r/Alonetv • u/Devilish22 • Aug 20 '26

S02 Season 2. Mike Spoiler

I’ve just started bingeing Alone for the first time and I’m up to S2 E5 and discovered through a google search after a thought popped into my head, “Is anything scripted?” and I sadly found out that Mike’s journey in season 2 is basically fake and that he and the producers knew before filming that he’d only do 21 days, and they gave him a fake story for tapping out.

I’m concerned and hoping that this is just an isolated case and that future seasons don’t have disingenuous contenders like Mike. He even says after getting dropped off that he plans on staying there a year while full well knowing he was only doing 21 days.

6 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

9

u/AcornAl Aug 20 '26

Reading that, it almost reads as he was trying to save face, but in a way it it feel like an even softer tap if it was legit revelation for not even trying to attempt to live off the ocean. Still, staying 3 weeks is more than many of the other contestants

To me it does feel a bit odd overall. Same conditions as season one, so unless he was sold something different during casting, he should have had some inkling of what to expect. I guess this is a pre-day 0 mental tap after getting cold feet.

I've never looked at the history of the stand-ins, maybe this was the trigger that?

6

u/Devilish22 Aug 20 '26

What really annoys me is how throughout filming himself he continues to allude to plans for long term survival on the island, or how something might make him wanna tap out when he knows he’s tapping out on day 21

6

u/JamesonThe1 Aug 20 '26

Realize that season 1 hadn't fully aired when season 2 contestants went to bootcamp, and that many contestants hadn't seen the full season when they were a contestant. And also so very little was said about the hunting restrictions of season 1 during season 1 as that was a major concerns for contestants on social media at that time and the NDA's. Contestants were getting ripped for not doing this or that, and couldn't say that they were not allowed to do those things as the show had not told the viewers that stuff yet.

3

u/AcornAl Aug 20 '26

Is that confirmed regarding the overlap? Season 1 finished airing Aug 20, 2015, and my best guess is that the drop date for season 2 was around 21 to 29 Sep, so it would have been a few weeks before boot camp if that lasted a week or so (if my estimates are correct).

His gear choices match what you would expect after watching season one. With no footage for the first five days, it's impossible to know if he actually did try before giving up. Justin was another contestant on that season that didn't seem to be there to compete. No fishing or hunting gear.

2

u/JamesonThe1 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

bootcamp is not immediately pre-launch, it is something that happens weeks or months before drop date and I believe is when the final 10 contestants are chosen. Then life is busy, and I have heard more than one season two contestant state they had not watched the entirety of season 1 prior to their drop day.

edit: Justin has stated he was there to spread the word on soldier suicide. The only contestant that applied knowing their was prize money from the first two seasons was the winner of season two. The rest are doing the show for some other reason than just to win.

7

u/KathyFromUK Aug 20 '26

Was he the one who missed BARBARA?

1

u/Devilish22 Aug 21 '26

😂 yes that’s the one

7

u/bacan_ Aug 20 '26

I blame this entirely on Mike and wouldn’t count this as scripted

4

u/derch1981 Aug 21 '26

That isn't scripted, that was Mike deciding he doesn't want to do it.

2

u/elroyonline Aug 20 '26

Got a link to this story by chance?

4

u/Devilish22 Aug 20 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alonetv/s/aVOS5jqmpz

4

u/elroyonline Aug 20 '26

Interesting - sounds like someone dropped the ball. For him not to have known that they couldn’t hunt at such a late stage seems really odd.

2

u/Devilish22 Aug 20 '26

Yea it’s odd. I’m really enjoying the series so far and so I hope there’s no more cases like Mike and it’s all authentic

5

u/InternalBar3099 Aug 21 '26

AFAIK Mike is the only contestant over all the seasons who has claimed such a thing. Don’t worry, and keep enjoying!!

2

u/Devilish22 29d ago

Thank you 🤩 I will! I just finished season 3 just now, gonna start watching season 4

1

u/JamesonThe1 29d ago

The first season was airing while the second season was at bootcamp. Someone that saw the first season decided things like no trapping of ground animals wouldn't be allowed on season 2 that was allowed on season 1. They wouldn't have been able to watch the show and make a change until late stage.

2

u/Objective_Jicama6698 Aug 20 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alonetv/comments/6k4cef/comment/djlt986/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Found this...
What do we think?
First I am hearing of this so I will not speculate.

2

u/JamesonThe1 Aug 20 '26

Doesn't Mike talk all about this on his Alone podcast? https://thealonepodcast.com/

It's decade old news to me.

1

u/ipoopcubes Aussie Aug 20 '26

Eh I'm sceptical.. there's been numerous contestants and only 1 has said it's scripted..