‘Alone’ Season 10 Episode 7: Will an Injury Take Out Another Contestant?
On last week’s episode of Alone Season 10, a raging storm confined the remaining five contestants on the History Channel reality series to their shelters. That gave them plenty of time to think about their situation. For some, the downtime wasn’t a positive. Melanie Sawyer, a 55-year-old former model, broke down in an emotional video, where she admitted to being extremely lonely and putting on a brave face for the cameras.
Fortunately, after a rough few days, things were generally looking up for Melanie and the other Alone Season 10 cast members in the show’s July 20 episode. But one survivalist’s previously hidden injury, as well as the loss of a portion of one person’s precious food supply, were a reminder that it wouldn’t take a lot to knock someone out of the competition at this stage.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alone Season 10 Episode 7.]
Melanie’s good spirits return in ‘Alone’ Season 10 Episode 7
It’s day 31, and the vicious storm has finally passed. Melanie emerges from her shelter — which was almost taken out by a falling tree — ready to take on fresh challenges. Her plan is to go forage for some berries, which are likely among the last she’ll get this season. But she’s so worn down by hunger that she can’t manage the walk to the berry patch.
“I had to turn back. I was exhausted,” she says. Melanie has lost 35 pounds since the show’s crew dropped her off a month ago. She realizes that she’s going to have to dig into the stores of food she has at her camp. (The living history reenactor has had little luck with hunting or fishing, so far, but she did bring food rations with her – the only contestant to do so this season.) She makes a soup of mushrooms, reindeer lichen, birch bark, and berries. Her plan is to eat more, give her body a few days to recover, and then make another attempt to get the berries. Ultimately, her plan works out, and she’s able to bring back a nice haul of blueberries.
Mikey kills a squirrel, Taz suffers a setback
Melanie isn’t the only Alone cast member to come out of the storm looking on the bright side. Mikey Helton kills multiple grouse once the weather clears, and he’s been able to set some of the meat aside to dry to eat later. He also kills a squirrel in this episode, which he eagerly eats, brains and all.
Tarcisio “Taz” Ramos Dos Santos’s luck isn’t quite as good in this episode. He’s stored a significant amount of food in a cache nestled high in the trees. But some of the fish and meat wasn’t fully dried. Now, it’s started to rot and is infested with maggots. It’s a major setback, and even the normally unflappable Taz is frustrated. Soon after, he discovers his gill net is damaged, which is another blow. He shifts to setting up snare traps to catch squirrels, but will that be enough to see him through to the end of the competition? Perhaps. But he’ll need to keep a positive attitude as well.
“The mindset and the persistence will help me to succeed,” he says.
Wyatt reveals a nasty injury, Alan loses his lure
Meanwhile, Wyatt Black confesses that he “hasn’t been quite straight up with everyone at home.” About a week ago, he stabbed himself in the arm on an old log. He’s cleaned and cared for the injury – which was an inch-and-a-half deep — and is convinced it’s healing well. But the blood and pus that emerges from the wound when he squeezes it suggests otherwise. It might be purulent drainage, which could be a sign of infection.
Otherwise, it’s a day of ups and downs for Wyatt. He has luck catching fish in his gill net, but loses his last lure. He quickly switches gears to hunting and manages to kill a squirrel, proving he’s still very much alive in this competition.
Finally, there’s Alan Tenta. Solid fishing skills have kept him going so far. But when a duck gets caught in his net, he has to set the bird free because of hunting regulations and then spend valuable time repairing his net. Still, he catches one small lake trout in this episode, though a massive pike steals one of his lures. For now, Alan is focused on maintaining a positive attitude. He knows things are only going to get harder going forward.
“The days to push are coming,” he says.
After two weeks with no tap outs, will we say goodbye to one of the contestants next week? It looks likely. In a preview for episode 8, snow and colder temperature appear to bring everyone close to their breaking point. Tune in to find out who goes home next when new episodes of Alone Season 10 air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on History Channel
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