07x03 - That Was No Bunny

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [bleep].

- I'm stronger than
a lot of guys.

I want to finally have a woman
win this show.

[squirrel squeaking]

- Ooh.
Got a squirrel.

- [groaning and straining]

That's a 100-day shelter.

♪ ♪

- [grunts]
Ow.

There's something wrong
inside my knee,

and I can't risk my future
for this show.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

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 will
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]

- Oh, [bleep]!

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

- They're just surrounding
my shelter.

[wolf growling]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[driving tense music]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

- All right, guys.

Checking in for your daily
Kiswahili lesson.

"Hello" is jambo.

Hakuna matata means
"no worries."

I'm sure you know that
from "The Lion King."

What you do not know is that
hakuna matata

is the real touristy way
of saying

"no worries" or "no problem."

Now, if you ever find yourself
going to East Africa

and in the need to say
"no worries,"

I would highly recommend
that you use an alternative.

[speaking Swahili]

I would stick with...
[speaking Swahili]

The locals will get
very surprised,

as you will seem
not like a tourist.

♪ ♪

I was raised between
South Africa and Tanzania.

We lived off the grid.
It was pretty rural out there.

Lot of different wildlife.

Look at these baboon teeth.

We employed Maasai
tribal people

to look over our property.

[both speaking
foreign language]

I learned to speak
the language

and their traditional ways.

I feel so honored for the chief
to invite me on this hunt.

I know what it feels like
to be surviving

off the land for days on end.

I would consider myself
a jack-of-all-trades--

very adaptable, and I think
that's my strongest point.

♪ ♪

Currently, I'm running
my own survival school

in Sisters, Oregon.

Should we go for a swim?
- Yeah.

- My wife is so supportive,

and we have
a two-year-old son together.

I will miss my family a lot.

But 100 days
for a million dollars

definitely is a game changer.

I'd love to be able
to pay off my house,

spend more time
with my family.

The Arctic is gonna come
with a lot of challenges,

but I would rather starve
and be cold

than come home early

and disappoint
my wife and child.

- Go, Daddy!

[birds chirping]

- I believe in myself,
and I believe in my skills.

I know that I have
what it takes to win.

I have been catching
small game,

but I want to go and explore

the extremities of my area
and do some hunting.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

So much of this experience
is about learning for me.

You can see moose tracks
right here and there.

♪ ♪

Hunting and trapping
and fishing out here

is all about understanding
the animals.

You have to dial into their
patterns, to their habits.

Look at this.

Wow, that is fresh.

Just not certain what this is.

It's got berries in it.

♪ ♪

Wonder if this
could be a musk ox.

This location, I feel,
really stands out

as far as the probability

of having interaction
with large game.

♪ ♪

Having that big game stored

that you can calorically
satisfy yourself

through those harsh,
harsh times

is gonna be the game changer
to get to 100 days.

What's this little
opening up here?

♪ ♪

Oh, no way.

Check this out.

♪ ♪

That is a fresh musk ox k*ll.

♪ ♪

Damn, that's not old at all.

Wolves in the area.

It's the only thing
that could've taken

this thing down here.

♪ ♪

I mean, you can still see
pieces of flesh on here.

Keep me on my toes
a little bit.

The risk for doing
the wrong thing

with a dangerous
animal encounter

is probably gonna result in
them looking at you as prey

or as a threat
in their territory.

That's a good find.

Means that the musk ox
are in this area,

because it's that fresh.

[insects buzzing]

It's exciting.

♪ ♪

- Oop!

[laughs]

Got caught on a little
nick of the stick.

[chuckles]

Oh, [bleep]!

[laughs]

[scoffs]
I just lost some of my bait.

♪ ♪

Fishing is not going well.

I haven't caught any fish yet.

I got my gill net out,
and it's not working.

But at least
my other passive methods

of procuring food
have had success.

My snares and traps
caught a bunch of bunnies.

♪ ♪

Come on, fish.

Get in my belly.

I have enough protein,
with bunnies,

and if I can just
start catching fish,

that will give me
enough fat to supplement

with my bunnies
to get me to the end.

♪ ♪

Ooh.
I don't see any fish.

♪ ♪

I think it's too shallow.

♪ ♪

I just don't want to
give up on the fish,

'cause I know
I'm gonna need that fat.

♪ ♪

So I decided I'm gonna go
on a secret mission--

fish mish.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna pack
my sleeping bag,

my headlamp, my axe,
and a whole bunch of stuff.

