The Garden: Commune or Cult (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

[Julia]
Six or seven people have
reached out online,
that wanna come help us
with this new land project.
They need all the help
they can get
to build another commune.
[Patrick] Someone could come
and visit for 10 days,
and then after 10 days,
they could propose
to stay longer.
As a prepper, sign me up.
I'm gonna be really
worried if I don't hear
that you're okay.
I'm gonna be living
off the grid, in a commune.
[woman] We eat
what the dumpster provides.
This might have been
a horrible idea.
[Tree] Some of the issues
with being open door,
you don't always get
the right person.
I called this council,
Narayah, 'cause
I'm asking you to leave.
For the love of all humanity,
you've got to go.
[woman speaking]
[Tyler M]
They kicked out someone
considered an outsider.
It's making me feel
really uneasy.
I need my wife.
But as of yesterday,
I haven't been able
to get ahold of her.
Things are not making sense.
This place is definitely
not what it seems.
[Tyler C]
There's really not much here
to really look at
and work with.
I'm wondering,
"Where's the kitchen?"
I'm wondering, "Where am I
gonna go number two?"
I'm just trying to figure out
where everything's at.
[woman] Let's get your tent
set up before dark.
You have a sleeping bag and
I have a, um, mattress
and comforters.
-[man] Oh, okay. Cool.
-[Tyler C] Some pillows.
[woman] Oh, we try to do
the yoga in the morning.
It gives me an overall vibe
of hippie vibes.
Okay?
[woman] Where are we going?
Where are we setting up?
[Tyler C] What about,
like, right here?
Okay.
[woman] Ooh, it stinks.
[Tyler C] Guys, thank you
so much for helping with this.
-[man] Yeah. You're welcome.
-Hell, yeah.
[Tyler C]
It's, uh, it's a sciatica.
When that happens,
all my muscles
in the lower back
are just tense
and I'm just a brick.
[Tree] This is a cool tent.
It's like a teepee.
[Tyler C] Tree,
why do you call yourself Tree?
What's the nickname for?
I had to kill a man.
[laughs] No, no. No, I didn't.
No. Erm, when I was, like, 13,
I joined, like,
a new friend group
and the ring leader
was called Jack
and I was called Jack,
and they weren't gonna be
two Jacks, like there ain't
gonna be two Tylers,
-you know? [laughs]
-Yeah.
So they had to call me
something else,
erm, and they came up
with Tree
because my surname
is Forester.
And so Forester, Tree.
[woman] If you were a tree,
what kind of tree
would you be?
[crickets chirping]
I would be a red oak,
standing tall and strong.
-Can we call you Oak?
-[Tyler C] Yeah. Hell, yeah.
That fits perfect.
-That's perfect.
-[Tyler C] All right.
-[woman 1] Yeah. So Oak.
-[woman 2] All right, Oak.
[woman 1] Going by Oak.
[woman 3] We're open
to anybody at any time.
[man 1] It's not a safe place.
[man 2] We're here creating
something new.
We're gonna burn it.
[man 3] If I don't conform,
I am outcasted.
[woman 4] There's a reason
they're off the grid.
[woman 5] For the love
of all humanity
[woman 6]
The Garden is a cult.
You are putting us
all in danger.
Stop filming.
[woman 7] We're going
to tell our true story.
[theme music playing]
[Julia]
So, let's go to announcements.
I know this is Tyler's
first council
and what we have been doing
is going through topics
like this.
If we have, like, a proposal,
something that we want
the whole community's
consent on,
like, we'd ask the community
for consensus,
we'd talk about it,
and then, you could get
consensus by silence.
[C.J.]
We just had seven tornadoes
at the same time
a couple days ago.
There is a very real danger
that that could
come here, right?
-This is tornado area.
-[woman] Season.
We should, like,
focus on building
a root cellar, like, ASAP.
So I wanna suggest
that we rent a Bobcat.
I don't know about bringing
more equipment on the land.
If a tornado comes,
I'm running down the hill.
If you can grab a branch
or something
and put it up over you
to protect your head, do that.
Cram in the big buses.
It doesn't sound like
a really safe idea
to grab a tree.
