I can think of several reasons why I shouldn’t like the TV series Alone — I hate camping, for example — but I think it’s one of the best shows on TV today, certainly the best reality show.
For those who have never heard of it, Alone is a survival competition series, first shown on what was then known as The History Channel and is now streaming on Hulu. The series follows 10 individuals as they survive alone in the wilderness.
Except for medical check-ins, contestants are isolated from other people. They may withdraw from the competition — or “tap out” — at any time, or they may be removed by failing a medical check-in, usually when a contestant’s BMI falls below 17. In the early years, the final remaining contestant received $500,000. That amount was raised to $ 1 million with the start of Season 7. All contestants receive a stipend to cover lost wages during their time away from home. The seasons have been filmed in a range of remote locations — most recently in the Great Karoo region of South Africa.
Since Alone first appeared in 2015, several spinoffs have appeared, including The Beast, Frozen, and The Skills Challenge. A Danish version (Aline i Wildmarken) was introduced in 2017 and became one of the most popular shows ever broadcast in Denmark. Interestingly, Danish contestants do not compete for prize money; they compete only for glory.
Alone also represents a significant evolution in the genre of survival television. Survival competitions on TV began with significant complications — including tribes, elimination games, challenges, votes, and more. Alone offers none of that: ten people are dropped into the wilderness with ten items of their choosing (no guns). And they film themselves. Unlike The Real Housewives, there are no producers to instigate conflict and drama.
Not all contestants are likable. In the first season, two contestants were men who spent their lives with guns. One was a police officer, the other a rabid gun enthusiast — both had gruff, hyper-masculine demeanors. When they found themselves alone in the wilderness, however, the primitive conditions quickly took their toll on them. Terrified by bears, the police officer tapped out first. He made it 12 hours and may still hold the record for the earliest leave. The gun lover went next, lasting just two days, because he was tormented at night by howling wolves. Most of us, watching from the comfort of our living room sofas, wouldn’t have lasted an hour, but most of us don’t claim to be survivalists, as those men did.
Sometimes, the appeal of the show is feeling superior to the contestants. I like to gloat over obvious mistakes. Failing to build a shelter in the first couple of days is a common mistake. Drinking un-boiled water is another. (I may not like camping, but I am good at imagining parasites and waterborne illnesses.) In Season 11, contestant Cubby Hoover had to leave after just four days because an arrow had fallen out of his quiver and seriously wounded his thigh. I felt sorry for him, but thought, “C’mon, man!”
Other contestants are amazing. I found myself in awe of Roland Welker, the winner of Season 7, who survived 100 days in the Canadian Arctic by building himself what came to be known as the “rock house” and successfully hunting a musk ox on day 29. I think the guy could have easily lived there for the rest of his life.
Another favorite contestant was the winner of Season 2, David McIntyre — maybe because he was from Kentwood, Michigan, or perhaps because he was the oldest contestant to win (at age 50). McIntyre had been a Christian missionary to Brazil and the founder of a wilderness ministry there, but his missionary career came to an end when his wife of 15 years divorced him. Sadly, David died in November 2024.
The show provides contestants with safety equipment and personal items (including a toothbrush and two pairs of thermal underwear), including those 10 items I mentioned. This is where the strategizing begins. Hunters may take bows. Handymen might take a folding saw to make lumber for shelters. Fishermen (and women) might take paracord to weave gill nets (no professional rods or lures are allowed). But choices carry risk. If you make yourself a gill net, what happens if there are no fish in your stretch of the river?
Not everyone likes Alone. A critic once referred to it as “The Blair Witch Project with prize money.” Other people have noted that Alone shows us ten people who are slowly starving to death. But many more people love the show. According to Nielsen, 20 million people watched Season 9, and that number continues to grow.
My reasons for liking the show have less to do with survival skills and more to do with what happens to contestants psychologically. Many contestants have survivalist experience, but even the highly skilled contestants find themselves tapping out because of what is happening internally. Long-time viewers become adept at detecting the first signs of a contestant who won’t last. When contestants begin to mention family members in a way they didn’t in their first days after drop off, the end is in sight.
The show is about strategy, but also psychology. Alone is a show about the beauty and power of nature. It’s a show about the ingenuity and resilience of human beings. And it’s also a show about human fragility, nutrition, and hunger. So much hunger. But it’s a hunger that feels to me like a metaphor. What the show wants us to imagine, I think, is the viability of the American socio-economic project. Is the American way of life capable of providing sustenance to the average person? Is there enough “nutrition” in the daily grind to keep a person going?
Alone does not directly answer these questions. It does, however, choose its contestants from a relatively narrow pool of seekers and discontents, making the question hard to avoid. Then it gives them a chance to achieve the American dream by vaulting them into the middle class with a big cash prize.
The show’s contestants have not thrived in American society. This becomes obvious when viewers see footage of their homes as they say goodbye to loved ones. As one reviewer has noted, “There are no corporate CEOs, union presidents, real estate developers, or Wall Street traders on the show’s contestant rosters. Starving yourself to death for money is not a rich man’s game.” Most of the contestants are family men and women who also happen to adhere to “alternative lifestyles” like homesteading or subsistence farming. It seems clear that they are trying to survive by winning a small fortune. It’s telling, I think, that none of them say they want to use the money to establish a profitable working farm or even a sustainable home off the grid.
In terms of its contributions to public discourse, Alone provides an interesting and subtle contribution to a broad critique of the American dream. The show’s conceit of survival in the wild proves to be a metaphor for survival in a capitalist system for people who have been alienated from conventional notions of success.
Note: Season 13 of Alone is expected in late spring, 2026.
4 Responses
Thanks for this engaging review, Doug. The show sounds interesting and reminds me of one a while back where a family would agree to live like the first settlers in America.
Thanks so much, Doug,
My mother said we could go camping so long as it was in a hotel lobby.
Thank you, Doug!
Alone stands out because it strips reality TV down to something genuinely human: resilience, discipline, and mental strength. Watching contestants manage isolation, hunger, and physical decline makes you appreciate how closely survival, health, and mindset are connected. It also highlights how body management becomes critical under extreme conditions, which mirrors everyday life in a less dramatic way. Whether someone is surviving in the wilderness or at home trying to improve their health, understanding the basics of weight management and mental endurance plays a major role in long-term success.