Episode Recap: Survivor Fiji, Week 1

Episode: Something Cruel Is About to Happen ... Real Soon Original Air Date: February 8, 2007 Fiji - remote tropical islands lush with scenery and replete with primitive living conditions. Why haven't they thought of taping Survivor in some place like this before? They promise us there will be new twists this season, of course. One tribe will live the life of relative luxury in their camp while the other tribe will go without absolutely nothing. There are not one, but two Immunity Idols. And Exile Island is infested with "deadly" sea snakes. What the heck? If that's true, that's insane. Something tells me the snake situation isn't quite how they're portraying it. It would be awfully hard to insure the show if it were that dangerous. The show begins with all nineteen contestants rowing together in catamarans to the same beach on the same island. Jeff tells us in the narration that "fear of the unknown" caused one contestant to drop out even before it was time to row to the island. Unknown? The show is in its fourteenth season, for crying out loud. The group makes it to the beach, and afterward the atmosphere is so cordial you'd think there is a convention of Chronically Happy People taking place. It's always interesting to watch the social dynamics on Survivor descend from lovefest to Lord of the Flies. I'm still waiting for the season where it decends even farther into canabalism. Everyone on this island came with a nickname. There's construction worker "Boo", male cheerleading coach (why would any grown man admit to that?) "Dreamz", and a bartender named "Rocky" because he looks like a young Sylvester Stallone. They're like rappers! Soon, a herd mentality takes over as they all decide to do the same thing at the same time. Someone says, "You want to walk around?", and someone else says, "Hey, everybody let's walk around!" Then all eighteen castaways wander off in the same direction. It goes like that for awhile - "Hey, let's walk up here! Hey, let's look at this cave! Hey, let's climb this hill and look at the ocean!" Moo! Jeff Probst is nowhere to be found, and the fact that they have not been split up into seperate tribes yet is obvious to everyone. Just as the castaways are about to go batty from a complete and utter lack of direction, Jeff flies by on a small airplane and drops a wooden crate into the ocean. The entire herd jumps on the catamaran to go fetch the crate. Once they get the crate back to the island, the big guys try to smash it against a rock to open it. One he-man after another tries and fails when finally Yau Man, a tiny old gentleman who originates from Borneo, walks up, picks the crate up once, and smashes it against the rock, opening it. He says he knew from "simple physics" that the easiest way to open it would be by smashing the corner, or the weakest part, of the crate against the rock. The crate is full of instructions and maps of the island. The castaways are to search the island for a number of items, including parts to a toilet, and assemble them back in camp. They are to get this done by nightfall. The instructions tell the castaway that how they perform on this task will help determine their future on this island. Alex, an attorney, says he knows that something is up. "This is Survivor," he tells us, "something cruel is about to happen ... very soon." The castaways find all kinds of things to make their stay easier, including a complete set of pre-cut lumber to nail together with the provided hammers and nails in order to provide a shelter. They also find roof shingles and tons of tools, such as shovels and a level. Erica, a non-profit fundraiser, tells us it's never been so easy on Survivor, so she knows they're about to be thrown a "curve ball" at some point. Back at camp, Sylvia is looking over the plans that have been provided. She's an artitect, so she provides direction to the group as they try to build the shelter. Of course, people start to whine immediately about her trying to "dominate". How dare a knowledgable person take charge of a complicated project! She should let us run around all willy-nilly! Sylvia examines each wall post with a level and pronounces one of the posts "slightly askew". This causes Rocky to pause. "Everytime someone uses a big word in a sentence," he says, "we get to take a timeout... What's 'askoot' mean?" "It means not orthogonal," Sylvia explains. Well, that clears that up. Sylvia worries that the crew will not get the shelter built by nightfall, and she's right. The shelter is still without a roof by the time it gets dark. That's a little problem as it starts to rain, forcing everyone to hide under a bamboo mat. Day 2 The castaways finish building their shelter, which now includes a shingled roof, as well as a kitchen and outhouse ("small outdoor