‘Alaskan Bush People’: Billy Brown’s Family Saves Face After Drama Didn’t Pan Out?

Alaskan Bush People star Billy Brown probably knows better than anyone that their Discovery Channel show is probably on borrowed time. The truths revealed over the last few seasons, along with the major location changes caused loss of interest for some fans.

Billy Brown and his Alaskan Bush People family members did live in the bush at one time. But they also had houses and lived in suburbia as well for a good deal of the time over the years.

Alaskan Bush People: Billy Brown and Family’s Reality Revealed

Even when the fans of the Alaskan Bush People found out the truth about Billy Brown’s tribe, many came back to the show. It seems after several seasons their fans found them interesting and entertaining so they still tuned in.

But today they’re living on a mountain attempting an off-grid life. They’re not doing this with homemade devices but with power tools and modern machinery at the ready. So Billy Brown may have modernized the Alaskan Bush People just a bit too much for many of the original viewers.

The new look (and Discovery Channel changing Alaskan Bush People to a new night) might explain the fans losing interest. Fan comments online suggest the show changed too much from the original story-line. So, when viewers start dropping off, reality shows tend to get creative.

Viewers of the Alaskan Bush People know that Billy Brown is one creative papa. They also know that not much gets on the screen unless Billy gives it a stamp of approval.

Alaskan Bush People: Rhain Brown - Elijah Brown - Noah Brown

Stir Up the Drama

So creating new drama is often the attempt to save failing reality shows. It looks like the folks behind the Alaskan Bush People are no different in that respect. Coming into this season, which is only a few weeks old, lots of drama was promised.

Sure, some of this drama did manifest on the screen but some also looked as if it got a little help from behind the scenes. One case in point, what Gabe Brown called the “storm of the century.”

Weather predictions put a strong and possibly dangerous summer storm headed for the mountain. That looming storm provided the gloom and doom background through the entire Alaskan Bush People episode this week.

Not only did the thunder roll and clap but the background music took on a serious tone, as did the Alaskan Bush People narrator’s voice. So fans were baited and waited for mother nature to wreak havoc.

The Alaskan Bush People spent the harrowing hours leading up to this wind, rain, and flash flood event getting ready. Everyone went to work in an attempt to batten down the hatches.

While the barn seemed sturdy to hold all the livestock, some of the dwellings that Billy Brown’s kids call home didn’t appear storm safe. Especially the MASH tent that Noah Brown and Rhain Brown call their mountain home with their baby son Elijah Brown.

Alaskan Bush People: Gabe Brown

Alaskan Bush People: Batten Down the Hatches for ‘Storm’s Fury’

So the episode called “Storm’s Fury” unfolded with Billy Brown’s offspring making tons of precautions. Even hoping the paint dries on the new water tanks was a wish made before nature’s fury hit.

The animals start to get restless and appear scared as the storm nears. The voice that narrates the show gets deep and serious reporting the storm rolling in with lightning and thunder. He suggests the Alaskan Bush People are in peril.

Still, Billy Brown’s kids act like real troopers. They continue making all their home improvements in between preparing for the storm. Billy Brown reminds the viewers that’s the Brown family’s way of doing things. Even a major storm won’t stop progress on the mountain.

Through much of the episode, the thunderclaps and the clouds gather. With things tied down and animals tucked in the barn the storm rolls in. Then it hits. A bolt of dramatic lightning bolt flashes on the screen and it’s over.

Billy Brown’s Family Adds Spin After Storm Seemed to Fizzle Out

That’s it, it’s done. The storm hit and moved on. But did the Alaskan Bush People mountain compound take a big hit? While the narrator reports it was a nasty storm, the ranch looks fine.

Although Noah’s lab tent got messed up. But a tent made of fabric doesn’t fare well in the wind. Since that’s the only thing that showed any sign of a storm Noah makes a big deal out of it for the Alaskan Bush People cameras.

It appears this scene and the comments from the family after the storm may be an attempt to save face. The past 50 minutes of the 60-minute episode prepared the viewers for a weather finale. They waited to see the approaching storm and danger it promised. But it looks like it fizzled out.

Then the family members offer their take on weathering the storm, including Billy Brown. The Alaskan Bush People patriarch reminds the viewers the family is not afraid to get wet and work through it.

All the drama leading up to the possible “storm of the century” now seems exaggerated as the ranch looks barely untouched. But it looks like the kids still give it all they got. They seem to talk up the weather event as more than it was after it just blew over the Brown ranch.

Alaskan Bush People no longer air on Sunday nights like previous seasons. They moved to a Wednesday time-slot on the Discovery Channel. New episodes air on Wednesday nights at 8 pm EST.

 

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