Original subtitles

Jeff: My dear father in heaven, this is really difficult.

[ groans ]

for me and eva to get through this,

we're gonna need thy help in accordance with thy gospel.

Eva: Whoa. Whoa. Snake.

Holy [bleep]

in the name of jesus christ, amen.

Narrator: Two strangers...

One man and one woman, both experienced survivalists,

have chosen to put their skills to the ultimate test.

Just one victory, please!

Narrator: They have no water, no food, and no clothes.

Their challenge is to survive for 21 days...

Aah! I want to go home.

Narrator: ...Knowing that the human body

can only live three days without water

and begins to shut down after three weeks without food.

Get out of there!

Narrator: This is the everest of survival challenges.

Can a man and woman

survive alone in the wilderness naked and afraid?

Man: 9 out of 10 people in our situation die.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

narrator: 250 miles off the african coast

lies a dry and desolate land.

The scorching heat of day

gives way to the bone-chilling cold of night.

80 species of snake wait to strike,

including the deadly ground boa

that can squeeze the life out of victims twice its size.

Every step brings you closer to highly venomous scorpions,

tarantulas, and deadly black widows

whose bite, if left untreated,

can lead to kidney failure and death.

Extreme heat, scarce food and water,

no mercy.

This is madagascar.

We are in motherfrickin' madagascar right now, guys.

My name is jeff zausch.

I come from a small town in idaho in the middle of nowhere.

I'm driven to do this challenge because I love to do things

that very few people on this planet have ever done.

I am mormon. It's my faith.

My faith means everything to me.

As a hunter, I don't feel bad when I kill an animal.

I feel excited.

I think god put animals here on the earth for humans to use.

My game plan is to fight mother nature all the way.

[ chuckles ] I don't want to work with her.

I don't want to compromise with her.

I want to fight her, and I want to beat her.

Eva: This is the kind of environment where if you're not careful,

if you get out here thinking you can bully this place around,

it's gonna come, and it's gonna bite you in the ass.

My name is eva rupert.

I am a wilderness guide, an outdoor enthusiast,

and a passionate survivalist.

It's not a frivolous thing for me ever to kill something.

The natural world is a really spiritual place for me,

and I believe in working with it rather than against it.

Why I'm here -- to test myself, to test my limits.

As far as my partner goes,

I am hoping that they are strong, capable, intelligent,

nobody mean, please.

I don't want to have to deal with a big jerk

for the next three weeks.

So, this is it.

This is... This is what I came here for.

Let's get this party started, eh?

If my partner wanted to hook up or something like that,

I'd, you know, tell her nicely, "hey, I'm married.

I'm here to survive. Nothing more."

eva: Totally about to take off all of my clothes,

wander up on to some mesa butt naked

and meet some stranger.

So bizarre.

Naked in the wilderness, people!

[ laughs ]

most of my survival situations thus far have been solo.

So to bring a partner into it is a whole different beast.

Hey.

There you are. [ chuckles ]

just hanging out in madagascar.

Oh, man.

This isn't awkward at all, is it?

Just a little bit. Hey. I'm eva.

I'm jeff. Good to meet you, jeff.

Nice to meet you.

So, when you're not standing around naked,

what do you do in your spare time?

I'm from idaho, so, you know, madagascar sun --

not really used to it.

Totally different.

I live in arizona right now. I love the sun.

Okay.

But she's an ass-kicker. We got to be careful.

Yeah, this is gonna suck. I'm a little worried.

I'm kind of white, you know?

[ both laugh ]

narrator: Jeff and eva are each allowed

to bring one essential survival item.

I brought my knife.

Nice! I was hoping it was a knife.

It's a big boy, too.

She's a good chopper, really utilitarian,

good for fine detail work, too.

Sweet. Fire starter.

Right on.

It's hot out here.

There's not a lot of water.

The water we do find,

we'll be able to purify it right away with fire starter.

That's a good one for sure.

I'm excited.

In addition, jeff and eva are given handheld cameras

to document their experiences.

Hey!

What's up? How you doing?

Dude, I'm naked in madagascar.

[ laughs ]

hey!

A small crew will capture the 21-day journey

with clear instructions not to intervene

unless there's a medical emergency.

I got one more thing in here.

Ooh. Oh, it's our map.

It's the map.

The map shows that jeff and eva have been dropped off

in a dry, desert valley

surrounded by steep, rocky mesas.

They will need to hike over this barren landscape

through arid gulleys and sparse vegetation

in search of a suitable camp spot

where they hope to find water and any available resources.

If they can complete the 21-day survival challenge,

they face a grueling three-mile hike

to the base of this mesa.

