Playing With Amateurs
The opening reminded me of both Heroes vs Villains and Australia, Jeff sitting precariously at the back of a flying machine. I didn’t get any visual hints; the camera did not focus on one member in particular when Jeff mentioned key words in his intro.
We did have some early confessionals:
Phillip: “I’m the CEO of my own software company but are there more layers to me? Absolutely. I’m a former federal agent. That’s right: Special Agent Sheppard. That was my first and middle name for years.”
(I found it hysterical that the editors weren’t buying it, placing a question mark on screen after Federal Agent.)
Matthew: “My faith is everything. My entire life revolves around it. I pray every day as I strive to be more like my Savior.”
Ralph: “They will call me a redneck. One crazy, stupid bastard! We never had a dumbass win the game, have we? Maybe it’s my turn.”
We can easily guess why Phillip received an early confessional but we’ll have to keep track of Matthew and Ralph who really didn’t need to be shown but gave us a clear read into their character. Their stories weren’t developed in this episode so we can expect they will somewhere down the road. Ralph gave us a possible winning quote while Matt set himself up for a journey.
Right after the intros, we had a first confessional from our future booted player:
Francesca : “We’re on the beach and I saw the mat and I thought: This is really happening.”
Normally, I wouldn’t waste time on the booted player but one of them will be returning down the line so let’s keep an eye out for special treatment. However, I doubt Francesqwoi will make a sweep of the duels so I won’t record all her quotes. This confessional showed her somewhat overwhelmed, a good indication of what was to come.
Mike: “While I was in the Marine corps, I spent two deployments, went to Iraq twice. I think I’m gonna win just because of my background. I think I’ve trained for something like this.”
This is another very personal introduction containing a possible winning quote. Of course, the editors love the soldiers but we can put Mike on the short list of players to watch. There seems to be more men than women on that list.
As Jeff welcomed them to Survivor, the camera went immediately to Matthew, raising his arms in victory.
Rob was greeted by applause, Russell by “OH no” from Mike and Krista.
Stephanie : “OMG! It’s Russell. I don’t even know on which team he’s going to be but I’ll stare down Russell. When I stare down Russell, he’ll know that “she’s got a little evil inside of her” because if I’m not the one person that he picks to take to the end then, no matter what, I’m going to be out. I’m going to be out.”
Note that the first confessional that contained strategy came from a person who didn’t give us any insight into her personality, unless you count “a little evil.” I don’t think that bodes well for Stephanie.
After Jeff made his sales pitch for the returning players, commenting on how great they were, we heard Franciskwa saying: “They’re sizing us up as if we’re prey”. Those unnecessary words meant she was singling herself out of the “heard”. If that wasn’t enough, she explained that Rob and Russell were “two of the most famous trouble-makers in the history of Survivor.”
To answer the prayers of Andrea (we could almost hear her saying “please, please, please”) for Ometepe and Stephanie for Zapatera, Rob picked Orange, Russell picked Purple.
When Jeff explained the Redemption Island twist, it was Matthew’s surprised reaction that we heard first. Will he the one coming back from the island? The camera also panned to Kristina, Krista, Ashley, Francine and David while Jeff explained the living conditions on the island, leading me to believe these people will spend time there. Russell was the one shown when Jeff explained the duels. Will he win some or is that where is game will end? After that the cameras showed Mike, Grant, Steve, Boston Rob before we went back to Russell when Jeff said the words “out of the game for good”. (if only!) Mike and Steve seemed to get the focus when Jeff mentioned the return.
Russell: “Redemption Island does not scare me one bit, it’s a vacation. Yeah! Put me on that island and see what happens. I’m gonna win the challenges and come back and take some heads off.”
Interesting how the editors focused on Russell’s take of the island. I believe that it will be his Waterloo.
Francinaquoi : “When Jeff told us about Redemption Island…it makes Rob and Russell being here more complicated.”
This led to the first commercial. We will have to remember the players that had early confessionals, especially Matthew, Ralph, Mike and Stephanie. The ones without confessionals (and that includes Rob) have a small question mark in front of their edit: Why were they ignored?
Zapatera
Russell: “As soon as I walked to the camp, I was so grateful to be back to get my title of Sole Survivor. The first two, I was a schoolboy. This one, I’m bringing it. This is gonna be the new me: I’m gonna be the leader to my tribe. When I sit them down and take control of the camp, I’ll become the leader of the camp.”
Note that Steve hugged Russell after saying: “The Power of Purple”. Will Zapatera dominate?
Russell, with Krista’s help, called a meeting to tell them how tough Survivor really is. He also promised not to sabotage the tribe.
