Life Below Zero: My Comfort Show

 

I’ve been watching Life Below Zero again.

 Netflix had it a few years ago so I binged watched the first 5 or 6 seasons. Disney + has it now. I keep coming back to this show even when I get tired of it. For all the danger of the wilderness, the weather and the wildlife, I get the feeling personal injury is the most common disaster. A broken arm or leg could be the end of you in a cold year. Most are too secluded to be rescued in a pinch.

 Here is something we all know, Alaska is a wilderness that’s only available for the heartiest of souls. It’s vast, cold, remote and full of dangerous wildlife. Those that live exclusively off the grid practice a strict form of self-reliance. Naturally there are cities in Alaska where rugged individualism isn’t necessary. It’s not like everyone eats moose venison and makes boots from beaver pelts. But the tundra dwellers and dog mushers and lonely cabin in the woods types live off the land in every way. They fish, hunt and trap for sustenance and chop down trees to make firewood. The Inuit family (Hailstones) along the western coast has multiple ways to fish and hunt. They use nearly everything from animals they kill and built shelters, boats and various traps.

Why do I like the show so much? I think it's the comfort I feel in knowing the characters and their positions, livelihoods and attitudes. The show profiles different people spread out around the state. Their only connection to each other is their dependence the land. Not all have allowed cameras into their homes for the entire show. Some started and stopped and then came back again, like Andy Bassich who raises dogs for racing just off the Eagle river near Canada’s Northwest Territories.

 Each yearly cycle is only vaguely different from the previous one. We see the seasons come and go and watch them cope with the cold winter, the melting ice, the short summer and the nonexistent fall. They repeat stock phrases like “If you ain’t ready to rely on yourself don’t bother coming up here”. These get repeated an awful lot by all the people in the show. It’s almost like the producers keep reminding them of what’s clear to the viewer already, this is a tough life.

I’m sure everyone who watches these shows asks themselves, “Would I do that? Live off the grid and hold up in a cabin cut off from all human life?” No and hell no. But I can appreciate that some people live for it and allow us in for a little while.

There isn’t any great genius in the show or curious revelation about the wilderness. But there is a comfort in watching a new episode with a familiar cast, struggling with similar issues every year. A lot of shows we watch are like this. Think of your favorite sitcom from years ago. Did the characters have a well-established personality? Did they get into tight spots and find a resolution just before the show ended? How many times did Kramer from Seinfeld resolve a quirky issue? How about George? Was there an obvious beginning, middle and end to each episode that built on the characters’ particular oddities?

Most stories work that way, problem--crisis--resolution. It’s a necessary arc for telling a story even in reality shows. Their lives aren’t that interesting, but put together enough footage with an artificial deadline and you have a show. I’m not being unfair. I keep coming back the same way I did for countless TV shows as a kid. My biggest excuse for watching a couple episodes per night is the comfort factor. I’m tired and I don’t want to try anything new.

Let’s find out if Glen sees a grizzly bear today.

I’ve watched enough animals being skinned that I could do it from memory, which is a skill I'm not sure what to do with. I almost wish that a wolverine or a lynx would prowl my street so I could set traps. I imagine hanging a caribou from my clothes line post and peeling the fur off while the neighbors watch, horrified. Actually the front yard would be better, right between the chiminea and the rose bush. I’d wave at them, hands covered in blood, in a friendly way as they walked their poodles around the block. Skinning game animals is not unusual for hunters (no I’m not) but looks really out of place in the city.

One of the more memorable shows had Sue Aikens, who manages the remote Kavik camp, field dress a caribou in the middle of winter. She followed a herd on her snowmobile and dropped one after missing with at least a dozen shots. She rushed back to camp to grab her sled for the carcass and began cutting organs out. The temperature was near 30 below zero, she couldn’t feel her fingers and the body was almost too cold to cut up. Her race against the clock was very real. She was at risk of getting frostbite and losing the light. She hurriedly tossed organs into the sled while covered in a bloody white snowsuit she used to camouflage herself on the tundra. I was seriously impressed.

In a show that’s mostly slow on excitement here was a real thrill. I’ll keep watching until I find another show with a familiar pattern. I’m sure I’ll come back again.