S03.E10: Day 87/S03.E11: Reunion Special

[HurricaneVal]

I like the suggestion from earlier in the thread about starting the show earlier in the season, so we get to see more of the preparation for winter.   Who can build up the best larder?  Who can stockpile the most firewood?  Who can build the best primitive mod cons?  Who is better at food preservation?  The primary reason why most of these people quit is still there:  loneliness.  With more time to gather and store food, then maybe we won't be seeing people getting pulled for medical reasons.

[cooksdelight]

Production costs would skyrocket. I don't think they want people staying out there more than three months, honestly.

[Trace]

I think all these contestants signed something that agreed that the History Channel would not be held accountable if they chose to stay no matter what. So therefore I don't get the "forced to leave" clause because they are all adults.  I wish MTV was as vigilant with their teen moms!

[Trace]

6 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

From Season One, what I learned then was that the family member is brought in for any competitor left when it gets down to two or three. They may have to stay somewhere for a while, but it's production's call as to when to fly them in. So I don't think it was unusual that Fowler's wife was there the next day. David's daughter was there soon as well. 

Production is the debbil!

[Liberty]

6 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

From Season One, what I learned then was that the family member is brought in for any competitor left when it gets down to two or three. They may have to stay somewhere for a while, but it's production's call as to when to fly them in. So I don't think it was unusual that Fowler's wife was there the next day. David's daughter was there soon as well. 

Pretty nice for the last two or three cast members.  They get paid for their stay, a family member enjoys a Patagonian getaway, and the family member knows there is a 1 in 2 or 3 chance of their SO winning $500,000.  Hope the family members have cooperative bosses and family care providers since the length of the trip is not determined.  

Wonder if the different family members stay in close proximity to each other and interact.

[seasick]

57 minutes ago, Trace said:

I think all these contestants signed something that agreed that the History Channel would not be held accountable if they chose to stay no matter what. So therefore I don't get the "forced to leave" clause because they are all adults.  I wish MTV was as vigilant with their teen moms!

I'm pretty darn sure their rules read that if the doctor says they have to go,  it's game over, period.  ( I guess they could chose to stay--but they are essentially DQ'd at doc's orders.)

[cooksdelight]

History Channel isn't going to be held liable for someone's stubborness (Dave). They have the health and welfare of the participants first and foremost over someone dying of starvation for half a million dollars. I commend them for pulling people who might otherwise suffer for the rest of their lives. Or worse.

[Canada]

It sucks that this season basically devolved into the winner being decided by who starved the slowest.  And the person who was the most overweight at the start ended up winning.  Not saying Fowler is undeserving, because he did some good things.  But would he have won if Carleigh hadn't starved faster than him?

Carleigh should be proud of how well she did and I hope she knows that.

I went from being a huge Callie fan to now just being annoyed by her.  She annoyed me with her BS when she tapped out and it annoyed me seeing her appearance on the reunion show.  I'm glad she didn't win.

[jwc]

Fowler was the most interesting to me.  Plus he left in fair shape.  When I graduated High School I was 6 foot tall and 160 pounds.  Not very muscular but I was in good shape.  Carleigh had to be helped onto the boat.  She looked like she was going to collapse.  There was one flash of her abdomen in the hospital and she looked awfully thin.  Maybe everyone got an IV when they got back to civilization, who knows.  But she was straight up in the hospital bed, weak as heck.  Fowler, when he got back to Maine, drove there, looked good, got right back into living normally.   And that after just a few good meals and a couple of days rest.  Not 5 months.

I think Megan had a really good chance but she boned it with those Rose Hips. She was the forage queen with the mushrooms and greens.  That tripe with being a mother and boo-hoo was just silly.  Her cracked tooth is what took her out.

As far as food drops I am against that.  For one, how do you determine who gets how much.  500 calories to a 100-pound person are not the same as to a 200-pond person.  So how would you balance that to make it fair?  I think it is bad enough that you can take rations as part of your gear (or double rations even for two items) which everyone did except Fowler.

I was kind of surprised that no-one tried to eat grubs or more insects.  You watch Bear Grylls out there and he is scarfing them down like candy.  That may me unfair though because he drinks his own urine.  Once he even did a seawater enema to hydrate on a raft ('Do it for England!' he cried).

People lasted a lot longer than previous shows.  Maybe better location.  Fresh water was definitely was a bonus.  Maybe better people.  It just contrasts so much with Naked and Afraid, which is just fakery.  Camera crews all around, people drama, basically just a long camping with no clothes on.  

[lidarose9]

I bet the doctors are instructed NOT to give warnings to people as their physical condition deteriorates. It would constitute interference. They have to draw a line, watch the person approach it, and then when the person has already crossed it, pull them. That means going in for medical checks knowing the person is approaching a critical point without ever having said anything about it -- right up until the day you must pull them. So imagine if they had warned Dave. He would have changed strategies and eaten his backlog of fish and maybe won. Part of the show is the person's strategy. Dave's strategy did not work. 

I found it a bit fishy that on the same day Carleigh was pulled, they were also obviously worried about Fowler too. They told us Carleigh's BMI, but they didn't tell us Fowler's. Why not?

I also find the reunion shows frustrating and boring. The last episode also featured a ton of flashback clips. I wish they would let us send in questions, cuz I'd have a ton. 

I was glad Fowler won. He seems like a really great guy. I would have been happy with Carleigh winning too. If I was Fowler, I'd give her $10,000 just as a consolation prize. 