David: “I think that anybody who doesn’t think Russell is dangerous is foolish. He played the game twice and ended up in the finals twice. He hasn’t won and it’s no mystery why he hasn’t won, it’s the way he chose to play the game both times. He’s too aggressive; he wants the blood on his hands.”
Another leader emerged:
Ralph: “When I seen a big box of nails and all that, I loved it. I can’t wait to get started. I’ve camped, I’ve built cabins, I’ve done all this kind of stuff. If they listen to me, I believe we can build a decent shack. Some of them don’t know what is going on but I don’t want to let them know that.”
Note again that Steve was heard saying: “We’ve got it all” which could be another sign of Zapatera’s dominance.
We also had a little conversation between Mike and Ralph, Zapatera’s two players with a personal story.
Mike had another confessional: “My first impressions? Very good impression. I think we’ve got a bunch of worker bees which is good. As long as we can win and stay away from the immunity challenges, we will do damn well.”
(OK, Mike may not know the concept yet but he has been featured up to now!)
Steve and Krista were the silent players that we were given as examples of worker bees, which I’d count as a good sign for both, at least over the other silent members of the cast. Mike and Ralph’s partnership in building the shelter was once more shown, especially with Mike asking: “Ralph, tell us what you need.”
Note that, at this time, we had a shot of Stephanie looking at people and Russell just walking around, reminding us that there were schemers inside the group of worker bees.
Ometepe
Matthew: “Things are going really well right now. It is such a blessing to have Rob here. With his history in construction work and his experience being here with his laid-back approach, he’s bringing a lot of harmony to this tribe. We might as well call it camp-harmony right now.”
Natalie: “I’m so glad that we have Boston Rob. He is amazing! I’m having so much fun with him and I feel a sense of comfort. I think, if Russell was here, we’d all be on edge because he’s nuts. He would have been crazy.”
This confessional probably served to introduce us to the young players’ alliance on Ometepe but it also served as introduction to a new kind of crazy because Phillip was about to start giving directions to the ladies.
Fransaskatchewan: “The most annoying person so far is Phillip...”
Andrea: “Apparently my hatching isn’t the correct technique. I don’t have really the best aim so I’m just going at it. I live on a farm so I know how to use an axe and I know how to use a hammer. I think he just likes to play the father role so I’ll let him do that.”
Andrea shared a laugh with Ashley.
Phillip gathered all the women to tell them he was a federal agent, that his word was good and that he could help them determine who was lying once they get to the merge.
Fransasqua: “One of the best things about Phillip is the comic relief that is provided by the fact that he thinks he used to be a federal agent is a big secret bombshell that he has and he’s holding and that would blow everyone’s mind if they knew. It’s hilarious. Who cares?!”
Kristina: “We have a whole basket full of stuff and nobody is looking for the immunity idol which is kind of weird because you’d think it’s somewhere in our stuff.”
Rob noticed her snooping around so he asked her about it after getting Andrea to go help Matt. He told Kristina that he’d help keep people away.
Kristina: “Everything is new and everyone is trying to get their footing, it isn’t easy. The fact that Rob knows I was looking for the clue worries me a little bit because I don’t want to come off like this big strategizer and turn people off so, hopefully he’s the only one that understood what was going on. It drives me crazy. I want it!”
With a shot of the women all working on the palm fronds for the shelter, we heard Rob telling Phillip that the 5 girls would vote against the 4 guys. Phillip understood and added: “I definitely want to be working together.”
Rob agreed saying he liked Phillip’s work ethic and that they would talk later.
(So, was Phillip on a secret mission for Rob?! His mission: infiltrate the small group of “terrorist” armed with a weapon of ASS destruction and expose them at tribal council!)
Phillip: “When you look at this game, and a lot of people get super paranoid. The thing about me and any Sheppard: No. Rob is sizing me up. I like to think we are two male lions that are checking each other out. We’re doing a little dance but there will come a point where that is going to take over.”
Phillip went to Kristina asking for her help to keep the young girls from blabbing too much and adding that Rob told him to watch out for the girls’ advantage in numbers. Phillip added: “He’s going to try and divide and conquer and he’s going to play me as the fool and I’m going to play along but I’m going to stick to the girls.”
Zapatera
Russell was off to get water with his newest partner. He asked Stephanie what she thought of the tribe.
She said the other tribe looked more physical. The first part of Stephanie’s confessional was inserted here. Right after, Russell told her that they had to be on the right team and that she was that girl for him and that they simply needed to get to the merge.
