♪
Just like that, you're alone.
This is the arctic, folks.
♪
Oh,.
Oh, my God. There's a lynx.
It's looking right at me.
It seems like snow is here early.
It's hard to see.
-Ow! -I think I broke it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
To go out before I even get a chance--
That hurts immensely.
♪
In "Alone's" coldest location ever,
ten participants fight to survive the arctic.
The arctic is one of the most
physically demanding places on Earth.
So freakin' cold right now.
Battling sub-zero temperatures...
-This climate's harsh. -It's extreme.
It's mean. It's got teeth.
Get caught out here in a whiteout, you're in trouble.
Vicious predators...
Just heard something big moving back there.
Me against the wolverine right now.
And isolation.
There's nothing to fill that void.
It's just you left alone with your thoughts.
How long will they endure?
House is on fire.
I'm scared, but I don't wanna tap.
This is the most unforgiving landscape
I've ever seen.
The last one standing wins.
This environment will strip away
everything and anything you thought you had.
♪
Well, it stopped snowing. That's good...
That sun feels great.
I'll give my beard a quick
comb through.
Back to work...
I should probably go get that moss before it snows again.
♪
So...
Yeah, um, shelter's almost done.
Relatively simple--
Try to build my own bear den for the most part,
just something that's super warm.
I don't wanna wait till winter to get all this done...
All right, so, what I've done is--
We're gonna use some of this sphagnum moss as
a good insulating layer on my shelter.
This stuff comes out in huge carpets.
I've just been using my ax. You can see how big this is.
This is the arctic hide, as I like to call it.
There, in this spot...
Seems like it's a lot of work, and it is, but,
you know,
as much as I'd love to be home right now,
kissing my wife and
hanging with my boys...
This is what has to be done.
I've served in the military,
I've lived all around the world,
and I run a wilderness survival
and primitive living school.
The arctic is gonna be the toughest location ever,
but to be 100% honest,
I don't have a weak skill.
If I felt I had something that
I don't know that much about, I wouldn't be here.
People might call it arrogance,
but people call it arrogance when they lack confidence.
You go first.
Biggest thing I'm gonna miss will be my family.
They really have made me grow as a husband, as a father.
They are my life's work.
I love you guys.
The reason why I'm doing this is just last year,
I had a massive heart attack.
The heart attack I had is known as the widow maker.
99% of the time, it's the final chapter.
And as a heart attack survivor,
you could lay down and die in the corner,
or you can stand up and fight for what you wanna do
and what you believe in.
This is my fight.
All right...
That looks pretty good.
My survival plan is very simple.
I need fish. I need large game.
I need long-term food resources.
All right...
So, what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna make a rabbit stick,
or a primitive throwing stick.
I found this piece of pine,
which is kind of in a natural shape already.
You can--you can see it's almost like a--
A boomerang or a whale's tail if it came out to here,
but just want that tool that I can reach, grab...
Employ, and hopefully get a meal.
♪
Everything we do in life, there's pressure to succeed.
And for me, I'm a very success-driven person,
Having a heart attack and
trying to achieve a certain level of excellence--
That's a huge goal, but I don't really feel like
I can't do because of the heart attack.
It's something that I think is actually making me stronger.
All right...
I think she...
Is good.
I'ma give it a few test throws...
See what she does.
Aw, she spins like a beaut.
Test flight of
Ptarmigan Squirrel 3000 Go-Getter Eater Thingy.
Oh...
That's a throw.
♪
Moose call.
Let's get out there and try to get some food.
♪
So, today, I'm setting up several
promising snares-- see how all that goes.
Just hanging on by a nub there, and a nub there
on opposite sides of the stick
so that no matter which way it's running,
it pulls it off of its little nub
before he has a chance to escape.
Winter's gonna come really quickly.
You don't wanna start deteriorating
right before it goes into December in the arctic.
I'm not gonna win a starving contest.
I'm the thinnest guy here.
So, if I can provide the food,
I'm not gonna out sit people that weigh
30 pounds more than me.
And that's my fear because I think that's the only thing
that'll take me out of here.
Hopefully, it's just a matter of time now.
My winter home.
Say, "Hi, Mama! I'm on the roof!"
Growing up on a farm got me prepared for time alone.
-Whoa. -Whoa.
A big tree.
Hey, hey!
I've spent a lot of time living in the forest
with native reindeer herders in Siberia.
During those five years with them,
I gained a lot of skills necessary for this experience.
I think that probably is my big advantage.
I'm definitely a jack of all trades--
Fishing, trapping, and hunting.
I'm good enough at everything to win.
Hopefully, I can call in a moose
'cause it'll be mating season for moose.
