[dramatic music]
* *
- Previously on "Race to Survive: New Zealand,"
38 days and 135 miles...
- This is what we do.
- Six eliminations, five races,
four survival camps...
- We a long way from the city!
- The toughest race ever conceived has tested
the limits of what even the most elite athletes
on the planet can endure.
* *
- I feel so bad.
- I cannot keep pushing like this.
- What began with lofty dreams of a life-changing payday...
- We're all here competing for half a million dollars.
- Jesus Christ, that would change everything.
- I really don't see any competition.
- Quickly turned...
- It's the bucket.
I'm stuck.
- To the harshest of realities...
- At this point, we are 100% starving,
complete catabolic states.
- In a contest that requires more than speed and strength.
both: Eat some calories.
- Some succumbed
to the brutality of the landscape.
- God damn it.
- You heard a crack?
- Yeah.
- Some, the rigor of survival in the wild.
- How much more can we lose from our bodies?
- But three determined teams
have risen to every challenge.
Smoke jumpers Ethan and Tyrie...
- This is the big one.
This is the one we're gonna dump it all out for,
put it all out on the line,
and really see what we're made of.
- Oil workers Kennedy and Nik...
- This is our time.
We're here for a reason.
So now I've really gotta believe
that anything can happen.
- And mountaineering exes Paulina and Creighton.
- This is gonna be the fight of our lives,
like you're the third monkey in line for Noah's Ark,
and, brother, it's starting to rain.
- Now it all comes down to one race for the ultimate prize...
- Yes, the finale!
- Whoo-hoo! [laughs]
- And the winner of "Race To Survive: New Zealand."
* *
[dramatic music]
* *
- $500,000, it is life-changing money for us.
But now it's bigger than that.
There's a lot of lessons learned from just this race.
Watch that big rock in the center.
Push, push, push!
It feels like it's a lot farther
than we should have gone.
- I think our character has been developed in the way
that we deal with our emotions and our problems.
Dedicating this one to my father, man.
- Tell him to give you strength and ask him to watch over us.
- And we got a lot stronger overall
and closer because of it.
- Ah, my dude!
- Through this challenge, I think
every competitor realized a new level
of what they're capable of.
- We weren't best friends coming into this.
We were recently divorced.
It was a hard start.
You were slow in the forest.
I have seen you move faster.
- I feel like you've been really mean to me
like all day today.
And I don't understand what's going on.
Emotionally and mentally, both of us put a lot
on the line to come out here, so we had to be open.
It's what kept us pushing through
and working so well as a team.
- I'm excited to cross this finish line with you.
- Adventure exes for life!
- The beginning of this race, there was a self-doubt
cycle that was initiated.
- We're all waiting here. Come on.
- Huddle up! Huddle up.
- ----, we're idiots.
I don't want to be up here.
Whoo-hoo-hoo, get me the ---- off this mountain.
- Basically tested every single piece
of my body, my mind, my soul.
Came here to suffer, and here we are.
I am definitely suffering.
- We became a completely different team.
Nik, I got it!
- Nice!
Maybe we are who we think we are.
Maybe we're flipping top contenders.
- Our confidence has skyrocketed.
All these bits and pieces are coming together.
- Everything changed.
That's why we're gonna win this thing.
- This is the last one.
- $500,000, let's go, baby. - Let's get it.
- $500,000 - Let's get it.
- Let's go. Let's go.
- This is it, the final, exhausting 15-mile
crusade for all the marbles.
Out of the blocks, they'll hit the creek run,
an ankle-breaking sprint across moss-slick rocks.
Next is Dead End Cavern, a limestone labyrinth
of false hope and confusion that, if solved,
exits to the Alpine Climb, a grueling 11-mile trek
that rises over sheer, brush-filled ridges.
From there, they'll scale The Dome,
a mammoth 1,500-foot-high barrier
and their toughest climb yet that leads to the final push,
a clamber through karst-rock crevices that surge
to the summit, where the winners will lay claim
to the final set of medallions and $500,000.
* *
- Oh, yeah, guys, let's do it.
- I'm so excited.
- The final test...
- All right, are you guys ready to count it down?
- Let's do it on five.
all: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
- Starts now.
- Let's go, baby!
- Yeah, brother.
- Yeah, buddy.
- Whoo, whoo, whoo!
- Come on, go, go, go.
- You got it, Paul.
