S05.E11: Reunion Special

[rmontro]

The one thing I liked about this reunion special is that they talked to the contestants one at a time instead of having them all sit together with goofy looks on their faces.  There were some missing people though, I would have liked to have seen Nicole, but I guess there wasn't much she could say other than maybe "I got over my MS attack and I'm feeling better, thanks".

They said it took two people to pull the fish hook out of Carleigh's hand, so it must have been in there (trying to push it out was unsuccessful).

We found out that Larry hates mice, who knew?  (Yawn).

Apparently Britt and Sam struck up a friendship, and their wives too, somewhere along the line.  Britt said he knew he was going to have to outlast Sam's "girth".  Carleigh had also said that she tried to put on weight for the show, but the accident took her out anyway.  By the way, I remember someone wondering if Britt was the only one fishing with grasshoppers, they showed Carleigh using them as bait also.

[Chit Chat]

Here's the inside story on Carleigh and the fish hook: https://www.history.com/shows/alone/blog/misc/tap-out-qa-carleigh-fairchild

From the article:  "I thought about trying to cut my hand to get the hook out, but it was right at my thumb and forefinger tendons and a large surface vein at my wrist. I weighed out the risk vs benefit and decided it was not worth causing more and possible permanent damage to my hand. I wanted to stay longer, but I knew even if I tapped out that day it would take at least a day if not two days to get to a hospital to get the hook removed because of how remote we were. The hook had been in my hand for about 24 hours at this point, and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave a fishhook stuck in my tendon for very long. Resigned to what I had to do, I first showed respect to my area and took down all the lines and traps I had set out. Even after doing that I was not ready to tap, I paced back and forth before finally making the call. It was agonizing and heartbreaking to make that call, but I needed help to get the fish hook out. By the time I got to the hospital, a total of 54 hours later, my hand was hot and tingly, showing signs of infection and I was very ready to get it out of my tendon."

From something else I read from her, it sounded like she didn't get the best medical care in Mongolia.  IIRC, she was concerned about them just yanking the fish hook out.   I can't remember everything that she said, but I was left with the impression that she's lucky that those doctors didn't do more harm than good.  

[rmontro]

16 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

From something else I read from her, it sounded like she didn't get the best medical care in Mongolia. 

I wondered about that myself.  I'm glad everything worked out all right for her.

[tobeannounced]

I think this was the most boring Alone reunion special ever. I wonder why they didn't interview more people.

Edited August 25, 2018 by tobeannounced

[ProfCrash]

I suspect that they did not interview Brooke, Randy, and the Millennial were skipped because they left for ridiculous reasons. Heck, Randy and Brooke left for pretty much the same reason the first time.

I am not sure why they didn’t talk to Nicole and Russell. I suspect that there were a good number of folks who thought that sending Nicole to a place where she had little chance of lasting because it did not have the herbs she needed. Russell might not have had much of a fan base clamoring to hear from him due to his early ouster on Not Alone. 

Carleigh was a finalist in her first season and people wanted to know what happened with her hand and the hook.

[ClareWalks]

6 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I am not sure why they didn’t talk to Nicole and Russell. I suspect that there were a good number of folks who thought that sending Nicole to a place where she had little chance of lasting because it did not have the herbs she needed. Russell might not have had much of a fan base clamoring to hear from him due to his early ouster on Not Alone. 

I have absolutely no memory of a Russell on this season. Am I taking crazy pills? I also barely remembered Brad. Would have loved an update on Nicole, at least a "she's okay, folks!"

[cooksdelight]

I fell asleep.

[ClareWalks]

8 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

I have absolutely no memory of a Russell on this season. Am I taking crazy pills? I also barely remembered Brad. Would have loved an update on Nicole, at least a "she's okay, folks!"

I just looked it up. Turns out I don't remember Russell because his name is Jesse. Glad I don't have amnesia!