They must scale the precarious cliff face

and build a signal fire

in order to be rescued by an evac vehicle.

If we go that way beyond that hill that way.

Perfect. Hightail it down and head that way?

I definitely want to keep our options open

because we don't want to screw up

any opportunities for wildlife here.

Our bodies, our scents, our tracks

are gonna weigh really heavily on this landscape

'cause we are total aliens for these guys.

And they're gonna be --

they're already gonna be tweaking

the fact that we're there, so...

Jeff: Eva seems like quite the lover of nature.

But, to be honest,

I could care less about killing plants and animals.

The most important thing is that I survive out here,

and I'll do what I have to to make that happen.

Water -- priority number one.

We'll find that, and then we'll talk about shelter.

Sounds good. We'll assess it from there.

Should we hit the road? Let's do this.

Narrator: Jeff and eva have each undergone a rigorous evaluation by experts

and been given an overall survival assessment

based on skill, experience, and mental approach.

Jeff's years of training and hunting in primitive survival

give him high skill marks.

But his overly aggressive style

could put both him and his partner at risk.

Eva's many extreme excursions around the world

give her high scores in experience.

But her reluctance to interfere with nature

could lead to an equally dangerous approach to survival.

Jeff and eva have each been given

an overall primitive survival rating or psr.

Jeff scores a psr of 7.0 and eva scores a 7.2.

If they are able to make it

to the end of their 21-day challenge,

their psrs will be reevaluated by our experts.

Jeff: Do you have a problem killing stuff?

Is that, like, something...?

I don't do it a lot 'cause I don't do a lot of hunting.

I mostly eat vegetables.

[ both laugh ]

I'm like an extreme hunter.

And, so, I hope that comes in handy.

Eva: Awesome.

Ouch.

It's scorching out. It's -- I don't know, 110?

I have no idea. But it's smoking, cranking hot.

I'm looking for some greenery to drape over my shoulders

to prevent sunburn.

Eva: That's not a bad idea.

Kind of like a scarf or something.

You know, I think with it latched there, I think --

eva: You're good? I think I'm good, yeah.

Your shoulders are still really exposed.

My shoulders are still exposed, right.

Eva: To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what jeff is doing.

I have no idea.

You'll win best accessorized for the trip so far.

[ chuckles ] that's for damn sure.

Geez. Whole lot of nothing.

[ grunts ]

ouch. Man, this is treacherous.

Yeah.

Man, look at this thing.

It's trying to rip my foliage off.

Oh, look at this darling little nest over here.

We can take it to start a fire.

I'd rather leave them as a -- would you?

Yeah, we don't need

to, like, rape and pillage on the first day.

I have no problem raping if I'm in a survival situation.

He's gonna rape and pillage the landscape?

It throws me for a tailspin.

It's perfect tinder to start fires.

Like, this could mean one night's warmth.

I think I'm differing with you on this situation.

Okay.

Don't take it until you need it.

You know what I mean? We don't need this right now.

I'm the type of person who I believe nature is here for us.

I'd pluck every bird's nest

from this entire forest in a heartbeat

and not feel any emotion because my survival's on the line.

All right. I'll leave it here.

Eva: Okay. You know?

It'll be sitting here when we need it.

It will be sitting here. Okay.

I feel like preserving our teamwork,

that's more important than a bird's nest.

So I'll leave it here,

and hopefully, we'll get it another day.

Eva: Whew. [ sighs ]

it's a heck of a journey.

[ sighs ]

I'm thirsty. I'm really thirsty.

Geez.

Whoa! Whoa.

Look over here.

Wow! [ chuckles ]

that's a really big cave.

Check this out.

Wow. Oh, my god!

Geez.

Oh, my god.

Wow, this feels like home.

Usually you have to spend so much time creating your shelter,

gathering resources, harvesting materials.

This cave is --

it's an amazingly unique resource.

Absolutely incredible.

Oh, my god, this place is off the hook.

I'm incredibly fortunate that we found this cave.

This is a major find very early in the game.

Oh, look at this water dripping.

It's streaming right off of here.

Where's this coming from?

I don't feel comfortable drinking it from here.

I know. As tempting as it is.

We're not 100% certain that it's completely pure.

Before we drink this cave water, we have to boil it.

Standing water like that

with a bunch of plant life and moss around,

it can grow bacteria,

it can grow other harmful organisms.

Narrator: To eliminate the possibility

of diarrhea, intestinal failure, and diseases such as hepatitis,

jeff and eva need a fire

to boil and purify the water before they can drink it.

