Survivor: Cagayan - Episode 1 Recap

Wow. It's safe to say that Survivor: Cagayan is off to an exciting start after Wednesday's two hour premiere episode, in which we saw two blindsides, two hidden immunity idols found, one player voted out while in possession of one, and even a tribe's full supply of rice dumped into the fire! With all new players, this season is going to be so unpredictable from week to week, and we got a great example of that in the first episode. We're probably going to have to rename the Brains tribe to something more suitable, but we'll get to that later.

BRAWN

The season started off with all three tribes picking a leader. The Brawn tribe seemed to be the only tribe who talked it over and ended up having someone volunteer for the position. Sarah, Colin's Survivor Blog's preseason pick to win this season, became the leader of the Brawn tribe. Her first decision as leader came almost immediately after, when she chose Trish as the weakest of the tribe. Give credit to Trish; while the other tribes' weakest members took the title very poorly, Trish handled it very well. Trish was flown directly to camp, where she was given the choice of a second bag of rice for the tribe or a clue to a hidden immunity idol. While Trish could've taken the selfish route (and most people would having already been ostracized from their tribe), Trish elected to take the rice for the tribe which instantly boosted her credibility amongst her tribemates.

The Brawn's challenge success has been absolutely no surprise. They came into the season with the strongest roster on paper, and they've lived up to it, having won immunity twice. The Brains tribe has now eliminated their two strongest physical players, which should make Brawn's chances of winning every challenge even greater. They're obviously strong, they work together well, and they've proven they won't be stumped by puzzles. Perhaps Sarah was right when she says she was put on the wrong tribe, having smoked the Brains in back-to-back puzzles. Tony also mentioned that he was more Brains than Brawn. He is massive, so the statement may not be true, but not many people could argue that Tony isn't more Brains than half of the actual Brains tribe.

The social dynamics of the Brawn tribe aren't entirely clear. From what we know, there's people who really like Cliff (Sarah, Lindsey, and Woo), and then there's Tony. Tony's disliking of Cliff reminds me of Marty's rivalry with Jimmy Johnson in Survivor: Nicaragua. Tony also missed a big opportunity with Sarah, who was looking for a police officer bond with him. Tony refused to admit he was a police officer, and whether Sarah knows he's lying or not, Tony missed out on a big alliance opportunity. Trish was also painted on the bottom with Tony after her minor altercation with Lindsey over camp work ethic.

While those numbers may seem cut and dry, it got a lot more cloudy when Tony found the hidden immunity idol. On top of that, in a six person tribe, the numbers can change so quickly, as the Brains proved in both tribal councils this episode. I'd be very surprised if either Tony or Trish were the first person to go from the Brawn tribe. With the hidden immunity idol in his possession, Tony can protect himself if he catches wind that his name is coming up -- which he may have an easier time of finding out with his "Spy Shack"! But while there's potential chaos when the Brawn tribe goes to Tribal Council, there's likely going to be a lot of time for things to change between now and then as long as they keep winning.

BEAUTY

When the Beauty tribe was forced to select a leader, it seemed as though no one wanted the title. It was eventually settled on a reluctant L.J., who then chose Morgan as the tribe's weakest member. There isn't a choice L.J. could have made that wouldn't have upset someone, and I wouldn't be shocked if Morgan, the "hot girl with a grudge", didn't let this go for a long time. When Morgan got to camp, she chose to take the clue for the hidden immunity idol. While in search of the idol, her tribe members eventually arrived at camp, which could have ruined Morgan's chances to integrate with the group. Instead, she thought on her feet and got out of the situation. Morgan is definitely smarter than most people gave her credit for coming in.

Like the Brawn tribe, the dynamics of the Beauty tribe are far from concrete. As Brice pointed out early on, it seemed as though there was a lot of pairing off early on: L.J. & Jeremiah, Alexis & Jefra, and Brice & Morgan. We didn't get a whole lot of strategy talk from this tribe after that, but we did see a conversation between Jeremiah, Brice, and Morgan that could serve as a precursor to a majority alliance. It would've seemed more likely that Morgan and Brice were the two bottom members of the six, and perhaps Jeremiah was just covering himself. But Jeremiah seems to be willing to follow wherever a girl will lead him. So if Morgan keeps wearing her bowling socks, who knows what could happen.

