Finale of 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Leaves You Wanting More

The finale of Sarah Palin’s Alaska aired Sunday night on The Learning Channel. The series garnered great ratings and stirred up plenty of discussion. I am willing to bet it surprised a lot of people as well.

When Sarah Palin said she would be doing a reality show, most commenting on it thought it was a horrible idea. What could she be thinking? Maybe this meant she didn’t want to run for President, because what could be less presidential than a reality show? Or maybe it did mean she wanted to run because why else would she want to open her family up to such exposure.

I won’t speculate too much on the effect of the show on Sarah Palin’s future political pursuits other than to say I think any effect of the show will be positive. In Sarah Palin’s Alaska, Palin is shown as a tough woman who can hunt for her food, rear five kids, and create new words. She appears calm, good natured, steady, and solid. And she shows she has a sense of humor, a great family and an intense love for the beautiful state where she has lived her life.

Above all, in Sarah Palin’s Alaska we see that Sarah Palin is a real person. Her kids make fun of her sometimes (“Mom, take your prom hair back home”) and don’t always do exactly as told. Sarah talks like many of us do saying things like “flippin'” and “freaking out.” Instead of that decreasing her presidential factor, though, it just makes her more relatable. We also saw her as a mother, interacting with Trig and her other kids in some incredibly touching scenes.

In addition to seeing what an incredible woman Sarah Palin is, we were introduced to some amazing characters. Her daughter Piper was a constant companion of Sarah’s in the show. She is beyond adorable, says all the things a smart-as-a-whip witty little girl would say, and makes lots of funny faces. We see a lot of her husband Todd who is a hunky, smart companion to Sarah Palin.

Sarah’s dad, 72-year-old Chuck Heath, was my favorite though. This man is ready for his close up. Seriously, someone needs to give him a show of his own. In Sunday night’s episode we were introduced to the musk ox, which Chuck Heath explained are prehistoric animals that survived when many others didn’t. He was featured in many of the episodes and was constantly providing interesting tidbits of information. He is a retired teacher who is something of an expert on Alaskan wildlife and his passion for the subject is evident.

The real star of the show though was the state of Alaska and the people who live and work there. In one episode, Sarah refers to herself as the Cliff Clavin of Alaska because she recites so many facts about the state. In addition to the information we are given by Palin, Heath and many others, we see the beauty of the state, both in the scenery and in the people we meet.

What the show really did for me personally, and that I can only imagine it did for others like me, is to encourage me to spend more time with my kids doing the kinds of things the Palins did over the summer in the show. Not that I am going to be camping in the wilderness or climbing mountains, but I will try to unplug my kids from their electronics more often and take some interesting day trips to places other than the mall.

And I will be purchasing the show on DVD. I could watch the episodes over and over again for the beautiful scenery and educational value alone. Due to the political climate in the entertainment industry, the show might not win any awards, but it is my choice by far for best reality show.