10x06 - King's Gambit

[bunniefuu]

[tense music]

♪

- Gotta get this stuff done

before the snow comes in.

Would've loved to build a cabin.

But this is what I've started.

This is what I'm doing.

Not going backwards.

- I've decided to
build a woodshed.

Having dry tinder
is gonna help me

move forward through the winter.

That makes me happy.

- What's going on with
the fishing today?

It's so good.

[chuckles] I can't believe it.

Thank you.

- Lost half of a trout.

[bleep].

This is probably a marten.

I need to build a food cache.

♪

Whoo! Done.

- Oh, no, oh, no.

The gold fury is gone.

That is just heartbreaking.

- I'm having these weird
flashes of warm and then cold.

♪

Passed out.

♪

[bleep].

Sometimes your best
is not good enough.

I'm tapping out.

♪

[wind whistling]

[tense music]

- I'm gonna do this, man.

I'm gonna do this.

I'm gonna fight this thing
out to the last breath.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Okay, game on.

[bear growls]

- [grunts]
- I got him.

Narrator: In "Alone's"
most remote location yet...

- [screaming]

narrator: Ten
participants set out

to survive at all costs...

- [groans]
- My goal is to stay alive.

♪

- [inhales sharply] Oh...

narrator: Battling
extreme isolation...

- There is no camera crews.

You are really alone.

- It'll eat at you, tear you up.

- God, why?

- It's a battle.

Nobody ever comes out the same.

- Oh, man.

- It'd be impossible to.

Narrator: And
fierce predators.

- That's a big bear.

- It was right
outside my shelter.

- Predators like that
damn sure gonna k*ll you.

- Please don't rip my face off.

[animal growling]

He bit the hell out of me.

Narrator: They'll
endure merciless wind...

- Been over 60 hours,

and it has not let up.

- I can hear the trees
falling down around me.

Narrator: And bitter cold.

- This whole place just
turned into a frozen hell.

Narrator: Last one standing...

- It's a moose.

- Wow.

- Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

- No, no.

Narrator: Wins.

♪

[tense music]

♪

You can make the most
gigantic moose caller.

[bellowing]

A hot lady moose is
just howling for you.

And you guys are not gonna come?

[tense music]

Get it together.

♪

Before I put my gill
net in the water,

I need to check the
food in my food cache

to make sure everything
is safe and good.

We have...

Few little maggots here.

♪

Just take them off,
just tiny ones.

♪

Good, let's go down now.

Let's take the ladder
out of my food cache.

That would be an easy access.

A bear would just,
like, go up there

and eat all my food.

♪

All right, food
cache is working.

♪

Gotta set up my gill net.

I lost my gill net that I made.

It was providing me with food.

The monofilament line gill net,

that was my go-to thing
that was giving me fish.

The wind, you know,
was the biggest factor

because the water
just trashed my setup.

The cost is really huge

because now instead
of eating well,

I have to start rationing.

Gill net's in the water.

Oh, boy, I'm hungry.

I hope this net works.

[tense music]

♪

- Well, let's see if
we got a fish or not.

Not looking promising.

It looks like I got a
really tangled-up net again.

Oh, I do got a fish.

Got a nice lake trout.

And I'm also snagged.

♪

[grunts]

♪

The fish created a hole there.

Bottom is ripped off.

♪

And there we go,
another nice trout.

My net is in pretty bad shape.

♪

Lake trout there.

Maybe about 5 or 6 pounds,

and it will be very good to eat.

[sighs]

All right.

I gotta tie on a new gill net.

♪

I came to this place with
a whole pile of plans.

I knew what this part of
Saskatchewan was like.

I knew what to expect.

And none of it has been right.

But it's all good, you know.

It's adaptability and,
like, go with the flow.

I want to start preserving
food a little bit.

And until I've got my
quota of fish that I need,

I'm gonna ration a little.

♪

One of my dad's
favorite sayings was,

"I didn't invent the wheel,
but I can make it better."

Just because something's
always been done one way

doesn't mean it has to
always be done that way.

Last net, I was going four
or five rows at a time.

