S04.E02: Hell on Earth

[raven]

Dad:  "Hope he's OK, he was worried about bears, or that he didn't get hurt"  "Son, what happened?"

Son:  "This was REALLY HARD"

Dad: "..........."

Me: ??? oh FFS!! (and, LOL)  Plus the editing was a little weird, cut randomly to the dad, then to the son quitting, off they go.  I guess they had to let us know.

I'm still not remembering any of the guys' names but that last guy who fell.....OW!  That did not look good, much worse than the kid who tweaked his ankle last week.  Hopefully it's not as bad as it looks.

I don't mind the hiking, though I'm betting the producers might have thought there would have been some reunions already.  The hikers have the same basic issues - shelter (though temporary), food, etc.  No one's grabbed my interest yet enough for me to know their names, except Brooke, not just because she's the only woman.  She's proactive and I like her "get stuff done" attitude.

[dgpolo]

3 minutes ago, raven said:

Me: ??? oh FFS!! (and, LOL)  Plus the editing was a little weird, cut randomly to the dad, then to the son quitting, off they go.  I guess they had to let us know.

I agree! Maybe he freaked out about the bear or whatever and was hysterical on the phone and then begged them not to show it? It was just weird.

[Canada]

Okay, I feel bad now for thinking badly about soap lady.... she's going to be there until the end.

Goodie, another young adult pussies out right at the start.  Why do they even bother?  Imagine how many other people applied, who could have gone on the show, instead of these first two teams who tapped out after less than 24 hours.  Such a waste.

This is not proving to be a good season so far to me, what with the early tap-outs, team format, and the endless tedious hiking-through-rough-terrain boringness.  At this point, I don't know who anyone is, besides soap lady, and I don't really care.

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, raven said:

Dad:  "Hope he's OK, he was worried about bears, or that he didn't get hurt"  "Son, what happened?"

Son:  "This was REALLY HARD"

And it was raining, don't forget.

l would find the hiking more interesting if they moved the hiker icons to follow the route taken.  Or if they showed things in 3D.

[Snarklepuss]

5 hours ago, zibnchy said:

Sam struck me as more mature than an average 22 year old. He was married with a baby on the way.That will force someone to grow up. Neither of this year's 19 year olds struck me as at all mature. The first one (long hair, name? Josh?) still had some of his baby fat, esp in his face (I thought he was cute). Poor Logan just seemed hurt and miserable. I wanted to cook him a nice meal and give him a puppy to pet.

Let me put it this way - I'm old, somewhat overweight, out of shape, and cranky all the time. I could have outlasted either of those boys simply by gutting it out (unless I ended up in a bear's gut) simply because I have the experience to know what I can gut out (a lot).

ITA and I hear you.  As a somewhat old, overweight, out of shape cranky woman I too feel like I could have outlasted either of those two boys myself, at any age.  I found what one of the brother pairs said about having grown up on a farm and understanding suffering to be very analogous to my own life.  I think having grown up in the Bronx in the "bad old days" helps me understand and tolerate suffering.  People from my place and time have grit that comes from surviving a tough environment.

What gets me is that when I was young I could do anything for a week and survive.  Heck, I waited on line outside in November for 2 days for Led Zeppelin tickets and I didn't even have a blanket!  I rode the subways at night with the winos and the threat of mugging!   I slept outside for 3 nights without a tent in New Hampshire!  If all these kids had to do was wait for Dad to show up you would think they'd be biding their time just surviving until he got there.  I can understand getting spooked by a bear, but they didn't show us that so I have to go on what they gave us. 

Ditto with those that said this season is not shaping up to being that satisfying so far.  Things might change when there are pairs together but at this rate how many of those will there be if there are two tap outs already?  And ditto about having them hike and film through that thick forest not being such a good idea.

[derriere]

14 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

@mlp, your question about Jesse intriged me so I went back and watched his portion. He slid down the hill, reached the beach of the ocean with all the wood lying everywhere. Next thing we see is him from far away, walking along the rocky shore, wondering how he's going to reach Shannon by walking along the beachfront. Then he finally walks up to the camera, and continues on to cuss at the fact he's going to have to go uphill through the woods.

I cannot believe he was so dedicated to getting good footage of himself that he set up the camera on a tripod, walked all the way back along the rocks, then turned around and walked back to the camera. If so, give him an Emmy for cinematography. 

