Netflix’s ‘Outlast’ Season 2 Part 1 Recap (Episodes 1-6)

Outlast season two part two was just released on Netflix on September 4, 2024, and it’s all about surviving in the brutal outdoors. Season one was a huge success, which led to the greenlighting of the second installment, which is all about living in the harsh, cold wilderness of Alaska. It features sixteen participants, whose resilience to the harsh weather will help determine who will take the prize money of USD 1 million. This is a team-based survival reality show where the key is to remain loyal to it and work together to last till the end.

Outlast began with sixteen players, namely: Bayo, Brendon, Brianne, Drake, Drew, Emily, Eric, Joey, Joseph, Julio, Meghan, Sammy, Tina, Tonia, Tre, and Zach. All of them are of different age groups and lines of work. The one common thing that brought them together is the draw of the cash reward from the game. As the sixteen players were left at the riverside near the forest in Alaska, four men came forward to pick up hatchets, which declared them the four leaders. Drew, Eric, Julio, and Zach became the team leaders who chose three members for their respective teams.  Zach’s team was named Alpha; Bayo, Tre, and Tonia were a part of it. Drew’s team was Bravo; Drake, Sammy, and Emily were chosen by him. Julio’s team was named Charlie; Brianne, Meghan, and Joey were part of his team. Delta was Eric’s team; Brendon, Tina, and Joseph were chosen by him. 

The four teams were placed on both sides of a river stream to set up camp, with some basic supplies to survive. There were no rules except for the ones to exit the game. Any team that was the last one standing won the coveted USD one million, which would be split amongst the team players. Anyone can exit the team or be asked to leave the team. The said player should shoot a flare up in the air, which would be a signal they intended to leave the game permanently and never return. If, in any circumstance, any player was without a team, they could choose to join another one, being given 24 hours to do so, or they would be out of the game as well.

The show began with everyone adjusting to the new environment. Since every player was from a different background, only a few of them had hunting experience. This could help them find animals to kill for their meat, useful protein in the harsh weather of Alaska. All the teams were struggling for food and clean water, especially team Charlie, as they struggled to get the fire going for the first few days and were sleeping in cold weather. The first elimination happened in team Alpha when Bayo stole containers from the Bravo team, which did not sit well with either of the  team leaders. Bayo’s team leader, Zach, had to ask him to leave, as stealing supplies was not the way to survive in the woods. Bayo was upset, but he was left with no choice but to shoot his flare and exit the game.

The Charlie team was struggling for days, and Brianne eventually had to leave because the team had not yet figured out a way to feed themselves and get access to clean water. Brianne went to Bravo Team in the hope they would take her in. Drew, the team leader, was skeptical, but her hunting skill was what made him choose to keep her eventually. Charlie team, however, was reduced to one, as Julio developed spasms due to cold weather and had to quit the game. Along with him went Meghan, who did not want to continue on the reality show without Julio, as he was a good leader. Joey was left alone, and he chose to ask the Delta team to take him in. The Delta team hadn’t lost any members yet. They did, however, choose to take Joey in because of his resilience to stay and survive till the end. 

Alpha team was reduced to one as well, when Zach and Tonia had to leave the game as their health deteriorated because of cold weather. Tre, the last team member of Alpha, abandoned the game without shooting the flare, and he hid the supplies they had received at the beginning of the game. The cold weather was the biggest hurdle, and so was the lack of proper sleeping facilities, followed by there being no nourishing food to consume. Almost every participant was feeling tired quickly. Meat was gathered from animals, fish, or mussels found in the river. The inability to ignite fire with the supplies given to the teams played a crucial role, as many of them were unable to get a fire going. The Charlie team dissolved as the team leader Julio was unable to find a way to keep his team warm, which eventually caught up with him as well. The only remaining teams were Bravo and Delta, who had one additional player from the other dissolved teams. Joey went out of his way to impress the Delta team leader, Eric. While Brianne was good company to Emily on the Bravo team, she had to quit the game as the bad water and food caused her health concerns. 

The last two episodes were about the two teams taking things a bit far to find alternative ways to find food for themselves. Emily went to the island in the middle of the river to get her team more fruits and wild shrubs and mushrooms by making a raft out of the new supplies sent to both teams. Since the reality show was not ever about Tre abandoning the game, the Delta team got their hands on the Alpha team’s supplies as well. However, Eric of the Delta team was content with the supplies and the food they could find thanks to Brendon’s hunting skills; Joey was insisting on making rafts just like Bravo team was doing. Drew and the rest of the team were not sure of the tiny expedition Emily wanted to make, but since she was determined, they had to agree to it. 

Emily’s expedition turned out to be a dud, as on the way back from the island on the raft with food supplies, the current and the tide changes made it difficult for her to reach the coast where her team was camped. She was forced to shoot the flare to save herself from being pushed into the ocean. The last assignment had two boats being dropped into the river for the last two remaining teams if they wanted to save themselves. The Delta team were able to get their hands on the boat made for them as they had prepared rafts as well, just like Joey had asked them to. 

Drew from Team Bravo was the only person trying to get hold of the boat, but he faced the same issue that Emily had experienced. He eventually got tired of rowing. Part one of season two Outlast ended with what looked like Drew giving up on the task of getting his team the boat. Only the last two episodes will explore which team will survive the scary Alaskan forest in this dampening cold weather.