Intro
Finally we welcome a new season of Survivor. Last season I gave recaps in poem format. Although I was pleased with my end products, the time commitment was considerably large. I thought about giving general recaps, but uncountably many people already do that, so why should I pile on and provide yet another. Besides, I would always recommend that you watch the episode either the night it airs or soon after on DVR, online, or on demand.
Instead of creative or lengthy recaps, I plan to provide a short and simple analysis on each episode with a focus on details that others might have missed or wondered about.
Disclaimer up front. Information could contain errors since I'm providing my own analysis and insight based on what I saw, remembered, and sometimes reviewed via DVR. And despite genetics and my father's general response to the question "How are you?", of "Perfect", I am not. What I am, however, is an insightful super-fan who watches, thinks about, ponders, and strategizes about enough so that the casting department should really be taking notice.
Enough preamble. On with the important information.
The Premise
Survivor: San Juan del Sur takes place in Nicaragua, which has seen 2 previous seasons - Nicaragua and Redemption Island. It is the 29th season of Survivor (2 seasons per year - it started Summer 2000), and features the return of the Blood vs Water twist that we saw 2 seasons ago. The difference this year is that, due to the interest sparked by that last iteration, we get to see all new players instead of pairs of returning players with their loved ones in tow.
Team Forming Logistics
We don't want instant 2-person alliances. We want drama resulting from family members forced to compete against each other. The team split was easy last time - put all returning players on one team, and their family members on the other. Can't do that this time. Solution? Draw your teams at random. If you watched, you saw the players picking a concealed buff from a bowl. But how did they ensure that each 'couple' was split up? Freeze framing this process showed that the bowl contained pairs of concealed buffs tied to each other. So each 'blood' pair selected a pair of buffs which were of different color once revealed.
The team names are Coyopa and Hunahpu. For info on players, refer to the Survivor websites for biographies and photos of the cast.
Coyopa started with these players, in alphabetical order:
> Alec, Baylor, Dale, Jaclyn, John, Josh, Nadiya, Val, Wes.
Hunahpu started with their corresponding loved ones:
> Drew, Missy, Kelley, Jon, Julie, Reed, Natalie, Jeremy, Keith.
It is worthy to note that there are 18 players. 10 men, 8 women. A 2-woman pair dropped out days before filming began due to a medical situation. I am unaware of further details. It remains to be seen if this gender imbalance will have a noticeable effect on the outcome of this season.
Editor's Grumble Session
They knew they were trying out for Survivor. They knew they were doing it with their loved ones. They knew the twist was blood vs water. They knew, OK so they would have assumed, they would be placed on separate teams and therefore be competing against each other. Any tears shed about Jeremy having to compete one-on-one against his wife, Val, in the first challenge were unnecessary. What did you think this was going to be, a luxury cruise? I understand this is the sort of drama and emotion that is what makes this twist so compelling for many at home to watch, but nobody is even getting voted out yet. The losing loved one even gets to go to the returning Exile Island, where they are all but guaranteed to get a chance at a clue to a hidden immunity idol.
Which brings me to my next topic.
Hidden Immunity
Val loses and in sent to Exile. The winner, Jeremy, must choose someone from his own tribe to join her. He decides Keith looks like he could take care of his wife. Luckily Keith seems moved instead of irritated. Anyhow, Val and Keith each have to choose a jar once they arrive. Both contain a rolled up piece of paper. Twist! Only one has anything written on it. Val scores the first clue to a hidden immunity idol this season. For those who missed the details, here's the scoop. Each camp has a hidden idol. The well can be used to help you find it. Two symbols are shown, one with an 'X' in the middle of it that equates to "Dig" and one that is a rectangle with rounded corners and mostly filled in with a pattern that equates to "Water". Val chooses not to share this information with Keith, though he knows it says something.
Meanwhile, at the Coyopa well, Dale is alone and discovers a strange medallion tied to the handle for the lid. It has no words to indicate any significance, but he takes it anyway, hoping it could prove useful later. The camera catches a few views of the lid itself during this scene. There are 15-20 symbols around the circumference, with "Dig" and "Water" easily identifiable if you had the clue.
