The survival series Alone turns up the heat—and dials down the hydration—in its twelfth season premiere this Thursday. Airing at 9:00 PM ET on History, The Land of Great Thirst drops ten new survivalists into the Great Karoo, a South African desert where extreme temperatures, limited water sources, and unfamiliar predators await.
The show’s premise is brutally simple: last one standing takes home $500,000. Season 12 adds new twists to the formula, including a higher concentration of big game than previous seasons, a gamble that could provide food or turn fatal.
The ninety-four-minute premiere will give viewers a longer-than-usual look at the initial days of the competition, as participants establish their shelters and begin to adapt—or not—to the harsh conditions. Among the early challenges: a debilitating infection threatens to knock out one survivalist before the game even gets going.
For fans of unscripted series that put human endurance front and center, Alone continues to offer a compelling mix of physical and psychological stress testing. The new locale seems designed to raise the stakes, and the longer episode gives plenty of space for viewers to size up this season’s cast and decide whose odds might actually be worth betting on.
“Alone” airs Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET on History.
