LAST EDITED ON 09-13-06 AT 03:54 PM (EST)
Welcome to the 13th and latest installment of Survivor, this time innocuously subtitled: Cook Islands! for the location in which it takes place. Almost as soon as S12 ended, Outfrontgirl was already on the case for S13, providing lots of details about the Cook Islands and some lovely scenic photos in this thread and this thread.
We will get to the actual spoilage momentarily -- but first:
The Premise
The usual: x number of players, x number of tribes, rewards, immunities, tribal councils, merges, blather-blather... The exile twist from Exile Island is returning, as we were warned, although it has not yet been mentioned if the Hidden Immunity Idol is also returning (we remember how exciting that turned out to be).
In any case, all is dwarfed by the newest innovation Mark Burnett has in store for viewers. As if to reckessly court the bad karma that the number 13 might portend, MB this time has chosen to divide the cast of 20 into four tribes grouped by “race” -- I use that term loosely -- in a twist which much of the world’s population has already raised objections to. (Why, right here in NYC, an Asian city councilman staged a rally at City Hall just to try to get CBS to pull the show! And sponsors are distancing themselves from the show in droves!). This brazen affront to decent persons’ sensibilities was discussed in Survivor21’s tribal divisions thread.
I wonder why MB didn’t call it Survivor: The Amazing (Segregated) Races! In order to get his “diverse” cast, of course, MB had to recruit almost all the talent – I use that term loosely as well – this time. (Actually the aptest title of all would have been Survivor: California Falls Into The Pacific! -- since no fewer than 13 of the 20 DAWS are from that state.) Without further ado, let ‘s meet our tribes:
Welcome to the DAWhouse
HISPANIC AMERICAN / ORANGE / AITUTAKI TRIBE:
Billy Garcia is a heavy metal guitarist from New York. Billy looks sorta white but he has a Hispanic surname so he is on this tribe:
Cecilia Mansilla is a technology risk consultant from California:
Cristina Coria is a police officer from California:
Ozzy Lusth is a waiter from Califonia. Ozzy looks sorta white too, and has a non-Hispanic surname, but he was born in Mexico so he is on this tribe:
J.P. Calderon is a professional volleyball player from California:
AFRICAN AMERICAN / YELLOW / MANIHIKI TRIBE:
Nathan Gonzalez is a salesperson/musician from California. Nathan has a Hispanic surname but he looks black so he is on this tribe:
Rebecca Borman is a make-up artist from New York. Rebecca has a professional connection to Survivor in that she does ex-contestant Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s make-up on “The View”:
Sekou Bunch is a jazz bassist from California:
Stephannie Favor is a nursing student from South Carolina:
Sundra Oakley is an actress from California:
CAUCASIAN AMERICAN / BLUE / RARATONGA TRIBE:
Adam Gentry is a copier salesman from California:
Candice Woodcock is a pre-med student from North Carolina:
Jessica Smith is a performance artist/rollergirl from California:
Jonathan Penner is a writer (get it? Penner?)/producer from California:
Parvati Shallow is a cocktail waitress/boxer from California. Parvati is the name of a Hindu goddess so perhaps she has some Indian ancestry; nevertheless, she looks white so she is on this tribe:
ASIAN AMERICAN / GREEN / PUKA PUKA TRIBE:
Anh-tuan (Cao Boi) Bui is a nail salon manager from Virginia:
Becky Lee is an attorney from Washington, D.C.:
Brad Virata is a fashion director from California:
Jenny Guzon-Bae is a real estate agent from Illinois:
Yul Kwon is a management consultant from California:
Now that the DAWS have been properly introduced, it's time for
Episode 1: I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have To Since She Screwed With My Chickens
Thanks to michel for providing us with this ridiculous title.
Jeff Probst informed us in his media teleconference that “we start the show exactly like we did Season One.” And sure enough, the previews show a large ship in the middle of the ocean and the DAWS on board grabbing whatever supplies they can and jumping overboard to color-coded rafts, which they will steer to their respective camps. Included in what they can grab off the boat are Hawaiian slings, firewood, fishtraps, lanterns, chickens, bananas, and a large crate for each tribe. Rather than post a whole lot of caps here, I’ll just link you to TDT, who has assembled a lovely collection of images of the marooning.
Apparently a female on one tribe isn’t too keen on fowl for dinner:
Might this have something to do with that absurd title?
In any case, we don’t know much else about what happens in Ep 1 but we do know that there is
A Challenge
The previews have only shown us one challenge, so we assume there is only one, and therefore it must be for immunity but possibly reward as well. Flowerpower posted the TV Guide Preview’s caps of the Dream Team running the entire challenge here.
