Survivor 20 Episode 1 "Slay Everyone, Trust No One"

[lazarus]

I can't believe the thread isn't up, so here goes.

Dragonboy schooled Colby in a challenge. Dragonboy is going to have a showmance with Jerri. My world is kinda upside down right now.

The Sugar boot was telegraphed fairly early, I thought. Nice try at the misdirection with Cirie's possibly getting booted, but it was kinda obvious.

Boston Rob is now the only person in 20 seasons to start fire with neither flint nor a lens. I didn't think you could do it with bamboo. The survival guides I've read say you have to have hard wood and soft wood working together. Boston Rob can do anything except take a leisurely stroll in the woods, apparently.

Russell is up to the same old tricks that didn't win, so I don't know what he's thinking. Interesting that Parvati saw right through him but still allied with him.

Rupert is just hopeless. No fish, no fire, no use to anybody. I read that he was the "reward" for one tribe on the Israeli Survivor, and did not impress. It took him three days to catch the first fish. And remember the Grand Hole he built on the beach in ASS?

I still don't know who Danielle is. Was she in this episode?

I'm curious as to how much the tribe dynamics are being edited. It looks like Rob is in charge of the Villain tribe, but I can't tell if there's a leader on the Hero tribe yet. It's interesting how much past connections are playing a part on the Hero tribe, but not on the Villain tribe. Just the way the tribes are sorted, I don't see any natural alliances on the Villain tribe at all.

On edit: Just realized that Coach and Tyson have a preexisting relationship on the Villain tribe.

I'll probably have more later when I watch it again.

Final edit: Were those the offspring of Shambo's chicken?

[Duer 157099]

1. The fire thing continues to really bug me

All of these players are veterans. You'd think that the first thing they'd do when they got back home was to learn once and for all how to actually start a fire no matter what. It's doable. I watch Bear Grylls do it ALL the time, even in pouring rain. I'm glad Rob finally did it (why didn't they do it the night before?) and it just proves how doable it really is.

I also wondered about the chickens, but I think the show probably put them there as a perk since they won the challenge. For all we know there could have been planted chickens on the other beach too, but those guys are too lame to notice

Russell is really still full of himself from last time, and he didn't even win. His big thing was finding the hidden idols, and who knows if that's even going to be in this one.

It wasn't overly exciting at all. But I'm glad they sent home who they did.

Oh, and I noticed that the heroes finally learned how to build a proper structure, so some of them are paying attention to the Discovery Channel at least.

[travelingtypist]

2. Unfortunately I will have to enjoy it vicariously.

As per usual, the CBS web site online content will not run with my 40/kbps DSL connection. (The content would barely run with my old broadband wireless connection, but that's another story.) Later in the week I'll probably be able to find the relevant clips on YouTube or something, but two seconds of sound, a two second pause, and then two seconds of sound is just not an option.

Poo-flinging monkeys.

[lazarus]

3. Hey, you

On edit, I'll pm you.

[MaineDem]

4. I had to keep turning it off

I don't think I'll be interested in this season. I can't stand most of them and don't have any interest in how they do. Other than I want them to lose. LOL I'll have to read about the exploits here. I'll stick with Olbermann.

[dr.strangelove]

5. I liked it

Just so you know Laz, I never post a thread until the next day. I wait until after it airs on the west coast, and I'm rarely up after midnight (eastern).

I was pretty happy that Sugar went home. She really did not have her heart in ti and her plan to cozy up to Colby was a huge failure. She read him completely wrong.

I love Boston Rob. I hate Boston rob. Its hard to figure out which one is more true. His oopening line was, "If these people were smart, they’d get rid of me right away." It was the same thing he said on All Stars. He is right of course. He showed last night that he can win without a problem. I just hope the preview does not forecast him leaving the game.

I love the opening, choppers and Boston Rob with his swagger all at the beginning. I have to up front with everyone that I can not be unbiased about Stephanie. That girl turns me on something terrible. My wife, who is a Stephanie type, said once she appeared on screen, that I was finished. She was right. I have such a crush on her.

Anyway, Probst looks cool, as usual. BTW, he signed on for two more seasons, but the rumor is that next year is it. Every prior contract was a four season or more deal, this time he went 2 more. I think it had to do with getting his pilot on TV, but we may be in the home stretch of Survivor.

I love the fighting up front. Seeing Stephenie and Parvati fighting, that was hot. Courtney yelling "Break her shoulder". And I wondered why she was a villain. Stephenie, though, hot girl that she is, gets her arm popped back in. she ROCKS. Of course we got the first of hopefully much nudity in the Sugar topless run. I felt for Boston Rob and Tysen, I mean James against the two of them may have been fair, but another person, it was a lock. James is a greek god. I swear, he is hercules.


Back at camp, its the same old thing. Russell works his crap against Danielle and Parv. PArv was smart to see through him. they will make a fun team to watch. I doubt Russell will be as easy for her to manipulate as Ozzy and James were. Tom and Colby will also be a good team. JT is not good at the Russell game. Its going to backfire on him. His strongest card is his strength and honesty. If he plays like a jerk, he will be shot down before Colby.

I agree with Laz. If Coach and Jerry have sex, I am cutting out my eyes. Boston Rob, I hate you, but god I love to watch you. He rocked the fire and was messing with Coach. Two things I find very entertaining. I was cheering for Coach to fall down off that tree.

The IC was great. If they are all this hard, there are going to be more injuries. Heroes, you threw it away with bad puzzle making. Amanda, maybe not so much with the puzzles. Let Cirie do them. She looked like she was going good but had not authority.

Sugar, sorry to see you go. That move to keep people awake and snuggle with Colby was a bad call.