- Moving steady, brother.
- Keep pushing.
We can get there before them.
- Come on, dude.
Killing it, E.
- You got it, Paul.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Let's get it, buddy.
- Oh, there she is.
Good, good.
Let's keep going.
- Ah!
- Come on, Nik.
You're doing great.
- I lost my teammate.
Hey, Paula, let's keep going. Keep going.
We're almost there.
- OK.
I keep falling.
My body just feels very heavy and wet and cold.
So every time you pick yourself up out of the water,
it's exhausting.
- You got sticks.
You got balance.
Let's move.
They're 30 yards ahead.
We're not at the cave yet.
- I can feel like all that negative self-talk
just like creeping back in.
But I have Creighton depending on me to get back up and push.
I don't want to let him down.
I'm so sorry.
- You're OK.
[panting]
We're almost out of this.
We're almost out of this shitty part.
- As Paulina and Creighton struggle
to find their footing...
- Come on, brother.
- Front-runners Ethan and Tyrie
stride into the lead...
- This. Ooh.
- Welcome back to the darkness.
You're returning to New Zealand's underworld.
- And get first crack at Dead End Cavern.
While the most direct route through is only 1,200 yards,
the maze-like passages induce a literal tunnel vision.
Armed with only a map, compass, and headlamp
to cut through the darkness, teams must chart a course
through the hidden paths, blocked alleys,
and false pockets to return to the surface.
* *
- We are caving.
The prize money is a huge drive.
There's a saying in wildland fire--
you get paid in sunsets.
But then the fire season ends, and you realize,
shoot, I don't know if we're gonna be able
to survive until the fires start happening again.
- Let's stick right.
- Stay right.
Stay right.
- I got friends all the time that'll send me pictures
of a fast food joint that's hiring
new entry-level employees that are getting paid
$3 an hour more than what I'm getting paid.
And I've been doing this for a decade.
* *
- Ow.
Heads up for rocks.
- Yeah.
Yeah, we--it looks like a dead end to me.
- Has to be the other route then.
[dramatic music]
- You got your map?
You got your compass?
You got your water?
- Map, compass, water, got it.
Check. - OK.
- I'm very religious.
I really do believe there's a greater power.
It's pushing me towards some higher end.
Multiple times throughout the last couple of weeks,
I've seen the same vision, and I've started crying.
The vision is there's a storm coming.
We have to go through it.
And a crate is on the top of the summit, and we open it.
- Ho-ho.
- I think we're gonna win $500,000.
That's what I've seen.
- Well, let me look out with you.
Entrance, broke tan line.
- It's gotta be in here.
- Right there, straight down.
Gotta boogie.
OK, drop it down.
- $500,000 is a lot of money.
- I know we are here for a reason.
I grew up poor.
I work a blue-collar job.
- We both want better lives.
But you can't just have that.
You need to earn it.
The Lord is basically testing us.
And that's why we're here.
- OK, come on down.
OK.
- So we--we should probably go this way, this way, this way.
- That's all jammed up right there, though.
Right here.
We have to do this Dwarf's Passage.
Just go straight.
We gotta remember, always push forward.
* *
- Even if we're not like coming in first right now,
we got a long race ahead of us.
* *
- Winning the prize money for this race would definitely
be life-changing for me.
I'm now on my own.
I would love to feel financially stable.
It's something I've never had for myself.
- Ooh, this is cool.
We're in it now, Paul.
* *
- As Paulina and Creighton hit the gas...
- This might be a dead end.
It's a dead end.
OK.
- Could just be a pocket.
- Up ahead, the smoke jumpers...
- Yep, it's a dead end. Back to that one.
- Have hit a wall.
- Now--wait. - Again?
- Dead end.
- Is it?
- Yep. - It's a dead end?
- Yep.
- Are you sure? - Yeah, dude.
- OK. OK.
- I can't see anything.
Yeah, no way, dude.
- OK.
- Another dead end.
------- hell.
There's just a bunch of dead ends.
- Oh, shit.
- Nik and Kennedy are coming.
- Go right.
- We have Ethan and Tyrie
directly in front of us, Nik. - Got it.
- We just gotta go this way and then left.
- Wait, wait, wait.
Nik, Nik, Nik, Nik, Nik.
- What?
- I'm feeling wind.
There's a lot of wind.
That's good, right?
- Where is it coming from?
