Discovery Channel Alaskan Bush People recap: Never Give Up

Alaskan Bush People Discovery Channel

Do the Alaskan Bush People get paid? We asked! Read our interview with the Brown family.

In the Season 2 finale* of Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People “Never Give Up” (July 24), the
Browns encounter obstacles on the way to completing their first cargo haul job on the Integrity. The family finds something shocking when they return to their home.

*There’s a “Lost Footage” special on July 31 and a season recap episode on Aug. 6. We’ll try to cover those in some way. Stay tuned.

Alaskan Bush People Season 1 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | The Wild Life

Season 2 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2Episode 3 | Episode 4Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8  | Wild Times | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 | Episode 14 | SHARK WEEK! | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Lost Footage | The Wild Year

So …

The Integrity has a rotten hull plank, and it threatens Billy’s pity deal to haul overflow cargo for Paul, the Grand Poobah of Hoonah freighting. Billy decides to go for the quick fix and just fills in the hole with epoxy. Hey, would that stuff also work on Ami’s teeth?

So while the Bondo Boat’s hull patch is drying, Billy sends the boys to pick up the cargo for the job: lumber, furniture, livestock and school supplies. By furniture, we mean the front end of a ’51 Mercury that has been chop-shopped into a desk. By livestock, we mean two small goats. And by school supplies, we mean some new gym mats for a school’s wrestling team. Because of the tides, the Browns have a short window of time to leave. And here I thought there might be some kind of goat emergency.

Leave it to Matt to screw things up. Matt jumps off the boat onto the dock and his tooth necklace comes up and hits him in his “good eye.” Matt goes to the doctor, where a nurse tells him he has a scratch. He comes back wearing an eye patch that looks like it was cut from a black T-shirt.

https://twitter.com/AlaskanBushPPL/status/624748522324238336/photo/1

That’s just awful, even by this show’s standards.

Billy’s ready to cast off with the Integrity, but then there’s … yet another problem with the boat. Sigh. The wheel is spinning freely, meaning that Billy can’t steer the boat. They suspect there’s a hydraulic fluid leak somewhere. When Billy says “hydraulic fluid,” it sounds like he’s saying “hot dog fluid.” Noah checks the hydraulic lines, but there’s no steady leak. So where did all that hot dog fluid go? It shall remain one of life’s great mysteries. Billy replenishes the hot dog fluid, and the boat shoves off.

After some unnecessary drama at South Inian Pass, the Browns arrive at Elfin Cove, a small harbor town with no cars, no police and no school. There’s even more unnecessary drama about the rocks and shallow water in Elfin Cove due to the low tide. They drop anchor, and Matt and Gabe deliver the goats with The Skiff.

SkiffGoats

The goats are going to a nice hippie family. The dad’s name is Taiga, and he’s got long blond dreadlocks. He’s got a cute little toddler named Ronin. Seeing Ronin with the goats is Cute Overload. Matt and Gabe feel the need to stick around and make conversation with them, because “You don’t want to just throw goats at them and leave.”

Back on the Integrity, Billy decides to stay in Elfin Cove for the night instead of trying to make it to Pelican against the tide. So the kids take The Skiff out fishing. Bear catches a fish and starts humanely punching it. It’s been a while since we’ve seen this display, and it was a little shocking to some ABP newbies on Twitter. Bear punches the fish in the head repeatedly, since he’d rather have it die quickly than to slowly “die of oxygen.”¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “I have not yet seen a fish big enough that I would not try to punch it,” Bear says. I wish you guys could’ve heard me explain Bear’s fish-punching logic to my 4-year-old son just now.

Rainy hasn’t gotten much screen time lately, so Billy lets her steer the boat. This is the bush equivalent of the daddy-daughter dance. Rainy says Billy is the greatest dad ever. Oh, you think you’re better than me?