I'm going to venture out
on an expedition

to find a new spot deep enough

that I can hopefully
catch some fish.

♪ ♪

I'm just gonna go for it

because you got to risk it
for the biscuit sometimes.

♪ ♪

[fire crackling]

- It has become a tangled,
tangled mess.

Got to be fixed.

Ah, it's like when you
were little and your mom

combed your hair out,
bring tears to your eyes.

So now I got to either be
in an '80s hair band

or a '60s horror sitcom.

You choose.

[vocalizes instrumental
rock music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

I've been out here
hunting every day,

but I'm not seeing
the big-game sign

that I'd hoped for.

So far, I've shot a squirrel
and a grouse.

The key to winning
is making the most

out of every opportunity
you're given.

♪ ♪

Just got to keep taking breaks.

Stopping, listening, smelling.

You have to learn
from the land to find success.

[lively music]

♪ ♪

I've been feral my whole life.

I was turned loose into
the woods as a little boy--

hunted, fished, trapped,

pretty much lived outside
for 30-something years.

[laughs]

I live it.

It's not something
I just do from time to time.

It's not something I play at.
I'm in it every day.

It's just my way of life.

Me and my wife--

we got 40 acres here
in Sturgis, Kentucky,

and we try to live
as simply as possible.

Come on, go, go, go!
[laughter]

We run a small homestead.

We raise most of our own food,

forage,
and do a lot of hunting.

[g*nsh*t]

♪ ♪

I'm doing this
as a challenge to myself,

and it's the opportunity
of a lifetime.

I have a 9:00-to-5:00 job
as a diesel mechanic.

- Mm.

- I don't hate it,

but I would rather be doing
this all the time.

A million dollars
would give me the freedom

to continue living
like I'm living,

probably indefinitely.

It would basically mean
super-duper early retirement.

- I'm gonna miss you.

♪ ♪

- I think I can make it
to 100 days

just because I don't have
a whole lot of quit in me.

I feel pretty confident
in just my overall tenacity

and my ability to stay upbeat.

Look at that...

moose scat and a lot of it.

There is a moose in the hood,
looks like.

to have to deal with.

Might just be passing through,
but he has passed through.

So maybe, just maybe...

♪ ♪

Small game is enough
to hold me for a while,

but it's definitely
not gonna be enough

to survive for 100 days.

Big game's gonna be
that lottery ticket.

♪ ♪

Oh, my gosh, guys.

We got some squirrelly
goodness here.

[squirrel squeaking]

♪ ♪

Got him, got him, got him.

Squirrel again tonight.

♪ ♪

Appreciate you, buddy.

I very much appreciate you,
little friend.

♪ ♪

I'm already thinking
about this place as home.

My wife is at the homestead
down in Kentucky,

and I'm at the homestead
up here in the north.

I do want to do everybody at
home proud, stay the longest.

♪ ♪

I got a whole pile
of squirrel guts.

We're gonna go out and set
some more bank lines

and see if we can't catch
some fish

without even being there.

All right, let's get some of
this yummy squirrel goodness.

Looks like the intestines
and the stomach.

Look at that.
Who wouldn't want to eat that?

A lot of passive trapping,
passive fishing--

just making calories

without having to work at it
will be key.

Of course, I will still
hunt everywhere I go,

because you never know when
the opportunity's gonna arise.

That will work.
Let's just put another one in.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [grunts, sighs deeply]

A nice fishing spot,
I'm pretty sure.

The most promising section
on my land.

Looks kind of perfect.

[mellow music]

This fishing spot
is quite far away.

♪ ♪

But if this works
and I start catching fish,

then that would mean my
fish mish would be worth it,

and I could even
build an outpost

where I could collect some
fish and then go home to camp.

Fish, fish, fish,
fish, fish, fish.

♪ ♪

[gasps]
I see a fish, guys.

♪ ♪

It's the first time
I've actually seen a fish.

Oh!
Yeah, I think I got one.

I think I got one!

Oh, [bleep].
I lost it.

♪ ♪

Better luck in the morning,
I guess.

[low ominous music]

♪ ♪

Fishing is so important to my
strategy for the long term.

I have to stay focused.

I made a plan.
I have to stick with it.

I'm gonna sleep
under the stars here,

and I'll just focus on
getting a fish in the morning.

♪ ♪

I've got to get fish.

If I don't have fish,
I don't have fat.

And if I don't have fat,
I lose all my body fat.

And if I don't have body fat,

then I lose my organs,
and the game is over.

[sighs deeply]

Just super disappointing.

