Episode 1 Recap: Wait, How Do You Pronounce 'Tocantins?'
By Gordon Holmes
Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:00:52 GMT
39 Days, 16 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Here are the tribes as they currently stand...
Timbira (wearing black)
• Coach – 37 – Soccer Coach
• Brendan – 30 – Entrepreneur
• Candace – 31 – Attorney
• Debra – 46 – Middle School Principal
• Erinn – 26 – Hairstylist
• Jerry – 49 – Sergeant, U.S. Army
• Tyson – 29 – Professional Cyclist
• Sierra – 23 – Model
Jalapao (wearing red)
• Joe – 26 – Real Estate Sales
• JT – 24 – Cattle Rancher
• Sandy – 53 – Bus Driver
• Carolina – 26 – Bartender
• Spencer – 19 – Student
• Sydney – 24 – Model
• Taj – 37 – Former Pop Star
• Stephen – 29 – Corporate Consultant
Jeff Probst (or as I call him, Mr. Probst) welcomes us from the back of a crappy old truck. The truck parks, and he gives the tribes one minute to grab supplies. Timbira smartly goes for water and food while Jalapao got a Frisbee and an Etch-A-Sketch. Yikes, are we playing dumb tribe/smart tribe like in Gabon again?
We get a twist right off the bat as Probst tells the tribes they’re going to have to immediately vote off a team member. Probst tells us that these team members will not be going on this adventure. Jalapao votes off Sandy because she's older, while Timbira votes off Sierra because she looks sickly. Probst draws his pinky to his lips Dr. Evil-style as he reveals that Sandy and Sierra aren’t out of the game, they just won’t be going on the “adventure” of the four-hour hike to camp. They’ll get a nice helicopter ride to camp. Oh Jeff, you scamp.
During the trek there, Benjamin (aka Coach) lets us know that his goal is to keep “Survivor” from becoming a battle between the weakest players. I like that Benjamin just goes by “Coach.” It’d be sweet if everyone just went by their occupation. But that might cause problems with all of the bartenders/actors/models/etc.
Sandy arrives at Jalapao camp and is greeted by a choice; she can either start to set up camp to impress her teammates or search for an immunity idol that will keep her safe at the first Tribal Council. She chooses to search for the idol. Sierra receives the same choice when she lands at the Timbira camp. She chooses to build a shelter.
The other members eventually arrive at Jalapao camp and are a bit annoyed to find Sandy hasn’t done anything to set up camp. The members of Timbira arrive at their camp and find that Sierra has crafted a rather impressive shelter.
The following day, Sandy starts idol hunting again. She eventually finds the next clue but is stumped when she’s told to walk ten paces. Seriously. “What’s a pace?” is an actual quote. How do you exist on this planet for 53 years and not know what a pace is?
Meanwhile, Tyson drops his drawers in order to get water out of the river. Sierra sees this and just laughs and laughs…and laughs. How do you exist on this planet for 23 years and still giggle at the site of a naked guy?
In other interesting Tyson news, Tyson lets us know that he wants the million so he can afford furs, jewels, and a “man tiara.” Forget donating to charity, dressing like a pimp is far more important.
Immunity Challenge Time: Six members of each tribe will run across a series of sand hills and into the river. There they’ll retrieve a series of planks. They’ll run the planks back across the hills. Once all the planks are back across the hill, two other team members will create a staircase using the planks. Once the staircase is constructed, two team members will run to the top and complete a maze puzzle. The first team to complete the puzzle wins immunity and flint.
The opening part of the challenge is not pretty, as all of the players seem to get exhausted quickly. Probst lets us know that the temperature is 120 degrees. Well, that certainly explains it.
Both teams get their puzzle pieces back to the beach at the same time, however, Timbira manages to get their pieces to Sierra and Erinn first. Fortunately for Jalapao, Sandy and Taj do a fantastic job catching up and eventually taking the lead. However, Spencer and Sydney can’t figure out the maze while Brendan and Erinn breeze through and win it for Timbira.
Back at camp, Carolina seems to be rubbing people the wrong way. Taj, who used to be a member of the Grammy Award-nominated girl group SWV, gives Carolina the heads up that she’s annoying people. Other members of the tribe were impressed with Sandy’s prowess at making a staircase out of planks. We all have our talents.
Unfortunately, Sandy’s talents don’t include finding hidden immunity idols, as the “Take ten paces” part of the clue still has wandering around the beach. Meanwhile back in the States, Dan from Gabon starts to feel much better about his time at Exile IsLagoon.
That night at Tribal Council, several members of the tribe are disappointed that Sandy didn’t do anything at camp for the four hours she was there alone.
Voting Time: Sandy votes for Carolina, Carolina votes for Sandy, and the remaining six votes are for J-Pro’s eyes only.
It’s time for Jeff to read the votes. One vote for Sandy, four votes for Carolina and the first person voted out of “Survivor: Tocantins” is…Carolina.
