Alone (2015–…): Season 7, Episode 7 - Snared - full transcript

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

‐ Holy [bleep].

A bear had ended up
stealing fish out of my cache.

He just started a war.

[exhales]

‐ Every day I'm here,
I will fight missing my son.

But that's why
I have to block it out.

[whistling]

‐ I can build a raft,
paddle out, and start fishing.

No!
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!



♪ ♪

[ox groans]

‐ I just stabbed this musk ox
to death.

I'm worried about a wolverine
or a bear

getting on this thing.

♪ ♪

male narrator:
For the first time,

ten participants will fight
to survive the Arctic

for longer than anyone
in "Alone" history:

a grueling 100 days.

‐ This is
the ultimate challenge.

♪ ♪

‐ 100 days in the Arctic
is no joke.

narrator: If they can endure,



they'll win
the biggest prize ever:

$1 million.

♪ ♪

‐ Oh!

‐ Oh, [bleep].

‐ You can't tap out

when there's a million bucks
on the line.

‐ Oh, my gosh.

‐ [growls]

‐ How hard can you work
for $10,000 a day?

‐ It looks like frostbite.

‐ Oh!
[screams]

‐ Oh, [bleep].

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

‐ They're just surrounding
my shelter.

[wolf growls]

♪ ♪

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

‐ Good mornin'.

Welcome to another episode

of Great Slave Lake's "Cribs."

[hip‐hop music]

♪ ♪

Inside my shelter,

I've got all my dried fish

and then dinner for tonight
on top.

If we move on, we've got
our kindling and our fuel wood.

We've got where I sleep,

we got my chair, and yeah.

I really love my side table.

Beyond that,

the antlers I found,
I put up top

just as fire prevention,

and I also put these rocks
up top

because from underneath,

all those sparks were going up
into this

and making me real nervous.

So...

♪ ♪

That's my shack.

I'm in love with it.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Good news: nice fresh snow
on the ground.

Makes great for tracking,
hunting.

It's really nuts
how much things have changed

in the last ten days.

I've looked at fish
as my main priority

since I've been out here,

but trying to change
my mindset a little bit.

I saw promising tracks,

so I'm gonna add
a rabbit snare

or two or three or four.

[grunts]

So we got
a really good rabbit trail

going right through here.

Let me go ahead
and pop a snare.

♪ ♪

I can be thankful
I've done so well

so far with food.

When I came out here,

I thought, it's gonna be
the worst‐case scenario,

there's not gonna be any food,

it's gonna be really,
really tough finding it,

and now,

the last five days have been
exactly what I expected.

I think we're gonna see

my body go through
a transformation,

doing okay
to not doing so okay,

but I'm gonna keep
my spirits high

for catching rabbits.

Can't just make a loop, right?

You wanna make it to where,

when the rabbit touches
the bottom,

it closes

much further...

than what you originally had it
set for.

♪ ♪

Now it's about finding
a good anchor.

♪ ♪

Then I'm gonna check
my other trap line.

♪ ♪

All right.
Just came across this.

There's rabbit fur and blood
and no rabbit.

That sucks.

I was really looking forward
to catching that guy.

♪ ♪

Fox.

♪ ♪

And...

fox urine.

See that little yellow speck?

This fox came up here,
he's marking his territory,

so there's a lot more fox
in the area,

so great.

♪ ♪

I went from food

and catching food and stuff

to zero food
and competition for my food.

♪ ♪

Hoo!
All right.

It's getting real.

♪ ♪

‐ Pretty dark in Rock House.

That's one drawback,

having it all tight
and insulated.

No light.

Yesterday was all butchering,

hacking and slashing,

and then got it all to camp.

You gotta get as much distance

between the kill site
and your meat as possible.

♪ ♪

Boy, he had a set on him.

We're gonna clean skin
his nuts off.

♪ ♪

In old times,
they always made pouches

out of the buffalo scrotums.

There's a musk ox scrotum
pouch.

Yeah, they're big and they're
already pouch‐shaped, you know?

No sewing involved.

♪ ♪

Here's the nut.

Great Slave Lake oyster.

Musk ox testicle.
It's big.

Big as my hand.

Testicles, they're good.

I'm not kidding.

I want that 100 day title
as much as the money,

so we're gonna eat
this [bleep]

from the horns to the hooves.

♪ ♪

This is gonna make
an award‐winning soup.

Yeah, they're fatty.
They're rich.

There's all kinds of goodness
in a set of nuts.

The Eskimos
that I hung out with

up on the Kuskokwim

always put a high, high value

on the fat of the animal.