The most dangerous thing
about a tornado is the fact
that there's so much debris
flying around and everyone
that's saying that
they'll to run to a bus,
do not do that.
The bus will tip over
and you have everything
that's not secure land on you.
[Vibe]
But if the tornado came today
before we dig the hole,
what would you do?
-Well, that's the point.
-[Vibe] Well, I'm asking
if you would--
Like, we're [bleep]
out of luck right now.
-[woman] Yeah.
-[Vibe] We don't have
a plan set up,
we don't have
a course of action.
Some people will feel
comfortable going
to the buses.
Let's just go in our bus
and [bleep] have a glass,
you know,
flying through our eyes
because we're ignorant
people and we don't know
what the [bleep]
we're talking about.
[Julia]
The next topic is hunting.
That was mine.
Uh, I think hunting
is one of those skills
for, like, homesteading,
and I wanna be
able to provide,
uh, meat to the community.
[woman] What kind of meat?
Rabbit meat and squirrel meat.
Uh, and fish, all the other
small creatures
on private land you don't have
to have a license for.
I was [bleep] vegan
for, like, six years
and I am so down
to kill some animals.
Like, I wanna
I wanna kill it with my hands
and I wanna rip it up,
put it on the fire,
and eat it.
I would love
to learn how to do it.
And if you could teach me,
I know Julia wants you to,
that'd be so rad.
Animals need to be hunted
and so do we, maybe.
I don't know.
[Tyler M] There's snares,
pellet guns that are
very, very humane,
and you'd still have
to be up fairly close.
[Bode] I'm personally
not really about hunting
on this land,
especially with snares.
Snares don't sound
like a very humane way.
Yeah, no, I definitely hear
what you're saying.
And if we go to the store
or even if you could get it
out of the dumpster,
that's still relying
on those other sources that
are not humane whatsoever.
And I think getting back
in tune
with our natural position
as a human,
that is how we did things.
I'm not really about it.
I don't see any need for it.
I think we have more
than enough food
down at the dumpster.
We have a guest
that wants to be able
to teach a skill
to everyone here at this time,
and I think procuring
one rabbit
and a fish or two
would be a really
great thing to do, uh,
for this community.
Could we agree on doing
something like that?
[Tom] No?
[Tyler M] One person
is all it takes
in these council meetings
to say no.
And then we all gotta abide
by those rules.
It's so frustrating.
It's definitely
got me questioning
about how
they conduct themselves.
And then also not getting
to talk to my wife.
So, [sighs] this is hard.
This is really hard.
[Tisheila] Right now,
the country and the world
is really messed up.
At some point,
the system is gonna fail.
Lots of people will perish.
But not me.
I am preparing
for society going down.
[gunshots]
Yeah.
All that.
-Yup. You hit a lot of it.
-[chuckles]
[Tisheila] The primary reason
that I'm going to the Garden
is to learn more
about living off grid
so that me and my family
can be prepared
when the system fails.
Because now,
it's not just a matter
of if, it's when.
So we are here
with our sister, Tish,
that's going on a endeavor
of living off grid.
Why do you choose to do this?
There's so much going on
in the world.
Everything is poison,
from the food,
from the water, to the people.
Anybody who hasn't started
prepping already,
I don't I wish you well.
We are all gonna go
at some point.
With this AI stuff,
that could potentially be
the end of this generation.
You know, a lot of people
might sound crazy
or whatever the case may be,
but, like, come on.
How would you build something
that's smarter than you,
that could take over you?
Nowadays, you can't call
anybody a conspiracy theorist
when the conspiracies
are coming true,
you know what I'm saying?
Right around the bottom.
I'll be right back.
I've been driving trucks
for about 16 years.
The things that I had to do
while driving
a semi-truck prepared me
for off grid living because,
you know, I had to create
my own little toilet,
you know, we have to deal
with some weirdos.
So I really just had
to fend for myself
because there was
no one there.
A friend told me
about the Garden
and I was curious.
And so I looked it up.
Now, we're gonna have council
where we make decisions
based on consensus.
[horn blowing]
For the most part,
I've heard good things,
but I have heard some things
floating around about it
being a little cultish.
A lot of groups
can be considered cults
just because they go
against the grain.
Sometimes, going against
the grain is better.
