Australian Survivor starts tonight

Hooray – the wait is over. Australian Survivor starts on Channel 10 at 7.30pm, with episode 2 the following night.
It will be interesting to see how the twice-a-week format plays out. Host Jonathon LaPaglia has said they filmed a tribal council every two days, as opposed to the US original’s every three days, and the contestants are there for 55 days in total, rather than the usual 39.


The promos are looking pretty slick so, thankfully, it looks much better than the pathetic attempt at an Aussie version of the classic reality show a decade ago.
I showed my four-year-old the cast photos and asked him to pick a winner and he chose Peter “because he got a big smile”. Usually older guys don’t fare well unless they are firefighter Tom types, but who knows …
contestant1
contestant2
Make sure you vote in the new poll.

HERE WE GO
I’ve already seen the first six minutes but Mr Juz has not. He’s not a fan, although he watched some of Australia, Amazon and Pirate Islands.
Jonathan LaPaglia walks to camera and Mr Juz is mesmerised by his sinewy arms. “God, he’s ripped. Did they deliberately pick someone who looks like Wolverine?” How many push ups did he do by the rockpools to get the veins to pop like that?
I like that he is kinda rugged looking, like Jeff Probst, but not a clone.
We’ll be giving first impressions as we watch the show (but no white rose):
First talking head is Conner (23, law student ACT): Mr Juz says – Likeable, will go far. Me: Yep, has that nerdy Rob C quality and young guys aren’t usually an early boot.
Geez, Samoa looks stunning – tou
El (33, Army corporal, Qld): Mr Juz: army hero, first to crumble. Me: She may be tempted to be a tribal leader, which always results in an exit by about episode five.
Lee (40, ex pro cricketer) Mr Juz: Everyone will him.
Des (59, courier driver, Qld): Mr Juz: He’ll be the mixed metaphor guy, coming up with the pearlers. Me: Looks a Keith Nail type for the one liners but without Keith’s wiry nimbleness. Fitness could be an issue in some of the early team challenges if there is a lot of running and swimming, which is customary. Older folks always go first – unless they are the only ones who can build fire.
Phoebe (27, criminal lawyer, NSW): Mr Juz: Bland. Me: People who talk about how great they are at interrogating others are headed for a fall.
Evan (30, high school drama teacher, Vic): Mr Juz: Delusional. Me: Cocky, but at least he seems to have an understanding of the game.
Flick (23, bartender and personal assistant): Mr Juz: She’s going to fail miserably in her strategy. Me: Meh.
Sam (28, charity co-founder and CEO): Mr Juz: Genuine nice guy. My pick for final two. Me: Could be cocky, but perhaps the horrible spider web should tatt is prejudicing me.
Andrew (29, marketing executive, Qld): Mr Juz: I’m going to enjoy watching that guy – that guy is me (re: his hatred of the outdoors). Me: I do feel sorry that anyone who’s a business person has to wear totally unsuitable clothing, as per Survivor casting directive. Cirie hated the outdoors and she did very well in Survivor. I’m not convinced about Andrew – will he rub people the wrong way or he is playing a villain?
Kylie (38, firefighter, Vic): Mr Juz: I like her. Me: She’s very likeable. Will go far but could get taken out near the end because she’s an obvious threat.

The contestants meet JLap and his arms a still a-poppin’. He gets a few contestants to chat and, first mistake, Des reveals his real age. Should have shaved off a few years. Conner seems personable and is obviously a fan – hope he doesn’t get lost in strategy.
They’re going with the three-tribe format: red, blue and yellow (who can remember the Samoan names?)
JLap points to a lit cauldron floating on a raft out in the ocean behind him. Whoever swims to it first and lights a torch gets fire for the tribe. But there’s another raft with general camp stuff, which they also need, so they’ll need to balance both needs. A girl called Tegan grabs a chicken, which usually turn out to be more trouble than they are worth.
Red tribe isn’t very good at getting into their canoe. They partially flood it and plantains float everywhere. Blue tribe is first to untie, followed by yellow. Both send out two swimmers. Red team wisely realises they suck and instead loads up on supplies. Smart – history has shown most water provided on Survivor isn’t as impure as the producers make out and is safe to drink without boiling. Of course, fire is nice for warmth but dehydration is a bigger worry than being cold.
Sam the spiderweb man is first to light the torch and wins fire for the blues, which include Conner and Kylie the firefighter.

