freshwater fish tend to be low in fat and therefore low in calories. Callie found a bunch of mushrooms but I wonder if Dave has any nearby? That would thicken up his stew too. Good call on what rations he might have, beans would be a good choice (very calorically dense). I might bring almonds if they were allowed, they have the kinds of macronutrients that would be hard to find out there. I wonder if they're also given a bottle of multivitamins.

[holly4755]

are mushrooms very nutritious? I googled - seems they have antioxidants, vitamins and potassium and fiber.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/278858.php

[derriere]

I don't believe anyone quits this late for reasons of fulfillment. I think they all come into the game thinking, "I'm going to win, the sacrifices will be worth it!" before progressing to, "Am I going to win? Why am I making these sacrifices?" and then tap when they hit, "I'm definitely not going to win! This is a waste of time!" Life is short, and months spent away from the people you love is time you can't claim back.

 

On 1/27/2017 at 3:23 PM, brgjoe said:

Had no idea Callie would be the one to tap out.  I thought she was BSing us again with the call.  But when I saw her waving to the boat....yeah, it was all to real and disappointing to me.

 

That's one reason why I'm not too sad to see her go. I never felt like she was a reliable narrator. The fake-out tap, the goodbye tour after the spider bite; it always felt like she was trying to write her own story line. Her ability to thrive in the wild is unquestionable, however, and I hope she can parlay this experience/exposure into a successful business that will allow her to buy that plot of land (assuming that's even a real aspiration).

Edited January 29, 2017 by derriere

[Joan Z]

On 1/28/2017 at 9:02 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I don't consider it good news at all.  This is the one show on TV right now that is appointment viewing for me.  Although without Callie the last few episodes may be a lot less interesting.

I'm that impatient. At first I was excited when last season had 13 episodes but then it quickly felt like forever especially when there were only Jose, Larry and David left in the end. At that point, it was a bore fest and I couldn't care less who win. All 3 of them can't beat the entertainment that Alan brought to the show! This season, the slightly entertaining contestants are Callie and Fowler but since Callie is out, so only Fowler left. Hopefully Fowler will stop with the homesickness cause that can be his downfall. 

On 1/28/2017 at 6:06 PM, seasick said:

Exactly.  And that is really the thing that bothers me.   She had hit a point that she could not push past.  Very understandable!!     But she refused to admit to it.  

 "I feel complete"  is code for "I just can't stand to do this another day--not even for half a million dollars.  I want out".      She did not leave on any more superior terms than anybody else did.

Unless I missed any particular moments, I think Callie is the only contestant this season that didn't really open up. All of the contestants have talked something about their personal life at some point. Dave talked about his daddy issue, Fowler talked about him dyslexic and his family, Megan talked about her kids, Carleigh talked about her bf, childhood and daddy issues. We (or at least I) don't know much about Callie other than she's a hippie who lives off grid. I like Callie (I have a girl crush on her!) but I've always feel like there's something about her that I can't pinpoint (or maybe I got distracted since she sets off my gaydar) until someone on other forum said that she's 'very aware' of the camera which makes me think that she's holding back - a lot! so there's a sense of disconnect for me as an audience/viewer. Maybe she has some issue that she don't wanna talk about - who knows. Sometimes I feel like she's trying to appear as a strong, badass and independent woman. Maybe she realized that sometimes it's ok to admit your weakness. 

I never noticed how much weight she lost until she smiled at the crew at the end. When I saw that skinny face, right away I feel bad that I'm mad at her for tapping out when I'm here sitting at the comfort of home, showered, with plenty of food =P so I no longer mad at her lol

Picture from BushcraftUSA

On 1/29/2017 at 2:40 AM, ClareWalks said:

Good question! I would hope so. Let the contestant relax on the boat with pumpkin pie (Lucas's food of choice) while the crew packs up the stuff. 

Dave looks horrific. His "plan" to subsist on 100 cal/day is idiotic. He thinks he can go two more months? On that restricted diet, he will lose another 40 lb in two more months. He doesn't have 40 lb to lose. He has maybe 10 more lb, or 2 more weeks before organ failure unless he gets some real food, real fast. He needs to be eating at least two fish a day, not one fish every two days.