[riverheightsnancy]

1 minute ago, lidarose9 said:

I bet the doctors are instructed NOT to give warnings to people as their physical condition deteriorates. It would constitute interference. They have to draw a line, watch the person approach it, and then when the person has already crossed it, pull them. That means going in for medical checks knowing the person is approaching a critical point without ever having said anything about it -- right up until the day you must pull them. So imagine if they had warned Dave. He would have changed strategies and eaten his backlog of fish and maybe won. Part of the show is the person's strategy. Dave's strategy did not work. 

I found it a bit fishy that on the same day Carleigh was pulled, they were also obviously worried about Fowler too. They told us Carleigh's BMI, but they didn't tell us Fowler's. Why not?

I also find the reunion shows frustrating and boring. The last episode also featured a ton of flashback clips. I wish they would let us send in questions, cuz I'd have a ton. 

I was glad Fowler won. He seems like a really great guy. I would have been happy with Carleigh winning too. If I was Fowler, I'd give her $10,000 just as a consolation prize. 

I think Carleigh mentioned that if she had not eaten more to maintain or gain weight that she would be pulled. I would bet that they do tell them more than what we see. Which is why both Carleigh and Fowler were worried about being pulled. If Dave had eaten all of his food, who knows how the end would have played out? He seems to have a high metabolism. 

[lidarose9]

1 hour ago, Canada said:

It sucks that this season basically devolved into the winner being decided by who starved the slowest.

I am not interested in watching a show about people starving, and I don't think that's what this show wants to be. With a little effort, the producers should be able to find a location that can provide adequate food to skilled survivalists. With all the locations in the world, pick one where at the very least there might be small game animals around, birds, fish, etc. 

[LittleIggy]

17 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Because the winner here is 'the last man standing', I've always felt it must be extra hard to be in second place. You haven't been beaten so much as taken yourself out of the game.  To lose because you got pulled by medical must make that even worse. You're out in the wilds of Patagonia, how accurate can that BMI measurement be? Is the scale even on a totally flat surface? I decided that I would put rocks in my socks or something so they wouldn't know how much weight I had lost.

The show left a bad taste in my mouth because of this. To me it put an element of unfairness into Fowler's win. I didn't even watch the reunion show because I was so pissed off.

[seasick]

1 hour ago, Canada said:

I went from being a huge Callie fan to now just being annoyed by her.  She annoyed me with her BS when she tapped out and it annoyed me seeing her appearance on the reunion show.  I'm glad she didn't win.

Me too.  Fowler made an interesting edit and interesting bush crafts without making it The Fowler Show.  Callie--to her credit--knew how to get her footage on the show- with a great shelter for sure--but also with the fake tap-out, the skinny dip, the nekkid climb into the sauna- the spider bite ("will I/won't I tap"), the goodbye tour--etc etc.  Of everyone there I felt hers was the least about a "personal inner journey"  and most about doing"The Callie Show".   She seems pretty full of herself for someone who didn't even make final 4.

[Braveshoppr]

26 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

The show left a bad taste in my mouth because of this. To me it put an element of unfairness into Fowler's win. I didn't even watch the reunion show because I was so pissed off.

 

27 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

The show left a bad taste in my mouth because of this. To me it put an element of unfairness into Fowler's win. I didn't even watch the reunion show because I was so pissed off.

Totally agree, LittleIggy.  Did the producers decide Carleigh was not video acceptable like Fowler? Or, so Fowler had weight to lose, whereas Carleigh's body mass wasn't enough to win, which is it, producers? Either way, it wasn't fair to Carleigh at all.  

[jvr]

Happy others felt the same way I did. I knew it was a possibility the "winner" would be crowned by default, I even speculated that it might happen last week, but I didn't know that I would hate it so much until it happened.

When they pulled Carleigh I all of a sudden couldn't care less about Fowler or his win. Up until that point I liked him ok...I liked everyone except Dan pretty equally and I thought I'd be happy no matter what. Nope. I was done. I started doing other stuff and caught barely any of the last 10 or so minutes of the winner segment before leaving Patagonia. And I glanced at the reunion just to see what people looked like and then turned it off.

I don't know what can be done to solve this... I don't want this to be a contest of who has the most weight to lose. And I don't like that you can be left with this feeling of the show meddling in the result. Maybe finding a place with an abundance of food sources is the way to go, as someone mentioned.

Edited February 11, 2017 by jvr

[saylubee]

I think it would be better if everyone had proper supplies to trap, hunt, and fish.  It wouldn't diminish the show for everyone to start out with a metal trap or trapping cord, bow and arrows, and fishing line and hooks.  The item restrictions really seem to drive the starvation aspect of the show.  How different would things be if the rabbits and boars couldn't chew through the fishing line?

[DropTheSoap]

8 hours ago, zamberlan said:

Now, I don't do twitter or any of those things but if I had a chance to ask them questions I would ask...

1. How did they manage hygiene? Was it diva cups and deep toilet pits?

For the women, I'm wondering if after a month+ that having a period wouldn't be an issue, due to lack of protein / weight loss.

I felt bad for Carleigh. She was going to hang in until the end. It did make things suspicious that they didn't give Fowler's BMI when it seemed like they'd both mentioned being in trouble and possibly being pulled.

Dave looked like a totally different person from even the start of the show. It was good to see him looking healthy.

The Greg edit was a lot of fun.