- Over here. - Go, go.
- Do you think I'm right?
- Yes, I do.
* *
- ------- dead end.
- Really?
- Yeah.
----, back out.
- They already went that way? - ----.
- So back into that big main?
- I guess so, yeah.
All right, I think Nik and Kennedy
are ahead of us right now.
- Wind, water--this is the way.
* *
OK, we gotta go upstream.
Upstream. Where's the water flowing?
This way.
You right there with me?
- I'm with you.
I'm with you.
- Yeah, you are.
Nik, your vision is coming true.
We're in first place, man.
[dramatic music]
- Six hours into the final race...
- We're gonna take the next left,
and then we're gonna dogleg left.
- If we go up, we can get through here.
- OK. - And then if we--
- All right.
Let's go upstream.
- While their competitors fumble in the dark...
- OK, lead the way.
Gotta get through this climb.
- Canadian roughnecks Kennedy and Nik
are out of the cave and in the top spot
for the first time ever.
- We're doing amazing, Nik.
Further we get today, closer we are to tomorrow.
- But it's an uphill battle from here on out--
a 6,000-foot rise in elevation that stair steps
over 11 miles of thick forest
and snake-like game trails.
Breaking free of the tree line,
the final climb to The Dome offers multiple routes
across the range, including one
with a food cache, where teams will decide--
fuel up or fight through the hunger.
* *
- Push as much as we can hard.
This entire race, I was trying to build Kennedy up
in preparation for the end.
Here we are in the last race.
She's leading, and I'm following.
- And we are in first place, the only race
that really actually matters at the end of the day.
Big clearing coming up. Doing great, Nik.
It flattens out up here.
Our ------- race, bro.
[dramatic music]
- Right here.
- What's that?
- Right here.
- There's a ton of dead ends in there.
We took about every single one of them.
And Nik and Kennedy,
they just kept staying behind us.
And then they took the right one.
Smart on their part. That's all right.
We know we're faster.
We'll pass them by running.
- Let's move, brother.
- Following you.
* *
- Keep pushing.
Keep pushing.
- You good, brother?
- Yeah, keep going.
I got you.
Make me chase you.
Make me ------- earn it, brother.
Come on.
* *
- Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
* *
- Strategy is to move fast.
We know they're all ahead of us, so ready to book it.
- We're ready.
- Let's do it.
- Keep it going.
Keep it going.
- I'm struggling.
That river start really got to me.
- Keep moving.
Let's get moving.
* *
- Just give me a minute, please.
- You need a minute?
- Yeah.
- This last race means everything.
And being in last place, it puts a--
puts a damper on my spirit.
- Creighton's fast.
So I've been, like, really struggling with the fact
that if he had been here with somebody else,
he might have a better chance at winning that $500K.
- You ready?
- Yeah, we gotta catch up.
* *
[timer beeping]
- With all three teams clear of the cave...
- Oh, this is gonna break everybody, dude.
- The uphill fight rages in zone 2.
- Let's keep moving.
Let's keep moving.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's ------- it.
That's ------- it.
- And five weeks of endless hardship is taking a toll.
* *
- ------- missed. Ah!
- Never stop moving, one foot in front of the other.
That's all that matters.
* *
- ------- get it, brother.
------- get it.
- One last big push for the day--
all gas, no brakes, brother.
- 30 seconds!
* *
[timer beeping]
- End of race clock.
-------.
- Sleep right there.
- Yep.
- Right there, that's our spot.
- The 39th of 40 days is in the books.
And in the competition's most important race,
it's the underdog roughnecks, Kennedy and Nik,
alone at the top and the closest to $500,000.
- I literally have had this vision
of us winning so many times.
The fact that this is happening the way it's happening,
it's giving me goosebumps.
Good job today, Kennedy.
- Yeah, that was--
- That was an amazing pace.
- Big push, big push tomorrow.
* *
- Damn.
- I did not expect them to be that far ahead.
They're moving today, and I think it's because they got
a taste of first, and they just started pushing,
going all out, you know?
- This is gonna be everybody dumping everything out.
- Dude, I'm so--
I'm so proud of us. Great moving.
- I'm so sorry for today.
I ------ up on that river so bad.
- It was so mossy.
It was so slick.
- I feel like you're mad at me.
- I promise you, I'm not.
I would be mad or upset with you if I thought
you didn't give it your all.