But I do feel like
I'm prepared
to defend myself
and protect myself.
[gunshots]
[laughs]
I don't wanna show y'all
the other side of me.
[laughs]
[Tyler C] I deal with a lot
of chronic lower back pain.
I slipped a disc
10 years ago.
The first thing I wanna
do is give you a salve,
it's a dandelion salve
that has tea tree
and lavender in it.
The tea tree
and lavender will, like,
help with inflammation.
And so, I'll give you
that first.
Aye. I mean, whatever
you wanna do. I mean
You know, the whole point
for me to come out here
was to learn how to survive
in the worst, uh,
circumstance as possible.
But I'm not in the best shape
for that.
[Jag] You don't need
a whole bunch,
just, like, a glaze over.
This moon water,
this has been charged
by the new moon
and also the full moon.
When you say "charged",
what do you mean?
It's like charging a phone,
you know, like the phone
doesn't have as much life
and you plug it in.
So I'm plugging it
into the energy of the moon.
So just, uh, the moonlight?
Yeah, it gives it energy.
If you're open to it,
I'm gonna put it
on your, um, third eye
and then on your back.
Okay. Let's just do it.
Just throw it.
-Just hit me with it.
-[laughs] Just hit it all.
[laughs]
[Tyler C] Apparently,
we all have a third eye
right here between
the eyebrow.
I didn't know that.
She seems to be like
some kind of hippie witch
or something.
Like a hippie witch doctor.
That's exactly what she is.
And I'm gonna rub my hands
and just put my hands on you
and probably speak
the words of light.
I actually learned it
through Christianity.
[speaking foreign language]
That light language
is so full of [bleep].
I don't believe it
one damn bit.
[speaking foreign language]
If you're gonna call it
light language,
do not put it in Christianity.
We're talking about God
and Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Savior.
I'm gonna just reinvent
the language of God
and put it into your hippie
encyclopedia over here.
No, that's offensive.
[speaking foreign language]
I mean, that's not
how we do it in the South.
[exhales]
[rattling]
[Jag] Okay.
How are you feeling?
[clears throat]
-Okay.
-[Jag] Okay?
[Tyler C speaking]
No, no, no.
I
I called [bleep].
I called [bleep] on that
and I just played along.
Go, team, go.
[laughs]
[Jessica] I'm not pro-cult
but I'm not anti-cult
because cults
aren't bad, necessarily.
Okay. So I'm gonna check
my screen time for the week.
It's gonna be
pretty embarrassing.
Two days ago
it was 12 hours
and 30 minutes.
That's, like, literally
half your day.
That's really sad.
This is my eyelash bag.
I'm never complete without it.
And I also have a bunch
of different types of lashes
that I use depending
on my vibe for the day.
And I think I'll I should
probably stay more minimal
for the Garden
because it's less upkeep.
I've seen some pretty
interesting styles
that they wear.
They're definitely going
for more
of a bohemian grunge look.
Especially
with the whole, like,
not washing your hair
type of thing.
I don't know. They just all
look very kind of disheveled
a little bit,
nah, not in a bad way,
but rustic rather.
I think the Garden could
certainly help me.
It would, for one, kick
my addiction to social media.
And I have no survival skills,
so if something
were to happen, God forbid,
I would not know what to do.
I've done some research.
Like, I've seen some
of their social media things.
And I think overall,
they might be a "cult,"
but they're not, like,
an evil group.
They're like a cool cult.
Of course, you have,
like, the Manson Family
and people like that who give
cults a bad name, for sure.
Charles Manson,
like, the leader sent
his girlies at the bottom
to go out and kill people.
And that's bad.
And that should not
have happened.
And if they try to do that,
I will definitely not partake.
Everyone's sketchy a little
bit at the end of the day,
but, like,
they're not going out
and killing people
or robbing people,
and that's what
matters ultimately.
[Heather] Tyler has been
gone for about a week now.
He hasn't responded
to any of my calls
or any of my text messages
or videos or anything
like that.
So, I'm getting
really, really worried.
Um, really worried,
it's not like him at all
to not talk to me,
much less not respond to me.
So I am looking up
flights right now.
I'm just gonna go see him.
