Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪

I've never seen thick bush like this.

It's just terrible stuff.

Should've been a 15 minute hike,

and now I'm lost.

Oh, there's the sun.

First time I've been able to stand

in a ray of sunshine for days.

[sighs] That feels good.

Bam!

Rainbow trout up in this bitch.

Now I got food, now I got bait,

and the fish keep coming.

There's definitely something outside.

Hey!

Hey!

[animal squealing]

This is the hardest terrain.

Patagonia is a different environment entirely.

Everything out here is so hard.

Patagonia's no joke.

Are you willing to give up who you are

for what you will become?

It's Patagonia, for God's sakes.

Patagonia!

It's tougher than I ever imagined.

Just missing home right now.

You get a feeling of helplessness,

like, "Why am I doing this?"

Oh, my God!

The last person left wins $500,000

and is a badass.

-Bam! -Ugh.

[animal growling]

What is that?

It's just how far you can push yourself

and what you're able to do.

Yeah!

You don't have anyone to lean on.

Oh, my God, I got a fish.

Go to bed hungry, wake up hungry.

-Can't believe I did that. -Ready, guy?

It's gonna come down to mental endurance

and food deprivation.

[cries]

Person'll be dead in a week at this rate.

[animal growling]

♪

Hello?

That's a big cat.

♪

♪

Right there, on the tip of that piece of dead tree,

is a clump of Old Man's Beard hanging there.

♪

Gonna do a little target practice,

try and knock that off.

♪

Brought the slingshot 'cause

I'm thinking there's a lot of small game,

so I'm hoping to be able to take some birds.

Some ducks.

♪

That target's about 20 feet away.

And that's about the distance I plan

to be able to hit a bird with these stones.

Inhale...

exhale into the draw.

♪

Oh!

Nailed it.

Only took...

[chuckles] 18 shots.

That feels good.

Feels good.

♪

My situation has been a bit discouraging.

Not having sunlight is so difficult.

And then the hill is so steep,

and I'm really not happy

with the amount of fish I'm catching.

♪

So there's a duck out here.

And he's swimming along.

And I'm gonna try and get a headshot on him.

That would be worth swimming out there for.

♪

Got it!

[laughs]

Oh, dead-on, that was great.

♪

Oh, I love slingshots.

♪

Oh, man.

I missed him.

He dove under.

All I managed to do was scare him.

Well, that sucked.

He's gone out even further.

Slingshot's turning out to be much harder

than I thought it would ever be.

♪

That gives me an idea.

I'm gonna make a duck trap out there.

I'm gonna get him.

♪

Oh, I love my shelter.

It is so dang warm in here.

[laughs]

It's time for a home tour.

I've got some stew, some extra wood,

nice fire--two chairs?

Get out of here. Two chairs?

There's a fish on the ready right there.

♪

Got the bed all laid out.

So the next thing I'm gonna do

is work on the door, and that's it.

Shelter done, done.

Let's start on that right now.

All right.

So.

[sighs heavily]

♪

So I'm starting off with some of this older bamboo.

Then, I'm gonna sort of wrap

this newer bamboo in.

♪

I'm gonna make two triangles with the old stuff,

so that it fits in my door right there.

♪

I want to have it open and close,

which would be nice.

♪

They say three half hitches ties the devil.

You know what, might do four.

Just to make sure that devil's done.

All right.

Next step.

This stuff.

♪

All right, we're getting there.

We're getting there.

♪

There.

Oh, that's awesome.

♪ La-da-dee

♪ La-da-da

[laughs]

Look at that.

It opens and closes.

Abierto.

Cerrado.

Abierto.

Cerrado.

[laughs]

A beautiful shelter!

[laughs]

♪

I have no fish yet.

I can't believe I haven't caught any fish.

I set more trigger traps,

um, based on land to set the hook

when a fish bites on the hook.

But I'm not gonna give up.

The lake is not gonna have the best of me.

I have to get at least one fish out of that lake.

♪

How badass is this, huh?

♪

So I'm gonna check the fish traps.

My family usually goes salmon fishing,

ocean fishing at this time of the year.

And, uh, they're probably having a lot more luck than me.

♪

There's a fish down there.

[gasps] Is there a fish on the line?

There's something pulling, I think.

Yes!

There's a fish. Yes!

Okay.

It's stuck in the reeds.

Darn it.

