07x02 - The Rock House

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Oh, [bleep]!

[animal growls]

How was that
for some close encounters?

- Not everybody gets
the chance to look in the eye

of the animal
you're about to eat.

[sobs]

- Oh, [bleep],
there's a bear coming my way.

I'm gonna go toward the bear.

Might be smart to get him
a little extra afraid of me.

- I've lost my fire steel.

[screaming]

When you think
you've got everything,

how quickly
it all can just go away

just by making a mistake.

♪ ♪

male narrator:
For the first time,

ten participants will fight
to survive the Arctic

for longer than anyone
in "Alone" history...

a grueling 100 days.

- This is
the ultimate challenge.

- 100 days in the Arctic
is no joke.

narrator:
If they can endure,

they'll win
the biggest prize ever--

$1 million.

♪ ♪

- Whoa!
- Holy [bleep]!

- You can't tap out

when there's a million bucks
on the line.

- Oh, my gosh.
- [growls]

- How hard can you work
for $10,000 a day?

- It looks like frostbite.

- [screams]

- Holy [bleep]!

narrator: This is "Alone:
Million Dollar Challenge."

- They're just surrounding
my shelter.

[wolf growling]

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[berries rustling]

- Can you hear that?

Those are berries in there
for winter.

I'm gonna empty my boot from
last night into my hollow log.

[tarp crinkling]

I want to get some berries
and some herbs

and things dried.

There ain't a whole bunch
of calories in that stuff,

but I want to have that
as a complement.

And if I strike out
on the big-game k*ll,

at the very least,
I'm gonna have them berries.

♪ ♪

Oh, yeah,
that's a pretty sight.

I had four or five
"logfuls" like that

and a bunch of fireweed root,
I might be in business.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Heading for Stoneville.

I found a spot where I want
to have my permanent shelter.

And I've made
good progress on that.

This is it.

This is where
we're wintering in.

We're gonna live in stone.

We'll rearrange
all them wall stones.

Come over to here, stop.

This is the doorway
right between the boulders.

And then we'll make our
other wall behind that tree.

And then we can start putting
logs on top of that for roof.

[grunts]

It's gonna be a project.

[grunting]

Today's goal is
to have the rock--

part of the rock house
finished.

[grunts]

I want to get this wall done.

Keep burning up energy on this.
[grunts]

It's heavy-a*s hard work
for sure.

[pants]

[grunts and yells]

Ooh, stay there, you mother--

My main plan is cabin.

I know you need a heavy, heavy
structure to spend the winter.

[straining]

I want to be comfortable.

I'm not gonna get cold
in what I'm fixing to build.

Yep, he's gonna go
right in there.

I'm gonna spend
a lot of calories

getting my structure up.

But I think in the end,
we'll be glad we went rock.

♪ ♪

[bleep], that looks good.
[giggles]

My odds of winning
are damn near 100%.

That's a 100-day shelter.

Yeah, I'm going
the distance here.

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

- All right,
so I came across this track

right here next to the shore.

The only thing I can think
of is maybe a small wolverine,

'cause I'm seeing five.

I'm gonna erase all these
because that's pretty fresh.

[sniffs]

And I'll come back
in a couple days

and also see if animals are
frequently visiting this spot.

So I don't know.

I don't really track
wolverines, so we'll see.

♪ ♪

I spent ten years in
the United States Marine Corps

conducting special operations
for the reconnaissance

and scout sn*per communities.

And about two and a half
years ago,

I started my own business
teaching sh**ting,

survival, mountaineering,
and tracking.

I just have a passion for it.
I love it.

This is my snare.

I'll bend it down, I'll put
a small little kink in it

like that, so when
it comes up, it closes.

This is all
a mental challenge.

I want to see how far I can
push my body and my mind.

I know what I have done
in the Marine Corps.

I've been drug through
the dirt and the mud,

and blood, sweat, and tears,
and I've done so well

because of my attitude.

all:
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

My son Max,
he's one years old,

and the biggest reason

why I'm doing this show
is for him.

All right, man, it's
the last time I'm gonna see you

for 100 days.
- Say good-bye to Dad.

- I don't make
that great of money.

I mean, a million dollars

could definitely take care
of us.

Love you.
Love you, Dad.

But 100 days is a long time,
and I think the money

is gonna push people to really
push themselves further.

- Say bye-bye.

- I don't mind failing,
but I do mind quitting.