I'm leaving behind my wife and kids
and I'm gonna definitely miss them all terribly.
But $500,000--
you just can't pass that opportunity up,
especially when you have the experience that I have.
And if you can manage to win,
that money is gonna provide you
a lot more time with your family
than your three months or six months you lost.
Bye!
Just exploring my land a little more,
and this has to be explained...
So at least there's some semblance of justice.
But look at this.
That's my only patch of green.
That's where I live.
♪
Now, look--fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire,
as far as you can see.
Makes me angry--like, man,
putting me in the arctic right before winter is one thing,
but put me in the arctic in a place
that's been decimated by fire--
Not cool.
You gotta at least point out
what a rough spot I am.
Can't imagine a worse one.
♪
How am I supposed to live here?
♪
Um...
I could use a little--
I could use a little more sleep.
I am not a morning person.
I haven't been a morning person my whole entire life.
Like, as a kid, I would sleep in on Christmas, okay?
That's how much of a not-morning person I am...
Seriously.
♪
Out here, I don't have any schedule.
I can sleep in to whenever I want.
The world we live in is so full of schedules
and routines and ruts,
but out here, nah.
♪
So, I found a few pieces of alder.
And...
I'm gonna...
make a couple Paiute dead falls for the mice,
and go set it up in that mushroom patch...
I'ma use these Vs as the upright...
And...
Cut them off here.
To survive in the arctic,
I need to feel like I don't know what my wall is.
I don't know if humans actually have a wall.
I think that's something that we make up
to say it's okay to give up, to not reach your goals,
to not be all of who you are.
I don't think I have a wall,
and if I've got some struggles,
I can climb over that thing.
♪
There we go.
Man, the wind--ow,.
I just cut myself..
It's not good.
No!
I need to stop the bleeding. This is freakin' crazy.
Where is the gauze?
Man.
♪
I'm so bitter right now.
♪
Cut myself..
I've been so freakin' careful.
This is ridiculous...
♪
I don't wanna go home.
it.
♪
I'm not tapping out.
I can do this.
I have to make sure that this is clean in there.
It's freaking deep, though.
I'm not getting this thing infected.
♪
Oh!
Ow.
Any kind of wound or cut out here is
so dangerous.
I'm gonna put it inside this mitt...
♪
Keep my hand warm.
♪
Oh...
I am so not prepared right now for a big wound.
I have so much work to do.
God...
Can't believe it.
I just so don't want this cut
to send me home.
♪
What do you say, Mr. Seagull?
Hm.
Come to think of it, interesting--
That seagull goes and sits on that rock over there
this time of day.
Where'd he go?
Comes over here...
To sit on that rock.
Thank you, friendly seagull. I shall try that fishing spot.
I'm a search and rescue canine handler,
and I've been a bow hunter since I was 14.
I spend a lot of time
researching the animals that I hunt,
understanding their activities.
And in order to stay out here for a longer period of time,
I think that hunting is going to be crucial.
The X that you can see indicate it's a canine.
I am 100% confident that I am going to win.
I've always thought that most of our limits
that we put on ourselves are self-imposed,
and once you get past those,
you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to.
I feel at home in the outdoors.
I have the skills and the mindset needed
to be successful in this endeavor.
Ah, is there anything better than chilling by the fire?
I'm leaving my wife and my youngest son,
but I'm one that believes that they're within me,
and so, I'm bringing them with me.
In the last few months,
my wife and I have been overwhelmed with urban life.
The money would allow us that freedom
to get away from the city
and live a better life.
All this because a seagull landed there.
Yup.
♪
I think these first two weeks are gonna be important
for long-term success for any of the participants,
so I'm trying to bring in some fish ASAP.
♪
That was a terrible cast.
Everything that you do has a little equation
that you gotta figure out for success,
and once you crack the code and figure out the equation
for success, then it can be duplicated.
But in this situation,
the chances for frustration or failures are high.
♪
Come on, there's gotta be one fish
that would be hungry enough to take that fly.
♪
Oh, I got a fish!
No freakin' way.
♪
Get it up.
♪
Ah! Aha!
Ah, I'm going to eat!
Ah...
Yes!
♪
There's my fish.
All righty.
Time to, uh,
get to work on this bad boy.
♪
This is the most meaningful fish that I've ever caught.
I think struggle does make you stronger
both mentally and physically.
Just like a weightlifter lifts heavy weights
to build his muscles,
these experiences strengthen our mind.
The more you break yourself down,
the more you're going to gain.
♪
Oh, wow,
Its swim bladder is filled with little parasitic worms.
♪
I saw one move.
♪
I could be putting my health at risk,
but I'm not going to win if I can't eat.
