Poor Jeff and Elizabeth, no one is talking about them so I figured i would start a thread.
I have no doubt they are both very smart... but survivors and resourceful, they do not seem to be. Although, I would argue that their living situation is the toughest. Bears, rain, a soggy tent.
Monotone voice would be the result of high stress, in a environment you have no idea about. Hungry, tired, stressed-you can see it in the way they both slur speech, and act. It is frankly a body shutting down to deal with the situation-they need some food!
They were better suited to survive than most - I imagine that's why they got the worst location. They buffered his geo-tech knowledge by putting him on the coastline in a marsh. Her hydro-waste skills won't avail her in the low floodplain where she can't control the flow of groundwater. - They were boned.
No doubt canadab they absolutely got hosed in their location. WTF a tent in a bear infested flood plane while everyone else has a cabin. These two are at the rim of hell!
I wonder if it were done to them purposefully? Oiled canvas is a decent windbreak but it saturates just like everything else and will eventually start dripping with condensation. Add some high winds and gale force arctic winds off of the water and that shelter is doomed.
I like this pair and am pulling for them but their location is tough. Wish they could have got that moose. The famous moose hunter is now 0 for 2 trips, new expert maybe? Of course he took the idiot Wise girl on one, bet that was a hoot!
I actually favor them also. They have all of the cards double stacked against them. Now would be a good time for Jeff to start considering transforming those improvised crab traps into game snares on rabbit runs. It may be too late for them - but a secondary platform outside would help keep their wood supply out of the sheet flow of storm water. I'd be pretty ticked about the site placement of that wall tent.
I agree that this couple - Jeff & Elizabeth - have a tough road ahead of them, perhaps the toughest. Their "home" was not properly set up, the fault lies with the show, crew and advisors used. Why wasn't another cabin erected for this couple? Why was it so poorly situated? I would have like to have seen them bag their moose, I checked and learned the Moose season is about 3 weeks long, that should have been enough time to bag much need protein and FAT! - but obviously the show could not be bothered to assist the couple. Slane ayd!
I do wonder about the guide going on two hunts and coming back unsuccessfully, although it's a little odd we didn't see more of The Wise girl's hunt. I'm only speculating, but I think she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Does anyone else find it odd that they didn't show more.
Jeff and Elizabeth were hot on the trail of some moose, but I think they were just unlucky (or maybe the guide is not that good). Either way, glad to see they were getting along better.
Moose are notoriously skittish. They have excellent senses and can spot an enemy predator at incredible range (either by sight or scent). When they are startled at close range their first defense tends to be charge and trample rather than flee. The guide was doing his best - but remember that there are not just the guide and the hunters but a film crew as well - all those scents and sounds would make most moose hard to spot.
Jeff is great - I just read his diary entries. As I suspected, the short one hour show is missing out on so much of the great things the people in Alaska are doing with their environment. Their survival skills are much greater than the camara suggests. I'll bet Jeff considered moving the tent and would probably have done so if the experiment did not dictate their environment. Their tent was in a bad spot!!!
WOW, I just read Jeff's diary, his drawings and creations reminds me of what a pioneer would do out there in the wilderness. I am totally impressed by his pioneer spirit and creativity. I would love to see more details on diary from other teams as well. I doubt will be as impressive and detailed as Jeff. He would be a great engineer too.
Wow! How shocked did Jeff and Elizabeth look when they saw the Wise's living situation. The hardest living situation (Jeff and Elizabeth) running into the easiest (The Wises). And how shocked and disgusted did they looked at the indoor toilet.
I wonder if the Wises gave them any food to take home?!?!?!? There they were, those two girls gaining weight, complaining about their food, and here come Jeff and Elizabeth starving.
Yes, that must have been frustrating to see the Wise's cabin and food supply. I'm glad that Jeff and Elizabeth weren't around to hear the one daughter have a tantrum about all the salmon. I had the same thought about whether or not the Wises would send a jar or two of salmon back with them. There didn't seem to be any big urge to clam or try to catch fish as Jeff and Elizabeth left, and perhaps that was because they had a few jars of salmon. The rule about receiving food gifts may have only been from outside the volunteers. You may remember the guide's wife bringing bread, which was allowed because it had no significant protein. I agree about the latrine. Even with putting layers of ash on top of the fecal material, there still would have been some odor. And to have a gallon jar of urine more than half full would have smelled.
Jennifer, I'm hot on your heels in the forum, and your input is wonderful. You will change many minds by sharing that you did send Jeff and Elizabeth off with food supplies, especially the salmon. I'm surprised that the production staff couldn't come up with a better shelter. The platform could have been a bit higher and small logs could have surrounded the tent walls to provide a bit more security regarding the bears. A large tarp for a rain fly would have eased the dampness. Even though your sister did not harvest a moose, for whatever reason, I hope that you had a chance to eat a bit of moose before you returned home. I still remember getting on a train in central Washington State, heading home to Minnesota, with a bag of steaming hot moose rump roast sandwiches. The smell drove everyone on our car nuts, and we were begged for samples. Everyone who got those samples moaned with pleasure. We heard comments that it was the best beef they had ever eaten. Then my mother announced that it was moose. We heard gagging sounds, and one young woman ran for the restroom and heaved.
OK, in the last episode the trio of IT folks used Alpaca rafts to cross the river - why didn't Jeff and Elizabeth get a raft? They could've set their crab traps (very well-made) in deeper water and fished for ocean fish. I actually trekked 70 miles down an Alaskan river in one of those same little rafts, and they are a HUGE advantage.
Jeff & Elizabeth I feel were give the worst of all locations. In fact were it me, I would have refused. A tent in bear country?
They have tried their best to make it but the weather, wood supply of soggy drift wood, and location are all against them. I think they are doing their best with what they have to work with. As a couple, I really like them and am pulling for them.
I too wondered about the boats. With boats, they could have got out past the tide line and their crab traps would have been more productive I believe. Also in their area, other then bear, there seems little else to hunt. Perhaps they are due for a break.. lets hope.
Originally posted by NYCWatcher: Poor Jeff and Elizabeth, no one is talking about them so I figured i would start a thread.
I have no doubt they are both very smart... but survivors and resourceful, they do not seem to be. Although, I would argue that their living situation is the toughest. Bears, rain, a soggy tent.
What's the deal with her monotone voice?
It's so funny - i went to college with Wid and she was one of the funniest, most active people i knew - definitely NOT represented very accurately on the show. She is definitely tired as hell. I'm rooting for these two!!!!
Sorry, I am sure that Elizabeth is very nice in her element but they just did not seem prepared. His reactions to her are like "what, you didn't bring the tickets?". She really did not seem to grasp the essence of what they were facing, particularly with the offhanded way she handled the bungled canning process. I also don't think that this is soemething I would have agreed to after dating the person fro only five months. This was not a "how about going on a cruise with me?" I hope that she does make it but after seeing the teasers for the next episode it appears that Jeff is going to grab the life ring that is his father's illness.