- Bye, Dad.

- Quitting is not an option.

- Good luck, Dad.

- Might as well go
check the gill net.

We'll see if we got
a fish in there.

♪ ♪

All right, two whitefish...

♪ ♪

And two lake trout...

♪ ♪

All in one morning.

[breathes deeply]

I can't even begin
to tell you how happy I am.

[chuckles]

♪ ♪

I need a bigger area to be
able to smoke all my meat.

So I've got to build
a fireplace with these rocks.

All right,
now I got to kind of start

laying the foundation
for some of them.

I've got to put
my rock wall high enough

to prevent my shelter
from catching on fire.

I want it big, so that's
gonna take a lot of work.

But my mindset is,

this is a long-term,
miserable situation,

so it's all
about what can I endure

and how good am I at pain,
misery, and suffering.

More big rocks.

'Cause sooner or later,
the fish are gonna dry up.

We got our three cooking
platforms--one, two, three.

So smoking fish,
that's gonna be enough for me

to build a sustained life
for 100 days.

There it is for now.

I think that that's gonna
really protect my shelter

from catching on fire.

First fire in the new shelter
with the new fireplace.

Fish isn't gonna be
my only meals out here.

I do plan on catching
large game if I can.

It's awesome
that I have that gill net out

producing food for me while
I'm doing this other stuff.

Every fish I catch gives me
a little bit more relief.

Tell you what--
it's smoking my fish.

Like, it's perfect.

Not bad.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- You won't believe this.
[chuckles]

Guess what.

I just found...

a lucky rabbit foot.

Check this out.
Do you see this?

Some people might think it's
gross, and maybe it is,

because it is a partially
decomposed rabbit foot,

but it's a lucky rabbit foot.

I mean,
aren't rabbit feet lucky?

That's lucky.
That's frickin' lucky.

That is lucky.

Look, there's mushrooms
right here, too.

Kind of reminds me of hiking
on a trail back home.

♪ ♪

My whole adult life,
I've been traveling around,

so I'm a nomad.

I don't live in a house.

I don't have a bed to miss.

I live in a tent.
I live under trees.

I live in caves.
I live under tarps.

This is my home.

My life has been committed
to deepening my relationship

with everything
that sustains me--

so my food, my water,
my shelter, my clothes,

I'm trying to figure out, how
do I fit into this ecosystem?

So the idea is

to put this in a stream
in kind of a chokepoint,

and the fish can easily swim
in here,

but they can't get back out.

In the winter,
I track mountain lions.

In the fall,
I go out on bowhunts.

I pack goats.

And then I spend
a lot of the year

teaching ancestral skills--

basket weaving, hide tanning,
and animal processing.

The Arctic's gonna
be a totally new landscape,

but I'm capable
of staying out for 100 days.

The reason I'm doing this
is because the opportunity

to be able to have
financial abundance

and still be able
to prioritize

the things I love
and I think are important

would be a wonderful gift.

[laughter]

I'm gonna miss my parents,
my sisters,

and my sweetheart, Joshua.

It'll be hard to leave him,

but I'm so ready

for a wilderness
solo adventure.

This is my rite of passage

into the next phase
of my life,

and I have to meet it.

My strategy for first food

would be squirrels
and rabbits.

I'm just setting
multiple snares

along the rabbit trail.

So I got my bit of snare wire.

I've already set several,

and I'm just gonna
keep setting some more.

Let's go set some snares.

[lively music]

♪ ♪

Until I figure out
the patterns of the big game

and the patterns of the fish,

my plan is
to set lots of snares.

The camera can hardly see it,

so hopefully the little bunny
will hardly see it either.

All right,
let's go back to camp.

Learning this new environment
and this new place

isn't gonna be
without its challenges.

But since I've chosen
to live outside,

I've had to be adaptable.

I think the more comfortable
and at home you are,

the better you're gonna be.

♪ ♪

I'm tempted to go
exploring down there,

but I have the camera
and all this stuff.

[bird cawing in the distance]

[whispering]
Oh, my God.

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

- [whispering]
Holy [bleep].

♪ ♪

Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, a wolf.

♪ ♪

[breathes shakily]

There's, like, five of them.

♪ ♪

They move so swiftly.

They just move, like, swiftly
and silently over the land.

♪ ♪

I don't know why,

but I'm gonna
follow the wolves.

♪ ♪

I probably shouldn't 'cause
there's, like, five of them.