We get the iconic Survivor music and intro and the tribes are at their own beaches, getting to know each other rather than building a shelter straight away. At red old fella Des reveals he used to be in the army so is used to sleeping rough. Rohan sparks laughter when he says he’s a model (but reveals to camera he has several degrees). Brand manager Kat in the floppy hat assumes the boss role (danger, danger!) and the others start chopping down branches. Des says to camera he wants to save his strength: “I’m going to try and do as little physical work as possible.” Kat comes over to tell him to help and he barks back: “I’m just getting the fruit out of the sun so it don’t go crap.” I was really hoping we’d see him dash into the jungle to look for hidden immunity idols, but no-one has mentioned them … yet. “I’m goimg to sit in the background like Kung Fu Panda and just sneak up on them at the end. Always wanted to play the villain,” Des says. But he’s a bit tetchy to the others, so will be an easy target if they go to tribal first.

Over at yellow beach they all look a bit clueless.
Craig (recruitment officer) says he’s gay but happy to take on the alpha males.
High school teacher Nick looks soo much like Rob C and he knows how dangerous it is to be a leader. “However, when there’s seven dodos just roaming around, you have to do something to try and coral them.” He tells the camera he’s been going to the gym, practising puzzles and seeing a hypnotist to overcome his fear of rodents (surely this piece of info will come in handy later). he realises he’s made a mistake by appearing too knowledgable and diverts everyone with an ocean swim. Businessman Andrew notes Nick has put himself in a dangerous spot from the get go.

You know leaders don't last, Nick!
You know leaders don’t last, Nick!

At blue everyone is standing round with their Olympic torch, chatting, rather than scrambling for kindling to keep their hard-won flame alight. Conner is getting A LOT of camera time.
Bianca (36, Vic) tells the tribe she works in a boring insurance job, but to camera she confesses: “I currently work as a private investigator.” Ooh – she’s a bit of a Tony I work in construction but really I’m a cop.

Bianca could go far (as long as she applies loads of sunscreen)
Bianca could go far (as long as she applies loads of sunscreen)

Oh no, nice boy Conner has already hurt himself by grabbing a hot stick. Keep it in the saltwater, Conner! Listen to firefighter Kylie. At red they have neither shelter nor fire and, to camera, army corporal El says it won’t work with wet wood. Des gives his tribemates the shits by implying he knows how to start a fire but can’t be bothered wasting his energy.
Over at blue they don’t have any building skills (as Matt says: “I’m a magician”) but they do have some go getters like Sam, Kylie and Flick. This is a strong team – poor bugger Conner, out in the water.
He and Flick finally go for a walk and they start talking alliances – good one. I was worried the Aussies wouldn’t jump in to strategy straight away. Flicks tells she may need to cut him further on as he’s strategic (which shows there’s more to her than meets the eye).
They are setting yellow up to be the loser team that gets Pagonged. Sue, 59, is a personal trainer and retired customs officer – plus she was in the army reserve: “I’m not the average nanna.” But after a while they do in fact get their act together and build a shelter. They all lie on it and – crack – it breaks in the middle. They have a laugh but they’d better hope they fix it before the rain comes.

Night falls and over at red the girls are spooning, trying to get warm. Since some are just in hot pants I’m not surprised. Des just grabs a giant banana leaf and wanders off to the side to use it as a mattress. The others follow suit but it’s a full moon and the tide comes in and threatens to wash them away. No-one gets any sleep.

The next day reds are scrambling to move their stuff out of the way of the oncoming waves. Drama teacher Evan goes for a swim in the storm surge, which is foolish. Much of the camp is under water, so they are going to have to rebuild further inland.

Challenge time
Yellows confess they didn’t start a fire but reds try to bluff for a bit, until model Rohan cracks and tells the truth.
JLap explains the challenge, which is a racing over obstacles, building bridges, pulling ropes type one, with a traditional puzzle-solving component to finish.
The obstacles are physically very challenging – there would have been a lot of cuts and bruises afterwards. Sam proves a linchpin for his blue team, hauling everyone over as needed. They are ahead at the bridge building section.
Waiting at the puzzle station, Des is calling out instructions to the red bridge builders but just pisses them off. Yellow team, who were last, pick up the pace and tears through the bridge building – it looks like Nick (aka Rob C clone) had a lot to do with it, but it could be the edit. Red are last to the puzzle.

For yellow, the puzzlers are 59-year-old Sue and businessman Andrew.
Red’s puzzlers are “leader” Kat and taciturn Des, but he’s not really listening to her.
Blue’s puzzlers are magician Matt – who’s fast – and bartender Flick. They win and yellow is second. Red wasn’t in the race, mainly thanks to Des, but really they had no choice but to put him there – he would not have made it over those steep obstacles.
Yellow team gets a flint for coming second.