♪
I'm gonna cook it thoroughly.
♪
Thank you, Mother Nature.
Thank you, Canadian arctic.
There's a Grey jay.
Want that fish, don't you?
I will give you a piece.
That'll be
how I give back to the land.
Here you go.
Hm...
There you go.
Awesome.,
♪
Diary of a lumberjack...
Log 1,000,
same location.
I find with every
bit of wood that I cut...
A little hope
and a little luck...
That maybe when I go
fishing tomorrow...
I'll catch a fish bigger than
a buck?
I don't know anything that rhymes with "luck."
Oh, I do...
Hello.
Hm, those are all right.
Hungry today.
Need to get my hunt on.
♪
This is an awesome adventure.
It's great if you're doing this only for the money,
but for me personally,
the journey is why I'm out here.
There's no resources and
no one there to pat you on the back and say,
"It's gonna be all better."
You have to draw from deep within inside.
♪
My biggest frustration when it comes to getting food
right now is fish.
Even though I'm struggling out here with fishing,
this doesn't break my confidence
or break my forward momentum.
We used to have a saying in the Marine Corps.
"Now, what's the first thing that dies in combat?
It's typically your plan."
On "Alone," that same principle applies.
What's your first plan in "Alone"?
To get fish. Well, when you're not,
you gotta come up with a different plan.
♪
I heard that.
♪
Al right.
I saw a little muskrat-- just put an arrow into him.
I got a meal.
Yeah!
Awesome.,
Thank you, little dude. I appreciate it.
♪
I'm starving.
Cut around that tail...
Couple things you wanna avoid on the muskrat--
You really gotta clear the scent glands on it,
and make sure that you're not gonna pop any of those
and spoil your meat.
The other thing you wanna check
is definitely all the vital organs.
Check the liver. Make sure it's not spotted.
You wanna look through the internals, even.
If you have to, go through the intestines.
Make sure there's no worms or anything
in the residual poo that remains.
If you eat something that is tainted or has worms,
if you're just gonna put that inside your system,
it can definitely cause you some long-term problems.
Not a lot of meat, but...
Some.
♪
This is Michelle from Channel 6 News.
I am in here with the weather forecast
for all you northerners
otherwise staying in the arctic in primitive-style shelters.
I suggest that you make sure you have enough firewood
stored up, fresh water, and some berries on hand
if you're like Michelle who has not yet caught
a single fish or lined animal.
This is Michelle, Channel 6 News.
Out.
♪
I think it's day seven.
I'm starting to feel the hunger
a little bit more today.
I haven't even seen a fish since I've been here.
I can't even begin to describe
how frustrating that is for me.
♪
So, I'm getting ready to go find a different area
to fish in.
At home, I'm kind of the master fisherman.
I'd be devastated if I don't catch fish out here.
♪
I already live remotely.
And I come from a family of farming,
rural, tough, gritty folk.
I grew up hunting and fishing and trapping.
I needed to know how to fish so that
we had supper on the table.
I had to learn how to stalk deer
so that I had food on the freaking table.
Everything that I have had to go through in my life
prepared me for this.
The thing that's gonna set me apart
is just sheer determination.
I don't quit.
And it's not something that somebody can go out and learn.
Barring me hurting myself seriously,
I don't see what's going to take me out of it.
There you go.
Come on, chickies!
The biggest thing that I'll miss is, of course, my family,
but they're waiting for me on the other side.
Like, they're waiting for me to finish this.
At the end of it, somebody's gonna win $500,000.
And I do want to win,
Winning this means total freedom.
I wouldn't have to worry about being hungry,
being without a home.
That's all I need.
♪
The is that? You see it?
Huh.
What the hell?
In Michelle's piece of land, there's no wildlife, however,
she's finding pieces of trash.
That is a 50-gallon drum...
♪
That I could turn into something.
♪
I can't survive on thin air out here.
Without food, I'm not going to last.
Every time I find something, I have to think about it as,
how can I use this to get me food?
Shtink, sthank, shtunk.
So, I've got an idea for it...
Make a raft, and then go see where I can catch some fish,
I tipped it so it can drain out.
It looks like from the outside.
Story of my life.
♪
-Muskrat. -I'm having muskrat wings.
Mmm.
Let's dig in.
Mm...
Tastes good to have some meat.
I don't have any, like, dipping sauces or anything.
Sorry.
But I can tell you that...
No sauce is needed.
That's all she wrote, folks.
Time to cut some firewood.
It absolutely feels great to have
some food inside my system, some nourishment,
and it's gonna allow me to live on and carry on.
But once you eat that meat off of those bones,
it's time to get down to business, get to work.
