Alone (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - The Knife's Edge - full transcript

[dramatic music]

* *

[helicopter blades whirring]

- This is it.
It has begun.

- God.
[bleep]

Piece of [bleep].
I hate this place.

- This is bad.
I've got to get out of here.

This is feeling
like the toughest thing

I've ever done in my life.

I guess I'm officially tapping.

- Oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.



I'm finding all kinds of
[bleep] water in my tent.

- I believe I hear
a neighborhood resident.

- There's a bear outside.

Get out of here!

[bear growling]

- Who are you when everything's
been stripped away?

[bleep].

- [yelping]

- It's scary out here
in these woods.

- I have not had
a serious meal in a week.

- If I can't get a fire,
then I can't stay here.

- It's always in the back
of your mind,

"Well, I could tap out."

- Putting up
with this filming [bleep]?



- Running into a predator,
it's not an if.

It's a when.

Get the hell out of here.

I see you.
Get out of here!

- I'm living
a hand-to-mouth existence.

Yes!
Aah!

- $500,000
is a lot of money.

- It's just gonna keep
getting harder.

- It's not the world
that needs to change.

It's me
that needs to change.

- [moans]

*

[dramatic music]

* *

- Good morning.

It rained like a son
of a bitch all night.

I woke up this morning
to, "Mom, Mom!

Mommy!"

And I woke up,
and I'm looking around.

It was the geese flying in.

[mimicking geese]

So there you go.

I thought my girls were
waking me up.

Today, the rain's
slowed down a little bit,

but I know it's gonna get worse.

[yawning]
I need to set up a fire shelter,

like a place that I can count on
having a fire every day.

Something that's dry.

So, I'm gonna...

take this here ridge pole.

I'm gonna carve in
a couple notches

into this tree and this tree,

kind of like a divot notch,

and so I can wedge it
into the tree a little bit

and then tie it down
with some fish string.

What I'm most scared of is
after the adventure,

after this is all done

and we all go home,

I'm scared of what's next.

It's like,
what's the next thing

that's gonna capture you
the way this has captured me?

You know,

when I was home,

my mom brought up the fact that
there is gypsy blood our line.

Maybe that's
where I get all this from.

Just the need to run,
the need to go all the time.

A change of scenery,

a change of pace,
a new adventure.

* *

I want to tell my kids

that you can do anything
that you want to do.

I want to raise strong women

in this world.

Then I'm gonna pull my tarp
over, 5-foot up,

and then maybe out.

Check it out.

If you think
you can do it, try it.

If you want it, go get it.

I think that
that's a huge lesson,

especially for my daughters.

[dramatic music]

* *

- Our journey
this morning begins.

Yay.

I do things
a little differently.

Whereas most people
are probably

sitting around surviving,

I want to keep active
just to try to stay sane.

I'm gonna explore the area
a little bit and go from there.

It's kind of ingrained
in you in the military

to just constantly go
100 miles an hour.

- You are prepared
for what's gonna happen.

- Yeah.
- You know a lot

about what's gonna happen.

- I was in the Army
for about 15 years.

I recently got out.

For the majority
of that time,

I was either a sniper

or working down
at the sniper school.

There's a huge suicide epidemic
in the veteran community.

I started noticing
some of my friends

that had gotten
out of the military,

and they were having
a real hard time

transitioning
into civilian life.

I came up with the idea
of taking guys

out on hiking trips.

I think there's a connection
with nature there

that can be really helpful.

And, to me,
that's what keeps me going.

All the years
in the military,

if you have one thing,
it's gonna be this.

- So, I have two blades.
I have one, just regular.

And then the other
one is serrated.

Being in the military,
you still have people around,

you know, that kind of
keep you going.

You have a mission
or a purpose to do together.

So you still have
that human interaction.

Very few people have ever
gone out by themselves,

completely shut off
from everybody.

For me, going out in the middle

of nowhere completely reliant
upon myself,

it is that challenge

that I've always wanted
to put myself through.

I'm gonna head into the woods.

I'm gonna be looking for signs
of some sustainable food.

You never know.

I feel like
if you sit in one place,

you might miss
a whole lot of stuff.

* *

I have a duck.
[laughs]

I have little duck
that's hanging out.

I don't know, I might leave him.

Depends on how hungry I get.
He might be dinner.

[footsteps crunching]

[bird chirping]

What?

The bird up there, he's either
trying to tell me something,

or trying to tell everybody else
that I'm here.

* *

- Life alone
on Vancouver Island.

My goal is to be out here
for the entire year.

So, it's...survival...

of the fittest.

I spent eight years

teaching pilots
and air crew members

how to survive
behind enemy lines.