And I'll go find him
and see where he's at
because I'm an investigator
and that's what
the [bleep] I do.
[birds chirping]
[Patrick] Society tells us
that status is important
or material possessions
are important.
And that's how we measure
each other.
Where do we put our value?
What is the value
of being human?
Like, we live
You're born and then you die.
What's valuable in that time?
A few hundred years ago,
most humans had a tribe
or a village
that they identified with.
Community gives people
lots of things, inspiration,
joy, wonder, adventure,
acceptance, purpose, support.
My goal is to prove
that humans
can live peacefully
and cohabitate areas
of the Earth.
And it's not only
less destructive
and more fulfilling,
but funner
and happier and filled
with purpose.
Because humans function
at their best
when they feel safe.
[birds chirping]
I'm just gonna show you
the process
to be able to turn
your food scraps into this,
a load of compost.
And so it's just soil.
You wanna smell it?
-It helps just to
-[Tyler C] Yeah.
It's got, like,
an earthy soil sweet smell.
[Tyler C]
I'm here to learn skills
and trades that I don't know
to take back to my girls.
So Tree has given me
an educational demonstration
on composting the soil.
It seems like he knows
what the [bleep] he's doing.
And so I'm really intrigued.
What we have here
is all the food scraps
and brown materials
that we've collected
since we came to the land.
We're creating a microbial
activity inside this.
We're creating heat.
Right now, it's at 90 degrees.
We're gonna wanna
get that to 120.
-[Tyler C] Why 120?
-That's just
a Goldilocks Zone.
So, microbes come in
and have fun at all
different temperatures.
And so you actually
want a compost
that varies in temperature,
so all these microbes
have time to hang out.
So he's taking
all the leftover food
and making it into soil
to harvest
and to grow more crop.
It's just really interesting.
But, now that we've added
our old compost
into this pile, you wanna add
some more microbial activity.
And we have microbes all over
this forest in the first--
Let me back you up
one second to, um, clarify.
I have an idea what you talk
about when you're saying
-microbes, but kind of
-Yeah.
give me a better vision
of what microbes are.
I don't know. I can't.
-That's a biological term.
I'm not--
-Who the [bleep]
-knows microbe--
-[Tyler C] I failed at
biology several times.
[Tree bleeps]
I didn't do biology.
-I [bleep].
-[Tyler C] What [laughs]
Hey, you're [laughs]
Look, I just know--
You're schooling me
right now, Tree.
[Tree] Hey, who could
explain a microbe?
I don't know,
but they're called microbes.
I don't have a [bleep] clue
what they are, but they work.
[Tyler C] What do you mean
you don't know
what a microbe is?
And you've been preaching it
for the past 30 minutes.
They just work.
So we're gonna [bleep].
We're gonna add that
right in there.
All right?
Well, I don't know, you know?
What is a microbe? [chuckles]
-[Tree sighs]
-[Tyler C] You know,
H2O is a microbe.
-Okay.
-[laughs]
Cool.
Way to make me feel like
I'm just asking. I mean
-[Tree] Yeah.
-it's an element.
[Tree] Cool.
He put on
a good demonstration,
but using words
he didn't know how to
he didn't know how to use.
I mean,
you just say ingredients
instead of microbe.
I mean, what
What are we talking
about here?
Sorry if I'm giving you
too much [bleep].
I'm just joking.
Yeah, whatever.
[bleep], grow the [bleep] up,
you know.
Right now,
I am in Kirksville, Missouri,
heading to the Garden.
I got on the plane
because I love my husband.
I'm worried about him.
I've been calling
and texting,
and haven't heard
anything back.
This is, like, deliverance.
-[woman] Yeah. Yeah.
-Such a big exciting,
like [indistinct]
-Yeah, yeah.
-[Heather] Did you order
some steaks?
[indistinct chatter]
[woman] Hi.
[Heather] Hi. I'm Heather.
Hi.
[laughs]
[Tyler M sobbing]
What are you doing?
[Heather] Bringing you steak.
Oh, thank God.
-[Heather] Hi.
-Hi.
[Heather laughing]
Wait, wait.
I'm stuck. I'm stuck.
[laughter]
[Tyler M] Are you doing okay?
[Heather] No, not really.