[Chit Chat]

12 hours ago, tobeannounced said:

I think this was the most boring Alone reunion special ever

I agree.  We finally watched it last night and ended up fast forwarding most of it.  I didn't need to see a rehash of everything we just saw during the season.  I've been following Carleigh and Sam on FB and Instagram.  There was a picture on one of those with Carleigh and Sam & his family having dinner.  Looks like Carleigh's been pretty busy traveling and teaching survival skills. 

I admire all of those folks for even attempting to be "Alone" in Mongolia, especially out there amongst all of those pit vipers and hungry wolves! 

[roamyn]

The most interesting part of the reunion was watching Kevin crack up over F*g Larry.

 I was bummed no Jesse or Nicole.  Could care less abt Brad or Brooke.  Randy also missed the reunion in S2, as well. 

Carleigh broke my heart, seeing her tears.

[rmontro]

20 hours ago, tobeannounced said:

I think this was the most boring Alone reunion special ever.

 

It was pretty dull.  I was saying a few weeks ago that I didn't even care about a reunion special.  And having seen it, I could have lived without it.

Maybe Russell was the contestant who got charged by the mystery wolf.  He met a bad end, so they're covering up his existence, it's a conspiracy.

Edited August 25, 2018 by rmontro

[TVbitch]

I enjoyed Larry talking about how it made him realize his work-a-day life is not so bad, and Britt being honest about knowing FatSam was gonna be difficult to outlast. The rest was pretty been-there knew-that. I think it would be far more interesting to have them just answer reddit questions or something.

I was hoping they might give us a hint about next season. 

[qtpye]

On 8/24/2018 at 8:35 PM, tobeannounced said:

I think this was the most boring Alone reunion special ever. I wonder why they didn't interview more people.

I agree and I love this show. 

 

23 hours ago, TVbitch said:

I enjoyed Larry talking about how it made him realize his work-a-day life is not so bad, and Britt being honest about knowing FatSam was gonna be difficult to outlast. The rest was pretty been-there knew-that. I think it would be far more interesting to have them just answer reddit questions or something.

I was hoping they might give us a hint about next season. 

It was interesting how being on this show the first time has messed up some of the contestants. Many of the men talk about not being able to stand their jobs and quitting.

[rmontro]

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

It was interesting how being on this show the first time has messed up some of the contestants. Many of the men talk about not being able to stand their jobs and quitting.

It might not all be the time in the wilderness though.  Could be the little taste of fame made it harder for them to go back to the mundane.

[Yeah No]

On 8/24/2018 at 10:07 PM, cooksdelight said:

I fell asleep.

Both my husband and I fell asleep.  I finally watched it today.  This wasn't really a "reunion" so I wonder why they even called it that.  Except for Sam and Britt, no one reunited with anyone.  I don't mind them all together, at least they can share and compare experiences, not that they even let them do that last season anyway.

[lidarose9]

I had trouble making it through the whole reunion. What a bore. I wanted to hear from Carleigh about her hand and the woman with MS, but really the rest of them it was the usual cliches about doing this for my family and blah blah blah. I hope they can reshape this show so it's not a matter of who's fat enough to outlast the others. I found the whole season kind of dull. Why not allow them some more equipment that will make them better able to obtain food? More emphasis on shelter-building and survival skills and not just watching people starve. Zzzzz. 

[qtpye]

I really disliked the butt brothers that one the team season but they said something that really stayed with me. This show is not about survival skills. It is really about people being able to endure misery for a long stretch without knowing when it will end.

So the winner is always the following:

1. The handful of people who are really in it for the long haul. They are not necessarily the most skilled survivalists.

2. Out of this group, the one with the most body fat will win. If you are slender or fit going into the final group, you will not outlast a much chubbier competitor.

If this show has more seasons future contestants need to factor in significant weight gain as a part of their strategy. It was mind-boggling that so many of the contestants came in so thin for their second go-around at what they knew was a starvation challenge.

[motroro]

I wanted to see what they did to treat the pine blockage in (I think) Jesse.

Perhaps not TOO much detail....but what did they do to address his immediate intestinal issue?