This tribe is definitely performing better than the general consensus expected them too. They were the only tribe able to make fire without flint. They also won immunity in both challenges, including a first place finish in the first challenge of the season. L.J. claimed he was a "puzzle freak" before the game started, and he's lived up to that title so far. L.J.'s newest challenge is going to be downplaying how big of a threat he is to win the game. Someone like Brice could easily start up the "Take Out L.J." bandwagon, and in a game for one million dollars, it's hard to not target the biggest threats. Speaking of Brice, I have to give him a lot of credit. As I wrote in the preview of the Beauty tribe, Brice could go one of two ways. After one episode, it certainly looks like Brice is a lot closer towards the "power position" end than the "voted out very early" end. He's already outlasted the first boot prediction given to him by yours truly.

BRAINS

This tribe needs a new name immediately. It's rare in Survivor we get a group this dysfunctional, and this was supposed to be the smart tribe! The downfall of the "Brains" tribe began just moments after the game began. Seemingly against his will, David was voted the leader of the tribe. He then chose Garrett, by far the strongest member of the group, as the tribe's weakest member. He said he was making a decision "for the last two-thirds of the game", but it was only Day 1! To make matters worse, Garrett took the "weakest" label very poorly, and David had no chance of repairing that relationship. Once he arrived at camp, Garrett chose to take the clue for the hidden immunity idol and found it shortly after. Make a mental footnote of this, as we'll revisit Garrett's idol later.

The Brain tribe's wagon fell apart during the first challenge (literally), and they were destined to tribal council. The obvious vote would've been to eliminate J'Tia, who was the primary reason the tribe lost the challenge and devised a terrible idea for a shelter. Kass even told J'Tia straight to her face that she would be going home, but as we predicted, the rest of the Brains tribe wasn't interested in making the easy vote. Still harboring a grudge from Day 1, Garrett decided that he, J'Tia, Tasha, and Spencer should target David. The man who was elected leader by the same tribe members never saw it coming, and was eliminated 4-2. But this was just the start of a long episode for the Brain tribe. They built a big lead in the second immunity challenge, but J'Tia, the nuclear engineer who said she was the smartest person in the game, failed miserably on a puzzle similar to the one that cost Ozzy a million dollars in Survivor: South Pacific.

In a normal season of Survivor, Kass's vote with the minority would've clinched her as the next to go. But in a majority alliance of four consisting of two pairs, Kass immediately became the invaluable swing vote. Garrett and Spencer made an effort to assure Kass came to their side, and the vote seemed set for J'Tia. However, Garrett tried to prevent anything from changing by demanding the tribe sit in camp until tribal council, which greatly upset Tasha. After they eventually broke away from camp, Tasha and Kass contemplated voting for Garrett, who eventually broke up the conversation along with Spencer. Unfortunately, this left J'Tia alone in camp, where her crazy side took over. Channeling her inner-Brandon Hantz, she dumped the tribe's supply of rice into the fire.

On any normal tribe, this would have sealed J'Tia's fate, if it wasn't already sealed. But at tribal council, Garrett just couldn't keep himself from saying stupid things, and Kass ended up siding with Tasha and J'Tia, voting out Garrett 3-2. That's now two tribal councils for the Brains tribe, and they've eliminated their two strongest members. Meanwhile, J'Tia, who came up with the idea for one of the worst shelters in Survivor history, hardly helped to build said shelter, was the weakest link in two immunity challenges, and dumped the tribe's rice into the fire, is still in the game. Now you may ask, "why didn't Garrett play the hidden immunity idol?" Garrett, so sure of himself and his plans, didn't even bring the idol to tribal council. Are you kidding me?!? I don't care how safe you feel, why would you not bring it, just in case? You can't play it if you don't have it in your pocket.

If you think the losing is done for this tribe, you're probably very wrong. They're going to be physically over-matched in every single challenge. There's a very high chance this tribe ends up becoming this season's Matsing, which suffered four straight losses before its remaining two members were absorbed in Survivor: Philippines. While you would think J'Tia's elimination would be inevitable if they head to tribal council again, this tribe doesn't seem to like making smart decisions. Either way, it should be fun to watch.

If you have any feedback or questions, as always you can feel free to leave a comment below. Power rankings will be unveiled later this week, and there should be some major shake-up involved. Thanks for reading.