Outlast is a familiar survival show; it takes 16 ordinary people, divides them into teams, and tells them that the last surviving team wins. But it takes this format and iterates on it by giving it a unique twist. The only rule is that there are no rules (well, a few minimal rules).
This frees up the contestants to try and win by any means necessary, and of course, they do. This seems to have created a backlash on social media, with people calling out the unethical tactics and, unfortunately hurling abuse at some of the contestants. People have also claimed the show is fake, saying the whole thing was scripted. But is this true?
What are the rules for Outlast on Netflix?
At first glance, Outlast looks very similar to many other survival games, opening similarly to Survivor, dividing people into teams in which they work together. But Outlast makes one massive change to the otherwise stale formula, and it does this through an ingenious subtraction.
There are only a few limited rules in Outlast. To win the million-dollar prize, a player must be part of a team. The only way out of the game for players is to give up. The players must be part of a team at all times, and they can switch teams any time they want, so long as the team they’re switching to accepts them. There is also no time limit to how long the game can last, but the producers made contestants hike to the reward at the end to prevent the game from going on for years. It’s still a TV show, after all.
That’s it, though. No rules are saying what a player can or can’t do to another team, a twist that inevitably results in a Lord of the Flies nightmare. Players resort to underhand tactics such as stealing, burning down their camp to prevent others from using it, and treating other contestants like dirt to win.
Is Outlast on Netflix Real or Fake?
Outlast has generated a lot of outrage on social media, with people criticizing the immoral tactics on display. Some people have even gone as far as to accuse the show as fake and having a script. This is probably unlikely, as while the people sent into the wilderness have no survival skills, it’s still possible for the constants to survive with enough resourcefulness and being prepared. And that’s precisely what executive producer Grant Kahler explained in an interview with Netflix Tudum.
“Whenever I scout, I meet with local experts, local hunters and survival people.” Kahler says. “A lot of times, I’ll take along survival experts who’ve gone through military SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training. We go out and evaluate the area; like, there’s mussels here, there’s salmon during these months, there’s this type of deer, fish or crab. [We ask] what type of wood is there? Is there enough dead wood to burn? If you don’t choose the right place, the contestants are going to end up having nothing.”
A show like this would be challenging to script as the environment the contestants are in is highly unpredictable. Two people had to evacuate because of medical emergencies, which is unlikely to have been planned.
READ: Which Team won in Outlast Season 1?
Is Outlast scripted?
Some fans have pointed out the various ways they think Outlast has been staged. On Reddit, users expressed their reasoning for this, saying that the show was “Definitely scripted. When they are looking for the guy who stole the sleeping bags there’s a whole camera crew with him and they walk right past. Bummer. Could have been as good as Alone,” said one user. Another user said, “The guy swims across a freezing river in underwear and doesn’t even shiver when he’s out. Look at their firewood. Straight cuts made by a power saw. The wood in that area would be to wet to burn. All they would get was a lot of smoke.”
One of the contestants, Jill Ashlock, seems to suggest the show is scripted. In Instagram posts responding to the extreme backlash her tactics used on the show, Ashlock suggests the show was fake.
“You all had an opportunity to see something that was completely construed and rise above. It gave you just enough that if your heart was in the right place, then there was no way you could get it wrong,” Ashlock said in one post, suggesting that Netflix might have given her a bad edit. In an earlier post, she accuses Netflix of counting the amount of fish Team Alpha caught wrong. The show says they caught three, but a post on Ashlock’s Instagram claims they caught eight.
I hâte its show! Bring back Alone and cancel this one.
Those two females are the worst humans I haver ever witnessed …. EVER. They should feel ashamed especially in a life where bullys should Not be tolerated. Demon squad nails the name. Why is it ” her ” island? How can those 2 girls state, “Good will prevail ?” No respect ?
Real, fake, I really could care less. The members of Alpha Camp, Jill, Amber, and Justin proved they could not win based on their ability to out-survive other competitors relying solely on their wilderness skill sets alone. Instead, they demonstrated irreprehensible and low moral and ethical standards. The 5th episode is when I bowed out. I don’t care to watch a program that allows such behavior and does not penalize the participants for criminal actions and zero sportsmanship. Win on merit, not theft. Javier is right, stealing, in America, is a punishable crime.
Some of the scenes had plates and plastic utensils along with all the cans that they had most likely had some kind of food. Stacks of tarps in one scene behind their shelter. Not to mention the dirty tactics. The show had potential until that point total turned me against it and stopped watching on episode 7. It’s a shame
I was very excited to see this survival game show. I’m a fan of Survivor and Alone. I figured this would be a good mix of the two. In my shock, horror and anger I was so wrong. I have never in my life been angry at contestants on a show. I get rules are loose and almost none, but to go to the degree that some of the contestants did I choose to not watch to the end. The group of three were so ruthless , cruel and ugly. They joked lord of the flies, they were right. I hope Netflix is happy with its ratings. You lost me.
When the only way you can win is to endanger someone else’s life, what does that say about you? Cheating is cheating. No rules and no morals. Just short of killing someone just so that team can continue? Despicable people!!!!!!! Won’t watch again unless you vet your people better. You cheat, steal or cause harm to another competitor, you’re out!!!!!
