Survivor South Pacific - Episode 1

[dr.strangelove]

So we started our 23rd season of Survivor. WOW. So there are sixteen new castaways and two old ones. We've got Coach and Ozzy coming out of a helicopter and from the get go, one players tells Jeff that they are "temporary players." Let me start my analysis by saying, what a TERRIBLE move for Christine. You always play your cards close to your vest. She just hung it out there and she may be in the minority. I think she is going to be a poor player and will probably go soon. While I hope she is right, that Coach and Ozzy go early, I think she will be not far behind. Also, I think Cochran is like the most annoying tribe member yet. Not his personality, his manerisms. He is so quirky with his speech and movement that I want to shake him.

Alright, so the tribes are 1) the Upolu tribe made up of Coach, Rick, Stacey, Brandon (Little Russell), Sophie, Albert, Edna, Mikayla and Christine; and 2) the Savaii tribe with Ozzy, Dawn, Mark, Elyse, Jim, Semhar, Keith, Whitney and Cochran.

I liked the first challenge. It was great to see both "old" players turn to the tribes for help. Its clear that Savaii has an edge on teh mental game, while Upolu seems stronger.

Trust CBS to start the game with some underwear swimming. I was surprised to see Cochran make such a big deal of himself. He is really not all that weak. He is certainly not a body builder, but he is no 98-lb weakling. He needs ot stop calling attention to his weaknesses.

I already dislike Little Russell. I think he made a big mistake in not either coming up with a better lie about his name or coming clean. He should have just walked around without the shirt and when asked said his name but denied the relationship, or he should have admitted and said that he is nothing like his uncle.

Over on team-Ozzy, Dawn just needs to go. She is a mess and is going to hurt this tribe.

So Coach gets his Upolu Five alliance of Albert, Brandon, Sophie, Rick and Coach together. They exclude Stacey, whose failure to find the Immunity Idol clue when it was in her hand tells me a lot about her chances, along with Edna who I thought was coach's friend and Mikayla (who really is one beautiful woman).

Upolu wins the IC, but more so because Semhar could not sink a single basket and that she gave up. IMO, the worst was giving up. If she had run back and forth and shot as many as she could, maybe she would have got one. But she looked for someone to help her. She begged to trade out. She just failed when the only thing you can do is give 100%. I know Ozzy wanted to keep her, but it was an easy choice. Dawn and Cochran may be weak, but they both gave their bodies to that IC. Thats what you do in the beginning.

I LOVED That it was 90 minutes. I hope they do this every season to open. I like the tribes. I think this will be a good season.

[lpbk2713]

1. Russell's nephew won't be around for long.

He can't keep his tats hidden forever under the conditions they live in. Once they are discovered he will be sent home not so much because he is related to Russell but because he wasn't honest and open about them. And Cochran will be the next to go from his tribe. His behavior is surprising for such a long time devotee of Survivor.

[catchnrelease]

2. Good!

Already there are suspicions that he's hiding something, so I bet it won't take long to find out what. Plus he had to play the God card already. I was hoping we'd get away from that this season. And his beef with Mikayla--SHE is threatening to his marriage because of the way she acts??????

Re Cochran--I feel like Woody Allen has come to Survivor!

Will be interesting to see if Coach really plays any different than in the past. So far he seemed almost normal....can it last?

[Goblinmonger]

3. Why didn't Semhar just toss coconuts to the guy that was draining them

He could have stayed in his hot spot and she could have gotten them to him much faster than him running back.

I liked the episode even though there were a lot of baskets cases that need to go (which you have identified, of course).

[Duer 157099]

4. I thought for sure that

Ozzy was going to convince everyone to keep his love interest. I was really upset with Ozzy making such a stupid and transparent move, you'd think he'd have learned but apparently not. He was ready to keep Samhar based solely on his own personal interest rather than the best interest of his tribe. I've been an Ozzy fan since his first day on Survivor but this behavior really bugged me.

And I like Cochran! Yes, Woody Allenesque for sure, but the guy is interesting; at least he's not some cookie-cutter buff reality show persona. I hope they keep him around for awhile.

And lil Hantz is just as annoying as Uncle Hantz. Kind of a doltish Hantz move to think his t-shirt can save him for his whole stay! Those Hantz men aren't too bright.

[romana]

5. First ep

Cochran is clearly someone who over-thought his strategy before spending a single second in the game. He'd be better off hanging back a bit, not talking so much, and sizing everyone up. He's trying to position himself as the weak but reliable alliance member and it's going to blow up in his face.

Coach has a side alliance with Edna, pretty obviously. He's going to keep her in his pocket until he needs her (probably when it's time for his five-person alliance to start eating each other). It's not a bad strategy, we'll see how it plays out.

Ozzy bores me. That's all I have to say about him.

Dawn is a hot mess. She needs to go. L'il Russell, also. I agree about Christine--she showed way too much with that comment, and then her obvious search for the immunity idol while everyone was working won't win her any votes. It's the same mistake one person made last time, as a matter of fact. And she went to RI early.

[lazarus]

6. I was worried

on Savaii it looked like a classic case of the jocks ganging up on the nerd, but they got smart and sent Semhar home.

I wonder how much Papa Bear had to do with that. He's a player, it seems to me.

There are actually a lot of players this season. A few maroons, but the level of play seems to be much higher than in recent seasons. Time will tell, of course.

Russhole couldn't tell the truth to save his life, and it looks like Li'l Hantz can't tell a lie to save his life. Interesting juxtaposition.

Can't believe Coach and Ozzy had so much trouble with that opening puzzle. I've been able to do those since I was a toddler, it seems to me.

I hated the editing towards the end of the episode. I understand the desire to keep us in suspense, but how did it turn into a sweep against Semhar? Ozzy was all for keeping her, several other people sounded like they were voting off Cochran at TC, then he's safe. Very unsatisfying.