I liked a lot of what Fowler did, but then he tosses out lines like losing his "man card" for doing yoga. Really, dude? 

Was hoping for a woman's win this year, I do admit.

[riverheightsnancy]

As much as I didn't like Carleigh not going second to last on the reunion show, I also don't think it is fair that Fowler's achievement is being downgraded because of the rules of the show. He played the same game as everyone else. I 100% guarantee that the contract specifically states what the parameters are for being pulled. Game shows have very strict regulations after the scandals of the quiz shows back in 1959.  I don't think that the doctor's or producers have any real desire for a specific person to win. Legally and medically, they must do the right thing, or open themselves up for lawsuits and medical malpractice. They craft the season's edit after it is all said and done. If they had not shown Fowler very much, we would not have known half of what he did. They showed him more than anyone else precisely BECAUSE he won. I knew that Megan was likely not final 2 because of how little we saw her. That was what I contended in this thread during ep.1. And they need to change that because it totally gives away who wins if they always show the winner in episode 1 and the early tap outs. Just because Fowler is bigger, doens't mean that is unfair. Men burn more calories per hour than  women (due to muscle) and Fowler did not have an easy camp and had to walk up and down the hill for the lake.  If the producers would want to make that aspect of it more fair, they could do an all women season, but there will always be individual differences in metabolism. They cannot control for every variable or differences amongst participants. Look at Dave, he was extremely skinny, but Carleigh spent time in the hospital. They didn't mention that Dave did. Maybe she really was in medical trouble. 

[dgpolo]

21 minutes ago, DropTheSoap said:

For the women, I'm wondering if after a month+ that having a period wouldn't be an issue, due to lack of protein / weight loss.

There are ways to stop your period for months.

[Dawn16]

I really liked Fowler and would have been happy with his win.  He totally deserved it.   But it just felt disappointing in the end because it seems impossible for a slender to average, healthy woman to beat a slightly overweight/large man.  Not everyone is physically capable of bulking up that much before going on the show.   I want to know if Callie could have survived with her knowledge of food sources and passed the weight checks at the end -- another reason I wish she hadn't quit. 

It would have helped to have a little more information about Carleigh's medical condition.  I hope the decision wasn't based on BMI alone.   I have a tiny bone structure and a normal-for-me BMI of 18-18.5.   I have friends who are thinner than me and must be around what Carleigh was when she left -- and that's their natural healthy weight.  Technically, I've even lost a third of my body weight in a few months, after giving birth, although the circumstances are obviously different. 

[dustoffmom]

Army basic training stopped that for me...for the entire time and several months afterward!

[rmontro]

Was anyone else hoping for a tie there after Carleigh was pulled?  The medics were at both camps that day.  That would have been interesting.

Fowler was a worthy winner though.  As much as I would have preferred a tie, or even an outright Carleigh win, I don't think it was unfair.  Fowler didn't look nearly as bad as Carleigh, she looked absolutely skeletal, especially those scenes of her in the hospital.  Looks like Fowler practically lives on a homestead already, they have a yurt and a greenhouse.

Not sure why Callie seemed more annoying on the reunion show.  It was like she was aware of her popularity, and came across as too smug or something.  Oh well.  I agree the reasons she gave for tapping were garbage.

[lidarose9]

So if this is what the show becomes, next year's applicants will all be overweight and it will become a show about who can starve the slowest. 

[Scaeva]

Carleigh *might* have also took in less calories than Fowler over that three months. It's difficult to say because not everything the contestants do makes the show and the edit they get may not present the whole picture.

She did however have more screen time devoted to being hungry than Fowler, who only seemed desperate towards the end.

[Joan Z]

Hey, who is slicing onions? Stop it! *wipe tears* =P Darn it, ALONE! YOU GOT ME! I cried 3 times watching the final episode when they pulled Carleigh out and she burst into tears, when Fowler reunite with his wife and when Fowler reunite with his daughter. His daughter is so cute and adorable! 

For a moment, I was pulling for Megan but when I saw a boat with what looks like only 2 crews in it, I knew someone tapped out. She probably would be able to pull through a lil longer if it wasn't because of the toothache. Still, to be in top 3 is something she can definitely be proud of! and not to mention, beating so many guys!

When Carleigh talked about worrying getting pulled out for medical reason, then they showed back and forth Carleigh and Fowler getting medical check-up, I was like, noooooo they're gonna pull someone out! When Carleigh took her sweater off for weigh in...WOW! She's skinny!!! I was kinda neutral towards Carleigh (let's be honest, she's not Callie and Fowler, in terms of personality) but there are times when I was rooting for her and felt really bad when they have to pull her out.

When Fowler called himself a twig and then they flashback to his day 1...man, what a difference! Fowler had the advantage of the 11th item which is body fat whereas Carleigh, not so much. When Fowler said, "I never do yoga. Don't need my man card revoked." Uh oh man and their yoga-is-for-women or yoga-isn't-masculine thought. Anyway, YES! FINALLY! A contestant that I'm rooting for and predicted to win since episode 1 actually WON! remember last year so many people including me predicted Larry and David not gonna last long and they ended up in the top 2?! LOL! 

The producers should come up with a different way to surprise the winner for next seasons. Now everyone know if you're getting interviewed during medical check, that means you won! They've been doing the same trick for 3 seasons now. When Alan, David and Fowler reunited with their wife and daughter, am I the only one waited for the wife/daughter to say something like, "Jeez, you're stinky!" haha =P

Patagonia is so beautiful and we got some nice shots this season. The shots when Carleigh fishing during sunset, the shots when Callie visited her favorite spots and this episode, we got a nice shot of Fowler sitting at his dock with beautiful reflection of the mountain on the lake. 

