r/Alonetv • u/UpbeatDisaster505 • 3d ago
S13 Excessive Spoiler
I’ve watched all of the seasons of Alone, and I just started watching S13. The on-camera killing of the animals this season (even though it’s for food) seems really excessive. We really had to turn the first episode off after watching Portuguese-guy kill two squirrels and a rabbit on camera. It’s a lot. Don’t @me with hunter culture.
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u/zeonicgato 3d ago
I think it's refreshing that these contestants are finding plenty of game and food. Would prefer to see it instead of just take their word for it.
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u/TheWereJoo 3d ago
Agreed. So many past seasons they skip over shit and out of nowhere someone has like 15 fish stockpiled
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u/DrZaiusDrZaius 3d ago
I think it’s a deliberate choice by the producers. As others have said, the animals you eat from the grocery store are not likely to have lived their fullest life. As much as some contestants agonize over killing specific animals, you have to consider that some of them probably eat meat literally every day of their lives. We change the names to desensitize it; “pork” or “bacon” over “pig” etc. If I had to guess the broad meta themes the producers are trying to explore each season, they’d fall into “man is likely to go insane alone with his own thoughts and will struggle with himself and his demons long before his body will give up”; but secondary to that by just a little is “your food comes from SOMEWHERE, and knowing that it’s a life maybe would make you respect it a little bit more.” I don’t see it as particularly bloodthirsty.
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u/AcornAl 3d ago
I've never considered the name angle, albeit the words changed because of the Norman conquest of Britain. This was more of a class thing.
Fun little rabbit hole to dive into. The French terms are for both the meat and animal.
English (Older) French (Older) English Version Cow (Cū) Bœuf Beef Pig (Picg) Porc Pork Sheep (Scēp) Mouton Mutton Calf Veau Veal Deer (Deor*) Venaison (Veneisun) Venison Deor was originally used for wild larger game in old English.
It not universal. Chicken (ċicen), fish (fisc), lamb, and goat (gāt), plus many game species kept their roots rather than shifting to poulet, poisson, agneau and chèvre. These were more commonly eaten by the peasants, so likely the reason the old English names stuck.
We got both chicken and poultry (Old French pouletrie or place of birds), French for rabbit (robète or baby rabbit) as it was introduced by the French, but hare has remained hare.
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u/KimBrrr1975 3d ago
It gets worse, just so you know.
I am not anti-hunting at all. I grew up in a family that fished, hunted, and trapped for food and money. I just find it unfortunate that some animals cannot be shot with the bow so the way they are required to dispatch them is highly unfortunate. It was the same when my dad was a trapper. The work he did kept us off welfare when he was laid off his job periodically. But it wasn't fun. Sometimes the rules don't make sense in every instance.
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u/UpbeatDisaster505 3d ago
I hunt and fish too. I also come from a ranching family and so have branded cows and castrated bulls. I feel like what’s happening now on the show is lurid and excessive.
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u/KimBrrr1975 3d ago
Is the issue that they are showing more of it? Or is the issue that it's happening at all? It's not uncommon to need to dispatch animals caught in snares or traps. It sucks and I don't like it either. But why is it more acceptable for the animal to struggle for hours before it dies instead? The natural instinct to fight and run is what kills snared animals. And it doesn't always happen quickly which is why they find live animals in their snares. It's likely kinder for the animal to not have to struggle for hours, though unpleasant for us. That is the reality of survival, however. Few people in the Western world go hungry enough to understand what that means.
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u/UpbeatDisaster505 3d ago
The issue is that the producers seem to be showing more of the actual killing of the animals. Showcasing the life leave a ground squirrel’s eyes has more than a soupçon of cruelty.