Verdict: I’m not a huge fan of the first episode of any season. Too much getting-to-know-you stuff for my tastes. That being said, I feel like a lot of the guys are blending together. I’ll reserve judgment until they’ve had a chance to flesh everyone out.
Who’s Going to Win? Dude, I loved SWV. Consider me the founding member of Team Taj.
Message Edited by Gordon_Holmes on 02-13-2009 09:23 AM
Here are the tribes as they currently stand...
Timbira (wearing black)
• Coach – 37 – Soccer Coach
• Brendan – 30 – Entrepreneur
• Candace – 31 – Attorney
• Debra – 46 – Middle School Principal
• Erinn – 26 – Hairstylist
• Jerry – 49 – Sergeant, U.S. Army
• Tyson – 29 – Professional Cyclist
• Sierra – 23 – Model
Jalapao (wearing red)
• Joe – 26 – Real Estate Sales
• JT – 24 – Cattle Rancher
• Sandy – 53 – Bus Driver
• Carolina – 26 – Bartender
• Spencer – 19 – Student
• Sydney – 24 – Model
• Taj – 37 – Former Pop Star
• Stephen – 29 – Corporate Consultant
Jeff Probst (or as I call him, Mr. Probst) welcomes us from the back of a crappy old truck. The truck parks, and he gives the tribes one minute to grab supplies. Timbira smartly goes for water and food while Jalapao got a Frisbee and an Etch-A-Sketch. Yikes, are we playing dumb tribe/smart tribe like in Gabon again?
We get a twist right off the bat as Probst tells the tribes they’re going to have to immediately vote off a team member. Probst tells us that these team members will not be going on this adventure. Jalapao votes off Sandy because she's older, while Timbira votes off Sierra because she looks sickly. Probst draws his pinky to his lips Dr. Evil-style as he reveals that Sandy and Sierra aren’t out of the game, they just won’t be going on the “adventure” of the four-hour hike to camp. They’ll get a nice helicopter ride to camp. Oh Jeff, you scamp.
During the trek there, Benjamin (aka Coach) lets us know that his goal is to keep “Survivor” from becoming a battle between the weakest players. I like that Benjamin just goes by “Coach.” It’d be sweet if everyone just went by their occupation. But that might cause problems with all of the bartenders/actors/models/etc.
Sandy arrives at Jalapao camp and is greeted by a choice; she can either start to set up camp to impress her teammates or search for an immunity idol that will keep her safe at the first Tribal Council. She chooses to search for the idol. Sierra receives the same choice when she lands at the Timbira camp. She chooses to build a shelter.
The other members eventually arrive at Jalapao camp and are a bit annoyed to find Sandy hasn’t done anything to set up camp. The members of Timbira arrive at their camp and find that Sierra has crafted a rather impressive shelter.
The following day, Sandy starts idol hunting again. She eventually finds the next clue but is stumped when she’s told to walk ten paces. Seriously. “What’s a pace?” is an actual quote. How do you exist on this planet for 53 years and not know what a pace is?
Meanwhile, Tyson drops his drawers in order to get water out of the river. Sierra sees this and just laughs and laughs…and laughs. How do you exist on this planet for 23 years and still giggle at the site of a naked guy?
In other interesting Tyson news, Tyson lets us know that he wants the million so he can afford furs, jewels, and a “man tiara.” Forget donating to charity, dressing like a pimp is far more important.
Immunity Challenge Time: Six members of each tribe will run across a series of sand hills and into the river. There they’ll retrieve a series of planks. They’ll run the planks back across the hills. Once all the planks are back across the hill, two other team members will create a staircase using the planks. Once the staircase is constructed, two team members will run to the top and complete a maze puzzle. The first team to complete the puzzle wins immunity and flint.
The opening part of the challenge is not pretty, as all of the players seem to get exhausted quickly. Probst lets us know that the temperature is 120 degrees. Well, that certainly explains it.
Both teams get their puzzle pieces back to the beach at the same time, however, Timbira manages to get their pieces to Sierra and Erinn first. Fortunately for Jalapao, Sandy and Taj do a fantastic job catching up and eventually taking the lead. However, Spencer and Sydney can’t figure out the maze while Brendan and Erinn breeze through and win it for Timbira.
Back at camp, Carolina seems to be rubbing people the wrong way. Taj, who used to be a member of the Grammy Award-nominated girl group SWV, gives Carolina the heads up that she’s annoying people. Other members of the tribe were impressed with Sandy’s prowess at making a staircase out of planks. We all have our talents.
Unfortunately, Sandy’s talents don’t include finding hidden immunity idols, as the “Take ten paces” part of the clue still has wandering around the beach. Meanwhile back in the States, Dan from Gabon starts to feel much better about his time at Exile IsLagoon.
That night at Tribal Council, several members of the tribe are disappointed that Sandy didn’t do anything at camp for the four hours she was there alone.
Voting Time: Sandy votes for Carolina, Carolina votes for Sandy, and the remaining six votes are for J-Pro’s eyes only.
It’s time for Jeff to read the votes. One vote for Sandy, four votes for Carolina and the first person voted out of “Survivor: Tocantins” is…Carolina.