When did they taped the reunion? Everyone have been gaining some weight! Good to see them back to their normal weight. Really proud of the women this season, they put the men (particularly whatshisname-the first-to-tapout, Zach the-cranky-axe-boy and Dan-the-lazy-survivalist *eyeroll*) to shame. 

Greg! I just noticed his beautiful eyes! lol those bloopers of clumsy-Greg are funny! Haha megan "it's like dragging a dead body. Not that I've dragged a dead body." I wish they would show more of these funny moments on the show! Was the scene when Megan talked about her minimalist strategy made it to the show? Cause I don't remember watching it but then I also missed the scene when she shaved her leg. If they didn't show it, then it's kinda questionable why they didn't show it cause when it comes to Dan, they basically focus on his lazy strategy. 

I laughed a little when they showed the clip of Dan saying, "People don't like my strategy, f*** them!" and then they showed Callie's face. Haha! I wonder what was she thinking. I'd like to think Callie thinking, "Yeah f*** you, Dan." lol. When it's Callie's turn, they close up to Dan. lol sneaky cameraman/producer!

Edited February 11, 2017 by Joan Z

[zamberlan]

I get that some of you feel Carleigh was robbed but BMI stuff aside, who walked away from that ordeal looking stronger? Fowler looked to me like he could have kept going, Carleigh looked like she needed to get to a hospital. If you had to declare a winner, you could base it on that fact alone.

Could someone explain the significance of the kiwi? Is it a super food for starvation?

Maybe a solution to the show becoming less of a starvation fest and  more a thrive fest is to pull people the minute they lose any significant weight at all? That way only people who are successfully finding an adequate amount of food will win.  

[cooksdelight]

Carleigh might have lasted longer if she put more effort into fishing. It seemed to be a chore for her. All the time she spent trying to catch a goose or duck, could have been spent fishing. Everyone else was catching them. Just like Dave, she miscalculated how much food she needed to have each day, therefore nearly starving herself to death. The fact she was immediately hospitalized told me she was in serious trouble. Fowler was OK at that point and could have stayed longer, I think, based on how he seemed fine when they left.

A agree that contestants should be given at least one tool for catching/killing food that doesn't count toward their 10 items. A fishing pole with hooks and line, perhaps. 

But I think one's mental well-being is more important. Look at the woman last season, who was heavy but her mind couldn't handle the situation.

[Joan Z]

I see why some people think it's unfair for Carleigh. But that doesn't mean Fowler had it easy. I think Carleigh caught less fish than Fowler but she had rations. Fowler may have caught more fish than Carleigh but he didn't bring extra rations. He only had one ration (emergency ration that was given to all contestant and not included in the 10 item but if I'm not mistaken that ration consist of flour and salt so idk how much that helped him in terms of calorie). Plus, he had the terrain disadvantage. He basically climbed 8 storey of terrain everyday. He also built more stuffs than Carleigh which means he burnt more calorie as well. And being a man, he naturally burn more calorie when idle than woman. 

[cooksdelight]

I think Fowler's win was deserved due to having the luck of the draw and getting the worst location, in my opinion. When you take that into account and look at all the work he did on his shelter (not to mention all those spoons!) he still managed to catch fish, build a dock to make it easier to catch them. Any one of the other people could have done the same and stayed longer, but Carleigh didn't seem to put as much effort into fishing as she did making a drum.

[riverheightsnancy]

14 hours ago, dgpolo said:

There are ways to stop your period for months.

Yes. It is easy, just keep taking the hormone birth control pills and not the "sugar pills".  There is a newer birth control pill that you only get a cycle once every three months (I forget the name-too old for that stuff now!). Many people may say this is bad or "abnormal", however, when a woman is pregnant, she doesn't have her cycle for many months either. 

[raven]

I don't think the ending was unfair to Carleigh; for me it was just anti-climactic.  Nor do I think that Fowler was undeserving; he did what he had to do.    We don't really know if she was not eating enough carbohydrates (maybe she had enough protein) or not eating enough in general.   The show is edited to tell a story, so while I don't think the fix is in, I always suspect the editing. 

Maybe Carleigh should have taken the gorp or whatever they offer before the show starts and saved it. By now people should realize that surviving on fishing is generally really difficult for everyone and not something to count on.  

The reunion kind of made me dislike Callie.  I fast forwarded through her singing bit.  Nothing really wrong with trying to use the show as a platform to promote yourself I guess, but I wonder how Fowler or Carleigh feel after struggling through to the end, which IMO is the point of the show.

By putting them on Patagonia, allowing a bow and arrows and having a few people who knew how to make (unsuccessful) traps, I think the show was expecting a couple of successful hunting expeditions.   I don't want to see a show about the person who can last the longest while starving.  Dave was uncomfortable to watch as he became delusional from hunger; Carleigh was different, trying to tough it out and her body failed.  Fucking Larry tapped last season because he knew he needed food, he just didn't reach the medical point of no return.

Last season's end for me was really tense "omg WHO is tapping??" - more exciting then "oh, who's being medically taken out of the game"? Plus we had Dave's steady confidence vs Larry's desperate determination.

