Survivor Blood vs Water - Premiere Episode Sept 24/14

Suck It Up and Survive

Last year Survivor had a compelling season of Blood vs  Water with returning players and their loved ones - they decided to do it again this season but with all new players.

We meet the couples as they are on their own together for Day 0 - they have flint to make fire on that first night but the next day they have to leave it behind when they go to meet everyone else.

• Boyfriend and Girlfriend Jon and Jaclyn - she was Miss Michigan and he played football for Michigan State - they do kind of look like Ken & Barbie... and she doesn't want people to hate them because they are "like, this perfect couple." (Oh, and did I mention, I have Jaclyn in the pool.)
• Former pro baseball player John Rocker and his girlfriend Julie - he's got a loud mouth bigot reputation he's hoping to disprove and she's got a the hair and the boobs and something to prove as well, that she can hold her own out there.  Then she squeals when she sees a crab stick it's head out of a hole in the sand (She's not proving she's outdoorsy to me right now.)
• Mother and Daughter, Missy & Baylor - we learn right away that Missy has been divorced three times and Baylor has been forced into the adult role in their relationship... oh boy, let's hope Missy doesn't find husband #4 out there.  And they are surrounded by howler monkeys - that would freak me out...
• Brothers Drew and Alec - they have always had a sibling rivalry and younger Alec wants to outlast big brother Drew.  When trying to get the fire going Drew gets Alec to chop off some hair to get it started... what?  Hair is not all that flammable AND now your fire just smells like burning hair, nice.
• Father and daughter Dale & Kelly - he's a hard working farmer and she just couldn't wait to get out and make her own way - they've had years when they didn't talk but are hoping this experience will strengthen their relationship.
• Long time Survivor fans and couple Josh and Reed, perform on Broadway and are such fans of the game that Reed gave Josh flint for their first Valentines'.  They are just so happy to be there getting dirty, building fire and playing the game.
• Boston police officer Val and husband firefighter Jeremy are rivals in their jobs but madly in love with each other.  He's been trying to get on the show for 10 years, they wouldn't leave their kids and come out there to not win.
• Twins Natalie and Nadiya were formerly on the Amazing Race where they took an aggressive approach that ultimately failed them, twice.  They hope third times the charm.   And the girls start with a prayer (oh sweet jebus) they know Survivor is going to be way harder than the Amazing Race because on the Race they had all their basic needs met but in Survivor, no food, no shelter, they have to fend for themselves.  And they are bickering over the fire, ahh, yes, that sounds familiar.
• Father and son, Louisiana firefighters Keith & Wes share a love of their job and the outdoors... and apparently Keith likes riding Wes - as they have lost the striker to build the fire, Keith was pretty sure it was Wes - they have some friendly banter - While Wes is saying it's his time to shine, Keith say he's pretty good sure Wes is about as mentally strong as a rock.  (They're funny... and Wes is a little funny looking, just saying.)

39 days, 18 people - ONE SURVIVOR!

Day 1 - they all come together in a small arena and Jeff welcomes everyone to Survivor San Juan Del Sur, Blood vs Water.

He polls them to see who was able to make fire - we find out most of them had fire but Keith and Wes provide some comic relief when they describe losing the striker, using a rock and then breaking the flint... something very hard to do, but they managed it.

-Jeff asks Natalie and Nadiya who they think is their main competition and Nadiya starts, "If there was one thing we learned on the Amazing Race, it's not  to judge a book by it's cover." blah, blah, blah... (She came off a little know-it-all-ish - 'I've been on a reality show before so I know how these things go'... whatever, no you don't.)

 

Then they divide them into their tribes, obviously each pair was split up but then they found out if they were blue or orange.

-Then the trash talk begins - Jeff asks John Rocker what it's like not being able to take care of his woman (are we cavemen now?) and he says it's like civil war, brother vs brother...

 

And Keith knows him right away - he watches baseball and he knows that is John Rocker the former relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves - "and he was an ass then, he may still be an ass now." (We like Keith.)

