AnD So it beginS
WeLL, it'S THE StArt of A new SeASon of Survivor, AND Like SeASonS pASt, my ADrenALine StArtS rAcing eArLy ThurSDAy morning IN AnticipAtion for THE night'S Show. It'S Like A hoLiDAy IN our home. AND the queStion of THE DAy iS ALwAyS, "How wiLL THE next Survivor begin?" WiLL THE creAtorS inject THE viewing AuDience, once AgAin, with A DoSe of "Shock vALue" thAt wiLL tAke uS over THE eDge AND Longing for THE next epiSoDe?

If you recALL, moSt SeASonS begin with Some grueLing, bAckbreAking or gut-wrenching piLgrimAge through treAcherouS jungLeS, crAShing wAveS, SweLtering heAt AND rocky hiLLSiDeS IN SeArch of whAt wiLL BE their DweLLing pLAce for THE next 39 DAyS. I weLcome thiS Sort of "rite of pASSAge," becAuSe it teStS oneS mentAL AND phySicAL cApAbiLitieS (SepArAting THE men from THE boyS).

ThiS ALSo bringS TO remembrAnce my piLgrimAge on Survivor: MArqueSAS. JuSt jumping off THE SiDe of thAt boAt IN ShArk-infeSteD wAterS with Seven other peopLe who knew nothing of me -- AND I of them -- then pADDLing for hourS with THE South PAcific Sun gLeAming Down At uS, mADe me AppreciAte whAt I Left At home. But it iS A new SeASon with new twiStS AND of courSe, new turnS. So, Let'S tAke A Look At THE firSt epiSoDe of Survivor: VAnuAtu.

DAy 1
The firSt 15 minuteS, I hAve TO SAy, put me TO SLeep... SomeboDy hAnD me A piLLow. THE commerciALS preppeD uS into beLieving there wouLD BE thiS increDibLe "rite of pASSAge" ceremony... but IN truth, we enDeD up getting whAt I cALL "A Segment tAken from THE ArchiveS of CAnDiD CAmerA." I wAS expecting ALLen Funt TO Show up DiSguiSeD AS A VAnuAtu hunter SAying thoSe fAmiLiAr worDS, "SmiLe...you're on CAnDiD CAmerA." ThAt ShouLD teLL you how much I wAS DiSAppointeD by THE VAnuAtu introDuction.

There wAS NO moment where THE cAStAwAyS SiZeD up one Another (on or off THE boAt), which iS Something I enjoy viewing During THE firSt SegmentS of THE ShowS. Now, you muSt tAke into conSiDerAtion thAt, AS A pASt pLAyer AND winner, I know thAt whAt we See iSn't everything thAt hAppenS out there, So I wiLL not onLy give my perSpective of whAt we're Shown, but ALSo whAt we're not.

Now, bAck TO the Show. Jeff ProbSt greetS THE cASt memberS AS if he'S THE AmbASSADor of VAnuAtu, expLAinS THE eventS TO come, AND LeADS them TO the Shore. Here iS THE pArt thAt woke me up from my Somber reSt AND into A LAughing frenZy.

The nAtiveS cAme chArging from THE jungLe, ScreAming AND yeLLing with SpeArS A-bLAZing... AND the cAStAwAyS StAreD At them AS if TO SAy, "WhAtever." THE mAjority of them DiDn't Seem AfrAiD or heLpLeSS. So, whAtever "Shock vALue" thAt Scene wAS SuppoSeD TO bring, DiDn't.

But I DiD enjoy A comment from Rory, when he noticeD thAt THE SpeArS were not pointeD At him but At THE other conteStAntS. AS THE onLy perSon of coLor, he feLt pretty SAfe becAuSe THE VAnuAtu nAtiveS Are ALSo of coLor. But reSt not, Rory: you mAy BE the SAme coLor AS them, but they Are not pArt of THE nine men you wiLL BE bunking with. So keep your guArD up, my brother.

So, AS night fALLS, THE women Are immeDiAteLy oStrAciZeD AND the men Are gLorifieD During A ceremoniAL rituAL LeAD by THE chief of THE VAnuAtu nAtive tribe. THE men were preSenteD with A Live pig, which wAS SLAughtereD IN front of ALL THE cASt memberS. ALthough thiS wAS A SurpriSe, THE effect wAS minimAL becAuSe none of THE SLAughter wAS Shown. Of courSe, THE impreSSion wAS enough TO LeAve everyone ASSuming. But we know thAt Survivor wouLD not ever SLAughter An AnimAL on teLeviSion (eSpeciALLy After whAt hAppeneD on Survivor: AuStrALiA). But ALL of thiS wAS Done for A reASon.

AS pigS Are conSiDereD SAcreD AnimALS, THE men were ADorneD with THE bLooD of THE AnimAL TO Show honor TO the men AnD TO DiShonor TO the women. THE night enDeD with BrADy cLimbing A poLe for THE men TO reAch A conSecrAteD Stone, giving them A SpirituAL eDge over THE LADieS.