I might not know
the science of it and things,

but I know about the fat
behind the eyeballs.

The Eskimos always eat
the nose off the moose,

so therefore, I know to eat
the nose off the musk ox.

Perfect.

Pot's full,

and now we're set up
with tenderloin.

Oh, baby.

[laughs]

[grunts]

Holy [bleep].

Day 100, there ain't gonna be

a whole hell of a lot
of that musk ox left.

It turned out perfect.

Last bite.

Oh, dear Lord,
that was so good.

[grunts]
A guy can just flop.

Feels good.

Everything's really coming
together in Rock House.

It sure is.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Making the guitar
has now inspired me

to make a good size
eating bowl.

That's not just a crafting.
That's a need.

Would just make life
so much easier

to be able to transfer my food
into the bowl

and then I can use the pot
to boil water,

so I can have boiled water
and my food at the same time.

♪ ♪

Oh, yeah.

♪ ♪

Yeah, I think this should do
quite nicely.

[sighs]

I feel very in sync
with the land,

with what I'm doing.

I feel like I'm doing
the right thing.

I don't feel, like, any need

to go and absolutely pillage
the land

and just catch and catch
and kill and‐‐

I've got almost two weeks
of fish fillets

up in the food cache,

which could be looked at
as a month of food

in survival mode.

♪ ♪

Oh, Joel.

Just keep going.

[grunts]

[grunts]
All right.

Let's head back to camp.

[exhales]

[sighs]

♪ ♪

[groans]
My legs are heavy.

♪ ♪

My legs have taken a toll
out here.

Yes, I've been eating,

but I feel I've lost
a lot of muscle on my legs,

especially my calves.

♪ ♪

The physical fatigue

that comes
with this whole experience

is freaking tough.

Like, they have that saying,
"bone tired."

I know the meaning
to that saying now.

♪ ♪

[sighs]
Legs, legs, legs.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

[axe chopping wood]

♪ ♪

I'm looking
for a decent size bowl.

I want no little itty‐bitty.

It's hard to physically
keep up with the workload

and then doing
other fun projects

that you wanna do,

being on your feet all day,
you know?

Wow, guys.

That's coming along.

[laughs]

Freaking arm's about
to fall off,

but it's coming along.

But most of all, it's so hard

to be completely out of touch,
separated,

such a long distance
from your family,

from a young kid
just learning to speak.

Just probably can't comprehend
what's going on.

He was here every day,
and now he's gone.

Why?

♪ ♪

He's a tough little bugger,
though.

I just have to keep doing
what I'm doing.

I just gotta keep myself
in the right headspace.

♪ ♪

Really, really makes you feel
good.

I've been wanting this
for a while,

and it's now in the making.

So get some coals in here

and burn it out
and clean it up.

By tomorrow evening,
be eating out of this thing.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[rustling]

[laughs]

Being freaking paranoid.

I hear it, a little noise,

and I think it's, like,
something in my food cache.

So come on.
[sighs]

Let's just go
and take a quick look.

Just go and make sure.

♪ ♪

Oh, I don't see nothing.

Let's see.

♪ ♪

Damn it.

Get outta here!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

‐ Damn it.

Wolverine.

[wolverine snarls]
Get outta here.

Get outta here.
[whistles]

Hey!

Get outta here!

[whistles]

♪ ♪

There he goes.

Get outta here, wolverine.

It's my food cache, hear me?

Bugger!

Well, he wasn't up there,
but I bet he was trying.

I am, just for safekeeping,
gonna take just a few steaks

'cause I don't have any food
spare in the shelter.

[grunts]

Oh, God.
My sixth sense just kicks in.

Oh, [bleep]!

He did pull some fish down.

♪ ♪

So he gets up here.

No way!

He pulled it out
through the bottom.

Damn it.

This is all coming in
the shelter.

♪ ♪

Not leaving it out here
and letting it get eaten.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

Bugger!

How much did he get?

♪ ♪

[groans]

I've got one,

two, three...

♪ ♪

[sighs]
Part of one that is‐‐

this is what he didn't manage
to get.

It was on the ground.

Four, five.

[scoffs]

He's taken about ten‐‐

he's already eaten
about ten pieces this size.

Damn it!

That does not leave me
with a lot.

Welcome to the winter
in the Arctic.

Everything just wants
your food.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

All right.

Maybe I could scrape four days
out of that,

but I had stores for, like,
you know, ten days.

♪ ♪

All that effort,

those calories spent

in building that food cache
and that brush wall

and that...

♪ ♪

Nope.
Didn't matter.