Getting back to the family dynamics, Jeremy agrees that not being able to help his wife is going to be the hardest part out there and she pipes up that she doesn't need his help - she is alright, she runs things, "I don't need his help."  He says, "she says it all the time but we'll see when the game starts." (Hmm, them's fighting words.)

REWARD CHALLENGE

One person from each tribe will race through a wooden cube untangling rope until they come to the first ring -  they must throw the ring, attached to the rope, to snag a wooden platform and drag it back - then they have to get back in the cube, untangle the rest of the rope, get to the next ring and snag the second platform - first person to get the 2nd platform back to their mat will win reward for their tribe.

 

They rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first and Reed's rock beat Dale's scissors (who starts with scissors?) and it's Blue who gets to decide and Jeremy volunteers to go first.  (Really? Shouldn't someone smaller do this, Jeremy is built... he's a fireman.)
Then we find out that that his opponent will be... his wife.  They seem fine with that  - until they find out that the winner will get flint and beans for their tribe and the loser will be sent to Exile Island. (And I don't remember the rules of Exile Island at all) basically she'll have  no shelter and very little food and miss out on the bonding with her tribe but she will be back before the Immunity Challenge.

Jeff asks how they feel about it now and Jeremy looks pretty upset but she's in, "We're here to play."  Val's a little spitfire and I bet she'll do well being smaller having to manoeuvre through the ropes.

Off they go and they were neck and neck until they had to go over the top, then her small stature put her behind when she couldn't get up and over.  He runs the rest of the challenge but she never gave up - she did get the first platform but he got the second before she could even try.

So he wins the flint and beans but he gets choked up and has no words for Jeff about how it feels - then Jeff tells him he has to choose someone from his own tribe to join her in Exile.  And he chooses Keith (guy who lost the striker) because he knows he can build fire and protect her - Jeff reminds him that Keith didn't get the fire going - but that was his sons fault.  Keith is emotional about it - (Who wants to be sent to Exile right away - not how any of them want to start the game) but he's a positive guy, he's gonna make it work.

 

Blue Tribe - Hunahpu

-They get to their camp and the 'getting to know you, let's build a shelter' begins.  They all tell Jeremy that they respect what he had to do already... and he's sure he's never going to live down crying out there on day one - but seeing his wife go away, it doesn't look good for her and that's partially his fault.  Then Jeremy decides he's going to go make friends with all the women - (say what?  Your wife's been gone for 2 seconds (Ha!)) But he does approach Kelly and they agree/hgh five as a strong 2 - then he goes to Natalie and she's in, she likes them both, yup he's using his tears to gather his girls.  Natalie says he is her designated twinnie.  Then it's Missy, if there is anything she's learned from being married and divorced as many times as she has, it's that you have to listen to your gut. (Really lady, maybe listen to your gut BEFORE you get married and there wouldn't be so many divorces.)

-Jeremy feels this is working out perfect for him, everyone wants to date the prom king and it seems he's got a little harem started.

 

Orange Tribe - Coyopa

-Josh is so excited he's on Survivor and he's got a MACHETE! 

-They compares ages and Nadiya tells us there are three early twenties, three late twenties/early thirties, John Rocker, who's like 40 and then Dale/Dad who's like 55 - and they show Dale, off by himself, changing his shoes. 
-Dale says he's a self-employed farmer, he's used to being by himself so the social aspect is going to be the biggest challenge for him.  But the working, he's got that down - he goes to get water and notices a medallion type thing attached to the lid of their water hole - he's going to hang on to that, not sure what it is, but it's probably something.  He knows he's got to find a way to get in with his tribe and he decides that is building a fire by using his glasses and the sunlight.  While the younger folk are trying the friction method, Dale has snapped his glasses in half to double lenses and finally, he make a fire!  Let's hope he doesn't have to read anything later on... or he'll have to MacGyver them back together later.  They are all calling him a bad-ass.. and he's so cute with his little giggle.