♪ ♪

[sniffs]

But as they say,
it is what it is, right?

It is what it is.

♪ ♪

It's too bad that rabbits
don't have more fat on them.

Wouldn't they just be
the perfect survival food?

[gasps]
Holy [bleep]!

Oh, my God.
He's 20 yards from me.

♪ ♪

Oh, my God.

[bleep].

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

- [gasps]
Holy [bleep].

Oh, my God.

♪ ♪

Oh, my God.

[bleep].

There's a moose right there.

He's 20 yards from me.

♪ ♪

Where is it going?
No, don't leave.

♪ ♪

[imitates moose call]

He's turned around again!

♪ ♪

Oh, my God,
it's coming back.

God.

I was gonna bring my bow.

You [bleep] idiot.

That's my moose.

[panting]

[sighs]
Damn it.

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

He's gone.

Damn.

[sighs]
I suck.

That's awful.

[breathes deeply]

That was my moose.
It was 20 yards away from me.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

And it was just
standing there.

I could've easily
taken that shot.

[sniffs]

♪ ♪

Watching your food just swim
away from you is devastating.

If I got that moose,

it would have been
a big game changer for me.

[music fades]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- [grunts]
Tell you what--

it's amazing that
they can walk around

carrying that much
weight in their head.

Damn, that's got to be,
like, 60 pounds.

Oof!

[insects buzzing]

[grunts]

Boom.

I just love it.

Look at it staring
right into my shelter.

I can sit there
in the evenings,

and I can stare
right back at it.

Hopefully it'll watch over me
and bring good things to come.

♪ ♪

Plan of attack número uno is
to go an check the gill net.

♪ ♪

I have up till now
caught five fish.

♪ ♪

Been fishing ever since
I can remember.

My dad was
a fishing-boat captain.

I learned live-bait fishing,
lure fishing, trawling,

and I've been spear fishing
since I was about 11.

Caught a lot of big fish
in my life,

but I've never fished
with a gill net.

♪ ♪

All right.
Moment of truth.

[dramatic music]

Oh, yeah.

Yeah!

I got a fish in my net.
[chuckles]

Awesome.

That is a big fish.

♪ ♪

Wow, I've got a lot
of meat right now--

Oh, there's a monster!

God, that was a huge fish.

I've hit the jackpot
with fish location.

Whoo-hoo!

Gill net paying off.

♪ ♪

I'm so glad I took this
as an item.

♪ ♪

Food was a big concern for me,

but so far, this land
has been good to me.

♪ ♪

Get some good old fillets.

♪ ♪

To know that my gill net
can bring me food

while I'm doing other things,
that's a huge sense of relief.

If I can just continue doing
as well as I'm doing,


[quiet eerie music]

♪ ♪

- It's a beautiful morning.

♪ ♪

The lake is shining.
It's glistening.

Thank you, Nature.

Sorry for all the damage
we're causing as humans.

♪ ♪

You are beautiful.
You don't deserve that.

You provide so much to us.

You're providing me
with shelter,

with food, with water,

so thank you for all you do.

♪ ♪

Another small pike.

♪ ♪

Well, small compared
to the other two I got.

I want fishing to be
a big part of my game.

Got a whitefish.

I'm catching fish almost
every day in the gill net.

Man, it's pike central
over here.

Sometimes a couple fish...

Two nice pike.
Whoa.

Okay, here we are.

Oh, check it out.
I think we have a fish.

♪ ♪

It's another pike.

♪ ♪

More food for the belly.

I've been making
fish head soups.

[slurps]

And then I've been smoking
the fish fillets.

I have over ten pounds

of smoked fish
hanging on a tree.

Fishing is going amazing.

But all this fish
can attract a predator.

I have seen a wolverine
right on the beach.

It does make me
a little nervous

to know that there are
predators walking here.

But you got to heighten
your level of awareness.

♪ ♪

[fire crackling]

Being from El Salvador,

I brought a specific
mentality as a survivalist.

I've been through a w*r.

You have to have
a positive attitude

that you're going to survive.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[distant rustling]

[animal growling
in the distance]

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

[growling continues]

♪ ♪

Maybe that's the wolverine.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Throom, throom, throom.

♪ ♪

[rustling, soft growl]

That sounded like claws.
Throom, throom--

A big animal.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[branch rustles]

Oh, [bleep].

♪ ♪

[bleep].

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[branch rustles]

- Oh, [bleep].

♪ ♪

Something's moving there.
[bleep].