If he wants it,
he's gonna get it.

Just shows me that it's, like‐‐
there's just no stopping

an animal like that
when he's hungry.

♪ ♪

Man, what a tough place
to keep food.

What a tough place.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

‐ This is my brain pouch.

There's the brain in there.

I'm wanting to put a little bit
on my gloves.

That's gonna tan that so nice.

♪ ♪

Little bit of this
goes a long way.

♪ ♪

You can just feel
how greasy it is.

Like lanolin.

♪ ♪

Good thing we tended to 'em.

That'll help keep 'em
from cracking as well,

this brain juice.

♪ ♪

See how that looks?

Now, you can tell it got oiled.

♪ ♪

I just want some on my hands.

♪ ♪

It's like putting lotion on.

My hands are sore.

You can't believe
how sore my hands was

from building Rock House.

It's even good
for chapped face.

♪ ♪

When the wind blows your face
and chaps it.

♪ ♪

I don't think we're gonna eat
this brain.

We're gonna save it for...

♪ ♪

Skin and leather treatment.

♪ ♪

Everything has a use out here.

Aw, yeah.

Nice and supple now.

Now they're ready
to go build meat cache.

♪ ♪

I have to move the meat
away from Rock House,

so I'm gonna build a meat crib

that's gonna be just like
a log cabin,

notched on the ends,

and we're gonna fit 'em tight
so nothing can get in there.

♪ ♪

It'll be bulletproof.

And I'm gonna clear
all the poles I need,

you know, to 100 yards
from Rock House

in a straight line.

That way,
I can look out my door

and see down here.

I'll shine my headlamp
and hopefully see eyeballs.

Well, hopefully not,

but if there's something
around,

I'll see eyeballs.

I think I'm gonna cut
little poles

and place on the bottom.

That way, they'll be pinned
under these ones.

Then it'll have a floor.

It'll be damn hard

for anything to come in
under it that way.

♪ ♪

Ha.

♪ ♪

My mother died while I was
preparing for this quest,

so I'm trying to remember her
a little bit through this all,

but I know if anybody's
with the Lord, she is.

That woman was devout, man.

♪ ♪

So she's probably got
her finger

on some of this too.

Hi, Mom.
You hear me?

I'm here,

Rock House,
building my meat cache.

Thinking of you, Mom.

Not bad.

Pretty damn good, actually.

That's a tight little cube
we got happening there.

♪ ♪

I know I was
kind of a difficult...

little [bleep] to raise up.

I sure hope some of the stuff
I've done

has made you proud though.

I'll see you soon, Mom.

I'm right behind you.

That's it for the walls.

It turned out pretty good.

Now that's a lot
of freezer space.

Now we need eight
big, heavy stakes,

about yo high.

♪ ♪

They're gonna be driven
in each corner,

inside and out,

and then tied at the top
with my fencing twist.

You won't be able to pull
a log outta here no how.

♪ ♪

Pretty snug.

Oh, yeah.

That's tightened that end
right the hell up.

Do it half‐assed,

a wolverine will jump
right in there

and have a party.

I'm building the meat crib
wolverine‐ and bear‐proof.

♪ ♪

I got a big game kill,
and I'm gonna win this baby

if I'm smart.

I cannot let nothing
get this meat.

I ain't putting it
up in the [bleep] damn air,

'cause that don't work anyway.

♪ ♪

Climb like a [bleep] acrobat
every day

just to see how much
[bleep] damn meat got stolen.

You don't keep
a [bleep] wolverine down.

I don't care
if you skin the bark

off the whole
[bleep] damn tree.

There ain't nothing out here
a wolverine can't climb.

♪ ♪

Lock it in.

♪ ♪

There by a beaver.

[bleep].

What a [bleep] damn ordeal.

♪ ♪

‐ Have I mentioned
this is the only diet

I've ever been on?

And I'll tell you what,

I do not recommend this diet.

I'm sure there's better ones
out there.

But if you want fast results...

Maybe this is the one for you.

♪ ♪

This place went from fruitful
with bears

and fish and berries

to the first real snowfall,

and now there's nothing.

But this is survival.

I've gotta keep pushing
forward.

♪ ♪

Gonna check my trap line.

I might get lucky.

♪ ♪

I don't know
if it's a good thing

or a bad thing when I‐‐

walking down, I see
a good patch of reindeer moss

and I'm like, yeah!

This is a humbling experience,

gathering moss

for your food, right?

But reindeer moss
isn't gonna do it.

I gotta find food.

What is that?

[bleep].