[cooksdelight]

Super heavy duty laxative maybe.

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

It was mind-boggling that so many of the contestants came in so thin for their second go-around at what they knew was a starvation challenge.

Which is why I hated this season. Nobody did anything memorable. And they all cried they missed home and family. But ... you’ve known that going in!!!

[AZChristian]

26 minutes ago, motroro said:

I wanted to see what they did to treat the pine blockage in (I think) Jesse.

Perhaps not TOO much detail....but what did they do to address his immediate intestinal issue?

 

5 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Super heavy duty laxative maybe.

I suspect they started out with lots of fluids and then a stool softener.  If he was totally blocked, a super heavy-duty laxative might have caused his intestines to rupture.

[raven]

On 8/25/2018 at 8:27 PM, TVbitch said:

I enjoyed Larry talking about how it made him realize his work-a-day life is not so bad, and Britt being honest about knowing FatSam was gonna be difficult to outlast. The rest was pretty been-there knew-that. I think it would be far more interesting to have them just answer reddit questions or something.

I liked this as well.  Dave still seemed a little manic, I hope he finds his zen or whatever.  I like Larry but he made his unattractive tattoo even more unattractive. 

Sam is doing an AMA on Reddit tomorrow I think.   Dave McIntyre posts there and mentioned that when he won, he still had a little over 2 lbs left of the 5 lbs pemmican he started with.   Sam has said he would talk about what he had left during the AMA.

The show should incorporate this kind of thing into the show.  We KNOW they have it, why not let them talk about it? 

I felt badly for Carleigh during the reunion special, she still seems upset, not that I can blame her.

[motroro]

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:21 PM, raven said:

The show should incorporate this kind of thing into the show.  We KNOW they have it, why not let them talk about it? 

This is absolutely one of my pet peeves about this show.  What, exactly, are they using to sustain themselves during the times they're not catching or collecting food?

Sam and Britt went almost 2 WEEKS after F'in Larry tapped out....when they were already completely drained.  How did they survive another 2 weeks?

[raven]

Sam did an AMA on Reddit the other day

Some tidbits:

Everyone gets paid for their time.

He never considered tapping.  He started using his flour around day 40, making dough patties and cooking them.

He caught other things in his fish trap besides the leeches - mainly minnows, which he either ate or used for bait.

He also had a period where he did well catching mice and voles but we weren't shown that.

 

It's an interesting read.

[motroro]

18 hours ago, raven said:

Sam did an AMA on Reddit the other day

Some tidbits:

Everyone gets paid for their time.

He never considered tapping.  He started using his flour around day 40, making dough patties and cooking them.

He caught other things in his fish trap besides the leeches - mainly minnows, which he either ate or used for bait.

He also had a period where he did well catching mice and voles but we weren't shown that.

Thanks for the info.  This lack of information on what food is available to the last few contestants has been consistent thru the seasons but I am at a loss to think of WHY they'd do that.

We know of Dave's cache of fish when he was pulled in Season 3 and of the Doofus Bros bag of limpets at the end of season 4.....but that's about it.

I don't think we've EVER seen anyone's food items that they chose as part of their 10 (we see the lists online but never in the actual show). 

I can understand in the first handful of episodes how they can't give everyone equal time.....but when it comes down to the last couple, I'd think at least THAT would be the time to show how they're hanging on.

The only thing i can think of is how they work the editing HARD to make you wonder who's going to tap last.  If they showed Britt at the end with nothing to eat and Sam making bread with his rations, that might "spoil" their big surprise ending.

It's STILL the best show on TV.... i just wonder sometimes.

[roamyn]

Interesting abt why he chose & how he used, the flour.  It makes sense now.

One of The users was pretty negative toward Carleigh, calling her just “meh”.  Sam deposited back that she survived 80+ days in Patagonia in the winter, so she’s more than just “meh”.  

He said his first purchased was to pay his “girl on the side, Sallie Mae”.  ?

