The Kilcher homestead never saw this coming. In the Sunday, Oct. 25 Season 10 premiere of Alaska: The Last Frontier on Discovery, the Alaska family has to band together and prepare for all the unknowns as the coronavirus pandemic reaches even their remote corner of the world — and PopCulture.com has a sneak peek of what’s to come.
Eivin Kilcher shares an update from the homestead in a self-shot preview for the premiere, revealing that even after Discovery crew members were forced to leave amid the pandemic shutdown, he and his family are dedicated to keeping people up to speed on what’s going on at home. “So this is going to be interesting. You guys will have to bear with me here,” he explains.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“We still want to try to keep Alaska: The Last Frontier going … I think especially through this time, I think it’s kind of important to try to document as best we can what’s going on on the homestead for all the people out there that have watched us for so many years as we move through this worldwide pandemic as well,” Eivin continues. “I mean, even though [the] homestead is so separated from a lot of the rest of America, still there’s so many unknowns — how we can get materials, how we can travel, supply chain stuff and food, or the homeschooling our kids and taking care of them more — just a lot of shifts, you know, that, that happened really, really quickly.”
As an announcement across the radio breaks the news that Homerites are being ordered to close non-essential businesses and shelter at home while practicing social distancing, the pandemic gets even more real for the Kilchers, whose biggest concern was previously wildfire season. In a particularly surreal moment, August, Otto and Charlotte travel out to the homestead’s in-road to place a sign reading “Homestead Closed.”
“What are your guys’ feelings of putting these signs up?” August asks. “Your grandpa was always so welcoming of people at the homestead and he loved having visitors,” Charlotte responds. “He loved having people come out and see his way of life, and I think he’d be really sad to think we were closing the place down.” Despite how sad it is closing the homestead to all visitors, Otto notes the family’s focus has always been on “survival,” and this pandemic is no different. Don’t miss the unplugged season premiere of Alaska: The Last Frontier, airing Sunday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery.