♪ ♪

Wonder where they went.

I don't think I'm gonna
find those wolves again.

♪ ♪

[normal voice]
All right, so wolves and me--

we like to eat a lot
of the same things.

[chuckles]

And let's face it--they're
way better hunters than me.

So they're obviously
gonna have an impact

on the rabbit population.

And...

they're gonna have an impact
on the moose population

and all the critters.

So it's gonna take
more effort finding food,

but that's all right.

I'm up for the challenge.

[low tense music]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

- [panting lightly]

[arrow thwacks]

Yes!

Ye--I got him.

All right.
Got him.

Cool.

Well...

I get to eat tonight.

♪ ♪

This is a crazy experience.
I'm thankful to be here.

And I'm thankful
for whatever lessons

I'm supposed to learn
out here.

♪ ♪

I think my skills
with a bow and arrow

definitely set me apart
from the crowd.

[arrow thwacks]

I come from a long line
of hunter-gatherers

and avid outdoorsmen.

So, ever since
I was old enough

to hold a bow and arrow,

my parents had one
in my hands.

I started building arrows
in my basement

and now I make primitive
longbows for a living.

I served four years
with the Marines

and served two combat tours
in Afghanistan.

[exhales deeply]

The Marine Corps taught me,
more than anything,

discipline and perseverance
in extreme hardship.

I think the Arctic is gonna
provide some new challenges,

but the extreme conditions are
gonna be no problem for me.

♪ ♪

I don't have a wife.
I don't have kids.

I think that's gonna help me
stay focused.

What the million dollars
would do--

would probably give me
a chance

to start
a homesteading lifestyle

that I've been dreaming
about for a long time.

I hope to make you proud, Dad.

More than anything,
it would be a chance for me

to simplify my life even
further than I already have.

It's gonna be tough
competition, for sure,

but I feel good.

I feel ready.

Bye, everybody.
- Bye.

- I'm gonna go 100 days.

♪ ♪

[water lapping]

This rock's down by the water.

I really don't want to have

a bunch of blood and guts

and things up by camp.

Feels so weird to be out here

with no sounds
from other people.

It's gonna take some
getting used to for sure.

Back home,
when you're so distracted,

every moment of downtime
is filled with something,

whether it's scrolling through
the phone or watching TV.

There's not a lot of time
to look inside yourself.

It doesn't matter.
It's all distraction.

I'm gonna eat every part
of this little guy that I can.

Thanks for your life,
little dude.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- The rocks are
really slippery.

Got to watch my step.

[breathes deeply]

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[arrow thwacks]

Voilà , fire.

♪ ♪

[laughs]

[sighs]

Holy cow.

♪ ♪

There we go.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Wow.

[insect buzzing]

[bleep].

♪ ♪

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

♪ ♪

Oh, [bleep].

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[water lapping]

[bleep].

♪ ♪

Whoa, it's crazy.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I'm taking a big risk by being
so close to the beach,

because there are predators
walking here.

[scoffs]
They might attack, you know?

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Pretty good.

Chimney's virtually done.

That's gonna hold
a pretty big fire.

I feel good about that.

All the rock work's done.

Now we go on to phase two--
the log work.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

We need some poles, logs,

building material
for the roof.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

[straining and panting]

Once I get the roof on,
I'll be able to move in.

But I've got some work to do.

[exhales sharply]

[straining and grunting]

♪ ♪

[panting]

First log of the rock house...

in place.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

Whoo!

Logging's a dangerous gig.

You got to watch them trees.

They don't care.
k*ll you in a heartbeat.

Ooh, yeah.

♪ ♪

You got to hit it.

Your best don't happen
in an eight-hour day.

Your best might take 16 hours.

[grunts]

I've worked myself
to every victory

I've ever had in my whole life

just by sheer bullheadedness
and hard work.

[sniffs]

♪ ♪

Rock house is coming along.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

- [breathes deeply]

I think boiling water might be
one of the biggest pain

in the asses here.

You got to take, like,

at random times just to start
a fire and purify your water.

Really makes you appreciate

the ability to just turn
on your tap at home

and have fresh, clean water
come out.

[light music]

♪ ♪

Here's where
the shelter's at so far.

♪ ♪

Area for the firepit
down in there,

a little elevated platform
for some wood, and my bed.

♪ ♪

[breathes deeply]

My creativity is definitely
gonna be a strong suit for me.