I don't want to lose it.

♪

I need to go get it.

Oh, I'm gonna have to go in this icy water.

♪

It's really important not to get all my clothing wet.

So I'm just taking my clothes off.

This is gonna be so freaking cold.

I'm gonna get hypothermic.

But I need that fish.

Holy [bleep], it's so freaking cold.

Oh, my gosh.

I just don't want to lose this fish.

♪

Whoa!

♪

Oh, [bleep].

The line just broke.

I might try to go for it.

♪

So freaking--whoo.

Whoo.

♪

Ugh, it's so cold.

Ugh.

So cold.

Whoo.

[panting]

♪

It's right there.

♪

Ugh, I want that fish.

So freaking--whoo.

Whoo.

♪

It's right there.

♪

Ugh, I want that fish.

♪

[coughs]

I lost it.

Ugh.

So upset right now.

♪

Oh, I can't believe I lost that fish.

My legs are freezing cold.

They're red.

Well, I learned my lesson today.

Sort of learned my lesson.

That lake just keeps...

pounding me with loses.

♪

This is the first day I've really felt alone, I think.

Just watching the biggest fish swim away today,

just...

made me want to have a hug.

From my family.

It's just, um...

ugh, I need that protein.

♪

♪

I found this plant.

And I don't know what it is.

I'm hoping it's a good source for tea

and a good edible plant.

♪

When you're experimenting with plants,

don't eat too much at a time.

This is an old bushman trick.

We're all in this together, so...

I'll try them out for ya.

♪

I'll see what these greens taste like.

♪

Ah, the tea's kind of...

doesn't have much of a flavor, the tea.

♪

But the plant's good.

♪

You know, hopefully, it's a safe--

[retches]

Oh, no!

Yeah, no.

Hopefully, it's safe.

I think we'll be okay.

♪

The food situation's becoming the issue.

♪

Just not catching fish like I did the first couple days.

♪

Can't just keep going, like, a week at a time

or anything like that without some fish.

I'd hate to get forced out of here because of starvation.

♪

So I got to really think about pigs.

Seriously.

So I'm gonna go check my snare again.

♪

Oh, no.

Damn it!

Something happened with my snare.

♪

You can see the line.

It was strung out this way.

♪

But nothing's in the trap.

And my bait is gone.

♪

See that?

♪

It took my bait.

Now, I don't know if it was a bird or what.

But something was here.

So I'm gonna check the trail cam.

See what happened.

♪

So I don't know if it's a fox.

It's about the size of a coyote, it looks like, though.

♪

Whatever it is, they just keep taking the bait

out of my snares.

So it's, uh, kind of a catch-22.

I can't get pigs if something's stealing my bait all the time.

♪

He'll be back.

He has to go,

and that would be food for me.

And I've got no qualms about eating him.

He's eaten all my bait.

Stealing the chances of me getting a pig.

So...

it's the way it goes.

♪

I'm watching the water.

I want to make a duck trap.

I was really hoping I'd be ahead of the game by now

with the fishing, you know?

I'd be catching enough fish that I could be

setting some aside.

Just hasn't happened.

I need more food.

Duck would be a great source of food.

But he's too far away to hit with the slingshot.

♪

So today's gonna be trap-making day.

I'm gonna head down the shore

and I see a plank down there,

which will be a little float,

and I think I'm gonna hook a little propeller to it.

Whoa.

Found myself a surfboard.

Innovation and creativity are very important.

Nothing has come easy.

Everything takes a lot of work.

Very tough, very tiring.

♪

What I'm trying to do here is

make a little paddle wheel

that goes in here.

♪

We all have our strengths and our weaknesses.

We all have different abilities, you know?

Mine being the ability to make stuff.

And ever since I got my land off the grid,

whether it's a knotted piece of wood

or a gnarled piece of garbage that I found at the dump,

I see the nature of the thing and make that item

into what it wants to be.

That's my passion.

Almost a perfect fit, there,

all joined together.

Little paddles.

[mimicking motor]

To get my duck trap out there,

since I don't have a boat to paddle out there and set it,

I was thinking about taking some of the elastic

from my slingshot

and seeing if I can't make it wind up.

♪

Hmm.

I guess that's all that's left is to, uh, try it out.

But first, I'm gonna try and build, like,

a little dock that I can walk out on

and launch my boat, that would get me out 30 feet further.

