I have big hopes for this one, it's definitely going to be brutal on the level of Survivor: Africa or Survivor: The Australian Outback. It starts with the standard dramatic Probst monologue highlighting the dangerousness of the habitat our Survivors are about to enter. The two tribes hike in to ruins and the tribes are named Nakum and Yaxha. They waste no time bringing out Stephenie and Bobby Jon from last season, which if you read Keith's spoilers you already knew were joining the tribes. Bobby Jon goes to Nakum and Stephenie is part of Yaxha. The first challenge is an 11 mile race and the first tribe that arrives gets flint and the better camp. The Survivors first get water, fruit and corn, all of which they have to take with them on the mega trek. On the Yaxha tribe, ex-NFL quarterback Gary takes the lead (and lies about his profession). The Yaxha team gets lost at the beginning. Meanwhile at Nakum things look no better even though they are in the lead they are fully in the thickets. Blake runs into a thorny tree and ends up in a world of hurt. It's night and everyone is still lost. The Yaxha tribe decides to make camp as does Nakum with the injured Blake feeling totally vomitous. At daybreak the two teams get on the road again and Yaxha almost catches up to Nakum but several members of the tribe (Stephenie singles out Lydia and Amy) start lagging behind. Nakum has a problem when Bobby Jon succumbs to dehydration. Nurselady Margaret is proving pretty worthwhile already as the men keep going down. They arrive at the canoes and start paddling. They reach their destination despite Judd's mudswim and Bobby Jon's near immobility. The losing Yaxha doesn't get to stay in ruins, they have to build their own shelter. Meanwhile over at Nakum, nearly all the men are vomiting.
The immunity challenge involves paddling canoes out to get a torch then coming back to pull their boats onto the shore using a log-rolling technique. Yaxha wins immunity and earns their flint. As Jeff points out, this is the first Survivor tribal council that Steph hasn't been a part of since she started playing. Her status as a default underdog makes it impossible not to root for her. Jim, Blake and Bobby Jon on Nakum are easy targets since they are all in bad shape, Jim most of all since he has an injured arm and is the oldest one.
Tribal council takes place in the north acropolis of the ruins. The topic of conversation is of course the vomiting men and Jim's bum wing. Bobby Jon commits the sin of mentioning the million bucks (he should know better, everyone thinks about the money constantly but never mentions it) but that doesn't seem to matter as Jim is voted out unanimously.
Next Week: eating ants, muddy challenges and Blake continues to get sicker
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-16-2005 @ 12:45AM
Bob Sassone said...
I'm impressed by this one already. All the hype about this one being the most brutal and physically challenging Survivor really is true. I think nurse Margaret is the MVP of this one. She has already saved the lives of two or three of the contestants, so I think she'll stick around for a while.
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9-16-2005 @ 2:19AM
Jason said...
I almost felt bad for Jim when he got voted off there....until I realized that he voted for Margaret. WTF?! If there was anyone who didn't deserve a vote, it was her. That took care of any sympathy I had.
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9-16-2005 @ 12:21PM
Lacy Hall said...
what a great premier! I think one of the best ones yet. Are they seriously trying to kill someone?
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9-16-2005 @ 8:46AM
Gary Mitchell said...
Yea what was up with the vote for Margaret? Was he not thinking from dehydration. Although if Jeff had read that vote, THAT would have been some interesting television
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9-16-2005 @ 8:50AM
John Frost said...
Did anyone catch the Febreeze Family moment after the show? That pink room and the robotic wife, if I was Jim I think I'd join survivor just for an escape.
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9-16-2005 @ 9:18AM
Guido said...
A good start to the season. My favorite person so far is Judd, mostly because of the way he handled Jeff's question. Jeff likes to try and influence the vote with his questions and Judd was caught off guard and rightfully so as he was the least affected compared to the other guys. Also him jumping in the mud and getting stuck like Winnie the Poah, the guy is just funny.
The farmer with his pot & kettle routine calling Bobby Jon dumb was also a lighter moment.
My hope for this year is that Steph isn't treated like an outsider.. I'd hope after all these years, people on this show would learn how it works if you want to win. Never - ever - vote off your strongest players in the team portion. You want to hit the merge with the numbers - but also the strongest players, so your chances at winning immunity for your alliance is greater.
If i'm not mistaken this is the first season where nobody has really made an ass out of themselves to be the obvious week one target.
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9-16-2005 @ 11:37AM
LC said...
This certainly looks to be on of the better seasons of Survivor. I love that they chose Stephanie and Bobby John as opposed to other past survivors. These two, despite constantly losing, gave everything they got.
It was obvious that Jim was going to be voted out. Besides his age making him one of the weaker competitors, there was no way he would be able to perform in any of the physical competitions with his arm in a sling.
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9-16-2005 @ 11:13AM
Emily said...
I felt the same way, Jason. Margaret kept half the tribe alive!
I have mixed feelings about Bobby Jon and Stephanie. I know if I busted my butt to get selected for the show, I would be pissed to find out that they are getting a second chance. I realize that the producers are interested in making the show fresh and different - but bringing back people who have had their day in the sun just rubs me the wrong way.
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9-16-2005 @ 11:39AM
LC said...
"but bringing back people who have had their day in the sun just rubs me the wrong way."
I see your point. That's the reason I hate when a show like Big Brother brings someone who was voted off back on the show the same season.
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9-16-2005 @ 4:05PM
Guido said...
The difference is though in Big Brother they were evicted from that game specifically and are allowed back. I'm not a big fan of that either.
This situation is totally different because they aren't given any special advantage over the other competitors. The have general Survivor knowledge (and losing at Survivor knowledge at that). Other than that fact they are treated like everybody else and have to deal with everything the same way.
I think we'll see them outcasted for the first couple shows which amounts to about 5-6 days survivor time, and then they will all become equals at that time, because the others are no longer rookies.
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9-16-2005 @ 7:34PM
K.V.C said...
I'm surprised by the reaction to this show. I thought this was the worst start of any survivor. An 11 mile hike, before we even meet them, a third of the show in the DARK, and no explanation as to why the 2 previous survivors were added to the show. It looked like a middle of the season episode, what with the edited in talking points, we really don't have a way to judge these since we dont know who these people are yet!
Same about Jim getting hurt, if he wasn't I think he would have stayed.
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9-19-2005 @ 9:02PM
Mooshu said...
Hey!
There's an interesting question about Survivor Guatemala at www.jerrythudson.blogspot.com Does anyone know the answer to the question asked? It's got graphics otherwise I would post it.
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