In other words, I'm with you now. What the hell???

Remember that the contestants who provide the best footage get the most airtime and that they're most likely required to shoot a certain number of establishing shots per day. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they put a lot of thought and effort into their videography.

[cooksdelight]

5 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

l would find the hiking more interesting if they moved the hiker icons to follow the route taken.  Or if they showed things in 3D.

Me too, I want to see a little trail behind them also, to showed who zigzagged the most, or who went off course so badly we can all have a good laugh.

They should have put these people out there as a trial run to see who lasted more than a day or so, but don't tell them it's a test. Then replace the wimps with people who can actually do this. Tap outs are not interesting.

[Chit Chat]

Quote

I'm tired of the hiking. I think that was a bad idea on the producers part. I was right about the dad having travelled only .3 of a mile. Bet he'll never let his son forget the tapping out.

Yeah, this format isn't working for me.  The hikers are going to be so exhausted and depleted by the time they get to camp that they'll be playing catch up with food the rest of the time out there.  I think making them hike 10 miles through that kind of environment was a little extreme and unnecessary.  Looking at how tough a route they have, I'd expect it to be one of them tapping out early, not the loved one/friend at base camp!   I can't watch half of the footage of them walking through the woods either.  Someone pass the Dramamine! 

[OoogleEyes]

11 hours ago, zibnchy said:

 Poor Logan just seemed hurt and miserable. I wanted to cook him a nice meal and give him a puppy to pet.

Let me put it this way - I'm old, somewhat overweight, out of shape, and cranky all the time. I could have outlasted either of those boys simply by gutting it out (unless I ended up in a bear's gut) simply because I have the experience to know what I can gut out (a lot).

 

Love you!

[OoogleEyes]

6 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

 

What gets me is that when I was young I could do anything for a week and survive.  Heck, I waited on line outside in November for 2 days for Led Zeppelin tickets and I didn't even have a blanket!  I rode the subways at night with the winos and the threat of mugging!   I slept outside for 3 nights without a tent in New Hampshire!  If all these kids had to do was wait for Dad to show up you would think they'd be biding their time just surviving until he got there.  I can understand getting spooked by a bear, but they didn't show us that so I have to go on what they gave us. 

 

Me too! I truly did walk to school up hill both ways..in a snow storm.

Ooogleyes .. So old and crotchety they would probably cast me as a "personality"

I'd last just to piss them off

Edited June 24, 2017 by OoogleEyes

[cooksdelight]

@OoogleEyes, if you're in any way related to Fuckin' Larry, I'd pay to watch the two of you on this show! :)

[Kelda Feegle]

It annoys the shit outta me that they can't even hang in until the partner arrives, Suck it up for a couple of days and you will have help, support, extra hands etc, yep old, overweight,  and cranky here too.

[roamyn]

9 minutes ago, Kelda Feegle said:

It annoys the shit outta me that they can't even hang in until the partner arrives, Suck it up for a couple of days and you will have help, support, extra hands etc, yep old, overweight,  and cranky here too.

Maybe we should do an Alone show for us over 50, overweight, cranky people.

At least we know what to do if we hear a bear, know how to get muscles & limpets w/o smooshing them, are smart enough to stay put until our partner arrives, and can wrap up a sprained ankle and get back to work.

 

As an aside, I think Mike (S2) & Brooke could've been soulmates.

[Canada]

I think this is what's bugging me the most about the tap-outs... they weren't even doing the hike.  All they had to do was sit there and wait for the other person to turn up before tackling anything really difficult, if that's what they wanted to do.  They had two weeks of training, right?  And yet the young guy this week didn't seem to even know how to build a good basic shelter.  He didn't even have to worry about food, as he told us himself that he had the rations with him when the bear was supposedly wandering around.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 6/23/2017 at 0:49 AM, LittleIggy said:

I'm tired of the hiking. I think that was a bad idea on the producers part. I was right about the dad having travelled only .3 of a mile. Bet he'll never let his son forget the tapping out.

 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why any production team thinks watching people hiking is going to be riveting viewing. Its been tried. Expedition Impossible, anyone? Dullsville. Season 2 of the Alaska Experiment? Season one was out of this world, so they changed it up for season two. People walking. Yawn. 

