S04.E03: Margin of Error

[Quilt Fairy]

I've never been in that situation, but I don't think it was stupid of Brooke to investigate where she saw the wolf.  It's not like she was moving her camp over there, she was just scouting out the tracks and where it headed into the woods.  If she's going to be close by, she needs to know stuff like that.

[GreyBunny]

17 hours ago, rmontro said:

Brody was the one who ate the salmon, and he was the hiker, not the camper.  So he couldn't have made a drying hut, unless he was going to carry it around on his back.  He said he had been carrying the kindling around in his pocket for a few days so he thought it would be dry.

Oh you're right.  Never mind then.  With everyone stumbling around in the underbrush, I lose track of who is actually trying to get to a camp somewhere and who is just bushwhacking for stupid reasons.  I hope his partner puts up a drying hut then.

[Snarklepuss]

On 6/30/2017 at 6:23 PM, pagooey said:

I'm of two minds about the format change this season. I have to imagine that the producers thought the hikers would be in greater peril overall, bushwhacking over ten miles apiece through brutally rough terrain with every conceivable obstacle between them and their partners. 

But so far all the tap-outs have come from the campers--whether due to injury, freakout, or a combination thereof (ankle-twisting knife brother). I get the sense that this is a psychological wrinkle that occurred to no one: that spending up to a week starring in Alone (But Not Really) has led the stationary participants to 1. wait around for their buddy before tackling any serious survival prep, and 2. fill those idle hours with poor decision-making. Instead of clearing brush, setting my gill net, and starting a lean-to, I'm gonna run around in the woods! I don't want to be here AT ALL build a cabin until Dad gets here to help, so instead I'll just roll up in this tarp and pillow my head on five pounds of Bear Snax! It's like another long prologue to the actual meat of the show.

One of my theories as to why the stationary people are the ones tapping out and not setting up camp is that in general they are not up to the task of doing this show.  They were probably the lesser prepared of the duo and are barely able to handle just sitting there for a few days until their other half shows up.  I don't even think it's the psychological impact of waiting for the other person - It's just that they were the one pushed into doing this when most of them probably had no business being there.  That's why they have the easier job but they're the ones tapping out and not making permanent shelters.

I'm generally not happy with the format change.  I'm also wondering if production is realizing the error of their ways after seeing them drop like flies out there.  At this rate, this is going to be a very short season unless they bore us to death by stretching out very few people over many weeks....Ugh.

[Juliegirlj]

Not a fan of the new format, nor of the casting this season. Hardly cream of the crop of survivalists....

[Canada]

34 minutes ago, Juliegirlj said:

Not a fan of the new format, nor of the casting this season. Hardly cream of the crop of survivalists....

Agreed.  The only ones who come close so far are Brooke and her husband, but I think they're only there to be on TV.  Once it starts getting rough, I think they'll bail too.  What a sad season.

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Juliegirlj said:

Not a fan of the new format, nor of the casting this season. Hardly cream of the crop of survivalists....

The folks on Naked and Afraid would consider this to be Club Med by comparison.

[humbleopinion]

Having to cast pairs have weakened the pool of contestants to the point of ruining the show fans got hooked on with Season 1.

If it comes to a waiting it out contest then the editors have already shown us the winner...which pisses me off ...for either revealing the winner or manipulating the audience this soon in the season.

hrumph...hrumph...

[cooksdelight]

Their Facebook page is full of people saying what we are, they messed up the show.

https://www.facebook.com/Alone/?fref=ts

The only people saying it's a good season are the ones wanting on the show and sucking up.

[simplyme]

I'm keeping in mind that it's one season. I expect shows to occasionally try new things. Otherwise they stagnate. In a lot of ways, I think the two-person concept had some real potential, but it hasn't panned out a lot of the time and I expect they realized that while editing. So I'm enjoying what I can and not really worrying that the show is forever ruined. Unless or until they announce otherwise, I figure next season we're back to singles.

It's not like they pulled an American Grit, got a second producer from the Bachelor/ette franchise, and changed the whole focus of the show to be the stupidest drama they could find. (Maybe that's why I'm so calm. American Grit used up all my horror.)

[rmontro]

18 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

One of my theories as to why the stationary people are the ones tapping out and not setting up camp is that in general they are not up to the task of doing this show.  They were probably the lesser prepared of the duo and are barely able to handle just sitting there for a few days until their other half shows up.  I don't even think it's the psychological impact of waiting for the other person - It's just that they were the one pushed into doing this when most of them probably had no business being there.  That's why they have the easier job but they're the ones tapping out and not making permanent shelters.

Interesting point, that could be it.

As for the format change, maybe they did it to prevent people from stubbornly hanging on even though they were starving, like last year.  I don't think they want people out there for months and months at a time.  With the pairs, one of them will likely want to tap out.  Now that they are starting to get together, we'll see what the show is like.  I'm going to hold off on condemning the season until then.  I kind of see this as a bonus season anyway, since I didn't think we'd be getting a new season this soon.

