‘Alone’ Season 11 Episode 11 Recap: Looking for a Light at the End of the Tunnel
How much longer can this go on?
The three remaining Alone Season 11 survivalists have spent more than two months on their own in the Canadian wilderness. With the days growing shorter (and colder) and food supplies dwindling, everyone is feeling the strain of the challenge in the show’s August 29 episode. One contestant confesses that he’s shocked the competition is still going on. But with the $500,000 grand prize on the table, no one is willing to tap out.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alone Season 11 Episode 11.]
The remaining ‘Alone’ contestants wonder about the competition
It’s day 65 in the remote Northwest Territories for Dub Paetz, William Larkham Jr., and Timber Cleghorn. Daytime temperatures are in the single digits and everyone is trying to conserve energy.
Timber admits that he’s feeling a profound “weariness.” He wonders if he worked too hard early in the competition and now it’s catching up with him.
“I imagine there are contestants out there that did more economical work than me in the beginning,” he says. “Didn’t put such big logs in their shelters and saved a lot of energy and strength that way … they are probably in a little better shape than I am.”
Dub is also feeling the strain. While he recent success with ice fishing has reinvigorated him, he’s more than ready to head home. But he also wants to win. His dream is to use the Alone grand prize to open a campground with his parents.
“Unless a big hiccup comes, I should be able to win this,” he says. Dub’s odds are good, but is that some foreshadowing of a twist to come?
For now, Dub is keeping his eyes on the prize.
“I know we’re in the home stretch here,” Dub says later. “The hard part is not knowing when the end is. The people that are still here are truly something else. You got to be damn tough and damn stubborn to still be doing this.”
“I don’t know if there’s two or three left now,” he says later. “Somebody’s got to cave though. It’s not going to be me. I don’t think.”
William celebrates his son’s birthday
William hasn’t always had great luck with hunting and fishing this season, but in this episode, he snares a partridge and then catches a large inconnu. He’s grateful for the bounty.
“This land has been so good to me,” he says, later explaining that he learned a lot about gathering and preserving food from his wife’s Inuit family. “You have to coexist with nature.”
While the land is providing food for William, the Alone experience comes with other challenges. The longer contestants spend in the wild, the more important moments they miss with their loved ones. So far, William has been handling the solitude better than many people. But he confesses that he feels terrible about missing his 12-year-old son’s birthday. But he’s not about to quit. He’s prepared to last until day 85 or 95 if that’s what it takes to win, he says.
“I’m just gonna go until they pull me,” he declares.
A critical med check looms
All three remaining Alone contestants are committed to staying in to competition as long as possible. But they may not have a choice about when they leave. A med check is looming, which means the possibility of being sent home due to starvation or another health issue.
Timber is particularly worried about the med check. He fears he is developing frostbite on his toe, though it could also be a problem with circulation. And he’s so hungry he’s starting to have vivid dreams about food. He knows “the smart thing is to ration a bit.” But he’s also starting to starve.
“[The thing that is] weighing on my mind is, how much time until there’s no one else out there,” he says. “And having no way to know.”
With no end to the competition in sight, Timber is choosing to embrace the spiritual aspect of the Alone challenge.
“One of the biggest things that I want from this is that this experience will be my 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, if you will,” he says.
How much longer could Alone Season 11 contineu? It’s hard to say. The average Alone winner lasts 73 days. But some contestants have gone much longer. Season 7’s Roland Welker spent 100 days on the shores of Canada’s Great Slave Lake, the longest season in the show’s history.
Dub didn’t believe season 11 would last as long as it has. He’s desperately hoping that he’ll learn he’s the winner at the upcoming med check.
“I thought for sure by now this competition would be over and I would be home,” he says. “I thought it would be about 60 days.”
But med check day arrives, and there’s no family member to greet Dub. (Alone winners learn of their victory when a loved one arrives at their camp with the show’s crew.) All three pass the physical on day 74. Dub can’t hide his disappointment.
“It’s back to wood cutting and freezing my *ss off for how many more days,” he says. “This f*cking sucks. I want out of here.”
New episodes of Alone air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on History Channel.
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