Survivor: Cook Islands Premiers

First, sorry for the delay in blogging about the first episode of Survivor: Cook Islands. We went to the Red Sox-Orioles game Thursday night; while it might seem strange to go sit in the rain and watch a meaningless game instead of staying in the warm, dry house to watch Survivor, it was the right choice. Turns out that meaningless baseball can still be excellent.

So on to the premiere of Survivor: “Race Wars”. I’ve been pretty vocal about how I dislike the whole concept of dividing the tribes by race. There is something very wrong about it, like we are moving backwards. And it really seems like a publicity stunt more than anything else. But I have to say, it was riveting television.

First, I loved how the season started. They’ve started the show so many different ways, and I was excited to see that Mark Burnett still has a few tricks up his sleeve. To give the tribes 2 minutes to grab whatever they could off the boat, and not have enough of each item to go around was brilliant. It set the tone for the season, and the scrambling has already had effects on the game. I also liked listening in to the conversations on the rafts and as each team landed. Right away, it seemed like Manihiki (the “black” tribe) was most likeable. And they were all about “representing,” whatever that means. I also liked Aitutaki (the “Hispanic” tribe) as well. Most interesting discussion? Definitely over at Puka Puka (the “Asian” tribe), as Jenny pointed out that they’re actually from very different cultures even though they are all “Asian.” You also have Cao Boi (“Cowboy”) at Puka Puka, who I can’t decide whether or not I like. Finally there is Rarotonga (the “white” tribe), which seems to be the most stereotypical of them all. I know that the producers are hoping that we all root for our own race, but I just don’t think I can root for that tribe.

We didn’t see a lot of footage of the tribes building shelter or trying to make fire. I’m guessing that at least a few of them know that in 13 seasons, no tribe has ever made fire without flint, so maybe wasting all that energy isn’t the best choice. There were so many other great moments that the basic shelter/fire/water stuff got left on the editing room floor. Like Cao Boi curing Brad’s headache. Sure, his headache is gone, but he’s now got a giant red mark on his forehead. I wonder which is worse? And then there was Flicka and the chickens…nothing like stealing chickens from another tribe to have a roller girl let them go before you can eat them.

The first challenge of the season is always a big one, and this season was no different. And while I loved the challenge (especially after spending the summer watching one lame trivia challenge after another on Big Brother), my favorite part was listening to Jeff Probst. How many times do you think he practiced saying the names of the tribes (which, by the way, he shortened all of) so that he wouldn’t accidentally yell “Black tribe! What are you doing?!?”? Or maybe he did slip up and they quickly edited that out. I’m just waiting for a moment like on the family version of The Amazing Race when Phil had to look at the Black family (not just their name, also their race) and say “Black family, you’ve been eliminated from the Race.”

So the Asian tribe came in first (after pulling ahead in the puzzle section…), with the Hispanic tribe a close second. And somehow the white tribe held it together long enough to come in third. In a strange twist, the losing tribe got to send someone to Exile Island (which, by the way, I’m totally stoked is back). They sent chicken-stealing Jonathan, noting that karma is a bitch, which, of course, made me laugh. One tv columnist thought it was “street justice”; I thought it was a good move strategically – they’ve endeared themselves to the Hispanic tribe, and they’ve weakened their closest competitor.

Another amazing part of this season is the tribal council set. It looks like it is on a boat, and it spectacular. Not a real surprise that the women stuck together and voted out Sekou. (who, by the way, I predicted would be one of the first out when the castaways were first announced…hmmm….). What was a surprise was that they were given flint to take home with them. I’m not sure why…in the past tribes have always had to earn fire or make it themselves (several times Probst has had them leave their torches behind until they make fire on their own). It seems unfair to the other tribes who won their flint earlier in the day. It just makes me think that a re-shuffling will come sooner rather than later.