I--you absolutely did today.
You gave it your 100% best.
I'm so proud of you for it.
I promise I'm not mad.
You don't have anything to be ashamed of.
- I just hate letting you down.
When we were going through our divorce,
I became a very closed-off person.
It's just been cool to see how well we've worked together
to lift one another up.
- I know how to talk to her and get through to her.
She knows how to talk to me and get through to me.
And that's definitely more than what
we had when we came out here.
- Ooh. Good fire.
- Right?
Good shelter.
- Thanks.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Last day, best day, final push.
- Six harrowing race legs.
Nearly 143 hellish miles.
It all comes down to this,
the final day of the competition.
- It's the day, brother.
- Big push day.
- I like cannot tighten these pants enough.
- I know.
- Nik, how hungry are you?
- I have zero food.
- Yeah, we're 100% out of food.
- This is gonna be a tight, tight race.
That's all I'll say.
- You want to lead, or do you want me to?
- I'll follow you. - All right.
- Set the pace.
- In less than 12 hours, one team will be
half a million dollars richer.
- Are you ready?
- I'm ------- ready.
both: Three, two, one.
[timer beeping]
- Here we go.
Whoo-hoo! - Let's do it.
- Let's get it.
Let's get it.
- We're going up.
Climbing up, that's good.
Go under it, Nik.
- Keep pushing.
Keep pushing.
[exhaling sharply]
Yeah, just go, go, go.
Keep going like we've been.
- Yeah, do not stop.
[timer beeping]
* *
- My legs are taxed.
I'm definitely exhausted right now.
We don't really have a lot of food in our system.
- Last race, we didn't grab the second food cache,
and so we had to go to the gateway to finish
and finish with very minimal food.
So we are struggling.
- Look at that view. - Let's go.
- ---- that view.
- Let's go.
- Get to that next ------- view.
Come on.
- We gotta get through this climb.
- Big push.
* *
We got a team coming.
- Nik and Kennedy?
They're coming right up.
Yeah, let's go.
- There they are, right behind us.
- Hell of a push, guys.
Gonna pass you and go up there, Nik.
Good push, guys.
Good job.
[dramatic music]
- Animals. ------- animals.
- Nik and Kennedy, everything they do,
I'm just kind of like, dude, these guys--
- Are too tough to die, man. - They don't quit.
They don't quit.
They're so tough, both of them.
It's no surprise to me that they're at the very end race.
- I don't want to see any of them anymore,
not until we're done with this shit
and buying them drinks.
- ---- yeah.
[timer beeping]
- Snatching back the lead from the Canadians...
- Up here, figure out where we're going
to go as far as cache or not.
We have to make the decision.
- The smoke jumpers are the first to the final race's
most critical juncture.
- This is the biggest push of the whole race.
It's gonna be a steep climb up and out.
See this just rocky mess going up.
- And after 39 days of difficult decisions,
this is the toughest one yet--
head straight for The Dome over the ridge
that shoots skyward at a 35-degree
quad-busting incline,
or follow the ridge line, which adds a mile of travel
but climbs in a more gradual ascent, and as a bonus,
provides a food cache with one last pick-me-up
to carry them to the finish.
- We're not gonna get the cache.
- Back ridge is the one, eventually,
we're gonna hit. - Yeah.
- And then The Dome might be somewhere back there.
- Good.
- All right, let's ride, my man.
- I'm definitely exhausted right now.
You can really feel the low food in our system.
This way, you think?
- I just want to see the view, see where that cache is.
Follow this ridge all the way, that's where the cache is.
The steep route--
- That's vertical.
It'll kill us.
We know our strengths and weaknesses.
Our weaknesses is going straight vertical.
Even if we didn't need the food,
it's not quick for us.
If we put the pressure on them,
they're gonna start acting more reckless,
which means more mistakes.
- We have to take the ridge route.
It's not about which route are we gonna take,
it's about which route we can actually do
and still keep up the pressure.
- Even if it's 2 kilometers further,
it'll be faster for us because we aren't those type of people.
We don't have that endurance.
- If they make a mistake, we're in.
It's gonna be a battle.
- Just behind, after starting the day
over a mile from the leaders...
- We're almost there, Paul.
- OK.
- Last push.
* *
I see them right there, 12:00.
I think that means they're going for the food cache.
- Paulina and Creighton have closed the gap to 900 yards.
