Surviving the South Pacific, Episode 1: White & Nerdy

Was any part of Whitney glad it wasn’t her? Yes, but Whitney had thought she could do it too, and only didn’t volunteer because Semhar was so vocal in wanting to be the one.

Semhar, playing the role of Jim, is shaking her head in a “no” motion as Whitney talks, so Probst jumps to her. She says she understands the game and knew she’d be safe if she hadn’t stepped up. She takes responsibility for taking on something that was out of her league. (OK, then, encourage them to vote you out – that is taking responsibility.) But she knows she has heart and will give it all she has.

Would Ozzy rather play with someone who has guts and will give it a shot like Semhar did or would sit back and say, “Better you than me”? C’mon, do we really need to hear Ozzy’s answer to this? We already know it. And you’re right – he says he’d rather be with the former.

Who might be another target? Dawn says perhaps Cochran, based just on strength. Semhar nods her head in a “yes” motion now and allows a slight smile to form on her lips. Cochran says he understands the rationale because they look at his glasses, sweater vest, and pale skin, and it’s easy to call him weak (or white and nerdy). But he flew through the net like a hummingbird. He admits he had a momentary snafu at the wall, but didn’t think it was noticeable – he’s corrected on that front.

Papa Bear says Cochran just hesitated momentarily and then they got him over the wall. Cochran wonders if that was fatal and Papa Bear – oh to hell with it, I know he wants to be called that, but now I just feel like I’m recapping a cartoon – Mark says it was not a fatal error.

Does Semhar feel a bit relieved that attention has moved on? She says it is a slight relief that some people see Cochran as a weaker link, but he jumps in to point out that nobody has actually said that. Wow, the spoken word artist vs. the lawyer – two people who know how to form words to use them to maximum advantage. Quite a battle. But Semhar says his name has come up and time – and votes – will tell. Cochran turns to Probst and says he’d better not say, “It is time to vote” right now. Ha!

Probst smiles and says they’ll sit there as long as they want, so Cochran can interject. He says he didn’t want to get to this point yet, but he wants to point out who is working around camp and who isn’t. Then he manages to blank on Semhar’s name in the middle of his speech, then admits that he’s nervous. Anyway, he says she stands by the pot for like ten hours a day and it’s not very strenuous.

Semhar says she makes sure people have toothbrushes – to which Cochran counters that she found a couple sticks. It’s not a huge job. But Semhar just wants to point out that nobody had to ask her to do it. Cochran says she’s making it sound like he wanders around until somebody asks him to get wood. But this is the growing stage and he’s building a knowledge base. He learns something and then does it.

This leads Probst to ask if he’s a learner by nature. Yes, and this is a culmination of 11 years of passion for this game. For there to even be a possibility of being the first one booted is “heartbreaking and mortifying.”

What needs to change in the morning if he survives the vote? He says he’ll do anything he has to do around camp and will their genie in a bottle that they won’t have to even rub. His eyes have opened to the perception of him and he doesn’t think Semhar has that same passion for being part of Survivor.

Semhar thinks that works against him – he’s so mesmerized by the game that he forgets how important it is to be working hard. He counters that it shouldn’t be based on what’s happened so far, but Keith says it has to be. At this point, if I were Cochran, I would then point out that if this is the case, then they must vote out Semhar for her challenge performance! But… he doesn’t do it. Dangit.

Probst says it seems pretty clear that either Semhar or Cochran is going home. With that, it is indeed time to vote. Semhar obviously votes Cochran, saying she’s really sorry but hopefully this will make him step up even more. Um… how will that work if he’s voted out? Cochran returns the favor, saying it’s pretty obvious why he’s voting against her. She’s questioned his intelligence and commitment to the game, and she’s made him question why she should be there any longer. But those are the only two votes we see.

Probst tallies and reads the votes: Cochran, Semhar, Semhar (good), Semhar (better), Semhar (I’m liking the way this is going), Semhar. Yes, Semhar is gone! Well, gone to Redemption Island, that is. After her torch is snuffed and she’s on her way out, Ozzy whispers that he should have taught her how to make a fire. Heh. Cochran leans over and whispers a “thank you” to Dawn.

Probst says it appears they made the decision to believe a person can improve. I think Probst is kidding himself if he thinks this decision – an apparently unanimous one – was made on the spur of the moment at Tribal Council. Besides, if they believed a person could improve, they might have kept Semhar! His words of wisdom this time were not very wise.

Semhar gets to Redemption Island and tells us she’s not so upset at being voted out, but that her tribemates lied to her. It shows her how fake they are (her emphasis). She doesn’t understand how people can be so cold-hearted. Apparently, she’s never watched Survivor before?

Next time: It looks like everybody will be dancing around the maypole. Oh, wait, that’s a challenge where they have to untangle ribbons from a bit post, and Cochran apparently gets caught up. But he reinvents himself as a working machine. Meanwhile, Brandon’s secret weighs heavily on him, so he decides to be honest with Coach – who thinks Brandon has demons.

So, that was quite a first episode! I’m (obviously) glad Cochran survived, but he has some work to do! So far, it seems to me that Ozzy has not done any better of a job of making himself more strategic, but maybe – just maybe – Coach has. Time will tell!

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