So looking forward to this season and your take on it, michel! I also enjoyed the beginning of the show and paid attention to those confessionals that were in the very beginning, introductory segment. I agree, those that didn't get a confessional in that portion may be earlier boots. I would suspect that the winner DOES have a confessional in the intro portion of this season!

Most of the confessionals, if not all, were related to how they played the last time and what they wanted to change for this go round.

I found these to be the most important of the show, because the rest of the show it seemed to prove these confessionals right or soooo wrong. Kelly Wiggle remarked how it's haunted her for 15 years and now she's so much stronger....seems to be playing the same game, but look how far that got her the last time. She's a contender, apparently.

Second conf: Savage: I have the perfect life, except for Pearl Islands, this will be epic. Savage looks to be playing the same game as well so far. Not impressed.

Third conf: Spencer: First time I was cocky, now I'm more mature and won't treat people like chess pieces....Spencer is the first one that I see put his money where his mouth is. We see him working the crowd, making connections, getting along and working hard. I'm excited to see if Spencer can top his last game! This is surprising to me because since he was such a "player", sort of like Stephen was, somewhat of a geek, and since his season was so recent, I thought that he would be one of the very first boots. From what I saw in this episode, I think I was dead wrong.

Fourth conf: Kimmi: Comparing the temple to the game, a little bit of wear but can build yourself up, 14 years time to finish the last chapter. Verdict is not out yet on Kimmie as we really didn't get to see her starting her game. The drama and time was spent at the losing tribe.

Fifth conf: Kelley Went: Last time my dad brought me down, shoulda voted him out, this time I am ready to make some moves of my own. Later we proceed to see Kelley doing just that! Making some big moves of her own. Using her head to gather palm fronds and coconuts she finds the clue and is daring enough to get the HII mid challenge. WELL DONE. She voted with the new schoolers and is sitting pretty. She's a gamer!

Sixth Conf: Cierra: Last time with my mom, didn't start playing fearless until I voted her out, now want to play fearless from the start. Sounds good, but like some others, we haven't gotten to see her game yet.

Seventh conf: Tasha: Last time people said she wasn't mean enough, this year she has their blessing, I'm going to win the million dollars and then pray for forgiveness. Yes, that's a million dollar quote! We also didn't get to see Tasha play yet, but cannot wait to see it!

Eighth Conf: Varner: This second chance means everything, last time blew it for peanut butter, this time, not jumping off for anything. We'll see! Varner appeared similarly as he did the last time to me, man in the middle. Identified with the old schoolers but voted with the new schoolers. Hmmmmm?

Ninth Conf: Joe: Last time didn't get to play with my dad at the family visit, fell short....Joe seems to be playing 100% the way he did last time. Which makes me feel he will fall so short...

Tenth Conf: Kass: WE all have a little devil in us, Kaos is deep within me, I like it, want to play differently until merge then look out! We will see how she plays, hopefully they will give her a chance! I have grave doubts about Kass.

Eleventh Conf: Abi-Maria: She wants to clean up her mistakes a bit, but loves playing the villain. As the episode moves on we see she's trying so hard to change, but we know she is incapable of playing differently, it's who she is! Abi will not win this game, but could she possibly be an end game player aka GOAT?

Jeremy: Last time he played with his wife but now she's not here and he can focus. Still wants to win the million $ for her! Another million $ quote! Going to be more strategic and needs redemption.

Michel, I love how astute you are and break down the confessionals by content, as well as notice slight changes in the music! Well done!

Boats arrive and game on at this point. We have the marooning, and they are off, all of them are contenders. Kelly Wiggle goes for the rice, then Joe, then Woo smokes them! A rivalry is born perhaps, if they both make it to the individual part, Joe vs. Woo?

Woo gets the first confessional upon arriving at the Takeo beach, it's like getting his first black belt and this time he's playing for the fans!

Kelly Wiggle gets the first second confessional and she immediately breaks down the tribe into workers and non-workers....workers: Terry, me, Woo, Vytas and Spencer...she hopes when people are tired or wet, they remember her working hard on the shelter....

Then Terry with his intro conf: noting the divisions of new school hit the beach running vs old school build the shelter first, etc. This time he's mindful that he didn't have such a great social game and hopefully will make amends...I love Terry! I know a lot of people didn't, but I had the utmost respect for him. I would love to see him do well this go round. I know if I was playing Survivor, I would be very happy to see him on my tribe!

Spencer then talks with Terry and Terry tells him that his son told him to get with Spencer, then Spencer has a meaty confessional to follow, thanks Terry's kids but the only one I trust out here is me, and I want to know what people are thinking. I want to have more one on one conversations in the first three days here this time than I had in my entire game in Cagayan. Now that is a MEATY confessional. I am liking what I see from Spencer. He's in it to win it!

Abi worries about her bracelet....same old Abi.

Cut to Bayon, where they are harmonious and in good spirits, Cierra tells us, then conf by Keith, wants to play as he did last time but step it up at the end, and he ends his statement with a SPIT! Same ole Keith, which is symbolic of him playing the same ole game despite what he says.

GREAT confessional by Jeremy: Telling us he wants Keith to come back to him. WE see him recruit Keith, then we see him go off to recruit his alliance, just as he did in him season in the first day. This time, however, he wants the stronger people, Tasha, Savage and especially Joe. This is ALOT different than gathering the girls and being the strongest in the alliance. He's going to play more strategically this time, with their strength, they ought to out last! I LOVE THIS!!!

