Survivor: South Pacific Premiere 9/14/11
Survivor: South Pacific Premiere
It's baaaaaack! I was less than thrilled to hear the returning 2 players: Coach & Ozzy. After last year's epic, love 'em or hate 'em duo of Boston Rob & Russell Hanz, this year's duo is a bit of a let down, no?
Well, I digress. At least I heard about the changes they're making to the game this year and I'm totally on board:
1) The HIIdol will (supposedly) be harder to find. In that they'll make the survivors search for the HIIdol clue instead of giving it away in the dumb fashion they have been the previous few seasons.
2) Redemption Island will only feature actual duels. At the end of last season, there were about 4-5 people living and competing at Redemption Island… well, no more. It'll be a 2 person battle, with the winner staying alone until the next cast-off enters.
When the contestants rowed to the beach and took to their respective mats, Probst told them 2 returning players would join them. Enter Coach & Ozzy via helicopter. The vibe seemed more positive for Ozzy than it did for Coach.
When Christine (of the Blue Tribe) was asked what she thought of the returning players she straight up calls them "temporary players". (Did she not learn anything from Francesca last season?)
When John (of the Orange Tribe) was asked what he thought of the 2 returning players he first asked Probst if he'd call him by his last name "Cochran" like he did with previous good players. Probst sarcastically agrees. Cochran then says that they'll have a lot of knowledge since they've both played twice. Probst then probes him about his Fan-status. Cochran admits to being a super-fan of the show.
So which tribe will Coach & Ozzy be on? Probst gives them both a colored egg and tells them to break it to find out. Ozzy smashes his on his chest and it bleeds orange (he's welcomed with a big group hug). Coach crushes his in his hand and it's blue (he's welcomed with icy glares and handshakes).
Then Probst tells about how Redemption Island works and that the first challenge will be an individual one for Coach & Ozzy to show their worth to their tribes. They'll have to grab a turtle from a 12-foot pole, dig to be able to scurry under a log and then complete a pyramid puzzle game. Winner gets some taro & flint.
The two returners were neck and neck through the pole climbing and digging parts, but the pyramid puzzle was the hard part. Both Coach & Ozzy didn't really understand the rules (they could only move one piece at a time and never put a bigger piece on a smaller piece). That was when their tribe mates started instructing them both. Luckily for Ozzy, his teammates actually knew what they were talking about compared to Coach's conflicting instructions from his team. It also seemed to click with Ozzy about halfway through and he ran home with it…
OZZY & the SAVAII (ORANGE) TRIBE WINS!
When the competition was over, Ozzy got the prime middle seat with his tribe, while Coach was pushed off to the corner and is basically left behind (minus Edna) when his tribe trotted off to their new beach.
SAVAII TRIBE (ORANGE)
They all looked to Ozzy for what they should do first. After some pleasantries (we find out Cochran is a Harvard Law Student & Semhar is a Poet (that's not afraid to speak the written word) and does an impromptu performance). Then, instead of jumping right into camp life (aka building a shelter), Ozzy suggest they frolic in the ocean water for a bit. Everyone agrees (minus Cochran who complains about his translucent skin and less than appealing body type, he eventually succumbs to tribe-pressure). In the water, we listen as Jim tells his tribe-mates he's a science teacher (but in actuality he has an MBA and owns 2 marijuana dispensaries). We also learn that Mark is gay and would like to be called "Papa Bear". The only one shown worried that they haven't gotten around to building a shelter yet? Dawn, but she's not willing to speak up about it (except for to the cameras).
The next morning, Dawn has a break-down. Papa Bear tries to console her and lift her up (telling her she can't cry because the younger tribe-mates will see it as a weakness). She obviously can't control it and also gets a pep-talk from Ozzy. They, then work on building the shelter and opening coconuts (Elyse & Cochran)
UPOLU (BLUE) TRIBE
Coach basically takes over, even though no one really asks him directly. But before that we get some insight… Sophie just graduated college with a Russian degree (Coach speaks a bit of Russian with her). We also learn Albert is a Baseball Coach and Rick is a Rancher from Texas. Then, the tribe is purely all business as they start setting up shop. Christine, however, states that she's going to get firewood, but didn't fool anyone… She was looking for the HIIdol (with no luck). Probably a bad mood since Albert noticed and pointed it out to the others (including Coach, who now has her on his target-list). Meanwhile, we have heard a couple times now that Russell Hanz's nephew, Brandon, is playing the game. He swears that he's nothing like his uncle and plans to play the game differently, but there's definite Hanz-ness underneath the surface. He has a tattoo on his neck that says "loco" he attributes to his wilder teenage days, plus he has his sights on voting off Mikayla for "flaunting" her hot bod while helping with the roof of the shelter.