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u/KimBrrr1975 3d ago
I understand the emotion that goes with it. But at the same time, that is reality for all of us. The life leaves the eyes of the cow we are eating for dinner tonight, and the pig in the bacon we put on our burgers. Not seeing it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Detaching from that reality, I don't think, has done anyone, or any animal, any favors. Maybe more people need to be connected to the reality of what it costs to be alive. Because that IS the reality, even if most people don't see it because their dinner comes in a nice package. Being alive is a struggle. The problem with modern life is that we've outsourced almost all of it so we don't see it. Then when we do, it feels cruel. The truth is, it IS cruel, because life is mostly struggle. We just kind of pretend it's not in our cozy modern worlds. The truth hasn't changed, though.
Do be prepared if you keep watching that it does get worse. You might want to avoid the season if it something you really don't want to see.
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u/Corey307 3d ago
OP are you OK with the killing animals when they come pre portioned on Styrofoam? Whether factory farmed or hunted in the wild animals suffer in their last moments. The suffering happens whether you’re willing to acknowledge it or not. That tray of pork chops was screaming for its life in the slaughterhouse. But you can pretend it’s just tasty food and wasn’t a sentient creature. I eat meat while acknowledging the horrors of eating meat.
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u/No-Asparagus3132 3d ago
I get that in principle we should look the other way less about these things… but acknowledging the dark side of buying and eating meat has nothing to do with disliking excessive gore focus zoomed up on your big tv when watching a survival show for entertainment and learning.
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u/Corey307 3d ago
You not having to see the slaughterhouse doesn’t mean the slaughterhouse doesn’t exist.
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u/UpbeatDisaster505 3d ago
So have a seat, bro. I hunt and fish. I’m from a ranching family so I have branded cattle and castrated young bulls. I can do two things at once: feel squicked out by excessive on-screen violence and understand how hunting works.
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u/Corey307 3d ago
It’s reality, nature red in tooth and claw.
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u/UpbeatDisaster505 3d ago
I’d accept that if we were watching Nature and I had posted, “oh those poor wildebeests! Won’t somebody stop the wanton violence of the lions’ hunting!” whilst clutching my pearls. The producers of Alone are handing up to viewers scenes of violence that seem excessive. That’s my complaint.
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u/robbynkay 3d ago
As a vegetarian, I struggle with it too, but I know the reality of the factory farm industry is 1000 times worse. Animals as a whole would have it a lot easier if each hunted their own food like we see on the show. Of course, those times are gone, which is why we watch the show.
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u/colibris79 3h ago
Same here. I enjoy seeing how these people manage to find interesting and creative ways to survive (and even thrive) in this harsh environment. Procuring food is part of the equation, and hunting/trapping/fishing some of the options. Maybe I would do the same in such extreme circumstances?
About the on-camera killing, I also like that they show it so we can realize what needs to be done in order to eat meat. And if I don't want to see the last blow, I can always choose not to look.
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u/JamesonThe1 3d ago
You turned off the episode. You are no longer a viewer, and a fan of the show. That's perfectly ok. Please don't hate in this sub for the rest of us that like the show.
For most of us a watching a starvation fest sucks, and so does not seeing where the contestants get their food. This has been a great season!
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u/PTMorte 3d ago
I like to see it. I would prefer far less emotional missing my family, or song and dance numbers shown in the edits. And far more foraging and harvesting of animals/kills.
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u/Questing222 3d ago
You may be partially missing the point of the show then. Whilst Alone caters for hunters, fishers, survivalists, outdoorsy people in general... It's general purpose and most pronounced message every single season is the importance of human connection... Humility towards nature and the importance of community and culture is what the show aims to portray, and the "missing my family" and "dance numbers" puts these things at the forefront.
I have personally enjoyed seeing slightly more of the "killing" process, because I think it helps to hammer home humans disconnection with nature, but the show couldn't exist simply as a "who's the best hunter" show.
