‘Outlast’ Javier Colón Seemingly Predicted His Fate — ‘Our Only Danger Is the Human Animal’
Javier Colón became a sympathetic figure on the Netflix series Outlast after he was forced off the show due to Team Alpha’s dastardly deeds. Many fans think that if it weren’t for other scheming contestants, Javier could have won the survival challenge. When Javier spoke with Netflix before coming on the show, he seemingly predicted that other humans would cause him to miss out on the million-dollar prize.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers regarding Outlast Episodes 1-6.]
Javier Colón predicts the only danger for himself on ‘Outlast’
When Netflix filmed Outlast, Javier Colón was a 42-year-old outdoor enthusiast from San Francisco, CA. Javier planned to win with his years of outdoor experience and refused to play dirty on the show.
According to Netflix Tudum, his international outdoor experiences include a “31-day backpacking journey across Spain,” a “two-year, 18,000-mile solo bicycle tour from Canada to Tierra Del Fuego”, and a “solo bicycle tour of 1,000 miles around the entire island of Iceland.”
In an interview from before filming for the show began, Javier explained why he has what it takes to survive in the Alaskan Wilderness. “Alaska is no different than any other location on Earth. If there’s fresh water and things to eat, I can survive,” he explained. “Typically, our only danger is the human animal. If I can avoid troubles with them, I should be fine.”
Team Alpha’s sabotage forced Javier to flare out
Javier clearly knew what to do in the wilderness of Alaska, but it wasn’t a lack of survival skills or toughness that caused him to go home during filming for Outlast. Javier began the series on Team Bravo, but slowly each one of his teammates flared out of the game.
Eventually, Javier had to join another team or be forced out of the competition. At first, the San Francisco native planned to join Dawn Nelson and Joel Hungate on Team Delta.
However, after Team Alpa repeatedly sabotaged them, Joel and Dawn decided to go home. While Javier was trying to meet up with Dawn and Joel, Amber destroyed his raft, and Jill prepared to raid his campsite. After Joel and Dawn left, Javier then had to ask to join Team Charlie, but they wouldn’t accept him. Javier was then forced to flare out.
Outlast quickly became about more than just survival, and those who were willing to play dirty got ahead. Javier didn’t stoop to this level and only left the show because of shady alliances and dealings by other players. If the show had only been about survival, Javier very likely could have lasted until the end.
Javier believes he could have won the show if everyone played fairly
If it wasn’t for Team Alpha, Javier himself still believes he could have won the game. “I was also hoping to learn from my teammates and gain new outdoor skills, but that unfortunately didn’t occur when the crazies started stealing from us,” he wrote to TV Guide.
“There was no question in my mind that I wasn’t going to do anything unethical or immoral by attacking people. But I would have definitely eaten insects and gotten extremely creative finding food, staying warm, and I would have likely outlasted everyone else.”
All episodes of Outlast are currently streaming on Netflix.
