S04.E10: Flesh and Blood/S04.E11: Tales from the Island

[cooksdelight]

I'd love to know production's rationale for putting them out there a couple of months later than in the past. It's almost like they wanted them all to suffer and tap out early. If they are tired of making the show.... stop.

[roamyn]

On 8/23/2017 at 4:19 PM, riverheightsnancy said:

I agree based on what we have seen. Dave was probably the smallest of all the male winners. Brooke was great, but couldn't go any farther. The lady (who used to be a cop-cannot remember her name) that tapped early in a prior season was zaftig, I really wonder how far she could have gotten if she hadn't tapped due to psychological issues.

Tracy.  She was on S2.

[riverheightsnancy]

10 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Tracy.  She was on S2.

Yes Tracy. Of all the ladies to be on the show, she was the largest thus far. I wondered if that would have been a plus if she had stayed. 

[cooksdelight]

And I wonder if they do psych evaluations on these people before leaving them in the middle of nowhere.

[Robodude]

4 hours ago, rmontro said:

The bad thing about Alone is there are too many restrictions.  They're stuck in a relatively small area, they isn't any real game to hunt, they don't really have adequate weapons, and they don't get a chance to stock up for winter.  

I'd only point our poor Dave in Season 3 who, after 73 days, got yanked by medical for being to thin....but had a pile of fish stored... but decided not to eat it so he could stretch his supplies further.

Of all the people that I hope comes back for next season, he'd be at the top of my list.  I think he could have given Fowler a run for the money if he hadn't made that particular self-inflicted mistake.

[cooksdelight]

They can call it "Alone -- Woulda Shoulda Coulda"

[roamyn]

On 8/24/2017 at 7:50 PM, cooksdelight said:

They can call it "Alone -- Woulda Shoulda Coulda"

Or 'Alone - The f*g Mice Strike Back!'

[Scaeva]

On 8/19/2017 at 1:04 AM, rmontro said:

It looks to me like they won by foraging all those limpets and gunnel fish from that rocky beach.

I didn't want the brothers to win either, but it's wrong to say they didn't deserve it.  They stayed on Vancouver Island longer than any other people in the history of the show.  Ted carried most of the weight for awhile, until he got sick, then Jim picked up the slack.  Like it or not, they acted like a team when it counted.  A dysfunctional team, but a team nonetheless.

Well said.

I was rooting for the father & son team but the brothers deserved to win. You can't survive 75 days on arguments and they lasted longer than any other previous Vancouver Island Winner, and they did with two mouths instead of only one to feed. I suspect they were the victims of reality TV editing. The producers decided to focus on their quarrels rather than the stuff they did to survive. 

[Scaeva]

On 8/24/2017 at 3:41 PM, cooksdelight said:

I'd love to know production's rationale for putting them out there a couple of months later than in the past. It's almost like they wanted them all to suffer and tap out early. If they are tired of making the show.... stop.

I think wanting them to tap out early is most likely right. The later start was probably planned with the hope that it result in a faster win and lower production costs. Next time they'll probably start in December. LOL

Edited August 29, 2017 by Scaeva

[cooksdelight]

It's psychologically taxing also, to be away from family during two major holidays.

[rmontro]

I just now realized this:

With the final two tapouts, every single tapout was by (or because of) the camper, not the hiker.  Brooke and Pete were both campers, and it was their physical conditions that instigated their team's tapouts.  Although in the last two cases, it was more of a team decision than the first four.

That makes sense, because the weaker partner was given the camper position, while the stronger partner got the hiking position.

[ProfCrash]

rmontro: People had pointed this out early on. Most people seemed to think that the hiker was the person more interested in the show and more motivated. I am not sure that applies to Pete and Brooke, they were motivated and very much equal partners in the adventure, but were clearly the physically weaker of the pair. In their case, it made sense for their partner to make the hike. I would not be surprised to find out that it was the Hiker who applied to be on the show and included their partner in their video or mentioned their experiences with their partner and that Production decided to cast the pairs based on that.

[rmontro]

15 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

rmontro: People had pointed this out early on. Most people seemed to think that the hiker was the person more interested in the show and more motivated.

Yes, I recall the discussion.  But I haven't seen anyone mention it with the last two tapouts.  It kind of continued the trend, although more indirectly.

[DNOMAD]

On 8/21/2017 at 9:32 PM, Snarklepuss said:

You know, after I saw the brothers on the "Tales from the Island" segment I realized that they were responding to the extreme situation by regressing into childhood bickering because they're not like that at all under normal circumstances.  I actually think that they were engaging in coping behavior as a way to "stay sane" when under extreme mental and physical stress.  Plus as Pete mentioned, the effects of the starvation made him more irritable and not himself.  I think the bros. were just being generally "hangry" and regressed into former versions of themselves to the extreme.  Obviously this phenomenon affects some people more than others since Brooke and Dave seemed remarkably normal despite the difficult circumstances.  So I'm actually now entering the "acceptance" phase of Kubler-Ross "death stages" about the ginger brothers winning (thanks to whoever mentioned that upthread as I was LOL). 

and the type of edit the show gave them,each season a person gets an edit for viewers to dislike him or her for ratings.it was noticable during the after show when the brothers are seen in a new light

[beatu]

dave had only enough fish for maybe  2 days of proper eating. a dozen little fillets is nothing. A good sized man can easily need 4000 calories per day  out in the cold, damp and wind. Fish, ready to eat,  offer  just  800 calories per lbs.  Only  1/4 of a live crab's weight is edible flesh and that flesh offers only  400 calories per POUND. So you need to catch  40 lbs of crabs per day. Anyone who "thinks' that you can average that  much, every day, without a boat and at least 20 traps, and a LOT of bait, is nuts.

[Gollum]

I understand the need in this, and other, self documented series to give us a personal insight into the participants' psyche or character but...

and it's a BIG but...

When the premise of the show is to conquer your environment and yourself , in complete solitude, there should be no place for interpersonal relationships. 

Contestants can belittle themselves as much as they like through their own ineptitude, but learn from their mistakes and pick themselves up, which makes compelling viewing. What I DON'T want to see is a father's disappointment, or a brother's, or sister's, or friend. This show should be about the individual and their own personal struggle to find comfort, sustenance, and peace with their own demons, in an extremely challenging setting...

...not off grid jeremy springer!

Rant over. I've just discovered the show and I'm currently binging. I'm also looking forward to watching it again on Blaze (UK). 

It screams, with deafening clarity, how ill-equipped even trained individuals can be when pitted against themselves. And that our personal relationships ARE important... and are PERSONAL. 

The 'Redemption' (CONFIRMED insanity) season was a surprise - i really couldn't imagine anyone tapping and then going through it all again.. kudos to tbem. And some interesting insights to challenge the previous (mis)conceptions of some of the competitors. 

Keep it up.

But please keep it ALONE