[Chit Chat]

Here's a good interview with Sam:  https://www.ketv.com/article/chronicle-alone-winner-from-nebraska/22828670

[rmontro]

On 8/29/2018 at 7:11 PM, raven said:

He never considered tapping.  He started using his flour around day 40, making dough patties and cooking them.

Well, that information might have been useful to have.  Pretty smart of him to hold on to his rations like that.  Seems like most people figure they are for early on while you're getting your bearings, and your camp and routine set up.

[motroro]

Has anyone seen any info/hints/other on next season?  Location?  Twists?

So long as they don't do another "pairs" or "redemption" season....or put them in another location where there's no food available.....

I'd love to actually see them put in a place where they can last close to 6 months......much less the "year" they always mention

[sharkerbaby]

On 8/27/2018 at 7:21 PM, raven said:

I like Larry but he made his unattractive tattoo even more unattractive. 

I like his tattoo and love that it showcases meaningful images that shaped him.  (and this comes from someone who rarely understands the allure of body art and finds most of it to be unappealing) 

[rmontro]

I liked Mongolia as a site but I don't think it ever got as cold as they were saying in the beginning.  They were talking about highs of -20 degrees.  Maybe nobody stayed long enough, but I'm not sure how they could have with the lack of resources.

[Tammee]

On 9/4/2018 at 11:05 AM, motroro said:

Has anyone seen any info/hints/other on next season?  Location?  Twists?

So long as they don't do another "pairs" or "redemption" season....or put them in another location where there's no food available.....

I'd love to actually see them put in a place where they can last close to 6 months......much less the "year" they always mention

Right!  Theres so much more they could show if theyd had resources.  Bigger game, rabbits etc.  Then could show how you properly clean them, and into the fire t1hey go!  Seeing things like that.  Life on a journey and what it takes

Edited September 29, 2018 by Tammee
Forgot to edit lol

[griznuq]

On 8/25/2018 at 9:39 AM, roamyn said:

Carleigh broke my heart, seeing her tears.

Me too. I think she's such a pure-hearted person, I was really rooting for her. 

[writbest]

If you have the Crunch multitool's visegrip, you most assuredly CAN push  a fishhook the rest of the way thru your hand. Have the Cold steel shovel red hot, use it to get the hook redhot, cauterizing the wound. Push the hook thru, cut off either the barb or the eye of the hook, and then pull it out.  If you win this challenge by ability, as vs being fat and lucky, you'll clear twice as much money, from all the people who want to train with you.  Nobody cares to learn anything from  guys who win by being fat and lucky.

On 9/3/2018 at 5:03 PM, rmontro said:

Well, that information might have been useful to have.  Pretty smart of him to hold on to his rations like that.  Seems like most people figure they are for early on while you're getting your bearings, and your camp and routine set up.

no, it wasn't. Flour has just half the calories of the same amount of pemmican. Flour might have been useful if he'd known to take the cotton rope hammock, made a lot of netting out of that and half of the 20x20 tarp, and caught a lot of fish. Then he could flour the fish and that would help choke it down. But it's far better to be in ketosis,  take a couple of other items( instead of the rations) and KNOW what to do, as vs just count on being fat and lucky.

On 9/19/2018 at 4:58 PM, rmontro said:

I liked Mongolia as a site but I don't think it ever got as cold as they were saying in the beginning.  They were talking about highs of -20 degrees.  Maybe nobody stayed long enough, but I'm not sure how they could have with the lack of resources.

if you know what to do, you can easily stay 4 months. But none of them know.

[writbest]

On 8/24/2018 at 8:34 PM, ClareWalks said:

I have absolutely no memory of a Russell on this season. Am I taking crazy pills? I also barely remembered Brad. Would have loved an update on Nicole, at least a "she's okay, folks!"

it was boring cause none of them know much of anything. Nicole should never have been on this show, for this very reason. It was a certain waste of a pick. Same with Brooke, unfortunately. Neither one of them has a clue, actually, but then, neither have any of the men.