Did he said 1 fish or 1 fillet every two days? I thought he said 1 fillet. 

We haven't seen much of Meghan and she's finally figuring out how to catch fish (remind me of David last season) so I'm guessing she's a top 3 (with Fowler and Dave) or top 2 (if they pulled Dave out). Carleigh really surprised me. For me she's the perfect example of don't judge a book by its cover! The way she speaks, she's sooo soft spoken you wouldn't think she got the skills and the will to stay that long. I read her profile and it says she does roofing, framing, carpentry, etc in Alaska. She's one tough cookie for sure. 

[Liberty]

10 minutes ago, Joan Z said:

...Unless I missed any particular moments, I think Callie is the only contestant this season that didn't really open up. All of the contestants have talked something about their personal life at some point....

Regardless of what the cast members record on camera, we only see what the editors allow us to see.

If the editors would stop replaying everything after a commercial that ended the section before the commercial we could see more good stuff and remove some viewing tedium.  Showing us the same thing before and after commercials demonstrates they do not have much interesting material and are working to fill their broadcast time.

[qtpye]

On 1/27/2017 at 6:12 PM, GreyBunny said:

I was trying to pinpoint what bugged me about Dave and I finally figured it out.  In his audition and at-home videos he comes off as such a manchild.  He's over 40 and still acts like a teenager and not in a good way.  It's a little creepy. 

 

Dave is disturbing to watch and camera repellent.  When he first came and he did that little strut into the cabin after he built his door, I had an odd feeling that he was not all there mentally (I am not expert on the subject).  I should say I felt like this even before he arrived in Patagonia.

I used to live in a large city that had a lot of homeless people.  Dave reminds me of some of the homeless that were struggling with mental issues and no longer had access to medication.  He is extremely unpleasant to watch.

That being said he has toughed it out for a long time.  I really hope he eats more, because he looks to be in bad shape.

 

On 1/28/2017 at 4:14 AM, Snarklepuss said:

The backwards editing clued me in that the show was messing with us again.  I had a sinking feeling it would be either Callie or Fowler tapping this time.  I was sorry it was Callie as she seemed to be doing better than most of them and probably could have lasted much longer.  ITA with the people who want to see true competitors instead of these "personal journey" people and I ranted about that here in prior seasons too.  Although, to be fair to Callie, she lasted longer than any of the winners so far, so she didn't give up too soon by any means, just too soon to win in this season.  So I'm better with her than with the Lucas type.

I see I'm not alone in that Dave annoys me.  I think the show wanted to fake us out thinking it was him tapping out.  With only 2 episodes left there will have to be more than one tap out per episode from this point.  It's so hard to predict, but with Fowler starting to complain about missing his family I worry about how long until he taps....Which would totally suck.  Dave starving himself when he actually has food leads me to believe he is trying to last as long as possible and is over-conserving his resources in some kind of strategy to achieve that, although I think he's coming close to sabotaging himself at this point.

Carleigh and Megan are totally hard to predict at this point but despite her fixation on that fox and having a comparatively flimsy shelter, Megan's hair looks pretty darned good, especially for being 70 or so days into this adventure.  My hair looks worse than that after one night in my own bed, LOL.  I am not particularly invested in any of the remaining people winning, but I would not be so happy if it were Dave.

I agree with everything you said, lol, particularly about Megan's hair.  She looks like she stepped out of a shampoo commercial, whereas Dave looks absolutely filthy.

Is it me or do the women's bodies seem to be handling the hunger better?  I know in real life, even thin and fit women, have a hard time losing weight and fat, compared to their male counterparts.  In our world this is annoying as hell, but maybe it could be a great advantage in a survival situation?

All the women look pretty good despite the weight loss they are experiencing.  Fowler looks good too, but, as someone else pointed out, he came in a little tubby.  I would no be surprised if that was strategic on his part.  He has, so far, some of the best survival strategy that I have ever seen and the camera loves him.

I am very disappointed in Callie.  I enjoyed her so much and her and Fowler made the episodes enjoyable to watch.  I really hope she gets her land, but it almost looked liked she was turning down easy money for her.  With the exception of the spider bites, she made survival almost look effortless with her skills and great attitude..

