An "Insider" Look at Survivor: One World, Episode 8, Part 2 – Can’t Get Enough

Welcome to a recap of the special “Insider” videos for this season of Survivor. Each season, CBS posts a variety of behind-the-scenes videos, special interviews, and extended footage at their website and I’m here to tell you all of the juicy details that you may have missed by watching only the broadcast episode. My partner in this effort, Andy, is in charge of recapping half of the videos while I do the other half.

Roll ‘em!

“We Have to Win”

When Christina saw the bottles of sponsor beverage as the prize in the reward challenge, she became quite excited and knew that she had to make her team win. As for the challenge itself, she loved the water slide and felt like she was a kid again. And later, she volunteered to be on top of the block puzzle and guide the men into the right position.

She says that she is very good at solving puzzles and hopes that no one was offended that she just took charge of solving it. She was glad to see that everyone worked together well and communicated effectively.

But it wasn’t always certain that they’d win. The other team was slightly ahead of them when both teams began solving the puzzle. Fortunately, she led her team to solve it before the other team had even half of their pieces in place. And they won the wonderful sponsor beverage reward!

“Through the Roof”

Leif also enjoyed the reward challenge. He loved that slide and says that it was the biggest one he’s ever seen. I’ll let you make your own joke here.

He compares it to a skateboard ramp. Because he is so small, he flew down the slide and was going so fast at the end that he rolled in the sand several times before he came to a stop. It was a blast.

And he enjoyed his teammates and the fact that they were very cooperative and helpful. He thinks that Christina was the real hero of that challenge. It didn’t seem that way at first, when she abandoned the team and ran ahead to the puzzle, but what she was actually doing was scouting out the existing pieces and already fitting them together in her mind. That seemed to be the key to their victory.

When they did win, he was ecstatic. Remember that he has been on the losing team almost every time since the second episode. He says that it was hard not to gloat to the other team but he held back and didn’t. But inside, his excitement level was through the roof. He does feel bad for the other team. But this was his first win and they should be able to understand it if he was a little bit jubilant.

“They Were So Mad”

Sabrina also talks about the reward challenge. She was thrilled to see that sponsor beverage was the reward and also that Jeff let everyone on each tribe have a few sips of the cool, refreshing soda before the challenge. It was heaven.

The reward of sponsor beverage plus burgers and hotdogs was hugely tempting to the teams and everyone tried their hardest. Her team really kicked it into high gear and they did come out victorious. She also attributes the win to great teamwork. Everyone communicated well and everything just fell right into place.

At the start of the challenge, she looked over at the other team (Jay, Troyzan, Chelsea, Kat, and Alicia) and knew that they were physically stronger and would collect all their pieces first. But she also knew that her own team was smarter than them and would breeze through the puzzle. And that’s exactly what happened.

When they did win, Sabrina watched the other team and they were very, very angry at themselves. Remember last week when Jay said that his strategy was to not hunt for food around camp and, instead, rely on winning food rewards? Well that’s not working out very well. And also recall that Kat is on the show to win challenges, not necessarily to win the game. So she’s not happy right about now either.

Sabrina says that what probably pissed them off more than anything else was that they should have been the heavy favorites but Sabrina’s team, the underdogs, worked well together and beat them.

“Nobody Will Understand”

Kat says that since the very first day at camp she has been dreaming about the hamburger and hotdog challenge that she knew was coming. When she heard about the reward before the challenge, she knew that this was the most important day of the season and that she had to make sure that her team won.

She says that nobody, except the players who’ve played this game over the 23 seasons, knows how important it really is to win these rewards and put food in your belly. She adds that she’s lost fifteen pounds already in this game and she needed that food more than anything.

She says that she and Jay took the loss the hardest and they both felt like jumping off a bridge. She concludes by saying that she “probably would have jumped off a bridge more than not ate that food.”

Alas, just when I thought I was going to get through a Kat interview with her making some kind of weird non-sequitur, she tosses one in. I need another bottle of delicious sponsor beverage.

“It Wasn’t My Day”

Chelsea tells us that this was the best reward offered so far and that she wanted to win it more than anyone. She sighs and says that she has been on the winning side for every single reward challenge so far and, she guesses, you can’t win them all. It just wasn’t her day.

She notes that her team was far more physical than the other team and they had a good lead when they started to work on the puzzle. She adds that it is those darn puzzles that get you every time. (Note: She obviously doesn’t mean “every time” since she has been on the winning team every challenge before this.)

She says that it stinks that these challenges aren’t all athletic challenges all the time because then she wouldn’t have to suffer through an occasional loss.

She was not very happy to watch the other team cheer over their victory (like she had done in all of her previous victories). She says that whenever she thinks about her loss, she becomes pissed off. She sighs again and says that the losing team went back to camp and they considered that their own reward was not having to put up with those other people for the rest of the afternoon.

She finishes up by saying that she is not bitter over the loss. Now it is my turn to sigh heavily; maybe I’ll turn my sponsor beverage into a cocktail.

“It Gets Under My Skin”

Troy says that the reward challenge was brutal. He then corrects himself and says that losing the challenge was the brutal part. He says that this was the best reward yet, complete with meat, dessert, and cool sponsor beverage.

When he saw the challenge, he knew that those blocks in the water would be heavy and he disagreed with strategy of sending the women out early. And he was right. The women never tried to roll the blocks and they quickly became exhausted. Of course, Troyzan never spoke up and suggested a better way.