Alone Australia

[GhostofJimJess]

I've been watching Alone Denmark 2024. Due to the weather production team decided to have two winners. Shame the female decided to leave so close to the end. I was really impressed with their skills and the way they wittled down the trees to produce string. They have so many different types of fish in their waters and then they could off done ice fishing. But it looked bloody cold. I feel Australia has too many restrictions whereas Denmark production team were great. They greeted the contestants with hugs, gave them food and ice fishing equipment. They were up near the artic circles.

Maybe spoiler tags are more suitable when you're basically exposing the end result of a series.

 

[Vader]

Just a reminder that the Alone Australia final is on tonight - a double header, followed by the Alone Australia Reunion Special (on SBS on Demand).

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Just a reminder that the Alone Australia final is on tonight - a double header, followed by the Alone Australia Reunion Special (on SBS on Demand).

IN.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

So in 2 series as we get to the last couple of days an animal surprisingly unseen magically turns up outside somebody's front door and is so stoned it gets caught alive!mmmmmm

 

[darcytiger]

1100 worms

 

[HirdyLannister]

45mins to go, I'm on the Muzza train for the win.

 

[HirdyLannister]

Muzza being able to fish 24/7 has been a big advantage

 

[nobbyiscool]

i dunno what happened to the sbs app, it used to be really good. Tonight it can't even load its own ads, I've had to back out and reload the tile every single ad break.

 

[HirdyLannister]

Done and dusted

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Of the remaining 3, the eventual winner was the one I least wanted to win but got quite emotional when they did win.

Well done to the 3 of them and well done to all of them this season.

The one most physically capable was mentally shot in the end but I think the last 2 were both more physically and mentally shot, they were like a boxer who is out on their feet and just surviving through instinct / muscle memory.

When they did the medical check in Shay and he was just sitting at the entrance to his shelter, he just looked haunted. It reminded me of George Clooney in The Perfect Storm when he goes down with the ship and is at the door to the wheel house and just turns around and retreats to the interior of the trawler as it sinks.

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

I've seen quite a few of the American seasons, nearly all them tbh, I'm struggling to recall a final group of contestants push their starvation as hard as these three, they were all completely cooked, walking dead.

 

[StingBitten]

Best season of Alone hands down. Cried when Corrine sang that song with the montage of the other contestants appreciating the beauty.

Muzza - just heart-wrenching, perhaps even more so than Mike, but an absolute legend and I think Shay needed the coin more than him.

Shay - never thought I'd barrack for a Kiwi! Won me over with his gentle nature though, he's a good bloke with a small family and the money will help him immensely. I would imagine trapping doesn't pay a fortune.

Corinne is an absolute angel and I can't believe she even needs to consider being a single mother, pickings must be slim in Tassie. If I were a single man you'd want to lock that up as soon as possible.

Best season of Alone ever.

 

[Vader]

I'd like to start by congratulating SBS on finally producing an Alone season worth watching.

The first season was just plain dreary, saved only by the delightful talent of Gina Chick. The setting, on a muddy hydroelectric dam, was bleak (at best). The lack of food resources turned it into a starvation game, which nobody particularly enjoys watching. Casting was also poor, aside from the final 2, with too many participants cast on the basis of checking DEI boxes rather than survival skills. There's nothing wrong with casting DEI participants, but they must first and foremost have the skills required to participate in the event, and too many of the 1st season participants didn't.

The second season, in NZ, was another starvation game. To be fair to the producers, I think this was an unexpectedly bad result. They put the participants on a large lake, which they expected to be well stocked with fish. Further, participants were allowed to bring & use bows & arrows, hunting non-native wildlife. Unfortunately, most of the animals came out at night, when hunting was prohibited - and the fishing turned out to be a nightmare. At least the scenery was beautiful!

The third season got it right! Lake Burbery, in western Tasmania, provided a beautiful natural backdrop to the drama which unfolded on its shores. The lake also provided an abundance of fish & eels, with a total of 96 creatures caught across the season (including fish, eels, wallaby and potoroo, but excluding crickets, 1000+ worms and other smaller animals). This allowed our participants the ability to shine - and the final 3 certainly shone the brightest.

I think there were a lot of fears over the future of AA after S2 - those fears should now be erased, after the success of S3.

 

[Vader]

The Reunion Special is well worth watching, for those who are interested. It's available now on SBS on Demand, or you can wait until next Wednesday and watch it on FTA TV.

