My thoughts on Survivor: Redemption Island Episode 1

I just got done watching Episode 1 of the newest Survivor. I know there's a million other blogs that cover the show, but I feel like I want to put in my two bits. I won't recap entire episodes, as that is too time consuming. I am also going to assume that youknow the new twist this season. And with that, here we go!

I'm rooting for Boston Rob. I don't get the people who fawn over Russell Hantz. The guy is a back-stabbing liar, and his gameplay will never win him $1,000,000, as he passes off entire jury to get to the final tribal council. Rob, on the other hand may be abrasive, but he is much more up front than Russell. I will always take up-front abrasiveness, over back-stabbing any day of the week.

So far, Russell seems to be using the same playbook. He's made a speech about not pullping the same crappy, and that he's here to win. But right away, he forms alliance with the pretty girl. His tribe seem to be pretty savvy to him and vow to get rid of him at the first opportunity.

They won't get the chance as they win the immunity challenge. Hence, we get to see the machinations in Rob's tribe. My prediction is that Rob is going to do quite well controlling this tribe. He already has a majority alliance, and the rest so far don't seem to have a complete enough strategy to take him down.

First, there's Kristina. She savvies the power of the hidden immunity idol, and I applaud her for finding it without the benefit of any clues. But she seems to favor making the big blindside right off the bat.

Fortunately, she's sided with Francesca, who correctly points out that now is not the time to take out Rob.

That leaves Special Agent Philip. Philip is obviously proud of his career as a g-man. It's also obvious that he is used to being a dominant person in a group. Watching this alliance butt heads as they discuss strategy, I knew they were in deep doo-doo.

Meanwhile, Rob has sussed out that Kristine & Francesca are the ones to target, and that they may already have the hidden idol. He comes up with the correct strategy, splitting his alliance's vote between the two. Had Tyson not been a complete moron on H vs V, the 'legend' of Russell would not exist.

In the end, it didn't matter much, because Kristina & Francesca decided to treat Philip like an idiot and keep him in the dark. They tell him to vote for Rob, while separately they decide to take out Natalie. Whatever else Philip May be, he is completely serious about himself and the way he does things.

Leaving aside the idiocy of their plan, Francesca makes the blunder that sets off the grenade that is Philip and results in the best first tribal council ever! Why she felt the need to point out that Rob wasn't going to be voted out, I have no idea! She knew that Philip feels important, yet kept him out of the loop, and then let him know he was out of the loop!

Rob sees this and plays it perfectly. I LOVED IT what he asks Kristina for the idol. Then he boldly makes a play for it! Anyway, the little alliance that couldn't goes down in flames. Credit to Kristina with figuring out that Francesca was going to get the most votes and holding on to the idol. That buys her at least a little more time in the game.