‘Alone’ Season 11 Episode 10 Recap: A Lucky Catch

Scarce food is becoming a big problem for the remaining contestants in 'Alone' Season 11.

The winter days are shrinking, and so are the contestants on Alone Season 11.

The three remaining survivalists – Dub Paetz, Timber Cleghorn, and William Larkham Jr. – have been hunkered down at their camps for nearly two months. All have shed a significant amount of weight since drop day (it’s not unusual for the longest-lasting cast members each season to lose several dozen pounds). Now, food sources are scarce, and severe hunger is setting in. Plus, long nights and short stretches of daylight mean that there’s more time than ever to dwell on one’s thoughts – and to consider the benefits of tapping out. But did anyone succumb to the urge to push that rescue button this week?

​​[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alone Season 11 Episode 10.]

William shows off his ice-fishing skills

William has spent much of his time in the Arctic fighting to protect his precious food supply from scavengers. Unfortunately, it’s often been a losing battle for the fisherman from Labrador. Still, he’s managed to hang on for 57 days so far. Now, the recent turn in the weather could be a blessing. Colder temperatures mean that conditions are finally right for ice fishing.

Soon, his efforts pay off. William catches a “monster” pike that could feed him for up to a week. His hope is to continue supplementing his food stores with more fish, which will allow him to stay in the game. To protect his precious stash, he builds an ice chest. His old nemesis Sassy the pine marten comes sniffing around but can’t get at what’s inside. That’s a relief, but William is still worried the fish he’s caught won’t be enough to get him over the finish line, especially if there’s another Alone contestant who’s managed to catch big game.

“I know now that the odds of winning are getting less as time goes on,” he says. “Because I’m pretty sure that someone got either a moose or a bear.”

Timber makes an unfortunate discovery

As William feared, there is another Alone competitor whose big game hunting efforts were successful. Timber killed a moose earlier in the season, which provided him with a large amount of meat and fat. He’s also had luck with fishing and hunting small game. But even he begins to worry about food when he discovers that some of his moose jerky has started to mold. He cuts off the bits that have gone bad, but if he ends up losing a lot of his food, it could be a major problem. And despite having eaten relatively well so far during his Alone experience, he’s still battling hunger pangs.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I’m probably eating better than most Alone contestants ever, and I’m still just starving,” he says.

To make matters worse, a wolverine has discovered his food cache. “He could be a real problem,” Timber says, before vowing to kill the animal.

Later, Timber’s shelter almost catches on fire. And while his mental game is still strong, he is beginning to feel the strain of two months’ isolation from other people. To keep his mind occupied, he gets creative. He crafts a bass out of half a moose antler and a piece of driftwood, then performs a song he wrote, which Alone‘s editors cut into a pretty entertaining music video.

A lucky catch keeps Dub in the game

Of the three remaining Alone contestants, Dub is struggling the most in this episode. Last week, he discovered a mouse infestation among the fish he’d stashed away. As a result, he’s dealing with a “severe” food shortage. He sets up some lines for ice fishing, but in the meantime, he still needs to eat. Unfortunately, all he has left is a scrap of “questionable” pike.

“It’s like slime, eye socket hanging there off of it,” he says as he prepares to chow down on the meal, which is unappetizing even by Alone standards. “And it tastes like absolute hell.”

With his food basically gone, Dub is seriously questioning whether he can stay in the game. At one point, he admits that all he wants is to be able to hug his mom. Like Timber, he tries to keep himself busy by crafting an instrument (in this case, a violin) and singing a song. But he’s clearly struggling to keep his spirits up. It looks like he might tap out until a sudden change in fortune at the end of the episode. Dub manages to catch a pike. It’s a much-needed win.

“I just went from, I’m going to lose this competition because I don’t have any food left to I have a 40-inch pike on the ice. And I can stay another week from this fish. This is the biggest pike I’ve caught … that changes my entire fricking everything.”

New episodes of ​Alone air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on History Channel.

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