Original subtitles

- Wolves--whole pack of them.

This is quite a bit different wilderness.

The animals aren't as afraid of man.

- The memory of me starving...

Ha!

...is affecting my thoughts and actions.

- Look at that!

This feels a lot more like home

than Patagonia did.

Boom.

I know I'm gonna be the last one standing this time.

- Just doing the best 1 can to get food out here,.

1 haven't had anything to eat.

I'm not surprised that hunger is what drove me out;

I'm just surprised that it was so soon.

This place may have got the best of me.

Male narrator: For the first time ever on "Alone,”

ten past participants return.

They've come back with one goal: redemption.

- I deserve to be here, and I'm back.

- I want to win more this time than I did last time.

Narrator: Now a fresh hell awaits.

- The cold is an incredibly strong punch in the face.

Narrator: In the punishing wilderness of Mongolia.

- We're in the middle of nowhere.

- Mongolia's a very unforgiving land.

Narrator: They must survive in complete isolation,

enduring as long as they can.

- I'm just gonna push and push and push

until there's nothing left.

Narrator: The last one standing wins.

- There's wolves,

The first time I've heard them.

Just one little burst.

Oh, there they are.

Couldn't believe how loud that was.

I just heard something pretty large across the river.

You've really got to stay on your game

with the predators.

There's a lot of things to think about,

and you're always gonna have to be aware

and be careful about what you're doing,

so it is really important for me to finish my shelter.

Okay, there's one.

Being able to come out here and get another shot at this

and see if what you learned the first time

can be applied to a second time

on a new piece of land in a foreign country?

How could you say no to that?

I won't be building no log cabin here.

You got to go a long ways for a few straight poles.

My husband and 1 were on season four,

and we lasted 49 days.

Not a lot has changed for us

from the previous season till now.

It's been a very short time.

We're working on our property in Alaska.

On Vancouver Island, 1 definitely think our ability

to build our shelter the way we did was a strength for us,

and I'm proud of how we worked together as a husband and wife.

What ultimately ended my time in the wilderness

was the resources of fish ran out,

1 want to eat.

1 want to eat something.

It was definitely starvation that took me out of the game.

1 just can't go on.

It's really hard to think that

it was my fault we had to leave.

This season, 1 really hope to capitalize on

the game animals in the area.

Tm bringing a bow. 1 really want to hunt.

I really want to be successful at bringing in more calories.

1 want to prove that 1 can do it alone this time.

I want to kill it out here.

I want to win.

This should do it-- more than do it.

So 1 got everything out of my shelter right now.

This is my front wall.

And I'm thinking right in here

is where I'm gonna make the fire pit.

I'm gonna dig it out, add sand and gravel,

and then I'll vent it here.

I can't say if it's going to be

harder or easier than season four.

As far as being with my husband

or not being with my husband,

that will be an interesting thing to find out.

That said, there's a division of labor

that doesn't happen when you're by yourself,

so you have to do everything yourself.

I'll put it down in the hole.

That's pretty, isn't it?

It's nice having fire in your shelter,

especially when it's raining.

A little fire like that will warm it right up in here.

That's not bad.

It's not terribly, terribly smoky in here.

All right, it's getting a bit smoky.

If I could pull that back up there a little bit more.

Shelter is going to be very important.

That is the thing that gives you peace of mind

for everything.

There are predators here, so

there's just something comforting about

knowing you're enclosed in something,

and even if it's not great, it's better than nothing.

So shelter is huge. It is my number one priority.

It's not as smoky in here.

This isn't too bad of a setup.

I'm pretty excited.

- Whoo.

That was good. I just--

I just had a bath in the river.

Everything tastes really salty. 1 think that's my own sweat.

Feels good. I got to wash everything.

Shelter is on my mind today.

That's so important for me to build a home,

because that's gonna be key for my long-term survival out here.

This could be a ridgepole right here, this tree.

This could be a ridgepole for the top of my lean-to.

1 have to get a shelter built quickly,

and it has to be a really, really warm shelter.

1 need 10 balance everything 1 need to do

and stay healthy, 'cause 1 still have MS.