- Decision time-- we can go left
and up along the route,
or we can go right and straight to it.
This is our opportunity to pass Kennedy and Nik
and catch Ethan and Tyrie.
Paulina and I frickin' fly up and down the mountains.
- I'm down to go straight to it.
Let's do it.
- OK.
* *
- Let's make distance on them.
- Whoo-hoo!
[dramatic music]
* *
- Just a little bit of pain.
- This is what we do.
------- easy.
- Let's go.
- Biggest paycheck you'll ever get for hiking, brother.
- As the smoke jumpers start the climb...
- There it is.
We're almost there, Nik.
I can definitely feel the low, low fuel in the tank.
- Kennedy and Nik push hard along the ridgeline,
honing in on an energy boost
that could help them make up ground.
* *
- This is super important for intel.
* *
Ah! - Yeah!
I think that's gonna screw them.
Ethan and Tyrie didn't take the cache,
which means they went a very vertical, steep route
through the forest.
That opens them up for getting lost.
whereas we're gonna stay on the ridgeline.
We're gonna save our legs.
We're gonna save our bodies.
* *
And we're gonna eat.
- 42, 75, right there.
- This side?
- This guy right there all the way up,
that's the ridge we follow.
- OK. - That's bare.
- Set to boogie?
- Set to boogie. - OK.
* *
I see teams.
Oh, I see Ethan and Tyrie.
Nik, we are right on their asses.
If we spotted them, they 100% spotted us, Nik.
That's gonna make them rush.
It's gonna make them do dumb moves.
- They make one mistake from here,
we're on top of them.
[dramatic music]
- Over halfway through the final race,
all three teams are within a half-mile cluster
in the charge for The Dome,
the last obstacle before the grand prize is on.
* *
- Damn, is that Nik and Kennedy right there?
- People over on the other side of the ridge.
- Either way, we beat them on the uphills every time.
- Yes, sir.
- Let's go.
Come on now.
- Holy shit, that's them right there, Ethan and Tyrie.
- Where?
- Right--dead across.
You see that big rock? - No shit.
- Just to the left.
- You think so?
- Who else would it be?
That's them right there. - No ------- way.
Let's go.
- Holy sh--let's go.
* *
- That's our battle. - This one?
- Right there.
We're heading up the ridge, all the way up there.
* *
This is nothing compared to what they're going through,
I'll tell you that. - Yeah, I know.
- Nothing.
[dramatic music]
- With every foot of elevation gained
comes a plunge in temperature and New Zealand's final twist.
- Real freaking windy.
- This is exactly what we needed, dude.
'Cause ain't nobody here gonna hike faster than us.
Ethan and I didn't become smoke jumpers
because it's ------- easy.
And this ain't easy.
Follow you, man.
- All right.
- They gotta beat us.
We are the force to be reckoned.
- Breaking out of the uphill slog,
Ethan and Tyrie push across the upper ridgeline,
500 yards through the clouds on the outer rim.
- Ah. Here it comes!
Just gotta be quicker than it.
Gotta be quicker than the storm.
- We are the storm, brother.
We are the storm.
- I hate mountains.
- I love mountains.
The higher you go, the closer you go to the Lord.
- Take me to the cave with the gremlins.
* *
- Let's ------- go, baby, to The Dome.
- Come on. - Come on.
- This is exactly what the final race should be.
This is insane.
This is New Zealand!
[timer beeping]
- With the exes and Canadians still
in the heart of the tempest...
- Wow, holy shit, dude.
- The smoke jumpers crest the final ridge,
the first team to clear the storm.
- And then The Dome entry
is gonna be somewhere over there.
- It is there.
- I think it's right there.
- Down there?
- It's slick.
- Dude, we're ------- right there.
* *
- I think Ethan and Tyrie went this way.
- I think so too.
- There are fresh footprints right here.
- Oh, nice.
- Oh, shit, there they are.
- I see Nik and Kennedy.
Nik and Kennedy are right behind us.
* *
- I see people up at the top of that ridge.
- So do I.
- Oh, shit.
- Focus on us.
- Yes, I am.
- There it is, dude.
- Yeah, brother.
- ---- yeah.
* *
In a culmination of all the rope skills
you have experienced throughout the journey,
you will be required to climb up and over The Dome.
- The Dome, a 1,500-foot-high monolith of marble
and the last major barricade between them
and half a million dollars.
