American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 58 The Production Team That Stirred Up Trouble

When the sixth episode of "Living Alone in the Wild: Grizzly Mountain" arrived as scheduled.

All viewers, whether loyal fans in North America or netizens on Bilibili, are eagerly anticipating it.

I have high expectations for the performance of all the players going forward.

Lin Yu-an's feat of hunting a mule deer in the previous episode has already made him and Clay Jenkins tied as the strongest contenders for this season's championship.

However, viewers noticed a detail: Lin Yu-an's waterproof tarpaulin canoe appeared too abruptly!
The previous episodes did not show his process of making the canoe at all.

However, in this episode, the production team edited in some previously unaired "explosive" footage, which triggered an unprecedented storm.

At the beginning of the program, the camera focused on several contestants who were still persevering.

Clay remained steady, using his ample reserves of fish and venison to reinforce his cabin and craft more hunting tools, demonstrating the composure of a leader.

Veteran Ron, however, began to show signs of weakness due to the monotonous diet.

Meanwhile, Inuit huntress Kayla, despite her tenacious rat-catching skills, appears increasingly thin on camera.

This episode focuses on Lin Yu-an.

Surprisingly, the subtitles at the bottom of the screen read "The Forty-Third Day".

"Wait, how did the timeline jump back?"

The comments section on Bilibili was instantly filled with questions.

The image shows Lin Yu'an, still full of food and energy.

He paddled his waterproof tarpaulin canoe, which he named "Pioneer," planning to explore a new body of water.

However, just as his canoe glided across a cove near the shore, a huge brown figure slowly emerged from the bushes!
It was a huge adult grizzly bear! It was only about thirty meters away from Lin Yu'an's canoe!
"Fuck!"

Even through the screen, viewers could hear the shock and disbelief in Lin Yu'an's subconscious exclamation, "Holy crap!"
Fortunately, the grizzly bear seemed to be merely asserting its dominance, and after confronting Lin Yu'an for a moment, it turned and disappeared into the dense jungle.

"Huh...huh..."

"That was...that was so close! Guys, that guy's aura was incredible!"

"If it attacks me, it can swim here in ten seconds! It could capsize this makeshift canoe with a single swipe of its claws!"

This close encounter with the grizzly bears had all the spectators on the edge of their seats.

However, the show's "malicious editing" had only just begun.

The screen then switched again, and the subtitles read "Day 44".

After this encounter, Lin Yu'an chose a new exploration route to avoid the grizzly bear's activity area.

They eventually found the abandoned lumberjack camp.

The drama of the show reached its peak when Lin Yu-an discovered the broken chainsaw chain on the wall of that simple wooden shed!

The production team deliberately delayed and edited these two "high-energy" segments, which occurred on days 43 and 44 and were originally scheduled to air in the fifth episode, and then aired them in the sixth episode.

The purpose was to avoid Lin Yu-an's series of strange encounters, which might be due to comments questioning the script.

After all, from any perspective, Lin Yu-an's series of "adventures" seem to have traces of a script.

But they clearly failed! Yet, I didn't want to miss these two excellent clips.

Even with editing techniques, these doubts were not completely diminished! This instantly ignited a public outcry among North American viewers!
(Wait... first, the perfectly timed deer, then the dramatic bear encounter, and then 'coincidentally' finding a piece of saw chain? This feels... too much like a script.)
(I knew it! This show must be scripted! How could there possibly be a lumberjack leaving a saw chain there!)

(This is unfair to Clay! You gave Anlin the chainsaw! Clay's advantage in collecting fuel later on is gone!)
(This story is great. "Living in the Wild" is losing its authenticity. I dare say it's nonsense! The show is promoting their chosen winner!)
(They were definitely paving the way for him! A scene with a deer, a bear, and a chain saw—this isn't survival; this is a well-edited movie!)
The "script theory" has gained unprecedented traction. Many viewers believe that the production team not only arranged a scripted storyline to cater to the huge potential of the Chinese market.

They even went so far as to manipulate the broadcast timeline to deliberately create Lin Yu'an's "protagonist halo"!
This seriously undermines the fairness and authenticity of the competition!
Some radical viewers even started the hashtag "#AloneIsScripted" and demanded that the show immediately remove Lin Yu-an from the competition.

In China, the reactions from Bilibili viewers were more complex and intense, amounting to a frenzy of trolls and trolls.

[Holy crap! Brother An is awesome! This luck is probably that of the chief disciple of the 'Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect'!]

[The last weak link in Angola's fuel supply has been addressed! Winter fuel is secured!]

While there were a few scattered well-intentioned comments, there were far more troll comments, especially those that were completely thoughtless.

[Haha, is this an act? This is so fake, do they think the audience is stupid?]

[I told you long ago, how could an Asian person be so good at something that white people excel at? It must be scripted.]

[Stop exaggerating, okay? Hunting a deer last time was outrageous enough, and this time they're giving away a magical weapon? They've really lost all shame for the Chinese market.]

[Isn't this just a typical "feel-good" novel trope? The protagonist's plot armor is way too obvious. It's boring. I'm dropping it.]

Stop trying to defend him, fans. Your "An Shen" is just a celebrity created by the show's producers; what is he anyway?

[Where did an international student get so much wilderness knowledge? Wasn't he trained beforehand by the production team, just here for a show?]

Come on, white guys are the real pros at this; they've had an adventurous spirit since the Age of Exploration! This kid doesn't look like he can endure hardship; it's all luck and the script.

[Ugh, they're doing this again. Pushing a Chinese person for clicks, do they really think everyone can be Yao Ming? How disgusting!]

[Hilarious! Let's see how the production team covers for him when something really serious happens to him.]

[Clay is truly amazing; his shot was a genuine, one-shot kill. This was pure luck, either a lucky find or pure coincidence.]

[I told you he couldn't do it. Look at how he acted like he was dying last time, didn't he look like a fairy about to give birth to Yu Yu?]

Faced with the escalating controversy surrounding the "script" online and the serious impact on the authenticity of the show's brand, the production team of "Living Alone in the Wilderness" quickly responded.

The day after the sixth episode aired, executive producer Mark Johnson gave an emergency online interview to a well-known television media outlet.

“I have noticed the audience’s concerns about the ‘script theory’.”

Mark spoke with a serious expression in front of the camera.
"I can solemnly declare here to all the loyal viewers of 'Solo in the Wilderness' that this program has no script. All the experiences of each contestant in the wilderness are real."

"Editing the timeline is a common technique used in television program production to ensure the narrative rhythm and entertainment value of each episode."

"Because the storylines of multiple contestants need to be told in parallel, we sometimes reorganize the material according to the importance of the theme or event."

“We understand the audience’s concerns about fairness. But please believe that the core appeal of ‘Living Alone in the Wild’ lies in its unparalleled authenticity.”

"Lin's discovery of the saw chain is real. His encounter with the bear is also real. We simply chose what we felt was the most appropriate time to present these realities."

The program team's public statement explained the reasons for the editing.

But to many viewers, this seems more like an admission of manipulating the narrative timeline for the sake of the show's effect.

This only makes it more difficult to completely dispel the doubts surrounding the "script".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(Negative reviews are the easiest to write. I can just check the author assistant's backend; it finds all sorts of mindless comments, which is quite convenient!)
(And do you know what's most ridiculous? He even tried to convince you to do the same with these mindless comments!)

(It'll be ready soon, just after it's released~ Once the fan value comments are enabled, all those mindless comments will disappear.)
(Thank you to the 9467 readers who are still following along!)
(End of this chapter)