Stephanie : “Russell and I were looking for the tree mail and he came up to me and I got all nervous because I thought “prom date”… “Russell is so sneaky, He was like: Let’s form an alliance which is great because he made it to the top three every time he played. Of course I said yes.”
As Stephanie walked back in camp, the cameras followed her and gave us a hint that this new couple may not last long.
We heard a woman’s voice (Sarita who hasn’t been identified on screen yet) saying: “He’s getting the girls.”
David, who was with Sarita, answered: “Please don’t let that happen.”
Sarita added: “We don’t want that to happen. We got to get Russell out of this game immediately.”
David went to Mike who didn’t see Russell as a threat. David disagreed completely, saying that Russell had his hooks on Stephanie. He added: “He does it every time: He gets a cute little girl and turns her into the villainess and I’m not going to let that happen.”
Mike: “I like David. David seems like a nice guy and he’s pretty savvy. David told me that Russell had his hooks in Stephanie. Any pros of having Russell around have quickly evaporated. He’s just going to spread paranoia and be a cancer of the tribe. There’s nothing to be done yet except for the task at hand which is get Russell gone as soon as possible.”
Note that this confessional could have been given to Sarita who definitely would have needed one. Or it could have gone to David, reinforcing his early role as the strategist. Instead it went to Mike who, after getting a personal story, a connection with the fun character of the tribe, then got into the strategic part of the story. The confessional painted David as a positive player but Mike’s story is starting to look very good.
Ometepe
Kristina: “I don’t want to have Rob stick around that long. I like the guy, he’s a great guy but he’s dangerous to have on the tribe. The guys are in awe of Rob and he’s going after the young girls because they are easy pickings.” (Ashley was shown almost flirting with him, playing with his hair while Natalie and Andrea giggled.) “So whatever I do, I think he’s going to be the one I focus on really quickly. If there is an idol out there, I will do everything to find it, I’ll do it. If anyone can find one on this tribe, it’s me.”
So she went on the hunt while the editors used a musical score and visuals of the sun and the sandy beach that reminded me of a Sergio Leone movie. She soon found it and found a secure spot to hide it again. Then she observed Rob walking on the beach with Matthew, Natalie, Andrea and Ashley in tow, almost like his disciples.
Kristina : “The immunity idol means power. I’m probably going to tell somebody about it but I haven’t decided yet. I could make this big giant splash of move and get rid of Rob tonight if I wanted to. I really could. The faster he goes, the better.”
Fransascat and Phillip were on board to put Rob’s name on the chopping block.
Phillip: “I’m a great process person so if you came to me and said you want to form this alliance and we want you to be a part of it and we want you to vote out Rob, I’m going to hear it for what it is and then I’m going to step back and I’m going to go through how you got there. It’s called corroboration.”
He told Kristina that she only had 3 votes so he wanted to know who the other votes were.
(Isn’t that what a spy working for Rob would do?!)
The three got into a fight over his attitude.
Fransasquatch: “I don’t know how it happened, how I got sucked with the old annoying guy in the fuchsia briefs. He is such a pain in my ass. Did I mention we were in an alliance together? How awesome!”
The Immunity Challenge
Despite Jeff’s claim that Rob was an amazing puzzle maker, Ometepe couldn’t overcome the advantage that an extra man on the first part of the challenge had given Zapatera.
Russell stepped forward to get the idol from Jeff as Rob looked on, disappointment crooking his jaw. After Ralph kissed the idol and Julie received flint from Jeff, Russell seemed to taunt Rob by showing him who had the idol.
Russell had a confessional as he left the challenge area: “We are stronger than they are, we are faster than they are, we are smarter than they are. I know how Boston Rob thinks and right now he’s thinking: “OH! Crap. I’m stuck with a bunch of weenies.”
Ometepe
Day 3
Ashley had a confessional: “We lost the first challenge today which totally sucks. In a way, I don’t know if other people feel this way but I feel like we let Rob down. It’s weird but you want to please your leader, I guess but it sucks that we have to go to tribal council tonight.”
Kristina told Francesca that she had the idol and wanted the vote directed towards herself to blindside Rob.
Francesca was happy to hear that but tried to direct the vote to Natalie, the weakest player they had.
Kristina : “Voting Natalie is better for the tribe, voting Rob is better for me. I don’t know, maybe. I would love to vote out Rob tonight.”
Kristina asked Rob who he wanted to eliminate but he simply told her he didn’t know. She left with a frown on her face, knowing what that meant.
Rob : “Originally, I wanted to vote Francesca off because the very first time I met her, she stood up on the mat, looked at Jeff and said: “I don’t want to play with him because he’s too sneaky.” She knows my game so I don’t want someone like that on my tribe. After thinking about it some more, the second we landed on our beach, Kristina was the one looking through all the supplies, looking for the immunity idol. She’s dangerous. She knows strategy and she knows to go out there and to work for it. To me, I don’t need somebody like that with me.”
