43 Comments

    • It was certainly an … eye-opening start to the episode, I’ll say that.

      Man, has someone left the heater on? It’s like, damn.

  1. That opening scene … holy stud-muffins.

    This season has much more nudity than I remember from past seasons of “Survivor”. Not complaining, just making the observation.

      • The male contenders all went for a nude stroll in the surf. We only saw them from the back, but the cameras lingered.

        I imagine it was an odd Fijian bonding exercise. What happens on the beach stays on the beach.

        Where do they keep finding these ridiculously-attractive people?

    • Warning might have been good. Didn’t really want my 17yo daughter seeing that, especially as it wasn’t just glimpses, but a long scene only just short of full frontal.

    • She never even existed, the poor woman.

      Honestly, though, the number one rule of Survivor isn’t watch your back or follow your gut. The number one rule is DON’T TRUST RUSSELL. Anyone who starts making deals with him and taking him at his word is already handicapping themselves.

      The wedding ring shenanigans is just weird, to be honest.

  2. “If you start losing challenges, will we start to see some cracks?”

    JLap, we all watched the opening scene. I think we’ve seen plenty of those already.

  3. Russell needs to get some of those highs wasted leggings the red head contender is wearing do he can tuck his gut in

  4. I’ve only seen the last 1/2 of episode 2. That.was.a.setup. Russ was never hanging around for long. I’m guessing the vibe was too relaxed for him. He’s the type who needs to feel persecuted for motivation.

  5. That. Was. AWESOME.

    The entire tribal council, I was watching and laughing uproariously. That was brilliant. Voting out Russell is always fun, but he had an idol around his neck the entire time, and he even wore it there. Russell, we have no time for your nonsense. Notice how he didn’t even wait for JLap, he just walked off? That was great. And he’s right, he always was a threat … not because he’s brilliant (although he still seems to think that he is), but because he’s a snake who loves screwing people over. I think it was a good move strategically to get rid of him as soon as possible. Sure, he’s the perfect goat, but he’s a treacherous and untrustworthy wild-card, and everyone probably realised it wasn’t worth keeping him around.

    Mad props to Moana for calling Russell on his nonsense right from the start. Good riddance.

    I wasn’t surprised that Damien’s name was mentioned, as a threat. I mean, if he makes it to the finals, his name might as well be already written on the prize cheque. But I was surprised that his name was mentioned so *soon*. He’s strong and capable, and I would definitely be keeping him around for the time being.

    I was wondering when the champion poker player would make herself known, and she stepped up tonight, but told everyone she’s a champion rubik’s cube solver. Good move. That’ll make for an interesting reveal later on.

    The problem with a large cast is getting to know everybody. Most of the champions tribe haven’t gotten much screen-time, although I think the contenders team got a bit more air-time tonight, so it’s getting easier to figure out who’s who (Benji has the curly hair. Heath is absurdly tall. Zac is the commando-type with the black compression leggings. And Rob is the handsome guy with the blue shorts. Oh, and Steve’s the little Chinese guy who’s probably far more competent than anyone realises). Beyond that, I’m having a hard time putting names to faces. I think that’s the problem with large, unwieldy casts.

    Still, it was good to see the Contenders win something. A one-sided season of ‘Survivor’ isn’t fun for anyone (well, except for Palau. But there, the one-sidedness of the competition was hilarious, and actually made for compelling viewing. But that’s a whole ‘nother story).

    • “Hey russel, will you come in Aus survivor for $20k? Likely it’ll only be a week or so, but if you stick it out will give you more”

    • Damian’s name was mentioned by Jackie not as a threat but as a liability ‘because of his injury’. I found that so offensive, and ignorant of the basic fact he was as Jonathan said ‘a weapon’ in that first challenge, won them the immunity, and has a strong character and good attitude. I wish she’d gone home instead of Russel who is more interesting than her.

    • I have a soft spot for Mo, being an AFLW fan. Also, my niece played directly on her at the only game I got to see live. I worry though, that she doesn’t hide her feelings very well. She needs to learn a poker face.

        • Bulldogs. Unfortunately missed the whole season last year due to injury (easy to happen when the seasons are so short) but on track for a good crack next year. You would most likely not have heard of her, she is one of the background players.

  6. Oh Russell Russell Russell, you’re far too arrogant for your own good. Should have played your idol. While I’ve always found Russell extremely irritating, I would have liked him to stay a bit longer. Not till the end though. Would have liked to have seen his reaction to some Aussiesms.
    And that’s the difference between our Survivor & the US one, bare bums not blurred out & not beeping shit.

  7. I see that being able to spell “Jackie” is already well beyond several contestants. Yet these people “:survived” school.

    Should make for some uproarious puzzle solving later.

    Wanted Russell to stay a bit longer , just to mess things up. I hated the bigoted poker player more.

  8. There are several variations to the spelling of that name. But that would be scintillating campfire conversation – and how do you spell your name? Oo-er! That’s fascinating. I must memorise that, etc.

  9. Great episode (except for the uneccessary beach scene).
    I don’t really like the way the contenders have divided along sex lines. I hope it changes. It reminded me of Puberty Blues, boys doing one thing, girls sitting on the beach watching. One of the Contender beefy boys really turned me off, I think it was Zach, in the sumo challenge. I like the way the champs are using their brains and tactics to beat the mindless brawn of the four contender boys. Those four boys will need to start to show their quality to win me over now.

  10. As someone who works in he field where strategy and critical thinking is required – Russell is a donut. He isn’t a good strategist. He is arrogance made him voice all his game plays and put a target on his back early on.

  11. Zach is one of the Gladiators. I wonder if he was intended to be cast on the other tribe? It’s interesting that we see Benji in the bromance when he is the brother of Annalise from last year, and we know she’s strategic.
    Ryan Brink on his Survivor podcast described the Contenders as a tribe full of Lockies – very skewed to the physical. I think the girls will be the brains on that tribe

    • Was it Zach who had the first whinge about not getting enough to eat? Those boys are all going to do it tough, foodwise – it takes a lot of calories to maintain those muscles. It seems to me that Steve Willis has gone onto the island with less brawn than on TBL – maybe a deliberate ploy, with his superior knowledge of the relationship between food and muscle. Brian Lake will also be interesting, as he is obviously carrying more weight than when playing footy but he has proven he still has the strength, and when he drops a bit due to hunger, he could become quite dangerous. Mat has also shown that agility is a big asset against brawn.

      • It’s also been suggested Commando could be downplaying his strength in challenges to appear less of a threat. I’m looking forward to some endurance challenges.
        Daisy, four nights next week! Ridiculous.

    • Benji may be playing the wise game – quiet, unobtrusive, tagged onto one or two big-mouths as a shield. I imagine quite a few of the ones that we can’t yet identify will be there at the end, having glided under the radar until merge.

  12. I’m annoyed that I missed the first night, then accidentally saw the end of the Russel eviction on the start of my SVU recording (and it was a damn svu repeat). Now I will have to make sure I watch next week.

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