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Immunity Blog: Episode 1
BY ROB CESTERNINO (Survivor Amazon & All-Stars)
After a few months of waiting, Survivor: One World has finally arrived. Each week in this column I’ll take a look at the 5 things that jumped out to me from the show. From just one episode, I do not anticipate any shortage of things to discuss with you this season in the Immunity Blog.
5. A Battle of the Sexes – The genius behind playing Survivor in a men vs. women format is that there is a built in tension (for both the players and the viewers) that just doesn’t come when the tribes are divided in some arbitrary way. There is already some real animosity between the two tribes that started with the men looting the women’s possessions and escalated through chicken-gate. Through 24 seasons of Survivor, you just know it’s a sure bet that every time a chicken appears, there will soon be some conflict over the catching/preparing/freeing/killing/eating said chicken.
However, all of the bickering between the two tribes comes at the expense of sound strategy. Survivor did not suddenly become a 39-day battle of the sexes, its still the same social game that requires you to win a jury vote in the end. While it may be mathematically possible to win a jury vote with only players from your original tribe voting for you, it sure is easier when you have good working relationships with players on both teams. Make no mistake, the person who wins this game will not be someone who alienates the players from the other team… which means we can rule out about half of the cast after the first show.
4. The Balance of Power – After the injury to Kourtney’s wrist forced her out of the game, the men were faced with the decision of accepting the easy victory or continuing on with the challenge with immunity at stake. When the men decided to keep their immunity, the women were beside themselves. Much to the chagrin of Jeff Probst, the men would’ve made a huge mistake by giving in to their own competitive nature. The history of balance beam challenges in “Men vs. Women” seasons of Survivor does not bode well for the men (I should know, I was on one). Yes, the men were winning but that lead could have quickly evaporated if for some reason Tarzan couldn’t master the balance beam the same way he masters the “Tarzan yell”. The women will have their chances to beat the men and the men do not owe the women extra opportunities to send them to tribal council. Nothing angers the Survivor gods more than giving back immunity – just ask Ice Cream Scooper Erik or Brandon Hantz.
3. Boltin’ Colton – Nobody was more affected by the news of the tribes being divided by sex than Colton. Immediately, Colton figured that he would not be accepted by the men’s tribe and darted to women’s team, greeting and hugging each of them. My problem with this is that it appears that Colton made almost no attempt to be similarly welcoming to the members of his actual tribe. Colton explained to various members of the women’s tribe that he needed them because he was a target – I believe the opposite is true, he’s making himself a target by being so outwardly friendly with the women’s tribe.
All of Colton’s schmoozing with the women did pay dividends in the first episode. Sabrina found the hidden immunity idol and gave it to Colton. Colton is already planning on how he is going to use it to get Matt out of the game, which is all very exciting stuff; I just worry for Colton’s longevity in the game. It’s one thing to make an explosive move at the first tribal council and rid the game of someone you don’t care for, it’s entirely different to start making real alliances in your own tribe to leverage the power of the idol into getting further into the game. My Survivor sense tells me Colton will be a great source of drama this season but have a zero percent chance of winning the game… So basically, he’s the new Cochran.
2. Feud Looks Like a Lady – Things are not only getting testy between the men and the women, there is also some major conflicts developing in the women’s tribe. For the life of me, I’m having a hard time understanding exactly what Alicia’s issue with Christina is. Apparently, Alicia is angry because Christina negotiated a deal to get the women fire in exchange for the women weaving palm fronds. This seamed like a fair deal but Alicia seemed upset more about the fact Christina was spending time negotiating with the men. Later, after Alicia called out Christina at tribal council, Christina eventually loses her cool when she tells Alicia to “Shut up!” While I’m sure Jeff Probst was delighted by the prospects of catfight breaking out at tribal council, this demonstration is not particularly inspiring for the prospects of either of these women. You certainly don’t need to like everybody on your tribe, but the beauty of Survivor is that there is a really neat way to deal with conflict management and it involves a magic marker. The great Survivor players don’t engage in shouting matches with the people they don’t like, they just quietly go to work on getting rid of them until the time their torch is eventually out.
1. Jock Glitch – The early alliance of Matthew, Michael, Jay and Bill (who was by far the least offending of the group) quickly came together on the men’s tribe. As a foursome this group feels as though they are firmly in control of the men’s tribe… which consists of nine players, leaving five people who aren’t in the alliance (You see where I’m going with this?) While these men are feeling good about their numerically inferior grouping, they’re also standing out as the guys to target for the women. In the episode, Kim and Kat come to visit the men’s fire and are stopped by Michael. He asks them, “Who do you think is running the show?” When the women think Tarzan, he laughs and corrects them by revealing how Matthew, Jay and himself are the tribe’s true leaders. Why on earth would anyone on Survivor tell the other tribe how they’re calling all the shots? I’m sure it is only a matter of time until the young guy alliance comes up with a name for themselves such as “The Stallions” or “The Squadron”, but let me be the first to toss out another suggestion: The Bulls-Eyes
My favorite part of writing this blog is hearing back from you guys, even those of you who are never shy about telling me where I’m wrong. Should the men have played out the rest of the challenge this week? Let me know on twitter, I’m @RobCesternino