bathroom shed", for those of you raised in the city). Quiet little Yau Man actually manages to make tea for everyone. "You're the professor on this Gilligan's Island!" Earl tells him. Later on, Dreamz shares a little bit about his background with us. He says he's used to the living conditions on the island because he used to be homeless. No wonder he doesn't mind admitting he's a cheerleading coach. That's got to be a lot better than being homeless, no matter how much of a sissy it makes you. He tells us he's trying to 'make his presence known' to the other castaways at this point in the game. They become painfully aware of his presence come bedtime. He starts talking loudly about nonsense, and will not shut up, even when someone asks him to 'simmer down'. "Who told me to simmer down?" he yells, "When someone tells me to simmer down, that just adds fuel to my fire." That's a fire that keeps on burning. Later he asks, "How many white people we got here? [Dreamz is black] If you're white, raise your hand." Rocky finally gets tired of it and takes Dreamz outside the shelter to confront him. Dreamz says Rocky is trying to "belittle" him. Rocky goes to sleep outside by himself in disgust. Day 3 As the crew assembles on the beach for their first Immunity Challenge, they finally get to meet Jeff, which I'm sure will be the highlight of their whole Survivor experience. Jeff asks the castaways if they agree that Sylvia stepped up as a leader while they were building the shelter. They do, so he pulls her out and tells her to divide the group into two teams. After that is done, Sylvia is sent to Exile Island, which, Jeff tells her, she'll have to share with "thousands" of sea snakes. Once she is back from exile, she will join whichever team loses the next Immunity Challenge. The good news is that she's immune from getting voted off tonight and she will have an opportunity to look for one of the Immunity Idols amongst all those snakes. Whoopee. The Convoluted Immunity Challenge Each team is to pull a wooden "chariot" containing two of its members across a quarter-mile course, stopping every few yards on the first lap to untie bags of puzzle pieces from a hanging rope. Then they must finish the course and assemble the puzzle, which will spell out a list of numbers. They must then type those numbers into the computer in the hatch every 108 minutes ...sorry, wrong island show. Actually those numbers are the combination to a large wheel, which contains ... oh, for crying out loud. There's a chariot race and a puzzle. If you want more detail, record the darn show. The Moto tribe wins this challenge. Their reward is that they get to stay in their nice shelter that they built. When they return, they will find goblets, silverware, hammocks, a bush shower, and a nice soft couch. The losing tribe Ravu will have to go live on another beach where they will be provided with only one pot and one machete. And, of course, they will vote someone off the island tonight at Tribal Council. It's a lot like this season of Apprentice! The Ravu castaways row to their new, far inferior campsite. They all seem pretty jazzed about the situation, actually. All of them except Erica, that is. She is not jazzed, and can't figure out why everyone else is. Sylvia makes it to Exile Island, and yes, there are snakes everywhere. At least that's how it looks. There is at least one shot where Sylvia sees some snakes herself. I still don't buy it. There's no way they're going to throw someone in the middle of thousands of snakes. But I digress. Sylvia climbs the steps up the wooden tower and finds the clue to the Idol's location. The scroll says it's not on Exile Island, but somewhere back at camp. Enjoy the snakes! As Ravu tries to scheme, plot, and manipulate to figure out whom should be voted off tonight, I realize there are just too many people still around for me to care. Last season, segregating everyone by race was a stupid idea. But splitting the castaways up into four small teams instead of two big ones was not stupid. The personal dynamic is much more fun to watch among smaller groups. Rocky, Erica, and Jessica form a pretty tight alliance and appear to recruit Carl. They decide Rita should go. But there is another movement among the group to eliminate Jessica. Right now, the focus is on determining who is the weakest link. But no one discusses voting off elderly Yau Man. Perhaps it's out of respect for his age, or maybe everyone just assumes the weakest link must be a girl. Tribal Council Jessica, Rita, Mookie, and Yau Man all recieve at least one vote. See what I mean about there being too many people at this point? Jessica receives four votes and is the first person voted off Survivor: Fiji. Next week - Ravu Tribe is weak from lack of water, Earl kills a sea snake, and Boo keeps injuring himself.