September 28, 2006: Survivors, Ready?
Survivor aficionados know there's a certain lingo that goes along with the show. For some it's comforting, for others, mind-numbingly repetitive. Me? I like it.
Jeff's catchphrases are a constant that I can rely on each week as the number of castaways dwindles. That said...
First things first: We couldn't move on from last week's show without finishing up Billy's love story. Back at camp, Aitu continued to dismiss the love, and the next day, after the tribes merged, Cecilia went directly to Candice to get the scoop. Needless to say, this love was one-sided. Again, I cannot wait for the reunion show.
With that cleared up, Jeff uttered those three little words that change the game every single time.
Drop your buffs! That's right, segregation is over.
Survivor put as much effort into contriving the makeup of these two new tribes as they did with the first four. Grab a tile from the bag, do a schoolyard pick, but only choose a person who has yet to be represented on your new team. Squeeze the egg. This three-part tribe-picking was more complicated than putting together a desk from Ikea. The upside is that the game now feels like it has truly started. The stunts are behind us and we can get down to business. Or as Brad says, "It's a game and you're in it to win it for yourself and first and foremost, cash."
I am happy to have the tried-and-true
Survivor back, but did they have to dredge up an old immunity challenge? The sandbag chain-gang challenge has been done before, and I daresay it was more entertaining with
Tom the fireman in for the long haul than with all the Cook Islands women dropping out minutes into the race. Raro, now consisting of Stephannie, Rebecca, Cristina, Jenny, Pavarti, Brad, J.P., Nate and Adam beat Aitu, which is now made up of Cecilia, Jessica, Sundra, Becky, Candice, Jonathan, Yul, Ozzy and Cao Boi. I'm as much in the dark as Aitu is about Candice being sent to Exile Island, but so far none of those choices has made much sense to me.
With the teams now being a "melting pot," the show is livelier, and personalities are peeking through. And of course the hard-core strategizing has begun. Jonathan, who if you close your eyes sounds exactly like
Alan Alda, is all about getting into an alliance of five with "a couple of the Asians," Candice and Jessica. Jess isn't convinced she wants to hook up with that crew, and I don't blame her. Jon's a little pushy and lot talky. Meanwhile, Ozzy now finds himself without the numbers and consequently has a lot less to say at tribal. Bet he's reconsidering last week's power play about now.
At tribal, I wondered if Yul really would have shared the immunity idol if the
tribe had spoken to Becky instead of Cecilia. I'm with Jessica on the whole dangerous-Becky thing. That girl is super-competitive. Remember her reaction to Yul's idol revelation? "First day or second day?" Um, what does it matter when Yul found the idol?
Little things: Wow, Nate caught an octopus! Pavarti needs a new strategy since her current one is uncomfortably embarrassing to watch.... Jeff and Stephannie, I like you both but please lose the straw hats. I haven't had a chance to mention it before, but I love this season's tribal-council area. Very cool.
So there you have it, we're back to two tribes, there is scheming and allying, and next week, let's hope there's also a reward challenge in the mix.
Survivors ready? Go!