14 hours ago, Canada said:

Okay, I feel bad now for thinking badly about soap lady.... she's going to be there until the end.

Goodie, another young adult pussies out right at the start.  Why do they even bother?  Imagine how many other people applied, who could have gone on the show, instead of these first two teams who tapped out after less than 24 hours.  Such a waste.

This is not proving to be a good season so far to me, what with the early tap-outs, team format, and the endless tedious hiking-through-rough-terrain boringness.  At this point, I don't know who anyone is, besides soap lady, and I don't really care.

Agreed. I can only imagine the screams of the folks whe were passed over for these twits. They must have echoed far and wide.

[zibnchy]

4 hours ago, OoogleEyes said:

So old and crotchety they would probably cast me as a "personality"

New show!

"Old, Crotchety, and ALONE!"

We could be out there for years. When they came to get us we'd yell "Get off my lawn!".

[simplyme]

16 hours ago, zibnchy said:

The first one (long hair, name? Josh?) still had some of his baby fat, esp in his face (I thought he was cute).

He might also just be built that way. I say that as a middle-aged woman who discovered that no, that baby fat was not going to go away. I'm just roundish at every darn weight. There is no way not to look like a Sunday School teacher. Somehow thin just looks round and haggard on me, so I avoid it. :P

 

16 hours ago, zibnchy said:

But I find Brooke kind of fascinating and so this season might turn into "At Home With Brooke". Episode 4: Brooke adds a second bedroom (for visitors) to the shelter.

There's an interesting show idea for me. Take Brooke, Callie, Fowler, etc. and have a "Survivalist Home Building and Decor" show.

Whoever suggested the minimum age of 30, that seems way too high. Carleigh, Callie, Sam were all under 30 and fine. Maturity varies highly depending on the person and their experiences, so basing it on age seems unfair. Maybe they just did a poor job of vetting people and after last season were cautious about people going too long, but not nearly concerned enough about people not being mentally prepared. (Also, I don't know if you can always gauge someone's future mental state. Last season's first tapout might have lasted longer had the adoption thing not been occurring while he was gone, and with how adoptions work I don't know that he knew the two things would be coinciding.) 

[cooksdelight]

I wonder how much coercion goes on from production. People with kids on the way, little babies.... do you think production psyches them out, into thinking "Sure, you can do it, no problem! Most you'll be gone is probably a couple of months!"

[Chit Chat]

Does anybody remember if the teams were told prior to leaving home that one would be hiking that distance, or did they wait until they arrived for the 2 week, pre-Alone boot camp?  If they didn't know before they left home, I can see where the young guy got freaked out.  Maybe they were counting on them being together so the Dad could've helped him make it through the challenges.  It would also be a disadvantage for the ones who weren't prepared to hike up mountains/hills, but were well prepared for the original premise of the show, and that is, to have been dropped off at their spot and to survive. 

If they did know about the hike prior to leaving home, well, that blows my train of thought out of the water! 

[zibnchy]

Here's my new theory (I have time on my hands apparently). Someone has to be the first tap, obviously. So I think producers cast someone (or a team) who they are pretty sure will be the first tap and they look for someone who will, at least, make the first tap sort of interesting. (I wonder if F*cking Larry was supposed to be the first tap in season 2.)This season I think that was Logan and his dad. I'm sure they knew logan wasn't going to last and his dad had only covered .3 miles (at that rate he would meet up with Logan approximately never). BUT they didn't see the blacksmith brothers coming. I'm sure they did not anticipate that two healthy, young guys would only last 3 hours (like Gilligan's "tour".) There wasn't even a scary bear involved! So now they are down two, and likely three, teams only 5 days in. Terrible.

 

10 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

If they did know about the hike prior to leaving home, well, that blows my train of thought out of the water! 

I'm sure they knew. I think a few teams talked about it during the "at home" filmed sequences.

Edited June 24, 2017 by zibnchy

[cooksdelight]

They had to know beforehand. They were already discussing strategy, what to take, who'd do the hike, etc.