Verdict: I’m not a huge fan of the first episode of any season. Too much getting-to-know-you stuff for my tastes. That being said, I feel like a lot of the guys are blending together. I’ll reserve judgment until they’ve had a chance to flesh everyone out.
Who’s Going to Win? Dude, I loved SWV. Consider me the founding member of Team Taj.
Click Here to Comment - Was it a mistake to pick Carolina over Sandy? What do you think of the landscape? Who's your early pick?
Message Edited by Gordon_Holmes on 02-13-2009 09:23 AM
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Can't believe the eye candy is gone so soon. Then again, with her attitude, yeah I can believe it.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:23:50 GMT | jonnyb
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thank you, thank you, thank you for voting off carolina. Her minnie mouse voiced officiousness hurt my ears.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:03:33 GMT | alkikodibear
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Can"t tell who is really eye candy till they get good and ripe. After two to three weeks of sun and no food the contestents actually get better looking! Maybe I'm nuts but thats the way I see it.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:31:17 GMT | LinwoodSpencer
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How could a woman as stupid as Sandy even get through the interview process? Then again, I could say that about a lot of people that have been on this show. Coach is just another one of those "look at me I'm great" types that generally don't last long. I'm glad the game is back though as I have some strange addiction to watching it.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:37:49 GMT | angrybarracuda
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Sandy may not the brightest bulb in the pack but everyone was hit by Carolina's attitude. I would have been right there with the vote for the mere reason I wouldn't want to continue to listen to that. Sandy's buying her time I'm sure and my hubby's disappointed to see the eye candy gone as well but hey, it's so early in the game!Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:27:32 GMT | natacat
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Sandy is as dumb as that stick she was digging with. Whiney voice or not, Carolina could have been physically helpful (for a little while at least) in the challenges.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:37:04 GMT | kensethfan
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Sandy I believe will be a strong player because she seems to have had a hard life. She's a bus driver, probably works hard at home and most likely does a lot of work out side. The first challenge showed she stepped up to the plate when it came to matching those step pieces with the knotches on the railing. She doesn't know what paces are so I don't think she has much schooling but shes a person to watch out for in this game. The Sgt. needed to do a lot of PT before he got to the show. I love the scenery where they are at and I love Survivor and have been a watcher since day one.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:52:03 GMT | annamay44
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Sandy can be voted off another time-I personally could not bear another second of Carolinas voiceFri, 13 Feb 2009 20:08:23 GMT | efudd06
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Choosing Sandy over Carolina was a smart move. Sandy does not seem to have a lot of education but a lot of times the school of hard knocks makes a big difference. I think she has a lot to contribute to the game and hope she hangs in to the end. Scenery is beautiful -- My pick as early as it is - two actually JT and Jerry-Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:13:42 GMT | AunteeRee
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My daughter (14) and I were watching and totally agree with voting off Carolina. Her "better than thou" attitude and phony "I'm so sorry I voted for you because you're old" really stinks. My daughter said that she would probably smack her if she had to listen to her whiny voice for 39 days.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:39:05 GMT | teammom
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I think they did the right thing voting Carolina off. Think how much fun it will be to watch Sandy every week! LOL.Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:33:10 GMT | janie444
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Sandy over Carolina? Carolina over Sandy? One is whiney and one is rather ditzy so it was a real toss up for me and didn't care which one went.My picks for the final two would be Jerry and spencer. But that could change in due time.
The scenery is awesome, but personally I couldn't stand the heat . In my younger days I would have given anything to be on something like Survivor, but alas, there was no such thing then.
I wish good luck to them all.
Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:52:37 GMT | ruthieg123
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ok, here's how I see it. I'm glad to see Carolina go. She seemed to have many ideas on what is to be done...not much ambition on actually DOING any of it though. Sandy, on the other hand could have cut her on throat by not doing anything to start the camp set up with her early arrival. Lucky for her she did well in the challenge AND Carolina's mouth couldn't stay shut. My wife and I both got a kick outta Carolina telling Sandy she was sorry the tribe lost the challenge and that she's sorry Sandy would be going home! LOL!!! Good foresight Carolina...it's Survivor, remember? Expect the unexpected. Great scenery. Love the waterfall shots. To early to pick a winner...Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:01:30 GMT | gogiants1
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Yes, it was a mistake, Sandy was only interested in finding the idol while her built the shelter. She will go early..Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:11:27 GMT | bobboehmer
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For once they got it right. You need to start out strong and Carolina was dragging booty at the challenge and she was causing stress at camp. You don't need that in the beginning going against the other tribe. I like JT and Coach for now.Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:15:01 GMT | not2oldforidol
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Carolina had to go she was slow in the challenge and she had a big mouth. The scenery is awesome. Early Pick: JTTue, 17 Feb 2009 20:19:33 GMT | wickedwitch2
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looks like sandy got new teeth for the show...haaa
its obvious she has had a past, im thinking way too much crank
lol
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:50:41 GMT | patti317