There.

♪

Patagonia's a place of extremes.

♪

Nice.

It's possible that this lake could rise,

like, a foot and a half every winter.

And that dock would give me something

that I can walk out on when the temperatures

get freezing cold.

♪

Pretty sturdy.

I got to get the duck hunter ready

and launch that.

♪

So this is what we got going on.

As you can see,

the propulsion to take it out there.

A rock with a line tied to it.

Two of these.

And a line to a fish hook in a fish head,

which I'm hoping the ducks will take and--

which they're apt to do,

and then they will tug on it,

which will pull the rock off of here

because they want to get away,

and they'll pull it into the water

and the rock will unravel,

and it'll pull their heads under

and finish 'em off.

And that'll be the end of the duck

and dinner for me.

♪

I christen thee "Duck Hunter 3,000."

♪

On your first mission,

seek and destroy.

♪

We are fishing for birds.

If all goes well,

I will be having duck soufflé for dinner.

Duck soup.

Duck tartare.

Duck and dumplings.

Duck... whatever.

♪

Eh.

I'd say that's good.

Success.

Today was a good day.

You know, things are really shaping up.

Looking forward to catching some bigger game,

catching that duck.

And hopefully, we can keep this going,

and see where it takes us.

So I woke up to splashing.

And I come down to the waterfront,

and the duck hunter is upside down

and almost back into shore as far as it can go.

It looks like there's a fish tied to the side of it somehow.

Or something going on.

She needs some ballast underneath to keep her

from rolling over when a fish takes a bite

and the rig catches her.

I wish I could've had it on film, though.

That would've been cool.

♪

All right.

Let's see if I can't bring her in.

♪

Look at that.

Just caught a big fish.

And he's all like, "Ah, this sucks."

♪

[laughs]

Man, he's a good size-- look at him.

That's a nice-looking fish.

Mwah.

Catching fish with my duck hunter--

did not expect that.

Duck hunter made her first kill.

Good girl.

Should go out on another mission.

♪

Now!

Away you go.

♪

Hopefully, next time I get a duck.

♪

Every night I wake up, I have to use the bathroom.

I have to get up, put my shoes on,

come outside in the cold.

So I decided to try and install my urinal.

Basically, it's just half of a hollowed log

running out the back of my shelter,

braced by a Y stick.

Show you easily how it works.

♪

There you go.

No more going out in the cold at night.

It's so convenient.

I may install one next to my bed when I get home.

♪

I'm naturally extremely optimistic.

But it's hard to be when nothing goes your way.

♪

And not too many things are going my way right now.

♪

Nothing on my fish lines for a long time.

It's got to change.

♪

Crazy.

I've been a vegetarian against my will.

♪

I'm curious, by just eating wild edibles,

how much weight I'll actually lose and when I will plateau.

♪

Oh, man.

Pretty slim.

♪

Like...

11th-grade slim.

♪

My energy level is lower.

And I get tired faster.

♪

Pushing through the brush over here,

and I came across some--

I think it's called lengua de vaca.

"Tongue of the cow."

It's an edible mushroom.

It's a big one, too.

See how it looks like a tongue?

So I'm gonna take this back.

That's a good score.

Pretty pleased with that.

Also down here, there are some plantains

that I can eat right out of the ground.

And when food is not in abundance,

anything you find...

♪

Doesn't taste that bad.

♪

It's like a bitter salad.

But no dressing.

No croutons.

No cheese, no tomatoes.

No grilled chicken or salmon.

That's basically what it is.

♪

I don't know how vegetarians do it.

I don't like the vegetarian lifestyle.

I need some meat.

The fishing's not working out.

I've got to try and get some larger prey.

I found some places where I think

rabbits might be residing.

A low, shrubby area.

Put some rabbit traps down.

My paracord's running low.

I'll use fishing line for my snares.

♪

That should work.

♪

I did manage to get up one rabbit snare.

And hopefully tomorrow's the night

I put some rabbit in my pot.

♪

And just got to keep placing more bets.

Something's got to hit.

♪

I just saw a fish feeding here.

So I'm just gonna cast off here for a bit

and see if there's any bites.

♪

Right now, my main concern is just not being able

to catch some fish.

♪

I'm definitely losing weight,

and I just need to get some protein.

♪

Why are the fish not biting?

