Survivor: Tocantins Premiere - Twists And Blindsides Rule Jalapao

The premiere of Survivor: Tocantins - The Brazilian Highlands was a great way to get reaquainted with the franchise. Mark Burnett knows how to breathe new life into an old friend by capitalizing on past success while sticking with what works. Game twists, rogue Immunity Idols and a mixture of saint and sinner castaways are cause to admire his results and promise another satisfying run for the million bucks.

Unlike last season’s first-time two-part opener, Survivor: Tocantins (pronounced token-sheens) squeezed all its action into an hour. So we meet the contestants fleetingly (in some cases just enough to be annoyed) and reward challenge is mixed with the first immunity. It made for brisk pacing, but there was plenty of time for a brand new twist, and this time it was layed on right out of the gate.

Jeff Probst does his usual masterly job as storyteller and gives us a sweeping over view of the Brazilian highlands landscape, complete with crocodiles and dangerous mammals. Beauty and the beast are always a fascinating component to Survivor, and Burnett doesn’t let us down.

But instead of the usual meet and greet where everybody sizes up the elderly like cattle to slaughter, Jeff stuns the mob when he reveals that the first vote is the first act. Based on looks and attitude alone, each tribe must vote for the one “who will not be making this journey” to camp.

On the predetermined Jalapoa (Jull-a-pow, wearing black) Sandy, the oldest hopeful immediately goes under the knife. On the opposing Timbira (Timm-beer-a, wearing red) young Sierra gets the boot. Right off the bat, both tribes are polar opposites. It’s a trend that will continue.

Sandy gets kicked because she’s not 19 anymore. Sierra wins the ballot because she apparently can’t take the heat. After the vote, we find out that Sandy may be older, but she’s got some kick yet. And Sierra is suffering from strep throat and a high fever. It doesn’t matter. The die has been cast.

Survivor provides the next nasty shot. Jeff explains his use of the phrase “journey.” It’s only the 4 hour trek to camp that the two unfortunate vote-getters will not be making. They get to ride in the chopper. Psyche! As both tribes begin to shoulder their meager belongings, unloaded frantically from the truck in 60 seconds, Sandy and Sierra go for a ride.

They hit camp hours before the others and the next twist is revealed. They each have the choice to either get their shelters started, a team effort gesture, or they can choose to decipher the clues for finding a hidden Immunity Idol that will guarantee them a pass through at least one Tribal Council. Opposites repel in this game and Sierra decides to ingratiate herself and ignores the Idol. But Sandy proves that older is wiser when she excitedly takes up the hunt for the buried treasure. Too bad she’s not better at gold-digging. She finds the first marker with ease, but step 2 is a humdinger. The instructions tell her to walk 10 paces to “the lone palm tree.” Only Sandy doesn’t know what a pace is. Not all smarts is book learnin’ but Sandy should have listened closer when they covered Treasure Island. As darkness falls, she’s flailing away in the dusk, just as her tribe shows up.

They’re pretty pissed that she hasn’t erected even one bamboo pole, but they know nothing of the Idol. Sandy plays it smart this time and waits for a potty break in the morning to resume her hunt.

Sierra, on the other hand, scores points for having a roof over the beach when her tribe breaks into camp. But the damage was done and they all agree: hard worker or not, she’s the first to go.

On the way to camp we saw just enough of the players to begrudge some respect for JT, a cowboy rancher who knows how to read a compass. But Carolina sets herself up early with an endless stream of “I’m just saying” remarks and doesn’t endear herself struggling along in a pair of cowboy boots. Good for snakes, bad for potholes.

As usual, 16 personalities are hard to keep track of at first (here’s a roster) and it always takes a few weeks until we start rooting for our favorites, but Coach looks especially annoying, blathering about his duality as soccer coach and orchestra master while trying for an early alliance with a reluctant Brendan. Plus, he wears a pony tail. Don’t give ‘em anything to yank on, I always say.

Because the opening was jammed, we get right down to business with a combination Reward/Immunity challenge. In typical Survivor fashion it’s a mixture of grueling physical straining and taxing mental acuity. In other words, dragging puzzle pieces through the sand and assembling them correctly to raise the tribal flag. A neat addition is the table-top maze that unlocks the flag knot. It requires two players to master and Timbira pulls ahead with early flashes of teamwork under the gun. Timbira wins immunity. The reward is fire.

Jalapao treks back to camp to prep for the first Tribal Council. At the challenge, Sandy turns every head with her unstoppable energy and was the mastermind behind assembling the puzzle pieces like a lady of the maze. Although the consensus was to boot the old lady, suddenly age and wisdom seem much more attractive. Carolina stomps around in her boots, whining and “making her point” just enough to turn every hand against her. Sandy uses her time to return to her Idol hunt, and when we go to commercial, it’s still up in the air whether she found it or not.

At Tribal, Jeff opens the wounds and the blood flows directly into Carolina’s veins. Suddenly she senses the tide has turned against her, and Sandy endears herself with the remark that “if the old lady can fit in with all these kids, who knows? They could be mine!” They forgive her for her extended potty breaks and pull a Nancy Sinatra on the bartender from Hollywood.

Carolina. The Tribe Has Spoken. In a blowout, 5-1.

Jeff sends them off with his parting words to Jalapao. “You’ve shown you’re willing to change a first impression, but more importantly, you’re willing to blindside”. Fire gets thrown in as a consolation prize.

Carolina takes it all with good humor, and realizes “my mouth got me booted. You guys are good!” Learn more about Carolina’s reaction with in this live chat from today.

NEXT WEEK: A polo/basketball game is played in the pouring rain and as Jeff says, “one shot will change the whole game.”

Don’t miss the next Survivor: Tocantins Thursday at 8:00 on CBS.

We’ll be watching on Fancast.

More on These Topics: CBS | Jeff Probst | Mark Burnett | Survivor | Survivor: Tocantins