I’m assuming this was fake, but if it wasn’t.. that heroin hooker and the crpyt keeper looking lady would’ve been smacked with a log. I wonder how much spit they’ve ingested while eatimg out since the show.
Just horrible.Have never felt so hostile towards competitors in a TV reality show. Definitely will not finish this show or ever watch again.
I’m surprised that so many people bowed out to the”Demon Squad”. I would without a doubt lost my s*** on their whole camp.
Jill was a bully.how she treated Javier was disgusting..so glad she didn’t win..
Such a shame to see humans with that mentality and ruthless behavior. I was hoping to see survival skills and a team effort not hatred and dishonest actions.
I lolsnorted through this whole show. Brilliant stuff. Alone and Best in Show had a baby. XD
And how mad people are over it just makes it that much funnier. Can’t wait for S2.
the two girls were horrible…putting others lives at risk just so they could win?? I hope if Netflix does a second season they put some rules into effect. Jill sucked! So glad she didn’t win!
So guy that stole the sleeping bags was hiding 10” away and BEGING FILMED BY A CAMERAMAN … could not be seen .. lmao FAKE and Lame
I agree with the comments on the Alpha Team ladies,….well, they were not really ladies, but manipulative, immoral, corrupt, thieving, slanderous humans. Their male counterpart that defected was not much better as he was a liar and a thief, too. I think the whole thing was scripted and they made the characters to be either evil, supporters of evil, or pretty good people that lost out. And the sanctimonious winners were no better in judging that guy when the fool that also defected was a thief, too. So “chose the high moral ground?” Gimme a break. I only watched to the end to see the witches lose and the other dumbbells beat them. But, in reality, this is a good cross section of America today. Very few that will not support liars and cheats and that you can rely on to do the right thing, not the thing that benefits them, when the chips are down. Take a lesson America. This is a reflection of who you are. When you refuse to speak out against lying, cheating, thievery, corruption, etc. this is what you degrade to. So, all that being said, just a dumb series…ha! I would definitely not watch any further seasons.
When Jill challenged Javier saying “there’s no laws out here”, I wonder how she would have felt if he punched her in the face and said “guess there’s no law against that then…”
When the witches went extreme on Javier, too bad he didnt burn their shelter down. He could’ve done that and the producers can’t say anything about it. Opportunity lost.
Javier was a bad leader, and micromanager. SOCIAL IQ matters, it is an evolutionary advantage. You see people with zero skills making it to the final, Amber, who is able to command loyalty from a cold hearted person like Jill. This is the whole point of the show, no rules, so you see a good picture of the human condition. Would be very interesting to see season 2, now that people are aware of dirty tactics.
I agree, team ALPHA- HORRIBLE! So glad the good guys won in the end! I think MUCH of it was staged. If I hiked through hell for 9 miles and JUST missed winning $1M dollars I would have had some emotion about it! I think the message here was, good guys win.
Absolutely disgusted with the two female devous tactics just to win the game. Very inhumane. I wonder what kind of families they were raised from, so vile. Good they’ve didn’t win.
This show caught my attention at the beginning, but towards the end I was like yeah right, whatever! Really disappointing they cannot do some nice true survival show. It looked scripted and set up and I hope so because if not it suck even more. The pathetic reality of the ”Demon Squad” VS the ” Good Morals Squad” that got used like a “zerbino doormat”, showing nothing less that “Good” doesn’t mind to be walk allover, and when cannot take it anymore just retrieve with the tail between the legs.
I’m not watching the end of this show and don’t bother making more season please. Seriously!
Reading these comments I think the show producers got half of what they strived for.
IMHO I think Jill was secretly part of the production team and was only there to make the show more interesting and create drama. I don’t believe they imagined the backlash the show would get. But in truth it’s like they say in Hollywood all publicity is good publicity.
I have to believe that’s why team alpha did what they did, if I’m wrong and I really hope I’m not, then those 3 are really terrible, evil people and I’m glad they didn’t win.
The letter that Javier got from Brian was the letter that Jordan left Delta
“I only watched to the end to see the witches lose and the other dumbbells beat them.” Lol, love that. I was more surprised by the lack of payback by the teams that got f’d over by the troll witch lady. I question why didn’t the team that lost their sleeping bags fire back, and fire back at those chicks 3 times harder! Instead, the quit. I assure you I’d have taken them down the next day for what they did; and, since the troll witch lady didn’t believe there were laws out there, at the moment she had Javier cornered, were I in that same predicament, I’d have used the 25% muscle advantage and 100% difference in testosterone men have vs girls, as well as my native Scott/Irish anger, picked her up, taken her to the bay, and thrown her in fully clothed, full stop. Then I’d have grabbed her evil counterpart and tossed her in on top of the witch. Those 2 bitches needed to feel a wrath and power well beyond their capabilities that only, in such a situation, males can bring, top set them right.
FAKE FAKE FAKE . It finally dawned on me when the guy hid in the bushes with the sleeping bags. Why didn’t the two victims just wait for him to come out of hiding,or just go to the other camp and take back their stuff? Netflix really blew it with this fake s**t!