Rob told his 5 allies that he saw Kristina looking through the stuff and that she probably had the idol. Andrea said she had seen the same thing. Matthew looked surprised and the camera focused on him through a lot of this discussion. Rob told them to split the vote: The guys voting for Francine…Francesca…Ashley suggested to call her Fran which was simpler but not as much fun. The women would vote Kristine(!). He begged them not to screw this up because of what happened during his last season. Andrea was shown laughing at the memory of Tyson’s move.
Back in camp, Phillip still wanted to know who the other votes were so Kristina showed her the idol.
Kristina : “I’m extremely nervous telling Phillip about the idol…I didn’t trust the guy so I hated telling him but I just had to tell him…Hopefully he will keep a lid on it but that is a risk…”
Phillip : “It might not be in the tribe’s best interest to get rid of Rob but is it in the interest of Phillip Sheppard and Company who came to play a game and make some bold moves? I think the longer Rob is around, solidifying those girls and the whole thing, I’m weakened so I need to get rid of him now. Bam. Good bye Rob and you’re looking at the new leader of our tribe.”
The Phillip Sheppard Show
As the players approached Tribal Council, a lion was heard in the darkness, an obvious reference to Phillip’s earlier comment about two lions fighting it out, except this wasn’t a fight!
Rob told Jeff they went straight to work, that Phillip set the tone, that everyone chipped in and that they have a pretty good shelter.
Phillip said he made suggestions rather than being a leader.
Asked if Phillip was leader, Matthew said that Phillip lets you know if you are doing something that is counter-productive and that it wasn’t “very well received on the first day”.
Francesca said they would vote to keep the tribe strong so that implied a woman would go.
Kristina said she didn’t feel safe.
Rob knew that, even if the guys could be getting a free pass, he could be walking away and that there would be nothing he could do about it.
Francesca said Redemption Island added a layer of complexity to the game, saying: “If Rob got voted out tonight, which he isn’t going to, he would be fine and we all feel there would be a very good chance he is going to come back.”
That caught Phillip’s ear and that launched the festivities: “Francesca and Kristina asked me to cast my vote for Rob.”
Francesca denied it. Her interruption irritated Phillip but rejoiced Jeff and Rob.
Phillip went into a rampage: “Jeff, I am a former special agent so if I make a statement to you, I will do everything that I can to adhere to that and I will not betray you. I will go down on a sinking ship until I hear something different and I heard something different so my vote is going to be for Francesqwa.”
Kristina leaned over and whispered to vote out Phillip, adding for everyone that Phillip was a bit unstable.
Phillip was up in arms: “She wanted me to go along with them because she has an immunity idol.”
That was funny news to everyone and Jeff got Kristina to admit she had it and that they were planning on voting Natalie instead of Rob.
Rob got Kristina to show him the idol, making a deal with her: “Give me the immunity idol and you’ll stay.”
She couldn’t do that.
Rob gave his troops the plan by saying: “It might save you for 3 more days but I’m going to do what I said I was going to do with the people I said I was going to do it with.”
Jeff called this an amazing Tribal Council and, for once, I agreed with it.
Rob voted Francesca saying: “It feels so good to play with you amateurs; you give away so much. You don’t even know to keep your mouth shut.”
Brazingly, Kristina kept the idol. She probably knew that Phillip was good for his word and would vote Francesqua.
The Story
The Theme that struck me during this first episode was underlined by Rob’s voting comment. Some players made rookie mistakes while others showed they knew what they were doing. Both tribes were shown building good shelters so that will not help us this season but we did have some hints that Purple will be the stronger team. Indeed, there are some stories, conflicts, which seem long term in that tribe while Ometepe seems much more short term, all contained in the Phillip Sheppard show.
The Characters
Going with the perceived theme, I will rate the players according to what we were shown about their game knowledge.
The Undrafted Free Agents
I’ll put in this category the players that haven’t been given an introduction yet, namely Grant, Julie, Krista, Steve and Sarita. It’s very possible that a nearly invisible player makes it far, one or two always do, but the edits of these 5 are seriously lacking.
Grant: We know he is in Rob’s alliance so that should tell us he knows the game and that he has been picked up to play in the majors but the camera almost separated him from that group. He wasn’t in the shot of Rob walking on the beach with his disciples, he was mostly off screen when the group of 6 decided to split the votes and he was the only Ometepe without a confessional or a Tribal Council intervention.