I find this is giving me
a lot more uniform net.

♪

My brother and I always
tried to do something

in different ways
to make Dad proud.

Hopefully it catches me
a couple big pike, eh,

the dirty b*stards.

♪

I want revenge on them.

♪

All these little strands
will work for any repairs

that I have... to
do to this one.

I think I am much
happier with this net

than I am my first one.

I do. I do.

Not that my first one
was not a nice net

and not that it
didn't do its job.

I just think this
a far nicer net.

[dramatic music]

♪

- I'm going to
check my gill net,

and really hoping
for two things.

One, my gill net's still there,

and two, there's
some fish there.

♪

Nothing here.

No fish today.

Fishing with a gill net was
one of my main strategies.

But it seems like the fish
are in deeper water now.

And going to fish in the canoe

is not as productive
as I thought.

So I think it's time to push
harder to get to the big game.

I'm gonna go hunting.

Let's go.

♪

The output of energy
to get big game

is very taxing.

But it's the path
to a winning ticket.

So it's a big gamble.

♪

[wings flapping]

Just heard a bird fly.

♪

[bleep].

[suspenseful music]

♪

Oh... damn it.

Lost two arrows.

♪

Unbelievable.

♪

Got to find my arrows.

♪

When you lose that arrow,

you did not just lose the arrow.

You lose some of
your hope to win.

And the sad part is there's
no one here to comfort me.

♪

Oh, found it, right there.

Oh, my God.

♪

♪

Okay, there we go. Got it.

♪

[thud]
- Okay. There we go.

[suspenseful music]

♪

Got it.

Yes. Yes.

[thud]

Yeah, it's dead now.

This was a beautiful,
beautiful one.

Oh, man.

I got this, guys.

Got this.

That's a beautiful
spruce grouse.

I have to provide to myself.

We're gonna have a
good dinner today.

[sighs]

Okay, that was a good shot.

Let's head back home now.

My survival philosophy is
just to adapt and adjust

and to be aware
of what's around,

taking the opportunities
that is given.

So I realized that I
need to see the world

through positive lenses

because I increase my
chance of getting more food.

[grouse vocalizing]

Holy cow, another grouse.

But here it is.

This is a ruffed grouse.

It's a very good shot.

One arrow, two birds.

So gotta eat well,

stop losing weight.

♪

Day like today, I feel content

with food for later.

And I feel I can win this.

[chuckles]

♪

- Gill net's all set again.

Let's get at some firewood.

Slow and steady wins the race.

♪

That's all we gotta remember.

♪

My shelter is adequate,

not elaborate by any stretch.

But I don't need elaborate.

It's not like I have to
survive the whole winter.

I just have to
survive long enough

and try and tell some
stories along the way.

♪

I was a very passionate...

[chuckles]

Hockey parent.

♪

And I'm very loud.

So everybody'd know
when I'm in the rink.

And I remember one day,

my oldest boy,

he just wasn't playing hard.

And the whistle blew.

And he skated to
the circle over.

And I stood up above
the glass, and I went,

"Hey, do you want
to split firewood

all day when you get home?"

He looked at me and says, "No."

I said, "Then get
to work out there."

[chuckles]

Well, he changed
his whole attitude

about working right there on
the ice rest of that game.

♪

One thing everybody always
used to say about my boys,

they couldn't believe
they were my kids.

[chuckles]

♪

I guess if nothing else,

I've taught them
not to be like me.

♪

When I was nine years old,

my parents bought a marina.

And my father couldn't
afford to own that marina

and not maintain his job.

So from that point on,

I basically had to
become an adult.

I cooked dinner for my mom
and brother and two sisters.

And we looked after
shoveling the snow

and cutting the firewood

and every other thing
that had to be done.

I never had a choice
in that responsibility.

I just had to do it.

But the way I felt
in my father's eyes,

I was never good enough.

And figured, gonna be
treated as an adult,

I may as well act like one.

I probably started with the
alcohol as a young adult.

And before I knew it,
it just seemed to be

an everyday habit.