♪ ♪

Oh, my gosh.
[fox barks]

♪ ♪

‐ All right.
So hey.

Came out here today

and...

we trapped this guy.

♪ ♪

[fox barking]
Little fox.

Caught him 'round the waist.

He's not injured.

[fox barks]

Coming out here and seeing
an animal in your trap

that has this much food,

it kinda sucks.

♪ ♪

I haven't really eaten
that much.

♪ ♪

[fox barks]

But sometimes, you just
gotta do the right thing,

so we're gonna let this guy go.

We're gonna try and do it

without getting injured,
obviously.

But we don't wanna hurt him.

♪ ♪

[fox barks]

♪ ♪

[fox snarls]

[Mark grunts]

♪ ♪

Life isn't all about
gaining stuff.

Sometimes, the biggest gains
you can get from life

are just by doing
the right thing.

♪ ♪

So...

this is him.

♪ ♪

This little guy is fine.

There's nothing wrong with him.

So we're just gonna let him go.

♪ ♪

All right.

Gonna go check
the rest of my traps.

♪ ♪

Yeah!

Got myself a rabbit.

Look at this guy.

Pretty sure I just gave him
a heart attack.

Super happy.

Man!

I snared a fox today,
I let him go,

and I was able to snare
a rabbit.

Fuzzy little bunny.

Got food again.

Great day.

I'm gonna get him outta here
real quick

and go check the gill net.

♪ ♪

I truly, truly believe
that was karma.

♪ ♪

I just had a trifecta of a day.

♪ ♪

I got a fish!

[howls]

Man!

I been waiting to catch
another fish for so long.

Yeah!
Whitefish!

It's really neat being able
to take things

from the water
and from the land,

especially all
in the same day,

and give back.

♪ ♪

How's that for a day's catch?

♪ ♪

Man, I can't be happier.

I am so happy.

[laughs]

Yeah!

If I didn't believe in karma
before,

I am a believer now.

♪ ♪

‐ So here's my thoughts.

This is the front end corner
of my shelter,

and I'd like to build
this little box

in the corner here for‐‐
to store my fish,

keep them fresh.

Cut ourselves a digging stick.

♪ ♪

After the wolverine's visit,

I can't leave the food
out in the food cache.

Obviously,
he's still gonna get it.

So what I'm gonna do

is I'm gonna make
a little bush refrigerator.

I'm just gonna dig down,

around about a foot
is what I'm shooting for,

and then also pack snow
inside there.

Hopefully,
the geothermal cooling

and the insulation
of the ground

will lock in that temperature.

♪ ♪

[grunts]

That is pretty good
right there.

♪ ♪

Next,
I'm just gonna use stakes

and spruce boughs
to create some insulation

and the structure for the box
so it doesn't collapse in.

♪ ♪

[groans]

Kay.

All the hard work's done now.

Oh, man.
[sighs]

Everything I do...

is just so exhausting.

♪ ♪

I feel like
I'm lacking electrolytes

and definitely feel my body
going into full ketosis.

There is definitely
a reduced pep in the step.

Just try and create
a good seal around.

♪ ♪

Mmm.
Such a nice smell.

♪ ♪

The trick is to compact it

very good.

[sighs]

We'll put just a couple
of these in the bottom

just so we don't create
frostbite on the fish.

And then let's load 'em in.

♪ ♪

I don't really want the fish
on top of each other

so that they don't have
that moisture

trapped between them.

Now we compact everything
in spruce boughs

to add insulation.

Yeah, and the lid goes on top.

♪ ♪

[grunts]
And there we go.

Beautiful.

From now forward,

I look forward to keeping
some frozen fresh fish at hand

all the time.

♪ ♪

We're gonna be making a fire
very soon,

but I'm still not satisfied
with the firewood.

I still need much more.

♪ ♪

[exhales]

Kay.
Let's do some cutting.

♪ ♪

I've worked a lot of hard jobs
in my life,

like working in sewage tanks

and working, like, without
sleep for a couple days

and, you know, being at sea
with machinery broken down

that I gotta repair
at 4:00 in the morning,

and it's all taught me
how to work hard

and just get
in the right mindset

of "just get it done."

♪ ♪

The $1 million prize
is definitely a big motivator

to get to day 100,

so I will push my body
to its limit.

[grunts]

♪ ♪

[groans]

Frick.

♪ ♪

[breathing heavily]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

‐ [breathing heavily]

[grunting]

Oh, [bleep].

Oh, [bleep].

Oh, legs, oh, legs, oh, legs.

