Welcome to live Survivor: Palau coverage! I’m Michaelangelo, and Murtz asked me to handle the live coverage. Hope you guys enjoy it.
We open with Jeff riding in a boat around the island of Palau. He explains the history of Palau as a graveyard for WWII ships and planes.
20 survivors, 1 boat, 1 canteen each of water. Rowing their asses off.
Opening credits.
Day 1.
18 rowers, 2 people sitting in the bow. If I was one of the rowers, those 2 would get my first vote.
Jeff comes alongside in his boat and welcomes them to Palau. 2 machetes, 1 map to water, and 2 immunity necklaces on the shore, 1 for the first man and one for the first woman to reach shore. They all decide to paddle closer to shore as they’re about a mile away.
James, steelworker, calls JP a son of a bitch. He was expecting a hot breakfast.
Coby, hairstylist, says people were trying to decide when to begin swimming.
Caryn questions people’s strategies in shifting places on the boat.
Some chick starts singing.
Willard, lawyer, wants to smack her with an oar.
Coby wonders when she’ll stop.
The singer is Wanda, English teacher, who wrote many songs for Survivor.
Stephanie decides to jump first and swim, and Jonathan is behind her.
They immediately realize it was a stupid move as the boat leaves them.
Katie mocks their choice.
Janu says everyone was deciding when to jump.
They finally all jump and make a mad dash for shore.
Jolanda gets immunity. So does Ian.
James is shocked at Ian’s speed.
Willard notices the flag has no tribe name.
Gregg is paranoid at how the game’s starting.
Stephanie and Jonathan have yet to make it to shore.
The survivors start organizing. One group of 5 for water, the rest for shelter.
Coby thinks they started out pretty well.
Wanda is still singing.
Tom thinks they’re walking around like chickens with their heads cut off.
They all brought changes of clothes but never got the chance to change into them.
Angie’s group finds the water and shoes.
Angie and Coby knew they were kindred spirits. One gay guy and a tattooed chick.
Janu uses her rock climbing skills to help tie off shelter at the top of a tree.
Tom starts forming alliances.
Jolanda eats her first grasshopper.
People start splitting off and talking about alliances.
Coby says everyone’s expecting Tribal Council quickly, and people are freaking out.
Coby’s subtly probing people for their opinions.
Day 2.
Coby says the coconut’s cashed. Stoner Survivors, HA!
JP shows up to camp.
Jolanda and Ian are separated from the rest of the survivors.
JP says immunity gives them at least 10 more minutes in the game.
2 tribes, 9 survivors per tribe. The 2 leftovers are history. Jolanda and Ian begin picking. Guy picks girl, girl picks guy. The pickees pick next.
Ian picks Katie. Jolanda picks Bobby Jon. Katie picks Tom. Bobby picks Steph. Tom picks Janu. Steph picks Jeff. Janu picks Greg. Jeff picks Kim. Greg picks Janice. Kim picks James. Jan picks Coby. James picks Ashley. Coby picks Karen. Ashley picks Ibrahim. Karen picks Willard. Jonathan is going home. Ibrahim picks Angie. Wanda is gone.
Jonathan and Wanda are the first eliminated. The remaining people look relieved. Wanda sings as the boat leaves. Damn, she was annoying as hell.
Jolanda was sad but is refocusing.
JP hands out buffs. Ulong is blue. Koror is brown. They will stay on the same beach.
People talk about how strange it will be to share the beach.
Angie’s hurt Coby didn’t pick him and feels out of place.
Ian’s team is Koror. Ian is happy with the mix. Koror is older than Ulong.
Ibrehim thinks the younger Ulong has the advantage.
The tribes row to an island for Immunity and reward challenge in one. Jungle obstacle course.
Survival gear, flint and food are in cases that have been weighted. Complete the course and you get immunity and keep the items they carried.
Immunity idol is a carved wooden man.
They take off. Tom in the lead. Working through a vertical maze. Koror has the slight lead. Ulong catches up and takes the lead. Koror unties their supplies and decides to take just the fire. They are in the lead. Ulong is arguing about what to take. Koror has a huge lead. Ulong is catching up. Ulong brought food and water but no fire. Koror takes a big lead. Koror gets to their canoe first. Strategy seems to be working. Ulong gets to their canoe but Koror has a big lead. Koror gets their flag. They’re working well. Ulong is well off course. Koror with a massive lead. Koror makes it to shore and wins immunity and reward!
Koror gets first pick of beach. They decide to take the new beach and Ulong gets the old beach. Ulong gets to paddle home and prepare for TC.
Koror makes their way to their new beach. Katie says winning was huge for them.
Koror’s boat gets tipped over by a wave. Their fire supplies sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Tom says they are crushed that they lost everything they had won.
Ulong makes their way home.
Angie says they didn’t make smart decisions.
Jolanda says no need to be negative. They’ll eat coconuts for 39 days if they have to.
Jolanda says she’s voting for Angie because she’s the weakest link. She begins marshalling votes.
Stephanie feels they’re going to TC because of Jolanda. Stephie tries to get votes for Jolanda but gets nowhere.
Jolanda says for every 2 hours they work they’re resting an hour. Angie says she’s not a team player.
Jolanda starts getting votes turned against her. Angie’s all over that idea.
Ulong heads for TC. JP tells them to grab their torches and light them. Fire represents life, etc.
Steph says biggest surprise is hunger, thirst, and no fire.
James says he’s damn happy with his tribe. Lots of energy and testosterone.
Someone says they lost time trying to get too much stuff.
James says not getting fire was stupid. Jolanda says they didn’t have time.
Steph says they have no leader.
Jolanda says they need someone to make a unilateral decision. She’d like to lead but knows she’s overpowering.
Angie says being picked last weighs heavily on her, but she worked hard during IC.
JP says it’s time to vote. Jolanda votes first and votes for Angie.
Angie votes for Jolanda and says it’s either her or Jo.
JP tallies the votes.
First vote Angie. Jolanda. 1-1. Angie. Angie. 3-1 Angie. Jo. Jolanda. 3-3. Jolanda. Jo.
First person voted out of Palau: Jolanda. She wishes everyone luck. Fire out, tribe has spoken, hit the bricks.
JP tells them to stop the excuses and get a plan or they’ll be seeing him in TC more often. He sends them home fireless.
Jolanda says she wouldn’t do anything differently. She was the oldest and saw things differently than the others. She had a blast and recommends everyone try it.
Whew. Lot going on tonight. I think we were all apprehensive about how 20 survivors would work, but I think it went well. Hope you had fun! Make sure to check out Romo’s LIVE coverage of The Apprentice. You can discuss tonight’s episode in the Survivor: Palau Thread on the forums. Tune in all week for wall-to-wall Palau analysis, and I’ll see you all again next Thursday!