-[Tyler M] Not really?
-[Heather] No.
[laughing]
[Tyler M grunts]
[Heather sniffles]
This tiny woman walks up,
leaps on Tyler,
and I'm like
Looking at her,
like, I'm like,
"Okay, this is not one
of the people
that reached out. Who's this?"
-[indistinct]
-I think I'm done crying.
[laughs]
Maybe not. I don't know.
[laughs]
[Tyler M] Yeah.
-All right.
-[Heather] Show me around.
Show me what you got.
[Tyler M] We have clean water.
They have that big water tank.
And then little teepee.
-The sacred teepee.
-[Heather] Yeah.
[Tyler M]
And there's these buses
that we live in.
Oh.
This is where you're
You can poop.
[Heather laughing] Poop?
[Tyler M] Oh,
is someone in there?
[girl] Yeah.
Okay, there's a little kid.
-[laughs]
-Not over there.
It's the cutest little voice
I've ever heard
-pooping in my life.
-Like, "Pooping!"
[Heather] "I'm pooping!"
-[chuckles]
-I am beyond happy
that you're here.
-[chuckles]
-But there are some things
that I can finally
download on you
because I can't really trust
a whole lot of people here.
At least I feel like
I can't trust that
There are some people
that I get along with, but
you never know.
It's
I got a lot to talk about.
[woman] Do you think
I'll cry when you leave?
[Jessica] Yes. In your pillow.
'Cause you're a pillow-crier.
[woman] Okay.
-Okay.
-[woman] What do we have?
[Jessica] Quite a few things.
-This one, I think,
is giving, like, Mexico.
-[woman] Mm-hmm.
So I don't think I need it.
I'm thinking a lot of crochet
and a lot of knit looks
for this
because it's very, like,
"Oh, I made it myself."
And so that would help
to blend in.
[Tisheila] First and foremost,
you can't go anywhere
without the butters.
This is my mango butter,
mango shea
Coconut shea butter.
Keep my skin all beautiful
and stuff, you know?
[laughs] Keep me looking good.
All right.
And I got your seasoning.
[Tisheila] Mm. Now these are
my seasonings, okay?
Lemon honey, flaming honey.
So you know I gotta have that.
Should I bring my heater
since we don't know
the weather?
Yeah, the goal is definitely
to stay the whole time,
like I really wanna push
myself and achieve that goal.
[woman speaking]
I can bring a plug.
[woman] How are you
gonna bring a plug?
-[Tisheila] Should we--
-[Larry] So what
are the rules?
[laughs] You took the words
right out of my mouth.
-Well, my bad.
Well, you said-- Okay.
-That's okay. It's okay.
If you meet somebody,
keep it honest.
I am poly.
I have a boyfriend
and a girlfriend.
Give me the luscious,
I want the luscious.
Give me the luscious.
Mmm. Yes.
Mmm, that's nice. [laughs]
I envision a piece of land.
We have our clean
and pure source of water,
we have our animals,
my girlfriend, my boyfriend,
and we are just tending
to our property.
I'm going there because I hope
that I can find
a new experience
and really, just honestly find
myself as a person.
Like, I know myself
as this girl
with eyelashes and nails.
But, I don't really know
who I am,
like, outside of all that.
I think a lot of people
might think,
"Oh, my gosh.
She's not gonna survive
in this commune
for however long."
But jokes on them,
I might be suffering
and I might be dying,
but I will do it.
[Tyler M] There's a lot
of tension right now.
There's a lot of tension that
no one's really talking about.
They're very paranoid people.
I can understand that.
As a prepper, I get it.
But that's over the top.
When we were researching
back at home, like,
we had all those
questions, like,
it could be a cult.
Why do you wanna stay here
if you think they're a cult?
Yeah. I mean,
I honestly care
about this place.
I care about these people.
I can actually
make an impact.
The skills I can pass on
will be used
and utilized years down
the road and then passed on
from those people,
and that's priceless to me.
Who's the crazy here?
[chuckles] All right.
You got me.
I wanna see where it goes.
I wanna I still wanna help.
I want this place
to run smoothly.
And with Heather here,
I'm more calm-minded
and I can do anything.
