An "Insider" Look at Survivor: Exile Island, Episode 1: What Game Did YOU Sign Up For?

Lots to comment about, as usual for the first episode. The tribe dynamics are a HUGE plus in my book, and I hope they keep them around for a while. What I like most of all, and as I predicted to anyone who would listen, is that it conclusively proves the best Survivor player is usually (not counting Amazon) the older guy. Just look at how they got along and how much work they got done. One of these guys should win, and I’ll be rooting for that to happen.

And am I the only one who sees Shane and has to yell, “SHANE POWER!!!” in that “monster truck show announcer guy” voice?

Hallelujah, they have some new sponsors. I’m going out later today and buying some Febreeze Noticeables just to say thanks. Will I get tired of these ads too? I don’t know, but it sure beats watching bears crap.

Tina’s Final Words: It was a great experience. Wow, that was a quick reversion to clichés, you can’t even time it because the stopwatch hadn’t started yet! She wouldn’t have changed a thing. Working hard is what she does and she thinks it worked against her. You think, when you have Vee… er, I mean, Cirie out there?

She did better under duress than she thought. How can you tell, after three days? That’s like getting one question right on an IQ test and declaring yourself a genius. She thought she was the most capable to take charge. Which is why you were voted out. She learned she was a bit of a loner.

She thinks she did a fine job, she was just with the wrong girls. No kidding. She thinks they made a big mistake voting her out, obviously they didn’t think so. My thoughts on this, as always, down a ways at the voting booth clip. She was providing the food, got the water, built the fire. It was interesting how they called her the strongest, yet the social aspect won out over (said in that slow deliberate manner as if talking to a stupid person) surviving on an island. Yeah, well, allow me to use the same tone and say that if you’ve watched a single episode of Survivor and didn’t know that, you’re a complete moron. As I remember someone saying once, what show did you think you were going on, anyway? Maybe you should have done a little research before being a smart-ass.

She wasn’t unprepared, but having a tribe of four women is something new. Again, if you know the show, you should know to be ready for anything. She felt frantic every day, she just wanted to make it work because she knew it was getting worse. She wishes everyone would work harder. Here’s a hint to future Survivors: if you think that, it means you’re working too hard and they’re going to vote you off. Her definition of how to survive on an island was different than the other three women. Considering who is sitting in the confessional right now, I wonder whose version was better.

She hopes her tribe does miserably without her. Don’t worry. She was getting up five or six times a night to keep the fire going. The others talked about going fishing. She wondered where they were going to go and what they were going to fish WITH. She’s got a point. She says the only way they’ll survive is if someone gives them food.

She thinks they have a chance. Teaching them some things will get them a long way. The fire is going to be a problem. They can get it going but they won’t keep it.

Tina, the Day After: She thinks if the dynamic had been different and they had the eight people, she’d still be there. The men would have accepted her for her strength and power (Shane Power?). Since it was the first time they’ve done four women, the weaker ones voted her out first. Well, they HAVE done all women before, which could have yielded the same result. Or the men could have been threatened by you, or annoyed by you. What got you voted out was setting yourself apart and being a loner.

In her normal life, she’s a “no B.S.” kind of person. She elaborates but rambles so badly that I can’t figure out the point she’s making. I can figure out that the type of people she hangs around with are not the type of people on her tribe. And she says she does have friends, in other words, is not a loner.

There’s not one best moment (although there were so many, right?), but she talks about all her accomplishments. Tells you something there.

She thinks her tribemates perceived her as the leader, as the person who was going to last the longest. She didn’t think they’d be the first to go to Tribal Council. She wanted to stock the campsite for the long haul. They figured why not let her do all the work! This explains why they thought it would be OK to vote her out, if they thought they would be set for a while.

She thinks her tribemates are, golly, they’re nice gals. Long pause to find something to say that’s not too mean. They’re riders, not drivers. Another pause. It doesn’t matter to her what they were doing, what mattered was what she was doing. She wasn’t going to risk not having fire or food in order to sit and chit chat.

You don’t get the full impression of what it’s like by compressing 72 hours into 40 minutes. You don’t get the aroma of the camp. Ew. Sleeping on bamboo is hard, harder than it appears.

The people in your alliances help you, they keep you going. So, did you have such an alliance? When Jeff snuffed her torch, she just wanted to get out of there. She realized the effort she put in was for naught, so it was like, “Get me out of here!”

If she were asked to do Survivor again, she wouldn’t know what she would do. Right now, she would say no. But she’s learned she cannot expect anything. Today, she would say no, but she hasn’t been asked today, so who knows. That actually made sense.