The Big Picture
- Siberia was an overlooked and forgotten NBC series that combined the nonscripted drama of Survivor with the fictionalized mystery of Lost.
- The show follows a group of strangers in a deadly survival environment filled with monsters, science experiments, and Russian mercenaries.
- Despite not getting a Season 2 renewal, Siberia successfully transitions from unscripted television to survival horror, immersing the audience in a thrilling mystery with shocking twists and turns.
In 2013, the popularity of the reality competition series Survivor was at an all-time high. Even today the CBS series is still pulling in regularly impressive numbers, with it about to embark on its 45th season with an all-new cast. 2013 was also a time when fans of Lost were on the hunt for their next new obsession, as the surreal disaster series concluded in 2010. A show that throws a group of strangers into a deadly survival environment packed to the brim with mystery, action, and suspense. What happens when you combine the nonscripted drama of Survivor and the fictionalized mystery of Lost? You get an overlooked and forgotten NBC series called Siberia (not to be confused with the Keanu Reeves film from 2018 and the Willem Dafoe film from 2019 of the same name).
Siberia was created by Matthew Arnold, who would later go on to co-create another cult-favorite series with Emerald City – a gritty and action-packed take on The Wizard of Oz. Siberia may not be a household name like the shows that inspired it, but the series was a unique case when it was released. Unlike most shows from major networks at the time, Siberia was a completely independent production, with all of its first-season episodes being completed and on the search for a distributor and network television home. The series eventually found one in NBC, who would end up purchasing the series on May 20th, 2013.
What Is NBC’s ‘Siberia’ About?
The premise of Siberia is overall quite simple. The elevator pitch is essentially what would happen if an utterly standard reality television program went awry. Not only that, but what if said reality television program became an unwitting vehicle for monsters, science experiments, and Russian mercenaries? All of these seemingly unrelated concepts come together in a thrilling mystery tale that takes a variety of shocking twists and turns.
In the universe of Siberia, the game that the sixteen diverse cast members are playing is not unlike that of shows like Survivor or Big Brother. Most of these cast members, despite being actors in real life and not actual reality show contestants running from monsters, use their real-life names to make the atmosphere and aesthetic of Siberia that much more immersive. The cast members are initially led by the charismatic Jonathon “Buck” Buckley, who essentially serves as the stand-in Jeff Probst as Siberia‘s all-knowing and all-seeing host.
In a fictional story like Siberia, one doesn’t need to worry about lawsuits or human rights violations for its contestants. Due to this, the game the contestants sign up for in Siberia is much looser, not really having any strict rules for its contestants in this game of outlasting and surviving. The contestants all must live in a space with limited resources, where they must forge alliances and make strategic decisions if they wish to win the game. Should they decide to leave the game early and call it quits, all they need to do is head back to their original landing sight and press a big red button so a helicopter can pick them up. Each of the contestants thinks the winner will receive a massive cash prize, but as they’ll soon find out, they may never make it out of the country alive.
‘Siberia’ Slowly Transitions from Unscripted Television to Survival Horror
When the pilot episode of Siberia begins, there is not even a hint that anything supernatural or horrific is occurring. The show begins with the sixteen contestants arriving at the taiga forests of Siberia via helicopter, where they are quickly introduced to Jonathan Buckley as their host. As with most reality competition shows, Siberia spends its early minutes introducing the audience to the show’s colorful and bordering stereotypical cast members.
Reality competition shows, especially shows like Survivor, are famous for casting larger-than-life personalities to make the “genuine” drama more interesting. The key characters to remember are undercover actress Joyce (Joyce Giraud), cocky jock Johnny (Johnny Wactor), spoiled model Esther (Esther Anderson), creepy DJ Miljan (Miljan Milosevic), awkward nerd Daniel (Daniel Sutton), brave leader Neeko (Neeko Skervin), fashion designer Irene (Irene Yee), tough guy Sam (Sam Dobbins), former soldier Sabina (Sabina Akhmedova), vet tech Natalie (Natalie Scheetz), graphic designer Annie (Anne-Marie Mueschke), and peaceful environmentalist Tommy (Thomas Mountain). The rest of the contestants aren’t quite as important as most of them are eliminated from the competition, quit, or have a more gruesome fate.
Once the contestants arrive at camp, we get to learn even more about their various personalities. They’re all what you would expect from the cast of a reality competition series. Johnny is an unlikable bully, Esther is a seductive manipulator, Daniel is an introvert with a heart of gold, and so on. Siberia will eventually subvert these tropes as the characters grow and develop, but not before things take a sinister turn. At the end of the fairly straightforward pilot episode, Buck informs the team that an accident has occurred with Tommy and the results are fatal. An unusual event for a reality competition series that gets even more unusual when the show depicts footage of what actually happened to Tommy. Though the camera is dislodged, it’s clear that some sort of creature attacked Tommy, and it’s certainly no tiger.
Despite the news that someone has died, the remaining contestants choose to stay in the game, but things only get weirder from here. As they explore their surroundings, they find evidence that they’re not alone in these woods, finding things like a ransacked campsite and a half-eaten tiger (the apex predator of this ecosystem). The environment itself also seems to be going through some dramatic and unexplainable changes, such as a bright green aurora borealis and a sudden snowstorm. Following numerous injuries and strange events, the full group returns to the landing site to escape but sees that the button they were supposed to press is not connected to anything. They confront the camera crew that’s been following them for answers, but they are as in the dark on this as the cast members are.
Eventually, the cast discovers notes and journals that refer to creatures known only as “The Valleymen”. The revelation that they are surrounded by monsters creates more conflict among the group, with some like Miljan completely snapping and attacking some group members. The cast also has a chance encounter with a native tribe called the Evenki as well as a squad of hostile mercenaries.
How Does ‘Siberia’ End?
Eventually, what remains of Siberia‘s cast find an abandoned town with working electricity. Once they find a TV, they’re able to see the camera footage they’ve accumulated over the course of the show for the first time, giving them their first proper look at a terrifying Valleyman. Before they can process seeing video proof of a monster, more mercenaries are pouring into the building. However, the what walks through their door is the last person they expect to see. The individual is none other than the show’s host, Buck, who indicates that he knows a lot more than the contestants think when he says “You’re not supposed to be here.”
So this cliffhanger ending leads perfectly into Season 2, right? Well…no. Despite clearly being planned as a multi-season series, Siberia would fail to get a Season 2 renewal from NBC, making so the mystery of the Valleymen would remain an unsolved one.
Siberia certainly has its fair share of problems, with the biggest one being why the camera crew would continue to constantly film despite knowing the game was a fraud. That said, the brilliant concept of a reality show satire becoming a horror series does hold water and merit. The series shows a respectable level of restraint when teasing the show’s monsters and fantastical elements, instead focusing on immersing its audience with fleshed-out characters played by dedicated actors. Though we’ll likely never get a Season 2, Siberia still lives on through a dedicated cult following.