♪

So I'm just gonna check my trigger traps.

♪

Oh.

Trigger was actually triggered.

So we're gonna bring in the line,

see if there's anything there.

♪

[gasps] Oh, my God, I got a fish!

I got a fish!

But it got wrapped around the reeds.

I just got to bring it in.

Oh, my gosh, there's a fish!

I'm so excited!

Yes!

I think I'm willing to get wet for this,

just to get this fish.

♪

I got a fish.

Whoo-hoo!

♪

Look at the colors on this beauty.

It's all wrapped around the reeds

and my feet are soaking wet,

but I don't care.

[laughs] It's got a mouthful of reeds.

Mwah!

I'm so excited for this.

Oh, my gosh.

[laughs]

I finally did it.

Oh.

This fish will definitely keep me going for a bit.

And I'm gonna eat every piece of it.

And, uh, the entrails, I'll use for, um--

hopefully, for bait.

♪

Oh, wow, it's so good.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

It's work to be out here.

It's survival.

Battling the hunger, I can't go a week at a time

without any meat.

I mean, I really got to get some meat.

♪

It might be feasible with some kind of trap

to get a pig, but not when you got foxes

taking all your bait.

So unless I get the fox...

I won't get the pigs.

♪

I'm gonna try a deadfall.

The fox, he's used to coming to this particular spot.

♪

So I figure, set it up here.

♪

Really hungry, and I'm feeling it too.

Starting to feel weak.

I'm desperate for some meat.

It's protein, and it's calories.

Carbohydrates, whatever. Energy that I desperately need.

The idea of the stakes,

he has to come in to get at the bait.

So I run a V this way,

a V that way,

and just make my row of stakes.

♪

And I have to find that...

fine line.

And see, I should be able to get a hair trigger there.

See?

That didn't take any pressure.

Yeah, all this work for a little fox.

♪

♪

♪

He keeps coming back.

And the bamboo that I had for a trigger is gone

and the bait.

The fox figures out a way.

Uh, we got to try something to get this character.

So I'm gonna try something different.

I'm gonna do a lot touchier trigger system

on this one.

I want to use a branch.

Kind of like a slide hammer.

But he's not afraid of my traps, 'cause they don't work.

♪

It's in this area somewhere.

Oh, you.

♪

I'm not sure if that's hair trigger.

But I got movement on that.

♪

And, I mean, if this trigger doesn't work, then...

well, that worked pretty good.

It didn't take much pressure.

That's got the ticket.

I hope that fox appreciates

the work that I've put into this.

[laughs]

I just hope he appreciates it.

♪

♪

Trap is still set.

But the fox took my bait again.

It almost looks to me like he pulled the bait out the side.

That fox...

has outfoxed me way too many times.

See, he doesn't want to go underneath it.

See how smart he is?

He'll paw the bait to himself

through the bamboo.

Yup.

He's just reaching in to get the bait.

♪

Unbelievable.

♪

He seems to know it's a trap, and--

but he knows how to get around it.

He can figure out ways to trick me.

♪

That tricky old fox, eh?

I give up, and I'm not spending any more time

trying to catch that thing.

And as a survivalist, what you look for

is practical solutions to getting by.

I can't chase a fox around through

the wilderness of Patagonia.

♪

I don't want to sound like a perpetual complainer,

but nothing is going right.

I feel absolutely depressed.

♪

It's easy to get negative in this situation.

The weather, the lack of food.

I just wish that I could just get on a plane and go home.

I don't really know how much longer I can keep going.

♪

Now I keep thinking about the words of my daughter.

♪

"Even when you think you can't do it, Dad,

"just hang in there.

You need this."

♪

And I just want to give her

something in life.

Something of her own, a house,

is all I want to do, is be able to

build her a house this year.

♪

Maybe a little guest house for myself

on the same acreage somewhere.

♪

This chance is never gonna come again.

But I'm really struggling to want to be here.

I knew--I knew that this day would come.

♪

And it's just a terrible feeling in your heart

that you just...

you just want to be at home.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

It's amazing how many breaks I need to take.

I'm like a little remote control car.

You put in the fresh batteries,

and that was around-- that was, like, the first week.

And I could drive around, do all this stuff,

no problem.

Run around, carry this, push this, chop this.