I take my shelter building
very seriously.

♪ ♪

Just applying
this moss ch*nk here

in between each one
of the logs.

It's gonna be
quite the process.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

[mallet thudding]

♪ ♪

I've got the fully insulated
side walls up.

Now all I need to do
is finish pitching the roof

and get that all braced up.

I should be able to get
this thing done today,

with any luck.

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

- [grunts]
Oh, [bleep]!

Ow.

[groans]

[panting]

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

[grunts]
Just [bleep]--

♪ ♪

I just fell in a hole
with this log,

and--ow--

I heard a pop in my left knee.

[winces]

It didn't feel very good,
but...

[groans]
It'll be all right.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

Adapt, improvise, and overcome,
as they say in the Marines.

♪ ♪

I really do believe that
the only way people can grow

is through challenges
and hardship.

[tarp crinkling]

[sighs heavily]

Oh, my knee.

I had surgery on that knee

and it's been pretty much

I'm just gonna try to take it
easy and keep an eye on it.

♪ ♪

So I'm gonna put these spruce
tops on the whole shelter...

because these...

are gonna be kind of like
crisscross framework...

all the way up.

My internal self
is highly competitive.

I think
the competition aspect of it

and the fact that I have
to beat out other people

for the prize
will motivate me

to push myself further than
I would have otherwise.

I'm not done until 100 days.

There's no settle point
for me.

♪ ♪

Finally got a roof
over my head.

It's not fully brushed up,

but I'm so tired
of working on this shelter.

I think, uh--
Yep, I'm ready for a break.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[water lapping]

- I need a good shelter spot.

I need to get on it, too,
'cause I know weather's coming,

and I got to get a shelter set.

But I just can't find
a good spot.

[birds chirping]

[crow caws]

Flat, dry ground,

close to water,
close to firewood.

Haven't found that.

Surprising.

There's this really cool spot
up on the cliff,

and I think it would be
really warm 'cause the rocks.

But it'd basically be,
like, a death trap,

hauling things up and down
the cliff there.

But that's just
what life is

presenting itself
at the moment.

Let's ramble.

♪ ♪

[wind whistling]

There's, like,
literally zero...

flat places...

to make a shelter,

so I am--

I got to level the ground...

of everything

so this shelter sits right.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

That's good.

Out here, people have to be
concerned about the weather.

It can change at any moment,

so you have to be
really careful.

♪ ♪

I was thinking I would have
shelter already built,

but that's just not the case,

and I still have
a lot more time

before I have something
that feels

like a cozy home.

[grunts]

Let's see if I can do this
without blowing away.

[tarp crinkling]

Oh, it might blow away.

Blowing away.

♪ ♪

Easy now, tarp.

Easy now.

♪ ♪

I know, it's shabby.
It's shabby.

But I needed to do something
to cut down on the wind.

There's gonna be a lot
of windy days here.

So, if I even think I can
be comfortable at all,

I'm gonna have
to fortify it perfectly.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[water lapping]

♪ ♪

- You guys want to see how much
fat is in fish head soup?

Look at this...

all fat.

Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat.
Fat, fat, fat.

There's some meat in there.

Mostly fat.

[fat slopping]

And that's why I eat it,

'cause I need fat.

[grunts]

[foreboding music]

This gill net
is the best decision ever.

And I never thought
in a million years

that I'd be catching
the amount of fish

that I've been catching
with this thing.

This is the kind of stuff

that's gonna be able
to give me the energy

to be able to get up and do
the things that I need to do.

♪ ♪

We're gonna start
building a door.

So here's the idea--

lay these five logs down,

put a bar on the outside

and a bar on the inside
going across.

We're gonna have
two layers of poles,

and in between the two are
gonna be a bunch of boughs

from spruce trees
and pine trees.

Make it nice and thick.

♪ ♪

There's gonna be
a lot of times

I'm away from my shelter,

so I want to make it
predator resistant

whenever I'm gone.

I don't want things getting
in my shelter,

going through my stuff.

I want it to be able
to protect me.

This place is gonna be
my new home.

[logs clacking]

Okay.

That looks good.
[exhales deeply]

Think I'll get
a fire started in here.

[crow cawing]

[crow caws]

I hear something.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[crow cawing rapidly]

[driving tense music]

♪ ♪

[crow cawing]

- [whispering]
There's a black bear...

cutting across.

