Do the Alaskan Bush People get paid? We asked! Read our interview with the Brown family.
In Episode 4 of Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People, “Fight or Flight,” premiering Tuesday, May 27, the Brown family is faced with another life-altering decision when gunshots are fired on their land. The Browns suffer yet another hardship and face an uncertain future.
RELATED: What happened to Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People?
Alaskan Bush People Season 1 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | The Wild Life
Season 2 Recaps: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 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 after last week’s episode in which the locals decided to come build the Browns’ cabin and sing “Kumbaya” and celebrate the spirit of Alaska, now we get people shooting guns at them and death threats aimed at the Browns and the show’s crew reported to us by ominous onscreen titles.
And then this show goes totally wheels-off.
We’re told that someone, angry about the Browns bringing TV cameras with them, opened fire on them. We’re given few details about what happened next. Did the authorities get involved? Was there an investigation? Look, I know law enforcement is probably pretty stretched in these parts, but I think death threats and someone shooting at you is probably enough to get a visit from Alaska State Troopers (a whole different show!) in the very least. And why did they stop production on the show just when the FIRST AND ONLY INTERESTING THING IN THIS ENTIRE SERIES just happened? It just doesn’t make any damn sense. [Update: Zaz Hollander of Alaska Dispatch has some excellent reporting on this incident and how the production impacted Copper River Valley residents.]
We’re told the Browns just decided to pack up, sell the land, sell the SUV and go back to Southeast Alaska by boat, thereby making everything you’ve watched so far utterly pointless. It’s like the producers said, “So, Billy, this cabin-building thing was great and all. But this stable home stuff, it’s just not good TV. And, you know, it’s a lot colder up here than we thought it was going to be. And the crew’s already sick of Grizzly Pizza. Here’s an idea: How about we pretend you get forced off the land in dramatic fashion and we go back to Ketchikan and show some whole new and exciting ways for you and your family to always be on the brink of death? We’ll get picked up for another season, and we can get someone blonder and perkier to play the part of Birdie. How’s about it?”
The Browns get a rickety old boat and live out of it for a few days while they travel back down the coast. Billy was a commercial fisherman for a long time, so he’s no stranger to the sea. The family sets anchor on an island in a national forest and establishes a temporary camp. The island is pretty. There’s lots of moss. I half expect them to discover the remnants of the Dharma Initiative.
“Meanwhile, a thousand miles away …” there’s this really jarring jump to an in-show commercial for Siberian Cut, the show that’s going to be in this time slot next week.
We’re given a little more backstory about Billy. He’s originally from Texas. His parents and his sister were killed in a plane crash, which must have been a horrible ordeal for him. How much that event influenced Billy’s decision to live in the Alaskan bush isn’t really clear.
Things on the island are kind of dull. “I’m bored. There’s nothing to shoot at. There’s nothing to do,” Bam says.
But wait! Rainy has a toothache. Normally, they’d just yank the tooth with pliers (or have Bam shoot it), but Rainy gets the privilege of actual medical treatment. Billy knows a dentist that will accept a barter, so they sail into town. The receptionist at the office is a little annoyed that they don’t have an appointment and that this child has a name like Merry Christmas Catherine Raindrop Brown. The dentist is accommodating, though, and accepts some fresh-caught salmon in trade.
Bear, Bam and Birdie go salmon fishing in a shallow river, using their “bear fishing” technique to grab the fish by hand and then have Bear punch them in the head. Bam is terrible at bear fishing. He should’ve brought his gun.
Billy catches a ride with a bush pilot to scout for a new place to live on Prince of Wales Island, where he knows this guy Animal Dave who lives on a floathouse. These things are actual homes floating offshore that are built from random parts of boats, trucks or whatever can be scrounged up. People live on them without dying, apparently. It is here that we take a solemn moment to memorialize “Insane” Duane. And then we meet Peckerhead, the seagull who is Animal Dave’s best friend. All of this appeals to Billy, and it sounds like the Browns’ next adventure will be building a floathouse. And then the Browns will be forced off of it by a jealous, vengeful Peckerhead.
So then things really go bad. The incident wasn’t caught on camera, but we’re told that Billy’s boat hit something, suffered hull damage and took on water. He was able to bring it to the dock and get the family to safety. We’re left with the image of the family standing on the dock with their boat and everything they own submerged at their feet. The family vows to press on.
How you feel about this depends on how you’ve bought into everything you’ve seen so far. You might be heartbroken for the Browns, a family who just lost everything and is at a crossroads. Or maybe you’ve just seen a harrowing cliffhanger written for the characters of the Alaskan Bush People docudrama. [UPDATE: FAKE FAKE FAKEY FAKE FAKE]
Obviously, a lot of the debate in the comments is about the show’s authenticity. Are the Browns for real? Are these situations real or are they contrived? Most of all, why does someone who truly desires to live off the grid in the Alaskan wilderness even want to be on a reality TV show in the first place?