Then the teaser before the commercial says the Browns return to Chicago Bears Island to find their home destroyed. WHAAAAT? Did the government do it again? Did those guys who shot at the Browns in Chitina try and finish the job? Did Ami’s mom send some hired goons? Oh, I can’t wait to find out how they explain this shit. But we press on …

The town of Pelican has a bar and a liquor store but no grocery store. This sounds like most towns I know of in rural Wisconsin. There’s one school and one teacher in Pelican and it serves 12 students of all grades. The Browns are delivering new gym mats for the two-member wrestling team. They’re finally replacing the mats that have been there for 40 years and must smell like a musty, sweaty singlet worn by a months-long rotted, bloated corpse. No one told the Browns that they were also supposed to haul away the old gym mats (thanks for leaving that out, Paul!). At least Coach Wolff lets the Browns use his four-wheeler ATV to haul the old mats back to the dock. Like any wrestling coach worth his salt, Coach Wolff is a hard-ass. “The strong survive here. The weak, they go back down to the Lower 48,” he says.

Now for the delivery of the car desk. The Browns get the luxury of using an electric hoist on the dock for this job, which really speeds things up and saves us from having to watch another boring manual hoist. The Browns get an ATV and trailer on loan to haul the desk. Hey, all the machinery and stuff is pretty nice, ain’t it? Of course the Browns would give the job of driving the ATV to the village idiot with one eye and no depth perception. It’s the Brown Way.

The desk is delivered to Chris, who just saw Crocodile Dundee and absolutely loved it, and Chris’ buddy, who just got back from playing Smokey in The Big Lebowski. Chris is going to use the desk as a picnic table for his “hot dog match” and build a cooler inside of it. Chris should check if the desk is low on hot dog fluid.

The Browns are swelling with pride over this mission accomplished. Jeez, Billy delivers some goats and suddenly he thinks he’s freaking Captain Phillips or something. Noah repurposes the old gym mats as padding for the floor of the boat. I fully expected Matt to build Matt’s Gym Mat Mansion with them, but whatever.

The Browns get close to Brownton Abbey, and they think they spot people on the beach. After getting our hopes up, they discover that it’s just a bear. When they arrive at their home, they find that all their trash has been trashed. Noah’s meat smoker is destroyed, and so is the shower and the stupid bicycle battery charger. OH DEAR GOD, NO! NOT THE CRAP THAT DIDN’T WORK ANYWAY! “Things were ravished and eaten,” Ami says, clearly not knowing what “ravished” means.

The lesson: A bear can ruin a bunch of garbage, but he can never ruin the love.

You guys are smart. I don’t need to write a long screed about this bullshit ending. A) The cameras that once caught a bear walking through their yard at night didn’t catch a bear ransacking the whole place. B) A bear didn’t actually ransack the place. C) If they’re going to make something up, couldn’t they make up something better than this? D) We sit through 16 hours of this crap this year and this is how they reward us?

This show has gone from being kinda fake to being ridiculously fake to just openly and aggressively hating its audience.

Digression! I’ve spent so much time writing about this show, and sharing thoughts and laughs with some very fine, funny and smart people, that I would be truly sad if Discovery Channel gave Alaskan Bush People the ax it so rightly deserves. (I think we’re going to have at least another whole season of ABP. I hope to have some kind of an answer on that next week during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.) I love that such a terrible TV show can bring people together from across the country to throw rotten fruit at their TVs through Twitter and these recaps. It’s been a blast, and I hope we’ll keep the good times rolling when the show returns.

SkiffGratitude

30 Comments

  1. I would love to live in the BUSH. I know that it is not an easy life. Anybpdy that does this has a lots of courage. I would love to send a care package to Billy & Amy Brown family to encourage them not to give up on their dreams,

  2. Hola abp I love the show fake or not a make my day is my favorite show ever.dc keep the browntown.love bam bam Matt everyone gracias blessing

  3. I accidently came upon this show after being confined to bed after foot surgery. Whether it is real or fake I truly enjoy the show and hope it does return for many more seasons! I would like to say thanks from the bottom of my heart for the entertainment during a rough time! Wishing the whole family the best of luck in their future and may they be blessed in every way. Cathy Hammock!

    • I’m one of those fools in the lower 48 that had no idea about how fake this show is until all I did was type in alaskan bush people on google. I just wanted to see when the new season was airing. LoL. Lesson to the wise. If you want to hold the enjoyment of something do not type the show in on google. I had a feeling some stuff was staged but After about an hour of reading through articles bashing the Browns, I have determined that this is the biggest bunch of crap ever slung on a t.v. As the principal at billy madison’s school once said Browns, “Everyone in this room is now dumber, I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.”

