Alone Australia

[Sqotty from office works]

Shay thought a big game kill would be his go.
Shay thought wrong

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

Credit to the producers they've managed to put together a watchable show for the first time in 3 seasons, reminds me of the early seasons of US alone, the location being Vancouver Island-ish probably adds to that.

 

[StingBitten]

Shay thought a big game kill would be his go.
Shay thought wrong

Has he set out any fishing lines?

That's the one thing I've noticed the people hunting are never shown with fishing lines too, not sure if just a coincidence

 

[TheEscapeClub]

It's amazing how many have taken bows and arrows in with them this time. It was such a wank and such a waste taking them in last season.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Has he set out any fishing lines?

That's the one thing I've noticed the people hunting are never shown with fishing lines too, not sure if just a coincidence

He's got no bait, he's eating all the worms.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Another good episode last night, with not much for the whingers to whine about. More people catching fish, doing bushcraft, and generally playing the game.

With 9 players still left in the game (at the start of the episode), they didn't have screen time for everyone. Karla was completely MIA, while Yonke & Muzza featured only briefly during the "it's a little bit breezy today" montage. This episode covered days 16-19, and there's no evidence to suggest that we're going to slide back in time to catch up on the activities of those who missed out last week.

Most of the episode centred around Eva & Ceilidh.

Eva was celebrating her birthday. She starts by crapping on about how much she's turned her life around since she hit rock bottom 10 years ago... tell someone who cares, because I certainly don't. She spends most of the day fishing, failing to catch anything. The following day she pulls the plug, realising that she has no future in the game if she can't obtain food. I don't mind this - it's an honest assessment of her situation, not an "I miss my family" failure. SBS did make a point of including her statement that she'd spent many hours fishing every day, at multiple locations, using multiple baits - all to no avail. We're thus not left with the mistaken impression that she pulled the plug having not made a real effort to obtain food.

Ceilidh caught another 2 fish, before noticing foam and a burning sensation when she peed. Her assessment is a UTI (urinary tract infection), so she calls in the doctor. The episode ends with the doctor talking to the producers. Given the amount of screen time she's had in the first 4 episodes, it's fairly obvious that she's going to be pulled on medical grounds at the start of Ep 5.

... and so to the 10 minutes of screen time left for the other contestants.

Ben - Made himself a new handle for his shovel, having broken the original. He didn't do a very good job though, as the new handle keeps sliding out. He hasn't caught any fish since the start of the game (19 days). At least he wasn't god bothering this time.

Shay - Is seriously struggling with a lack of food. He's getting worried about his weight loss. He spends time re-jigging his wallaby trap, in the hope of catching some decent food. Previews show a Tasmanian Devil in his trap, but there's no sign of any wallabies.

Tom - Built a windproof (and probably waterproof) door for his shelter. He started talking about missing family, but that stopped as soon as he caught his first fish. It's marvelous how catching a fish brings new hope.

Corinne - Is really starting to look like a player. She talks about the difficulty of having to kill animals, but she seems resolved to do whatever is necessary to succeed in the game. She builds a wallaby trap, using a net she made herself. Based on Shay's experience, and the preview, her trap is too flimsy and lightweight to succeed. However, the previews also show her eating a wallaby, so presumably she will build a bigger & better trap in future episodes - and this trap will succeed. Mind you, she's also started hearing voices in the night, so the wallaby would want to come soon!

Right now Corinne & Muzza are thriving. Ben, Shay & Tom are barely surviving. We've seen so little of Karla & Yonke that we have no idea how they're going (and I'm all for Yonke's disappearing act becoming permanent).

Get the feeling Yonke may not be so good with the video camera equipment.. probably too busy talking to the trees to remember switching it on.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

BTW, just started watching the English version on SBS.

Early in 1st episode guy brags about his shelter making abilities & needs to be evacuated taking an axe to his leg.

 

[Gasometer]

It's the first time we've seen one used successfully, since Alan's inverted coke bottle in Alone US S1. It's the first time we've seen one actually catch a fish big enough to eat - let alone 3 of them.

Mind you, she also put it to better use than other failed fish traps. Most just put them in still water, and hoped that the fish would swim in by themselves. Ceilidh dammed the creek, putting the trap in the only outflow point - a much smarter way of using a fish trap!

Yes, there are a number of clips on YouTube of Lake Condah fish/eel traps with the stone walls built to funnel the eels into the baskets as the water rises and falls through the seasons, but I had not seen the wall basket in operation to catch anything.

 

[Gak Attack]

Thank **** she's gone, what an absolute nutter. Then tries to blame it on the filming and not the fact she's a massive potato lol. Can see why they didn't bother giving her much time, probably should have given her even less.