[Chit Chat]

I'm tired of seeing the hiker's trek through the woods.  Maybe if they had dropped them off 5 miles from camp, rather than the 10 miles (given the extremely rough terrain), it would've been better.   I'm not finding that part of the journey very interesting.  YMMV. 

[ProfCrash]

On ‎7‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 7:46 PM, dgpolo said:

I did wonder about that. Why he was setting up camp while it was still daylight and not raining didn't make any sense to me.

I think he is stopping with enough time to set up a safe camp and find some food. He is also not hiking when the light gets wonky and it is easier to slip and hurt yourself. It is actually a good strategy. He knows that his wife is able to handle the alone time and take care of herself so there is no need to rush to get to her. He is going to arrive safe, injury free, and probably in decent shape.

[humbleopinion]

Dave was happy to have come upon a flat open space so decided to set camp there rather than go any further that day.

[ClareWalks]

My husband is ridonkulously athletic so he was like "why is it taking so long to go 10 miles? Can't they do that in a day?" 1) Not everyone runs 20 miles every weekend for fun. 2) It is through uncharted wilderness, there are no trails, there is mud and swamp, there are obstacles to circumvent, etc. 3) They have only the supplies they carry on their back (which, BTW, are quite heavy). If they get thirsty, they must find water. If they get hungry, they must find food. 4) They have no map, only a compass and a bearing. 5) If they make the smallest mistake (like they get tired and slip over a tree branch), they may need to tap out.

At least nobody here has expected them to finish this in one day! I swear, I married a total armchair quarterback!

[Quilt Fairy]

Are the hikers really finding their own food or are they surviving off the (allowed) provided rations like jerky and pemmican?  It's one thing to huddle up and conserve calories when you're at camp, but that's not an option on what has proven to be  a very strenuous multi-day quest.

[simplyme]

2 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

My husband is ridonkulously athletic so he was like "why is it taking so long to go 10 miles? Can't they do that in a day?" 

Heh. I think you listed the reasons why not pretty well. I'd also emphasize that the heavy salal looks like a pain to get through with any speed. It would be like fighting through tangled strings with leaves obscuring your footing every step you take. Exhausting after a while. I think one of the reasons Jesse made good time compared to others may have been taking that bear trail. Scary as hell, but WAY faster than forcing his way through the salal and other barriers. I just wish I'd gotten some idea how long he'd actually used it for.

[ClareWalks]

24 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Are the hikers really finding their own food or are they surviving off the (allowed) provided rations like jerky and pemmican?  It's one thing to huddle up and conserve calories when you're at camp, but that's not an option on what has proven to be  a very strenuous multi-day quest.

That would be a really excellent reason to take the rations, actually! Takes pressure off the hiker to hunt (or fish if they're even close to shore) to get calories. Or to forage when you're already exhausted.

[cooksdelight]

The kid who got scared had the rations, he was sleeping on them when the bear came to visit.

[Auntie Anxiety]

Was just going to say that what would that kid use for a pillow then?

[rmontro]

On 7/1/2017 at 11:31 AM, humbleopinion said:

That bear poop showed him that seafood and berries is on the menu...

Maybe he should have picked some of those berries out of it, and saved them for the hiker  :)

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

The kid who got scared had the rations, he was sleeping on them when the bear came to visit.

That was the kid who had the dad who was the hardcore outdoorsman supposedly.  Logan and Alex, I think they were?  The dad (Alex) took the hiking job because he was more experienced, but apparently his kid didn't have much heart for it.  So maybe that's why he got the rations.  Unless they split the rations?  I'm still not sure if that's allowed or not?  It seems crazy not to give the hiker the bulk of the rations.

[Quilt Fairy]

I only hypothesized that the hikers must have the rations because they are, you know, supposed to be hiking.  We've never seen anyone successfully hunt on this show unless you count smashing mice with rocks, and they obviously can't fish.  Hell, the people who have nothing to do all day but look for food still generally starve.  Of all the hikers, we've only seen Dave even attempt a fire and I don't think we even saw if he was able to light it.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[GreyBunny]

16 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

My husband is ridonkulously athletic so he was like "why is it taking so long to go 10 miles? Can't they do that in a day?" 1) Not everyone runs 20 miles every weekend for fun. 2) It is through uncharted wilderness, there are no trails, there is mud and swamp, there are obstacles to circumvent, etc. 3) They have only the supplies they carry on their back (which, BTW, are quite heavy). If they get thirsty, they must find water. If they get hungry, they must find food. 4) They have no map, only a compass and a bearing. 5) If they make the smallest mistake (like they get tired and slip over a tree branch), they may need to tap out.

