Survivor 17 Gabon: Earth’s Last Eden Two-Hour Season Premiere

By: Mary Cavaliere

It seems like Survivor just finished its last season because I’m still upset that Ozzie did not win and Parvati took home the cash!  But in spite of my discontent, Survivor is back in its 17th Season which takes place in Africa on a remote island by the name of Gabon.

There are no former Survivor players this time around.  This season we are back to getting to know the contestants from the start just like everyone else on the island.   Here are the 18 contenders and what little we know about them at this point in time:

G.C. (Danny) ~ Maintenance Supervisor

 Bob ~ Physics Teacher

Kathy ~ Medical Device Saleswoman

Ken ~ Professional Video Game Player

Marcus ~ In The Medical Field (whatever that means)

Charlie ~ Management Consultant

Matty ~ Personal Trainer

Suzie ~ Part-Time Hair Dresser

Paloma ~ Student

Randy ~ Wedding Videographer

Ace ~ Fashion Photographer

Crystal ~ Pre-School Teacher (and Olympic Gold Medalist in Track & Field)

Kelly ~ Retail Assistant Manager

Corinne ~ Pharmaceutical Saleswoman

Dan ~ Attorney (who’s searching for himself)

Michelle ~ Film Industry Something Or Other (I think they call it a gopher)

Sugar ~ Pin-Up Model

Gillian ~ Nurse

Following the tradition of the Gabon island who reveres its elders, the two oldest members, Gillian & Bob, were chosen to head up the two tribes FANG (pronounced FONG) and KOTA.   Bob (KOTA) and Gillian (FANG) both selected the first member of their tribe and as each individual was selected they were then asked to select the next member of the tribe.   Once that was all said and done the two teams had to race across the island and up a very steep hill. The first individual to reach the top of the hill and claim its tribe’s flag won an immunity idol and the first team to reach its destination won a huge bag of beans and corn.  G.C. (FANG) won immunity and KOTA won the first team challenge.

Randy suffered the first injury of the season when he walked into a sharp tree twig after dark.  From what I can see so far, Randy is a bit narrow-minded and ignorant, so maybe the Universe was trying to tell him something.   He is one of the rudest and most obnoxious of all the players and one I’ll be rooting for the tribe to boot off as soon as possible.  The other obnoxious player was Michelle.  She cracked me up when she was complaining and whining about how cold she was.  How about putting some clothes on Michelle?  If she wasn’t so concerned about showing her body in hopes it would take her as far as Parvati’s took her, she might have been as comfortable as the rest of the tribe.  When she made the remark about not being with the smart and beautiful tribe I really had a good laugh.  Michelle, maybe you weren’t selected for that tribe because you’re not smart OR beautiful??????? 

The second challenge was your typical Survivor physical competition with puzzle pieces to put together at the end.  The tribes were playing for immunity as well as fire.  KOTA (the smart and beautiful tribe) won again causing Michelle to rip her team to shreds during tribal council.  Both Michelle and Gillian were on the chopping block but I do believe Michelle sealed her fate while running her mouth off at her teammates prior to the actual voting taking place.  Yup, that’s real SMART and strategic Michelle. Thank God they voted her off on the first show.  I’m not sure how much more of her I could stand.

Alliances have already started to form, but who knows how long they will last.  I am surprised that people are talking about who to trust and who not to trust.  This is Season 17.  Have any of them watched the show before?  TRUST NO ONE!!!!!

The second part of the show began with another physical challenge.  The teams had to push a large boulder and retrieve keys to push their boulder through chains and all the way to its final destination.  The winners were playing for immunity and the reward of fishing gear.  The winners also got to choose who from the opposing tribe would go to Exile Island.  For the third challenge in a row, KOTA won (although FANG gave them a run for their money this time around) and the team chose Dan to head off to Exile Island where he did NOT find the immunity idol (as far as we know).

Once again FANG headed to tribal council where Gillian was voted out, which was no big surprise to the audience, considering she was the oldest and weakest of her tribe.

I do have one question before I close.  WHY IS DAN WEARING A DRESS SHIRT AND TIE??????????

You can read more of Mary’s television blogs at www.myspace.com/italiangirl57