Hightlights for me:

• Corinne now has a partner, and is 3 months pregnant. All I can say is that he's one very lucky guy.
• Shay's wife is also pregnant, with a daughter due next month. The poor bugger is going to be outnumbered 4-1.
• Corinne's relationship with Quentin was much more intimate than what we saw on the show, with the quoll occasionally sharing her bed with her at nights. Quentin disappeared around the time that the water levels started rising, along with all of the other animals.
• Ceilidh was very thankful to have been pulled when she was, as her condition deteriorated rapidly. She was very thankful that she received treatment when she did, and did not suffer any permanent kidney damage.
• The water rose 7m, from the start of the show to the end of filming, rising well above the high water mark evident around the lake's edge.
• Muzza had built his original camp knowing that he was below the high water mark and planning on having to move around days 30-45. The fact that the water followed him up the hill, well beyond the high water mark, had him concerned that he would need to move camp for a 2nd time - which he wasn't expecting. He reconstructed his camp with an exact replica of the original.
• The shelter we saw underwater in the pre-show trailers turned out to be Karla's, albeit with the footage taken long after she had tapped out. Which begs the question of how long after the participants tapped out did they deconstruct the shelters, shooting the time lapse photography?
• All of the participants thought that Shay was the favourite going into the competition, based on his intensity and the skills he demonstrated in his YouTube videos - Muzza recognised him from YouTube when they first met at the pre-drop camp.
• Karla & Eva are physically very similar, and I still struggle to differentiate between the two of them.
• Yonke probably had more air time in the Reunion Special than she did during the show, and even so I'm still regretting the 2 minutes they allocated to her at the reunion.
• Matt was the first contestant to pull the pin, doing so on day 17 - he lasted the 2nd longest of all 1st tap participants, across all Alone versions.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

I'd like to start by congratulating SBS on finally producing an Alone season worth watching.

The first season was just plain dreary, saved only by the delightful talent of Gina Chick. The setting, on a muddy hydroelectric dam, was bleak (at best). The lack of food resources turned it into a starvation game, which nobody particularly enjoys watching. Casting was also poor, aside from the final 2, with too many participants cast on the basis of checking DEI boxes rather than survival skills. There's nothing wrong with casting DEI participants, but they must first and foremost have the skills required to participate in the event, and too many of the 1st season participants didn't.

The second season, in NZ, was another starvation game. To be fair to the producers, I think this was an unexpectedly bad result. They put the participants on a large lake, which they expected to be well stocked with fish. Further, participants were allowed to bring & use bows & arrows, hunting non-native wildlife. Unfortunately, most of the animals came out at night, when hunting was prohibited - and the fishing turned out to be a nightmare. At least the scenery was beautiful!

The third season got it right! Lake Burbery, in western Tasmania, provided a beautiful natural backdrop to the drama which unfolded on its shores. The lake also provided an abundance of fish & eels, with a total of 96 creatures caught across the season (including fish, eels, wallaby and potoroo, but excluding crickets, 1000+ worms and other smaller animals). This allowed our participants the ability to shine - and the final 3 certainly shone the brightest.

I think there were a lot of fears over the future of AA after S2 - those fears should now be erased, after the success of S3.

Great summary Vader, as all of yours have been throughout the season. I haven't commented too much on each despite my appreciation, as I have usually been at least a few weeks behind on each episode and have been striving to avoid seeing any spoilers on this thread. Fantastic work my friend.

And yes, brilliant season. It's even won over my rather cynical son who totally bought into the show wholeheartedly. I've been watching alone for well over a decade, originally stumbling on it for the US Season 1 on the Foxtel A&E channel all those years ago. And I can safely say that it's certainly the first time that I've been unconcerned who eventually ran out victorious from the final three contestants - each of them were fantastic and fully deserving. Probably had the biggest soft spots for Corinne and Muzza, but Shay really grew on me as the season rolled on, and he was a very worthy winner.

Such a great show, and well done SBS for getting it spot on this season.

 

[Gak Attack]

US Alone kicking off this week. Will see it in a desert for the first time, if successful you'd imagine that increases chances of AA also doing something similar as many have suggested they should.

 

[Vader]

Is anyone else watching Alone US S12 (AKA Alone Africa)?

Eps 1 & 2, plus the "Before the Drop" special, are available on the high seas. It appears they're also available on STAN, for anyone with a subscription to that particular service.

 

[AFDogs]

Is anyone else watching Alone US S12 (AKA Alone Africa)?

Eps 1 & 2, plus the "Before the Drop" special, are available on the high seas. It appears they're also available on STAN, for anyone with a subscription to that particular service.

Yep, watched both. New to the show (started it for the first time last season)

That dude with the depression that started coming out on Day 3 had clearly never spent a few days in isolation before, in preparation for the competition.

 

[Vader]

Yep, watched both. New to the show (started it for the first time last season)

That dude with the depression that started coming out on Day 3 had clearly never spent a few days in isolation before, in preparation for the competition.

It's looking like being a short season, given the amount of filler they shoved into the 2nd episode.

Depression is real, and given his knowledge of the lingo he has almost certainly been diagnosed with it before. But I do agree that he's obviously never spent any real time alone, which you would think would be standard preparation for anyone wanting to compete on this show.

Lots of people making dodgy decisions so far, we'll just have to see if they come back to bite them in the future. Setting up camp in the middle of a river bed is NEVER a good idea. Choosing not to bring a ferro rod in as one of the 10 items is a bold decision, made even bolder when he decided to move camp 2km away from his drop location (without having any clean water to drink).