[SRTouch]

Ok, quick recap. Blacksmith boys gone last week, and father and son Ribar might as well have tapped last week, cause this week all we saw of them was the copter carrying them away. Who writes the bios for these folks? Kid Ribar hopes to become a guide and lists his favorite past times as camping, building primitive shelters, learning to live with and tracking animals - first night sleeps in a poorly constructed tarp shelter with his rations for a pillow, freaks when a bear sniffs around, and taps when the sun comes up - while pop Ribar, ex-Marine Infantryman, doesn't make it a mile into the hike the first day and plans to hunker down the second day because it's raining on Vancouver Island - yeah, it rains in the rainforest and everything gets soaked, folks.

This episode starts with the big boys, the Baird brothers. Not my favorites, more braggarts than anything else. Apparently they read about surviving on the Island, but haven't really experienced anything like it before. Judging from the bios, they're more suited to white water canoeing and snow country. And why is the hiker of the pair carrying their ax on the hike? Wouldn't it make more sense for the guy establishing camp to have the ax? But, hey, at least the guy has some land navigation skills and made it around the lake while maintaining his bearing - as I've already said, not the easiest thing to do.

Truthfully, I expected half the teams to tap before being reunited, but I did NOT expect the person setting up camp to be the one to tap. It did not surprise me at all that the ex Green Beanie/Special Forces Jessie Bosdell seemed to be smoking the hike - I just hope his brother Shannon is alright - freaking cliffhangers! They're my favorite to win for now - assuming big brother didn't break something in the fall. And, hey young blacksmith, did you see all that crap Shannon was finding, and the fish big boy Baird netted - that's why folks are wondering why you were stumbling in the woods an hour from the beach.

Right there with the Bosdell brothers, are the married couple. Brooke is putting up a kick ass shelter, and her teepee chimney is probably the way to go with the available resources. Really, the only reasons they're not my picks are the preview of her fainting (at least I think that's her) and the whole drinking the water thing. Ok, folks in the know say they drink water from the streams on VI with no problem, probably true so with all the rain - just seems contrary to normal survival training. Oh, and whoever mentioned that Brooke is kind of reminiscent of Nicole - yeah, I see that, both are teacher/educators and it shows.

Not really impressed with the Wilkes brothers. They do seem to know their stuff, though being flatlanders from Louisiana they are finding the rainforest a problem. Together they remind me of David, who didn't do too bad in season two - oh, and I didn't like him either, expected him to tap every week and he outlasted them all.

Think the last team are the father/son Brockdorff. These two may be this season's sleeper team - did I blink and miss seeing them since Making the Cut. Anyway, the son here apparently  has some maturity and experience living in the woods,  maybe more then the dad. Problem is, he's another contestant with experience with a totally different environment - mainly high Country and the wilds of Utah. If they ever gets onscreen, we'll have to see how he does on the Island. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by SRTouch

[SRTouch]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

They had to know beforehand. They were already discussing strategy, what to take, who'd do the hike, etc.

Agreed, they had to know, because as you say there was talk of who would hike. I just wonder how much attention they paid to what others said about the difficulty. I mean, during the first season I don't remember anyone talking about how hard it was to travel through the forest. But after it was over I remember talk of the difficulty, and it was a big thing during season two. Larry had a terrible time and built steps on his hill, IIRC, and although we didn't see it, I seem to remember a bad fall caused Tracy to tap - though at the time the speculation was it was a night time visit from Yogi's friend Booboo and mama bear. Thing I wonder is if they knew just how far they had to travel. With the exception of Jessie Bosdell, no one seems to be in a hurry. Course, part of that could be the military mindset of hurry and complete the mission - as well as his apparently legitimate concern about big brother being a klutz - I mean it looked like his fall happened collecting sticks on the beach.

added comment:  though Daddy Ribar, the ex Marine, certainly didn't show much of a military mindset when it came time to make his hike - I didn't realise til I read it here, but really, three tens of a mile!?! Wonder if he was lost, going in circles, or just faced with really bad terrain.

Edited June 24, 2017 by SRTouch
Comment added

[meep.meep]

2 hours ago, zibnchy said:

New show!

"Old, Crotchety, and ALONE!"

We could be out there for years. When they came to get us we'd yell "Get off my lawn!".

I think I am already playing.  Minus VI, the cameras and the prize.

[holly4755]

I could star on crotched\ty and alone, I have the "get off my lawn kids thing" down pat. heh with neighbors that keep violating my property line. 

Alex and Logan tap out interview - not very enlightening, 

Quote

4. Why did you decide to tap out?

Logan: The hellish terrain where I was based made movement and shelter location almost impossible. The elements took their toll on me mentally and physically much sooner than I could have ever anticipated.