If we drink bad water, it could be the end of us.

Eva: Totally.

Ooh. See all those white balls?

Those are black widow nests.

Oh, my god. It's like a whole freaking --

it's like a black widow nursery back there.

It is. Not even joking.

If all the babies are back there,

that means mama's back there, too.

Look how many there are.

That's --

it's like black widow central.

That's pretty wild.

A black widow bite, it will kill you.

Without a doubt.

I think it's kind of the worst fear imaginable for us.

Yeah.

The egg sacks each contain several hundred eggs,

aggressively guarded by the female.

They can hatch at any time,

releasing an army of baby black widows

whose venomous bite can induce vomiting,

organ failure, and death if left untreated.

If we got bit by those spiders, we would die.

And so, what we've really got to decide is,

you know, is it worth the risk

of the beautiful, perfect cave?

I think it is if we take things into our own hands

and eradicate the cave of black widows.

Hmm.

Eva: I have a healthy respect for spiders.

I don't feel like it is our place

to roll in and trample all over their world.

And I'm also not the kind of person

who ever seeks to "eradicate" anything.

To be honest, I'd build a fire right under that.

Yeah.

Just burn the crap out of it, you know?

Eliminate them.

Hmm. I don't think so.

You know, I am a firm believer in karma.

And so, I just want to make sure

if we're gonna take a really extreme step

like eradicating an entire micropopulation of spiders

that the benefits are gonna outweigh the harm.

I want to just be extra sure about it

and just feel 100% before I go diving headfirst into anything.

The black widows are a threat.

But spiders don't like heat, and they don't like smoke.

So hopefully, if we can get a fire going,

the spiders will just leave on their own.

Narrator: With night approaching,

there's no time to build an alternate shelter,

and sleeping outside the cave in freezing temperatures

is not an option.

Eva: Sleeping in the cave, I'm fine with it.

I think the cave's our best bet.

I think we have to.

I think we should, too.

All right.

So, next mission,

I think we should get a fire going,

get some smoke flowing through here.

Yep.

Without a fire, they'll have no warmth, no water,

and no protection from spiders while they sleep.

Jeff: It's really, really hard to find tinder out here

'cause everything's evolved to not be burned by fire

'cause fires are so common out here.

Here you go.

So, this is a fire starter I brought.

Flint and steel, pretty simple striker.

Let's set it on this rock

'cause that will give me a better strike surface.

It's stubborn.

[ water trickling ] this sucks.

This really sucks.

It's getting dark soon, and I am upset.

[bleep]

[ groans ] are you freaking kidding me?

[bleep]

what is with this stuff?

It doesn't want to ignite.

It's not good material.

[bleep]

I mean, what do we need? What do we need differently?

Different stuff?

Those birds' nests we found in the trees today,

we should have grabbed them.

[bleep]

man, seriously.

Well, we'll wait till morning.

Yeah.

What do we do, you know?

Jeff: Without a fire, I'm really worried about spiders.

All those nests hatching,

hundreds of little baby black widows crawling around.

I don't think I can go to sleep right now.

I know.

Whoa!

There's a snake right under that rock right there.

Holy [bleep]

ohh! Get out of there!

We are in a state of true starvation.

Losing all capacity to do anything.

I can feel my heart beating in my neck,

and I need something to drink immediately.

Jeff: Without a fire, I'm really worried about spiders.

All those nests hatching,

hundreds of little baby black widows crawling around.

Jeff: I don't think I can go to sleep right now.

Eva: I know.

Narrator: Jeff and eva have decided to make camp in this cave

despite the presence of black widow eggs

that could hatch at any time.

Giving in to eva's strong sense of environmentalism,

jeff has gone against his hunter's instinct

to destroy the eggs.

But after failing to create a fire,

both survivalists suffered a long, cold night.

It's the morning of day two.

My night sucked. It was cold.

It was miserable.

I'm still really worried about all those nests hatching,

black widows coming at us.

It wasn't fun at all.

Cold night last night.

And I am filthy, grimy, dirty.

Go figure. [ chuckles ]

jeff: It got so cold, to be honest,

I could feel her body heat, and that was something I wanted.

I mean, I was freezing, I was shivering.

We were both shivering all night.

But I'm a married man, and me and my wife discussed it.

She had a couple things that she wanted me to respect,

and one was no cuddling at night.

Father, it's getting very, very cold at night.

So cold that we shiver and we shake,

and it's horribly cold.

Jeff is a heavy-duty mormon,

and they take that kind of thing really seriously.

I know he's got a new wife,

and I'm not in it for a quick feel.

I'm just in it to stay a little warmer.