And most of the
problems with my dad

only got worse because
of the alcohol.

♪

We should always all be
better than our parents.

I wish kind of
everybody could see me

as the father I am

rather than the person
I've been at times.

[groans]

The lazy logger.

I think I've heard of a
beer called the Lazy Lager.

But that's L-A-G-E-R
instead of L-O-G-G-E-R.

Eh.

[tense music]

♪

♪

♪

[knife scraping]

- It's really early.

I can't sleep.

♪

I found these two neat
little rocks earlier.

♪

I got. this one.

It's got some heavy grit on it,

heavy grit.

And then this one, which
is just super smooth.

I've been looking for just
the perfect sharpening stone

for my knives.

For some reason,
I have insomnia.

♪

I go to sleep for a little
while, and then I get back up.

And I go to sleep for a little
while, and I get back up.

And I go to sleep
for a little while,

and I get back up.

I've never had insomnia.

I sleep like the dead.

♪

Damn thing'll shave you.

[tense music]

♪

So I slept really late

'cause I didn't sleep
worth a [bleep] last night.

Today, I want to focus on
trying to find some food.

I might beef up the
shelter a little bit.

I don't know.

So tired, not even
thinking straight.

Just playing it
by ear right now.

♪

I've really become a hunter
of opportunity out here.

I'm looking for anything I
can use on my walk, anything.

I'm looking for berries.

I'm looking for game sign.

I'm looking for trails.

Looks like there
may be a few berries

right here worth picking.

If I have an opportunity at
a squirrel, I try to take it.

If I have an opportunity at
a grouse, I try to take it.

If I have an
opportunity to gather


I try to take it.

That is a lot of berries.

Nature provides for us.

But you have to go
out there and find it.

You have to have the
ability to adapt to it.

You have to be willing
to learn from it.

If you can do that, then
you can survive anywhere.

You ain't gonna
believe this [bleep].

Some wood with some nails in it.

I'm gonna use these nails
to work on my shelter,

finally put a door
on that thing.

♪

Bushcraft is something
that's just ingrained in me.

Since my childhood,
not having anything

and having to make it work.

♪

Anybody that's ever paid
attention to anything

that's ever happened in history,

everybody's heard
of the Depression.

I was born in 1990.

I grew up in 1932.

This should work.

Found some plywood
at the shoreline.

Didn't have any power.

You know, we hand dug a well

because we had no running water.

I've done schoolwork by candle.

I can remember, a good
heavy rain would come,

and I would go out
in my underwear

and take a shower in the rain

just because I didn't
have to work for it.

No kid should have
to go through that.

My kids would never live
like that, I promise you.

I work 28 hours a
day, 14 days a week.

And that's to keep everybody
comfortable and happy.

I've put every
callus on my hands.

I bruise my body
and break my back.

I suffer so that
they won't have to.

And I'll continue to do that.

How do you like that?

It's awesome.

All right, I'm
gonna go down here,

get some water, check
my fishing line.

[tense music]

♪

- Okay, well, what a
way to start the day.

I was coming by my gill net,

and I noticed that I had a fish.

And then I noticed
him start thrashing.

And then I realized
how big the fish was.

Look at this baby,

an absolute giant of a pike.

Look at that.

It's 15 pounds for sure.

It might be... It
might be closer to 20.

It is a pig of a fish.

I am so happy.

It... oh, I can't even
describe what this fish means.

This fish is guaranteed


guaranteed 10 days,
as far as food.

The pressure that this
fish takes off is just...

It's incredible.

I am happy with
the new gill net.

It's already producing.

There is a lot of
meat on that baby.

Let's get a measurement.

Just over 42 inches.

Wow, what an awesome fish.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

I couldn't be more excited.

♪

In my life growing
up, I've learned

how to preserve things
the best way I can.

♪

Follow the rib cage.

Study a lot of Native
preservation methods,

and using wood ash for flavoring

and berries for flavoring
and also for preservation.

But the only way to
preserve fish out here

is to smoke them.

Until it gets cold enough
that I can freeze them

or keep them on ice, that's it.

♪

Look at this.