When I first rolled in,
it was like this big
rainbow of colors and
It was really
quite exciting.
Actually, I felt like I was
driving into a '60s movie
or something like that.
It was
It was very interesting.
-Hi. How you doing?
-[Julia laughs]
What's up?
Not much. What up, though?
-[Julia] I'm Julia.
-Nice to meet you, Julia.
-Sheila.
-Sheila.
-Sheila.
-Nice to meet you.
-Yeah.
-And you're welcome here.
Oh, hi. How y'all doing?
-[Vibe] Hi.
-Hi. How you doing?
-Good. I'm Vibe.
-Nice to meet you, Vibe.
Nice to meet you. How are you?
I like that name. I'm well.
-Thank you.
-What'd you say your name was?
-Sheila Love.
-Sheila Love.
-Great to meet you, Sheila.
-[woman] Sheila Love.
Love.
-Love. Can I get a group hug?
-Yeah.
[Tisheila] Oh, [bleep].
How y'all doing?
How y'all doing?
-[woman] Good.
-[laughter]
There's so much love here.
It's just beautiful.
This is our, like,
temporary kitchen
that we're doing right now.
-Okay.
-We've been here, like,
eight days or something?
-Yeah-- [indistinct]
-I can blend on in, then.
-[Vibe] Yeah, yeah, yeah--
-I'mma just get into it. Okay.
So what were you doing?
[thunder rumbling]
[rain pattering]
[Tyler M]
So what do you think?
[boy] It's really cold.
[laughs]
[Tyler M] Well, either way,
welcome to the Garden.
[Tyler M laughs]
[Tisheila] I don't know how
How are you walking
around like this?
I live in, like, rural Iowa,
like, population's 60.
I used to drive through there
in my semi-truck.
-[Tyler M] Semi-truck?
-Yeah.
You're a trucker?
-I'm a trucker.
-[laughter]
-No, I'm just saying,
I was not expecting that.
-Girls can drive trucks, so--
No, no, I just was not
expecting that
to be your occupation.
Eventually,
automated trucking, like,
AI will replace
people like you,
and that's actually
a worry to me.
We're gonna need more
compounds like this
because AIs gonna take over
all the jobs.
When I first met Tyler,
I thought, you know,
he was just, you know,
typical white guy.
He has his whole Viking thing,
you know, going about.
But the more
that I talked to him,
we're both here
for a bigger purpose.
They have the right idea,
except, as you see,
-not everyone wants
to do it because
-Yeah.
[Tyler M] no one's coming,
no one's coming for help.
-It's just us.
-Oh. Yeah.
[Tyler M] Her being
a Black woman from Florida,
me being a white guy
from Colorado,
nothing alike.
But, she's a prepper,
she's a survivalist,
she's into all of that.
Meaning, we have
the exact same mindset.
[Tyler M] Six days.
[laughs] You fit right in,
whatever that is.
-I'll take that
as a compliment.
-You are Indiana Jones-ing
-around this joint.
-I'll take that
as a compliment.
[laughs]
[Tyler M] Heather and I,
one of our favorite things
in this whole world is
partner acrobatics.
[woman] Yeah.
[cheers and applause]
Yeah, bitch!
I'm flying!
I am on top of the world!
-Woo-hoo!
-[laughter]
[Tyler M] I used
to really care about
what people thought of me,
what they said about me,
and here
-[cheering]
-Thanks, Tyler.
[Tyler M]
I can really get into stuff
without being judged,
and that's really freeing.
I'll show you
how to make mead.
Five gallons of sweet,
sweet Viking juice.
-[laughter]
-[woman] Yes.
So, Tyler, with you
potentially leaving
in a couple days,
will you walk us through
the rest of the whole process?
The visitor policy
is, after 10 days,
you gotta ask to stay
and after that,
they have to vote you in.
Door knock it.
Door knock it.
At first I was kind of like,
"I could be in a cult."
And I don't know
at this point.
But I do know I actually
have a purpose here.
Like, I have things
that I wanna learn.
That's pretty cool.
I have things that I can
teach these people.
Actually, this whole
entire path,
you can do gravel.
And then, I hope
at the end of the day,
I get to stay.
[Heather] Ooh,
this one's good.