The unwillingness to waver from that other part of his life

and that decision that, you know, he's made over there

is gonna have to change.

I pray that I can continue to keep my actions and my deeds

and my thoughts in accordance with thy gospel.

Holy crap, it is hot.

Eva: Damn.

We need fire to boil water, to keep us warm,

and to hopefully smoke out those spiders.

So today, the number-one task is to get firewood.

I'm thirsty.

Yep.

Narrator: Jeff and eva's desperate need for water

means that hunting for food will have to wait.

I look at it as the clock's ticking.

To have water purified, fire's critical.

Totally.

See all this stuff, how it's all completely gray?

Oh, yeah.

This is so much drier

than the stuff we have back at camp.

Let's take it, then. Let's load up.

I'm really thirsty.

Normally, I say my prayers morning and night.

I could use a few blessings right now.

I really could.

Jeff: Right now, we've got to get a fire going.

It's really important.

Can I hold it up for you?

It's just -- it's not spreading.

I'm gonna try to get it right down in the middle here.

At least I can be blowing in on the side here.

Stubborn.

There you go. There you go.

Yeah, baby!

Nice.

Yeah, baby!

Fire.

Whoo!

Narrator: To rid the water of all harmful bacteria,

the water must reach a minimum of 212 degrees fahrenheit.

Eva: Right now, man, I am parched.

My mouth is dry.

That is not a lot of water.

More water than none. More water than none.

By the time it boils,

there might not be any left in there.

Oh, yeah. That's 212 easily.

It's hot? Yep. Absolutely.

All right. So that should have killed everything out.

Ladies first, eva.

Okay, here we go.

Oh, my god. [ chuckles ]

just those drops on your tongue --

amazing.

Well, it's cool enough now.

We can just take a slurp out of it.

Actually makes a good cup, doesn't it?

Oh, my god. Check it out.

Oh, my god. It's, like, amazing.

[ sighs ]

yeah! [ laughs ]

god.

That fresh water, it was severely needed.

Eva: One, two, three, four, five.

There's still just five of them down there.

I think you ought to crawl back there

and do some, like, spider talking, you know?

The spider whisperer?

Ask them to please -- yeah. Ask them to please leave.

No, dude. It's not like that.

It's not some woo-woo [bleep]

it's just, you know?

As long as the spiders leave us alone,

I really don't see any reason to kill them.

I'm trying to understand her point of view,

but we're not gonna be able to sleep many more nights

without black widows coming at us.

Would you feel more comfortable me killing them all?

[ scoffs ]

no. Not in the slightest.

All right.

I don't see why we can't be human about it

as opposed to being like completely animalistic about it.

Eva: All right. I'm sitting here freezing my ass off.

I feel like I might have gotten stung on the lip.

It feels all swollen.

That's weird.

I am definitely on high alert for spiders.

Whoa. Whoa.

Dude, there was just a scorpion right underneath me,

geez!

It is right here.

Out of freaking nowhere.

I am not [bleep] kidding you, dude.

It is right here.

I need something to smash it with.

Oh, my god. It was, like, right on me.

That scorpion totally got my hackles up.

It absolutely could have bitten me

and it really got me thinking about those black widows.

And I have no interest whatsoever

in getting bit by some gnarly spider.

Jeff: Are you ready to do it now?

Yeah.

Well, let's set this torch up, and let's do this.

Jeff: Eva's come around,

and finally, she totally agrees that they have got to go.

She wants them dead.

That's a nice stick for building our torch.

Perfect.

Eva: As much as I hate to admit it,

it's us versus those damn spiders.

So, I'm thinking, let's torch the [bleep]

okay.

Once it ignites, I'll dive in there.

Jeff: You can die very quickly from a black widow bite.

It will start eating the tissues away.

Your organs could start shutting down.

If me or eva got bit, we'd probably not make it.

They're dangerous. They have got to go.

All right.

All right, we good? Go get 'em, brother.

Okay. Home improvement time.

All right. Oh, there they go.

They fell right down in the fire.

God.

Die, black widows!

Die!

God.

Bunch of sons of bitches.

Gonna be so happy not having these guys in my house.

Hey, good work.

Nice.

I would have loved to torch those spiders myself.

Narrator: Jeff and eva are finally able

to turn their attention to getting food --

a daunting task in a dry, barren desert.

Eva: I am scared about the lack of wildlife out here

and the scarcity of food sources.

It's really sparse.

If we're gonna do anything long range and productive,

we need shoes to travel on this terrain.

Jeff: It's day eight, and I'm starving.

