Survivor Redemption Island Episode 1 Recap
Survivor Redemption Island (Wednesdays at 8PM on CBS)
"How did I get stuck with the old annoying guy in the droopy fuchsia briefs?" ~ Francesca about Phillip
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
"You have the most impressive man sweater I've ever seen" ~ Mike to Ralph
This first episode is the perfect example of why Survivor has lasted this many seasons. Bring in a new bunch of people, and they'll never fail to surprise, frustrate or excite you. Let's get to the recap.
The castaways were brought in by helicopter with the cloths and their backs and once they were split into tribes, Probst drops the first bomb. There's still 2 more castaways to join them. Boston Rob enters first, to a mix of reactions, mostly positive. Second comes Evil Russell and everyone basically groans in disapproval. Francesca calls them out for being dangerous and sizing them up like their prey... (true, but dumb to say out loud)... The two pick their buffs and head over to their respective tribes.
Photo Credit - CBS
Some interesting things happened when they got to their camps. Russell went to his go-to move, trying to form an early alliance with a younger female, in this instance it was Stephanie, who might just be the actual mix of Natalie's (Russell's original ally) naive/good girl vibe and Parvati's (Russell's 2nd round ally) witty/bad girl vibe. I'm interested to see how it plays out. She seems hip to his game, but wary of it... it's a good combo.
Photo Credit - CBS
Although Russell gave a speech about how he's playing differently this time around, and doesn't plan to sabotage, his tribe isn't buying it. He'll have to prove it these first few rounds and work his magic quick in order to stay.
Over at Boston Rob's camp alliances are forming rather quickly as well. Boston Rob plays his game of gathering the majority and keeping tabs on the outsiders. Phillip tries the same tactic, but fails miserably when he tells the ladies he's a former secret agent and continuously tells them they're doing things the wrong way.
Kristina was on a mission to find the clue to the HIIdol, or the HIIdol itself, but Rob catches her and makes sure she knows he knows that's what she was doing. Later in the episode, she does indeed find it while out on a search Evil Russell style. (Now, I didn't like her pre-interview, but she definitely got a boost in the respect-department for finding the HIIdol without a clue. Plus she wants to make big moves, which is also exciting.) She makes a loose alliance with both Francesca and Phillip because they're not as young as the others, and don't trust B.Rob.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Move a bunch of heavy things, cut some rope and do a pyramid puzzle to win Immunity and flint for fire.
Russell's Purple Team (Zapatera) definitely had an advantage on the strength side, having one extra man and Julie (the firefighter) and came out to a sizeable lead over Boston Rob's Orange Team (Ometepe). But knowing there was a puzzle at the end, I didn't count Ometepe out for a minute. He even brings them close during the puzzle stage, but Zapatera pulls out the win.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
Which means Ometepe is going to TRIBAL COUNCIL. Kristina shows Francesca her HIIdol. Kristina thinks that if they can get B.Rob's groupies to vote for her, than she'll use the idol and Francesca, Phillip and herself can blindside B.Rob. Francesca understand the temptation to vote out B.Rob, but doesn't think it the smartest move. She convinces Kristina to think about getting rid of Natalie (the weakest physical) this time and wait to get rid of B.Rob when they have the numbers.
When they tried to get Phillip in on the plan... I don't really know what's up with Phillip... he's NOT made for this game. Wanting straight answers, aggressive/demeaning style of communication is just not going to bode well in the future. Kristina shows him the HIIdol to garner his trust and it seems to work.
However, B.Rob isn't no dummy. He sees all the sneaking around Kristina has been doing, and paired it with her mentality the first day when he caught her snooping for the clue. He's assuming that she found it, and convinces his groupies to split the votes to be safe (some for Kristina, some for Francesca)
TRIBAL COUNCIL
This one was a DOOZY. Francesca made a statement about how Boston Rob was safe tonight... you know, giving him what she probably thought was a false sense of security... BUT, Phillip didn't read it and it pissed him off enough to chime in and let the cat out of the bag.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
Gosh, I hope he was never tortured about government secrets because the US wouldn't stand a chance to keep them secrets... which might be the reason Phillip is an ex-FBI agent and not a current FBI agent... hmmm.
He tells everyone that Francesca and Kristina had asked him to vote for Boston Rob. When Francesca and Kristina denied it; it only angered Phillip more, and he spilled more. Kristina has the HIIdol!
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
She fesses up to having it, and even pulls it out of her bag to show it off. Boston Rob asks to see it, and after consideration realizes it's a real one. He tries to make a move by asking Kristina to give it to him in order to gain his trust and avoid elimination this round. Kristina (smartly) refuses.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
All the while Phillip mispronounces Francesca's name. HIL-ARIOUS!
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
Boston Rob tells Probst he doesn't know who to believe (he obviously believes Phillip, however doesn't want to admit believing the crazy person) and tells him that he's going to stick with the plan he's made with the people he made it with.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
Kristina mouthed to Francesca to vote Phillip, while Phillip said he's voting for Franquilla because her name is too hard to pronounce with his dry throat problem. Okay, he didn't actually say that, but close enough.
With all that said, the voting takes place and Kristina chooses to hang on to the HIIdol... it comes down to...
Francesca vs. Kristina (with 2 votes for Phillip)... Because B.Rob and his groupies split the vote (3 for each of the ladies) in case the HIIdol was played, it left the decision to Crazy Phil, who cast his vote for Franny and she was sent to Redemption Island.
Photo Credit - CBS (by survivor.com)
Now, I was right about one thing. Francesca needed to make friends early in order to make it anywhere in this game. She did do that, but made the wrong ones. Aligning herself this early with two of the wackiest on her team, just wasn't smart. She should have played dumb and snuck into B.Rob's crew and masterminded her way out later. She had the best interview segments of the episode, and therefore she'll be missed. But wait! Redemption Island's at play! Can she last, and beat the next eliminated? I'm not sure, it seems like she'll be competing against a white guy (maybe Ralph, based on the leg hair shown!?)
Now, I was completely off on another thing. Phillip. I said he'd be the "One to Watch" but I didn't mean it in a crazy-wacko-watch-him-self-de struct kind of way. His interview he seemed like he could be a leader, and should have great skills in terms of reading people. This, however, couldn't be further than the truth based on how he played this first episode. There's no way anyone in their right mind will tell him any sort of strategic secret ever again. Seriously, dude? What up wit dat!?
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