♪ ♪

[water splashes]

♪ ♪

[fire crackling]

I worked so hard
for that stash.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [gulps]

Tasty.

Mmm.

Huh.
Look all right.

No seeds stuck in them.

You want to win
a million bucks,

you got to look like
a million bucks.

♪ ♪

I need to have
a big shelter day today.

I'm already getting
a little bit of a late start,

but we'll go with it.

I would like to use
traditional wood joinery

for pretty much
my entire shelter.

It is gonna take longer
than just, you know,

lashing a few poles together,
but winter is coming,

and I just want it to be
robust and airtight.

Got to make
these joints precise.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna build
an A-frame shelter

that's anchored to a tree.

Got to figure out
my ridge-pole situation now.

And then I gotta figure out
how to hoist it up this post.

I got to make a joint
in that post.

♪ ♪

To me, I see this
as my big gamble,

but if I don't have
a b*mb-proof shelter,

I can't see myself,
as a smaller guy

who really doesn't do
that well in the cold,

faring into the deep winter
up to 100 days.

♪ ♪

All right.
I think that's gonna be it.

I want to use a dovetail joint

so those logs actually hold
themselves onto the A-frame.

I'm just being
super meticulous.

This better be blowing
everyone's minds right now.

h*-h*-h*-h*!

It's kind of good-looking,
ain't it?

♪ ♪

I feel confident
with my skills in building.

And to carry that out
to extreme nuance

is the kind of thing that
gets me through long waits.

I just think of a project
that I have in my head,

and I just go to that project.

I've been primarily
an introvert

who can do without contact
and feel comfortable

and confident
in my own actions.

♪ ♪

Good fit.

When friends or family
have asked

why I would want to do this,
one of the easy references

is the book "Hatchet"
that I read in fifth grade.

Reading the story about this
kid that was in a plane crash

and had to survive
by some forested lake

with his hatchet--
it sort of put the idea

in my mind that, like,
"Wow, people can do that.

People can just be out there,
living."

This has always been
a lifelong fantasy of mine.

That's good.
That's real good.

♪ ♪

- My friend...

I'm sorry I've been so rude.

I found you a couple days ago.

I couldn't help but love
your set of horns,

so I put you up
on the tree there

so you could hang out with me.

Do you think we can be friends?

[speaking foreign language]

What's your name?

"I come from Arcticfrica."

Is that, like, you mixing
Africa and Arctic?

You're quite a smart-a*s
yourself, aren't you, Jaco?

No wonder you got taken down.

Jaco, I highly respect
your horns, okay?

I just want to be friends.

The friendship
we'll be building.

And just in case
you were wondering,

his accent is South African.

He's a very confused musk ox.

♪ ♪

I feel like I've got
a good grip on the food.

The fishing I feel
very confident about,

with the gill net especially.

At this point,

I need to get
a food cache figured out.

There's foxes and wolverines
in the area.

I have to make
something that

I don't need to keep
an eye on 24-7,

something that I know
that food is safe.

It's gonna be a lot
of energy to build it,

but it's necessary.

It would be wise for me
to work on my ladder

that I'm gonna need to get up
into my food cache.

♪ ♪

I feel like I really could
live off the land here.

And I just don't want
any meat getting stolen

or going to waste.

[grunts]

This already set
my mind at ease,

once I know my food
is stored safely.

[sighs]

Success!
I like it.

So there's three trees in here.

One.
Behind it, two.

And then to the left
over here, three.

It'll provide
the perfect platform.

♪ ♪

For basis of the food cache,
I'm kind of using the design

that was inspired
off of Jordan's.

The three trees coming up,
and just a platform on top.

Kind of like that idea.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

This is a very unique
experience.

I'm very grateful to be here.

Not feeling
the loneliness.

It gives me strength

knowing that I have such
a supportive family.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

I think my wife
would rather I be home.

Our son is two years old.

She's gonna have him
by herself.

The workload on her
is gonna be pretty tough,

but she knows
this is something

that I'm passionate about.

Knowing that I could change
their lives by winning this

does nothing but motivate me.

[exhales deeply]

♪ ♪

Very grateful
for that sacrifice

that she makes for me.

She believes in me.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

You cut the tops off.

There's just no easy way
to do that.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[sighs]

Fun trying to chop
a tree down like this.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

♪ ♪

[groans in frustration]

♪ ♪

Straw that broke
the camel's back.

♪ ♪

No!

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- [grunts]

♪ ♪

No!
Oof!