I feel like I have a lot of hunting skills

that are gonna be needed and useful.

The only variable is, are there animals out there?

Eva. Eva.

There's a lizard here.

Eva: Oh. Get him.

He's looking right at me, though.

He's gonna be hard.

I hate lizards.

Got it.

Nice job. [ grunts ]

do you need help? You need backup?

Do you want me to help you move that rock?

I don't...

[ grunts ]

I got his tail, but I don't know where he went.

Well...

It's not very big. See?

Oh, well...

Eva: You know, I am not the born and bred hunter.

Jeff is like --

I mean, he's the hunter in the party,

so we need to get him going.

There's not a ton around here.

Jeff: We can't get to day 21 without protein and nutrients.

Whoa. Whoa. Jeff. Jeff.

Snake.

There's a snake right under that rock right there.

Okay. Here. Stay there.

I'll go over here.

I'll flip it over, and I'll try to flush it your way.

Get ready.

Ready? Okay.

One, two...

He's on this side. ...Three.

Holy [bleep]

whoa. Whoa. Jeff. Jeff.

Snake.

Good? Okay.

You ready? Okay.

One, two...

He's on this side. Be careful!

...Three.

Holy [bleep]

that's a boa.

Thatagirl!

Yeah, buddy!

Yeah, baby!

Look at this guy. Yes!

Holy -- yeah! Whoo!

Okay. Get your knife out.

Let's get him.

Oh, my god. I'm so frickin' exited right now.

Yeah!

Geez!

Yeah [bleep]

dude, I just caught a snake.

Oh, this is so nice.

Thank you, snake.

You know, I feel deep gratitude for the snake.

I mean, taking this life is basically saving ours.

So, I feel like that's that balance that works for me.

It works just right.

We're putting this to good use.

Seriously.

Shall we? Let's go back.

Narrator: Back at the cave,

jeff and eva get to work on a makeshift grill

to cook their newfound dinner.

Just like that. All right.

It's cranking hot over here, dude.

I'm just gonna make the platform for the rack.

Okay.

All right. That works for me.

Jeff: I think we're down to gut and skin snake.

Since it's your first kill,

I'm gonna let you make the first cut here.

Eva: You're gonna let me make the first cut?

Aww, jeff, that's so kind.

I know. I thought so.

Eva: You know, I see myself

as a really well-rounded outdoorswoman.

I see myself as someone who can do absolutely everything.

And I don't know that in the circles that he runs

that he deals with women like that.

So, you're saying

you're gonna let me gut my snake

that I killed with my own knife?

Yeah.

Aww, that's so sweet of you. Isn't' that nice?

[ chuckles ]

you're welcome.

[ chuckles ]

feminists bug me.

They flipping just get under my skin.

[ grunts ] nice.

Awesome.

Oh, my god. Look at that.

That looks great.

Man, I'm feeling really good about this.

This is awesome.

I'm pretty sure that these things are done.

I'd like them cooked a little bit more.

Are you sure about that?

We're not losing anything by leaving them in there.

All right.

I hope so.

Okay. So, I think our snake is finally finished.

Check it out.

Oh, my god.

Holy crap.

I think our snake is really, really well done.

They're completely too dried out.

It tastes like chalk.

Chalk.

Ugh!

It tastes like chalk.

It's sucking all the flavor out of my mouth.

Narrator: The snake meat has been overcooked

beyond the point of any nutritional value.

I knew I should have pulled those things off.

It was going off like red flags.

Bing, bing, bing, bing.

But I kind of overrode my intuition

in favor of, like, a team decision.

[ sighs ] I should have listened to myself.

[ groans ]

I'm feeling very dizzy.

I'm devastated.

I do feel guilty.

And I thought that they needed more time,

and I was wrong.

The worst possible thing that could ever happen just happened.

It's day 13.

It's been almost two weeks, and we've had nothing to eat.

Oh, my gosh.

Whew!

Eva: Light head?

I was seeing spots there, man.

Oh, my gosh.

[ sighs ]

that's probably the most severe thing I've felt yet.

We're running on empty.

Right now, this survival, it's all about food.

But we're in the desert, man.

[ gasps ] dude.

I just saw a lizard. Oh, yeah?

Right under that rock.

Okay.

Oh, I see him.

Here. Can you hold this, eva?

Eva: Yeah, absolutely.

I'll get a rock, and I'll try to bust it open.

I don't think -- shield your face, yeah.

[ grunts ]

ow!

[ grunts ]

unh! Ah, that hurt.

Do you want me to smash for a while?

You know, it's okay.

I actually -- I have, like,

a personal thing going with this lizard.