I'm gonna go try
and cut him off.

Got to move quick but quietly.

[normal voice] Bears have
an incredible sense of smell.

And then with me catching
all these fish,

there's no doubt
that they smell that.

So now I'm in hunt mode.

Wind's in my favor right now.

Not everything out here is
gonna be very friendly to me,

coming to try
and steal my food,

trying to take what's mine.

So it's really survival
of the fittest.

And this is
a perfect opportunity

for me to be able to supply
myself a lot of food.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[sniffs]

I'm gonna give it
my best interpretation

of a dying snowshoe hare
in distress.

[sniffs]

This might be ugly,
but I'm gonna try it out.

[imitating hare squealing]

Bears--they'll all come
into that...

if I didn't sound
like an idiot...

If they're hungry enough.

Oh...

gosh.

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Today I've already got to
carve a new hole in my belt.

I have maxed it out,
and I'm exactly one hole past.

New belt loop.

Damn.

I knew I was gonna
lose weight quickly

coming out here
this lean, but...

I didn't expect it
to go quite that quickly.

♪ ♪

I wasn't naive enough to think
that I'd come out here

and make it look easy,
but...

I really...

really hoped
for a little more game

so I could play on archery,
which...

is my strongest skill,

but I have not seen one rabbit
on the ground,

one grouse.

♪ ♪

And now there's definitely
something going on

inside my left knee.

I've had my meniscus surgically
repaired on that side before,

and it feels...

off in there.

I don't know if I twisted it
when I was hauling lumber

through that squishy terrain...
or what,

but it hurts like a mother.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

I'm finally getting
to the point now

to where I'm waking up every
day feeling pretty hungry.

I know it's not gonna be long

before my body starts
cannibalizing my muscle.

I'm really not relying
on squirrels

for more than a snack.

♪ ♪

I have a gill net out.

I'm really hoping
I catch something.

♪ ♪

I just need some food
to secure my stay here.

♪ ♪

Holy [bleep],
there's a fish in there.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[grunts]

♪ ♪

Don't fall out, little guy.

♪ ♪

Ah, [bleep].

I tweaked my knee
a little bit more.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

Now just don't fall
in the water.

♪ ♪

Yes.

It worked.
[laughs]

Holy [bleep].
[sniffs]

My homemade gill net worked.

It's only been in the water
for one day,

but, man, I needed this fish.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

It's my first proper
protein meal.

I'm pumped.

I'm ready for some
hot fish head soup.

It definitely feels
like you're in the game

as soon as you catch
your first big fish.

So...

That's half of what
I got cooked up right now.

Ah, so good.

[fire crackling]

[laughs]

I never thought I'd be
so thankful for one fish.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[wind whistling]

♪ ♪

- I know it's windy.
Okay, so...

you're gonna think I'm crazy.

But I'm moving camp.
I'm moving camp.

I've just spent,
like, two days...

[laughs]

I just spent, like, two days
getting this spot--

like, getting the ground ready
and then bringing poles over,

but this spot is windy.

It's so windy.

I feel it,
I feel like I should move.

[wind whistling]

Being in the wind all the time
is gonna make life way harder.

And if I can pick a spot

that's a little more
sheltered,

I think it's probably
gonna be better.

[light tense music]

♪ ♪

I've explored this whole bowl.

You can kind of see
I'm in a bowl.

And there's wood up here,
and the ground is dry,

but there's just not
flat spots.

So what's a gal to do?

I doubt that you can tell that
from the video,

but the ground's very uneven.

But like I've been saying,
that is the case everywhere.

So I got
my measuring stick here

just to kind of see.

So, one...

I mean, that guy
is just really hilly,

so if that's one...

And then two...

I am definitely expending
more calories

than I'm eating,
that's for sure.

Those are calories that
could be used towards hunting.

It's frustrating.

♪ ♪

All right, I'm gonna go down
and start grabbing some things.

[wind gusting]

Ooh.
Watch your step, girl.

Just have to be careful
to not--

not fall down.

♪ ♪

[gasps]

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

Oh, [bleep].
[laughs softly]

♪ ♪

[arrow thwacks]

[gasps, whispering]
A porcupine.

It's totally a porcupine.
Oh, my gosh.

I just hit him with my...

I just hit the porcupine
with my blunt tip arrow.

I'm gonna try to get him
with a broadhead.

[birds chirping]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[bowstring straining]

[arrow thwacks]

Oh, I got him.