You're giving up on me.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

I've already asked so much
of my body,

I just hate
to keep abusing it,

but I don't wanna leave.

♪ ♪

Ah, it sucks.

[exhales]

♪ ♪

[breathing heavily]

Joel, do not let this
bum you out.

[grunts]

Come on, Joel.
Just come on.

[bleep] pull yourself together
here.

♪ ♪

It's not the nicest position
to be in,

but it's just how it is.

♪ ♪

‐ Cravings this morning...

just a cup of coffee
with cream.

I'd take a croissant
on the side.

[with French accent]
A croissant.

Fresh.

[sniffs]

I got up this morning
with my bow in hand.

You never know
what's out there.

[yawning]

Today is the day
to get something...

To make me feel like
I'm still on top of it.

What a way to live.

♪ ♪

Food'll do me good.

♪ ♪

Oh, look at all those
moose tracks.

Right there.

♪ ♪

There.

♪ ♪

I'm okay with trying to stick
with snaring rabbits,

but I'm not giving up
with big game.

♪ ♪

Hopefully I catch something
today in my snares.

Empty.

The reason I'm doing this

is because I want to do
my husband, Dave, proud.

♪ ♪

Nothing.

♪ ♪

And I wanna do myself proud

because I know
that I'm blown away

with Dave and his abilities.

♪ ♪

We joke about the money a lot,
like, "Oh, if we win,

we're gonna get a boat
that doesn't leak."

Nothing.

And, like, "Oh if we win,

then Dave's gonna go
to the South Pole."

[laughs]

So there's lots of things
that, you know, it'd be like,

"Oh, if we win..."

♪ ♪

Nothing.

Nope.

Done checking my traps.

No bunnies today.

♪ ♪

[bleep].

♪ ♪

[whispering]
It knows I'm here, you know.

It's running away.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Damn it.

[sighs]

[sobbing]

♪ ♪

Just the prospect
of having that much food.

[sighs]

It's like...

♪ ♪

It was right there.

♪ ♪

[sobbing]

♪ ♪

That's the good news
right there.

That's good news.

♪ ♪

They're coming 'round here.

♪ ♪

[coughs]
So I shouldn't give up.

♪ ♪

‐ [whispering]
Look.

So the little
short‐tailed weasel

just poked his little head.

He was right there.

There he is.

Hello, little friend.

♪ ♪

What do you think you're doing,
little dude?

♪ ♪

I have so many things to do,

but instead, I'm playing
with the short‐tailed weasel.

♪ ♪

Really, I should probably
just scare him outta here

so he stops coming in,

but it's kinda nice
to have a little friend.

That's the problem.

The animals that are gonna,
like, take my food‐‐

I kinda like 'em, so...

I'm not really motivated
to kill them.

♪ ♪

[laughing]
There‐‐geez‐‐they go.

You gonna come back,
or was that it?

♪ ♪

All right, trap line,
here I come.

♪ ♪

Keeps getting colder
around here.

And it is windy.

♪ ♪

It's drier.
The snow's drier.

So Arctic winter, here we come.

Now the adventure
really begins, right?

♪ ♪

I'm burning tons of calories

because this place
is beautiful

and I'm just hiking
all over it.

So I need to be focusing
any calorie expenditure

towards food procurement.

Oh.

[gasps]
I caught a rabbit.

Poor little guy's
frozen solid,

but we have a sweet little‐‐

a sweet little bunny.

So that makes me very happy.

Oh, my heart
is seriously overflowing

with joy and gratitude.

Just yesterday,
I was all worried,

you know, that I was losing
so much weight

and not getting enough food,

and then I get blessed up
with a rabbit.

♪ ♪

Oh.

Another rabbit.

It's a two‐rabbit day.

♪ ♪

You're too big to see.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

White as the snow.

Sweet, sweet little guy.

♪ ♪

All right, let's keep going on.

♪ ♪

Oh, my gosh.

There's another rabbit.

Three rabbits!

Oh, my gosh.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

[gasps]

Are you kidding me?

Four.

What?

[laughing]
What?

What did I do
to deserve this good fortune?

♪ ♪

Oh, my gosh.

Look at this abundance.

We're going back to camp
with four rabbits!

Look at this!

Can you believe this?

♪ Four rabbits ♪

♪ ♪

These rabbits gave their life
for me,

and it's powerful to know

it takes a death

for me to have energy
for the day.

That makes me appreciate
that I have life,

that I'm alive.

I wanna be connected
to my food,

and out here, I get to be.

Thank you, Great Slave Lake!

Thank you, Arctic.

Thank you for feeding me.