One team member at a time, they must scale a sequence
of vertical cliff faces where the eroded surface affords
little purchase, forcing climbers
to haul their full weight up fixed ropes with an ascender.
After both cliffs are cleared,
teams will rappel down the back side
and drop to the final push,
2 miles to the end crate.
* *
- Trust the tools.
* *
- Pull that rope tight, E.
- Yeah.
* *
Pretty hard, pretty strenuous after a day like today.
* *
- That's straight through this canyon.
- We gotta hurry. - OK.
- We gotta move.
- Got it.
- Let's go, dawg.
- Ethan!
- Yo.
- Rope.
That's gonna be tough for some people.
That took a lot of upper body strength.
* *
Ethan, he's gonna muscle it up, though.
He'll be fine.
He'll--he learns quick.
- ----. Oh, man.
I see them.
Paulina and Creighton got some legs on them.
- I see them.
Look at that right there.
That's our Dome.
- That is The Dome. Whoo!
- I see Pauline and Creighton up ahead.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- Whoo-hoo!
- Come on, Paulina.
Come on, Paul. Come on, Paul.
- Ethan!
Come on, now.
[dramatic music]
- Oh, man.
- Halfway through the final day
and half a million dollars still on the line...
- Come on now.
- ------- move up.
- Smoke jumpers Ethan and Tyrie
grasp to a narrow lead.
- Come on. ----.
- But just 600 feet below,
a battle on The Dome is brewing.
- Pull the rope.
- Yep.
Yeah, yeah, that's it.
That's awesome.
We're definitely close to Ethan and Tyrie.
If our skills are ever going to come into play
at an important moment, it's now.
[dramatic music]
- That's good.
- There. OK.
You're good to go, Nik.
* *
Try to get yourself vertical.
It'll be a lot easier, right against that wall.
- Hey, man, I'm good.
Just let me do this.
- OK, cool.
You're doing great.
- Look at her fly up this.
Come on, Paul!
* *
- You got me, E!
- Hey, brother.
- What's up, brother?
- We keep ascending.
- Are you moving your arms all the way up?
- Well, yeah, man.
- You're doing so great, Paul.
- Thank you.
- Keep pushing it.
- You got this, Creighton!
- Look at that. That's--
I can't-- I can't compete with that.
* *
- Nicely done.
- Whoo-hoo!
- Nik, I'm coming.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Yeah, dude, this is cool.
* *
- Just one foot in front of the other.
I guess on this, one foot behind the other.
* *
Here you go, brother!
- For the final act, teams will have to dig deep
and ascend 2 miles of giant karst-rock-riddled alpine.
First to the top wins it all.
- Holy shit, dude.
* *
- Nice job.
- We are a little bit behind now, but we can catch up.
It's never over until it's over.
- Kennedy is moving exceptionally fast.
She's the gas now, and I'm the one following.
* *
I got nothing left.
- Whoo!
* *
- They call her Zippy Longstocking.
[laughs]
- OK, Nik, clip yourself in.
We're far behind.
- Yeah, we are.
We're losing.
- Wow, Nik and Kennedy are coming down.
Let's freaking go.
- As Ethan and Tyrie and Paulina and Creighton
breach the final push of the race...
- These rocks are wild, man.
- And so sharp.
This is crazy.
- It's a $500,000 climb to the finish.
- Oh, we're so close.
Come on, come on, come on.
Go, go.
Yeah, we're looking good.
- But back at the base of The Dome...
- We're gunning as fast as we can.
- Can you just leave me alone, man, please?
Just have some respect for me, man.
Leave me alone.
- Doing great, Nik.
- I'm just done.
I'm trying to do this for Kennedy,
trying to get to the end.
That's it.
* *
At that point, it was just everything was gone.
I no longer cared about anything
because the jungle took Nik's soul.
And so Nik wasn't really Nik at that point in time.
He was just the vessel.
- That's all it is.
We do it for each other.
Just gotta get to the end.
- Might be able to cross right here.
* *
Come on.
Oh, shit.
One big leap.
- Oh, boy.
- Here, your poles?
- You got it.
You got it.
- OK, I see the end crate up there, Creighto.
- I think so too.
- Let's get moving.
- Ah.
Big leap.
Let's go.
[dramatic music]
- One big leap. - Oh, boy.
* *
Ah, shit.