We have a vendetta.

Jeff is like some, like, caveman gone wrong

out here in the field.

I don't know if it's the starvation or the dehydration.

[ groans ]

but I'm wondering

if he's starting to lose it a little bit.

Didn't even make a dent.

Okay. I give up on him.

Now it's just taking too much energy to catch him

than it would be to eat him.

Right.

We'll get you

when you're out running around, buddy.

We'll get you.

It's frustrating, but I can't give up, you know?

I...It's day 13.

Can't give up. No -- no way.

We're running completely on empty.

Our bodies have absolutely no energy right now.

Eva: I feel like I'm like a slow-motion version of eva.

It's really weird.

I need some food in my system -- bad.

[ sighs ]

whoa. Oh, my god.

Eva! Are you okay?

I need some water.

I need something to drink immediately.

Whoa. Oh, my god.

Jeff: Eva! Are you okay?

I need some water.

Narrator: After almost two weeks

in the searing heat of madagascar,

jeff and eva have consumed the caloric equivalent

of half an apple each.

[ sighs ]

far from the only water source in the cave,

eva suffers from a dangerous combination

of malnourishment and dehydration.

All of a sudden,

I could feel my heart beating in my neck,

and I need something to drink immediately.

[ sighs ]

[ breathing deeply ]

whew.

That is total dehydration happening right there.

That was full-on like hypovolemic dehydration.

We should have been way hydrated.

We didn't drink all night long.

I thought we were being careful enough,

but we just weren't.

If we leave the cave, we're hydrated,

we're feeling okay to go that day.

If we have any hesitations, you know --

we got to think it out, slow it down.

Let's go back. Let's get re-hydrated.

Right on. Sounds like a good plan.

Our bodies are at the point where we're self-cannibalizing.

Our bodies are starting to shut down basic functions.

It's definitely not a good place to be in.

Home, sweet home.

God, water tastes so good.

We didn't get any food today, you know?

We burned a ton of calories trying to get food.

Tomorrow's got to be a better day.

Narrator: Still slowed by the lingering effects of dehydration,

eva rests at camp

while jeff hunts for the protein they both desperately need.

Jeff: There's a lizard.

It's frickin' big.

Okay. Can't let this go.

Can't let this one go.

[ whistles ]

ohh!

Get out of there!

Same freaking lizard!

When I get you out of here, I'm gonna kill you.

And then I'm gonna roast you over a fire,

and I'm gonna first start with your small, front legs.

Then I'm gonna eat your freaking tail.

He knows that I am the apex predator.

He's holding on for dear life in there.

This is getting real... Right now.

Yeah, I've already burnt

more calories than I'm gonna get from eating the guy,

but I don't like this lizard.

This particular lizard ticks me off.

This guy's not gonna surrender.

All right, this truly is, like, an epic battle.

I mean...

So low on energy.

Come on.

Yeah!

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Yeah!

You ready for this?

Ha! Whoo!

Aah!

[ growls ] aah!

Aah!

Yeah!

Aah!

Aah!

Yeah!!

Take that, madagascar!

Yeah!

Eva: You think that thing is done?

Jeff: I think so.

Oh, yeah. Look at that.

That is dinner happening right there.

It's amazing.

Are we making this a four-bite lizard?

I think so.

All right.

I will be enjoying a lizard claw.

I don't know if I can focus on that.

I'm gonna just pop that right in my mouth.

Mm. Oh, my gosh.

That's awesome.

It feels like eating a bite of meat.

Mm-hmm.

That's the first bite of meat I've had in a while.

Hmm. Spikes and everything, I think it's delicious.

Oh, my gosh. It makes me salivate.

Thanks for catching this guy, jeff.

You're welcome.

There's something going in our stomachs right now.

There's something.

It's -- I don't know, 110?

Narrator: Jeff and eva are two weeks

into their 21-day survival challenge

in the hot, barren savannahs of madagascar.

Before they began, they were both given

a primitive survival rating, or psr.

Early on, eva's reluctance

to destroy black widow spider eggs

put both her and her partner in harm's way,

lowering her psr.

Oh, my god.

Jeff's psr has also been downgraded

for both refusing to share body heat...

It's cold, man, seriously.

...And overcooking the meat from their first snake kill.

It tastes like chalk.

With seven more days until their extraction,

they still have time to improve their ratings...

Oh, my gosh.

...If they make it.

[ grunts ]

jeff: Dear father in heaven,

I know that my body cannot keep doing this for much longer.

I pray that the holy spirit will lead me to food.

Narrator: After 17 days in the desert,

jeff and eva's only significant source of protein

has come from sharing one small lizard.