[writbest]

if it had lasted another 2 weeks, Sam would have either tapped out or been kicked out. There is no way that they had the energy needed to be warming those pathetic shelters up in the wind and cold of a Mongolian winter.  BELOW ground, that's what you want. With a foot thick layer of compressed dry grass around you, in the warmest synthetic bag you can find, you'll be fine. Keep some of the dried fish/meat in the bag with you, so that it doesn't freeze. Use the rainsuit as you 7 gallon water container. It wont freeze, most likely and if it does, next timebring the sleeves, or one pant leg  full of water, inside of the sleeping bag with you. Once every 3-7 days, emerge to melt ice/snow in the 1x2x2 ft pit that you've dug before freezing temps, and lined with a hunk of tarp.  The mouse-drowning bucket that  you've made with split willow switches and a hunk of tarp and tape, becomes your waste bucket in the dugout. Dry the wastes with loose dirt. It wont freeze hard in down there, with all that insulation, and your body heat. Have an 18" circle as a door, mostly filled with the grass-stuffed camera case and backpack, with grass and loose dirt packed around them, and fire-hardened, pointed stakes protruding, big ones. Yes,  you need to be able to control your mind, when all you can do is lay there, but all you have to do is think of how you'll invest and have a ball on the 1/2 mill $ you'll CLEAR in the next 2 years, counting the 1/4 mill you'll clear from winning the show.

You split a long sapling  to make wooden ramps for the mice to easily go up to each end of the roller stick that is across the top/center of the half filled water "bucket". you make a 4" wide disk to have in the center of the roller stick, and bait it with fishguts, salt and boiled/fried cambium. Mice try to get the bait, fall in the water. Simple, easy, catches multiple mice, nothing to it.  you want all the mice you can GET in your shelter.

Edited November 25, 2018 by writbest

[writbest]

the producers will NEVER let this show go on for 4 months. They will find SOME way to end it by then and probably by  3 months. It's costhing them a FORTUNE to have their liability insurance in force out there, maintain the video editing  and medical crews. They want the show to END within 2 months, and ideally, as soon as they've got enough video for  12 shows.

[MaraJadeSharpie]

On 8/30/2018 at 4:43 PM, roamyn said:

Interesting abt why he chose & how he used, the flour.  It makes sense now.

One of The users was pretty negative toward Carleigh, calling her just “meh”.  Sam deposited back that she survived 80+ days in Patagonia in the winter, so she’s more than just “meh”.  

He said his first purchased was to pay his “girl on the side, Sallie Mae”.  ?

In case that was a question as to what he meant, he's talking about paying back student loans. Apologies if that was already understood.

[writbest]

On 8/24/2018 at 8:28 PM, ProfCrash said:

I suspect that they did not interview Brooke, Randy, and the Millennial were skipped because they left for ridiculous reasons. Heck, Randy and Brooke left for pretty much the same reason the first time.

I am not sure why they didn’t talk to Nicole and Russell. I suspect that there were a good number of folks who thought that sending Nicole to a place where she had little chance of lasting because it did not have the herbs she needed. Russell might not have had much of a fan base clamoring to hear from him due to his early ouster on Not Alone. 

Carleigh was a finalist in her first season and people wanted to know what happened with her hand and the hook.

None of them, on any season,  has even read a survival manual. They ALL say "fish first'. And "netting works 10x as well as hook and line fishing".  Take a 2 person cotton rope hammock, unravel it down to its smallest OD strands, and weave netting out of it.  Cut/tear the 12x12 tarp into  1/8" wide strips, twist them for strength and make more netting. Ditto half of the  20x20 tarp. You  will end up with over 2000 sq ft of 1.5" mesh netting, if you know what you're doing,. Yes, it will take  2 weeks, but every couple of days, you'll have another  300 sq ft in the water, Within a week, you'll be catching 10 lbs of fish a day and soon it will be  20+ lbs per day. This is the ONLY way a non-lardass is ever going to win this show.