♪
God dang, man. What the heck?
My insides have turned.
♪
I feel like there's something definitely wrong inside.
♪
I just started having...
just, you know, the poos, if you will...
You know, it's just cramps and abdominal pain.
♪
I'm not in a good place.
I'm not in a good place right now.
♪
My insides are killing me. They're absolutely killing me.
♪
This is gonna be a rough night.
♪
Ugh.
Little bit of blood. It's a bit sore, you know?
It's just sore.
But it looks like it's sealing nicely,
which I'm really happy about.
Yeah, that looks good.
Just like that.
Okay.
Happy with that.
Happy.
♪
Getting this bad cut on my hand--
That could've been a downer,
but I know it's getting better,
and I know this place is gonna make me dig deeper
than I ever have.
♪
The one-armed logger-- not bad, huh?
♪
Yeah.
That's just my foot out of my boot.
My boot is also steaming.
Means my boots are wet.
That's the problem with these types of boots,
is your feet sweat in them.
And then they sweat, and then... they get wet.
Probably due to being in the arctic!
♪
Hey, guys, remember when I found that barrel?
I've got an idea for it.
I might be able to tie my fishing lines on it.
♪
We are looking at probably two weeks
before we get dang cold.
I'm hoping that the best long-term food source
is going to be fish,
but if I am not set up in the next two weeks,
I could be risking death.
So it's pretty clear that
I am not able to catch fish here from shore.
I've spent countless hours
sitting here and watching the water,
and I haven't seen any movement.
I'm thinking, what if I build a boat out of this barrel
to get hooks in the water and then maybe,
I can finally get fish with it.
So, I think what I'm gonna do
is, like, I say, put those on either side.
Now, these...
Are...
They're stabilizing it
so it doesn't roll.
"Go to the arctic," they said.
"It'll be fun," no one said.
"You'll enjoy your time," I thought.
♪
Well, hopefully, this idea works.
We'll see how she floats.
♪
Ee-oops.
♪
What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take some of my fish hooks,
rig lines to it, and get it into deeper water.
♪
I have high hopes of this working.
♪
Swamp Barrel Susie, prepare to be launched.
Huzzah!
♪
I expect you to float, you fat.
♪
Get out there, you bitch. Go catch me some fish.
♪
It's...
2:20 in the morning.
And, um...
♪
I'm not feeling good.
♪
Uh...
♪
There's nothing left in me.
I'm completely drained of all bodily fluids at this time.
♪
Back home, I need to be t tough guy.
I need to be the one my kids can say,
"It's Dad. He's the superhero."
But not being able to keep anything inside your body
is a very serious thing.
I can't take my heart medication,
and without my heart medication,
I can go down a path
that leads to another heart attack,
and... then it's really game over.
♪
my shower?
I don't have a shower--
My fire pit...
I'm in a lot of pain.
Every muscle and joint is just...
Throbbing.
♪
I feel like there's something inside of me
that's just taking control.
My chest is sore.
My body aches all over, the dry-heaving--
It's just something that is completely
not right.
I ignored the signs of my heart attack.
I felt chest pains and-- all day.
And then that evening,
all the way into the following morning...
Eventually, the pain just took over,
and it woke me up, and it was too late.
Gotta think of everything I can do to...
Fix my guts.
It's like...
♪
I tried.
I'm sorry, Eliza...
I'm sorry, boys.
I tried...
This is Donny.
I'm officially tapping.
♪
I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna have to see
my wife and kids and tell them that
what I promised them that I would do,
I wasn't able to do it.
♪
I can hear a boat coming.
♪
Hey, Donny.
♪
I know something's not right.
And from my heart attack, I just--
I try and listen, and I know--
I know something's-- something's wrong.
I never thought I would put that phone in my hand
and make that call,
but I quickly realized it's not worth it.
My family needs me and I need them.
♪
In every situation,
there's gonna be positives and negatives,
and you're gonna learn from both of them.
For me, I cheated a lot out here,
and there's a lot of things I failed at.
And I'm realizing that
it's okay to let the barriers down and
it's okay to be human and ask somebody for help.
It just shows that you have flaws,
and you can be prepared,
have all the survival skills, the perfect shelter.
You can be on top of your game,
but one small little thing on the insides,
and it's game over.
♪
I think if I would've stayed out there
for another day or two,
we might not be having this conversation.
♪
-Yeah! -It's pretty good for a day.
Definitely have something going on in my belly,
definitely nauseous.
Definitely vomiting a little bit of blood.
This is the longest I've ever gone without food.
Yeah, baby--no!
-Uh-oh. -I got a fire.
Holy.
♪