Edited June 24, 2017 by holly4755

[Canada]

It couldn't have got much sooner.  Basically, he got out of the helicopter and went "WTF have I got myself into" and tapped out as soon as he mustered up the nerve to do it.  At least he can say that he wasn't first!

[humbleopinion]

With 2 teams gone there is room in the next episode for the Young Grizzly Adams aka Sam Brockdorff and his dad, Pete.

On paper they look like one of the stronger teams but with one weakness...Pete is a loud snorer.

 Side by side shelter with a wall, sound proofed with moss to absorb the zzzzzz so Pete doesn't drive his son batty.

My prediction for the next to tap...Team Wilkes...both have kids...Brody was the one frustrated that he would have to climb over a mountain on his bum knee.

  Ted was hoping that he  and Brody would bond over this adventure, so the years of teamwork and getting along is not there for these 2 brothers who are more weekend bushcrafters and outdoorsmen.

Brody is not going to miss 6+ months of his 10 month daughter's life...

[MaraJadeSharpie]

On 6/24/2017 at 2:07 PM, SRTouch said:

Not really impressed with the Wilkes brothers. They do seem to know their stuff, though being flatlanders from Louisiana they are finding the rainforest a problem.

I believe they're from Mississippi, but yes. The terrain in both states is very flat. The only similarity I would say is the insane amount of brush. I live in Louisiana, and you're not going into the woods without something to cut a trail.

[walnutqueen]

11 hours ago, roamyn said:

At least we know what to do if we hear a bear, know how to get muscles & limpets w/o smooshing them, are smart enough to stay put until our partner arrives, and can wrap up a sprained ankle and get back to work.

OK, after premature menopause, muscles are as difficult to maintain as is the ability to pry mussels from their seabed (unlike limpets and other shore dwelling tidal creatures, they do better in submergence).  Auto-correct remains the bane of my existence!

 

8 hours ago, zibnchy said:

New show!

"Old, Crotchety, and ALONE!"

 

Story of my fuckin' life.  (Looong before it was a "thing"_).

 

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I wonder how much coercion goes on from production. People with kids on the way, little babies.... do you think production psyches them out, into thinking "Sure, you can do it, no problem! Most you'll be gone is probably a couple of months!"

Shiny object (now translates into $500K - is that $Canadian???), slowly and methodically waving in front of a face ... "You are getting sleepy, very sleepy ..."

(Oh, and when you wake up, you'll be in the midst of a North Vancouver Island rain-thicket, you fuckin' fool, with your wet dick in one hand a a GoPro in the other).

[cooksdelight]

27 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

Shiny object (now translates into $500K - is that $Canadian???), slowly and methodically waving in front of a face ... "You are getting sleepy, very sleepy ..."

(Oh, and when you wake up, you'll be in the midst of a North Vancouver Island rain-thicket, you fuckin' fool, with your wet dick in one hand a a GoPro in the other).

LMFAO!!!!! Brilliant! Great minds and all that. ;)

[TVbitch]

Thanks @cooksdelight for the recap on Logan last page. 

I am also now thinking maybe his tap out call, which if not filmed was surely taped, was potentially him in a full on panic attack or something and the producers decided not to air it out of decency. He did look pretty shell shocked, so maybe he just lost it. 

I was surprised the prize is only 500K this season. At first I thought they meant the million would be split between the two, but this epi made it clear it was 500K to split between the two.  

Edited June 25, 2017 by TVbitch

[walnutqueen]

42 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Thanks @cooksdelight for the recap on Logan last page. 

I am also now thinking maybe his tap out call, which if not filmed was surely taped, was potentially him in a full on panic attack or something and the producers decided not to air it out of decency. He did look pretty shell shocked, so maybe he just lost it. 

I was surprised the prize is only 500K this season. At first I thought they meant the million would be split between the two, but this epi made it clear it was 500K to split between the two.  

It was always only $500K - if that was Canadian $$$s, you'd be waiting a very long time for a favorable exchange rate.  "Sorry," eh. 

(Apparently, us Canucks have a funny way of pronouncing the word "sorry".   30+ years in SoCal and I STILL can't get it right).