And it is, after all, a TV show. The very fact that there’s a camera crew present alters the “reality” of the Browns’ every situation. It’s further manipulated by someone who has to edit this reality and create some kind of cohesive story for our entertainment. This and every “unscripted” TV show warrants some degree of skepticism, and I’ve had plenty throughout these recaps. Some of you have been able to simply enjoy the Browns as a family as they’re portrayed, invest in them emotionally, and admire if not embrace what they stand for. That’s fine. Again, it’s a TV show. Others doubt everything about the Browns, their lifestyle, their motives, their history, and the very idea that they’re even a family and not actors. That’s fine. Again, it’s a TV show. It’s that polarization of opinion about this show that has made it more fun to discuss than it is to actually watch. Either way, you’re watching it and you’re interested enough in it to come to here, so the Browns must be doing something right.
Photo: Credit: Discovery Channel
What the heck is wrong with this show?I feel like a fool.I told my family to watch and could not believe how nansty it ended????
What the hell?
Homeschooling is wonderful. As I see it, the best benefits are emotional and spiritual. Instead of being bullied and indoctrinated in harmful ways, children feel loved and learn quite well. Most homeschoolers are Christians. These families have children who don’t think they should kill themselves if they don’t have a date to the prom. Instead, they learn what is really important and learn to walk in the beautiful ways of Jesus.
Caught the last episode this week and as many say ‘lot of questions’ kind of left us in suspense, hope they follow up with more of the show next season. I had to chime in here because I felt they got scared off too easy after all the work of building that cabin. The majority of towns people helped them out and were supportive, probably one lone wolf got drunk and fired off his shotgun to scare them. Probably the same guy sent what ever threats they mentioned on the show. Why didn’t the film crew rig up some security cameras w/nightvision around where the shots were heard and try to capture the guy doing it? Even simpler- they could have just fired back that night and hunt down who was firing the gun, take video of the guy and show the police. I just felt they gave up too easily and gave away the cabin/wood they worked for. As for the boat – that was a dumbass idea, its all maintenance and money spending to keep it seaworthy. There is no way living on or owning a boat is going to be thrifty. A boat yard has to pull the boat out of the water all the time for maintenance and they charge a fortune. Dock space costs a fortune also, plus they guzzle so much fuel/gas they make an SUV look like a prius. The boat Billy had was so old, probably had a wooden hull, may have just had a rotted section of hull give out..(If anyone watched Diamond Divers on Discovery cnl, they showed this on the wooden boat they were using, it almost sank also, started taking on a lot of water, part of the planking almost gave out, was all rotted..) Thats why these boats have to be pulled and inspected, planks replaced etc. Especially if you are buying an unknown boat, you dont just buy it – you need an inspection done. Fiberglass is also the way to go, almost maintenance free compared to wood. I hope discovery can throw Billy and his family some $ to help them, felt bad they had so much bad luck.
I liked the show and believed their hardships. Id like to know what happened to them. This show was shot months ago so they have moved on. Where did they go?
As everyone else said, “lot’s of questions” for example. Aren’t the youngest kids supposed to be in school? It certainly doesn’t look like they are home schooled, as they don’t have a home. Did they ever pay the guy in full who gave them all of that expensive lumber for their cabin? (if I remember correctly, they only paid half in cash, they rest was for future “labor”) It appears as though their temp base came was government land. How can they simple “squat” on it without necessary permits/permission? I also question their allocation of salmon and other wildlife. Do they have hunting licenses? Did they exceed their limit? And of course the most hypocritical theme, the father claims they don’t “need the outside world” yet with almost every need they encounter, they are asking for the “outside world’s” help or charity.
i completely agree eric t. So much is left to the imagination. If they stiffed the lumber guy, they are getting what they deserve. It’s called karma, and you don’t have to live in a suburban area to get it.
I enjoyed the show well enough to watch but always felt something was wrong with the way things were done. I have no sympathy, as this is the way they chose to live, however i found myself wondering how the kids actually felt. It’s one thing to live in wonderful alaska, and a complete other thing to use the country and it’s people.
Come on people they are homeless.I feel bad for the kids.They should get chance to live a life.That father needs them to be slaves and do shot Let them try living in a real city for one year make some money.They won’t be back.
I was very upset when watching DVD of Kodiak Island last night when just between the Geico motorcycle insurance commercial with music from that one great song by Jakob Dylan’s band and The Deadliest Catch commercial, there was a commercial of the Browns sleepy-eyed and panicked in their old boat radioing,”Mayday Mayday! We are going down!” with some other garbled language to the Coast Guard as their boat was filling with water in the night. In the last episode that scene was omitted and Mother Brown was no tearfully looking down at the sinking boat which had miraculously with no power gotten to dock just prior to sinking. And it really WAS sad. And now we’ll just never really know what happened to them. It was as farcical as the Discovery Channel spending a whole episode throwing “Dual Survivals” Barefoot Cody under the bus, hinting that his mental instability began in season one and increased through four more seasons in which Handsome Faked Resume Dude and the crew barely managed to hold him together for 3 1/2 more seasons until finally on the polar ice cap or somewhere that looked really cold, he just imploded like Kenneth Branagh haunted by the screams coming from the pyre of Frankenstein’s ice floe and icy sniggering of the critics and dismal box office, knowing that anyone who would nearly take down DeNero with him and instead of being the next Really Giant Actor Movie Star like George Clooney, would fall into the Hollywood Crevasse, live for awhile in Darkness and Shame with his and his wife’s co-star Bellatryx LeStrange, try to make a couple more Shakespeare musicals find an audience, and finally land at the helm of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or some such and as a very depressed detective on the BBC while his ex-wife made off with Oscar after Oscar Nomination and statue with her writing and playing opposite Sir Antony in one critically lauded set piece after another. (That must have been THE sweetest revenge, future-to-be-Dame Emma! And good on you for it and the wigs!)