You know,
if they got shot down,

what would they do to survive?

Once you get the shelter
and the water figured out,

firewood and food.

So, I plan to eat some seaweed
this morning.

I want to show you
the different kinds of foods

there are on the beach.

There's this type
of seaweed,

seagrass.

You eat down at the base
where it's white.

And it is quite sweet.

Very good.

I believe, also,
you can...

eat the rhizome.

And that's very sweet as well.

It's kind of like candy,
I mean, it's so sweet.

Bull kelp

has this long tail

that goes

down and around

and way off out there.

And you can eat...

the vine as well.

Normally,
you slice it into little rings

and then you cook it.

[crunches]
Ha-ha!

Mmm.

Got a lot of salt water
that time.

So, that is breakfast.

And it looks like
we've got low tide,

so I'm gonna go ahead
and try and put up my gillnet.

[hammering]

So I've got this freshwater
creek flowing into the cove.

I'm gonna put my gillnet
right out in front of it.

Perhaps that's the best place
to put it.

I'll find out.

Every day, that
low tide/high tide transition,

I'm gonna look forward
to going out

and checking my traps.

I really hope I get a fish
in there tomorrow.

* *

Looks like we should get out
the tennis rackets

and start playing tennis, right?

[splashing]

I'm gonna go walk,
see if I can find

some more edibles this morning.

There's my seaweed spot.

Oh, my goodness.

Check this out.

There's a very large pile
of bear poo.

[tense music]

One...

two...

three...

four--that's still steaming--

five...

six.

[laughs]
I've got friends already.

And I thought I was gonna be
alone out here.

[laughs]

* *

- I've been looking around...
through the woods.

I have to look for the most
sustainable food source.

And I'm not seeing too much,

as far as wildlife signs.

I don't see really
any scrape marks

on...the tree
I just walked across.

We're gonna start
heading down to the beach.

See what we can find down there.

* *

[sighs]

Biggest thing
I'm seeing right now,

as far as resources go,

is the inlet,
is what I'm thinking.

That most of my food
is gonna come out of the water.

I don't see
my little duck friend.

I've got a duck
that hangs out over here.

Let's see if we can find him.

[water running]

* *

Holy crap.

* *

My duck...

is somehow dead.

[splashing]

That's pretty weird.

I'm not sure
what the hell killed this thing.

There's no bite marks,

no blood.

I don't see any tracks.

So this is
a pretty big decision.

On the one hand,

if something killed this thing

that somehow infected the meat,

and I don't cook it well enough,

I'm gonna get sick.

That sucks, you know?

On the other hand,
if I get rid of it--

'cause I can't leave it here,
'cause all it's gonna do

is attract cougars and bears.

More than likely, a cougar.

If I get rid of it,

it's getting rid
of a lot of meat.

[dramatic music]

* *

[bleep].

[dramatic music]

* *

[water running]

*

[footsteps crunching]

* *

So, I've made my decision.

I'm not gonna eat it.

Ah, it kind of sucks.

I was really hoping
this dude was gonna give me food

when I really needed it,

and not have to waste food
when I don't.

All right.

Mr. Duck,

it was nice knowing you, bro.

And...take care.

Do you have duck funerals?

Is that a thing?
I don't know.

Anyway, we're gonna throw
this dude out into the bay.

Hopefully, he'll get drug away
and not...

wash up on my beach again.

That would suck.

Yeah.

Bye, duck.

Quack.

*

Wasting food is a huge thing,

because you're running
on miniscule calories.

It's pretty disheartening,

but the risk of me potentially

getting sick
from some crazy bird flu

or whatever this thing
died from--

it's not worth it.

* *

- So, here's a little bit
of my...

[clears throat]

Hemlock tea.

* *

I have big plans for today.

Food is a priority.

I'm not a fisherman,

and the ocean
is super abundant.

There's tons of fish in there.

I just haven't figured out
how to catch them yet.

So, I need to go
by what I know,

which is the land.

Every single year, my dad,
all my uncles, my grandpa,

we would basically go
up to our cottage

that we have
in northern Michigan.

And we would go out hunting

and, you know,
it was always just,

like, so much fun.

* *

- There he is.
His senior picture.

We're gonna miss him.

- I think, just as a young man,
I was just--you know,

not knowing what I wanted
to do with my life,

I know that I loved
being outside.

I sort of, like, have just
a very, very strong connection

to the natural world.

Just being outside in nature
does a lot for my spirit.

- So, how long you think
you're gonna last?

Last one standing?

- Hopefully.

I've never really been
a conventional-type person.