[roamyn]

46 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

It was always only $500K - if that was Canadian $$$s, you'd be waiting a very long time for a favorable exchange rate.  "Sorry," eh. 

(Apparently, us Canucks have a funny way of pronouncing the word "sorry".   30+ years in SoCal and I STILL can't get it right).

No, it's US.  Dave (S2) confirmed that in an interview.  He also said it was AFTER taxes.

[ProfCrash]

On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 1:02 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

l would find the hiking more interesting if they moved the hiker icons to follow the route taken.  Or if they showed things in 3D

They would never do that because the hikers are sucking for the most part. We would be complaining worse than we are already.

"Goodie, another young adult pussies out right at the start.  Why do they even bother?  Imagine how many other people applied, who could have gone on the show, instead of these first two teams who tapped out after less than 24 hours.  Such a waste."

For some reason the quote thing is not working all that well.

Every season there are a decent number of tap outs in the first week. We all roll our eyes and bitch. Last season spoiled us because the people knew what they were doing and the tap outs were no where near as stupid and ridiculous. I am not surprised that the this is  happening and it doesn't annoy me all that much. It just means that we will be able to focus on the people who don't suck more quickly.

[Juliegirlj]

Alex took it fairly well that Logan tapped, but, I guarantee he will never let him forget it. Something Alex said gave me the impression that he knew they wouldn't last for the long haul, but that he expected to make it until he finished the hiking part at least. However, Alex wasn't doing so well. Maybe he was secretly relieved?! 

Total waste of a spot on the show. 

[humbleopinion]

Thinking the 2 weeks training  was enough together time for Logan to be convinced he didn't want to live in a  8'X6' shelter with his father for months on end or to have to decide where to build an camp with water source, shelter, fire pit while waiting for his dad.

  He probably expressed as much and was coerced by the producers and/or his dad to at least be filmed being dropped off.

And then spend at least one night.

Logan clearly wasn't in the right sound of mind when he didn't even do the most basic camp set up by safely securing his food...Putting your food ANYWHERE except under your head...cue the bear...

Alex didn't get very far in his hike before he stopped and made camp.

Actions of both getting side eye.....

[ProfCrash]

They have alternates that go through the training.

I think that they cast people that they know will tap early and hope that the vast majority of people/teams tap in the first month. It makes for a more cost friendly show when they only have two or three people to worry about for the long run. We hate the early taps but they save the production team a ton of cash.

[cooksdelight]

If I see one word of Alex's online giving his son a hard time, I'm going to rip him a new asshole.

[walnutqueen]

16 hours ago, roamyn said:

No, it's US.  Dave (S2) confirmed that in an interview.  He also said it was AFTER taxes.

Goddammit ...Now I stand corrected, but try explaining AFTER taxes to the IfuckingRS.

 

1 hour ago, humbleopinion said:

Thinking the 2 weeks training  was enough together time for Logan to be convinced he didn't want to live in a  8'X6' shelter with his father for months on end or to have to decide where to build an camp with water source, shelter, fire pit while waiting for his dad.

  He probably expressed as much and was coerced by the producers and/or his dad to at least be filmed being dropped off.

And then spend at least one night.

Logan clearly wasn't in the right sound of mind when he didn't even do the most basic camp set up by safely securing his food...Putting your food ANYWHERE except under your head...cue the bear...

Alex didn't get very far in his hike before he stopped and made camp.

Actions of both getting side eye.....

I PITY the poor fools who imagined they'd make it past the first night.  "Hey Bear" is my favorite new mantra.

 

3 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

If I see one word of Alex's online giving his son a hard time, I'm going to rip him a new asshole.

Bad Daddy.  Slap him upside the head for me while you're tearing him a new orifice. 'Kay?  ;-)

[roamyn]

According to several interviews w/Dave aft his win, the actual prize is closer to $800K (US), but they take taxes out off the top, so it becomes a $500K prize.  The producers probably just chose to advertise it as $500K.

[ProfCrash]

I am glad to hear that they pay them more so that they actually walk home with the winning amount. That is kind of cool.

[riverheightsnancy]

I am curious about when they started auditions for this season, if the producers asked for teams of two, OR singles applied and were selected to the semis round and then production put the twist on these people and they had to find a 2nd to be a part of a team? Does anyone know for sure? It would solve the question regarding the first two teams where you had one person who was excited and appeared to want to be there and the other who taps out almost immediately. I also wonder if they knew when they applied if there would be a large amount of hiking? I would think that Alex would have trained for that. He was really laboring during his part of the hike. 