[cooksdelight]

19 minutes ago, riverheightsnancy said:

Yes. It is easy, just keep taking the hormone birth control pills and not the "sugar pills".  There is a newer birth control pill that you only get a cycle once every three months (I forget the name-too old for that stuff now!). Many people may say this is bad or "abnormal", however, when a woman is pregnant, she doesn't have her cycle for many months either. 

But you don't have the manmade hormones in your system while pregnant. Birth control pills nearly killed me, via a pulmonary embolism. I wouldn't advise any of the women on this show to use them for convenience. Carleigh may not have had that problem due to her speedy weight loss.

[riverheightsnancy]

23 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

But you don't have the manmade hormones in your system while pregnant. Birth control pills nearly killed me, via a pulmonary embolism. I wouldn't advise any of the women on this show to use them for convenience. Carleigh may not have had that problem due to her speedy weight loss.

Well sure, but doctors will and do prescribe them for precisely these purposes. Some of these women may be on BCPs anyway and do not want to stop while on the show. Say a woman is going to have her cycle during her honeymoon, a doctor (based on her medical condition) may tell her to take the pill continuously for another month. Not every woman that has taken BCPs have the same outcomes (although that is scary) and ALL drugs have side effects that do not effect everyone that takes the drug. Not having your cycle due to extreme weight loss is not a good effect either. 

[dgpolo]

22 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

I wouldn't advise any of the women on this show to use them for convenience.

Everyone that takes BC pills, take them for convenience. If you google 'stopping your period' or similar you will find that the 'bleeding' that takes place while on the pill is not a 'normal' period either. Despite personal experiences many women take the pill with no problems, and some stop their periods with no problems. I believe some contestants on TAR have said they have done this. I would think any woman going on a show like Alone would at least talk to their Doctors about doing this.

Upthread someone mentioned pulling people who lose 'significant' weight. There is no way this would work except by an arbitrary measurement (such as a BMI) as what is 'significant' for one person would not be for another. They would have to examine and calculate and decide what would be significant for someone of Dan's height, Fowler's or Britt's build, Carleigh or the lady from last season whose name I can't remember, builds etc. The BMI works as well as anything else.

[riverheightsnancy]

13 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Everyone that takes BC pills, take them for convenience. If you google 'stopping your period' or similar you will find that the 'bleeding' that takes place while on the pill is not a 'normal' period either. Despite personal experiences many women take the pill with no problems, and some stop their periods with no problems. I believe some contestants on TAR have said they have done this. I would think any woman going on a show like Alone would at least talk to their Doctors about doing this.

Upthread someone mentioned pulling people who lose 'significant' weight. There is no way this would work except by an arbitrary measurement (such as a BMI) as what is 'significant' for one person would not be for another. They would have to examine and calculate and decide what would be significant for someone of Dan's height, Fowler's or Britt's build, Carleigh or the lady from last season whose name I can't remember, builds etc. The BMI works as well as anything else.

TMI: I had to have a hysterectomy pretty early in my life (early 40s). It is actually pretty nice NOT to worry about all that stuff anymore! I can see why contestants on a show like this or TAR might do that. 

[Joan Z]

I'm watching the recording of Callie's live session of Facebook. You guys can watch it here

Be warned that it's almost an hour and a half long lol. I recommend watching it, it's pretty informative cause she answered a lot of questions I've been wondering about. 

If you don't have time to watch it then I will point out some things she said that I find interesting.

-By day 60 she had lost 25lbs. she can see multiple fires (from other contestants) across the lake and my take from what she said was that it basically came down to health. If I heard correctly, she said something like, she knows she can't maintain good health and be the last standing (I might misinterpreted what she said though). She said she want to leave on a high note instead of leaving on a stretcher and she was glad she made the decision to tap-out when she found out there are 4 contestants left. The doctor told her she came really close to severe organ damage if she lost more weight. Before I watch this video, I kinda thought her reason to tap-out sounds like a bunch of BS (it's easy for me to criticize with full belly in the comfort of home =P) but now, I feel like after the spider bite incident she kinda lost the drive to win. The spider bite and the lack of calorie probably made her realize it's not worth to risk her health. 

-She had the spider bites longer than what was shown. she had it for about a month. Her spider bites are healing up but still painful to touch.

-Some people thought she was throwing shade at Randy when she built the sauna and did the fake tap-out but they have only watched 3 episodes of season 2 when they left which means she didn't get to see the episode when Randy tap-out.

-The medical check-ups were not consistent but the contestants were informed the morning of the check-up day with a pre-programmed message on the yellow brick phone. The longest they went without check-up was 20 days (mid season). The check-ups were done after 7, 12, 12, 20 days. Then they started having more check-ups towards the end. The med check went for about 10-20 minutes which seems pretty long to me. It's interesting that she said at first, she was excited about med check because of the human contact but then she kinda dread it. David (last year's winner) said the same thing about med check - he's used to having no human contact and then, when the crew left for med check, he basically have to reset himself mentally. 

-They have morning check-ins where the crew would send a pre-programmed message on the phone and the contestants have to reply with a pre-programmed message i.e. okay or not okay <---Well, that's totally new to me (and to everyone I guess). 

-"The editors have probably heard more about me and my life than anybody ever except myself..." What?! Why do I feel like we barely see her talking about her life?! So does that means she talked about it but the editors didn't show it to us?! "Cheers editors, keep that stuffs under wraps." Oh, so I guess she had 'that talk' with the editors. I get it if she's not comfortable sharing her personal life but now she makes me even more curious. Nosy, I know!