Currently
and for the last eight years,

I've been working
for a survival school

in southern Utah, teaching
sort of primitive skills.

And this is a huge test for me.

You know, this is sort of,
like, a culmination

of all of the years
of training,

like, all of the books
that I've read,

all of the going out
and doing it

and getting in the dirt time.

I want to look back
on this experience

in 10, 15, 20 years from now,
and I want to say,

like, that experience
definitely propelled me,

and helped me grow,

and made me
a better human being.

- Blow him a kiss.

- Experiences like this don't
really come along that often.

Being able to procure food,
I mean,

is gonna be the difference
between me staying, like,

a couple of weeks and me
staying a couple of months.

So, I'm gonna set up some traps.

So these traps are
super, super simple.

Great for game ranging from

a mouse to maybe a rabbit.

Deadfalls themselves can be

used to take things
as large as a bear.

That'll loop around there.

The weight of the rock

will be here.

So, the rock will be pressing
down on this,

and then there will be
a bait stick,

which is running from

your toggle

to the end of the rock,

or the end of the log,
or whatever you have.

So what will happen is,
the creature will come up,

pick off that bait stick.

That'll cause...

the trap to trigger,

and then the rock to fall

and collapse on the animal.

So, it's a very--

it's actually a very humane way
to kill it.

* *

In the forest,
there aren't really any rocks.

So I have to make do
with what I have.

And that's probably,
like, you know,

25, 30 pounds of force.

So, a pretty good amount.

And we'll see,
maybe I can get something

by the morning.

This place is very beautiful.

If you could live
just off beauty,

then you'd be pretty full here.

*

But unfortunately,
we need food to survive.

I need to figure out
this food situation.

I don't know if I'll have
the energy to do this.

I need to figure out
this food situation.

* *

[water running]

* *

- What I intend to do is

head over right away
before the tide comes up

and makes it more challenging
and difficult

to get over
to the gillnet,

check and see if I have a fish.

There's the gillnet.

I really hope
I get a fish in there.

I see something dark out there,

and, man, it looks like a fish.

Holy moly, it is a fish.

Look at that.
Thank Jesus.

* *

Let's see if there's any more.

* *

Oh, yeah.
There's a halibut.

There's another fish
right there.

Three fish.

Man, today has
just been a stellar day.

Three fish.
Come on.

Thank you, Jesus.

I don't intend to eat
all three fish.

I think I'd get sick
from eating that much.

I intend to cook them,

and then

I'll bury it nearby here.

The only thing
that could make this better

is if I was in a restaurant

eating this with Barbara.

If you were going with me,

we could share body heat.

Without you to help heat,
I need this much bigger bag.

Barbara is just this kind,
compassionate woman.

I am blessed that she loves me

and likes being married to me.

* *

Before I went
into the Air Force,

my two brothers and I,

when we were
eight, nine, and ten,

we were sent to an orphanage.

I got kicked out when I was 15.

Those are really, really
painful memories.

*

I have three children.
I'm a grandfather by three.

When my daughter passed,
she was only ten years old.

That's gonna work on me.

And so my main motivation

is I want to prove to myself

that I can deal with
my painful past

and hurtful history.

Just know that
in those situations

where I am alone
without Barbara,

those memories are larger

than they are ever at any time.

[dirt scraping]

You know, it's--it's work.

And I hope that I can
get through the tough times.

That fish is on the plank.

There'll be lean days,

and at that time I'll have
these fish laid up

in my hole-in-the-ground
refrigerator.

And I've got them stacked
one on top of the other.

And I've got that moss on them.

And I've got seaweed
from down below

and maybe mask the smell.

The temperatures
are cool enough here

that it'll keep
for two days,

but I don't think it would keep
for longer than that.

Hopefully that'll be there
for me tomorrow morning,

and some bear or animal
hasn't dug it up.

* *

I'm completely relieved.

My gillnet caught three fish.

Hallelujah, give me more,
give me more!

I am gonna be eating
like a king out here.

[dramatic music]

* *

- Man.

Well, my trap
was triggered last night.

Um...

* *

I can't believe this.

Nothing.

It's both a good thing
and a bad thing.

It's a good thing because
they triggered the trap.

It's a bad thing because
I'm definitely, like,

running pretty low on fuel.

I haven't really eaten any meat.

Just some mushrooms.

That's about it.

* *

I'm so disappointed
in myself right now.

Um...

But I can't let it get me down.

I have to adapt.

And that's really
the name of the game

of survival,
is just adaption.

So, hopefully this...

Hopefully this works.

*

So I don't know.
I've got to try something new.

I've got to try
to make a living off the sea.