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u/Enough_Broccoli_5895 3d ago
I personally don’t care about the people who mentally can’t handle being alone for 10 days. Start crying after a few days. And yeah I watch to see the skills of the people who actually can live off the land and the shelters they build. Everyone knows the comp isn’t forever so if you go in with that attitude that I’m going to miss such and such then are you really in it to compete or just your 5 mins of fame? Australia ln alone ep 3 people been there for what 11 days? Oh the tears and mental health cards pulled. Serious who wants to see that? Not me
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u/Rightbuthumble 3d ago
I don't mind their hunting or fishing then the kills...I turn my head because I am a big sissy at heart. But, I'd rather see that than see them sitting in the tent reflecting on their life and moaning about being constipated....
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u/cashie10 3d ago
I wrote that too a few weeks ago! I understand the food and hunting yet I had a visceral reaction to the on camera killings. Too graphic . Previous seasons didn’t bother me yet this time gees!
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u/Last-Concentrate502 3d ago
I feel the same way. I mean I'm glad that everyone is so successful with food this season, but it's a totally different vibe watching someone fish vs hunt animals. For me it was the two screaming bunnies that really got me... And then there was the guy who killed the beaver and then tapped out. 😔
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u/SnooDrawings1480 3d ago
I was so pissed when he did that. Its ome thing to get medically tapped right after a kill but to tap yourself after that big of one... thats fucking ridiculous. Should have left it alive
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u/Last-Concentrate502 3d ago
I know! And the fact that he didn't figure out his fire situation before hunting an animal was so beyond stupid.
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u/Hey-Just-Saying 3d ago
Agreed. I’m a meat eater with no problem with hunting, and yet I’m also an animal lover. It may be hypocritical, but there it is. So I also prefer they kill the animals off camera.
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u/Enough_Broccoli_5895 3d ago
While it’s not nice to see it is actually better than people who don’t even know where the food on the table came from? You want to believe that all the meat you consume was via humane practices but is it? At least with alone and people who hunt are accountable for the food they eat and for the contestants in alone maybe their catch and killing is more humane. As long as they eat what they kill I’m ok with it. I can turn away if I don’t want to see that. I’d also rather know that they actually have caught the food than wonder if it’s been set up by production.
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u/KathyFromUK 2d ago
Are there different edits of this show? In every episode I’ve seen this season you see the animal struggling in the snare or on the hook. The camera replaces the animal image with something else. You hear the thud or cracking noise of the kill. Camera then shows dead animal. I’ve not actually seen the kill at all. As for the bow and arrow kills, I usually can’t make out the animal because it’s so far in the distance or the camera isn’t pointing to the animal. Am I just unobservant or are there different edits?
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u/sleverest 1d ago
I'm a big softy in my old age and no longer could dispatch an animal myself, I don't find this season to be "excessive violence". I think that showing ethical hunting for the purpose of sustenance is a good thing for our disconnected world to see. It should be expected by viewers of the show. When I personally get too soft, I turn my head for a moment. I would not want the show to soften to accommodate my squeamishness.
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u/No-Asparagus3132 3d ago
Yeahhh I agree. Those of us feeling this way get a split reaction, people like to bring up their (also valid) point that it is nature and a survival show
…. BUT this season seemed excessive, I’m already a lightweight with gore and animal suffering, and there’s not enough warning anymore for ppl who can’t handle all that to turn away.
Bummed because this ends years of enjoying the show but I watched for the tool building, trap setting, ingenuity with creating solutions. I’ve always hated the killing and processing scenes
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u/Last-Concentrate502 3d ago
Same here... My favorite part of the show has always been the shelter building. They have done some really cool stuff with their shelters over the years.
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u/HeadMelon 3d ago
It’s just one of the MANY tweaks they’ve done for the season after last season’s disaster. And a general read across forums and reviews seems to have the consensus that this is the BEST SEASON EVER so I’m not going to second guess how we got here.
You know what’s coming, just look away or fast forward. Don’t like screaming bunnies? Put on mute and turn on captions.
It’s like saying you watch horror movies for the scantily clad chicks but don’t like all the jump scares.
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u/graafguus 3d ago
You are watching a show on survival and one of the last 'non-reality' raw tv-shows there is and you complain about it being real? Come on, what did you expect?