While Netflix isn’t new to reality television, the streaming platform offers dozens of reality shows of all genres, and to survive is their first foray into the Survivor area. The premise is simple: take 16 survivors accustomed to navigating the wild and force them to work as a team in the extreme wilderness of Alaska. What could go wrong? Judging by the trailer, enough. This show offers a unique twist on the wilderness brave genre, as the contestants are all rugged survivors in the truest sense of the word.
Each of the players has faced significant adversity, from combat situations to the harrowing journey from addiction to recovery. In other words, these men and women are tough! Not only will they have to face the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness, but they’ll also have to face their own demons to compete. Each of the cast has what it takes to succeed, and they’ve especially thrived as rugged individualists. Now they are forced to team up with the people they have to beat to win the game and the cash prize as a reward.
Survival: the rules
All players, 16 in total, including 11 men and five women, are flown over the Alaskan tundra, where they must parachute into the dense wilderness. The show was filmed in the fall, meaning the large bear population has not yet gone into hibernation. Once on the ground, the players learn that they will not work alone. Instead, they are split into four teams. Each team must line up in a different location, learn to work together to survive and win the game and the million dollar prize.
The players come from different backgrounds, but they all master the art of survival. The real tension comes not from the clash of style or techniques, but rather from a difference in attitude. How far will each team go to win? Not only will the players need a compass to guide them, but they will also need to use their moral compass to determine how they will play the game as it slowly transitions into a winner making every effort to survive. Even more challenging is that players cannot be voted off an island here. The only way to be removed from the competition is to volunteer. Any participant can switch teams at any time, making loyalty fragile and trust scarce.
Outlast cast and crew
to survive is produced by Nomad Entertainment and Aggregate Films and stars 16 newcomers fighting to survive, win and to survive each other. The cast consists, in no particular order, of five women and eleven men of all ages. There’s Amber Asay, age 34, from Arizona; Andrea Hildebrand, age 51, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Angie Kenai, age 30, from San Antonio, Texas; Dawn Nelson, age 43, of Creston, Washington & Jill Ashock, of New Haven, Kentucky represent the women. All women bring their own survival stories and reasons for participating, as well as their own skills and shortcomings.
For the men, there’s Brian Kahrs, age 59, of Holiday, Florida; Corey Johnson, 28, of Parker, Colorado; Javier Colon, age 42, of San Francisco, California; Joel Hungate, age 33, of McCordsville, Indiana; Jordan Williams age 25 from Fort Collins Colorado, Justin Court age 44 from La Grange Kentucky, Lee Ettinger age 57 from Bigfork Montana, Nick Radner age 36 from Tampa Florida, Paul Preece age 47 from Knoxville Tennessee, Seth Lueker age 31 from Winchester Virginia and finally, Timoth Spears, age 33, from Fort Collins, Colorado. Each of the participating men comes from different backgrounds, from farmers to veterans to lumberjacks. The challenge will be to put egos aside and work together or risk losing everything.
Date of publication
Outlast will air on the Netflix streaming platform on March 10
Everything else we know
Of course, one of the show’s real draws is the beautiful and sometimes deadly Alaskan Wilderness. Alaska has been used in reality shows about famous and not-so-famous Alaskans before, and the wilderness has always played a backseat role, not with to survive, because this series aims to show the Alaskan setting its beauty and danger. We can expect a lot of fantastic cinematography to capture it all. The style and format of this show should breathe new life into the wilderness survival genre. to survive is sure to provide the drama TV viewers crave as the contestants double-cross and sabotage each other to win the million dollar prize.