I mean,
I just need to take advantage

of as many food sources
as I can.

I need to have my gillnet out.

If one thing doesn't work,
then try another thing,

and if that doesn't work,
then try another thing.

The land will show you
and it'll teach you

what you need
in order to live out here.

But, you know,
if you're not open to it

or if it doesn't want
to show you, then it won't.

[fire crackles]

* *

I don't know,

maybe I just need to be doing
something new.

* *

[dramatic music]

*

- So now I need to do
the rest of my home, here.

I've got to get the rest
of this protected,

and so I just,
I got to get after it, here,

or I'm gonna be screwed.

When it rains really bad,

I get all this stuff
that goes inside my tent.

And being in this environment,

your bones get cold
pretty quick.

So I was thinking
about making a front door.

If I do that,
I can stay out here

as long as I want to.

*

I'm just gonna take a log
and go across here like this.

* *

So that covers that pretty good.

Then I can still kind of
see out if I need to.

It's not great seeing out,
but it's a little bit at night.

If I go to about here,

then I hang a lot of
those ferns

off of here,

they're long and they'll go
all the way down.

The ferns act like
shingles on a roof.

With the hope
that, when it rains,

it sheds off
instead of inside of my tent.

Kind of see
what's going on here?

See that?

Just tying her up, like this.

Kind of weaving her in there.

Nice and thick.

The better my house is,
the warmer I am,

the safer I am,

the dryer I am,

the happier I am.

Put a few more in there,
and we'll call it good.

*

Boogie, boogie, boogie!

So, I'm gonna build a tripod

to keep the door
lifted up off the ground

and out of the mud.

Pretty good knot.

See if this thing stays together

long enough to hold up my door.

This will serve as a door holder

on nice days like today.

There.

All right, done.

Project, mission, accomplished.

Let's go take a look.

I put it up here
like this, pull it.

Wow!

*

Not too shabby.

I can still see out,
see what's going on.

Hello!

*

[dramatic music]

*

- I always look angry.

Why is that?

*

I'm not an angry guy.

I just look that way.

*

I'm happy to be here.

So why, when I look at
my frickin' face...

* *

Do I always look like
I'm about to punch somebody?

I very rarely punch anybody.

* *

Okay, either Bigfoot
or the Loch Ness Monster

has to show up on film
at some point

in season two of "Alone."

* *

A good Sasquatch sighting.

All these cameras
rolling out in this wilderness?

* *

It could happen.

* *

Things that go through
your head when you're out here

in the middle of nowhere.

* *

Who are you when everything's
been stripped away?

When everything you've relied
on to have a sense of life

or purpose or meaning is gone?

* *

How long can you live
with yourself by yourself?

And as a divorced man,

I guess I'm figuring out
that answer.

I am leaving behind
my three kids.

I'm gonna miss you guys,
all three of you, terribly.

I wish I could
take you guys with.

- Um, no.
- Oh, you haven't lived

until you've wiped
your butt with moss.

- [laughs]

- I was a pastor for 15 years
in Brazil as a missionary,

and my three kids
have been through so much.

All the different things
that have gone on

in the last couple years--

you know, the divorce
and moving back from Brazil--

it's all been difficult
to bear up under.

Are you sure
you want me to do this?

- Dad, this is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

- Your whole life has been
building up to this,

I feel like, so...

- If anybody deserves this,
it's you.

If anybody's prepared
for this, it's you.

- I am not married.
I do not have a girlfriend.

I am as free as a man can be
at this moment.

Knowing that I have
their support

and the fact
that I am a Christian,

I am a believer,
I think it'll be a strength.

- You're gonna do great, Dad.

- I've been through all kinds
of stuff in my lifetime,

and when I look back on it,
I think I wouldn't be

the person that I am now
if I hadn't gone through that.

*

[birds squawking]

*

In terms
of immediate survival--

you know, fire, shelter,
water--I think I've got that.

I could stay here
until I starve to death.

But I've got to crack the code
of feeding myself out here.

I just have to do that.

I've got to get my beach
working for me,

which means I'm gonna try
to set out a trotline here.

One line with a bunch
of hooks on the end.

I've got some of that
green rope, which I salvaged.

*

And these are gonna form
the base

of my trotline.

I think I can put four hooks
on this.

Maybe three.

I should have baited
these after, but...

* *

*

I want fish.

What are the odds
of me catching a fish on that?

I have no idea.

But if I can't make this cove
produce food,

I mean, I won't make it.

* *

*

- All right, I'm turning in
for the night.

I'm just feeling some, uh--
some heart sickness.