[lazarus]

7. I didn't step on any toes right?

:) I actually thought Coach and jerri were kinda cute. And I'm very interested to see Boston Rob and Sandra team up. That could be a brutally vicious alliance.

JT played like this on Tocantins. Thing is, he's both a viciously cut throat player and a genuinely nice guy. He somehow makes it work.

[dr.strangelove]

10. No, you are all good with me

Feel free to post. Often I don't get to it first thing, so I welcome anyone who wants to do so.
Jerri and Coach, blah! I'm still pulling for Colby. I always liked him. If he is smart, he can run that hero tribe. He has to oust JT early though. I think one of those two will run the table on the heroes side.

On the villians, I am actually pulling for Russell, Sandra and Rob. Coach I can do without, but I always liked these three. I hope rob does not get hurt. I would hate to see him go early. I can't wait for next week's episode. Great job by MB of making me excited about the next week.

[romana]

6. I liked it too

I really enjoyed last night's opener, and look forward to many weeks of epic entertainment. When Sandra ripped Sugar's top off last night during the reward challenge I laughed and laughed and laughed. Watching Coach turn Colby into his little bitch was just as fun. :D I don't care much for either of them, but that was just great.

I loved watching Sandra and Boston Rob on the beach taking wagers on whether Coach would fall. I love Sandra, and I'm so happy she's back. I don't think she'll go all the way to the end, but she sure is fun to watch.

I can't say I'm sad to see Sugar go. IMO she didn't deserve to be there in the first place. I still can't believe she made the finals in her season. Tom and Cirie are forces to be reckoned with--both very strategic thinkers, and both right to want to get rid of the other. That is going to be FUN to watch!

Russell needs a new schtick. His scheming didn't work for him last time, it's not going to work for him this time. These people will see through him in a second. He was fun last time; I have a feeling he's going to be boring this time around.

Jerri, Jerri, Jerri. What can be said about Jerri. Actually, I've liked Jerri since the first season of The Surreal Life when she picked Emmanuel Lewis to spend a comfortable night in a tent with her while they were out camping. Her "Come back to bed, Manny" wafting from the tent still makes me giggle. She's not a nice person, by any stretch, but she seems to be relishing her villain role. If she and Coach have a showmance, however, I may have to throw up.

[dr.strangelove]

11. I know

Was it sandra that ripped Sugar's top off. I like her even more now. thats what we need, more nudity.

The reason I love Sandra and Rob was exactly that moment ont eh beach when they were betting on Coach;s fall. Kudos to rob for reading coach like a book and knowing he would do it. Plus his hiding it by betting he would be able to do it. I agree abotu Sandra. I doubt her hide and wait plan will work here, too many good players to sniff it out. But I too will love having her around.

[lazarus]

8. an additional thought

Sugar played pretty much this exact same game in Gabon, and almost won. She adopted at least three guys in the course of the game, and also spent quite a bit of time in the Sugar Shack (Exile). According to my sister, who keeps up with these things, Sugar, in an interview today, said the Colby thing was very overblown on the show. She actually spent most of her time with JT, and doesn't know why they focused on Colby instead. I figure it's because Colby made a disparaging comment about her in a confessional.

I think Rob is fascinating already. He's taken over complete leadership of the Villains tribe, with no ruffled feathers except for Russhole. And I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my OP, but his relationship with Sandra could be very interesting and very potent.

[lazarus]

9. Interesting tidbit about the reward challenge

From Dalton Ross over at EW:

* As some of you may know, often when there is a challenge on Survivor that is presented as a ''first team to three wins,'' in actuality, it was something much longer. Take this reward challenge: What you saw on TV was a ''first one to three wins.'' But in reality, the teams actually played all the way to five. Remember how the Villains went up 2-1 after Coach dragged Colby back to the Villains mat? In actuality, the Heroes had a whopping 4-0 lead when that contest took place, and that Coach victory merely got the Villains back to 4-1. But this was just the tip of the out-of-order iceberg, and what I am about to tell you is so convoluted and confusing we may need Lostexpert Doc Jensen to decipher it. The first-round match-up you saw with Stephenie and Cirie vs. Parvati and Danielle was actually round six and got the Villains back to being down only 4-2. But wait, it gets even more confusing. Remember how you saw Stephenie dislocate her shoulder and Probst remarked how she injured herself in the very first round of the very first challenge. Well, that was true, but it wasn't the round you saw. The actual first round (that you did not see) featured the exact same match-up (Stephenie and Cirie vs. Parvati and Danielle) and it was actually a Heroes victory. Not only that, but the injury appeared to occur while Stephenie was slapping the mat with her extended arm to give her team the win. So, the round you saw presented as the first match-up was actually a rematch that Stephenie was participating in after she had already dislocated her shoulder! (How tough is she?) So, the injury happened in one place, but was edited into another. Now because this is all a bit hard to follow, let me be clear about one thing: There is no monkeying around when it comes to Survivor challenges. The teams compete and the winner is the winner. Nothing is rigged. When you saw people winning rounds, they were winning rounds, maybe just not in the exact order it actually happened. Like all elements of the show, the producers just often record much more than can actually show so then have to figure out the best way to condense it all. (For example, the one round where Coach dragged Colby to his mat took over nine minutes by itself. It was an epic duel that was mesmerizing to witness, but simply too long to show in its entirety) And Stephenie did injure her shoulder in that competition against those same players, just not in the round they showed us. I'm actually surprised they edited it this way because watching Stephenie dislocating it as she won, and then coming back to compete after injuring it was pretty dramatic in itself. Again, just not enough time.

I actually prefer the reality to what we saw. Sounds much cooler.