Oh, our smoked pike head
and our smoked fish.

Oh, h*, h*, h*, h*.

Is that not a thing
of perfection or what?

That is absolutely beautiful.

Still got time to go.

The tail's all done.

But right now, I don't
have to catch a fish

for dinner tonight or
for breakfast tomorrow.

I am golden.

♪

♪

- I made my wind wall.

The wind was coming
from this direction.

And today, I've got a gentle
breeze coming this way.

It's not like a
breeze being out here.

There's always a challenge.

It's amazing.

Looks like a stingray.

When I was doing
my diving license,

I did it in the Bahamas.

It's amazing what the world
is like under the water.

I want to go to Bimini.

There's a lot of sharks there.

I want to go dive with them.

I can't believe I'm
planning more adventures

when I'm sitting here
in the middle of Canada.

[laughs]

But I am,

because life is
for living, right?

Because you never know
when you're gonna die.

[soft music]

I've started to
collect reindeer moss.

And right now, I'm
going to process it.

♪

Reindeer moss is really cool.

And I've eaten it before.

But it doesn't taste good.

So you don't enjoy your food.

And if you can't
enjoy your food,

it's actually very demoralizing.

I have to take advantage
of weather and energy.

I will regret it
if I don't do it.

It's absolutely vital to boil
it twice before you cook it.

Otherwise, you're gonna get
stomach cramps and diarrhea.

So what I'm gonna do is
I'm going to boil it twice.

And then I'm gonna dry it out.

Then I can use it as a thickener

for each and every
one of my meals.

On my second boil here.

After this, I'll be done.

It's vitally important to
have those carbs and starches.

They are the fuel and the energy

that keeps our bodies going.

♪

There we go. There we go.

Let that dry.

So now I need to
go for a nice walk

across the other
side of the shore.

See if I can forage
me some mushrooms

and also get some more berries.

[tense music]

♪

This is like wild trekking.

This is what I do with Brian.

There is no path.

You make your own path.

As someone who's very
interested in living history,

it's absolutely
fascinating to me

to go through this
experience and see

just how hard our ancestors
worked to survive.

Here's a nice-looking mushroom.

You don't really think about it.

You're like, oh, they
built their homesteads

and lived off the
land from the herbs

and the plants and the fish.

And it's just like, it's work.

Here we go.

These are the berries I like.

They did that every single day.

That's incredible.

♪

Wow, look at this.

Which is wonderful.

There's a few more here, even.

How freaking awesome is that?

♪

From a teaching aspect,

this is really
helping me so much.

♪

Especially as a woman, too,

I mean, this is basically
what I would be doing.

Tending everything at
the homestead, foraging.

That was my role.

To actually live what you
teach is amazing opportunity.

This is the furthest away
I've gone from my shelter.

I'm glad I came.

I haven't seen this many
blueberries anywhere.

It could be a half a million
dollar patch of blueberries

because it's, like, 3
acres of blueberries.

Nom, nom, nom.

Oh.

So much sugary sweetness.

Mmm.

It's incredible.

Almost feel like I have
to come back again.

I'd be crazy not to.

[tense music]

♪

- Yes!

♪

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

♪

Lunch is gonna be a good one.

We have eggs, liver,

um...

I think it's called milt,

heart.

I think that's it.

And there's some other
organ in there too,

maybe a kidney.

I always eat the organs first

because they'd be the
ones to spoil first.

♪

Whatever that little thing
was was a gallbladder.

Oh, I shouldn't have eaten that.

That was terrible.

♪

I hope I don't get
sick from that.

♪

Just got her down.

[scraping pan]

Got some organs stuck to
the bottom of the pan.

♪

[clears throat]

That was actually kind of good.

I must be really hungry

to say fish organs
were pretty good.

[tense music]

I've never felt so rich
with food as I do right now.

I just keep catching fish.

But I'm eating
them as I get them.

We're here for
preservation, not pleasure,

in the food department.

I'm just paranoid
about spoilage.

So I need to try to preserve
as much meat as possible.

I have to smoke those.