With four days

and a grueling extraction journey ahead of them,

they roam farther and farther from camp

in hopes of hunting more substantial prey.

Jeff: I pray that the holy spirit

will lead me to finding lizards and grasshoppers

and other food resources,

maybe ones that I haven't thought of

or ones that I've lost hope in.

Amen.

Look at that giant spider right there.

Look at that big freaking spider right on the water.

Holy crap.

[ gasps ]

holy mother son of a --

[ gasps ] holy [bleep]

okay. Get your knife out.

It's another boa.

Oh, my god.

He sees me.

He's gonna try to bite me. I know he is.

Oh, yeah. He's already threatened.

Oh, he's curling up.

Yeah.

[ laughs ] good one.

Yeah! Oh, give it to me!

Yes! Frickin' snake again!

Aah!

Yeah!

Aahhhhh!

Yes!

Yes!

Whoo!

Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah!

Whoo!

Oh.

Oh, man, this is flipping awesome!

Jeff: It's critical that we don't lose this snake.

We can't overcook it, destroy it.

We've got to do it smart.

Do you want to just thread that right on to this?

Let's see how high this is gonna be.

We've decided to put a smoker

over top of this fire pit that we've got going now.

We're gonna stack a bunch of palm leaves in a teepee shape.

We're then gonna soak a bunch of chunks of hardwood in water.

That will create the smoke and preserves it and smokes it.

Eva: The smell -- it makes me hungry, it makes me feel comfortable.

It just makes me happy.

It makes me think, like,

everything is right with the world just about now.

It's awesome.

This morning, I go out on my prayer rock

where I always say my morning prayers,

and I really, really prayed that we'd get significant food

because I saw me and eva going downhill.

And, you know, within hours of that prayer,

we've got a four-foot-long boa.

And --

eva: Gosh.

...In my mind, I have no doubt

that this is a blessing from god right here.

This is really amazing.

Me and eva are totally exhausted,

yet we have to pull shifts all night,

taking care of the smoker.

It's gonna be a long night, but it's gonna be so worth it.

By the morning, we should have 100% smoked boa.

Jeff: Holy [bleep]

aah!

[bleep] eva. [bleep]

[bleep]

ow! Look out.

Narrator: For the second time,

jeff and eva's attempt to cook snake meat

has gone horribly wrong.

Jeff: Oh, my gosh. It's totally ruined.

Oh [bleep]

to have burned down our cave and lost all our food...

...I don't even know.

I mean, that could possibly be grounds for tapping out.

Jeff: Oh, my gosh. It's totally ruined.

Narrator: Another critical misstep

has caused jeff and eva to lose

the meat of their second snake kill.

Desperate for protein,

they look for any other part of the snake

that might provide the energy they'll need

to survive until day 21.

Jeff: These are the guts right here.

This is everything that came out of the snake.

Eva: Here.

If we found something,

like a liver or something inside,

that's kind of what I'm looking for now is a liver.

Ugh, stink.

What is this right here?

It's disgusting.

Ew. Stomach?

Ew.

What is it?

Is it a worm?

It might be a baby snake.

[ gasps ] oh, my god.

It's got eyes.

See? That's the head.

But it's totally a baby snake.

That's not even possible. What?

Look at all this yolk.

This is a frickin' baby snake.

A sac, baby snake, yolk.

These are eggs. Oh, my god.

Holy crap.

Dude. That's insane.

Are you kidding?

Look at these!

These are eggs.

We can freaking eat these. We need to cook them.

All right. You ready for this.

I'm ready.

This is hot coals.

Whoo.

That looks really promising.

It does. Ouch.

Ooh, it smells like eggs.

It smells like scrambled egg.

Holy crap, that's good.

I really like the outside, little crispies.

These little eggs

very well could have saved our lives out here.

Mm-hmm.

So, so amazing.

I'm so happy.

Narrator: The nutritional value of the snake eggs

is short-lived.

And with three days remaining with a grueling extraction,

jeff and eva wonder if it will be enough.

All right. Well, the sun is on its way up.

It's officially day 21,

just really, really early in the morning.

It's amazing.

I mean, this is it. This is our final day.

Father, I hope that I've made thee happy to this point.

I believe that I've lived up to my morals and my values

and the covenants that I've made.

Father, I pray that the spirit will be with me and eva.

In the name of my savior, amen.

Jeff: We're ready to just load up, right?

Eva: Yeah.

Eva: This is what this entire challenge

has been leading up to --

this day, this trek from here,

the place we've based camp, to that extraction point.

