The fourth episode of Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes takes a turn when the team is kidnapped deep within the Amazon.
The Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes (or in short, “Expedition from Hell”) docu-series has documented everything from the behind-the-scenes packing to the real-life near-death experiences of the Amazon 5000 trek undertaken by Mickey Grosman and his expedition team more than a decade ago.
What you missed on Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes episode 4
This found-footage-style documentary has shed new light not only on what drove the members of this incredibly dangerous expedition to put their lives on the line, but also about what drove the expedition leader to film it all.
Episode four of the series, titled “Take me to jail,” takes a look back at the moment when Grosman and the rest of the team were kidnapped by a spear-wielding indigenous tribe and his controversial decision to replace the lead guide with an untrained woman in the midst of this perilous journey.
Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes season 1 episodes
As we creep towards the six-episode trek that is the Expedition from Hell limited series, it may be time to ensure that you are caught up on the episodes which have aired thus far.
All of the episodes of Expedition from Hell that have aired to date, include:
| Episode | Title | Initial air date |
| Episode 1 | “Brink of Death” | May 12, 2024 |
| Episode 2 | “It Just Keeps Getting Worse” | May 12, 2024 |
| Episode 3 | “It’s Not Life or Death — Yet” | May 19, 2024 |
| Episode 4 | “I’m Gonna Die on This Mountain” | May 26, 2024 |
| Episode 5 | “Take Me to Jail” | June 2, 2024 |
Mickey Grosman’s real-life account of what happened during the kidnapping
Not only have two separate documentaries been made about this now-infamous trek through the Amazon (Mickey’s film Impossible Possible/The Amazon 5000 Story (released in 2021) and now, the Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes series in 2024).
But Grosman – being the avid showman that he is – also kept a meticulous blog about the entire expedition, detailing various events, including this scary kidnapping incident.
The first entry detailing the events of the kidnapping was first uploaded on Tuesday, August 7, 2012. This entry explains that the “kidnappers” were not the no-contact Tagaeri Tribe which Grosman was so eager to track down, but actually a large group on gun-wielding Huaorani tribesmen and soldiers.
The message that Grosman sent back to his Amazon 5000 team at the time read: “I have been captured few minutes ago by a military unit and by the Haurani tribal men on location deep in the jungle. They surrounded us with aimed guns and searched our gear and are taking me and my expedition team under guns to a secluded location! I need you to track me on Google map to the location I’m being taken to and follow me to assure my and my team safety.”
How the expedition members were rescued
There is so much to take in during any given episode of Expedition from Hell that it can be easy to miss key details about the original Amazon 5000 expedition.
Fortunately, Grisman’s blog and the interviews conducted all those years ago do fill in some of the gaps.
According to what Grosman shared about this harrowing experience on his blog, his quick thinking and unwillingness to halt filming, the Amazon 5000 team was able to track the location where the expedition team was being held and this eventually helped them to engineer an escape plan.
Grosman’s wife, Noga Grosman, later detailed the escape in a 2012 interview with Ynet. It seems like two oil company officials were able to drive to the location where Mickey and the rest of the expedition team (what was left of it at this point) devised a plan for them to sneak out in the early morning hours.
The plan worked and they were able to drive three hours to Rio Wing, which is outside of the Red Zone to continue the expedition from there.
What to expect from episode 5
It seems like things only get stranger as the Expedition from Hell docu-series airs more episodes.
And although there is just one episode left before the conclusion of this truly mind-boggling show – it seems like there is still plenty of strangeness ahead.
The show’s next episode, titled “Worst Expedition Ever?” should be a fitting way to conclude what has already been a very unexpected journey.
Without giving away too much, you can expect to see a dangerous bout of dengue fever, formal imprisonment in Brazil and more in the next episode of Expedition from Hell.
Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes – What happened to Mickey Grosman after the trip