Red is going to tribal. It has to be Kat or Des – and he knows it. Quick – get back to camp and light a fire, Des, if you want to save your skin.

Muscle men Rohan and Lee go for a swim, leaving the girls to chat on the beach. Women’s alliance! They reckon the boys don’t have a clue how close they are. Kat knows Des will be gunning for her. But the girls don’t seem to have pulled in a guy to help their numbers, which is a mistake. Des knows he’s in trouble and, finally, he starts giving some direction about building a decent shelter. He teaches weaving palm fronds for a shelter roof and even does a bit of schmoozing with the girls.
Des goes to get water with Rohan and alerts him to the girls’ alliance. Rohan reckons Des might be handy to keep around, now he’s showing some survival skills – after they got flooded.
Drama teacher Evan says he, Des and Pigtails Kristie are the oddball outsiders. Personally, I’d keep Des for at least one more tribal, until the shelter was schmick, then cut him.

It’s tribal council
JLap is now attired in a checked shirt and chinos. I miss his T-shirt and shorts – wardrobe changes are not very Probstian. They start with red detailing how rubbish they were at building camp, and Rohan notes Des kept his skills to himself. Des does little to take the target off his back with his explanation of the magical skills. Kat goes hard in her defence of her puzzling skills and her pointing the figure (and likely rightly so) at Des. Des tells JLap he’s voting Kat because he doesn’t like her.
It’s time to vote and Kat is up first to write down Des’s name (if Kat goes tonight she should leave her clothes behind for the others – at least she’s got a flowy cardy and three-quarter pants). Des votes for Kat: “Kat, I’m voting for you. Don’t like being told what to do. Only my wife does that.”
JLap reads the votes and … it’s Des. His fire is extinguished and, to his credit, he gives his teammates the thumbs up and says “good luck, guys”. And then they were seven – at least they get flint.

Rohan is handsome and intense in the firelight, while Des is, well, Des.
Rohan is handsome and intense in the firelight, while Des is, well, Des.

Next time
There seems to be some injuries and paranoia going on. But we only get a five-second preview so can’t analyse much.

Bye Des
“I think my wife’s going to say my wife made the right decision … because I’m very hard to live with.” We see everyone voted for Des.

So, what did we think?
Interesting there was no talk of hidden immunity idols. Surely there will be some? Some good characters there but the tribes are so darn big it’s going to take a while to keep track of all the personalities. As usual, sadly, the younger women tend to blend as one in the non-winning tribes because they don’t get any airtime. I want to see more of secretive Bianca.



Facebooktwitterredditmail
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
43 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Carole

So excited for Survivor tonight. Not long now.

Windsong

… okay, is it just me, or are there some pretty handsome castaways there?

Windsong

Honestly, looking over the photos, my eye went straight to Rohan. Funnily enough, I used to know a guy called Rohan (he worked in the menswear department of my local Myer) who I had a bit of a crush on. I wonder if it’s the same guy? He looks a bit like him.

Lee looks pretty beefy, and Evan looks very handsome too. And his glasses give Craig kind of a nerdy quality … but it’ll just my luck all four of them are the first four eliminated :).

Juz

Hmm, that wouldn’t be because Rohan looks a teeny bit like Jordan from MKR?

Windsong

He does a little bit, doesn’t he?

But the photo makes him look better than the action shots. I think for the moment, my heart belongs to Conner, the blue-eyed long-time fan with the curly dark hair. Swoon.

As for possible winners after the first half-hour? Like, Bob below, I like Sam, but I also like the woman who was a fire-fighter. First responders (like Tom from Palau) tend to do quite well in this franchise.

Alan

I wonder what would happen if Windsong were forced to choose between Rohan and Jordan?

Bob

My pick is Sam.
I think he looks like he has that combination of tough and friendly that is needed to win challenges and get votes.
No female will win. This is Australia after all.

Windsong

Not gonna lie. Already a little bit in love with Conner.

Windsong

Sam too. The ex-professional cricketer has a great body, too. Gone off Craig a little bit. You know, I’m just gonna be honest. I mostly watch ‘Survivor’ for the eye candy. The strategy of the game is a secondary thing.

I like the private investigator girl, though (telling everybody she works in insurance).

Windsong

The blue team looks like they’re gonna be this year’s badasses, with the magic trinity of being fit, smart and working to each other’s strengths.