♪ ♪

[grunts]

Stupid.
[grunts]

Really stupid.

♪ ♪

There's no easy way to do that.

♪ ♪

I am uninjured.

And...

I will move forward.

That was stupid.

That could've gone
very, very bad.

I could've broken an ankle.

There's a lot of things
that could've happened.

My guardian angels
were looking out.

I just thank my lucky stars

and just make sure I don't
make the same mistake.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

♪ ♪

Damn.

[grunts]
Okay.

Just try and not repeat that.

So frickin' hard to...

saw from this angle.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

A frickin'
roller-coaster ride, folks.

And I think that's
how this is gonna go.

Hold on for the ride.

♪ ♪

Yes.

♪ ♪

I knew this would be
the most challenging thing

that I've ever experienced
in my life.

It hasn't got to that
point yet, but it will.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

And there we have it.

♪ ♪

I need to think
about every single move

and every single step.

I can't afford to make
this mistake again.

♪ ♪

It's like a nest up here.
It's a food nest.

[breathes deeply]

♪ ♪

That's the fruits
of my labor for today.

♪ ♪

I feel really good about it.

♪ ♪

- Squirrel pole struck.

They've been playing
around there.

I wondered how long
before they'd hit that pole.

Well, now we're talking.

I don't really start trapping
squirrels too much yet.

I just got some poles
here around camp.

I don't want them messing
around my stuff.

Them squirrels sometimes get
an idea to get in your [bleep].

Well, it's good to know
your techniques are sound.

I feel good.
I like that.

I like that fresh k*ll.

Don't want that blood dripping

away and going to waste.

[sniffs]

♪ ♪

I just made a little
incision in his gut.

There's all the organs

separated from the stomach
and intestines.

But intestine
is real nutritious,

and there ain't
nothing in that.

That is just clean,
ready-to-go gut.

It's ready for the cook pot.

♪ ♪

His back's all white.
Only his belly's blue.

It's probably fixing
to get cold.

See white?
That's how they'll be.

Now, he still has blue
over here on his belly.

We probably ain't got long.

♪ ♪

I think people
are gonna underestimate

the strength
of a northern winter

and overestimate
their own strength.

You got to have a plan
every day.

It might change.

A plan's just
a starting point,

but you don't want to
just wake up and think,

"What am I doing today?"

You want to wake up
and get something going on.

Coming up on rock house.

I think we got to cap
that thing as quick as we can

and get into food production.

I need about ten more poles
on the roof.

♪ ♪

My strategy in the winter
is heavy duty.

Winter is heavy duty.

My roof is real important
on rock house.

But I'm also concerned
every day

about burning
too many calories.

But I'm so committed,
I can't quit burning them.

I got to finish this thing.
Winter's coming.

I got to get it done.

Now's the time
to get her done.

Oh!

[panting]

♪ ♪

[grunts]

I know when it's done,

I'm gonna have what I want
to go the distance.

Look at that.
h*-h*-h*-h*!

[breathes deeply]

Nice.

Last big log in place.

Rock house is coming along.

I'm gonna make this all moss
up here, get the tarp on it.

You could hold a dance
on that sucker.

And then later I'm gonna build
this up right here

with some rock
and have a chimney

that's just a little higher
than the roof.

Yep.

Starting to look kind of homey.

We got a 100-day shelter,
all right.

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

- Keep myself occupied
for hours.

♪ ♪

Projects like this takes
your mind off of everything,

which is a good thing,

'cause I think it's the worst
thing you can do out here,

is let your mind
start to wander.

♪ ♪

Remember how easy it is
just to go home.

♪ ♪

Check them out.

Yeah, buddy.

Got some cool earrings done
because everybody--

every man needs
a nice pair of earrings, huh?

I think so.

I got to make
a couple more sets of these.

I'm digging them.

Tell ya--
I'm gonna set a trend.

Yeah.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

To get to day 100,
I think you need to have

a positive mental outlook,

and you got to constantly
be upbeat,

no matter how bad it gets.

You know, it's 100 days.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

Well, back at the bank lines,

and it looks like
a big nothing.

[sighs deeply]
Man.

Yep, definitely nothing.

See if we have any bait left...

'cause if we have bait,
that's good.

I'm 110% confident
in my success...

because you have
to have that mindset.

If you have anything else,

you're already sliding down
a slippery slope.

Yeah, baby!

♪ ♪

Oh, [bleep]!

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Yeah, baby!

♪ ♪

Ooh, [bleep]!

♪ ♪

[grunts]

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

He almost got off.

