So far, I’ve watched seasons 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 13, in that order.
After watching six seasons now, it’s quite clear to me what’s holding most of the contestants back from winning: mindset. Having said that, it’s heartening to see that everybody who participated came out of the experience having learned a little more about themselves.
Jordan is my favourite contestant from seasons 1, 6, 7, and 8. Until I watched him, I thought survival was just that: surviving. Playing defence.
But after seeing how Jordan went about protecting his food, I realised there are more layers to this game, and that you can play offence too.
Roland is a close second, though it’s quite difficult to compare season 7 with the rest because of its fixed target of 100 days.
Kielyn Marrone was exceptional. She was the contestant I found myself rooting for the most, even more than Jordan or Roland. While the men were burning calories and balancing it out with the big game they hunted, Kielyn, with a relatively lean build, adopted a completely different strategy that played to her strengths.
And she got it right. Even with so many unlucky breaks, she made it to day 80. Phenomenal.
And then I watched season 11…
Whatever I thought I’d figured out about survival up to this point went out the window as I watched William progress through the season. He neither played defence nor offence. He just… was. He hardly seemed to disturb a thing.
So there it was, the third strategy, and the best of all: living off the land. While most contestants were fighting tooth and nail to survive another day, William seemed to be having a cosy little jaunt in his own backyard.
All this said, I’m not the biggest reality TV fan out there. Prior to this, I don’t think I’d enjoyed more than a couple of shows. The reason I watch this, and enjoy it this much, comes down to something William articulated at the end of season 11: “You cannot come out here and be someone else.” People who are fortunate enough to make it to winter get to explore the dusty corners of their own psyche. To be able to see something that intimate unfold is what sucked me in.
But above all, there’s another reason I’ve come to appreciate this show. I can’t, of course, prove this, but it seems to me that the person with the most positive attitude always wins. It’s almost as if nature favours not necessarily the bold, but the one who’s genuine and most true to themselves.
After realising this in the first season, I was able, without fail, to tell who was going to win from the very first episode of each season I watched after that.