Even though I'm healthy, I still have it.

It's a test for me.

All right. Got these.

Some more ridgepoles in here after 1 strip them,

and then I'm gonna strip the birchbark off the side

of these for fire tonight.

Northern Mongolia is one of the coldest places in the world.

The land here is extremely unforgiving.

Like, you walk out,

and you will get frostbite sort of cold.

So if 1 can get my shelter warm enough and thick enough,

Tm hopeful that 1 can stay cozy and warm.

All right, take a little break.

Why is it taking so long?

It's my arms getting tired.

Damn.

I don't know why I'm getting so winded.

1 don't know quite what's going on.

1 hope it's nothing.

1 just don't feel right.

Al 1 can say is 1 hope s nothing to do with MS,

'cause that would suck.

Tm just gonna tell myself that 1 feel fine

and that there is nothing wrong with me right now.

My last major attack was in 2010.

There are signs that 1 get,

like my eyesight goes blurry or my nose gets tingly

or 1 get the tingling in the back of my neck

or my muscles start popping.

There are signals to me, like,

"time to slow down, Nicole."

And today, I'm not feeling the muscle popping thing

or even my nose isn't even tingly

or my tongue's not even gone,

but I'm feeling the weight that I get with MS.

It's hard to describe.

It's like your legs and your arms get really heavy,

and they don't quite function right.

And I'm feeling that pretty strongly today,

and that concerns me.

I'm not gonna let it get me.

- Today is day seven.

New personal best.

That's awesome.

Rock on.

That's all you can ask for is improvement.

Today, 1 am going out to

harvest all the alliums 1 possibly can.

There is a bunch of wild alliums out there.

They're garlic, essentially.

They look and smell like garlic,

and they grow the same kind of way.

1 really am really excited Tm gonna have a meal today,

and, you know, it's a guaranteed meal.

1 don't have 10 go out and set a trap.

The alliums aren't running away.

There's a lot of grassland that I can't see where my feet fall.

Out here in Mongolia, the Asian pit viper

is pretty dangerous.

You just have to really make sure

you keep your noise up

and you know where you're putting your feet.

So I'm gonna make sure I'm armed, just in case.

Tm gonna harvest all the wild alliums 1 possibly can.

They like to dig themselves pretty deep into

really rooty soil.

There you go.

That's just from one allium.

And there's 100 of these things out here.

There's plenty left out here, so let's keep going.

Holy

Check this out.

It's a snake.

It's coiled up and ready to strike.

It's right there.

Oh, holy It's a pit viper.

It's a pit viper.

So 1 saw a snake on the trail,

shot it with an arrow,

cut its head off, laying right there.

Now it's mine, and I'm gonna eat it.

Got myself a snake.

That's where 1 hit him, right there on his side.

1 eviscerated him.

First I'm gonna skin the snake.

I'll start at the bottom of his belly,

and I'll bring it all the way up,

right in the center line.

Got the snake.

He just ate something-- some sort of rat.

1 don't know if you can eat the organs of a snake.

I've never ate the organs.

I've always eaten the meat.

But I'm really excited about eating today.

There. That's his semen.

He's just releasing all of it now,

'cause I'm gutting him.

Not much meat on a snake--

at least not much meat on this snake.

Hard part is getting right past that spine.

You have to hold still right there.

Here we go.

I'm gonna put it in my pot, cook it up.

1 feel good.

Feel good about what I'm doing so far.

Tm doing the best 1 can.

Tastes exactly like chicken, I'm telling you.

Other than... a lot more bones than chicken.

Damn. It's hard to eat snake.

Tastes good. There's so many bones.

There's the clean snake.

Bones.

Now 1 am gonna throw the remains away from me.

That was the equivalency of, like,

two bites of a burger, 1 feel like.

I have a long-term shelter set up.

It's gonna be a log cabin.

1 have never built a log cabin before,

so it's kind of a bit of an experiment.

Oh, yeah. That's the good stuff.

There's been some ups and downs with it,

and things that I'm learning along the way,

but everything seems to be coming together pretty well.

In Vancouver Island, it never felt like it was a home.