-When they're dropped off, they were told where their boundaries on the left and right but they can go as far back into the mountain as they want. They had a GPS where the crew monitor their location 24/7 and they'll be warned if they ever get close to other contestant. If they bumped into each other, they must call the crew immediately. When that happened, if only one contestant called but the other contestant doesn't, then they're out. I don't know if she meant both contestants or only the contestant who doesn't make the call are out. 

-They're supplied 50 batteries for the camera and 5 battery banks to charge headlamp and camera.

-Dave and Callie were out a day apart so they spent the week together (they spent most of the time in the kitchen cooking and eating). She tapped out on Aug 1st and went back home 8 days later. I guess the 8 days were for recovery?

-They had psychology check halfway through (I wish she had talked more about that). 

-She brought 5lbs of pemmican and 5lbs of lentils. She smoked some fish (which they never showed). She rationed her food for long term and she wished she had eaten more of it in the beginning. 

-When she made the tap-out call, she requested for a toast with butter and black tea. When she first reached 'base camp', she had hamburger patty with ton of salt, garlic, cheese, bread and gelato. She mentioned that at first, she was taking it slow but then for about a month, she would wake up in the middle of the night and shoving food. She was bloated and gained her weight back really fast so she had alternative therapy to get her mind out of the starvation mode and feel safe again. She also mentioned later in the video that it took her about a month to get used to being around people again. During the reunion show, when I heard that it took Carleigh 5 months to recover, I was wondering about the involvement of the production in the recovery post-show. How involve were they or how long did they 'take care' of the contestants after the show? Or was it 'once you're home, you're on your own'? Cause I'm sure the starvation and isolation took a toll on the contestants - mentally and it could take them some time to readapt to their normal life. 

-When asked about women's period, she said they were given stuffs for that. I guess she meant they were given supplies of tampon?!

-When the crew selecting contestants for the show, they actually check everything. Not sure what she meant by that. Do they check for all the criteria (as in personality and skills) or they check their social media (fb, twitter, etc)? Cause she did mentioned that they aren't impressed with people who are applying for the show and talk crap about the show. 

-There are times when she can see boat in the distance but sometimes the boat came just to swap battery pack (they leave the batteries in a drybag on the beach for the crew to swap out) or taking shots of the mountains, etc. But she can see the helicopter flew by on day 8 when Zach cut himself and that's the time when she cried while sitting on her chair by the beach (the scene never made it to the show but they did show it in the intro).

-Dave found an old Gaucho campsite which explains all the stuffs he found (teapot, grill, wire). The gaucho used to run their cows in the area so that explains all the cow skeletons.

-She didn't have much rations left when she tapped out. She basically live hand-to-mouth at that point. (when she said hand to mouth, it remind me of someone's comment here about Randy's hand-to-mouse living last year lol)

-She explained her 'royal WE'! lol. She said she got a lot of positive and negative comments on that. 

Phew! Can't believe I watched the whole an hour and a half of that video =P

[cooksdelight]

16 minutes ago, Joan Z said:

When the crew selecting contestants for the show, they actually check everything. Not sure what she meant by that. Do they check for all the criteria (as in personality and skills) or they check their social media (fb, twitter, etc)? Cause she did mentioned that they aren't impressed with people who are applying for the show and talk crap about the show. 

I'm guessing they do a full background check to make sure none of them are wanted by the law, have any criminal history that might make them prone to violence, etc. Casino employees have the full-blown background check given by the FBI, and I bet they do the same. They probably do look at their social media accounts, you can learn a lot about someone's personality that way.

[dgpolo]

32 minutes ago, Joan Z said:

-Dave and Callie were out a day apart so they spent the week together (they spent most of the time in the kitchen cooking and eating). She tapped out on Aug 1st and went back home 8 days later. I guess the 8 days were for recovery?

First, thanks for sharing all that info, extremely interesting.

^so Dave did not go to the hospital, this truly does make me wonder about Carleigh's physical condition.

13 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

32 minutes ago, Joan Z said:

When the crew selecting contestants for the show, they actually check everything. Not sure what she meant by that. Do they check for all the criteria (as in personality and skills) or they check their social media (fb, twitter, etc)? Cause she did mentioned that they aren't impressed with people who are applying for the show and talk crap about the show. 

I'm guessing they do a full background check to make sure none of them are wanted by the law, have any criminal history that might make them prone to violence, etc. Casino employees have the full-blown background check given by the FBI, and I bet they do the same. They probably do look at their social media accounts, you can learn a lot about someone's personality that way.

There was also what happened with Dual Survivor when one of the survivalists was discovered to have 'embellished' his experience. And also something I dimly remember from years and years ago where a contestant on a foreign reality show committed suicide after losing.

Edited February 11, 2017 by dgpolo
Add more

[cooksdelight]

18 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

a contestant on a foreign reality show committed suicide after losing.

Happened here as well, a MasterChef runner-up.

[dustoffmom]

28 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Happened here as well, a MasterChef runner-up.

Really?  I've never heard that before!

[HurricaneVal]

That is interesting that both Dave and Carleigh were pulled for medical reasons--starvation, really--but Carleigh must have spent more time in the hospital than Dave did if he was hanging out with Callie.

 

I also find it interesting that they warn them that the medical team is coming.  The fact that they told Carleigh they were coming, and she wasn't outside waiting and otherwise made no effort to prepare for them might have added to the decision to pull her.  That would have played into their evaluation of her mental state.