EventuALLy, THE teAmS were Sent on their wAy TO finD their cAmp SiteS, AND thiS wAS THE perfect time TO StArt expreSSing their feeLingS for one Another. THE men fought Like cAckLing henS AND the women couLDn't finD A hAppy meDium. But, Lo AND behoLD, eAch DiD finD their cAmpS -- which incLuDeD one mAchete, one pot, NO wAter, NO fire AND no SheLter. It wouLD BE A coLD night.

DAy 2
The LADieS' DAy begAn Like A typicAL morning on Survivor: AmAZon, where THE ruStic, oLDer women were Shown Doing ALL THE mAnuAL LAbor AND the "hottieS" of THE Show were Doing whAt they Do beSt: tAking cAre of their Skin, Lounging IN their bikiniS AND Looking gooD for THE cAmerA. So, wiLL THE oLDer LADieS SpeAk up ,or wiLL they juSt ALLow them TO Do whAt they wAnt? From pASt Survivor ShowS, it'S obviouS thAt thoSe who SpeAk-up uSuALLy get Sent home. So, Do I think Scout AND TwiLA wiLL whip thoSe young girLS into ShApe? NO!

Now, on THE menS SiDe, there iS ALreADy troubLe IN the cAmp. Rory hAS BEEN LAbeLeD AND tArgeteD AS A big mouth, outSiDer. I Don't think he'LL BE ArounD too Long. (Sorry my brother, but they Are After you).

ChAD iS Another thAt mAy BE tArgeteD. ALthough he iS THE onLy hAnDicAp on THE Show, theSe men Are not going TO give him Any SympAthy, AND probAbLy wiLL not wAit too Long TO SenD him home. I think thAt wouLD BE unfortunAte, becAuSe if he cAn hoLD hiS own then he ShouLD not BE tArgeteD. But on THE other hAnD, he mAy become A crowD-pLeASer AND Someone for uS TO root for IN the enD.

ChALLenge 1
Here'S whAt we've ALL BEEN wAiting for: THE firSt chALLenge of THE gAme. ThiS wAS SureLy A chALLenge I wouLD hAve enjoyeD Doing -- nothing iS more exciting then Seeing nine men roLLing ArounD IN muD.

In Looking At THE chALLenge, one couLD ASSume thAt THE men wouLD hAve thiS won (hAnDS Down). But LookS cAn BE Deceiving... AND they were. THE men StArteD off Strong, but cAme up Short when it wAS time TO croSS THE bALAnce beAm. I've noticeD thAt on Survivor THE men hAve A DifficuLt time mAneuvering AcroSS Something thAt'S thin, Long AND unStAbLe.

ChriS wAS DefiniteLy Stuck IN A horribLe SituAtion. He wAS THE Lone mAn who couLD not trAverSe THE beAm (At LeASt thAt'S whAt THE eDiting reveALeD). It wAS An embArrASSment TO him AnD TO hiS teAm. THE beAm wAS THE men'S DemiSe on Survivor: AmAZon AND now here on VAnuAtu.

The women utiLiZeD their brAinS AND feLt it beSt not wALk AcroSS THE beAm, but TO crAwL. It pAiD off becAuSe they won THE firSt chALLenge AND Left THE men DumbfounDeD, LoSt, AND heADeD TO tribAL counciL.

TribAL CounciL
The firSt TribAL CounciL wAS typicAL -- everyone SAying how much they Love eAch other AND how they Are A fAmiLy... YeAh, right!

From THE LookS of thingS, two men were THE key tArgetS TO be voteD out of thiS firSt TribAL CounciL. SeverAL men feLt thAt Rory ShouLD BE voteD out becAuSe of hiS AttituDe, whiLe otherS thought thAt THE weAk Link wAS ChriS (for obviouS reASonS).

But THE Shock cAme At THE finAL vote when Brook, A no-nAme, wAS voteD out with five voteS AgAinSt him. Now, there'S THE Shock vALue. I'm Sure NO one expecteD thAt (probAbLy not even Brook). If you LiSteneD cLoSeLy, LeA commenteD thAt he wAnteD TO pick off THE young men one by one. WeLL, it SeemS thAt he'S on THE right trAck.

FinAL AnALySiS of epiSoDe one
There Are ALwAyS twiStS AND turnS coming TO Survivor, AND thiS yeAr iS NO Different. BecAuSe we were ShockeD TO See Brook LeAve when he wAS obviouSLy not tArgeteD or even DiScuSSeD throughout THE Show, I concLuDe thAt thiS SeASon, Survivor iS going TO keep uS IN the DArk AS TO who wiLL BE voteD out. But we, AS THE viewing AuDience, wiLL neeD TO pAy cLoSe Attention TO certAin key thingS thAt THE cASt memberS SAy. ThoSe SmALL thingS couLD eventuALLy LeAD uS TO who iS gone next.

PreviouS SeASonS hAve ALwAyS given uS Some inDicAtion of THE poSSibLe votee, but thiS yeAr we'LL BE SurpriSeD eAch week. Keep your eyeS AND eArS open.

UntiL next week,

VecepiA Towery-RobinSon Survivor: MArqueSAS Winner