There's 2 schools of thought on killing the warthog. On the one hand, congratulations to her on taking the opportunity, and getting a kill with her first shot. Contestants have a brief window of 1-2 days before the animals become aware of their presence as an ongoing thing, and adjust their behaviours accordingly. It may well be that this was her one & only opportunity, and I'm sure she would have regretted not taking it. On the other hand, taking the life before she was setup to deal with the implications (processing the carcass, preserving and storing the meat) has serious implications. Firstly, she took a month of Sundays to process the carcass, resulting in flies laying maggots all through the meat. She got one good meal out of the meat - I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of it is spoiled before she gets to eat it. Eating spoiled food can have severe implications - just ask Jit who suffered the consequences of coming into contact with contaminated water!

 

[Gak Attack]

I've not really enjoyed first couple of episodes. Often they can get better after a few duds are out of the way but if it doesn't improve it could end up being a one and done for Alone in a non freezing location.

 

[Vader]

I've not really enjoyed first couple of episodes. Often they can get better after a few duds are out of the way but if it doesn't improve it could end up being a one and done for Alone in a non freezing location.

It's not got off to a good start, that's for sure.

 

[Vader]

Interesting that the most recent US S12 episodes have only been ~42 min long - most episodes in post-COVID seasons have been ~63 min. Maybe they have a lack of usable footage?

I wasn't surprised to see one contestant eliminated by "the tempest", but it wasn't the contestant I expected to go. I actually had this contestant as one of the favourites, and was shocked when he pulled the plug so quickly.

 

[Gak Attack]

To date probably been the worst season since the team one. Think we aren't even two weeks in and halfway through a season. Poor casting or just bad luck hasn't helped that its one of the worst groups for years, especially considering there was a bunch of good contestants last season.

 

[Vader]

To date probably been the worst season since the team one. Think we aren't even two weeks in and halfway through a season. Poor casting or just bad luck hasn't helped that its one of the worst groups for years, especially considering there was a bunch of good contestants last season.

There are a few factors at play here...

Firstly, they have completely changed the meta. Contestants were only told the destination about 1 month before they left to start filming. Prior to that, they would have been planning around another season in the freezing cold of northern Canada, which requires a completely different skillset. For most Americans, the environment in the South Africa desert is completely alien to them - which should be a big advantage to Katie (the Australian contestant).

It's like they've gone back to Alone S1, where nobody really knew what they were doing, given that none of the American contestants have any experience in these conditions.

Secondly, contestants are always selected with the bathtub curve in mind - a few early failures, a few who drop out for random reasons mid-season, before a high drop out rate when things get really difficult at the end. Having said that, I don't think the producers were expecting 4 of the 10 to have tapped out in under a week!

People were asking for them to do a desert season, to break away from the frozen winter meta - which has been well & truly worked out by now, with contestants having seen what did & didn't work over far too many iterations of the same thing. People asked for it, and now they have it - and many of them are whinging that it doesn't make for good TV viewing.

 

[Vader]

SBS have announced that S4 will be filmed in north of the Arctic Circle - i.e. the same areas used by most of the US series:
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article...location-yet-as-show-set-for-return/vt6ppcprs

It's likely that filming will be starting shortly, given that they like to start about a month before winter hits.

I have very mixed feelings about this. One of the reasons that Alone S12 (AKA Alone: Africa) failed so badly is that the participants were all ducks out of water. They were all completely unfamiliar with the environment, with the possible exception of the Australian (Katie), and while she would be used to the dry environs of Australia, she had zero familiarity with the African wildlife.

Similarly, Australian contestants will be going into the area completely unfamiliar with the environment, wildlife, and the weather challenges. The coldest ever recorded in Australia was -23.0C, at Charlotte's Pass (near Mt Kosciuszko). The average winter temperature in northern Canada is -32.0C. There is just no way for an Australian to prepare themselves for those sorts of conditions. Similarly, Australians live in a country where every 2nd animal has enough venom to kill you, but nothing that actively wants to eat you - Canada has bears, wolves, wolverines, and maybe even Polar Bears (depending on where the participants are dropped). The Australian bush is now thoroughly infested with feral dear, so at least our hunters will have some clue about getting food.

I quite like having Alone Australia set in Aus/NZ. It's a point of difference to the original Alone (US) series, one which will be lost by playing in the same sandpit. I also like that it's Australian (or NZ) scenery on our screens (the settings for S2 & S3 were beautiful, even if S1 was just a mud hole).

I acknowledge the difficulty in finding a good location for filming Alone. It requires a complex balance of scenery, food & water availability, the ability to legally hunt/trap/kill animals, large areas for the participants to roam, but close enough to "home base" that rescues can be effected in a timely manner. It is incredibly difficult to find locations in Aus & NZ where all (or even most) of these requirements can be met.

The US & Canadian contestants have well and truly "cracked the code" when it comes to surviving in the cold winter climes of northern Canada. It remains to be seen how Australian & Kiwi "fish out of water" contestants will cope in the same environs.

I suspect it will be another disaster, like Alone S12 - but I live in hope of a better outcome.

What are other people's thoughts?