‘Outlast’ Returns on Netflix: 10 More Survivalist Shows Convincing Us to Stay Inside

Netflix is taking us back into the Alaskan wilderness with Outlast Season 2, premiering with a batch of six episodes on Wednesday, September 4, and two more installments a week later.

As with Outlast’s first season, Season 2 follows 16 survivalists dropped in the wild and challenged to survive there longer than their rivals, with a $1 million prize on the line. There’s only one rule in this cutthroat game, Netflix says in its synopsis: These lone wolves must be part of a team to win.

Of course, we’ll be watching that fight for survival with the food and water from our kitchens and the shelter of our living rooms — as we have with these other harrowing reality shows that make us appreciate the great indoors all the more.

Alaska: The Last Frontier

Generations into their time on a homestead outside Homer, Alaska, the Kilcher family still face hardships as they live off the land and weather harsh winters in this Discovery series. (As a bonus, viewers get occasional glimpses of the singer-songwriter Jewel, who happens to be the daughter of star Atz Kilcher.)

Alaskan Bush People

Discovery doubled down on docuseries about life in the 49th state with this show, which follows the Brown family and their homestead. Patriarch Billy Brown died in 2021, but the show has endured, following widow Ami Brown and the couple’s many children, children-in-law, and grandchildren.

Alone

This History franchise is like Outlast with a social distancing twist: Isolated from civilization and each other, survivalists battle both the wilderness and their loneliness for a shot at winning $1 million. They can, of course, tap out at any time, and many do, especially when they go from predator to prey.

Dual Survival

In the first season of this Discovery series, the military-trained Dave Canterbury and the naturalist Cody Lundi go through a winter on a deserted island off the coast of Nova Scotia with only the items they can salvage from a life raft. In the final season, the action shifts to hotter climes, with Naked and Afraid fan faves EJ Snyder and Jeff Zausch proving their mettle.

Life Below Zero

And… we’re back in Alaska! This series tracks hardy folks for whom living a lonely existence alongside bears and wolves in temperatures reaching -60 degrees is a “preferred way of life,” as National Geographic explains. And it’s a way of life where food, fuel, and fur are worth more than money… and where a shotgun is a must for trips to the bathroom!

Mantracker

Two weekend warriors are tasked with a 36-hour trek across rugged terrain to a destination miles away. The twist? They’ll be stalked on horseback by outdoorsman and search-and-rescue veteran Terry “Manhunter” Grant. Now you know why the contestants are called “the prey” on this Science Channel show.

Man vs. Wild

Bear Grylls is perhaps the world’s best-known survival expert, and this Discovery survival series made him a household name. In each episode, Grylls shows viewers how to withstand the elements in harsh conditions. “The show is how to deal if you fall into quicksand, if you get attacked by an alligator, if you have to make a raft,” he explained to Entertainment Weekly in 2009.

Naked and Afraid

So you think you can survive in the middle of nowhere for 21 days? What if you don’t have a stitch of clothing on your back? And if you’re paired with another nude contestant? At least the participants on this hit series have one survival item to help them along the way (and a crossbody satchel to help the Discovery Channel censors).

Running Wild with Bear Grylls

In this NBC-turned-Nat Geo series, Grylls takes celebrities out of their cushy comfort zones and into the back country. And in recent seasons of the show, now called Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, the host “Grylls” each guest on the survival skills he has taught them earlier in the episode.

Survivor

You can’t list survivalist reality shows without mentioning the one that popularized reality TV in the first place. Each season of this CBS show pits everyday people in a competition to “outwit, outlay, and outlast” each other for a $1 million prize. Previous seasons were set around the world, but for several years now, the production and its participants have set up camp in Fiji.

Outlast, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, September 4, Netflix