[ClareWalks]

These particular women seem to know more about edible plants than the men (of course, there is editing so who knows?), so they might be getting more vitamins and generally looking healthier. They definitely do look "better" than the men remaining. Dave in particular looks positively anorexic. His refusal to eat more than 1 fish or fillet every couple days makes me wonder if he has become anorexic by accident. The women may be better fed in general, as well. Fowler is burning so many calories walking up and down the giant hill, he probably has lost weight at a higher rate and requires more calories. 

[SRTouch]

12 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

These particular women seem to know more about edible plants than the men (of course, there is editing so who knows?), so they might be getting more vitamins and generally looking healthier. They definitely do look "better" than the men remaining. Dave in particular looks positively anorexic. His refusal to eat more than 1 fish or fillet every couple days makes me wonder if he has become anorexic by accident. The women may be better fed in general, as well. Fowler is burning so many calories walking up and down the giant hill, he probably has lost weight at a higher rate and requires more calories. 

My understanding is that a woman's body handles starvation better. First, a higher body fat means the body doesn't start burning muscles for fuel as quickly as with males. Also, the female lasts longer before the hunger starts degrading the thought processes - or maybe like my gf says, women are just smarter

[SRTouch]

I think this batch has sort of emphasized the difference between those who are surviving versus those who are out to thrive. We saw that last season as well, but it really stands out for me this time around. Dave and Greg are trying to gut it out. Long term survival means staying healthy, and neither of these guys' strategy involves staying healthy. Greg left first, because his shelter didn't keep him warm and dry - certainly didn't help moving to a new shelter in the rain. Dave is all about out lasting the others. Everybody loses weight, but his weight loss is extreme. Of course, I think he is also the first to take off his shirt to show us just how skinny he is. Maybe because I'm retired Army, and know how much emphasis the Army tries to place on proper hygiene while in the field, but dirty Dave, and dirty wet Greg, just shout that they're not going to survive long term. I imagine future contestants may come into it with a different strategy, because both these guys would have done well on the first two seasons.

[HurricaneVal]

I re-watched this episode last night, Mr. Hurricane hadn't seen it yet.  One thing that kind of stood out to me was you can see when Carleigh tries to be vewwy, vewwy qwiet when sneaking up on the geese with her bolas, you can see that the ground around her camp area is just littered with dead branches and stuff.  Which made it difficult for her to sneak up on the geese since they crackled and popped when she walked on them.  Then there was a cut to one of the other camps, and the area looked like a plague of locusts had gone through it--no detritus, plants mowed down to ground level, and nearly barren.  I wonder where Carleigh is getting her firewood from?  Is she saving the stuff close to her camp for later on when she might be weaker?  I just thought the contrast was interesting, and a detail worthy of note.

 

Either that, or the producers are messing with the timeline more than we think, and Carleigh's geese were much earlier in the game than implied.  Which...I also noticed last night the snow cover was drastically different from one camp to the next, so either it was an erratic fall, or they were really bouncing back and forth in time and the producers hope we won't pick up on that.  It makes sense for Fowler's camp to get more snow than the others since he moved uphill, but that much more snow?  He made a (small) snowman while Callie barely had enough to scrape up a snow angel...

[Joan Z]

14 hours ago, Liberty said:

Regardless of what the cast members record on camera, we only see what the editors allow us to see.

If the editors would stop replaying everything after a commercial that ended the section before the commercial we could see more good stuff and remove some viewing tedium.  Showing us the same thing before and after commercials demonstrates they do not have much interesting material and are working to fill their broadcast time.

Yes, you're right. But it would be strange if Callie talked about her issue on camera but they chose not to air it. We know that producers love to milk that kind of stuff for the drama. Unless they want to keep painting Callie in a positive light. 

9 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Either that, or the producers are messing with the timeline more than we think, and Carleigh's geese were much earlier in the game than implied.  Which...I also noticed last night the snow cover was drastically different from one camp to the next, so either it was an erratic fall, or they were really bouncing back and forth in time and the producers hope we won't pick up on that.  It makes sense for Fowler's camp to get more snow than the others since he moved uphill, but that much more snow?  He made a (small) snowman while Callie barely had enough to scrape up a snow angel...