[ProfCrash]

We don't know how long Carleigh was in the hospital for. I know that they said on the show that they took Dave to the hospital. He might have gone, been checked over, gotten an IV and been discharged. The same might have happened to Carleigh. 

I suspect that Fowler was in Production's care for a week or so before he left for Maine. I doubt it was "You won and now go home." We know that Callie and Dave were there for 8 days after they left. That could be related to plane flights or a mandatory health standard before Production allows you to go home. Fowler's wife was home when he arrived and it seemed like she had been home for a bit. I am thrilled to hear that Callie and Dave spent that much time in Ponderosa (stealing from Survivor) because it gives me the impression that Production spends some time helping the contestants regain weight and adjust back to social interactions.

I am going to point out that the contestants are weighed with clothing on. Yes, they take off the jackets and boots and rain pants but they still have other clothes on that are not exactly light. So the weights we heard were their weight with clothes. Subtract 5-10 pounds for the clothes. 

Thanks for the Callie recap. Interesting stuff. 

I suggested the food drops but I would strongly prefere that they start the season sooner. I still think that more people would tap out due to loneliness and missing family then stick it out for ages. I think that Fowler and Carleigh would have gone longer if they had a longer period of time to forage and store for the future. 

I do feel a bit cheated because of the medical pull leading to the win. I understand it and I don't have a problem with it but it was a kind of crappy way to end the show. Fowler did a killer job out there and I htink he is a fine winner. Carleigh did a killer job out there as well. She was pulled for health reasons, which is legit, but I am not ready to say that she didn't fish enough. Fowler was out of fish himself. He was eating roots that he hoped were not poisinous a few weeks ago because he was not having any luck fishing. The only person who seemed to have an abundance of fish late in the game was Dave and he wasn't eating them. 

1 hour ago, dustoffmom said:

Really?  I've never heard that before!

He committed suicide after the show. The few interviews that I read afterward made it sound like he had a pre-existing mental health problem that Production knew about. I am not sure how much the show played into his suicide. 

[Canada]

To be fair to Masterchef, the person who died killed himself a year after appearing the show and was only beginning to show signs of mental illness around the time he started on the show.  The show couldn't have known he was ill and it's not like he immediately left the show and shot himself.

[Drogo]

Let's bring it back to this show and episode, guys. 

[Joan Z]

12 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I'm guessing they do a full background check to make sure none of them are wanted by the law, have any criminal history that might make them prone to violence, etc. Casino employees have the full-blown background check given by the FBI, and I bet they do the same. They probably do look at their social media accounts, you can learn a lot about someone's personality that way.

Actually when Callie said they (crew/prod team) check for everything, she was talking about applicants who are bashing the show. The prod team isn't impressed by that. She said bashing the show or boasting about how you can do better than past contestants are not gonna help you get selected. That's what I was wondering - do the prod team check for the bashing/boasting in the application video or do they check for the applicants social media in case they have ever talk sh*t about the show. 

12 hours ago, dgpolo said:

First, thanks for sharing all that info, extremely interesting.

^so Dave did not go to the hospital, this truly does make me wonder about Carleigh's physical condition.

There was also what happened with Dual Survivor when one of the survivalists was discovered to have 'embellished' his experience. And also something I dimly remember from years and years ago where a contestant on a foreign reality show committed suicide after losing.

You're welcome! Dave did go to hospital. He even wrote in his fb post that he didn't realize how bad his condition was until he looked in the mirror at the hospital. So they definitely didn't lie about that. It's just that we don't know how long he was hospitalized. Probably few days then he stayed at the base camp for few days with Callie. 

Oh in the video Callie also said they were given stipend. David (last year's winner) also had talked about the same thing more than once in other forum. So I guess this show doesn't mind they talk about it as long as they don't disclose the exact amount. Callie said it's a lot but it doesn't make them rich or anything. If I remember correctly, she said the payment was weekly basis. 

[Joan Z]

10 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

That is interesting that both Dave and Carleigh were pulled for medical reasons--starvation, really--but Carleigh must have spent more time in the hospital than Dave did if he was hanging out with Callie.

 

I also find it interesting that they warn them that the medical team is coming.  The fact that they told Carleigh they were coming, and she wasn't outside waiting and otherwise made no effort to prepare for them might have added to the decision to pull her.  That would have played into their evaluation of her mental state.

The crew informed the contestants about the med check in the morning but I think they didn't tell exactly when they will come, could be in the morning, afternoon or evening. But I see your point - she can hear the boat coming 

[zamberlan]

Thanks for that synopsis Joan Z, it's great!

If you guys had to pick just one of them to help you survive a wilderness experience who would you go with? I can't decide between Fowler and Meghan. I liked that Fowler identified the risk of the steep hill before he rolled down it and that he made the best of the worst site. Meghan was so great at the foraging though, something I know very little about.  

[Joan Z]

On History's website, there's a blog post from each contestant -http://www.history.com/shows/alone/blog it's like a post-mortem of their journey based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 

I only read the blog post wrote by the top 5. My favorite blog post is Megan. I love how her post is organized and numbered like she was writing college assignment or thesis lol. But seriously, her post is very insightful and gives me new perspective on their journey. She didn't get much airtime so I know very little about her and feel disconnected from her. But now after reading that, I like and respect her. 

