New reality show on Netflix - Alone

[piddy3825]

just started watching a new reality survivor show called Alone, premiering on Netflix.  

premise is simple, 10 contestants seek to survive on their own in the Arctic while lugging around 65 pounds of camera equipment.  Winner gets half million dollars.  One of the contestants is from Vancouver, BC!  lol, I hope it was somebody on the dev team!  anyways, auroras, bears, wolves, moose and plenty of snow and inclement weather.  Looks like life imitates art!

If you've seen show, chime in and let me know what you think.  I really enjoyed the first episode so far!

[odizzido]

looks like it's not available in canada

[piddy3825]

8 hours ago, odizzido said:

looks like it's not available in canada

That is so ironic.  Seems to me that a huge majority of programming that I see on Netflix originates from Canadian based companies.   Maybe someone will link some episodes to YouTube?

[Dan_]

I'm huge fan of the show, not sure which seasons are available on your local Netflix but I sure recommend for those who like survival training and "bushcrafting".

Just one pointer, the editing is terrible. They pipe in fake "animal fear" drama and show very little of the contestants abilities and smart builds ( traps, shelters, tools and whatnot ). Honestly, the producers and editors try the hardest for the contestants to look like absolute numb-numbs to the broader audience, the vast majority of them are survival experts, trappers, bushmen and women of all sorts. Look up their social media after finishing the show, most of them produce videos to show their shelters and techniques used in the show. There are the occasional goofs at each season, though but I assume those are there just for comic relief (Desmond from S2 is a prime example).

[piddy3825]

6 hours ago, Dan_ said:

I'm huge fan of the show, not sure which seasons are available on your local Netflix but I sure recommend for those who like survival training and "bushcrafting".

Just one pointer, the editing is terrible. They pipe in fake "animal fear" drama and show very little of the contestants abilities and smart builds ( traps, shelters, tools and whatnot ). Honestly, the producers and editors try the hardest for the contestants to look like absolute numb-numbs to the broader audience, the vast majority of them are survival experts, trappers, bushmen and women of all sorts. Look up their social media after finishing the show, most of them produce videos to show their shelters and techniques used in the show. There are the occasional goofs at each season, though but I assume those are there just for comic relief (Desmond from S2 is a prime example).

Actually none of the other seasons, just this segment  now airing in the past week.  I usually don't watch the show myself, but this series takes place on the Arctic Circle and I originally thought one of the contestants was from Vancouver, BC.  Turns out I was mistaken and he was from Vancouver, WA.  So far the content has been fairly decent, your right the video editing is crap though.   For these folks to be "trained" survival experts is kinda laughable and some of the "bushcraft" ie, shelter building is strictly amature.   Most of these survival experts are good at short term survival, but fall grossly short on long term survival preparedness.  One of the funniest segments so far was when one of the contestants shot a squirrel with a bow, only wounding it, and when she picked it up it bit her in the fleshy part of hand between her thumb and forefinger and clamped down hard.  They werent wearing any gloves and that little squirrel got a good bite and wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon.   Good entertainment.  lol  

[odizzido]

Man hitting a squirrel with a bow is pretty amazing in my books

[piddy3825]

2 hours ago, odizzido said:

Man hitting a squirrel with a bow is pretty amazing in my books

Indeed a good shot.  Unfortunately the comedic value surrounding the resulting bite in the thumb by the wounded squirrel overshadowed the huntress skill with the bow!  

[Dan_]

17 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

For these folks to be "trained" survival experts is kinda laughable and some of the "bushcraft" ie, shelter building is strictly amature.   Most of these survival experts are good at short term survival, but fall grossly short on long term survival preparedness.  One of the funniest segments so far was when one of the contestants shot a squirrel with a bow, only wounding it, and when she picked it up it bit her in the fleshy part of hand between her thumb and forefinger and clamped down hard.  They werent wearing any gloves and that little squirrel got a good bite and wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon.   Good entertainment.  lol  

You see, that's kinda my point. The editing makes the contestants look like complete imbeciles, when in reality most of them are fairly competent outdoorsmen. Any mental breakdowns or "missing my family" moments, f-ups with an axe or while hunting are highlighted in detriment to interesting facets of their day-to-day survival. The amateurish shelter building is done more to save calories, though some of the contestants really have done bad designs.

These mental errrors happen with the starvation and solitude, not everyone can handle them well. It's a starvation and mental fortitude game after all. Well, some of the contestants are absolutely careless for someone alone in woods, but the majority is pretty skilled and avoid dumb accidents.

I'm not gonna spoil anything, but some of the seasons had the hardest badasses out there. Honestly, look past the TV seasoning and the show is pretty amazing. 

[piddy3825]

1 hour ago, Dan_ said:

...editing makes the contestants look like complete imbeciles, when in reality most of them are fairly competent outdoorsmen. Any mental breakdowns or "missing my family" moments, f-ups with an axe or while hunting are highlighted in detriment to interesting facets of their day-to-day survival. The amateurish shelter building is done more to save calories, though some of the contestants really have done bad designs.