They also showed Dave's site all snowy in one scene and then green in the next scene. I think I noticed the same thing with Callie's. Snowy in one clip and green in next clip. Not sure how many days different between each scene though. 

[seasick]

On 1/30/2017 at 8:42 AM, Liberty said:

Regardless of what the cast members record on camera, we only see what the editors allow us to see.

If the editors would stop replaying everything after a commercial that ended the section before the commercial we could see more good stuff and remove some viewing tedium.  Showing us the same thing before and after commercials demonstrates they do not have much interesting material and are working to fill their broadcast time.

Anything would be more interesting than a replay of the same events. I love the show but it's rarely 'action-packed'-fascinating--esp. at this point in the game.  I'm sure they could find something--even a rare shot of Megan-- to fill the gaps

I've never been a big fan of the editing.  The false previews, the dropped storylines and the constant replays of one dramatic moment...  etc.   I don't mind that they go back in time now, because at least it allowed them to show the beginnings of many of the cast and the shelters--getting settled in--etc.  

It does seem however, that they never expected Megan to last this long and are now making up for lost footage on her.  I wish they would simply come clean with the days that they were filmed.  

9 hours ago, Joan Z said:

es, you're right. But it would be strange if Callie talked about her issue on camera but they chose not to air it. We know that producers love to milk that kind of stuff for the drama. Unless they want to keep painting Callie in a positive light. 

Dave is pretty repulsive and not very relateable, but at least he talks about his struggle (albeit stupid) with his weakness and weight loss due to his crazy ideas about hoarding food rather than eating it.   All the others showed the struggle be it mental or physical, even if they didn't talk specifically about it.   If they left out any of Callie's struggles (other than the spider bite that happened on day 45) it didn't serve her well because it almost seemed like she was on a different show.  Someone upthread ( I cannot access it or else lose this post) actually said something to the effect that she was never actually meant to win it.   I didn't get it at first...  but it does make me think.

ETA:  It was Ethilfrida-- said Callie was a plant.    well that's pretty straightforward.  It didn't register with me then..  but now ..  I could see it.

Edited January 31, 2017 by seasick

[ProfCrash]

I don't have a problem with Callie tapping. She tapped 6 days past when David won in season 2 and 16 days past when Alan won. She has no way of knowing who else is out there and how close this is to ending. She knows how well stocked she is and how prepared she is so she knows she can go a good amount longer. She could use that information to guess that some of the others are in a similar situation and simply decide that she really does not want to spend another 30-60 days out there.

She doesn't know what we know, that there are four other people out there and most of them are in decent shape. We also know that there are another 3-5 episodes, I don't know the exact number of episodes for this season. Going at this rate we are looking at a winner who lasted 90 days, maybe longer.

I would have loved to see her win but lets face it, all but one of these folks are going to tap. I would rather see someone leave voluntarily like Callie then removed by medical because of starvation like David might be. Honestly, I don't want to watch people starve to death. There is going to come a time when food is even harder to find now and everyone is going to become very tired and lazy. The possibility of injury increases due to bad decision making because of a lack of nutrition. So I am cool with Callie saying that she does not want to spend how much longer to survive and stay. She outlasted all the previous winners and was set to go the distance. I'll take her leaving now then Dave's staying any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I really hope that Dave is pulled soon. He looks awful and cannot be doing well physically. He is making crap decisions in order to survive and win but he is endangering his won health to do so. He looks like he is going to die and going to do permanent harm to himself with how he is eating and taking care of himself.

Fowler is looking good. I can understand his being homesick, it has been 70 plus days. Yikes. I love his story stick and everything that he is making for his kids. He could keep on carving and make decent money selling stuff on EBay for Alone fans. His stuff looks nice, it is form Patagonia and people like his story.

Megan is fine but boring.

Carleigh is kind of interesting but has not caught my attention much.

I would be happy with anyone but Dave winning. I just can't get behind the idea of a winner who is essentially starving themselves to death and not taking proper care of themselves.

[riverheightsnancy]

2 hours ago, seasick said:

It does seem however, that they never expected Megan to last this long and are now making up for lost footage on her.  I wish they would simply come clean with the days that they were filmed.  