By nightfall, Coach, Albert, Sophie, Brandon and Rick are looking at the stars and decide to make an 5-strong alliance. The next morning, Brandon goes out to catch some fish (he catches at least one small one) and tries to hide the tattoos on his chest and shoulder with his t-shirt (apparently he's got "Hanz" there) because he doesn't want his tribe to know he's related to Russell. But Sophie seems to think he's hiding something.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE – AH, COCONUTS
Probst explains that each tribe must race through a zig-zagging pathways and then through a web of coconuts. They must then work together to get all 10 members over a 10-foot wall. Then one tribe member will dig up a machete and use it to chop a series of ropes, releasing a bin of coconuts. Then 3 tribe members must shoot coconuts into their basket until they have enough to raise their flag.
SIDE NOTE – You know you watch too much reality TV when you pick up on editing. During the tribe pow-wows before the challenge Semhar (Orange tribe) is seen trying to convince her tribe-mates that she should be 1 of the 3 to shoot the coconuts in the end.
They agree = Doomsville, population SAVAII tribe; mayor Sehmar
.The competition starts and the tribes for the most part are neck-and-neck throughout. Sure, UPOLU pulled ahead with the wall, but not by much. It all came down to which tribe could fill their baskets enough to raise their flags first. It was a close race, but Sehmar proved to be the weakest link; she was exhausted from the obstacle course that she could barely lift the coconuts, let alone get them anywhere near the basket for her SAVAII tribe. Ozzy asked Probst mid-challenge if they could switch out a player (NO!) while UPOLU had a strong 3 shooting baskets for them (Mikayla, Brandon & Albert). Mikayla ended the challenge with the winning basket:
UPOLU (BLUE) TRIBE WINS IMMUNITY!
They get the Immunity Idol & flint and then tells them the clue to the HIIdol is hidden back at their camp. But SAVAII is headed to TRIBAL COUNCIL. Jeff asks Sehmar how she's feeling and she answers "sorta bad". Jim couldn't contain his emotion and Probst calls him on it. He openly blames Sehmar for the loss and tells everyone that she should feel more than "sorta bad". (I agree, but calling her out in front of both tribes is possibly not the best strategic thing to do.)
SAVAII (ORANGE) TRIBE
This tiff continues back at camp, when Sehmar says that very thing. She backtracks and says she feels awful, not just "sorta bad" and that he made her feel worse for no reason. She knows that because of her performance she may be on the chopping block. Dawn is also feeling like she's a contender for going home, because of her breakdown earlier.
But it was Ozzy that started the ball rolling. He wants to save Sehmar (he's got a little crush, although he didn't admit that) and tells Jim, Whitney & Elyse that they should vote off Cochran instead. Jim's hesitant and asks why. Ozzy considers Sehmar's guts stronger than Cochran's weak physicality.
Ozzy tells Sehmar her name is in the pot to go home, and she scrambles for votes.
Jim tells Cochran Ozzy's rallying votes against him. Cochran's heartbroken "This started as a dream, but it really is a nightmare now" as he considers possibly being the first voted off this season. But, Jim scrambles for him. Who has more clout over the tribe? Jim or Ozzy?!
UPOLU (BLUE) TRIBE
While Savaii tries to figure out who to send to Redemption Island, Upolu is all about finding that HIIdol clue. Everyone's searching for it. Who is the person that gets the closest?! Stacey.
As she repeatedly states that "I could have probably already stumbled on it and don’t even know it.” We catch a glimpse of the rolled paper on a twig inside a hole at the base of a tree right next to her.
SIDE NOTE – If I was ever on Survivor (I wouldn't last a day out there. I hate bugs, yet they love to eat me.) I would basically stalk the camera crews. If they're not pointing the camera at me or another tribe-mate, their catching something else. Sure, it could be one of those creepy spider or snake shots, but it could also be that HIIdol location. Come on people!
TRIBAL COUNCIL
After talking to Dawn quickly about how hard it was for her these first few days for her, the conversation quickly turns. Jim calls out Sehmar again for losing the challenge for them. Ozzy defends her saying he'd rather have someone volunteer and fail then not volunteer at all. He then offers up Cochran as the weakest because he hesitated at the wall portion of the challenge. Cochran tries to defend himself, by saying how well he did before the wall and that Sehmar only does minimal tasks around camp. Sehmar defends her water-watching task and brings up that she also gathers twigs for toothbrushes for everyone. Cochran retaliates by telling people he'll be like a "genie in a bottle" and do even more around camp and couldn't stand being the first voted out (considering how big a fan he is).
THE VOTE
SEHMAR'S IS VOTED OUT!
SEHMAR'S IS VOTED OUT!
She'll be the first to go to Redemption Island and await the next cast-off.
If this vote is any indication, the good-will the Savaii tribe felt towards Ozzy isn't exactly the same as Boston Rob's tribe last season, which is a good thing in my opinion. They showed that they know that Ozzy can be an asset for them in the short term, but aren't willing to let him run the show. They voted off the person that performed the weakest in the only challenge they had to base things on and kept Ozzy from building an alliance he wanted to build. Smart move Savaii tribe… smart move.
