Well, another season of Survivor has begun, and I must say, I am very pleased. So far, Exile Island looks like it will be a great season; the premiere did not disappoint, and I’m looking forward to seeing the story continue!
First of all, I must say that the answer to Jeff Probst’s clue to Misty as to the whereabouts of that hidden Immunity Idol is driving me nuts. I re-watched the tape and tried to listen to his every word to see what I could discover, and nothing. I think Misty’s guess as to it being “behind” her was valid, but I think that was too obvious. He said “the question is, why did fate choose you to be the first person left behind?” My best theory is that the Idol is hidden somewhere in the vicinity of where the challenge participants were cracking open all the skulls, because that truly was luck of the draw whether or not you found an amulet first. It all depended on which skull you grabbed. So, that is my best guess, and I hope, if nothing else, the answer is made known to us eventually; otherwise we may all drive ourselves nuts forever trying to figure it out.
Okay, now on to the big topic of the week: why on Earth did the Casaya tribe vote out Tina? It was a very head-scratching move, because it was obvious that Cirie did not belong in the great outdoors: for God’s sake, she was afraid of the leaves. But Tina, the lumber jill, is a natural outdoors-woman. It was said even at Tribal Council, she knew how to make the fire and she got the water: two MAJOR things. There was no question Tina was an asset to this tribe’s physical survival.
So, why was she voted out? Because, ultimately, Survivor is much more than a test of physical survival: it is a social game at its core.
At this point, I think it would be most effective to take each one of the four women of the Casaya tribe one by one and tell, in three of their cases, what they did right, and in Tina’s case, what she did wrong:
CIRIE— I have to start with Cirie. I already like her. She’s not very useful in the outdoors, obviously, but so far she has been very funny to watch, but even beyond that, she is smart. She may not have the physical, but she has the mental no problem. She realized right away that in a tribe of only four people, there was absolutely no way to hide. She was also very aware of her less-than wonderful status when it came to her overall physical usefulness to the tribe. Point blank, Cirie recognized that there was a target on her back, and she made all the right moves to get it taken off. Was it smart to vote off Tina? Well, from a standpoint of the tribe as a whole, no, they could really use her survival skills. But, from the standpoint of Cirie as an individual, there was nothing else to do. Ruth Marie was an obvious ally, and so was Melinda. As I mentioned before, there is no way to hide in a tribe so small, and Tina going off by herself, no matter how valid the reasons were (and trust me, they were 150% valid), it made her an obvious target to a person who is looking for absolutely any reason at all to flip someone into the stratosphere. So, very strong first-episode showing by Cirie, if she keeps it up, she could be in this for a while.
RUTH MARIE— Instantly, I liked Ruth Marie, and she also had a very strong showing this week. First, she came through for her tribe on the skull-smashing challenge, thereby protecting the four of them from the first trip to Exile Island. But, beyond that, she showed me from her performance this week that she is a very tactical, logical woman. Her reasons for voting off Tina were point blank: She’s a threat to me, so she needs to go. No being wishy-washy, no second-guessing herself, she had an agenda in mind and took advantage of joining up with the other two ladies who were weaker, and taking out the strongest of them all. She was also smart enough to let Tina take the leadership role and just step back and be the worker bee; after all, as I’ve said a few times already, you can’t hide in a tribe this small, so any exposure of yourself could result in a reason, no matter how slight, to vote you off. Ironically enough, Ruth Marie so far reminds me of Tina Wesson, one of my favorite winners. A little older, but extremely smart; a woman who obviously knows what she wants and understands what she needs to do in order to get it. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on Ruth Marie, she’s a favorite of mine already.
MELINDA— Overall, Melinda had a pretty weak performance this week. She definitely made the right decision, forcing a tie in the first Tribal Council would not have been a good idea, and it was obvious that both Cirie and Ruth Marie were set in what they wanted to do. However, the stand-out moment for me was at the challenge, when Melinda just sat there and did nothing while the other three were digging. I’m amazed no one mentioned it after the fact, either back at camp or at Tribal Council, so obviously it’s something she’s going to get away with: for now. She needs to make sure, though, that it never happens again. I’m still not so sure about her long-term survivability in this game, but we’ll see, only time will tell.