* *
- There you go.
Come on, now.
- Got 'em. - Come on.
- Let's go.
- Let's do it.
Oh, I see it, dude.
- No way.
- Let's do it, dude.
[laughs] Six races, baby.
- Come on! - Let's go.
Come on, now! - Come on.
- Come on.
- After dropping a combined 31 pounds,
fighting through 40 days of hell
and 150 miles of the harshest traveling on the planet...
both: 3, 2, 1.
* *
[cheering]
Let's go!
- Wildland firefighters
Ethan Greenberg and Tyrie Merrill
are the winners of "Race to Survive: New Zealand,"
claiming $500,000.
- Dude.
- You do the honors.
- Yeah, sir.
- Sir Ethan. [laughs]
- Oh, dude.
- Ahh! Come on!
- Ow! - Let's go!
- Yeah, dude. [cheers]
- How about that, New Zealand?
- There we go!
- Whoo!
* *
Couldn't have done it without you, man.
You pushed me through this whole freaking way, dude.
- I love you, man.
- You're a ------- animal!
- We represent more than just ourselves.
We represent a community of hardworking men and women,
you know, that put their lives on the line
and aren't paid enough.
But they still show up every single day to that fire line.
And they do the best job they can.
We represent that.
And I think knowing that in this moment, you know,
being at the top now, we showed how tough
a wildland firefighter can be.
- ---- yeah, brother.
[laughs] Pumped me up.
- I always believed in us, man.
- Oh, my God.
- I knew this was where we were meant to be.
- Cheers, baby.
[tense music]
- Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Come on!
- You got 'em right here.
Let's go, dude! Let's go, dude!
Come on, now!
- [speaking indistinctly] Ah!
- Ah! [laughs]
[laughter, cheers]
* *
- Holy shit.
- Here we are at the end of it all,
and we ended up working out better
as teammates divorced than we probably would have
as a married couple.
Honestly, I'm in a happier, healthier place with Paulina
than I ever imagined I would be post-divorce.
I think I would call it peace.
That's something I haven't had in a long time.
- It's a big reason why I wanted
to do this race with him is because
I didn't want a life without him in it.
And while it may not be the romantic type of love
that we had before, we will always find a way
to create space for each other
in one another's life.
But at the same time,
I know that I have everything that it takes
to continue on my own,
and I don't need anybody else by my side to thrive.
[cheering]
- It's bittersweet.
It's not like we're going to the next chapter of our lives.
It's like starting the next book.
- I mean, what an incredible way to finish a book.
It's the perfect ending
to such an incredible...
- To our story. - Relationship.
Yeah, yeah. - Yeah.
Oh, God, we did it.
both: Ah!
- [laughs] - Ooh.
* *
- You OK?
Last push, Nik.
Come on, finish strong.
You know, race one you pushed me,
and we had no food then,
and we have no food now.
It's just get to the end.
I'm so proud of you.
- At the end of the day, I came here to break myself,
and I broke myself for sure.
But I'll never say I quit,
because I had to get my partner to the crate.
I can feel it.
It's up there.
- Up here? - Yeah.
- I'm gonna cry.
Oh, I'm gonna cry. Oh.
- Me too.
- Come on now!
[cheering]
Come on now!
- Never did I in a million years think
that me and Kennedy would have a relationship like this.
It was truly, truly a team effort.
This journey into my own madness,
it made her then become the leader
and hold that strength and hold the torch.
[cheering]
* *
all: Ah!
- It wasn't exactly Nik's vision,
but I won in so many ways.
I won because I learned how to be,
you know, better for myself.
I won because I learned you can be like a hard individual
and do like hard things,
but you can do that while having emotions.
So I'm walking away like full in my heart as well,
which is a big thing.
Oh, my God, congratulations.
[muffled conversation]
- You freaking did it!
- Look at that.
Look what we just came from.
- Can't believe it.
- You can't even see a tenth of where we've come from,
not even close.
* *
- It's one thing looking at a map,
and it's an entirely other thing getting to that country
and experiencing it in real life.
[dramatic music]
- It's an incredible place,
from the caves and the waterfalls
to these high alpine peaks to the ocean
and all the animals in between.
I'll just say thank you to New Zealand.
It's been an incredible experience.
[cheering]
- Thank you, New Zealand!
[cheering]
Time to eat.
[laughter]
* *