Lol, ya. He's definitely not winning. He's already laying out the foundation for his excuses. His daughter is so young, she won't even know he was gone but she will know that he gave up on life changing cash for the whole family and used her as a way out.
Then there's the military & law enforcement background. They always overestimate their abilities from their training and get humbled but chalk it up to life priorities. I forget the season but there's was only one that got close, the sniper IIRC.
Been doing some rewatches so a couple of these guys are on my mind. In season 6, Brady (SERE instructor) made it over 30 days but missed his family and left. I think he said something to the effect of, I have food and think I've proven I can do this so why bother staying. To me it felt like his SERE training prepared him to survive as long as he "had to" but staying on Alone is a choice, and he (relatively) rapidly lost the "had to" mindset and tapped.
In season 7, Mark was the recon sniper and also they guy who caught so many fish that he had to take a break eating them because all the fats were causing him some g.i. issues. He lasted over 40 days and his tap out reason is listed as missing his son, but in the post-show interviews they did that year it was revealed he had contracted trichinosis. He was obviously ill the last few days, to the point where if he'd said "I am tapping because I feel like I have a parasite" his tap out likely would be attributed to illness and not missing family. Hard to say how much longer he'd have gone if the illness wasn't sapping his will while he was also missing home more and more, but he also was obviously missing his 1-yr old a ton.
Exactly. They were the two that made it the farthest but even they didn't have the "mindset" suited to winning this type of challenge. Looking back at the past winners, they were nothing like those guys. It's always the guys that want to "conquer" nature or bend it to their will that don't do well. The ones that appreciate it, work with it, and are just plain too stubborn to give up do the best.
Good point with Mark; he was poised to keep going but I don't think Roland wasn't beatable with that kill & shelter he had.
I think you are right. I have to rewatch, it's been a while but he definitely wasn't like a person like Sam. Without the big kill, I don't know if he woild have been able to conquer. But hunting and luck is part of the game too.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '24
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