 

[Vader]

S03E06 Recap

Well that episode was satisfying for many, many reasons. Yonke questions answered, and "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead". Food for Shay, and everyone else (except Yonke). More ingenious bushcraft from Muzza. 10 more days, with only Yonke going home. Alone Australia has it's own version of Sassy.

Tonight's episode covered 10 days, from Day 21 to 31, though it did skip over a few. Completely MIA from tonight's episode were Ben & Tom - the 2nd episode in a row with a complete absence of Tom. I suspect that Tom, like Yonke, has failed to turn in much usable footage.

As for those who did receive screen time tonight...

• Corinne - We started with a recap of her wallaby kill from last week, followed by her taking the carcasse back to camp and processing it. We saw her eating a "hearty stew", which was hearty in the most literal sense - it contained the wallaby's heart. I'm not sure she was aware of, or intended, her wording being so literal. Having killed an animal, she now faces the next problem - securing her food from would-be thieves. In her case, she needs to find a way of securing it from a spotted quoll, which is clearly intent on raiding her larder. This lake isn't going to freeze over, so the ultimate Sassy solution won't work. My guess is that she'll end up suspending the meat from a tree or her shelter's ridge pole to make it harder for the quoll to access it - but that's next week's problem. At one point she stripped down to her underwear, enjoying the feel of sun on her body... male viewers enjoyed the sun on her body too.
• Muzza - Just keeps on catching fish & eels at will. This week he setup a line, running from his fishing rod(s) to his shelter, dropping his pot lid to alert him to any bites. Like everything else Muzza has built, it worked like a charm. Muzza is just the quintessential aussie bloke, and is probably most people's favourite now that Ceilidh is gone (OK, Muzza was my favourite from the start).
• Karla - Recovered from her food poisoning last week, and managed to catch herself an eel - and quite a decent sized one at that. We also had to sit through a monologue about her regretting her life choices, which could/should have ended up on the cutting room floor.
• Shay - Followed Karla's lead, giving himself food poisoning from eating the fiddlehead fern fronds. I guess we'll call it a shared experience. After 3+ weeks, Shay finally managed to get some decent food - going spearfishing at night, and catching himself 2 fish. By his own admission his plans haven't worked out - he was expecting to be out there for 300 days, not failing to obtain food after 3 weeks on site.

... and that brings us to Yonke. Having barely been sighted in the first 5 episodes, it was apparent early that this was going to be a Yonke-heavy episode. I had my fingers crossed that it she was being given a tap-out edit, and that's how things panned out. She blamed her exit on her struggles with filming and camera management. To be fair, she obviously had struggled, with her failure to produce any usable footage resulting in her almost complete omission from the first 5 episodes. The reality is that the land rejected her and her irritating schtick, refusing to give her anything in the way of fish or eels to eat. To borrow a line from the Wizard of Oz - Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead!

Previews showed Tom struggling with mud, and both Karla & Ben struggling with a lack of food. We're now 31 days and 6 episodes into a 10-episode season. It really is time for some of the strugglers to go home.

Questions for next week:

• Can Corinne secure her food stores, or will Sassy II steal it all before she can eat it?
• How much longer until Muzza busts his ankle?
• How many of the strugglers will hit the tap out button next week?
• When will the lake water levels really start to rise in earnest?

 

[Vader]

A few more thoughts on last night's episode...

There was a heavy theme of mental health running through the episode. Muzza talked about his struggles after the death of his father left him with responsibility for running the family farm - things got to the point where he was actively in the process of self-harming (not suicide) before his uncle stepped in. Fortunately, Muzza was able to turn his life around. The wicked witch talked about needing a self-care day, the day before she pulled the plug. Karla crapped on for a seeming eternity about her lifestyle choices which have left her almost completely alone and isolated from her friends (who rarely if ever see her).

If you are struggling with mental health issues, seek help (though it's almost impossible to find these days due to all govts under-resourcing it).

Yonke was clearly cast in the hope that she'd be another Gina Chick. They're similar ages, and both are aging hippies. Unfortunately for the producers, Yonke was the Temu rip-off of Gina. In casting Gina for S1 they captured lightning in a bottle - Gina was charming, an extremely competent survivalist, and a very accomplished film maker. She was perfect for Alone Australia. Unfortunately for the producers, Yonke was none of these things - where Gina was charming and genuine, Yonke came across as fake and irritating; where Gina had survival skills up the wazoo, Yonke demonstrated none whatsoever; where Gina made great TV, Yonke literally broke the cameras through her ineptitude.