I don't have a choice.

It doesn't have to be
anything fancy, you know?

Just something to hold
the smoke in a little.

To have too much
food to keep fresh,

like, that's a
really good problem.

And I'm kind of excited
to have a project.

I'm planning on using it again.

That's the plan, anyways.

I think we still got some
good fishing ahead of us here.

I think it's gonna
work out just fine.

I was thinking,
like, season eight

when Clay Hayes got that deer,

it was 50 pounds
of meat he smoked.

Like, you catch eight 4-pound
fish, you know, do the math.

It's not that far off.

So yeah, that's it.

That's the plan.

Get some more fish,
do some smoking,

and procure food
for the long term.

Just got another little
section in the back to do.

But... yeah, it's looking good.

♪

Tomorrow morning,
I'm gonna cut up

all those fish into
smokable sections

and then smoke all day long.

But right now, just
hoping to get some more.

It's fishing time.

♪

I'm feeling really kind
of, like, settled in now.

You know, like, the first
couple weeks, I was like,

"Okay, okay, it's
only been two weeks.

I gotta be here for so
much longer, and... uhh..."

but I'm feeling
kind of settled in.

One fish equals three to
four more days in the game.

I'm just kind of
focused on being here

and enjoying myself
and getting food.

That's the big deal.

Food is everything out here.

[sighs]

Tired.

Be nice to have a
good sleep tonight.

I was excited today, though.

I was... got one.

Oh, [bleep], that's a big one.

Feels big.

I don't care about that.

I don't care about that.
I don't care about that.

Oh, [bleep] yeah.

Holy [bleep], that's beautiful.

Now where's my spool?

Oh, [bleep], it's in the water.

Okay, this is not
good, boys and girls.

It's right there. [bleep].

Okay, what am I gonna do here?

Um... I'm going in.

It's gonna be cold.

Don't go... [bleep].

It's going down even further.

You gotta get it.

I can't lose the spool.

That's all my fishing line.

♪

- Where's my spool?

[bleep], it's in the water.

Okay, what am I gonna do here?

Um... going in.

♪

Don't go... [bleep].

It's going down even further.

You gotta get it.

That spool is
everything, man. Come on.

It's all my fishing line.

♪

Okay, good. It's still there.

Going in.

Ooh, that's cold.

[tense music]

That wasn't even exciting.

♪

Whoo!

Now I can celebrate!

Man, I would've gone
in my undie-pants,

but I'm not wearing any.

[chuckles]

Oh, that's a big one.

Oh, yes.

Okay, now I'm getting cold.

Wow, that was close.

I'm lucky... Really,
really lucky...

I got the spool back.

Tomorrow is a day
of fish smoking.

♪

I want to feel and
experience this adventure

to the fullest extent.

I'm fully expecting
to have to suffer.

And it sounds strange,
but I want to suffer.

I want to have to suffer
to get everything I can

out of this experience.

I want to test myself and see

how far I can push
myself through it.

♪

You know... you want to know
what I think of my smoker?

I think it's smokin'.

Dad joke. [laughs]

Dad joke.

♪

The smoker is done.

Come here, you big,
beautiful fish.

I've never smoked fish before.

I usually smoke deer
meat and elk meat,

but I feel confident.

That's a nice big one.

Perfect.

I'm using alder,
birch, and willow

because they're
low-resinous woods,

and they create
a healthier smoke

without the resin
and carcinogens,

and it makes the
fish taste better.

Look at that.

Ooh, yeah.

Whoo-hoo!

I'm happy.

It's working good.

So the plan is,

I don't touch those
fish for a while,

and I just keep
catching fresh fish...

[laughs] And eating that.

That's the plan.

One fresh fish every
two or three days.

And I have that as backup.

Made a high-tech door.

Life is good right now.

But I know what's coming:

times when life isn't good.

Weather change and no food
and the fish aren't biting.

'Cause I know that's
gonna happen eventually.

[tense music]

♪

- So we made very
good progress today

on the spruce grouse lodge.

And I've been working
since this morning.

And I think I'm gonna, you
know, just slow it down.