[humbleopinion]

Alex at 48 years old was the oldest to do the hike since Logan wouldn't tackle the slog through the wild thick growth and couldn't navigate well enough to find his dad.

Alex is ex military, has navigation capabilities... as for the huffing and puffing, that has to do with fighting the terrain and brush ...all 0.3 miles he traveled.

Dramatized for the camera, perhaps.

The ages of the hikers still on the show:

Dave Whipple-40

Jim Baird-32

Sam Brockdorff-26

Jesse Bosdell-31

Brody Wilkes-33

Edited June 26, 2017 by humbleopinion

[ProfCrash]

Alex is former military but most military units are not bushwhacking. They go on patrol carrying very heavy packs but they are on roads or trails or uneven ground but they are not bush whacking. Bushwhacking is loud and takes a long time. There is no stealth involved, making it easy to spot and counter. I suspect that only certain types of special forces might ever bushwhack but I suspect that that is rare.

We assume that because someone is in the military they have survival skills will translate to this type of environment but that is rarely the case. It is a very small percentage of military folks who go through the type of training that would apply to this type of experience. Toss in that many of the military folks are trained to respond to a specific environment, so the Army Instructor who taught African Armies survival skills probably would have done just fine in Africa but VI is totally different so much of his training did not apply.

Alex knows how to ready a map and navigate using a compass. He is probably really good at it. But watch a Ranger training video and look at their land navigation exercise. It is in a regular forest at night. It is hard as hell but it is a regular forest with some hills and streams and the like. It is not a rain forest with tons of plants that you have to fight your way through or really large hills to cross and lakes/rivers to navigate. And I believe Alex was a Marine but the Marines train in similar locations.

A sustenance hunter is probably better prepared to handle the hike than Alex. A hunter might very well carry a heavy pack, track animals over a variety of terrains and have to do some bush whacking.

[cooksdelight]

10 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

We assume that because someone is in the military they have survival skills will translate to this type of environment but that is rarely the case

LOL, I can verify that. I have a friend who was a 30-yr veteran of the Navy, was in Desert Storm and several other assignments in the Middle East. If you put him out there, he'd probably sit down and wait for a pickup.

[walnutqueen]

My menopausal sweaty fat ass might do OK on North Vancouver Island, for a while.  I last visited there as a youngish hot skinny bitch.  I could use a starvation banana slug diet (and I could sell that shit on the Shopping Channel for bazillions).

[Robodude]

What did EVERY past season winner have that allowed them to survive the longest?  What was the KEY to their winning?

A:  Extra weight going in. 

Each winner had lost over 50 lbs during their time in the wilderness.  You can't begin this process "in shape" and expect to survive months with very little or no food.

As much as we like Brooke, one of the clips from the rest of the season had her saying how hungry she was...  There are now TWO people to feed every day and she just doesn't have the frame to lose that much weight.

Remember last season.....2 people had to be pulled from the game at the end to give Fowler the win because they'd lost too much weight. 

I LOVE THIS SHOW with a passion but, like many others, am not thrilled with the new team-format.  One of the BEST things this show had going for it was that people were ALONE.  I haven't gone back to track it but it seems to me that at least half of the people that tapped out in all past seasons did so because they missed folks back home.....or didn't have the mental fortitude to be away from everything for that long.

That said, I am interested in how 2 people will manage.  Advantages like having another person to gather wood and food and to interact with might be outweighed by the fact that there's now 100% more mouths to feed in a game that has always been about surviving on very little to eat and all that goes with that.

[ProfCrash]

One benefit to having two people should be the division of labor. One person can be gathering wood and edible plants while the other fishes or hunts. We shall see how it works out in the end.

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, Robodude said:

What did EVERY past season winner have that allowed them to survive the longest?  What was the KEY to their winning?

A:  Extra weight going in. 

It seriously drives me nuts that there are still competitors who go into this thing super lean. Morons, you had ONE JOB to do, and that's gorge on peanut butter-filled cupcakes from the moment you get the casting call.

[ProfCrash]

That would be the best part of the show. As soon as I was cast, I would be at Five Guys ordering up a storm.