1 never felt like 1 was really there.

I felt like I was an outsider looking in.

1 hope that building this cabin

is gonna help me to sustain myself for

an extended period of time,

because 1 want 10 win this.

It's another beautiful day here in British Columbia.

I had some amazing times in Vancouver Island,

and I also had some of the lowest times in my life

in Vancouver Island.

1 set the ferro rod down,

and it rolled down the fire pit into the fire.

T 1 can't get a fire, then 1 can't stay here.

What took me out last time was

feeling burnt out, feeling disconnected from

my family and friends and community.

The isolation, you know, is--it's difficult.

The season two experience itself was incredible.

Getting back was the hard part, because

within a couple of hours, I was just like,

", what did I do? Why did I leave?"

1 felt ike 1 had quit something

1 knew was really important.

It was a huge regret for me.

Since I left Vancouver,

I'm still teaching and instructing primitive skills,

wilderness living skills.

From the time 1 was a young kid,

I was learning and practicing these skills.

This time around, I'm just gonna really

keep myself occupied,

keep my mind busy, work on projects.

This is the biggest caloric expenditure

that I'm going to, uh, see out here.

I know I'm gonna be really happy with it when it's done.

It's gonna be warm...

Weatherproof.

Let's have a quick look.

It's gonna be a single-pitched cabin.

There's the fireplace.

There's my little door.

I still need to do a lot of chinking

and filling the gaps between the logs,

but the logs are setting in pretty nice.

Everything's coming together.

I'm liking it.

My body's feeling good.

It's still feeling strong.

Hungry, but...

hunger is just a part of the game out here.

I know where I'm at right now

compared to where 1 was at in Vancouver.

I'm feeling dramatically better.

- It is hard when you're so strong

all the time and--

and something like this kind of hits you,

'cause you feel so vulnerable.

When you get MS symptoms, they formulate as different things.

1 have tingling; 1 have muscle popping;

I've got less energy.

My limbs are becoming increasingly heavy.

But I do have access to nature,

and that's a huge healer.

So I'm just gonna roll with it.

I'm gonna do my best.

But I'm not leaving.

Mm-mm, mm-mm, mmm.

Time for a little exploration.

1 found wild onions.

All right, this is just a single one.

Oh, wait, there's more.

The longer I'm here, the more I'm able

to tap in to what resources are here plant-wise,

and I'm finding new things every day.

But I'm not finding some of the other things

I used on Vancouver Island for management of MS.

This one's really deep in there.

Cool.

So now I've got-- this new thing--

a whole bunch of onions for dinner tonight.

MS is a very strange disease.

It doesn't necessarily just take you down.

It comes in waves and comes and goes.

And you might be able to be up and walking one day,

and the next two days, you're in bed

and cannot move your limbs.

But 1 figure, with enough breaks

and some naps and still working at a decent pace,

I'm gonna be okay.

I'm trying to stay positive,

because if I let myself dip into

the despair that my body is feeling,

then I'm done.

And I can't let myself go there.

- Wow, that's fast.

Love lighting fires out here, that's for sure.

My overall philosophy with the ten items:

you need to be able to guarantee

that you can use all of the ten items.

The other thing is what can [ use

to improvise, adapt, and overcome?

I didn't bring fishing line or fishhooks,

but 1 figure 1 can improvise some hooks

with my 20-gauge wire that 1 brought

as part of my ten items.

1 can break down the paracord

that I've brought into tiny, tiny strands.

And so I'm making a nice little "Huck Finn" type

stick with a string and a hook and a weight on it.

I'm trying to break my record

for catching fish this season.

During my time on Vancouver Island,

caught two fish.

And I think I'll be able to catch even more

in Mongolia.

I better be able to catch more than two fish.

No sign of nothing.

Wow.

1 don't even know what to say.

I'm not getting a bite.

1 haven't even gotten my bait taken away from me.

Am 1 really that garbage at catching fish?

- I'm gonna head down to the old fishing hole.

Got bow in hand.

And, uh, try to catch me some breakfast.

We do share this landscape

with grizzly bear and wolves.