All right, I'm
gonna bunker down.

I'll play some chess.

That's what I'm gonna do.

♪

I have food for a
handful of days,

but man, the prospect of food
when you see this weather,

you know, just to worry
about the long term,

worry that I'm not eating enough

to keep up the weight, you know?

♪

Look at the wind.

[laughs] It's wild.

Next, I'm gonna finish this
wall and then put a door.

That'd be cool.

All right, so let's
play some chess.

Let's go the classic E4, E5.

♪

It's a classic opening.

I made a chess board out
of this box that I found.

♪

This is the tower, the rook.

This is the knight.

We have now a chess set.

Chess is a game of strategy.

And it's something
that allows me

to think about other things

than just the weather and
the k*lling and eating

so I can enjoy my time here.

You want to come with
the knight right here,

attacking that pawn.

On days like today,
I miss people.

Thinking about everyone.

I wonder how Mikey is doing.

He's a big guy.

It's a lot of weight.

So he has a lot of fuel to burn.

I think he has the
personality 100% to go far.

I'll take your queen's gambit.

Melanie, strong woman.

She's so skilled at things.

She has the right
mindset, right everything.

♪

Yeah, you can move your
bishop so you can castle,

which is a very slow move.

Wyatt, quite a hunter.

He could be the guy that
would get the moose.

He has that experienced.

You want to come
with the knight.

I will protect my
knight with my pawn.

Alan, he is a hell of
a hunter, good guy.

Not a lot of weight to lose.

We'll see.

[tense music]

♪

♪

- Welcome to insomnia.

[groans]

I'm tired but just
can't go to sleep.

Lay here and stare
off into space.

That's about it.

All right.

Save some power on this.

♪

- This is the first time
since I've been here

that my hat is
about to blow off.

And this hat fits well.

Wow.

Those are some waves.

It's literally hard to breathe
when you're facing the wind.

- I've probably been
awake for an hour,

just laying here
listening to the rain.

- Good morning from paradise.

Wow, I mean, this
could almost be

considered summer in England.

I got rain whipping at my face.

It's pushing me, the wind.

It's just not smoking properly.

So the wind's being a
real [bleep] b*stard.

I can't fish.

I can't smoke fish.

- I'll probably just
spend the rest of the day

in the shelter, hanging out.

Ain't really a
whole hell of a lot

more to do when it's raining.

♪

- [groans]

Boredom.

Boredom is the
real k*ller for me.

I can keep my mind off stuff
as long as I can keep moving.

♪

- Just a fun day, just
chilling in the tepee

in the pouring rain.

♪

- I don't know what everyone
else's shelters are like,

but I can imagine
there's one or two people

not having a very
good time right now.

Nobody is having a good time.

[laughs] That's for sure.

♪

My shelter is gonna need
some touch-ups tomorrow,

there's no question about it.

♪

- Having a shelter like
this always requires

upkeep and attention,
especially with the wind.

So I'll be taking all
of my spruce off my bed,

shaking it around,
getting some air in it,

and then re-laying it just so
it's as bouncy as possible.

I have to stay low,
keep my energy quiet,

save everything up
until I can push again

and go back to
those blueberries.

I'm nervous to see what the
blueberries are looking like.

♪

- [bleep] damn, it's
gonna be a long day.

From a young age, I learned
how to roll with the punches

and try to make the hard
parts more bearable.

Keep my mind occupied, take
it off of how cold it is,

take it off of not eating.

That's pretty neat, huh?

I'll just play some dice here.

I call this Five Die.

The goal here is
to get to 10,000.

So that's 50.

Keep my hands moving,
keep myself busy.

♪

- I don't think I've
ever been around

wind so strong for
so long in my life.

- If I couldn't do this,

then I would probably go crazy.

Can't wait for all
this to be over with.

And maybe I can go
outside and do something.

♪

- It's not pouring down anymore.

But I have been waiting
on the wind to stop.

The wind has not stopped.

And I've gotten tired
of laying there.

♪

I've been stuck in my
shelter with no protein.