These mental errrors happen with the starvation and solitude, not everyone can handle them well. It's a starvation and mental fortitude game after all. Well, some of the contestants are absolutely careless for someone alone in woods, but the majority is pretty skilled and avoid dumb accidents.

Yeah, it's that selective editing that leaves out the "real" story.  There musta been hundreds of hours of video content from the contestants that could have been utilized that would have made the series better.  I would have liked to see deeper character development myself as that would have made the series more interesting and a little more personable.   Still surprised at how it all turned out in the end, right?

[Dan_]

40 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

Yeah, it's that selective editing that leaves out the "real" story.  There musta been hundreds of hours of video content from the contestants that could have been utilized that would have made the series better.  I would have liked to see deeper character development myself as that would have made the series more interesting and a little more personable.   Still surprised at how it all turned out in the end, right?

Yep, spot on in every account. You can follow the winners after the show on social media and they all complain at how much filming they've done and how little was actually used, it's frustrating to them. 

Show is still pretty good, there's nothing quite like it. It's like no bs survivorman. I love it, new series premiering day June 11th if I'm not mistaken.

[RandomP1ayer]

I've never watched the series, but I did binge watch season 6, The Arctic.  This coulda/shoulda been 20 - 30 episodes to do it right.  I ended getting more out of watching the contestants relate their experiences on YouTube.  Their accounting of events and their experiences there were so much better that the poor editing job the show producers did.

That shelter that Wionya built with the double walled construction with the peeled bark interior was bushcraft shelter building taken to extraordinary levels.  I can't watch bushcraft shelter building anymore on YouTube without thinking how amateurish their shelters look in comparison to her's.

[Dan_]

On 6/20/2020 at 3:20 PM, RandomP1ayer said:

That shelter that Wionya built with the double walled construction with the peeled bark interior was bushcraft shelter building taken to extraordinary levels.  I can't watch bushcraft shelter building anymore on YouTube without thinking how amateurish their shelters look in comparison to her's.

Woniya was a freaking badass in the show, her detailed explanation for the design objectives was mindblowing. She strikes me as a very intelligent and well spoken person, shame the editing hides much of their true personalities and focus on the rollercoaster of hardship and joy that is costantly presented to the viewers.

SPOILER ALERT!

Spoilers from Season 6 and 3 below!!

Were not for the best contestant Alone has ever had she would've won and deservedly taken the prize. Jordan was just absurdly good, she even acknowledges on one of her videos how he was the best shot amongst all participants that practiced the bow during base camp period.

[piddy3825]

2 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Woniya was a freaking badass in the show, her detailed explanation for the design objectives was mindblowing. She strikes me as a very intelligent and well spoken person, shame the editing hides much of their true personalities and focus on the rollercoaster of hardship and joy that is costantly presented to the viewers.

SPOILER ALERT!

Spoilers from Season 6 and 3 below!!

 

  Hide contents

Were not for the best contestant Alone has ever had she would've won and deservedly taken the prize. Jordan was just absurdly good, she even acknowledges on one of her videos how he was the best shot amongst all participants that practiced the bow during base camp period.

 

Yeah, she was pretty amazing for sure and it really looked like there was gonna be a three way battle to the finish for a while there.  I think however, had she not conceded when she did, the show would have medically disqualified her for health concerns.  Had Nathan's shelter not caught fire, do you  think we might have seen he and Jordan maybe hitting that 90 day mark?  

[Dan_]

8 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

Yeah, she was pretty amazing for sure and it really looked like there was gonna be a three way battle to the finish for a while there.  I think however, had she not conceded when she did, the show would have medically disqualified her for health concerns.  Had Nathan's shelter not caught fire, do you  think we might have seen he and Jordan maybe hitting that 90 day mark?  

Pretty much what she said afterwards, her BMI and BF% were approaching dangerous levels and incurring the risk of organ failure ( much like happened to several other participants throughout the years of the show ). She would have been pulled on her next med-check a few days after, at least this is what the medical crew told her. 

As for Nathan, dude was a resilient SOB as well, shame his shelter did go up in flames even though he expressed that possibility during the series. Even more impressive considering he is the first dude in Alone history to not bring a ferro rod to the show ( there was another dude in season 2 who lost his ferro rod and successfully made friction fires for tens of days, in rainy british columbia no less.. ), dude was driven for the desire to buy his own land and live peacefully off-grid. I commend his hardship and skills, hope he gets another shot sometime. Maybe he could push to day 90 or even close to the centenary mark but with the bountiful of food that JJ had, no chance of winning. One caveat I have for Nathan is that a Moose came strolling through his camp on the first few nights, so he had an area with Moose to harvest, maybe his tracking and hunting skills lacked a bit, I'm not sure.