by Gina Scarpa

 

Earlier yesterday on The Talk, Jeff Probst said that after the first season of Survivor, he happily thought the show could go another two seasons but Mark Burnett was convinced it would go twenty. Bold ambition at the time but 15 years and 24 seasons later, here we are. Survivor: Philippines kicks off with the announcement from Probst that fifteen new players will be split into three tribes, a move we haven't seen in quite some time. I'm fairly certain the last time we saw three tribes was doing the first All Stars, and four tribes were only seen in Panama and Cook Islands. Survivor fanatics, correct me if I'm wrong!

 

On the Tandang tribe, we have Abi-Maria, Artis, Lisa, Pete, and RC. The Matsing tribe is comprised of Angie, Denise, Malcolm, Roxy, Zane. Finally, Carter, Dana, Dawson, Jeff, and Katie make up Kalabaw. Before they head into the game, Jeff reveals a twist - three returning players, who were all medically evacuated during their season, would be joining them for a second (or third) chance at the money. Michael Skupin joins Tandang, Russell Swan heads to Matsing, and Jonathan Penner is sent to Kalabaw. Immunity idols are in play, somewhere, and now it's time to grab every item on the boat, get it onto a raft, and head to camp!

 

When time is up, Jeff Kent falls into the water with everything, injuring his knee along the way. This guy is a former MLB player so he needs to keep attention away from himself but just in general, what are you DOING? His tribe manages to save a good portion of what fell into the water, thankfully, and the three tribes head off in their separate directions. Let's check in and see how each one is doing...

 

Matsing: All Russell said is that he was all too happy to let someone else be the leader and then he wouldn't stop ordering everyone around! This does not sit well with Malcolm, who lived in Micronesia for a year, and seems to know his way around a campsite or two. In fact, he's able to guide Russell to get a fire going in the first hour out there - impressive! Denise is curious about Zane and his tattoos, and feels there's story behind it all. The two team up in an alliance, but then Zane makes deals with everyone else. Who is he, Russell Hantz? Russell Swan finds a clue to the immunity idol and tries to hide it for himself, but Zane catches him and plans to call him out on it.

 

Kalabaw: Jeff is still hurting after his tumble but tries to cover it up. He's got something bigger to worry about anyway besides his knee and that thing is Jonathan Penner. Penner's a good talker who knows the game well, so Jeff is hoping to get rid of him first. It seems the other tribe members are on board too, especially Dana, who feels a connection with Jeff because they both come from the south. Apparently, that's all it takes. Dawson figures out who Jeff is, since her ex was a big baseball fan, but decides to reveal it when it's advantageous for her to do so. Perhaps the reason people don't trust Penner is because he's so sneaky - he heads off on his own to scramble and find the idol. He doesn't find it, but he doesn't uncover a clue in the rice at camp.

 

Tandang: RC and Abi-Maria bond right away but RC lies about being a banker, thinking that people will have a lower opinion of her if they find out. The girls want to work with Michael and Pete, who are all too happy to team up. Only Michael recognizes Lisa from The Facts Of Life, but he's also the only one over the age of 30 over there. He confronts her about her identity but she doesn't want to tell everyone who she is, which isn't working to her advantage. The other girls don't trust Lisa and perhaps sense that she's keeping something from them. Back to Michael for a second. If he's going to last in this game, he seriously needs to be careful. He's banging into things and cutting himself every two seconds!

 

For the first immunity/reward challenge, team members are divided into pairs. The first pair races into the jungle, up a cargo net, and releases paddles. The next pair uses those paddles to race a boat out to the buoy (serious water challenges again?! Hooray!) and release a chest. The last pair uses the pieces in the chest to solve a puzzle. RC and Artis are the first back with the paddles, and Michael and Pete continue Tandang's lead by getting the chest back to shore as well first. Kalabaw is able to catch up though and with the puzzle skills of Penner and Dawson, they finish first. Tandang finishes second, and Matsing is last - mainly because Russell divvied up the responsibilities and wouldn't listen to anyone's input.

 

Back at the Matsing camp, Zane makes a speech to everyone to send him home. Woah, woah, woah. What are you DOING?! Apparently, this is some plannnn of his that he seems to think is a good idea so that the tribe can blindside Russell. You probably should a) wait a little bit and b) make sure you really know your tribe before making a big move like that. At tribal council, the group goes at Russell for being too bossy and he admits that he was a bit of a dictator. A bit??? In the end, Zane is the first voted out and seems a little surprised by it. I have no words...

 

Survivor: Philippines airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

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