  4. Sure am going to miss having a new episode of ABP to make fun of tonight. I watch the show just so I can make fun of them. I’m a terrible person.

  5. When Billy was spinning the wheel of the boat and looking incredulous at his sons saying “nothing is happening, it’s not working” ( Duh Billy…do you think?) Was anyone else thinking this would be a great time for Billy to lapse into another coma? Come on Billy…you can do it! Just close your eyes! : )

    Love the show. Love these recaps even more!

  6. The bicycle.. This was what really spoiled the show for me. Their is no way he thought that up by himself. The tree house with the bicycle elevator has been featured on 2 different shows in the last 2-3 years. It’s obvious the kid got the idea from watching the same tv shows I’ve been watching.
    No wonder they didn’t want to show that part in the regular season. Bad enough it gives the secret away that they have been sitting around watching cable. The retarded kid stole some one else’s idea & passed it off as his own.

  7. Will there be a return of the Browns then if not I’ll have to find a new reality show to watch
    TV

  8. Will there be a return of the Browns then if not I’ll have to find a new reality show to watch

  9. I have been watching the program, ‘Alaskan ‘Bush People’ for close to 3 years ever since I found it on Direct TV here, station 278. I scan the station often to make sure I do not miss a episode. Tonight, I watched the ‘lost footage’ I have often wondered who the crews are, where do they stay, is there a large tent or ?? for them at the home site. where is the head, and so on.
    I wonder how much $’s the Browns get per episode, and if enough ?? , I hope they could get the children s, especially the 2 girls teeth straightened. A coupe of the boys and the mom’s teeth need some serious repair/straightening or repairs.
    I really enjoy the show and all what goes with it. I could see myself in the mix and wished with my schedule could spend a couple of weeks with them working on the woods, the camp, and the land projects with Noah. I’m a 28 year General Contractor/Very Handy person.
    It would be real nice to hear back from any of the Brown folks from Brown Town.
    I have seen the bicycle elevator on the Tree Masters prior, who got the idea from the other,,,,, or was it just a mutual ‘Brain Thought’ from both sides, at about the same time????

    Rick Rich

    I would really to C a reply from a Brown family members. [if possible]

    • Here is a brain thought for you. What do all these words have in common? Burlesque, deride, heckle, kid, lampoon, mock, parody, ridicule, satirize, tease,
      Make sport of. Give up?
      It’s what we do here on this site .There are no browns here guy; but you know what I could definitely see you in the mix to. Perhaps you could get the discovery
      Producers to let you come out and Peddle the bike generator for a couple days or ride up and down on the sky bike. Ya while the Browns are having a pizza in town you could charge up all there batteries.

      • Love it Jack! Good gosh who would think this is a Brown rah rah site and they hang out here

  10. I like watching the Alaska Bush People. I look forward to watching the show on Friday nights. If I can’t watch the shoe when itcomes on, I have the show taped so I can watch it later.
    I hope there will be another session.

  11. Diane: Was that your idea to have Antonio Bandaras doing the voice of THE SKIFF? LOVE IT. PERFECT. And your remark, Ryan…..”Matt is clearly the dimmest bulb on the show” still has me cracking up. I saw a workup on the ratings and that ABP has been the #1 show, ratings wise, for the past eight weeks……with over 4 million viewers. Hard to believe. But that is job security for YOU, Ryan !!!!

    • Diane suggested the voice of Hannah’s horse from the DirecTV commercials. The horse is voiced by the very funny Jemaine Clement. I think Antonio Banderas would lend more gravitas to The Skiff role.

      I can’t believe I just wrote that.

      • For some odd, inexplicable reason it bothers me that Ami wears those dangling earrings out in the “bush”. It bothers me Gabe wears a jacket resembling one of the T-Birds in the Grease movies. It bothers me Noah always looks like he has blush on his cheeks and dresses like he is Wyatt Earp. It bothers me Raindrop is called “Bush Barbie”, that just sounds wrong on so many levels I won’t get into. So many things bother me about this show…. I don’t have all day to type it. With great shame though I admit I watch the dumb ass show and I have no good explanation as to why I can’t stop watching.

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About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.