Meanwhile, over on the red beach, the old guy (who didn’t make the slightest effort to build their camp, and who did nothing but stomp around in a bad mood, while going on about how capable he is) is suddenly surprised to realise that he’s got a target on his back and will have to scramble to avoid being eliminated. Has this guy watched the show before?

Julie

Des deserves to go – but I’d kinda like to see him stick around a bit. He’s a bastard but could be entertaining in a Mick Taylor way.

daisy

I wanted Des to go for being an old dickhead, but yes, being an lld bastard was going to make him interesting. He ocker accent was a bit much.

brain dead dave

Mick Taylor’s compound from Wolf Creek (the first one) is just a mile or so from here. A lot of the film was shot (pardon the pun) in Adelaide and SA. Same with Bad Boy Bubby. I call my next door neighbour Bad Bot Bubby ‘cos he ticks a lot of the boxes.

Not to be confused with Mick Taylor from The Rolling Stones.

Haven’t seen the second Wolf Creek. I heard it was weak but the first one was scary.

Windsong

The second one was crap.

But, see, I thought the first one was as well. I thought it was an awful movie. Not awful as in ‘omg this is scary!’ but just generally awful and stupid.

Windsong

And in a surprise to nobody, the cranky old man gets booted first. I laughed when they showed the votes, and nobody had even bothered siding with him. Rookie mistake, Des … in the tribal game, you *have* to give a damn about everybody else (including the people you don’t like much) to survive until the merge. Once the tribes all merge, *then* you can go, “Fuck you all”. Still not a great plan, but better than the one you had.

Overall it wasn’t a bad episode. I feel like the casting was right. Sure, there was eye-candy (a lot of it, too), but I feel like a lot of the castaways had quite varied backgrounds and personalities, in terms of what they brought to the show. There’s quite a few people who I’m really interested in seeing how they interact with all the other players (which is the name of the game. I’d definitely keep my eye on the private-investigator and lawyer). There’s also people I really want to see just how damn badass they are (Sam, or the firefighter), and I’m invested in Conner’s journey because he’s a fan and he’s like the tribe’s little brother (who will either be deep-sixed at the first loss, or kept around to be manipulated by a real game-player).

The host didn’t do a bad job (although I thought that he kept trying to ape Probst, a little bit too much. Hopefully he finds his own groove in the coming episodes), and the camera-people couldn’t stop reminding us that Samoa is a beautiful part of the world.

I definitely think I’ll tune in tomorrow night.

daisy

Haven’t read comments yet because it’s just starting but I think La Pag’s grammar and speaking is going to annoy me. In the first 4 minutes he said said “all a you” instead of “all of you” twice, and “everyone one of you HAVE an equal chance of winning”. I thought he would be a good choice but so far his voice over in the challenge is annoying me too.

Windsong

Make a drinking game out of it, and take a shot every time he’s providing live commentary on a challenge, and he says the word “furiously”. After a while, I just couldn’t stop hearing it.

daisy

I got used to him but now I will hear furiously…as well as “all ar ya”.

Carole

Thanks for the great recap Juz.
Great first episode, I really enjoyed it. So do they not watch the US version? One guy had glasses. Keith (I think) or someone started a fire with his glasses.
I kept waiting for someone to call him Dr Naughton.
That was hilarious when the shelter collapsed on them.
Those waves were massive at that beach. Usually Survivor locations are sheltered lagoons with no waves. Although I remember one of the earlier seasons camp got washed out too & wrecked their rice.
I’m really interested in the mentalist guy. I’ve seen that other mentalist guy on Sunrise & Today & he is incredible.
That Des was just a dick, was glad to see the back of him.
I was wondering the same thing about the immunity idols Juz. I wonder if there are any & if they will look for them.
I noticed when Jonathan was on a few shows last week he said he won’t tell them who the winner is. So does this mean we won’t get the live vote reading & reunion show like in the US?
Will you be recapping Zumbo’s desserts too Juz?

Juz

Ta, Carole. I will be watching Zumbo but recap for the premiere probably won’t come until the following day, due to the Survivor clash. Unless you or someone else wants to?? I hope it’s good. I’m a bit worried about it.

Carole

That’s fine Juz, I’m happy to wait till the next day. I’d be hopeless at it. Ha ha

Brussellsprout

Our 13 year old wanted to watch so it was on here, I hadn’t religiously watched the American ones so I’m not completely into the premise. But we all were drawn in by the first episode – it was a lot of fun to watch. Will be continuing, but haven’t got names clear. The guy on blue with cringeworthy spider web tatt on shoulder was an absolute machine getting people over obstacle course. He may not have shelter build skills but he is strong. Bloke who picked up hot stick – Connor? – seems an oddity.
I’m in!