I feel like we've dealt with so much suffering

and so much struggle and so much hardship.

This is either win or lose.

Ready to do this?

And there is nothing

that can stand between me and that extraction point --

nothing.

Mwah! Bye, cave.

Jeff: Black widows, if you're listening,

it's all yours.

We love you.

We're out of here.

Let's check this map one more time.

Okay. Here.

Narrator: Already in a severely weakened state,

jeff and eva must hike a grueling three miles

to the base of this steep mesa.

If they make it, they face a life-threatening climb

up the razor-sharp rock face to the summit

where they must build a signal fire

before being rescued by an evac vehicle.

Ow. Ow.

It's really tenuous ground.

I'm taking every step super cautious.

Jeff: One little step at a time.

Stepping and breathing, stepping and breathing.

You just know there's so many spiders, scorpions,

and everything else in these leaves.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a big, old snake in here.

Yeah. This is snake turf.

You can't even see them.

Like, how do you prepare for that?

Tread lightly.

That's about all you can do.

Jeff: I'm so skinny.

That makes two of us, man.

I can't believe how much weight I've lost.

Jeff: We've eaten hardly anything in 21 days.

We're suffering true starvation.

[ groans ] dude, I'm totally exhausted.

I'm so dizzy.

[ sighs ]

the extraction point's on top of that cliff.

What?

That's quite a climb.

That's really high.

This is nuts.

Another wrench in the gears for madagascar.

She never makes it easy, does she?

Madagascar has some of the oldest sandstone

in the entire world.

This stuff is brittle.

We're gonna have to be very careful.

A fall here would end our entire journey.

Okay. We can't screw up here, eva.

Got to be super careful.

You know, this is gonna be a really tough climb

because, to be honest, I've never rock climbed

after starving for 21 days and being completely naked.

You've got this.

I'm on my toe there.

It's very, very brittle.

Eva: Yeah, I can tell. Geez. I know.

Everything looks like it just wants to crack right underneath you.

It's a little scary.

They're ready to give way, for real.

Right on the edges.

And if they give way, you're going down,

and it's gonna be messy.

Jeff: This sandstone is so sharp and so jagged.

We could easily sever some vital arteries

if we fall off that cliff.

This is the last little bit. No mistakes.

Okay, watch that one rock there on the edge.

It's loose.

Oh, okay. That guy right there.

Oh, my god.

We're on the top!

This is it! Get out.

Get out. Whoo!

Madagascar!

Amazing.

Oh, my gosh. Look at this place.

Shoot. We've got to start a signal fire right now.

Let's do this right now.

He's got to see this.

He's gonna see it. This is our rescue.

Do you hear anything in the distance?

I see nothing.

[ gasps ] jeff, look over there.

Look to the right.

What is that?

Shut up!

There's a freaking truck.

Hey!

Truck!

Hey!

Over here!

Eva: Help!

Hey!

He sees us. He sees us.

Yeah, baby! Whoo!

Oh, my god.

Whoo!

Jeff: This experience has humbled me a lot.

This is incredible.

I'm much more understanding

of people who are different than me,

even if they're very different, even if I don't agree with them.

I do feel like this challenge has made me a better man.

Jeff, this is it.

Oh, my gosh.

[ laughs ]

over the course of the last 21 days,

I learned you need to be willing to take from the environment,

use this land to provide for you.

It's the only way to survive in this place.

I seriously feel like I am prouder of myself now

than I have ever been in my entire life.

We're moving. We're on our way home.

We are on our way home.

[ both chuckle ]

we love you, madagascar!

Narrator: Over the course of the 21 grueling days,

the survivalists went through

a mental and physical transformation

unlike anything they had previously endured.

Jeff lost a total of 31 pounds

while eva lost 23 pounds.

I'm home with her again.

Now home safe in idaho with his wife,

jeff is attempting to gain back weight and strength

for an upcoming solo survival trip.

Hi, bubbas.

Eva's has returned home to her dogs in flagstaff

where she plans to continue honing her survival skills,

including hunting.

Experts reassessed their primitive survival ratings

based on how they performed.

Both jeff and eva allowed their personal beliefs

to compromise sound survival strategies

and each made critical errors in judgment

that could have seriously threatened their survival.

But they also both showed

impressive levels of perseverance

and eventually managed to put their differences aside

in order to help each other survive.

Jeff's psr increases slightly from 7.0 to 7.3.

Eva also receives a bump from 7.2 to 7.4.

In the end, they found a way to conquer

one of the most challenging environments on earth

and proved they have what it takes

to survive naked and afraid.

Captions paid for by discovery communications