First the tribes assemble in front of structures that will later support ladder rungs. Here we see the actual tribes in their starting positions:
From this vantage point, each tribe runs in their respective lanes over sand dunes toward the beach, where they will assemble a boat out of what looks like giant Lego pieces. In the boat they also place rungs that will be used on the ladder. Next, row out to a color-coded platform in the water and grab your torch. Light the torch from a flaming barrel, and row back to shore.
Here we see that Aitutaki, looking quite pleased, is ahead of Puka Puka at that juncture, and Manihiki hasn’t picked up their torch(es) yet. No sign of Rarotonga:
Once back at shore, they must transport the ladder rungs and the lit torch back over the sand dunes, and start placing the rungs on the ladder in the correct order. Lastly, all tribemembers climb their ladder to a platform above, where they will use the torch to burn through a rope that will release their flag, or something like that.
Here we see that Rarotonga is ahead of Manihiki in the ladder building stage – Manihiki does not have any rungs installed and appears to be cheating off of Rarotonga:
And here we see Puka Puka, post-challenge since they have at least some ladder rungs installed, while Manihiki’s structure is still empty:
Based on the above, the placing of the first three finishers isn’t clear, but it does seem quite clear that Manihiki finishes last. That the African American tribe would lose the first challenge was also spoiled by Darnell1980 at Sucks, who correctly confirmed/disavowed a number of prospective contestants prior to the cast announcement.
Additionally, TDT was tipped off that the losing tribe would get to select an exile from one of the other tribes – in Ep 1, at least – and he proffers vidcaps where it sure looks like Manihiki has decided to exile Jonathan from the Rarotonga tribe. TDT also notes that Puka Puka and Aitutaki are seen with fire when all five members are in camp; Rarotonga we see with fire but Jonathan is the only one not visible. Flints may thus be a reward for the top three finishers.
So that brings us to:
The Boot
Darnell1980’s other info for EP 1 was that there is only one boot. With no evidence to the contrary, sounds good to us. So who will it be?
We have no spoilers, so we must conjecture. I see two possibilities. First, we might consider that Manihiki has three women and two men. The women are all in their 30’s; Sekou is 40+, while Nathan is 20-something. The women could opt to self-preserve, in which case Sekou, being older and not terribly fit, could leave. Sekou is the only Manihiki who appeared on a list of MySpace Friends – see tribe’s thread – which some suspect may reveal Loser Lodge denizens, though that is debatable.
On the other hand, it is always safest at the first TC for everyone to gang up on one person – thus an ersatz feeling of tribal unity can prevail, until the next TC at least. Nathan and Sekou are looking very chummy in some camp shots, so I suspect Nathan would not vote with the ladies for Sekou in Scenario 1 (and neither would Sekou vote for Nathan if he were the choice). So to arrive at a 4-1 vote, one of the ladies would likely have to be targetted.
Four members of Manihiki have creative/show business leanings – two musicians, an actress, and a make-up artist. And, all four live in the show biz hubs of L.A. or New York. Only one Manihiki doesn’t fit that mold: Stephannie, a nursing student from South Carolina who was formerly in the military.
Both Sekou and Stephannie have the kind of low-key preview coverage usually accorded the first boot. Hmmm…..
I’m running out of time, and steam, so I’m not going post any of the future outside tips/spoilers that came in to TDT and other parties. They’re all pretty vague anyway, but I know some people don’t want to be aware of them. If you’re interested, visit TDT’s spoiler page and Survivometer for the lowdown. Jeff Probst has also promised there will be no fewer than three “romances” this time, as Flowerpower points out.
Also make sure to visit VerucaSalt’s highly anticipated Editing Thread -- always a must-read. Pepe has a speculation thread going, and Spidey just came boppin’ in with some insights on Cao Boi.
So let’s wrap this up.
Immunity/(reward) winners (in probable order of finish):
Aitutaki, Puka Puka, Rarotonga
Immunity/(reward) loser: Manihiki
Exile: Jonathan, from Rarotonga
Boot: most likely Stephannie or Sekou
ETA: Jeff Probst assures us there is a record number of blindsides this time, and LordOfSurvivor at Sucks was told the first boot is female and that the first TC "ends strangely." Make of that what you will...
Please feel free to correct any omissions or errors or add any new information that may surface below. Much thanks to everyone else who contributed to the early spoiling -- my profuse apologies if I didn’t mention you by name -- and don’t forget to vote in the Vote Thread!
Edited one more time to say: Darnell1980 *may* have received one more spoiler about Ep 1. If you want to see it, go to the vote thread at Sucks. 
Blowin' the blues away, courtesy of tribephyl
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