Thank you for teaching me.

This place is raw and wild,

and I'm becoming a part of it.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

My thoughts have been with
the Hadza

for all they've taught me.

I felt compelled
to thank the land in Swahili.

[sighs]

Last night
was pretty miserable,

I'm not gonna lie.

Just could not sleep.

♪ ♪

I just‐‐it's getting worse
and worse.

♪ ♪

My legs will collapse
from underneath me.

When I lose balance,

my mind will tell my leg
to move out to stabilize myself

and my leg just won't do it.

♪ ♪

And the bottom line is that

I just don't trust my body
anymore.

♪ ♪

And after half of my fish
has been eaten

by Mr. Wolverine,

I don't have the energy

to go and get back on track
with food again.

I am now risking my safety
a little bit.

♪ ♪

[breathing heavily]

♪ ♪

I promised my wife,
made her a promise.

The deal is that if my body
gets to the point...

♪ ♪

Where I can't be safe,

that I would call it.

And I have to keep that promise
to her.

♪ ♪

What's so important to me
is that I choose to go.

♪ ♪

[beeping]

Hi.
This is Joel here.

I am officially tapping out.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

Disappointed in my body.

I can't help it.
I'm just disappointed.

I just would've loved
to have gone home

with that money, you know?

But that's not gonna happen.

♪ ♪

It's come to that time.

My mind is so rock solid.
[laughs]

So alive out here
in this place.

I could go for so much longer.

It's just
my body's not giving me

what I need anymore.

And I don't wanna go home
in a‐‐

don't wanna go home in a heap.

It's time.

I have to go.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

I am very conflicted
about leaving the Arctic.

I feel like I was forced to.

I feel like
I've let my wife down a bit.

She sacrificed a lot

for me to be away
for this long,

and I just would've loved
to have gone home

with that money to reward her.

I'm not certain how
I'm gonna move on from here,

but I do know one thing:

it's experiences like this

that really make you realize
what's important in life.

The real blessing
is my family.

That is the most important
thing to me in my life

above everything else.

♪ ♪

‐ I get to look at Max today.

I like showing him off.

Look at that baby.

I pull my picture of my son
out every ten days,

and I look at him,
and I think about him.

And I've done that
to kinda make sure

that my head's
in the right place, you know.

I make cute kids, I know.

Crazy, huh?

♪ ♪

It's just not good weather
to be outside.

Maybe I'll start working on
a horse for Max,

a little toy horse,
like a wooden horse.

♪ ♪

Never made a horse before.

I've got a block to work with.

Might help if I draw it out
and then cut it out.

Horses are a passion of mine

and something that I strive
to get one day,

and I really hope

that Max gets to grow up
with horses.

Horses and animals
and a small little farm‐‐

that's something
I'm trying to do for Max.

I'll make it happen one day,
bud.

♪ ♪

So here's the horse.

I just took a board
and burnt it in,

and I cut it about that thick,
split it.

Damn good horse.

♪ ♪

If I won $1 million,

I'd take it
and I'd just buy a house

in the country

in order to have
the type of house

that Max can grow up with
the same things that I had

and to let him pick
his path in life

and what he wants to do.

Hey, does he wanna work
with animals?

Does he wanna work
in the city?

Either way.

But I wanna make sure

that he at least has
that childhood growing up.

That's what I'm trying to do.

I'm trying to give him a life
that I think he'd love.

♪ ♪

It is not easy at all
to be out here

feeling that you're missing
everything

that your son's doing
for the first time.

I'll never be able
to get that back.

When I get back, I'll have
to reintroduce myself.

I'm gonna get there,
he's gonna be like‐‐

he's gonna look at his mom

just like,
who the heck is this?

The whole point of this
is to show him

that quitting isn't always
an option

and to push
through the hard times.

♪ ♪

Once we reattach this leg,

it'll look something like that.

[grunts]

That's better now.
I'll fix it.

[laughs]

Let's see.

[bleep].

Ya!
[indistinct whisper]

I just lit my [bleep] shelter
on fire.

That's not good.

Ah, we're gonna have
to fix that

real [bleep] quick!

Oh, [bleep]!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[bleep] you.
[bleep] you!

[bleep] you.
[bleep].

Nope.
Nope.

This ain't happening.

Oh, [bleep].

[groans]

Holy [bleep]!

[dramatic music]

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

I'm Colby Donaldson

here with Roland, Mark, Callie,
Joel, and Kielyn,

discussing everything they just
went through.

Before we get into
Joel's tap‐out

and find out
what he's doing now,

let's talk about day 40.