I'm gonna go for a walk,

see if I can find
something to eat.

♪

A major part of
survival is luck.

It doesn't matter how
much skill you have.

It doesn't matter how many
animals you've k*lled.

Doesn't matter how many
fish that you've caught.

If the fish don't want
the bait that you have,

they're not gonna eat it.

You can hunt your whole life,

but if an animal never
walks in front of you,

you're not gonna get it.

It's all about luck.

I'm gonna stop for a second.

Let my presence here die down.

Yeah, I'd like to have
something to eat today.

See what's down this way.

♪

Not seeing any game sign.

I'm gonna have to
expand my ground.

I'm gonna have to explore more.

I'm gonna have to risk
walking off into a place

that I've never been to
try to find more food.

♪

There's a grouse.

[suspenseful music]

♪

Just hang out right here.

Gonna be patient.

♪

I got him.

[bleep] got him.

Man, I wish I would have
had my aim on like this

whenever I first started.

I would have never
missed a meal.

We got it.

We got a grouse.

So great.

♪

Oh, thank you for that grouse.

Oh, man, nothing
like a full belly.

Right now, I may make some
ink and write a letter.

Crush up charcoal in my
little container here.

♪

Add a little bit of water.

I can always add more charcoal.

♪

Look how black that is.

♪

I'm a rich man for everything
but money and time.

♪

I have a family that loves me.

And I love them.

And I have the ability
to provide for them.

♪

I just don't have the money
to have time with them.

$500,000, that's a lot of money.

People say you
can't buy happiness,

but if I had more
time with them,

I'd be a lot happier.

So the first letter I
ever wrote on "Alone."

And I know...

that my handwriting is terrible.

♪

But I'm gonna let you
know what this one says.

The next ones, I won't.

This one says, "Dear
Hazel, I am writing this

"on a piece of birch
bark with a pen and ink

"that I made from a feather
and some charcoal and water

"on a rainy, windy day
laying here thinking of home

"and missing y'all so bad.

"If this works, I will
write more letters.

Love always, Mikey."

♪

Aw.

Aw, I know, it pulls
at the heartstrings.

Aw.

So with that being said,

everybody, good night.

I love y'all, and I miss y'all.

♪

I'm gonna try to go to sleep.

[tense music]

[tense music]

[tense music]

♪

- Wow, crazy.

Last night, I got woken
up by a big crash.

The winds were really strong.

And my woodshed is attached
to four living trees.

And because of the
swaying of the trees,

it's broken through
my wool cordage,

which makes total sense,
because it's only wool.

Ah, a little bit of
devastation here.

Got some work to do.

♪

I think what I'll do is
I'll deconstruct this

so I can construct it
when I'm ready to rebuild.

♪

I still might
prioritize the berries

because they really do
have a limited span.

Yeah, a lot of this is dry.

That moss does its
job really well.

Seeing that my woodshed
is down, I am so bummed.

I wish I had not tried to
build it around live trees.

But you learn by living.

If I put everything
into different sections,

I'll know what's what
when I rebuild it.

It's an interesting
thing doing this

because I definitely
have strengths,

and I definitely
have weaknesses.

And you have to
show your mistakes.

And I'm scared [bleep]
that I'll be shown

in a way that
doesn't make my son

or my dude proud of me.

Underneath the hay is dry wood.

So that is cool.

It takes a lot of
ba*ls to do this.

But you just gotta
trust in the process

and hope to God
it turns out okay.

♪

It's definitely
better than it was.

Now I'm gonna go inside.

And I'm just gonna chill
while this wonderful weather

has its fun and games.

[tense music]

For the most part,
all I was doing

for the last two days
was just lying in bed.

So I've had a lot of
time with my thoughts.

I'm gonna need energy
to go get those berries.

I'm gonna need to
be feeling good.

So it's time to eat.

The longer I'm in my shelter,
the more I think of Brian.

♪

It makes me emotional.

♪

Oh, Mr. Brian,

I've been racking my brains

as to how I can talk to you.

This is a very secret, secret,
secret SD card just for you.

[crying]

I love you.