♪ ♪

♪ I caught a trout,
I caught a trout ♪

Thank you, Mr. Trout.

[hopeful music]

I'm gonna fillet this dude out
and then smoke it,

make fish jerky with him,
and then boil the rest of it

and eat fish soup
for a couple days.

♪ ♪

This fish proved to me
that this system will work,

and, you know, it may
not work all the time.

It definitely won't work every
time, but it's a success,

and every little success
out here

definitely puts you
in a better mental spot.

I mean, look at that.

[laughs]

Mmm.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, I could get used to that.

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

- Morning.

All right, I'm gonna do
quick little warm-up.

[yawns]

Starting to get a little bit
of a morning routine.

[yawns]

Do a little stretch
and then get out for...

[groans]

Morning snare check.

[pants quickly]

Get the blood flow back.

Warm-up skip.

Staying warm is the name
of the game.

Good and warmed up.

Time to go check snares.

[lively music]

♪ ♪

I'm kind of excited
to check these two...

promising little snares
that I set last night.

♪ ♪

Feeling hungry.

Oh, I can feel my body
begging for some fuel.

It's like,
"Sugar, bread, peanut butter.

Feed me."

Hmm.
That one got messed with.

♪ ♪

Looks like it got pushed aside.

All right,
one last snare check.

No rabbits so far this morning.

♪ ♪

Dang it.
Nothing.

What do we got to do?

I know the hunger's
gonna get worse.

♪ ♪

Oh.

There's a squirrel.

It's down in there.

See him poking his head out?

♪ ♪

He wants to come out.

He went down in that
little hole to hide,

and I don't think
he's got a way out.

So I...

I'll try to make a hook
out of one of these branches.

I can stab him and hook him.

[ominous music]

The hooking part is important.

♪ ♪

I'm also gonna put
a little barb on this thing.

♪ ♪

Keep one eye on the hole.

♪ ♪

Gonna go for it.

♪ ♪

[squirrel squeaking]

Where did you go?

Hear him going "cheep, cheep."

Sorry, bud.
I don't really like it either.

♪ ♪

There he is.

Come on closer.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[squirrel squeaking]

- Hear him going
"cheep, cheep."

There he is.

Come on closer.

♪ ♪

Dang it.
I missed it.

I'm gonna make
a better stick.

♪ ♪

Oh, there he goes!
Damn it!

♪ ♪

Dang.

He saw his window
of opportunity.

[sighs]
I should've just waited.

That was kind of
a one-time scenario there,

and I screwed it up.

♪ ♪

Damn it.

I've got so much left
to do on my shelter,

and I'm not getting all the
food I need and want out here.

♪ ♪

It would be nice to eat

something more than
berries and mushrooms.

♪ ♪

- Fireweed root is a great
survival food.

It's marginal food.
You got to stay with it.

Food store is gonna be
the key to go 100 days.

♪ ♪

On the outside of rock house,

a couple rocks
formed a cavern

that we're gonna make
my root cellar.

Nice, fresh, damp moss
on the bottom.

Fireweed root
is fairly nutritious.

And all that nutrition
is down in the roots,

so this is the best time
to capitalize

on the fireweed root.

A root-de-de-doot-doots.

♪ ♪

My backup plan
from the beginning--

if nothing else, I'll dig

and exist on that alone.

To make it through the winter,
you got to have reserves.

♪ ♪

I had planned
on the gill net feeding me

while I built the big
substantial structure.

And this is my net,
but it never catches nothing.

We got to make a move
to another spot--

maybe some deeper water.

[breathing heavily]

♪ ♪

Down over there's
where we got to go with it.

There's a little crevice there
on a underwater ledge,

and it's 20, 30 feet deep,
immediately right off that.

I got to go right in that hole
right there.

♪ ♪

Sometimes I talk different.

Like, I caught myself
saying "we" a few times.

♪ ♪

"We" is just me rambling on.

♪ ♪

Maybe when I say "we,"
I mean "me and you."

Maybe I mean
my departed mother.

♪ ♪

She passed away while I was
preparing for all this.

♪ ♪

I just been thinking
about my mother a lot

since I got here.

♪ ♪

She was the strongest person
I have ever met.

♪ ♪

She had
the bullheaded mentality.

Could do anything she wanted
to do, and I have that.

♪ ♪

Her tunnel vision,
if you want to call it that--

I mean, if there's something
she wanted to do,

she would do it
and do it good.

Long hours.

My mother could work
long, long hours,

and I've inherited that
from her, too.