Julie : She wasn’t shown in any way, barely an extra so she doesn’t have a story.
Krista : We saw her greeting Russell even if she didn’t really want him on her team and we saw her working in camp so I have more hope for her story to emerge than the first two but we will have to wait and see.
Steve: Like Krista, he welcomed Russell with open arms and his words were used to let us know that Purple was a strong team. It wasn’t much but he has time to grow.
Sarita : She only had a small role so we can say that the scouts haven’t recognized her talent yet but her scene was vital to Zapatera’s story. We often get these unknown players making a sudden splash later in the game so I wouldn’t count Sarita out yet. Of the undrafted players, she seems to have to most to offer.
The Rookies: They received differing amount of “playing time”; some made good use of it while others showed their limitations, making rookie mistakes.
Fran : Being the first player ever to Redemption Island, she’ll probably get a Janu-type treatment. Let’s wait and see her win a duel before eliminating her completely.
Phillip : I’d really like to believe that Phillip had been acting as Rob’s secret agent because that would be hilarious but his confessionals about fighting lions make it obvious he won’t be working with Rob. He’ll probably be sacrificed in order to get rid of Kristina’s idol but I do hope Ometepe can win a few challenges to give time for Phillip to bring the laughs.
Stephanie : I’d categorize wanting to be Russell’s girl as a rookie mistake. The cameras showed us that her tribe wasn’t blind to the strategy so, without an idol, there is little chance she can advance. I’ll take her talk with Russell about needing to make it to the merge as an indication that they don’t make it together. However, the game could change very quickly so she could prove me wrong.
Kristina: Finding the idol demonstrated the knowledge of a veteran but once she had it, Kristina was shown making a rookie mistake, letting the wrong person know she had it. What we saw was a very likable person that now faces an insurmountable task. We could be looking at the edit of a Victim so it will be important to see which players in Rob’s alliance are spared the blame of her elimination. Up to now, we only have Natalie because she was mentioned as the target.
Ashley : The confessional she had immediately after the challenge loss could be an indication that she will narrate Ometepe’s journey but it’s too early to tell. She commented on the theme of Rob versus Russell, saying that she was unhappy to have let her leader down but others had confessionals about the tribe.
Natalie : She was one of them, saying how happy she was to have Rob around. We even heard her asking Rob what to do which he answered by saying: “You know what you are doing” so that is a good point for her.
Andrea : For a rookie, we saw a player that had studied some film and was somewhat prepared. She knew about Tyson’s dumb move, she knew Kristina was looking for an idol and she knew not to get in a fight with Phillip but to let him “show” her what to do with an axe. That confessional had a small personal touch, the audience getting to know she’s a farm girl. She also showed us that she knew having Boston Rob was much better than Russell.
Matt: He could be the narrator of Ometepe but I see him more on a journey as he said, to be closer to his savior. Quite a big task but a prolonged and victorious stay on Redemption Island, with a possible monastic angle, could serve the purpose. Of all these rookies, Matthew is the one that has the biggest upside, the most potential for rookie of the year because of the personal side to his story.
The Pros : In addition to the returning veterans, these players showed that they know the game and know what to do out there.
Rob : This was probably the driest episode Boston Rob had in his 4 seasons. No laughs, no personal touches, just discussions about strategy. I’d say his future doesn’t look too bright even if he is leading a solid alliance of 6.
Russell : For a grizzled veteran, a new man, Russell kept his same game plan except, this time, people are prepared for it. Sometimes veterans have to learn new moves or know when to retire. I think that his edit showed us that this will be one season too many for him. His first confessional was about Redemption Island so, as stated above, I think that will be his Waterloo.
David : He wasn’t about to let Russell dictate strategy. With Sarita and Mike, he plans on stopping Russell. The man with a plan doesn’t have a personal story yet and he was featured during Jeff’s talk about Redemption Island so we will need more information on him before considering him as a contender.
Ralph : Speaking of contenders, Ralph had a very good episode. We know he is a character; he quite naturally became the tribe’s leader immediately after Russell claimed he wanted to be leader and he got a connection to another strong, likable player in Mike. Are they in an alliance? We didn’t see it formalized which can be a very good sign because we just know it had to be discussed.
Mike : This leaves us with the player that gave me the best first impression. Certainly, Mike had two comments that made us realize he isn’t a seasoned pro (his talk of winning in order to avoid the immunity challenges and saying that he didn’t consider Russell a threat) but we saw that he learned quickly. He is now a player with a personal touch, that of a proud soldier no less, he is aligned with likable characters and he has a plan. That makes for a pretty strong content for only one episode.