Unless I am wrong, they were already back home by the time this started airing, so they know who won as they approached editing. This is not a live stream and they only have a day to create an episode.  I think that they have enough lead time to create story arcs. I don't think Callie is a plant. Perhaps, she just did not want to get personal. That is not everyone's way. Remember the lady from season 2 (I cannot remember her name), who tapped after an incident with a bear and hurt her shoulder? Practically the minute she got out there, it was ALL about her PTSD and issues. People ragged on her for coming on a competition show and having it be about her "journey". Maybe, Callie has no baggage? I know that seems hard to believe because everyone seems to have baggage. Maybe she just choose not to discuss it on camera? I want Fowler to win and I agree that his cute carvings could sell in some of the tourist shops in Bar Harbor. He really is an artist in many ways.

[seasick]

2 hours ago, riverheightsnancy said:

Unless I am wrong, they were already back home by the time this started airing, so they know who won as they approached editing. This is not a live stream and they only have a day to create an episode.  I think that they have enough lead time to create story arcs.

That's a good point.  But it does seems as though they are trying to make up for lost time on the Megan story.  It is possible that her side of the lake did not get snow or that it melted by mid afternoon, but it seemed they finally had some decent footage to show regardless of when it was shot.

I think some of the Tracy buzz was about the change in the story on her tap-out. She said that she was actually medically tapped by the doctor and that we just didn't see that part on film.   But yeah, it does seem as though many viewers don't like the 'personal journey' folks.   I like to see the struggle for the win and the incentive behind it. It doesn't have to be emotional baggage that they share.    I just think sharing the struggle and the challenges in Alone is what makes them more relatable.   

[cooksdelight]

1 minute ago, seasick said:

But it does seems as though they are trying to make up for lost time on the Megan story.

This happens when they have to show the people who tapped out earlier within the hour show format. Given the fact they repeat before and after the commercial, and there are plenty of commercials, they don't have a lot of show time. It happens on other shows like this, you won't see some castaways until later in the season since ealier people have to be shown at least a little.

[holly4755]

I fell the personal journey people is just another way being alone changes you physically and mentally, It is just another game struggle plays with the mind - you are just a tap away of having contact, not suffering, not starving. I think the spider bites actually made Calley stay longer than she might have, she would be damned if a spider would take her out, but once they healed the tedium of daily survival got to her. I think Fowler's stick is brilliant is is making his stay longer busy hands less mind tricks seeing accomplishments every day as a reminder of how far you have come.  Best journal ever. Although I think one of the tappers on season 1 had something as well. 

 

looking at the description of the next show, I fear for Dave. What appears to be hoarding of the fish could be a mental mind trick as well. The basis for my thinking goes back to my college roommate. Someone said something that made her diet like crazy because she thought she was fat.  She was one of these driven to please kids. She decided only to drink water for one day instead of eating, this seemed to get worse instantly and she only drank water for days, I was afraid to say anything to her because anything I did say made it worse. one day I saw her enter the cafeteria, I was so thrilled, I went up and hugged her. She turned and left and didn't eat again.  then one day I entered the room and found her collapsed on the floor, with blood coming from her mouth, she hit something on her way down.  Called an ambulance,  the end of it had her missing her front teeth and losing a semester, we roomed together for 2 more years, but I was always afraid to say anything to her or ask her anything, I was even afraid of telling her I wanted another roommate.  your mind is a very powerful thing and can convince you of alternate realities, I would say something political now, but this is not the place to comment even though it involves alternate realities.  

Edited February 1, 2017 by holly4755

[ProfCrash]

I suspect Fowler will be fine as long as he can carve something. He needs to be busy and is going to slowly whittle an entire house. I wonder when he will start on his bedroom set...

[cooksdelight]

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I suspect Fowler will be fine as long as he can carve something. He needs to be busy and is going to slowly whittle an entire house. I wonder when he will start on his bedroom set...

Probably right after he carves out a kitchen with solar appliances.

[SRTouch]

47 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Probably right after he carves out a kitchen with solar appliances.

Ah, now the big push to find a spot in the sun is explained.??

[qtpye]

Fowler will have his own Gilligan's Island style village before the competition is over.

[holly4755]

I am just hoping Dave lives, he is starting to scare me.