EXILE ISLAND

-Val and Keith are definitely an odd couple.  But they both agree Exile Island sucks and they don't want to be there.  First thing they have to do is choose an urn - Keith has a blank note in his urn, her's has a clue for a hidden idol back at camp and she ain't sharing.  Keith, "Story of my life."  One thing they do find out they have in common is that Jeremy, Val's husband, is a firefighter and so are Keith and Wes - so that's a bond that Keith is going to check out when he gets back to camp.

 

Blue Tribe - Hunahpu 

Former model (really?) Drew thinks he's had no choice but to step up and take control of the shelter - he hopes they appreciate all his hard work.

-Julie says, bless his heart but she doesn't know why Drew thinks he's in charge.  She dates John Rocker so she's familiar with the bro mentality and Drew's just a big dumb guy.  Meanwhile he's crowing that he rocked that shelter. (It really doesn't look that great to me - why is it three feet off the ground? Silly.)

 

Orange Tribe - Coyopa

-Wes thinks he recognizes John Rocker so he goes and asks him what his last name is... "Wendle."

-"You sure?"

-John was hoping he could escape his notoriety out there and decided he was going to lie about his identity - but it only took a couple hours - John tried to keep up the charade but Wes played to his ego, said he looked like a guy who was "the Man" and played for the Braves when they were awesome.  John, "Yeah, you got me." (OH, so easy!)  He did ask Wes to keep it under his hat though.  And now John is thinking he may have to get Wes out.

Coyopa - Day 3

Josh's eyes all of a sudden have started burning and tearing - they figure out that some of the branches they have used as cover on their shelter is irritating his eyes - poison sap!  So they just rip those branches down and he's going to suck it up and survive.

 

Hunahpu - Day 3

We find out that Jon - who is a bit of a goofball, howling at the howler monkeys - is going through some sh*t.  His dad has an inoperable brain tumor and he had to decide to give up some of the precious time he has left with his father to be there (you better make it worth it then!)

 

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

-First, the exiles return and are welcomed with open arms.

Challenge

They have to get to the top of a tower - crawling under ropes in the first obstacle, then they have to  work together to reach three suspended bags which contain the means for them to get to the top of the tower.  For the first wall, they'll use a rope, for the second, pegs and the third, just each other.  At the top, 4 members of the tribe must complete a large puzzle to win immunity (a deceptively simple looking, but difficult puzzle.)

Copoya gets off to an early lead by using the physical powerhouse that is John Rocker - he lifts Baylor to retrieve the bags and seats the rope to get them up the first wall but Josh also does really well - they make it up to the top first but, the puzzle is always the great equalizer in these challenges and this was not different - in the end it was Blue/Hunahpu that was able to get the puzzle together first and win the first Immunity.   And it's bittersweet for everyone who is worried their loved one could be the first to go.

-Dale knows it could be him, he's the oldest, but he would be surprised cause he's the only one that can make fire.

 

Hunahpu - Day 3

Back to camp and Keith is playing catch up just trying to find out everyone's name.  He also connects with Jeremy who feels he owes Keith something for taking care of his wife (I'm sure she took care of herself) Keith thinks Jeremy is half on his side anyway cause firefighters are a brotherhood (but we'll see how far that will get him.)

 

Coyopa - Day 3

Val is also being shown around and welcomed by her tribe - but her first priority was getting to the water well and starting to search for the hidden idol she got a clue for... hopefully no one notices.  But it doesn't seem like anyone is even thinking idols yet.

-Dale asks Nadiya how this compares to the Amazing Race and she says on TAR everything is given to you exactly what you need to do but here it's just, figure it out.

-Dale says Nadiya is a known entity, she's proven on TAR that she's willing to backstab people (did they backstab anyone on the Race?  I don't remember, but this is Dale working out his strategy.) And he approaches all the guys and puts her up for the vote tonight.