At least nobody here has expected them to finish this in one day! I swear, I married a total armchair quarterback!

Quoting myself from the first episode:

The terrain is brutal.  It's mountainous, the ground is very uneven, the vegetation is dense and full of tripwire roots, it's dark, it's raining, everything is slippery, the mud and the muck will grab your boot in flat areas or cause you to slide and fall if you're trying to climb, in places the moss and other debris could form a fake surface over a hole that gives way like a trap door when you step on it... I'd be surprised if all of them made it without at least one getting a broken leg.  They're going to need the two weeks.

[cooksdelight]

8 hours ago, rmontro said:

Maybe he should have picked some of those berries out of it, and saved them for the hiker  :)

That was the kid who had the dad who was the hardcore outdoorsman supposedly.  Logan and Alex, I think they were?  The dad (Alex) took the hiking job because he was more experienced, but apparently his kid didn't have much heart for it.  So maybe that's why he got the rations.  Unless they split the rations?  I'm still not sure if that's allowed or not?  It seems crazy not to give the hiker the bulk of the rations.

They can't split the rations during the separation portion, I don't believe. Once they are together they can share all of the 10 items. His dad Alex had only traveled .3 miles when they left, so that kid probably needed the food.

[rmontro]

On 7/4/2017 at 7:12 AM, cooksdelight said:

They can't split the rations during the separation portion, I don't believe. Once they are together they can share all of the 10 items. His dad Alex had only traveled .3 miles when they left, so that kid probably needed the food.

Assuming they can't split the rations:  Alex might have been lucky his kid tapped out when he did.  If he had burned a whole day going only 0.3 miles, he had a lot of hard trek ahead of him, burning a lot of calories plus having to feed himself somehow.  

I'm also assuming that they were the only group that gave the rations to the camper.

[Robodude]

An observation and a question>

How freaked out do you think the producers were when they had 3 of the 7 teams tapping out in the first week?  At that point in time, they'd put all their eggs in this "pairs" basket so it's not like they can switch gears and go back to the original format to get this season in the can.  One other note> I complained in another post about how it would be great to see where the hikers are on the map when they transition to that team....i see they did that which I thought was cool.

Question:  What "arrangements" do you think the show makes with the participants for emergencies or worse that happen back home?  If there's a couple playing the game and their child back home dies, we would assume the producers would yank them out immediately v. having them find out 2 months later.

That scenario seems to be an obvious one, but what about the less tragic ones?  i.e. their kid breaks a leg....or their house burns down....or a parent passes away... ?

Talking with my wife/friends, we assume there is some contractual agreement with the contestants on some of these scenarios but they can't possibly cover EVERY situation that could happen ("ok, if X, Y or Z happens, you yank me....but if A, B or C happens, you leave me here").

Thoughts???

Edited July 5, 2017 by Robodude
Additional thoughts...

[cooksdelight]

In Survivor, Terry Dietz' son Danny had to be hospitalized in an emergency, for a heart transplant. Jeff came out to tell him (it was all on film) and he left. I would assume the producers of this show would do the same if there was some type of family emergency.

[holly4755]

if there is a life changing tragedy, I can't imagine the producers not telling them and allowing them to leave.  After all, even on big brother, they told everyone about 9/11 even thought I think it was only 1 person who was affected. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by holly4755

[LittleIggy]

I'm still pulling for Brooke since she at least built a shelter and a decent one at that.

Whoever came up with this concept needs to write on a white/black board "Alone is defined as 'having no one else present; on one's own' a thousand times.

[Snarklepuss]

On 7/4/2017 at 3:55 AM, GreyBunny said:

Quoting myself from the first episode:

The terrain is brutal.  It's mountainous, the ground is very uneven, the vegetation is dense and full of tripwire roots, it's dark, it's raining, everything is slippery, the mud and the muck will grab your boot in flat areas or cause you to slide and fall if you're trying to climb, in places the moss and other debris could form a fake surface over a hole that gives way like a trap door when you step on it... I'd be surprised if all of them made it without at least one getting a broken leg.  They're going to need the two weeks.

It's like walking to the beach through the high sand dunes from the parking lot.  It looks easy and like a short walk on a path, but after the first 2 minutes you're exhausted and bit up by mosquitos and ready to give up!  This happened to Mr. 'Puss and I when we were young and very athletic - We were like "WTF?"  Didn't see that coming at all!  We finally got to the ocean after what seemed like forever, but it kind of ruined our enjoyment of a very beautiful beach at the Jersey Shore (no wonder there weren't a lot of people at this particular beach).  The next time we went we found a spot with a shorter walk, came armed with powerful insect repellent and took "time outs" to catch our breath!  It was one of the most beautiful Atlantic beaches we ever went to and worth it, though.

[Donny Brook]

Taking soap is a very smart thing for a couple.  They can, like, quadruple their morale with a little fun-time.