Lots of energy there,
lots of energy.

She was an amazing person.

There it is.

Catch a fish, baby.

It was a lot of work.

Wish us luck.

♪ ♪

I want to use this time to...

dwell on her and...

♪ ♪

Refresh some memories

that were maybe getting...

lost in all the shuffle.

♪ ♪

We're gonna win this sucker.

♪ ♪

And dedicate it to you, Mom.

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

I'm Colby Donaldson,

here with all
of the participants

from tonight's episode.

First and foremost, this is
the first episode we've seen

where there's not a tap-out.

I don't know whether that's
a good thing or a bad thing.

Joe, is it foreshadowing?

Do you think it's
a positive aspect to this

that no one taps out
on this episode?

- I think there's definitely
a positive aspect.

I mean, you have
so many uncertainties

going into this thing
that it's almost a guarantee

that you're gonna lose
some folks early,

um, whether it's
through sickness, or injury,

or just mentally
not being able to cope.

So I think it's definitely
a positive,

you're seeing people
start to hit their stride,

and yeah, I like seeing
an episode

where nobody disappears.

- Hey, Keith, any advice
for those that come after you

on the experience itself?

- Yes, I think the experience

will never be the vision
that you have in your mind

once--you know,
before you set out,

but I think at the end,

it needs to be the experience
that you needed to have,

no matter the outcome.

- Ready?
- Yes, sir.

If I'm not ready now,
I'll never be ready.

♪ ♪

You need to be at peace
with the outcome

before you head out,

I think is the main thing,

and you gotta be
your own best friend

before you head out there,
because if not,

definitely be some demons
preying on you.

That's it.
They're out of here!

I'm all by myself!

- Well, two weeks

without any sort
of human interaction,

you can't help but start
to get in your own head.

There's no one to bounce
ideas off of,

no one to really pick you up

when you're low.

Joel, I know you've got
a tight-knit family.

Tell me what it was like

truly being solo out there
in this experience

and not being able

to draw from them,
at least not in person.

- Well, it was, uh,
very interesting for me,

very profound spiritual journey

of which I--

what I didn't expect was,

the exact timeframe
that you're talking about,

the first week was like
the honeymoon phase...

Oh, my God,
this is gonna be amazing.

If you could see that...

Bald eagle.

Look at that.

Oh, such a good omen.

You know, you're all
super stoked, happy.

You know, you're catching fish
and sh**ting rabbits.

Everything's amazing.

About sort of five,
six days in,

I kind of started feeling
the sort of pull

towards my family,

and my mind was adjusting

to not hearing
any human voices,

you know, no sound.

The only things you hear
out there are the squirrels,

you know,
which in the beginning

really irritated
and frustrated me,

but in the end,
I ended up loving it.

- Kielyn, the importance
of maintaining

that positive
mental attitude--

give us your take on that

and just how vital that is

to succeeding
in this type of experiment.

- Yeah, absolutely.
Uh...

if you have something happen
to you

and you don't like
the outcome,

sitting and dwelling
on the negative aspects of it

isn't gonna get you anywhere.

You need to move forward,
stay adaptable,

and there's a lot of lessons

that you can learn
from your failures

to help you in the future.

Learn from this, Kielyn.

Learn from this.

There's gotta be more moose.

- Okay, I want to dig in
to Roland

dipping your finger
into that squirrel's blood

like you were taste-testing

a batch of marinara sauce
or something.

Tell me what was going on

and what the meaning
behind that is for you

or the importance of it
for you.

- No meaning in particular,

only, uh, utilization
of the whole animal.

I'm not into
the blood-worshiping aspect

of anything,

but, you know, there's life

in the blood,

and I want every bit of that.

- Joel, you were also doing

some interesting things
out there,

mainly holding a conversation
with a musk ox skull.

First time for you
doing something like that?

- [laughs]

Um...yes.

Look at me.
I'm alone.

I need a buddy,

and you know what?

You seem like you're
a pretty good guy.

Let's just get to know
one another.

Let's do it, eh?

There wasn't much thought.
It just came out,

and I got a kick out of it.

Going off what Kyle was saying
earlier,

you gotta stay
in a positive mental place,

and for me, that came
through making things,

and it came
through using my imagination

and really trying to get myself
to laugh whenever I could.

Oh, no worries, bro!

[laughs]

- Joel, I want to stick
with you.

Because of the predators,
you decide to build

an elevated food platform.

Could have been
a critical mistake

cutting that, you know,
treetop from a ladder.