One can only hope that the producers will look to cast original characters for future seasons (e.g. Corinne & Muzza), rather than casting Temu versions of previous stars.

 

[StingBitten]

A few more thoughts on last night's episode...

There was a heavy theme of mental health running through the episode. Muzza talked about his struggles after the death of his father left him with responsibility for running the family farm - things got to the point where he was actively in the process of self-harming (not suicide) before his uncle stepped in. Fortunately, Muzza was able to turn his life around. The wicked witch talked about needing a self-care day, the day before she pulled the plug. Karla crapped on for a seeming eternity about her lifestyle choices which have left her almost completely alone and isolated from her friends (who rarely if ever see her).

If you are struggling with mental health issues, seek help (though it's almost impossible to find these days due to all govts under-resourcing it).

Yonke was clearly cast in the hope that she'd be another Gina Chick. They're similar ages, and both are aging hippies. Unfortunately for the producers, Yonke was the Temu rip-off of Gina. In casting Gina for S1 they captured lightning in a bottle - Gina was charming, an extremely competent survivalist, and a very accomplished film maker. She was perfect for Alone Australia. Unfortunately for the producers, Yonke was none of these things - where Gina was charming and genuine, Yonke came across as fake and irritating; where Gina had survival skills up the wazoo, Yonke demonstrated none whatsoever; where Gina made great TV, Yonke literally broke the cameras through her ineptitude.

One can only hope that the producers will look to cast original characters for future seasons (e.g. Corinne & Muzza), rather than casting Temu versions of previous stars.

Thanks for highlighting Muzza's MH plight, that absolutely floored me and has me holding him in even higher regards. To lose your Dad at 19 and take on the family farm to try and provide for your loved ones... Just incredible. I hope the bugger wins the thing.

Karla's monologue didn't bother me that much, she's lived a life that would be the envy of many and she's pretty cute too - she's clearly running from something though.

Yonke was annoying but she was never going to win and now she's gone.

There's no way Tom and Ben can win - they just haven't featured enough at all. It would be terrible editing if either of them won.

It's got to be between Muzza and Corinne, with Shay and Karla as very small outside chances (both would need a big marsupial kill). Given that someone said Muzza broke his ankle it's looking like Corinne is the favourite.

 

[Vader]

Thanks for highlighting Muzza's MH plight, that absolutely floored me and has me holding him in even higher regards. To lose your Dad at 19 and take on the family farm to try and provide for your loved ones... Just incredible. I hope the bugger wins the thing.

It's not the first time SBS have tackled mental health within the context of Alone Australia. In S1 they had an ex-Army vet who suffered from PTSD, to the point where he was shown having a PTSD attack live on camera (triggered by the sound of a helicopter passing nearby).

On both occasions I think SBS have handled it magnificently. They have shown sensitivity and empathy, and allowed the participants to tell their own story with a great deal of dignity. They have highlighted the issues these people faced, which are key factors in who these people are and how they came to be the people we saw on screen. They did so perfectly, in my personal opinion.

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

All I can say is thank **** that Corrine and Karla have different accents because I don't think I would tell them apart.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Tom.
We can't see it during the series but he's built his shelter over a water damp area.
Just stupid preparations from a so called Hunter outdoors person.
And once wet there's to much work moving house.
Amateur mistake

 

[HirdyLannister]

Muzza has spent too long relaxing and gorging himself on seafood, that ankle gout looked nasty

 

[Vader]

S03E07 Recap

Last night's episode felt like we were in a holding pattern, with the beginning of the collapse not far away. Nobody got any food, nobody did any bushcraft (other than Ben lighting a fire using friction), everyone's outlook is starting to deteriorate.

The episode covered days 31-35, with Karla going home, leaving us with 5 contestants remaining. The weather seems to be kicking off, with a lot of wind in this episode. To borrow a line from a TV ad... "the rains are coming, Marge".

For the first time, all 6 remaining contestants received air time this week:

• Ben - Hasn't had anything to eat for 2 weeks, and estimates that he's lost 25+ kg. He's definitely looking skinny, and appears to be suffering from low blood pressure. Do not be surprised to see him pulled on medical grounds next week. Ben managed the biggest achievement of this week's episode, by successfully lighting a fire using only friction - the first contestant to have done so in Alone Australia history (everyone else has used a flint).
• Shay - Had no luck with his spear fishing, but did spot a potoroo on his way back to camp. This inspired him to build a net, using previously unseen fishing line (which I guess answers the question of whether he's been fishing - or relying entirely upon failed trapping attempts).
• Tom - Is now regretting his decision to build his shelter in the middle of a swamp, rather than on higher/dryer ground. I suspect he'll REALLY regret his decision when the lake's water levels rise...
• Corinne - Still hasn't found a way to protect her food from Sassy II, and continues to lose her wallaby jerky on a regular basis. She's still eating a HELL of a lot better than anyone else in the game at this point in time.
• Muzza - Is finally starting to run out of fish. Unlike Ben, Shay & Tom, he hasn't lost a whole lot of weight so far. Decided to go worming, and found a couple of rippers - so he now has bait for fishing again.
• Karla - Spent a while discussing her life choices, and came to the realisation that she actually does need humans in her life. The loners' loner then realised that she wanted human contact NOW, and didn't want to wait until she was $250K richer. To be fair, she gave a more plausible explanation when doing the exit interview - a lot of it boiled down to her lack of food motivating her to press the button. Good-bye.

SBS then gave us a fresh set of spoilers for the last 3 episodes...

• Someone gets a wallaby kill (I didn't catch who it was).
• Muzza's ankle problem is due to gout, not a broken bone. I can tell you from personal experience that a severe gout attack is every bit as painful as a broken bone, and he won't have access to bucketloads of ibuprofen to fix the problem.
• Someone (probably Ben) is going to be pulled on medical grounds.

Corinne & Muzza remain favourites to win the competition, depending on whether or not Muzza's gout forces him to tap. Shay continues to maintain a positive mental outlook, where Ben & Tom appear to be close to the end - winning the mental battle is one of the keys to winning the game, particularly this late in the competition.

 

[StingBitten]

S03E07 Recap

Last night's episode felt like we were in a holding pattern, with the beginning of the collapse not far away. Nobody got any food, nobody did any bushcraft (other than Ben lighting a fire using friction), everyone's outlook is starting to deteriorate.

The episode covered days 31-35, with Karla going home, leaving us with 5 contestants remaining. The weather seems to be kicking off, with a lot of win in this episode. To borrow a line from a TV ad... "the rains are coming, Marge".

For the first time, all 6 remaining contestants received air time this week:

• Ben - Hasn't had anything to eat for 2 weeks, and estimates that he's lost 25+ kg. He's definitely looking skinny, and appears to be suffering from low blood pressure. Do not be surprised to see him pulled on medical grounds next week. Ben managed the biggest achievement of this week's episode, by successfully lighting a fire using only friction - the first contestant to have done so in Alone Australia history (everyone else has used a flint).
• Shay - Had no luck with his spear fishing, but did spot a potoroo on his way back to camp. This inspired him to build a net, using previously unseen fishing line (which I guess answers the question of whether he's been fishing - or relying entirely upon failed trapping attempts).
• Tom - Is now regretting his decision to build his shelter in the middle of a swamp, rather than on higher/dryer ground. I suspect he'll REALLY regret his decision when the lake's water levels rise...
• Corinne - Still hasn't found a way to protect her food from Sassy II, and continues to lose her wallaby jerky on a regular basis. She's still eating a HELL of a lot better than anyone else in the game at this point in time.
• Muzza - Is finally starting to run out of fish. Unlike Ben, Shay & Tom, he hasn't lost a whole lot of weight so far. Decided to go worming, and found a couple of rippers - so he now has bait for fishing again.
• Karla - Spent a while discussing her life choices, and came to the realisation that she actually does need humans in her life. The loners' loner then realised that she wanted human contact NOW, and didn't want to wait until she was $250K richer. To be fair, she gave a more plausible explanation when doing the exit interview - a lot of it boiled down to her lack of food motivating her to press the button. Good-bye.

SBS then gave us a fresh set of spoilers for the last 3 episodes...

• Someone gets a wallaby kill (I didn't catch who it was).
• Muzza's ankle problem is due to gout, not a broken bone. I can tell you from personal experience that a severe gout attack ins every bit as painful as a broken bone, and he won't have access to bucketloads of ibuprofen to fix the problem.
• Someone (probably Ben) is going to be pulled on medical grounds.

Corinne & Muzza remain favourites to win the competition, depending on whether or not Muzza's gout forces him to tap. Shay continues to maintain a positive mental outlook, where Ben & Tom appear to be close to the end - winning the mental battle is one of the keys to winning the game, particularly this late in the competition.

Thanks for the write-up.

How... How could SBS not get the right balance with spoilers? Naturally you want to keep the excitement/hype up for the next week but you can balance this without big reveals. They've constantly stuffed it this season.

I liked Karla, she was an absolute cutie and had the best shelter by a mile.