[Tyler M]
Seeing my wife enjoy herself
in a place like this,
I can't tell you
how awesome that is.
She's always told me
that she doesn't like camping,
she doesn't like
doing this type of stuff,
but she's digging
a poop trench
with a smile on her face.
I never thought I would
ever say that in my life.
[Heather]
Coming here, I'm starting
to remember, like, who I am,
not as a successful
moneymaking investigator,
but, like
who I am as Heather.
[Tyler M] You can put boards
in the back right here.
People that have skills
that can actually contribute
really well to this project,
why would you have them leave?
[Jessica] We're currently
driving to the Garden.
We're on, like,
a pretty windy road
surrounded by a bunch
of nothing.
My heart is racing
and I'm very nervous.
[slight chuckle]
The fact that they live
in the middle of nowhere
doesn't help the idea
of them possibly being crazy.
-[ululating]
-[tribal music playing]
[woman 1] Let's go!
-[woman 2] Hi.
-[woman 1] Oh!
[man] Hey! Hey!
-[woman 1] Okay!
-Hi.
-[woman 1] Hiya.
-[laughs]
I'm Jessica.
-[woman] Hi.
-[Jessica] Nice
to meet you all.
-Nice to meet you all.
-Nice to meet you, Jessica.
[Julia] We can show you
around the whole place.
This is a toilet
we're building.
Okay. Still in the works?
-Yeah.
-Coolio.
Oh, my gosh, what have
I gotten myself into?
My parents are gonna be
so disappointed.
I'm joining a cult.
My friends are gonna make
fun of me.
Yeah, this is the tour.
I was overwhelmed
and felt like,
"Oh, my gosh,
I really wanna leave."
[chuckles] Honestly.
[trumpet blowing]
So, you're tent camping?
-Yes. Yes. Yes, I--
-Okay. So we should probably
get you set up
-soon after this, too, 'cause
it's about to get dark.
-[Jessica] Yes.
[laughter]
-I love how you guys
prioritize coffee.
-Yeah, right?
'Cause I was worried
about that, to be honest.
-[woman] I know. I know.
-[chuckles] Okay, good.
Part of me is thinking,
"I regret my decision
to come here."
And the other part of me
is thinking, "I can't
back down now."
[Tyler M] So, have you ever
done anything like this?
Like camping-wise or outdoor?
[Jessica] No, not really.
[chuckles]
-[Jessica] Um
-[woman] That's okay.
I used to go
to, like, church camp
and Girl Scout camp,
but that was, like,
in a cabin.
So when I first see this girl,
she is like Legally Blonde.
It's not something that
you typically see here
in the forest.
Jessica is this cute
little young chick.
She's really bubbly.
Maybe not ready for this.
[Tree] Have you ever made
a fire before?
-No.
-[Tree exclaims]
-Not even kind of.
-[Tree] Okay.
-This is exciting.
-[Jessica] Isn't it cool?
-Yeah?
-[Tree laughs]
I gotta put my hair back
before I do it.
[woman] Yeah.
I guess I didn't realize
how much of, like,
a family you all were.
I don't know
what I was expecting at all,
but I didn't think we'd all
have like a cute little,
you know, campfire dinner.
-[chuckles]
-It's getting pretty dark,
so we should probably
go set up your tent.
Yes, we should do that.
-[woman 1] We'd love to help.
-[woman 2] team.
-[Tree laughs]
-Thank you.
[man] Oh!
Um, they all look like
they stepped
out of one of those,
like, Venice beach
boardwalk stores.
[vocalizing]
I knew they were gonna be
kind of hippie and bohemian,
but not, like, full-on.
But, I really like their look,
like, they went for it.
Yeah, I know. This is great.
-I like it.
-[Julia] We do morning yoga,
uh, and tea
in the teepee every morning.
[Jessica] Oh, really?
I was actually wondering,
like, how we, like, exercise
and stuff like that,
so that's cool.
-[Julia] Oh, you'll get--
-I'm so inflexible.
Coachella was really cool.
I won't lie.
So, it's gonna be
hard to beat.
But if it's half as cool,
it'll still be
very, very cool.
[Julia] Wow.
I have a tent like this, too,
-except not as big.