See him in there?
Oh, my gosh.

So now I got to crawl
in there to get him.

[grunting]

[pants]

♪ ♪

Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

Oh, my gosh,
he's so sweet.

Oh, thank you, porcupine.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

I don't like taking life.
I don't like being a k*ller.

But I feel like his life
is a gift.

♪ ♪

His meat and fat
is gonna fuel me

to get through this next week.

♪ ♪

Wow.

You have fat on you.
That's amazing

Look at all that fat!

It does not seem impossible
to make 100 days.

It's not gonna be
just about my skills,

it's gonna be
about my ability to work

in collaboration
with this land.

[grunts]

It's a tough critter.
Tough critter.

That is, like,
really thick hair.

Wow.

[plaintive music]

♪ ♪

All right, um...

I just finished skinning
this little guy...

and just finished
processing him out.

So I took his skin off,
and then I have all his bones

and meat and fat
and organs in my pot.

♪ ♪

This couldn't be
at a more perfect time.

Now I have food to fuel me
in getting set up here.

And I just feel like
this land is providing for me.

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

- [breathes deeply]

I've been eating pretty good.

And I was excited to get
some protein in my system,

but you can't live on just
meat out here.

So I'm gonna have to eat a few
handfuls of these every day

just to kind of keep
everything working

as it should.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

[chewing]

I'm honestly
a little bit scared

that I've done something
to my knee.

♪ ♪

I'm losing stability.
It gives out when I walk.

♪ ♪

[groans]

Nasty.

There's a huge fluid sac
on the back of my knee.

[sniffs]

It's hard as a rock.

[birds chirping]

I thought I would show you guys
what's going on with my knee.

[groans]

Right there.

So...
[sniffs]

This knee, as you can see,
has no lump.

This knee has a fluid sac

right here.

And it hurts like hell
to fully extend my knee.

[sniffs]

[groans]
And it's...

tries to give out on me
every once in a while.

I'm familiar with a Baker's
cyst, which is what that is.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[fire crackling]

♪ ♪

Even though things
are going really well,

I've somehow managed to injure
myself so early in the game.

It's a long ways
to get to 100 days.

If this cyst doesn't go away,
and somehow I rupture it,

I could go septic.

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

[groans]

Just laying here with,
like, a hot feverish feeling

and a dull throbbing in my leg.

♪ ♪

Oh, ouch.

♪ ♪

[inhales deeply]

♪ ♪

I think--
[gulps]

I think it might still be
a while till sunrise, but...

♪ ♪

No sleep for me tonight.

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

[sniffs]

[fire crackling]

[gulps]

When I woke up this morning,
the normal,

just sort of nagging pain
has kind of evolved

into more of a stabbing pain.

And the fluid sac
that used to come and go,

depending on how much
I kneeled down,

is now permanent.

So...
[gulps]

There's something wrong
inside my knee,

I just have a gut feeling.

I have the skills
to do good out here,

and I've tried to prove that,
but now I have to choose

between injury
or pushing forward.

I'm a long ways
from the finish line, so...

♪ ♪

I can't risk my future
for this show.

♪ ♪

This is Correy.
I'm officially tapping out.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

I'm not a doctor, but I think
I probably damaged my meniscus.

And now I have to do
what's right by me

and make sure I'm good.

The only thing that
was gonna take me out

was an unforeseen injury,
just like I said.

Just like that.
[scoffs]

♪ ♪

[gulps]

[cries quietly]

♪ ♪

I learned a lot out here
in a short amount of time.

It's...

weird what you learn
when you're all by yourself,

even just for 12 days with no
distractions whatsoever.

I don't think I had a chance
to fully accomplish

what I came out here to do.

I was really drawn to just
the transformative experience,

just spending time
in solitude with nature

and figuring out who you are.

As a lesson in humility,

it was a humbling experience
for me more than anything.

I'm humbled.

I think I'll be thinking
about it for a long time.

♪ ♪

- Welcome to "Alone:
Tales from the Arctic."

I'm your host, Colby Donaldson,

and we're talking tonight

with Roland, Mark, Callie,

Correy, and Amós.

All right, before we get into
Correy's tap-out

and find out
how he's doing now,

Mark, it seemed like

you were k*lling it
in the fishing department.

How did that affect
your game plan

in the first 12 days?