And so it's important to just walk slow, take your time,

always be scanning the area, always be looking around.

Well, here we are.

This here is the fish slayer 3000.

1 just wrapped string around it, put a hook on,

put a grasshopper on, and toss it out.

Fish on.

You know, at this point, they've just been

hitting like crazy.

I'm getting about four fish a day.

Every cast, if not every other cast,

I'm pulling in fish.

Just like that, he dies.

I only fish for, like, 15 minutes a day,

because 1 don't want to take too much from the river.

Very nice.

You know, I'm slowly getting connected to this place,

and I'm figuring out what are

the rhythms and patterns of this environment.

I'm eating fairly well.

I've been catching quite a few fish every single day.

Life is good right now.

Life is really good.

As they say in France, "bone apple teat."

- I gave it a little bit of thought, and

1 think the best bang for my buck right now

is gonna be going back to camp

and making some deadfalls for chipmunks.

It's really difficult to live day after day in the woods

with no success at getting yourself protein,

and it feels very vulnerable.

That should be good.

And there's actually a couple other areas

that I'd like to set traps in.

The more of these traps you set,

the more likely you are to get something.

I'm gonna fence off part of this other way,

because like any other animal,

it's gonna take the path of least resistance.

So if 1 put this enormous rock

like that,

do a little arrangement, you can basically guarantee

he's not gonna come in that way; he's gonna come in this way.

And his entire body is gonna be underneath there

when it goes ka-thunk.

The enormous mental blow that 1 have right now

is the fact that I'm not getting enough food.

And that gives me a lot of despair

about my situation and staying out here.

The thought of this experience ending this early

is devastating.

1 need protein.

- On day eight, guys, and when it rains, it pours.

1 saw this very sweet grouse?

Ptarmigan? I'm not 100% sure,

1 plucked this guy right out of the tree,

hit him right here in the behind.

You can still see the feather J this guy.

Anyways, real sorry 1 didn't get it on camera,

um, but it's gonna get in my belly,

so I'm happy about that.

If I can get a few of these a week, forget aut it.

Ugh. 1 hate that saying.

Why did 1 say that?

Oh, forget about it, Jesse.

Just forget about it.

1 broke his ribs.

Oh, man, I gutted him with that shot.

Damn.

There's his lungs, SO you can see it.

There's his heart.

Looks good.

Man, does that look good.

Already it's pretty cooked.

Juices coming out and everything.

The breasts aren't done.

But my legs are.

I mean, it's grouse. It's gonna taste like chicken.

Or whatever it is--ptarmigan.

Tastes like chicken.

That bird hasn't really hit me calorie-wise yet.

It's just being digested.

But man, what it does to your just mental fortitude.

Started to pull food out of the land.

My shelter's almost done.

I'm starting to think I'm gonna be able

to survive this thing until day 90.

- 1 really feel like the weather's coming in.

So my first order of business

really needs to be to collect birchbark

to put along the edge of my shelter.

Oh, wow,

Whew, baby! Look at that.

That is a shingle.

Wowee.

And yet another tree.

Let's see how high 1 can go.

These knots usually make it hard.

That's usually your breaking point.

Need to take a break for a sec. 1 got that--

I got some symptoms coming on again.

I got a good tree here, but I'm having some--

oh--

some bad MS symptoms right now.

So I'm gonna sit for a minute,

lean up against this tree...

And chill.

Out here, nature has always been my biggest healer,

so I'm gonna power through.

1 don't want to be anywhere else but here.

I'm gonna go let my body have the rest that it needs,

and then I'll come back to this task.

Here goes. All right.

You are strong.

You can do this.

Camp's right there.

The weakness in your limbs

is kind of indescribable unless you have it.

My legs are essentially collapsing beneath me.

Ohh.

If this had come on at home, I would have had access to

all of my herbs and everything that 1 do for myself

when 1 start feeling this way,

and 1 don't have access here.

I've used the plants the best I can, but...

1 need more than what 1 know here.

There comes a point it's just not safe to be out here.

You know, if 1 can't walk and something big comes my way,

I'm in trouble.

