‘Outlast’ Producer Answers Why Jill and Amber’s Attack Wasn’t Stopped
How far will you go for a million-dollar prize? Netflix’s Outlast viewers were shocked by Jill Ashock and Amber Asay’s answers to this question. A producer for the reality TV show answered why they weren’t stopped and how rules might change in the future.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Outlast season 1 Episode 7.]
Jill Ashock and Amber Asay attacked other camps on ‘Outlast’
The new game starts with 16 players splitting into four teams. Their goal is to outlast the other teams in the Alaskan wilderness in hopes of winning $1 million. The winner must be on a team. The game has some similarities with Survivor.
Outlast is already dangerous with the low temperatures (usually below 40 degrees) and bears. But players also have to find their food to survive. If someone no longer wants to be in the game, he or she can shoot their flare gun, and production would take them away.
Camp Alpha went down to Ashock, Asay, and Justin Court. In “Hunting the Thief,” Camp Delta went down to two players, with Paul Preece deserting them after Jordan Williams was removed from the game after passing out from hunger. That left Dawn Nelson and Joel Huntgate.
Camp Alpha created a plan to weaken Delta by taking their sleeping bags, which put them at risk for hypothermia. Nelson and Huntgate quit the game after one night.
Ashock and Asay continued this type of gameplay when Javier Colón tried to leave his camp. Ashock threatened to raid his camp, and Asay raided his raft. Colón was removed from the game because Camp Charlie didn’t want to add him to their team.
‘Outlast’ says production would’ve stopped Jill and Amber if ‘it was gonna hurt someone’
Viewers were shocked to see what Ashock, Court, and Asay were able to get away with while filming. Colón called it cheating, but it was apparent that production wasn’t intervening.
Executive producer Grant Kahler talked to Newsweek about the dramatic moment when Ashock and Asay started ruining his raft and threatened his camp. “It was an intense moment, for sure and, you know, that was one of those moments where we kind of let it play out,” he said.
“We didn’t know how it was going to end because, again, there [was] no rule that was stating that Jill and Amber couldn’t do what they were doing, but at the same time, if it ever got to a point where we thought it was gonna hurt someone, like, we would have had to shut it down,” Kahler added.
The producer acknowledges there might be more rules to avoid similar situations if Outlast gets a second season. “I think one thing we would have to be mindful of in future seasons is, after seeing this first season, I would wanna make sure people, just from a safety perspective, didn’t get a little too out of hand, you know, because they’re going to see this and see that you can take matters into your own hands,” he said.