- Yeah, man, so when I first
started catching fish,

that was definitely
a dream come true,

and I kept catching fish
after fish after fish.

It kind of tailored the way
I made my shelter.

It definitely changed
the game plan for sure,

but in a good way.

- Well, yeah, you
brought it up, perfect segue.

Let's talk shelters, Mark.

First of all,
that thing you built was huge.

Looked like you could park
a '68 Buick in that thing.

What was your--what was your
strategy behind that shelter?

- When I first was gonna build
my shelter,

obviously, I had a game plan.

I was gonna build
a small one first

and then move on
to my big shelter

and take the time to build it,

and when I got out there,
I said,

"Nope, making the big one
now."

I wanted to be able to have
a home, right?

[grunts]

So the psychology behind
being out there,

I wanted to make sure
that I was good mentally.

- Well, we can't talk
about shelters,

Roland, without talking
about rock house, okay?

And the first thing I noticed,

in addition to just the size
and the amount

of boulders and rocks
you were moving into place...

- [grunts]

- Is I kept thinking
about how many calories

you had to be burning
when you were doing all that.

- Yeah, well,
I got the advantage

of a number of far-north
winters behind me,

and I've done 50-below
in a wall tent.

So I wanted a warm,

substantial,

airtight shelter,

but the calorie output
was massive.

- Massive.
- Oh, man.

- And then once I started
down that trail,

you got to finish it.

- Correy, your shelter
was a little more typical

of what we've seen before,
meaning, you know,

maybe don't expend
a ton of energy upfront,

knowing that you're
gonna continue to add on

to that shelter
as the experience goes.

Was that your strategy
with your shelter?

- Yeah, my strategy...

[sighs]

I had to change
everything.

I had this grand plan
for my shelter.

It was gonna be a lot bigger.

How is it possible to still
need that many [bleep] trees?

But when we got dropped,

everything goes out the window,

and I had no dirt in my area
whatsoever.

I had no real usable rocks.

I mean, I managed to make
a pretty decent fireplace.

I mean, the biggest tree
that I had in my area

was probably about the size
of my arm,

so my shelter was totally
improvised.

I went with more of a really
tight sort of pitched roof,

A-frame type.

That was honestly the best
that I could do

with my drop zone.

- And, Callie, by day 11,

you had started to build
a shelter.

Then you bailed on it,
moved somewhere else,

and at this point,

you don't really have
a permanent shelter.

- That was something
that surprised me.

I did not think
that I would struggle

or have a challenge
building a shelter.

I've done it lots of times,

but the place
that I was dropped

was a north-facing bowl,

so it's all cliffs
and all bogs,

and it was pretty challenging

finding a place
that was suitable

for a long-term

but like Correy said,

you just have to roll
with the punches

and adapt to what happens.

There's a lot
that's out of your control

in these kinds of experiences.

- You brought up a great point.
I want you to expand on that.

The viewers at home
may not know,

but those location sites,

that's the luck of the draw,
isn't it,

as far as where you land?

Tell us about
how that process works,

how you ended up there.

- Right, so we all got
a cupcake with a--

when we ate the cupcake,
inside of it was a number

that correlated
with which spot we got,

so it was sort of like a,

you know, random lottery

who got to go to which spot,

and they try to pick the spots
fairly

so that each spot
has a mixed bag

of, you know, challenges,

but also things that make it,
you know,

a really plush spot.

- All right, Correy,

I know you're a bit
of a methodical person,

and I know this
because of this next clip

we're gonna take a look at,

some never-before-seen footage

of you crafting
a throwing stick.

Let's take a look.

♪ ♪

- I want it to look like
I took pride in making it.

You should always put pride

in everything that
you put your hands on,

even if it's just a stick to
whap animals in the head with.

Hiyah!

I think that'll do for now.

Ooh, check it out!

That's my humane
dispatching staff.

Hiyah! Hiyah!

How many biting flies
can one man fight off

before he loses
his mind?

[grunting]

♪ ♪

Carry this with me
when I go fishing.

That'll do well.

♪ ♪

- All right, Correy.

If nothing else,
there's some nice form there.

Nice technique
at the end of that.

Tell us about that.

- Thanks, I appreciate that.

So the stick
was actually just my--

my humane dispatching stick.

I was gonna use it
to smack fish

if I needed to,
for a humane k*ll.

The other thing is,
the biting flies

for, like, the first,
I don't know,

eight days maybe

before it started
to get cold at night

were just brutal.