Al right.

I'm gonna have something to eat...

And drink.

Al right.

I'm just gonna get right here.

Oh, my God. I'm not--I'm not--

Oh.

- Oh.

1 really wish that wasn't on camera.

I'm in the midst of a really bad MS attack.

I haven't been this sick in so long,

and 1 don't want to go home.

1 want 10 be here so badly.

1 have so much more than nine days in me.

1 can't be out here not walking.

Oh.

God, 1 hate making this call.

There it goes.

I'm having a really bad MS attack.

My legs aren't functioning,

so I'm gonna need-- y'all to come get me.

1 can't believe 1 have 10 tap.

Hey.

I've just been, like, every day, just, like,

"1 can do one more day. 1 can do one more day."

And I've just been trying my best

to do everything 1 do out here with the...

Even though I'm, you know, going into an MS attack,

1 just kept thinking

if 1rest, if 1 do this,

it'll get better, but it hasn't.

It's--it's dive-bombed.

- Okay. We have two ways to get out.

Walk with assistance

or we can assist you out on a spine board.

- It's gonna have to be a spine board.

I can't move my legs.

- Here. Little bit more.

I'm gonna lift your legs up, okay?

1 expected myself

to do really well.

1 had no reason not to.

1 have the skills to be out here.

I'm determined.

I'm not lonely being alone.

1 have everything it takes to be out here

for a really long time.

And my body completely gave in on me.

I don't look at what 1 did this time as a failure.

1 succeeded.

My body let me down.

But you have to try your hardest,

and 1 can say that 1 tried my hardest.

- When you get hungry out here,

you are screwed.

I'm starving.

1 haven't eaten in days.

So the first thing I'm gonna do today

is check my traps.

I'm gonna go out to the field.

I really don't feel like I got anything last night.

I'm just not feeling it.

I'd say at the moment, what's missing from my diet

is basically protein, uh, vitamins,

various carbohydrates, um, you know, everything.

Basically, there isn't a whole lot of a diet there in general.

How long can 1 push myself

on zero calories a day?

Untriggered, untriggered.

Whoa.

Okay.

My trap went off over here.

It could have just gone off for no reason.

Could have just gone off for no reason.

Let's check it out.

Al right.

This is, like, really getting me excited.

Okay. Let's see what's up.

Oh, m , My ) gosh.

Yes! I see it.

Yes!

Yes! Yes!

_ Oh, Guys! my QQSh.

Yes! I see it.

Yes!

Yes! Yes!

Guys, 1 got first blood.

I did it. I got a Kill.

Yes!

And check this out, guys.

It's a bird.

It's one of those cute birds, but,

1 mean, its something, right?

Today could actually be, like, a turning point for me.

Definitely the smallest bird I've ever clned.

But 1 see meat in there,

and 1 see more meat than is on a mouse.

So we're plucking the bird rather than skinning it.

Plucking ensures you get all the fat.

This is gonna make a nice little stew.

Basically 1 want all the little bones and stuff.

1 want them to all mush and melt together

so that it's just, like, all the same, like, stewy broth.

So what I'm gonna do is let this cook slowly

for, like, a long time.

I'm really good at starving.

And 1 came in here with probably about

70 pounds of emergency rations

fastened directly to my skeletal frame.

But it's good to get some protein.

All those bird bones are completely melted down.

Time to eat up this yummy Mongolian gravy.

Bon appétit.

My delicious gravy mixture.

Oh, so good!

Okay, I've had better gravy, but, like...

put that on mashed potatoes and give it to me any day,

and I'd be fine with that.

1 am just so happy to have this here.

Every ounce of food from the land

is just like a crazy blessing.

It's looking pretty positive at the moment.

1 feel like 1 definitely see some stepping stones

of what'll get me into the future of this thing.

I'm still in it for the long haul.

- Holy cow!

- This storm is so intense.

Oh.

- People could start dropping like flies.

1 want to be in a place

that feels like home.

1 really do want to win this.

- Frickin' deer floating down the river.

You've been wanting a dance, people?

Whoo! There's my dance!

There's my fishy dance!