| Episode
1 |
| "Beg,
Barter, Steal" |
Filmed June 23-25,
2003
Airs Sept. 18, 2003 (90-minute premiere).
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| Click
below for: |
| Arrival speculation |
| IC speculation |
| Boot speculation |
| Additional
pre-show info |
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Episode
description
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| TVGuide:
After the deep-sea plunge, the two tribes, Morgan and Drake, swim
to a village to buy supplies before traveling to their respective
camps. |
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| ARRIVAL/
Marooning without supplies, bartering |
Various
entertainment/news shows on 8/28 revealed part of the allegedly
novel marooning strategy. Contestants were told to dress for
a press conference, in a way in which they wanted to present
themselves to America. Some men wore suits, some women dresses
and heels. After assembling the group on the boat, Probst tells
them the game has begun, and they have to jump overboard, taking
with them only the clothes on their backs. Well, that, the
100 balboa, the small life raft, and the challenge shoes all
shipwreck victims usually
receive.
(Sequence shown below).
| ARRIVAL
pictures: Click
thumbnails below for larger versions |
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How
they then acquire supplies and food was first revealed by Survivor
Sucks EZboard poster Panamavacation,
who describes Panama locals telling a story of the castaways
having to
shop at a market for their
supplies: "Some of the contestants purchased
good survival items - not necessarily just food, but things that will help
them find food once they are on the island. Others didn't
do so good - thinking more
short term, and only buying food."
| VILLAGE
TRIP pictures: Click thumbnails below for larger
versions. |
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Several pieces of independent info support this story. Survivornews.net reports
that
filming took place in a marketplace on Isla Saboga. In the ET preview, the
voiceover says that "the sixteen (castaways) must scavenge for all their
food, or barter
with the local natives." Additionally, several sharp-eyed posters
have pointed out that a number of castaways are shown in camp wearing hats
they were not wearing
while jumping overboard. Images from recent CBS commercials show Tijuana and
Nicole running through a village, dripping wet, with locals in the background.
Both are in the (wet, but relatively clean) clothes they jumped off the ship
in. Tijuana
is
also
seen
trailing Andrew and the mini-life raft the Morgan tribe is given, in a similar
village
environment.
This suggests that, as Panamavacation stated, the trip to the village is one
of the first acts the contestants undertake as the game begins.
Mark Schwed's article in the September 6-12 issue of TV Guide adds further
details: "After a 15-foot jump into the
coean... the marooned castaways swim a half-mile to an island village, where
each tribe is allowed to spend 100 balboa (about $100) on supplies. 'It really
is like if a ship went down,' Burnett says [sic.]. Members of the
Drake tribe buy chickens, beans and rice - and four jugs of wine. But they
forget bug spray, which is why their bodies are covered in mosquito bites the
next morning. They also forget to buy beach clothes. On one day, Hastie
rips the bottom off her dress and offers it to Boneham, a 200-pound mountain
man, who wraps it around his waist. 'There's nothing on under his skirt,' says
one producer. 'It's kind of sickening.'" |
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| IMMUNITY
CHALLENGE/ Cannon pull - Drake wins |
The
first challenge, heavily featured in previews involves the two
tribes pulling cannons, apparently along the usual difficult,
obstacle-laden path. Each team seems to have a lit torch as well,
indicating at least one stage of the challenge will require firing
the cannon (which may or may not be the final stage). As Milkshaky
has pointed out on EZ, the first promos for Ep1 (vidcaps below)
show a cannon firing, and that cannon has the Drake tribe's blue
color-coding.
The September 6-12 TV Guide issue shows
a picture of Drake leading, while lugging their cannon across
a
sandy beach.
Similar shots have appeared on TV Guide Channel.
While we agree this looks near the end, Morgan somehow manages
to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory here. Extra's preview
had a brief clip that
shows
a seemingly
exhausted
Morgan tribe
on the beach standing around, with Osten staring at the ground
and
Ryan O. peering
into the distance. Nicole, originally in the frame, wanders off.
Call us crazy, but this doesn't look like the body language of
a tribe
that has just won the first immunity challenge. TV Guide channel
shows Morgan wandering back to their camp, empty handed (or at
least sans immunity idol).
Also, both the first promo and the ET preview featured a human
skull impaled on a decorative wrought-iron axe (below). The
tribal immunity idol was featured in the S6 promos and previews,
and
this is the only thing that at first glance looks like a potential
Idol. Scanning the camp pictures, this skull appears to take
up residence at the Drake camp. Thanks to recent footage from
TV Guide channel, this is almost
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| IC
pictures: Click thumbnails above for larger versions.
Pictures below are actual size, but feel free to click if
you feel it's necessary. |
This happy little fellow is the immunity idol. |
He's hanging out in the Drake camp, suggesting Drake
wins the first immunity. |
Tribes who have just won the first IC generally don't
stand around, looking down or off into the distance,
then wander away from each other. |
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certainly the
case, as Probst is shown unveiling the same idol at the first challenge.
Together,
all evidence seems to suggest Drake
wins immunity in
Ep1.
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| BOOT/
Nicole |
 Survivornews.net reported
descriptions of two consecutive bootees, possibly the first two,
several weeks before the cast list was released. The first
bootee is reported to be "a youngish athletic woman,
about 5'6", with short ash or platinum blonde hair." The second is
said to be "a young, tall, skinny guy, who looked younger
than the girl, but very unhealthy." Since the above evidence
suggests Morgan will be attending the first tribal council (set
shown at right), we will focus on that tribe:
Nicole is the closest match to the description
of the first bootee. At 51, Lill is too old to be considered
"youngish" (at least
relative to her tribe), and neither Tijuana nor Darrah have hair
that could be considered short and blonde. Nicole's, while hardly
platinum blonde, is indeed relatively short, and light-colored.
And she resembles the remainder of the physical description. SNN now
says this is likely to be the case. We'll go with that.
Ryan S. appears not long for the game himself, both in his desire
for McDonald's food and his general emaciated, bug bite-ridden
appearance. And he's a perfect match for the male bootee described
in the SNN tip. He might be a decent guess for the first boot,
but while the SNN
tip does
not
claim
to know
the
exact
placement
in the boot order for those two bootees, it does appear to be
specific that the man comes after the woman. So we'll mark Ryan
S. down as the leading Ep2 boot candidate. |
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