She explained why she didn't build an elaborate shelter and she also mentioned that she had her period an hour before drop off. Yikes! That sucks. When I'm on my period, I'm always hungry and my body ache all over so with the lack of food, trying to adapt to new and foreign environment, build shelter, find firewood, find food, I know I won't last a day. Not that I have the skills to be on the show =p With the lack of food and nutrition, their pms must be pretty bad - something that men on the show doesn't have to deal with. mad respect for her and the rest of the women on the show. 

She also mentioned the steep hill she have to climb when foraging and stuffs she made/build that were never shown on the show. I got a feeling that being a biologist/forester, her films were mostly consist of educational stuffs that the producer find it too boring hence the little airtime she got. 

Someone on BCUSA quoted a snippet of Megan's blog post on History's website but it's very different than what I just read. I think the one I read is probably the latest one. Here is the snippet of the old post I got from BCUSA

Quote

I think what shook me up was when medics came out on Day 77 and said if your BMI drops this week, there is chance someone could get pulled. If they hadn’t have come out and said this to me (which I found out later everyone got this message), I likely would have stayed longer. I was so confused because my BMI was very similar to the week before. This made me realize that I am too influenced by others opinion but by 2.5 months, every little thing starts to wear on you a bit as the weather was getting shittier, the lake water was so much higher, etc. You start to think back to the extra weight some of the guys were carrying (eg extra 60 lbs and think even with trout fishing (limited calories and very low in vitamins/minerals), how can I compete with those extra reserves)

Then Megan posted this on that forum 

Quote

I did have 1 broken left molar and a broken right molar cusp too (you can see the bill if you want, I had to pay for it myself-LOL). There were many, many considerations at the end of my journey. I had tooth nerve pain and an opening to my gum line (I can usually work though pain but being in the wilderness was unique), I felt I had really mastered the fishing/foraging but like I stated in the show, the only thing keeping me there was the money and it seemed like with broken tooth (which ended up being 2 when the dentist examined) and the messaging coming in about bmi that perhaps rather than risk the potential jaw infection and further tooth damage (my health), I should put all my cards on the table for consideration (#1 health, my family, my career, my desire to win and/or leave on my own terms, my journey (if I left would I be satisfied?)I did not want to be leaving under medical distress. This might be what a segment of the viewers want to see but it does not match my own value set. I have a very important role as a mother back home, no amount of money is going to compensate if I'm not in good form health wise in future years for them. If I was going to win I want to show the world I mastered the foraging/fishing/hunting and in good health.

The show is edited so it might be difficult to convey how all the details fall into play at the end. I have a lot of supporters and its a little heartbreaking I didn't make it to #1 but I know I did well (78 days for a skinny person with 1 ration, is something I'm very proud of). Money is important (I would love to have my mortgage paid like a lot of folks would like) but we all have those moments where there are more important things to focus on.

Thank you! Megan

Interesting. Among the top 5, two of them want to leave on a high note instead of leaving in medical distress (Callie and Megan) and then we have Dave and Carleigh who were the opposite. It makes you think of how do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered leaving on a high note like Callie (healed her spider bites on her own and remember the awesome meal she had the day before she tap-out?!) and Megan (caught a lot of fish and foraging) or do you want to be remembered like Greg, Dave and Carleigh? People will remember Greg and Dave as the guys who made bad decisions and Carleigh who was literally leaving on a stretcher. I respect both sides though - the leaving-on-a-high-note (Callie and Megan) and the win-or-die-trying (Dave and Carleigh). 

Another post by Megan on BCUSA

Quote

I just want to say congrats to Fowler too! He has heard it from me but I don't want to breaking too much into his congratulatory stream on this site. 
I initially lost more weight when I got out, my body/organs were trying to adjust to 'regular' food. This journey doesn't end when you leave your site. Trying to reintegrate was a journey in itself. The weight came back within the first 2 weeks (back to my normal 117lbs) but with water weight too (edema) and to replace fat soluble vitamins/minerals takes time (some of these like the b vitamins are accumulated over your life time). Hair loss continued for months for many of us in the top 5. My underarm hair has never grown back !! (Lack of magnesium?). Before I started the journey, I totally did not expect the effects of lacking vitamins/minerals to be so prevalent. 

I went back to work within days upon returning to Canada. It honestly takes time to physically replace vitamins/minerals (many which are very hard to acquire in nature) and come to grips with the whole experience (positives and the challenges).

Lots to this experience....

Edited February 12, 2017 by Joan Z

[ProfCrash]

Can you post the link to that site. It looks interesting. 

Why is it a surprise to people that it takes more then a few weeks to replace lost vitamins and minerals? I fully understand the mineral/vitamin replacement. I fully believe that women wh give birth are more prone to osteoperosis and similar illnesses as they age because the body will pull minerals and vitamins from the womans body to provide it to the developing fetus. I cannot point to specific science but I doubled my calcium intake when I was pregnant because I wanted to make sure that the Little Man was getting he calcium and protein he needed while I got what I needed. And god knows that it takes long enough to recover from being pregnant. There are the hormones and then there is getting the body back to it's normal place with food and what it needs. Clearly we put too much faith in vitamins and mineral pills even though there is no conclusive science that shows that those things actually work. 

Honestly, I can respect anyone who shows me that they can survive and even thrive. I am always disappointed when the ones who are doing well leave, Lucas, Callie and the like, but I can understand why they do. I don't like watching people starve and wither away.  I would rather someone say that they know they are at the end of what they will tolerate and leave after they show me that they were not a waste of space (ie build a decent camp and show me you can forage).