TINA— I felt so bad for Tina; out of all the women on her tribe, she was the one who most deserved to be out there. I felt so bad for her out on the beach mourning for her son; such a heartbreaking moment. I was upset when this tribe was the one that had to go to Tribal Council, because Cirie and Ruth Marie are favorites of mine, I have to root for Melinda on general principle (my mom has her name in a work pool), and I liked Tina and wanted her to go a long way. Ultimately, as I said, though, Survivor is a social game, and Tina had the skills, but not the social ones for this group. And it’s not even the whole going off by herself thing, which normally I frown upon, but in this case was certainly justified, and I’m not even going to touch anymore upon that issue. Regardless, the knife cuts much deeper than that. Tina admitted herself in her Final Words and interviews since the episode aired that she was simply with “the wrong tribe.” Ultimately, though, Survivor is about adaptation, and not only adaptation to twists, but adaptation to the other people. Tina may not have been at her most comfortable, but she should have pushed a little harder to try and befriend these women anyway because she should have recognized that her survival in the game depended on it. Also, calling out how she felt the other women were not doing as much as her was not the smartest move to make. Ultimately, Tina was voted out because she was not able to adapt herself to the social ramifications of the tribe she was on. She relied completely on her skills around camp, but ultimately, Survivor is much more than that.
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Okay, now it is time to take a look at a few people who stood out for me this week, either in a good way or in a bad way:
MISTY— It’s always hard to be the first person voted off, and fortunately, Misty did not have to face that dilemma. No, Misty got a completely new and different, and yet still desperately unwanted, privilege: she got to take the first trip to Exile Island. And, I must say, she has impressed me so far. I was so relieved to see her reaction to her predicament. I was afraid that the first person to go there would just sit down and cry and bemoan their fate. But Misty, while she openly acknowledged how depressing it was (and who could blame her?) we saw her spend her time looking for the Idol, and eating a worm for protein: ultimately, we saw her try to make the best of it. As I said in my pre-show analysis, I think she can become a potentially dangerous force, and her excellent performance as the first visitor to Exile Island is proof that she could be in this for the long haul. Also, her lie about the Immunity Idol: I respect her for making the move. Could it backfire? Absolutely, especially since she has no physical Idol to produce (unless she really did find it, but I don’t think so), but Survivor is about gambles sometimes, and if she goes to Tribal Council, her very presence on Exile Island alone is going to be enough to make people wonder whether it’s worth it to run the risk of casting votes against her, especially if she really does have it. It’s a highly interesting wrinkle to the game that I LOVE, and can’t wait to see it play out throughout the season!
SHANE— Wow. Quitting cold turkey on Survivor? It’s a good idea in theory, but a very bad idea in practice. Shane is most definitely not going to make it 39 days. He likely won’t quit tonight, and it’s fairly safe to say that because the previews are leading us to believe he does, but he is not in this for the long haul. Too much working against him, and if he’s struggling that much this early, it’s simply not a mountain he’s likely to climb. Too bad.
DANIELLE— Not a great way to start. She fails in the challenge, escapes a well-deserved stay on Exile Island because of the unwarranted mercy of her tribemates, and then on the boat, laughs it off with the others when they comment that “She so did not want to stay there.” I don’t blame her for trying to turn the boat around, but labels are cast early in this game. When the tribes are merged into two this week, she needs to take full advantage of the fresh start she is being given.
COURTNEY— I labeled her as my pre-game pick for winner, but after the first episode, I’d lean much more towards Ruth Marie and Misty as my two picks. I think it’s great she’s got such a personal, spiritual connection with nature, but does she really need to share it with everybody by drawing a heart around a dead sea turtle? Especially not at a time when first impressions are being made. I still think she could go a ways, though: look at Jan from Thailand. She buried a dead bat chicken feet and wound up in third place. Who knows, maybe respecting nature on Survivor helps get you further. We’ll have to wait and see!
Okay, that’s enough for me this week! I’m not going to make a boot prediction because I don’t know how the two new tribes will be divided, and so therefore I have nothing to hold on to in terms of making a logical prediction. Your guess is as good as mine!
As far as potential winners go, as I said before, right now, I love the chances of both Ruth Marie and Misty for long-terms stays on the island.
“See” you next week!