My guess is that a couple of astute deputies out of Reno recognized in a fuzzy kind of way, ran Papa Brown through the computer and found he was wanted for failing to appear for two pot busts, one d&d involving a bar fight in Carson City, and a Colorado poaching, and Legal at the channel said Cut Em Loose and say Why, we had no idea! It’s really a shame. I felt very warm toward this family and would have enjoyed their gypsy lives. These poor people were left clinging to one another on the docks, reality TV did the opposite of Shanghaiing them, it pushed them overboard while new lute playing Dual Survivor with Faked Resume is hot, bronzed, AND half naked! By next week they’ll surely notice his back needs waxing, but that’s just another simple cosmetic fix.
Lots of questions and no answers, whatever the reason for all the confusion it could have been a great TV series, I would have written, a sequel, the place to settle would have been a paradise, with daily ups and downs as the family progressed into some sort of normalcy and the kids took on partners of people with the same ideals and attitudes. The extremes would not have been so unbelievable. I hope the program upper class, are able to see what a missed opportunity has passed them by. It would be nice to know if this is a lost cause or if this is a true clift hanger.
i completely agree eric t. So much is left to the imagination. If they stiffed the lumber guy, they are getting what they deserve. It’s called karma, and you don’t have to live in a suburban area to get it.
The way I grew up wasn’t this extreme but it was far different from most kids in the 80’s. You needed lumber? You logged it. Needed food? You hunted and so on and so on. Neighbors helped neighbors. Hurricanes came and went, floods to, and we went on. The Browns’ are extreme and most likely heavily scripted but I can’t help loving the message of family first; your word means everything; and technology isn’t everything. Like it. Hate it. The answer is easy either way. Watch it or turn it.
I think the whole thing is a farce where do they get the money to buy food clothing guns tools chain saws axes boats cars trucks maybe they barter what a fucking joke
Yes, but Ryan makes some great points. Even though it’s remote Alaska, it is still the USA. You can’t just attempt to murder someone without authorities getting involved. I like the show because I like extreme living, building a cabin, and the scenery, but come on there is no doubt that a lot of it has to be fake. Plus they just fast forward 3 months; tell us what the hell happened! Plus I imagine it’s hard as hell to just sell land like that up there. Also, that damn commercial for that other show… what a bizarre way to sell it. Seemed like part of the same show at first.
I love the show. Lots of great ideas of living off the land and not complaining about every little thing, like electricity, tv, internets, cell phones, etc. Maybe kids in the lower forty-eight could learn something too. I guess what I like the most is the bond of family working together without thinking of the latest game, new car, etc. Hope it continues.
I wonder if discovery channel actually abandon them or did they help them or try to take a collection to help the family.
Bob, I thought the same thing if it is real and these horrible things are happening to them why is nobody helping them!? and is there a way to help them if you want? and if it is real I’m sure people would send supplies and other stuff! it would be nice to find out the truth not because it would change my mind about watching the show but just to know if they really need help!!
I too love this show. Is there any way we can help these proud people?
Let’s not forget the 3 ton pink elephant in the room. These supposedly destitute people who have to barter for medical treatment are getting paid by the show to be on the show. I have no doubt they are not getting paid in salmon, and the green printed paper they do get in compensation is no token amount even by bush standards. I also agree that the whole story on the one room cabin is fishier than a rotten salmon. The community gathers together to finish the build, and then the same community turns turtle and shoots them off their own land? Come on.
lol. media industry isn’t a weekly paycheque. you get some money at beginning of production and that’s gotta last. you know, maybe buy yourself a vehicle or two, food, gas and the like. money don’t grow on trees, and the crappy amount you get paid in reality tv won’t make for a living on 9 people.
People do live in the “bush”, and some do it solo. It’s foreign to us but there are books written about individuals who live in extreme conditions, and are far removed from the mainstream. The more news I hear, the more I think that “mainstream” is not all it’s cracked up to be. Take a look at what the AK state troopers deal with on their show. They have to access remote area by plane and sometimes boats. 911 is coming, maybe tomorrow or the next day if you are lucky. You deal with your own problems. I like this show, but then again I like everything Alaska. Maybe some of it is exaggerated, maybe not. When you have no money, people barter. I have a neighbor who does this right here in suburbia. Not all that unusual. Some folks just would rather enjoy nature than the mall.
I like the Browns. And I have been praying for them, that Jesus will bring the best to them. Maybe the should go to a good church in Ketchekan where the boys can meet good, Christian wives.
Thanks, Bob! Glad you enjoy.
Excellent write up man… it’s all quite ridiculous…