Now that winter has set in,

a lot of you are seeing
that those food resources

are beginning to dry up.

Joel, how much of a factor
is that,

in terms of just the resources
and how they change

as winter sets in?

‐ They change pretty
drastically,

and it was almost like
a light switch went off.

I noticed a drastic increase
in predators.

Look at that‐‐four, five toes.

Part of the weasel family.

We'll have to keep an eye out
for him.

[sighs] To think of all
this work and calories

that I'm using to lose
to a wolverine.

Be devastating.

Rabbits were blending in
with the environment,

so they were much more
challenging to see and hunt,

but the fish seemed to still
be active for me,

so that was always my go‐to.

Good old fish eggs.

‐ Mark and Callie, you two have
a similar thing going on

in what Mark describes
as karma.

Okay, Callie,

you let the weasel
live to see another day,

and Mark releases that fox

that was in his snare.

Do you feel like, Callie,

you know, there is something
in your actions

when you're out there
and how the world gives back?

‐ I certainly believe
that we reap what we sow,

and any relationship I'm in,

whether it's with a person

or animals or the land,

I want it to be in balance,

and I want to be giving
as much as I'm receiving,

and so I wasn't there just to
take everything I could.

I wanted to also be
a caretaker

of that land as well.

‐ Mark, do you agree
with Callie

that, you know, releasing
that fox from your snare

had a direct effect

on you then later catching
some fish that day?

‐ Yeah, absolutely.

What I thought was exactly
what Callie described.

Doing the right thing,

and the right thing is gonna
come back to you,

and it was just absolutely
evident there,

so it was good.

‐ One of my favorite parts
of the episode

was when we get
the "Cribs"‐style tour

of your home there,

and knowing how much
you cared about

and the pride you took
in your shelter,

it had to be a major blow
when that thing caught fire.

‐ [bleep].
‐ Tell me about that.

‐ Yeah, when that thing
caught fire, it was game on,

because I spent a long time
and a lot of work

and a lot of energy
making that thing,

so right when I saw that roof
on fire,

it was time to take action.

‐ Well, and the truth is,
you know,

the longer you guys
are out there,

your shelter basically becomes
a big tinderbox.

All the material you're using
just continues to dry out.

Roland, does that
play a factor

in determining what type
of shelter

and how you build your
structure from the outset?

‐ Yes, it does, Colby.

It has a lot to do with living
in the woods.

Everything I do in camp,

the way I move around camp
and work in camp

all reflect a healthy respect
for fire.

‐ Let's switch the conversation
to big game for a bit.

Roland, now that you have
the musk ox,

you must be feeling pretty
positive at this point, right?

‐ Oh, yeah, it was a high.

It's probably the greatest kill
of my whole life.

Oh, Lordy!

Lordy Lord!

Mwah!

‐ [laughs] Let's talk about
that brain for a second.

For anyone who hasn't
brain‐tanned an animal,

how important is it
to have that resource?

‐ Stuff you can do with brains
is real important

in long‐term survival,

and 100 days is long‐term.

I mean, it's a good asset.

‐ And, Kielyn,
speaking of big game,

we've now missed
two opportunities with moose.

How frustrating is that
for you?

‐ It's frustrating,
but it's also a part of it.

You know, I came into
this whole experience

knowing that I was not
a big game hunter.

[whispering] Just practicing.

But that I was willing to take
as many opportunities

and use strategies
to get big game.

You know, I've been calling
moose since day one.

[imitating moose]

So it's not just happening
upon these moose.

You know, I've been working
towards those encounters

and the timing so far
hasn't lined up for me yet.

‐ Yeah.

Callie, where do you stand

on the need for big game

in this entire experience
and process?

‐ Yeah, I mean,
I was hoping for big game,

I think, like everybody,
because it's huge security

to have that much food laid in,

and there's endless resources
on a big game animal,

but you know,
big game does come

with a mixed blessing, though.

If I got a big game animal,
then at that point,

all of my energy would be going
towards protecting it,

so it's definitely, you know,
a mixed bag.

I'm here with Roland, Mark,
Callie, Joel, and Kielyn.

Joel, expand on the comment
you made in this episode,

when you said everything
in the Arctic wants your food.

‐ It really humbles you.

When you're out
in the environment

where you feel like you're
a little out of your depth

and you know, these animals,
these wolverines

thrive in this type
of environment.

♪ ♪

All that effort

that I put into building
an elevated structure,

not even an issue for him.

Man, what a tough place
to keep food

on the outside.

I really was
in their territory,

and they knew exactly
what they were doing,

where I was learning a lot
as I was going.