This is the first time when I've felt I'd be happy with anyone winning this comp, they're all quite likeable. It's too hard to get behind Tom though due to his bugger all screen time. Don't even mins the God botherer.

Shay/fishing line - did that prove he was trying to fish? Never saw any evidence of this.

Really hope this season goes down to the wire. How many EPS are left?

 

[Vader]

Thanks for the write-up.

How... How could SBS not get the right balance with spoilers? Naturally you want to keep the excitement/hype up for the next week but you can balance this without big reveals. They've constantly stuffed it this season.

I liked Karla, she was an absolute cutie and had the best shelter by a mile.

This is the first time when I've felt I'd be happy with anyone winning this comp, they're all quite likeable. It's too hard to get behind Tom though due to his bugger all screen time. Don't even mins the God botherer.

Shay/fishing line - did that prove he was trying to fish? Never saw any evidence of this.

Really hope this season goes down to the wire. How many EPS are left?

If he had fishing line then it's almost certain that he spent time fishing - it just wasn't shown on TV, because it's not overly exciting unless/until they actually catch something. He also invested in his trapping, which made for much more interesting TV, so that's what the producers chose to focus on.

It's hard to get behind Tom or Ben. Both have done bugger all for the entire show, and simply haven't given us any reason to support them. Shay, Karla & Corinne all built traps. Muzza had multiple fishing lines going, built a water tank on day 1, and a system for alerting him to any activity on his fishing lines. Tom & Ben... Tom built his shelter in a swamp, and has done SFA. Ben spent most of the first episode God Bothering, though thankfully he has toned it down since then - he too has done bugger all.

As far as "character" goes, I think Shay, Muzza & Corinne have been the best. Then again, I am a sucker for a girl with a Scottish accent...

I agree that they have revealed far too much with their spoilers.

The season has 10 episodes (3 to go). Not sure if there's a reunion special or not. I didn't watch last year's reunion, because... Hamish Blake.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

I had a negative bias against Karla right from the start after having seen her on, I think, Million Dollar Island and I thought she was a flog.

I liked her exit last night, done with dignity and self introspection.

 

[StingBitten]

I had a negative bias against Karla right from the start after having seen her on, I think, Million Dollar Island and I thought she was a flog.

I liked her exit last night, done with dignity and self introspection.

Ah that's interesting, I didn't know Alone also sourced contestants from commercial reality TV shows, due to the tendency for people like that to be.... Fame hungry.

 

[Vader]

Ah that's interesting, I didn't know Alone also sourced contestants from commercial reality TV shows, due to the tendency for people like that to be.... Fame hungry.

They don't go out of their way to do so. I think Karla is the only repeat Reality TV offender SBS have cast in 3 seasons of Alone Australia. To be fair to SBS (and the production company), Karla was eminently qualified to be a contestant. She wasn't cast because of her reality TV background, it appears to have been purely coincidental.

When I say coincidental, the type of person who applies for one Reality TV show is likely to apply for multiple shows, so it wasn't strictly a coincidence.

I must admit that I had a bias against Karla when I read (earlier on this thread) that she'd previously been on another Reality TV show. I put her down as a fame whore and oxygen thief. She's still a long way from being my favourite contestant (Muzza, Corinne & Shay are my favourites from S3), but she proved herself to be more than just an oxygen thief influencer.

 

[Vader]

There's an interesting article on The Age website, about choosing the location for Alone Australia shooting:
https://www.theage.com.au/culture/t...hind-the-scenes-tasmania-20250402-p5lomp.html

A few tidbits I found interesting:

There’s a title card at the end of each episode in season 3 that gives a little hint about some of the negotiations that take place, specifically around hunting. It reads: “Specific exemptions from environmental and wildlife legislation have been provided by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania as well as the Inland Fisheries Service to enable activities that would otherwise be illegal in Tasmania.”

“Generally, all traps need to be live animal traps so as to be able to release any protected animals accidentally caught,” explains Dedman. “This can be very challenging and forces experienced hunters to abandon their signature tried-and-true methodology altogether. They have to think about trapping in a completely different, and often less efficient and less effective way.

So... they're allowed to hunt/fish in ways which would otherwise be illegal in Tasmania. However, the need for live trapping makes it infinitely harder for people like Shay, who are normally very competent trappers - but who struggle because they are unable to use their normal trapping methods.

There's no mention in the article about where S4 will be filmed.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Deaf girl was by far the best person this series.

 

[Vader]

Deaf girl was by far the best person this series.

She's 4th best for me - behind Muzza, Corinne and Shay (in that order).

But it's just a matter of opinion. Each to their own!