-[Jessica chuckles]
-I might have gone
overboard, but--
-[Julia] It's okay.
[Jessica] Yes.
I literally would've never
been able to figure this out
-without you guys,
so thank you.
-[woman exclaims]
I'm feeling okay.
I'm feeling less anxious
than I was before I got here,
now that I've met everyone
and I've seen the camp.
I'm still feeling
just nervous
'cause I haven't even seen,
like, half of it,
at the same time, like,
I haven't seen
how we go to the bathroom
or how we get the food
or anything like that.
So, there's still
a lot of unknowns.
It should be fine.
Let's hope. [slight chuckle]
[train whistle blowing]
So we ain't talking [bleep],
but we're talking
about [bleep], so--
-[laughs]
-[Tyler C] All right.
Well, let's begin
[bleep] talking.
So we just got done digging
this little trench-aroonie.
Well, it's not really little,
but we're just done
digging it.
Basically,
the whole gist of it
is you just squat down
and you poop.
[Tyler C]
I expected to come in
and maybe learn some combat
from ex-Navy SEALs
that knew how to fight
and kill or survive.
I'm learning how to just dig
a trench to go take a [bleep].
I brought my own toilet
'cause I don't want people
-coming down here
and seeing me up here.
-[Jag] It's really
I'm at that age where I have
to use the bathroom
in the middle of the night.
I'm not about to be
walking in no woods.
With it pitch dark outside,
with coyotes and ticks,
spiders are everywhere.
The most efficient way
of living is having a place
to go to the bathroom
and having a place to eat,
and also having enough
distance away from them.
If we have flies
coming in here
and then moving
to the kitchen,
and it lands on our food
and all the [bleep]
is all over our food,
then we can get
really, really sick.
Ow, [bleep]!
[Patrick] I'll be leaving
to go to the Garden
down in Tennessee
for about a week.
Oops.
[interviewer speaking]
Uh, I hope that they
That things feel good.
I hope the kitchen
gets built on
and the outhouse
gets built on
because those are the two
primary projects currently.
[interviewer speaking]
It's That's been one
of the trickier things
for me, honestly.
The, um, playing, like,
roles that I feel need
to be played without being
"the leader," you know?
Um, because leadership roles
are needed in any group,
organization that is trying
to accomplish anything.
[interviewer speaking]
[Patrick] Julia is an amazing
organizer and team leader.
She's very, uh,
charismatic and, uh,
is a very good peacemaker.
You know, she is able to lead
without it getting
to her head.
Um, so, that's awesome.
And I'm really thankful
for that.
[birds chirping]
[Heather]
There was a massive storm,
so we went into Tom
and Xan's bus.
The only negative is
I was sleeping with Motown,
and he has a few ticks on him,
-which jumped ship to me.
-[Heather laughs]
[chuckles] They went
down your balls again?
They weren't on my balls
this time.
That's what we call
foreplay now, tick check.
I like tick check.
[laughs] Yeah.
I prefer if we didn't
stop that.
Tomorrow is Friday,
and that is Day 10 for me.
Hopefully, the mead-making,
my labor,
my time, my effort
is gonna come forward,
and hopefully,
they allow me to stay.
I think the people
that might block you
from staying are
Abee,
maybe Patrick.
[Tyler M] Patrick's not here.
Oh, did he leave?
And without Patrick here,
Mai talks for Patrick.
[Tyler M] I agree
with that, for sure.
Julia, I think, is another
possible teeter-totter.
She doesn't wanna necessarily
make waves either.
[Julia] Mm-hmm.
[Julia] Yeah. Yeah.
[Tyler M] And to be honest,
I don't necessarily
know, at the end of the day,
I don't know
what people are gonna
vote for. I
People say one thing
and then they do
another thing here.
[Tyler M] But at the end
of the day, I don't
I honestly don't know,
but here in a few hours,
people's true intentions,
true feelings are gonna
come out, for sure.
[Julia] It is Tyler's
10th day here.
I heard Julia
was going around, like,
speaking behind my back.
[Jessica]
We're going dumpster diving,
which does not sound
fun to me at all.
You've been talking
[bleep] about my wife.
I stand behind
everything I say.
If I don't conform,
I am outcasted.