Savage told them he didn't know about Fish....this bums me out because I am a BIG Stephen fan...spells early trouble for Stephen. Then Stephen has his confessional and he notes how he feels exactly like he did the last time, a Fishbach out of water, but last time he connected with someone who was at ease in these elements and they went all the way to the end, but he couldn't beat him, so he doesn't want to do that again. I think MISTAKE!!! JT and Stephen were the perfect duo to make it to the end, and if Stephen doesn't see that, he's doomed. Stephen ends the confessional with either I take charge of the tribe or overplay and flame out early. I am worried at this point that he will indeed do the latter. I just hope and pray for a shuffle, or that the alphas in his tribe will keep them WINNING!

The shots of Andrew Savage chopping down an entire tree and then him trying to break one little branch, HILARIOUS!!! Of course it was meant to highlight Stephen as inept in the woods, as he noted, a "Fishbach out of water!"

Then we move to Vytas trying to make nice with the girls and then Shirin's conf pegging Vytas as her target, with all of his connections and then the connections to the other tribe. We see Varner with Spencer and Shirin, and then a very good confessional by Varner. Where he speaks about how fast the new schoolers play the game and he's just glad he's on the train, and the answer will ALWAYS be yes! Then he notes: I’ll be 50 next year. That’s a big year and most men my age go through a mid-life crisis: They buy a corvette, they cheat on their wives. I go on Survivor! It’s not about a mid-life crisis, it’s about a mid-life quest.

So, with that confessional, I think it's safe to say that Varner is our journey player this year. He's on his mid-life quest, and he's riding the train wherever, ready or not!

Abi finds her bracelet, Pei-Gee conf: need to be better at relationships, keep enemies closer.

Kass at Bayon with a nice confessional: She doesn't care how she does it, she's just here to win! Million dollar quote?

Jeremy asks where Stephen is, Kimmie says he's out looking for the idol, then we have a ridiculous conf by Stephen....ugh, he's so toast if things don't get shuffled. Thank GAWD he's on a strong tribe!

Later, Varner has another meaty confessional, telling us that he's with the new schoolers but doesn't want to turn on the old schoolers, "his people"....the dilemma of this first episode. WE know what happens later...

Nice comments on the significance of long confessionals. I will say that Kelley's was because she is on the quest to successfully find the idol, so her plan is set in motion as she awakens. My biggest take away from Kelley is that she is out to do just what she said in her introductory confessional, she's out to make some big moves of her own, and she NAILED it! I think this blow by blow play of a new way to hide and retrieve the idol was a SUCCESS! I think this establishes Kelley as a serious player, one who may be over looked as she finished so poorly in her first season.

We are shown more of Vytas and his yoga poses and Shirin and Kelley are annoyed with him, as is Abi....cut to the challenge, Keith does poorly, but despite that they win the challenge, thanks to Joe. Cierra gave him GREAT advice and I thought that was helpful input, to get it right the first time. That clearly won the challenge for them.

Nice contrasting Vytas' yoga vs Joega...hahaha! I also noted the camera going to Cierra then Kass when Jeff spoke of someone will be voted out... puts a red flag on these two for me, possible foreshadowing to come, and I recall that Kass didn't get the conf in the introduction portion of the episode, Kass first out for Bayon?

Going to TC, nice notes, Woo, out of the loop, Varner in the middle, sides with the new schoolers and Vytas is toast. Vytas leaves in a classy way, however! This episode served several purposes. RE-introducing us to the cast of characters, and to setting the theme of the show. I love what you surmise, michel, that the one that can integrate both schools of approach may well achieve the balance they need to win this game, along with showing inspiration and humility, etc...

From a confessional point of view, and from what I saw and heard I think my perspective is pretty different. For me, I would say that Spencer and Kelley Went were the stars of the show. They gave us their perspective of their second chance and what they did to amend their mistakes last time, and then they SHOWED us that they meant what they said. They underlined their words with their actions....Very strong and telling for these two perhaps?

I found Varner to be a worthwhile character but I think he may be headed down the journey path. He recognized the importance of this second chance, as if he was the narrator of the season, it was as if he was speaking for them all. He also identified himself as an old schooler but was quick to recognize how the new schoolers play and he didn't want to be left behind. In the end, he didn't want to risk rocks and therefore surged ahead with the new schoolers. His mid-life quest is spelled out, but can he balance his old school ways with the new school pace? Time will tell, perhaps he could be a winner? But, with the previews for next week we see that he's still quite conflicted, talking about how he doesn't like these people (the new schoolers)...If this is an on-going conflict for Varner, perhaps integrating or making peace with the 2 approaches will be his resolution at the end of his story? I dunno?

Regarding those on Bayon, I found Jeremy to have the meatiest confessionals. Jeremy stated that last time he was unfocused, with his wife, but this time would play more strategically, then we see him making the changes he needs to make, going with the alpha's of the tribe, keeping others that can be perceived as more threatening then himself, and choosing people that could get him the farthest in the game with the greatest chance to win. I think the show edited more in of Jeremy from the Bayon tribe than any of the others, and I think that has to play into the story somehow.

Kimmie could have that zen buddist approach, I don't know, I just don't have anything to go on....yet.

Those that I think will have no chance to win this game because they said they wanted to play differently than last time yet they are shown to be repeating the sins of the past...Joe, Keith(spit), Abi-Maria, Stephen (he's shown to shun what he did last time even though it got him to END GAME???, this is a huge mistake, imo), Savage, Woo.

Interesting what you pointed out in regard to Savage, with the camera going to him a lot. I don't know? I know that he was a personal friend of Jiffy's, wasn't he? Could them focusing on Savage have to do with him being symbolic to production as someone that warranted a second chance? I know I certainly felt like he deserved one!?

Terry, Pei-gee, Kass, Cierra, Shirin, Kelly Wiggle....may have promise, but I am concerned for those that didn't get a confessional in the opening segment. I thought Tasha had a million $ quote and seemed to deliver her first intro confessional with conviction, so I am eager to see her play the way she proposes.

Monica....Monica who?