-Josh goes from that huddle with the boys to a meeting with Nadiya who says she has his back and Natalie is working with his boo over there (I don't like the whole boo-thing, yes, I'm old) but she continues to stereotype him as the "girlfriend" gay guy and that doesn't sit that great with Josh.  He doesn't let on though because he wants to be that person that everyone comes to to discuss who to vote off.

-Next we see Val rallying all the girls, as there are 4 girls to the 5 guys they want to stick together and Nadiya assures them that Josh, the 'gay guy' is with them for sure. (Her ignorance is shocking.)

-Baylor tells the camera she's not really with the women, she's going to do whatever Josh wants to do - (hmm, I missed that relationship developing) She goes and compares notes with Josh, tells him the girls want to vote Dale, he says the guys are talking Nadiya and Baylor says she just wants to vote with him.  Josh is feeling the pressure of the swing vote - he's trying to weigh who will benefit him the most in the game - and Nadiya has unknowingly offended him slightly, Dale is looking safer.

 

TRIBAL COUNCIL
They all agreed that three days is really quick for them to have to make a decision on who to vote out.  John Rocker says they don't have an obvious choice of the obnoxious lazy person or the real jerk. (Yeah, everyone's been pretty vanilla so far.)

-Nadiya says the vibe of the tribe is that they have all been getting along but they have to weigh the physical attributes of everyone.  She gives a little "just keep going" speech.

-Josh feels like they do need to keep a positive spirit.

-Jeff asks Nadiya how Survivor is comparing to TAR and she says it's so different - in Survivor it's "Here's your island, do whatever you want with it."  Survivor took away all her primal needs; water, food, shelter and not least of all her twin sister who is the only blood family she has in America.  For the next, however many days, this is her fam. She's surprised how well they are doing and she's proud of her tribe.

-Val says it's been stressful for her because she doesn't really know these people and hasn't had the time to bond with them but Exile had it's points too, she was able to look around and find things... (Oh, did anyone catch that hint that she may have an idol?  Looks like Jaclyn might have.)

-Jaclyn noticed that the guys have bonded but then just lists the younger guys.

-Jeff asks Dale what it's been like for him then being the older guy - he admits it's hard to find things to talk about but he made sure to prove his worth by building fire for them.

-Wes tells Jeff that Josh is the most well liked and everyone tends to gravitate to him.

-Nadiya pipes up that she agrees that Josh has the advantage to go in between the girls and boys (oh, just stop talking) Jeff asks if that's because he's gay and she says yes (yeah, her calling him 'girlfriend' was just uncomfortable for everyone.)

-Josh says it could be that he's in the middle but he he's not saying that's what's going on here - it is a lot of pressure though.

 

And it's time to vote:

John Rocker votes for Nadiya because she had too much experience on TAR.

Nadiya votes for Dale because he's the odd man out.

 

Tallying the Votes:
 No plays a hidden immunity idol though Val did fiddle with her bag and made them look :)
Votes:

Nadiya - 1

Dale - 1

Baylor - 1 (who voted Baylor?)

Dale - 2

Nadiya - 2

Dale - 3 (he starts to gather his bag)

Nadiya - 3, 4 and the first person voted out with 5 votes is NADIYA! (Wow, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted to see how the twins were going to be on their own... but then she was pretty mouthy and missed the social cues of the group so I guess she did show me how that twin did on her own :)
And with Nadiya leaving us first, that means Tori K, Ian G, and Dave & Lois L. are out of the pool but get their stake back (good & bad?)

 

Nadiya's final thoughts - second time she's out first and it sucks - she doesn't know if it was because of TAR that she had a target on her back but, it is what it is.  She hopes Natalie wins the whole thing.  She's not surprised but she's definitely disappointed.

And they showed that Baylor voted for Nadiya with the guys and Josh was the one vote for Baylor... interesting.

So, it wasn't the flashiest beginning to a season but they showed some hinting footage that someone is going to quit and someone will do the worst thing ever... and there are tears and threats... it looks like it's going to get better!

Have a great rest of the week everyone - and don't forget, The Amazing Race starts this FRIDAY!

Coleen