If I could count how many bugs
I've swallowed today...

I don't even need to be fishing
right now.

I mean, they were tearing up
my neck.

- Amós, how were those bugs

the first few weeks
you were out there?

- The first couple weeks,
there were a bunch of bugs.

They would get in your eyes,
in your ears,

in your mouth,
in your nostrils.

- Yeah, biting flies
and these biting gnats too.

I had big old welts
all over my belly.

- Okay, Correy, how did you
feel about your specific site

and your location?

- My location was kind of
a big surprise.

I had these big plans
for bow hunting

and big plans for fishing
off the shore with a hand line,

and when I got dropped,

it turns out
that my shoreline--

I had a little cove
that was very shallow,

and I couldn't really get
a hand line casted out there,

and the only other areas
that I had to fish

were really steep,

on some very slippery,
wet rocks.

I don't know, my area
was a lot more challenging

than I thought.

- But once you constructed
that gill net,

things started to turn
for you a little bit.

Seemed like you were doing
pretty good, right?

- The gill net was kind of
a last resort.

I whipped up the gill net
out of some paracord,

and that's when I started
securing fish.

- With the gill net, things
seemed to be going pretty good,

but then boom,
you twist your knee.

Suddenly your entire experience
changes.

- When it first happened,

I really didn't think much
about it.

I just kind of--
it was a little uncomfortable,

and I thought, ah,
that didn't feel real great,

but we'll just push on
and keep an eye on it,

and it really started
to get bad.

It was only a few days after

that my knee started to fill
full of fluid,

and a few nights after that,

I started to get sort of
feverish in my sleep.

- How difficult was it to make
that final decision to tap out?

♪ ♪

- It was one of the hardest
decisions of my life for sure.

- How's the knee today?

What happened
once you got home?

- I went straight
to the hospital in Canada.

They flew me out.

They gave me
some anti-inflammatories,

got me rested up
for a few days,

and I flew back to the States.

The knee was a torn meniscus

and a partially torn MCL,

so I've been doing
exercise therapy

and physical therapy for--

I mean, this interview's, like,
seven months now.

- Wow.

It's an unforeseen--
really, a tragedy,

an accident,
something like this

that can so quickly take you
out of this competition.

Mark, what did you think

when you were watching
the episode

and you saw Correy tap out?

- I think you can be as careful
as you want to be,

but at the end of the day,
things like this happen,

and there's nothing
you can do about it,

and you know,

we're all kind of lucky,
in a sense,

that up to this point, this
didn't happen to one of us.

But you know,

I think everybody
goes out there,

and they're like, you know,
"We want to crush it.

We want to do this.
We want to do that."

But something like happened
to Correy?

The armchair quarterbacks,

there's nothing
you could have done differently

about that situation.

- Amós, what did you think

when you were watching
the episode

and you saw Correy tap out?

- It was really easy
to get hurt out there.

You had to watch every step,

and the terrain
is very difficult to navigate.

- Callie, coming to you
on this.

- It was so heartbreaking
to watch

what happened to you, Correy,

because you're so talented

and have a great head
on your shoulders,

and I know you would have done
so well,

and that could have easily
happened to any of us,

and I know for me,

I was constantly walking slow.

I noticed I changed
how I walked out there.

It's no walk in the park.

- Excellent.

Correy, any regrets
from your experience at all?

- Really--I don't know.

I just--I'm sad that it went
the way that it did.

I had big plans,

and I feel like
I had the skills

to do well out there,

and just one misstep

is all it took.

- Anyone else have anything
to say to Correy

before we wrap up here?

- Yeah, man, I think
you absolutely rocked it.

- Correy,
you have a lot to show

for your two weeks out there.

You really crushed it.

- I appreciate you guys.

- I would like
to thank Roland, Mark,

Callie, Correy, and Amós.

That wraps it up for tonight's

"Alone: Tales
from the Arctic."

Join in each week.

We'll be speaking with
participants all season long,

so be sure to tune in
after all the episodes.

And as promised, a sneak peek
at next week's episode.

We'll see you then.

♪ ♪

- This'll really set my mind
at ease,

once I know my food
is stored safely.

No!

[rustling, animal growls]

- Maybe that's the wolverine.

Oh, [bleep].

- Holy [bleep].

He's 20 yards from me.

♪ ♪

Oh, my God.

[bleep].

♪ ♪