Cut to Val once she returned to camp. She checks out the area around the well. We see her checking under rocks and poking around. Maybe it is the editing, but we don't see her noticing the symbols on the lid. With plenty of untranslated symobls, none of which seem even remotely obvious, this is going to be a tough idol to find - that is until someone starts to just look around and find it without clues, which is my prediction for how at least one will ultimately be found.
Immunity Challenge
Kudos to John (former Braves pitcher John Rocker) for being huge. Quite the advantage in lifting people to reach hanging items and for being their stepping stone to climbing an angled wall after he tosses them on his shoulders to get them half-way up.
Playing Survivor, or Jeopardy, or Wheel of Fortune, from your couch is always easier than actually being there and competing. That being said, for the puzzle at the end of the challenge, Jeff gave what should have been the obvious clue to completion. He told them the puzzle is symmetrical. So basically, look at all the pieces, split them into two groups of mirror image pieces, solve half the puzzle, then drop the remaining pieces in place. I'm sitting on my couch. It took both teams several attempts to solve this. They got close only to find their last piece wasn't right to finish it, so had to shuffle pieces into different positions or even start over. Eventually Hunahpu scores a come-from-behind victory to send Coyopa to tribal council.
Girls rally to vote out a guy. They decide on Dale since he's the oldest.Side note: Dale is awesome. He intentionally busted his reading glasses in half so he could start a fire with the higher magnification of 2 lenses. That's dedication.
Guys of course have mostly bonded and think they need to vote out a girl. Nadiya is their choice, not due to her different heritage, but because she and her sister have played The Amazing Race twice, and it is suspected they might have a competitive edge by having done this reality show gig before. The shows are very different, but hey, whatever you need to say to yourself to put the target on someone after only 3 days with nobody to blame in either challenge loss.
Josh is a guy. Josh is gay. This leads both groups to include him. Nadiya, in particular, tells him she thinks of him as one of the girls. Josh reveals to the camera that comments like that annoy him greatly. Not a great sign for her.
The voting ends up 5 votes for Nadiya (from Baylor and all but one guy), 3 votes for Dale (Nadiya, Jaclyn and Val), and 1 vote for Baylor (Josh).
Why did Josh vote for Baylor? Great question. Was it strategy? Was it indecision? Doesn't want to be responsible for voting someone out? Who knows. He had talked closely with Baylor and they sounded like they were on the same page so he likely knew who she was voting for. He seemed like the swing vote so everyone likely told him who they were voting for. So he would have known that Nadiya was out either way. He seems like a wise player and he knows the game, so I'm sure there was a reason. Maybe next episode we'll learn more about the motivation.
Final Thoughts
We didn't hear or see much from the following castaways: Jaclyn and Kelley. Why? Maybe they get axed early in the competition. Maybe they provide such great TV moments later in the season that the produces are saving their best material for later. In Jaclyn's bio, she mentioned that the previous Survivor contestant she is most like is Jefra. I really hope not. No offense meant to Jefra, but let's just hope the similarity ends with being a beauty queen.
Personally, just based on the bios and photos, I had chosen Kelley and Keith to finish 1-2 this season. This was documented on twitter, so I can't go back on it. I'll have to wait at least until episode 2 to find out if my Kelley choice was a good one. So far I'm good with Keith.
Questions and Feedback
That's it. That's all I'm providing for the 90-minute premier.
I don't expect questions, but certainly feel free to ask me anything. I guarantee I will answer you. I do not guarantee I will answer correctly, satisfactorily, pertinently, or even politely.
Also feel free to leave me feedback. Like what I wrote? Want more posts like this? Want it longer? Shorter? Need to give me a piece of your mind? I offended your favorite character of the season?
I'll read all feedback for a reasonable period of time (don't expect anything if you send feedback during season 31). I appreciate that you read to the end, which is why I intend to read and address all comments and feedback.
Shoot. What if this somehow gets popular and tons of people read it and reply? This could lead to different, albeit much better, time commitment issues.
One last disclaimer. If I am fortunate enough to be selected for a future season, I will not be replying to any comments, questions, or feedback while on location. I hear the wi-fi coverage out there is less than stellar.
-Denny Keyes