And then the batteries start running low

and, you know, the--

you could take out the batteries and put 'em back in,

and it'll go-- [grumbles]

♪

And you get like-- [grumbles]

♪

It's been 23 days since I caught a fish.

♪

It's killing me to be a vegetarian.

♪

I'm going to go check my rabbit traps.

Hopefully, something's in them.

I'm hoping against hope

that today is the day my trap gets hit.

Could use it.

I need a big, fat, overweight rabbit.

♪

I miss my family immensely.

But everything I'm doing here, I'm doing for them.

♪

I'm missing important moments in my son's life.

I told them to take photos and keep a diary

of the things that they do.

♪

I can't imagine what being the last person to go home

with all the prize money would do to your life.

I'd take my wife on a vacation.

Pay off the house.

I'd take care of my parents.

I'd like to buy a little piece of neighboring property.

And that's why I'm out here, dropping weight

like it's nobody's business.

♪

Ugh.

♪

That is very upsetting.

♪

I had something run through here,

get trapped,

and chew his way out.

That is a big blow.

I have no more snare wire.

So I was hoping I could catch them with my fishing line.

I knew that the line would be enough to hold him.

I didn't take into consideration that he would

chew right through it.

Chewed right through it, chewed it up in little bits.

That's bad news.

Why didn't I think that they would just chew through it?

Because I wasn't thinking, that's why.

♪

Damn.

♪

Rabbits can chew through fishing line.

I set them all up, not even considering.

♪

I have a lot of snares set out there

for apparently no purpose.

♪

What was I thinking?

♪

Man, I had one.

♪

I'm gonna go down to the stream and get some water to boil.

That's one thing I can't do wrong.

Get water and boil it.

At this point, there's nothing I want to do here except eat.

Like, I don't have projects.

I'm not hiking anywhere.

I don't have the energy for it.

So I'm in a cycle of the same thing

day in and day out.

♪

35 days of failing.

And that kind of stinks.

♪

I don't know, I don't care.

Kind of irritated.

It's amazing how disappointment can sap your energy.

♪

It makes it so hard to think that all I'd have to do

is be like, "I'm done."

And then I can be with my family.

It's that simple.

Really missing them right now.

♪

I want to be doing what they're doing,

where they're doing it.

♪

I like to be around and be the protector

and the strong one and the one that takes care of

anything and everything that's going wrong.

I like that.

♪

It's something I'm mulling over.

I don't expect it to subside.

♪

Kind of tired of being here.

♪

I talk about getting out of here like I'm in jail.

I have the freedom to go whenever I want.

But I'm here for a reason:

my family.

I'm doing this for them.

♪

I've already done it for me.

I can survive out here.

It was occurring to me as I was getting ready for bed,

getting ready to climb into my filthy sleeping bag

and put on my filthy hat and sleep for two hours,

and I was like, "Man, I'd really like to be

"just sitting next to my wife on the couch,

eating popcorn, watching a show."

♪

Right now, every time I turn the camera on,

I'm talking about the same thing,

'cause it's all I can think about.

My family.

The need for them has far surpassed

my desire to eat anything.

♪

It's time to come see you guys.

♪

[device beeping]

♪

This is Britt.

♪

Okay, mate.

I think I'm ready for you guys to come pick me up.

Are you officially tapping out, mate?

Yeah, I'm 100%.

Okay, copy that, Britt.

♪

Just like that.

♪

Going to sleep in a dirty sleeping bag,

and I'm freezing,

and I'm hungry, and my traps have been failing

for 35 days, and I've got no fish,

and if I didn't have a family at home,

I could do this.

But that's what's driving me to get back there.

I'm missing stuff that's really important to me, so...

♪

Patagonia, I love it.

But it's like a beautiful prison.

♪

I'm not really tapping out.

I'm tapping back in to my life at home.

♪

I can deal with the cold, the elements,

the terrain, the hunger, the isolation.

♪

Surviving's not the problem.

It's the longing for what I've left at home.

♪

I have such an overwhelming love and adoration

for my family and the bond that we are, that...

it's killing me to be away from it this long.

♪

I need to be tapped in.

♪

What the [bleep]?

I'm hungry.

[screams]

Here we go.

Making is my knack.

It's in my nature to always be building

and creating.

A nice sharp spike.

♪

It would sure be nice to make a raft

so that I can get to this other river over here.

But I don't want to fall in the lake.

I was up all night last night.

I got some shocking news.