A new set of 18 castaways have gathered in Samoa to compete for the title of sole Survivor. The 16 newbies are joined by Ozzy and Coach. From Boston Rob and Russell down to Ozzy and Coach. This is the most pointless combination ever of two not good players. I came for the caviar; I ended up with a bologna sandwich. Brandon Hantz (Russell’s nephew) is arguably the bigger draw here than both of them.
The new contestants travel in on their boat. As I’m trying to get over the concept that some of them were stupid enough to wear jeans, we’re told two people are heading in by helicopter. The woman standing next to Brandon says she hopes one of them is not Russell. He will never, ever tell them his last name is Hantz. Too bad he’s got multiple tattoos that say it. Christine refers to them as temporary players.
So apparently Mikayla is a lingerie football player. I don’t know what that is. John Cochran (no relation to the guy who freed OJ I presume) wants to be called by his last name like Probst’s favorite players. He does not hide the fact that he’s a huge Survivor fan.
Ozzy picks a red egg; Coach picks a blue egg. That rounds out the tribes. Better news for the red tribe than the blue tribe. Ozzy may be one of the worst strategists in the history of the game, but he’ll be very useful at camp and in challenges.
Savaii (red): Dawn, Elyse, Jim, John, Keith, Mark, Ozzy, Semhar, Whitney
Upolu (blue): Albert, Brandon, Christine, Coach, Edna, Mikayla, Rick, Sophie, Stacy
The first challenge pits Coach against Ozzy. They’ll climb a 12 foot pole, grab a turtle, climb under a log, and solve a pyramid puzzle. Reward is taro (similar to potatoes) and flint. Obviously Ozzy takes the early lead in the climb, and he extends that lead in the climb. It’ll come down to the puzzle, though, and apparently neither of them was paying attention to the rules. Realizing they both suck at puzzles, they ask for advice. Boston Rob wouldn’t have needed help. Savaii wins reward.
Ozzy has decided that Semhar will be his partner in this. Hope that works out better for you than your alliance with Amanda did.
Christine says she’s going to look for firewood. It’s not lost on anybody this is code for going on a hunt for the hidden immunity idol.
Medical marijuana dispenser Jim pretends he’s a teacher.
Under Coach’s leadership, Upolu gets to work right away building their shelter. Ozzy’s suggestion: let’s go for a swim instead.
Unlike his uncle who sought out a pretty young girl to be his winggirl, Brandon does not feel comfortable around Mikayla.
5 people are sitting together on the first night. Coach suggests forming an alliance.
On the morning of day 2, Dawn’s breaking down already both physically and mentally. An easy first target.
Brandon’s goal is to be the provider. He catches the first fish, enough to feed a small child, but at least it’s a start.
The immunity challenge is an obstacle course through zigzag pathways and a web of coconuts and over a 10 foot wall. One tribe member will dig for a machete to chop ropes and release coconuts, which will then be used as basketballs. Upolu takes a bit of a lead. They perform better on the wall, but their lead is minimized on the digging. Semhar turns out to be useless at shooting, and Jim does not hide his disgust. In a close battle where the difference is just one coconut, Upolu wins immunity, fire, and a clue to the hidden immunity idol (the clue is hidden because it’s not like anybody needs clues to find the idols anyway).
They start looking for the clue right when they get back. Stacey thinks she could have stumbled right over it and not noticed. She would not be wrong in that belief.
On the other side, Semhar immediately goes off on Jim, telling him she did not like that he was making faces behind her back at the challenge. The immediate reaction is that she needs to go, but since Ozzy has decided he has a crush on her, which he might want to inform her of at some point, he defends her sticking around. His target instead is John, not the worst target, but not as logical a target as Semhar either. This is not smart, but what do you expect from Ozzy? His suspicious strong defense of her is not lost on Jim.
Votes
John
Semhar
Semhar
Semhar
Semhar
Semhar
With 5 votes, Semhar has been voted off the island. She makes her way to Redemption Island, angry that people lied to her about not getting rid of her. If you can’t handle lying this early, you don’t want to be around when it gets really vicious.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: South Pacific Episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.