Alone

Being out there in the wilderness at night with no protection is no picnic, and I can tell you have never done it if you think it is.

I can say this because I grew up in northern Canada, and as a kid we would chase away black bears and we saw them all the time when i went hiking with my friends. I was 12 at the time and a group of us would chase these bears away, we lived in a town of about 350 people up near Alaska, a small Canadian mining town, and so I got used to seeing all kinds of wildlife. There was one time an older black bear turned around and started charging back at us after we had chased it across a big baseball field at night, I have never ran so fast in my life, and the kids I was with ran as well, as there was no protection out there on a field with nothing to climb or hide behind, we had a golden retriever who was my family's dog, He had warned me more then once about some bear while camping or fishing, and had many times he had stood his ground protecting us, but that time he ran faster then all of us, and speed past me.

I have also read all the stats about wolf and bear attacks, and while it is one thing to understand that there has not been any real wolf attacks documented, it has happened. And there are numerous bear attacks having been documented. There is a big difference between a timber wolf and a normal wolf. When I was around 15 years old, I went hiking and being a kid was oblivious to my surroundings. I was crossing a river, when I felt something, so I looked up, and there was a timber wolf staring at me also crossing the same river, it wasn't the usually way a dog looks at a person, it is very different, you could see he was trying to decide if I was food or not? It was super scary, the two friends I was with bolted, and having no choice at that time, I did the same. When he started to run at us I could tell he still hadn't decided what he was going to do, but it was just instinct. I got to a bunch of trees and climbed up them quickly and he stopped at the base of the tree and looked up. He then heard another hiker call out down the trail, and he gave me one last glance and bolted. if I was alone he might have decided to eat me, seriously, while most Hollywood portrayals of wolfs is ridiculous, attacks do happen, and a timber wolf is a real predator, unlike a normal wolf which i feel like I would have a chance against, a timber wolf is so much bigger and made to kill big prey. Their chests are huge, as well as their paws and teeth.

Anyway, it seems like easy money this show, but to the credit of the people who have left, it is another thing when you are actually being stalked by the bear, all the way back to camp, that is serious behaviour and I have no doubt that such a bear would attack when it showed no fear, and actually showed aggressive behaviour. Admittedly wolfs, I would be less scared off, but is is still another thing to have no way of protecting one's self and no way to get help quickly. To those who think it would be easy, well, go try being in a tarp tent, without even a zipper, and see i you think you are as brave when a cougar, bear or timber wolf is scratching on your door.

The best thing any of them can do is create a big fire at night, that would go a long way to scare away animals, and create some sort of protection. I can't wait to see anyone here who thinks it is easy to get out there at night, and see how they do. Again, it is a completely different thing to read stats, or to meet bears with the protection of a car, a good tent, even the protection in numbers, then when you are all alone, with no weapon, and know you are pumping fear hormones into the air. You have no idea how scary that can get, it is no wonder that the people who have had predators come back to their camp have left... I do not blame them, even having my experience with bears and wolfs.

Maybe the show's producers should take people up on these forums who think it is easy.

Finally a proper survival show. Mind you, it has many flaws. But it is a monumental step forward for this type of shows.

There is no need for you to know this but I consistently write negative reviews about survival shows. There are a handful of reasons for this but, essentially, they let me down.

Not this time. From producers and crew to the "contestants", everyone has tried to do the show the way it should be done.

The heart of 'Alone' are the folk competing. As time goes on and their situation evolves, viewers are presented with a soulful, tearful at times, rendering of woes and struggles.

Some people get "in their own heads", eventually freaking themselves out into an exit. Their rationalizations are poignant, and cruel, and humbling,... and only become more so as the days pass.

Some people endure and the ones that do, do it on a shoestring. Literally. They gradually devolve into physical and psychological miserable existences, bringing to the fore the inherent, real difficulties involved in true survival situations.

This is not Bear Grylls on a weekend adventure... although, I will say, that's a guy that I would like to see competing on this show.

Anyway.

Some of these guys put their very heart (and then some) on the line. Here is a shout-out to their courage and my appreciation for taking us there, to the edge, with them.

Respect.

I've never felt the need to write a review on IMDb, but the few people who don't give this show a high rating seem to be the only ones writing reviews.

Alone is not so much a survival show as a psychology experiment. The contestants are dropped in a dangerous wilderness with just the barest necessities and left to their own devices. Besides having to find shelter, food, and drinkable water, they have to deal with being alone all the time for as long as they can stand. Some of you probably don't realize how hard it is to deal with loneliness. Just watch a prison show and see how people break down in solitary confinement.

The one thing they have for company is a little hand camera, and the contestants that last long enough really open up to it. The longer the season lasts the more they bare their soul for all to see. To me it's the most fascinating TV I've ever seen. It makes you appreciate your food, your home, and the people around you more, just by showing you were you'd be without them.

As someone who has spent a great deal of time in the back country I can say without a doubt that this is the realest of reality shows. I find it very entertaining watching the contestants do the wrong or right thing and then deal with consequences of there choices. I have also learned a thing or two - like using a tarp to build a boat or something that will float (never considered that, but I have a canoe so I never had to). The longest amount of time I have ever spent alone is 6 days and I have been alone for days many times over the years. I can tell you first hand it can really mess with your head.

Storms, vermin, predators, insects even the silence it all effects you. My hat is off to all the contestants who survived for even a few weeks. Your all winners in my book.

I was born in Yellowknife on Great Slave lake where this year Alone Artic is filmed. One no offence but this is not the Artic, it Boreal forest / borderline tundra but not the Artic. Great Slave is 400kms below the Artic Circle and over 1000 kms as a raven flys from Inuvik 3600kms by road (one of many true 'Artic' locations to base such a series from. Artic to a Northerner is the land of the Inuit not the Deni people. Also this show was filmed when there was still a lot of light and no real freezing (there is a 6 metre (20') thick solid surface of ice over Great Slave I the winter (there is a major Ice Hwy. from Hay River to Yellowknife) every winter. So saying these are 'Artic" conditions is like slightly stretching the truth lol. Do not get me wrong, I'm enjoying the series but some honesty about this years true 'location' would be nice. So like showing a northern Boreal Forest setting in early fall, is not the Canadian Artic sorry to burst anyones bubble. Northerner