And I miss you.

And I miss... not being
able to talk to you...

[sighs]

I mean, it's cool and
everything being out here.

And if I'm really,
really good at foraging,

I can stay out here
for a long, long time

and win us that money.

And then we can do all
sorts of amazing things,

have a pond and a
tractor and a truck...

[crying]

And a working area
by the chicken coop.

And I'm just thinking of that.

My fishing is [bleep].

I cannot catch a [bleep]
fish to save my life.

I think I've caught one.

But I'm not stopping.

I'm not giving up.

I cannot show any sign
of weakness on the camera

because they'll focus on it.

I just have to be happy
Melanie and upbeat.

Because I don't want
them to use anything

that could make me look weak.

I just wish you were here.

I'm gonna be stuck to you
like glue when I come home.

You're gonna be
so fed up with it.

I miss you so much.

[tense music]

♪

- Here I am again, smoking fish.

That seems to be
what I do these days.

This is the second day in a row

with crappy, rainy weather.

And I'm going to continue
smoking those fish

because they're still too moist.

Yeah, I can't screw
up this food source.

I can't let it go bad.

If I over-smoke it,
I over-smoke it.

I'm really worried
about those fish

getting moldy or
rotting or something.

If I could go back in
time, I probably would have

sliced them into thinner pieces.

But it's too late.

More time in the smoker.

♪

Probably too windy to cast.

But forgot about an idea
I had it for a new lure.

I'm gonna make that right now.

So this is Lake Trout Baby
number one right here.

And it's getting kind of tired.

It's... the parachute
cord is all tangled.

It doesn't have that
nice, flowy wave

like a minnow anymore.

So I'll probably repair
Lake Trout Baby One.

But right now, I'm making
Lake Trout Baby Two.

And it's gonna be better.

All right, let's start boring.

The longer I stay here, I feel,

the more I am settling here.

Man, this bark really
looks like fish skin.

♪

That's awesome.

I'm just thinking more
about what I need to do next

to stay longer.

That storm sucked.

Sitting so long in one spot
impacts my mind negatively.

♪

It's getting cold.

There's this emotion
that I feel out here.

It's hard to explain,
but it's almost like

pain in your chest.

I want to see my family.

I miss them a lot.

I miss my wife right now.

I like to talk to
her and tell her

about my adventures

and all the stuff
I've been doing,

my mishaps, my successes.

Lake Trout Baby Two.

It's got some huge improvements.

It's got a stinger
hook extraordinaire...

Both facing in
opposite directions.

So I'm gonna do a couple casts,

because you can't catch
fish if you're not fishing.

♪

Lots of people are away
from their family for times.

But very rarely you can't
talk to them, you know?

Definitely a little
less windy, thank God.

Lake Trout Baby Two,
show me your stuff.

♪

Oh.

You can't call them.

That's the weird thing.

Come on.

Not being able to call and
say, hey, how's it going?

Yeah, this is what I did today.

How are you? Everything okay?

Can't do that.

♪

That's what messes
with you a bit.

Got one.

[dramatic music]

[bleep].

Lost it by the shore.

[sighs]

That's really frustrating.

How did he get off?

♪

I had constant pressure on
him, man, constant pressure.

♪

[sighs]

Losing my [bleep] mind, man.

Maybe they're
starting to bite now.

Let's get another one.

♪

There's a lot at stake here.

I need food.

And my smoker is not smoking.

♪

I'm burning up inside right now.

Take a deep breath.

[sighs]

Burning up inside.

♪

Got one.

No!

Oh, [bleep].

What the [bleep] is going on?

♪

[bleep], I don't [bleep]
believe this [bleep].

Holy [bleep].

♪

[groans]

♪

This might be the most
frustrated I've felt.

♪

Let's go.

♪

Oh, look, there's
another fish I just lost.

♪

Wow.

♪

Yup, that's the night.

That's the night tonight.

That is the night.

I've never had such bad
fishing luck in all my life.

These strikes today are...
They're gonna haunt me.

♪

It could be the difference.

Landing these and
not landing these

could be the difference.