Survivor: Samoa - Week 1

Where Did My Socks Go?

First impressions... I think this season is going to be a good one. The cast already seemed more appealing to me than I had seen during the interviews. This is probably due to the fine editors of the show, but it looks like a group that fall in two categories: Really fun people to be around or very vocal and opinionated people.

Right off the bat, I liked how they did the first impressions this time. Instead of calling out the people who are leased liked, they decided to elect leaders of the tribe, which started this season on a positive note. It was also nice to see two challenges instead of one, and I thought the device of picking out particular people to participate was ingenious. I thought it was interesting to see the difference between how the two elected leaders approached their new positions. Russell S. embraced it with full arms knowing that by being one of the older ones, being catapulted into this position was a great way for him to stay in the game longer. Mick on the other hand never seemed comfortable with it and that attitude definitely carried into the camp. With such outgoing personalities like Ben and Russell H. on his tribe, Mick is going to have a tough time being the leader. I think the tribes seem to be very well divided, so hopefully that’ll prove to be true when it comes to the challenges. It just makes the show more interesting when the victories go back and forth.

I suppose the big standout already is the pure evil nature of Russell H. I honestly don’t see how his strategy will carry him to the end. This is Survivor, so I may be proven wrong, but his charade will eventually have to crumble. I really don’t understand the strategy, and although it may take a scapegoat to reveal his evil ways (cough, cough, Betsy, cough, cough), I can’t see him making it very far into a merge. What will keep him around is his contribution to the challenges. The girls will certainly turn on him, but we’ll see what the guys do. Him and Ben could join forces and reek havoc worse than three Johnny Fairplays combined. Russell’s antics might be shocking and entertaining at first, but I think his presence will get tiresome quick. Pouring out water and burning socks??? There’s a difference between manipulating somebody and endangering somebody’s health.

It’s always hard to write a summary for the first episode because there is so much to see and dissect. You had to feel bad for Marisa because if it wasn’t for Russell, she had potential to go far (think of Erinn from last season), but she made the mistake of not talking to others about Russell before he did the same thing about her. I think it kind of stinks for females like Marisa and Ashley who are confident and outspoken in this game. They always seem to be the first to go, but if you are a guy and have the same qualities, it seems redeemable because a guy may swim faster. That said, this show seemed to focus on certain people more than others for sure (Shambo, Russell H.), but I don’t know if that means that their exit will be fast approaching or if they will be around for awhile. Time will tell...

So... do you think there is any redeemable quality to Russell H.? Did you like the beginning as much as I did (voting leaders in, the first challenge)? Do you feel like this season seems promising?

And on one more note... if you haven’t had a chance to see this show on HD, try to as soon as possible. The crew shoots this show so well and the quality puts live NFL games to shame.

Until next time...