Fijane

We loved it here and laughed so much more than the American version. I really prefer the Aussie way of relating to each other, at this point it feels more genuine (but I’m sure it won’t last).

Who was the girl who said she doesn’t really believe in alliances based purely on biology? She gets the brownie points this week. Good on her for not being sucked into the “sisterhood” illusion. It might be useful to pretend for a while, though.

My only negative was that I found Jonathan’s voice quite shrill, especially during the challenge. But he’s entitled to some settling-in time, and hopefully he will calm down a bit.

I love to see older people do well in the game, but seriously, Des had no idea and such stupidity received its just reward this time.

Windsong

I quite liked Sam too, but I’m pleased nobody else was a fan of the spider-web tattoo.

Tattoos are just like graffiti on the Mona Lisa with some people, you know?

brain dead dave

There’s an encore of this going on Ch10 right now, in case all a you don’t know that. You has the opportunity to catch it and survive..I’m not gonna miss me chance.

Ch 10 ,destroying language and grammar as we know it. I expect the contestants to be bogans….but not the host.

daisy

😂😂😂😂

brain dead dave

I knew the Lapags were from here, Juz but not about the awesome qualifications. Can’t be many doctor/actors out there….then again you do get people who act as doctors etc.

daisy

Stoyne the floimin’ craows, Des could “” foil id in his bones”.
I won’t miss Des’s Stroin.

brain dead dave

Sounds like Des was educated by watching Alf on Home And Away. Got ‘ken captions enabled for blokes loik you~ so blow it out yer arse, Dessie.

Alf is commonly known for his use of declining Australian slang with sayings such as “strewth”, “stone the flamin’ crows”, “flamin’ mongrels”, “flamin’ galah”, “flamin’ heck”, “give me strength”, “only bar in Riga” “strike me pink” “Hogan’s ghost”, “fair crack of the whip”, “tucker” and “yarn” Also for~
[Don is given the wrong olympic torch]” Don! Stop! It’s the wrong flamin’ flame!”

(To a saxophone player)” Oi! Cut that out immediately!”

Alan

I’m really impressed. Our cinematography is better than theirs and it shows. On the other hand someone needs to fix Jonathan’s mike, he is really hard to hear. I’ve seen interviews. Jonathan is at least 16 times as bright as Probst and speaks beautifully.

I love most of the cast. Des was a shocking player, the whole I’ve got mad skillz that I’m not using strategy is always a disaster.

Windsong

The camera-work’s been pretty impressive. I half suspect that Samoa’s tourism board has paid for a lot of the filming :).

Jayblossom

My first ever episode of Survivor last night and even I could tell that Des was doomed to be sent home early.

Windsong

Wow, they’ve only been on the island for half an hour, and already Kristie’s starting to crack. I’m guessing this is harder than she thought it was going to be.

Jayblossom

I’m thinking she probably feels she doesn’t fit in in normal life and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The other girl did a good job to try to snap her out of it.
As for the yellows fire skills – hopeless!

Windsong

Wow. Genuinely, wow. Didn’t see that coming.

(and, in fact, I hope that doesn’t come to bite them in the ass at some point in the future, because if someone just doesn’t want to be there, I mean, do you really want to keep that person around)

What was interesting is that, when the votes were shown, Kylie (badass firefighter) still voted for Pete (alongside Bianca) … so was she not in on the plan to blindside Bianca? Or was the plan to vote out Pete, but Bianca basically put a target on her own head when she started throwing shade at her castaways, and everyone figured out quickly that they had to get rid of her? The latter seems far less likely, but you’d think that Kylie would’ve been in on the plan to ditch Bianca.

Anyway, next week it looks like immunity idols are coming into play.

Jayblossom

I think Bianca totally misread Connor – if she hadn’t tried to get him to oust Flick she wouldn’t have been ousted. Shows she wasn’t quite as smart as she thought she was. I was interested to see who Connor et al managed to turn, but it made sense it was the magician. Did they turn Sam as well?

Windsong

I think that was the point she over-played her hand, as well.

For a private investigator, she really needed to learn when *not* to say something.

Jayblossom

Yup!

Jayblossom

I like that they start ditching people quickly on this show – it’ll make it easier to keep track of who is who.