‐ Well, and you knew there was
a wolverine in the area

even before he got into
your food cache.

I mean, you even made
an alarm for him.

Here is some
never‐before‐seen footage

of you doing just that.
Let's take a look.

♪ ♪

‐ So this is a musk ox carcass,

and I spooked a wolverine
eating on it today,

and I couldn't get that
on camera.

But this is a fresh kill,

and it's not very far
from my shelter,

and I'm kind of hoping
to use that to my advantage,

because I'd hunt the wolverine
for meat.

I think he's gonna come back

and try and get the marrow out
of these rib bones.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna take
all these bones...

♪ ♪

Kind of put them in a pile...

♪ ♪

And then I'm gonna use the two
tin cans that I found today,

put a couple pebbles inside,

and I'm gonna put this on top
of the carcass.

I'm hoping that that'll
alert me,

and I can come out
and take a shot.

♪ ♪

I think he's gonna come back.
I really do.

‐ All right, Joel,

did the wolverine ever
trigger your alarm?

‐ No. No, the wolverine never
triggered the alarm.

I figured that he might have
been scared off of the area

and wouldn't come back,
but man, was I wrong.

‐ Yeah.

Roland, you took a totally
different approach

to the food cache.

Where did you come up with the
design idea for the meat crib?

‐ Well, that's just engineered
out of my own head.

It had to be something
nothing could penetrate.

It had to be bulletproof.

The platform thing I knew
would give me problems.

‐ Well, I've got to say,

that is indicative
of Roland's experience

in the northern bush,

and it is my lack
of experience with wolverine.

I honestly underestimated
the animal, and...

Hey!

Yeah, it was a failure,

and I definitely learned
from it.

‐ Well, and at this point,
you know,

all of you are ruminating
on family.

How strong is that pull
back home?

Mark, I'll start with you.

‐ So when it comes to survival,

you want food, water,
shelter, fire.

You could care less
about family,

especially in the beginning.

What's going through my head?

Work, work, work, work, work.

That's what's going through
my head.

But the longer
you're out there,

the more you miss
what you already have,

which is those relationships,

and talking to stuff like that.

‐ And what viewers
don't realize,

if they've never done
something like this,

is that one day

feels like the longest day

you've ever experienced
in your life,

but it does give you
so much time

to dwell on things
that are important

to you in your life.

‐ Well, and continuing on
with that, Joel,

in terms of introspection,

a million dollars is a lot
of money.

But at some point
in this experience,

does it become
maybe less important

than it was when you first
arrived out there?

‐ Yes.

I did have a lot
of introspection out there

and realized I have it
so good.

I have health.
I have a family that loves me.

The money would have just been
the cherry on top,

but I knew that either way,
when I go home,

I need to count
all my blessings,

because I am rich in every way.

‐ Joel, tell us about that
process of transitioning back

after 40 days
of being out there.

‐ Oh, that process
is absolutely miserable.

When you're out there,

you tap into a total different
level of consciousness,

where you feel so alive

in a way that you've never
felt before,

and when you get put back
into this environment,

you feel so overstimulated.

All you want to do is just
clutch onto that feeling

that you had out there,

and everything
in the modern world

is just slowly trying
to suck it back out of you.

That, I deal with every day,

you know, and I'll probably
deal with it for a long time.

It's a constant battle.

‐ Looking back
on this experience,

any regrets or anything you
might have done differently?

‐ I wish I had just laid down

and just waited it out

and maybe pushed out
another ten days.

‐ Kielyn, what did you think,
watching this show,

when you saw Joel tap out?

‐ I felt for him,

because it could have happened
to any of us,

and you are out there,
and you are doing it,

and you made
the best decision.

I think you should be
really proud of yourself.

‐ Thanks, Ki.
That means a lot.

‐ Well, that is it for
"Alone: Tales from the Arctic."

I'd like to thank Roland, Mark,
Callie, Joel, and Kielyn.

We'll be speaking with the
participants all season long

after each episode,

so make sure you stay tuned in
for that.

Until then, and as promised,

here's a sneak peek
at next week's episode

of "Alone: Million Dollar
Challenge."

♪ ♪

‐ I really want to track
this porcupine,

but we got a wolf.

There's a lot of competition
for food.

‐ The fox.

It's not afraid of me.

Go away! Go away!

‐ Uh‐oh.

Huge prints. Lynx.

Damn!

♪ ♪

He found my cache.

♪ ♪

‐ Did I just hear a wolf?

[animals howling]

[howling continues]

♪ ♪