- The mistake was
the--the method

of chopping down
the top of those trees

and that was, um--

could have been
the end of me right there,

but, um, I'm very, very lucky.

I was not injured,

and I was able to learn
from that mistake,

and I didn't make it again.

Um, but there was
a lot of learning for me

with that food cache,

and would I go back
and do things differently?

Most definitely.

- Well, you're right.

You were very, very fortunate

in that situation.

Amós, you were doing

exceptionally well
with the fish,

and then we start
to see the wolverine,

and in one of those shots,

it actually looks
like he's watching you,

almost as though
he's stalking your path

and your trails.
What was your thought

about that wolverine?

- I was expecting predators

to be close to my shelter

and where I was cleaning fish.

I was really close
to the beach

for many reasons.

It took me a long time

to try to figure out
my shelter.

But I was protected
by the wind.

I have the resources of water,
fire, close by,

and everywhere else
that I had looked,

I hadn't seen a decent place
to build my shelter,

so I took the risk

knowing that I could have had
predators close by.

- Roland, even though
the locations had been vetted

by survival teams in advance
for signs of animals,

each season,
we hear participants

complained or at least
concerned

that their area
may not have enough.

Tell me about your thoughts
regarding this.

I know you had some concerns.

How much of this
is about your location,

and then how much of it
is about what you're doing

or what you're not doing
with regard to the animals?

- Well, your location
is like...

a rodeo star drawing a bull.

You can draw a crappy one,

or you can draw one
that'll make you famous.

You just don't know that,

and I wasn't particularly happy

with my spot at first.

Actually, I was pretty damn
hot angry.

Like, [bleep] 50 acres
of woods,

nothing in the woods,

not a [bleep] damn thing.

[bleep] berries.

This spot [bleep] sucks.

You just gotta jump in there
and look

for every little food source
you can get,

'cause winter, once
everything's under the snow,

that's it.

- Keith,

you know, something the viewers
at home may not know

is that you aren't allowed
to use barbed hooks

out there.

So tell me about--you know,

you were doing a lot
of fishing from the bank.

How was that affected

by not having barbed hooks?

Were you concerned about that?

- Yeah, the barbless hooks--

man, that's a real handicap,
in my opinion.

That was my first experience
with them,

and unless you have
a rod and reel

where you can keep
constant tension on them,

in my opinion,
they're pretty well worthless.

I don't know how many fish
I had hit,

you'd make it
three or four wraps,

and then, you know,
the line just goes slack

and when that line goes slack,

your heart
kind of goes slack, too,

as well as your stomach,

because that's
a missed opportunity.

Whoo-hoo!

Yeah, baby!

Oh, damn.
It got away.

[laughs]

- Let's talk about ingenuity
in the rules.

All right?
There is no question,

when you're out there,
you need to adapt,

and you need to make
everything that you have

work for you.
So while Joel

was building
an elevated platform,

Amós took a little different
approach to it.

Let's take a look at
this never-before-seen footage,

and I think you'll understand
what we're talking about.

♪ ♪

- There we go.

I brought this
extra-extra-large underwear.

[laughs]

But what I do need

is a container for my fish,

so I'm gonna make a bag
out of my underwear.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Hopefully,
it doesn't get robbed.

♪ ♪

- Amós, uh, tell me

about that big old pair
of underwear you brought.

- The cotton is heavy
and is white.

The fish have white bellies,

so I could use it
for lures.

I needed a place
to store the fish.

I was catching a lot of fish.

So I decided to make a stash
out of it.

You have to get creative
out there,

and it worked for me,

so I'm pretty happy
that I made the decision.

- Hey, Roland, tell me
of an ingenuity pull

that you made
when you were out there.

- I'm full of that stuff.

I pull crap like that
out of my a*s every day.

[laughter]
But I can't...nail one down

right now.

- Well, that is it for "Alone:
Tales From the Arctic."

I'd like to thank Joel,
Roland,

Kielyn, Joe, Keith, and Amós.

We'll be doing this
all season long,

so make sure you stay tuned
after the episodes

as we talk
to the participants.

Until next week,
as promised,

here is a peek

of the upcoming episode.
See you next week.

♪ ♪

- Bear scat.

Claiming his territory,
apparently.

[bleep]

♪ ♪

- Here, try a bite.
No, really, try it.

It's good.

- You guys want to see
a cool party trick?

♪ ♪

[insect buzzing]

- Agh.

♪ ♪

Crap, I can feel it
moving in there.

♪ ♪