It's a mild pain.
It's not, like, excruciating.

it's just a low-grade feeling
in my chest,

and--and thought maybe I was
responding to something I ate.

You know, all this new stuff
that my body's not used to.

But I don't think it's that.

I think I'm just thoroughly,

thoroughly missing Barbara.

I felt this kind of heartache

when I was in the orphanage.

And on Christmas,

they would gather
the boys around

and open presents.

*

And they never did call
my name

because there wasn't a gift
for me there.

And I remember going to bed
that night

and the--the heartache.

It feels like that now.
I...

*

They don't call this "Alone"

for no reason.

I miss you, baby...

and my heart's heavy.

* *

[dramatic music]

* *

*

*

- I'm coming out
to check my trotline.

So much for a sunny day.

[footsteps crunching]

*

Oh, somebody over there

is getting a sunny day,
but not me.

* *

I've got four hooks
in the water,

and that's a good thing.

I'm banking on fish.

That's the catch of the day.

Some kind of gnarly looking
seaweed.

I've got to fix this thing
and re-bait it.

* *

[fabric scratching]

That was kind of depressing.
I pulled it up,

all I caught was seaweed,
and I lost one of my hooks.

*

All the crabs were gone
off my hooks, though.

So, wherever--

something down there
likes crabs.

*

When you don't have anything
to eat,

you feel like you have
nothing to show

for all that you've done.

If I don't start catching fish,
and soon, I'm a goner.

*

*

*

- So, I have
a pretty big problem.

I can't...

seem to find my ferro rod.

Yesterday after I got the fire,
um...

I usually set it aside

and then put it right in my bag
when I'm done.

I was really tired yesterday,
and so...

I don't remember
putting it in my bag.

And it's not in there now, so...

But I was able
to sort of rewind

the footage from yesterday,

and I can see

the footage yesterday
of right when I got the fire,

I set the ferro rod down

and it rolled down the fire pit

into the fire.

*

So, now I'm just sifting
through the fire pit.

I don't know what happens

when a ferro rod
goes in a fire pit.

Does it just burn up?

I don't know.

I hope I can find it.

*

There's no way
I can be here without a fire.

*

I can't believe this.

*

It's not here.

Nothing you can do about it.

*

[sighs]

*

And if I can't get a fire,
then I can't stay here.

* *

It's really as simple as that.

* *

It's really as simple as that.

* *

*

*

- Day seven.

I miss my girls.

Say good morning.

Good morning, Boden!

Good morning, happy Greta Tuff!

Aw, isn't she cute?

*

She's cute.

* *

Boden.

She's giving you attitude.
See that?

Hello, hello.

So, today's Greta's side
for a picture up.

It's Greta day.

I flip them over every day,

so one day it'll be Boden
on the front,

and then the next day
is Greta on the front.

I'm extremely thirsty.

My goal this morning is gonna
be to get a fire started.

Fire must happen today for me.

I'm gonna be a thirsty cat.

*

I've got to raise my girls

to be smart and strong.

Strong is huge.

Life is so short,

you've got to get
out there and live.

You've got to listen to music,

and you've got to dance,
and you've got to love.

My God, and we're all
gonna die someday,

and then what?

What do you got
to say for yourself?

You got up and drank coffee
at the same coffee shop

every day of your life?

What kind of a life is that?

I hope my daughters have that
sense of adventure, you know,

where they just feel like,
"Yeah, I can do that.

I could go there
and be that and see that."

Thank you.

Thank you, fire gods,
for giving me fire.

* *

Just when you're just about
to run out of hope...

*

You just keep plugging away,
folks.

Just got to keep working hard.

*

Never give up.

Only give up, only stop

when your heart says stop.

But never give up
because the challenge is hard.

* *

*

Does it literally take everyone
else this long to start a fire?

Is it just me?

It must be just me.
It's got to be just me.

[bleep]!
Son of a bitch.

Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch.
Son of a bitch.

I can't lift my thumb,

I can't lift my thumb,
I can't lift my thumb.

Mother[bleep].

* *

I don't know how deep it is.

[groans]

*

- I'm so disappointed
in myself right now,

but I can't let it get me down.

*

- When you're out here
in the woods, it's just amazing

how hard everything is.

*

[bleep], I'm lucky that didn't
go in my [bleep] collarbone.

- I heard, like, a crazy noise.
[mimicking growls]

[gasps]
There's a bear.

Oh, my [bleep] God,
there's a bear.

*

- It's like a whining
and huffing

and a sniffing right here
at the back of my head.

[air horn blares]

[bear growls]
Get on out of here!

[flare hissing]

[bear roars]

Get the hell out of here.

[bear growls]
I see you.

*