Survivor San Juan Del Sur Recap
Episode 1, Part 1
By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower
September 24, 2014
And we’re straight into a Reward Challenge. Of course, the tribe members of Huahpu have already won because they’re not John Rocker’s teammate. Now is a time for an early test regarding the understanding of Survivor. Boston Strong Jeremy immediately fails. He volunteers to compete for his tribe, which Probst politely describes as an opportunity to prove himself a hero to his new teammates. The flip side is that it’s also a chance to become a goat right off the bat. Also, he’s putting his neck on the line for no reason, when a smarter player would try to stay in the shadows.
Jeremy is instantly punished for his transgression when he is told that he’ll be competing against his wife for reward. Important rule: Remember the theme of the show. And the news gets worse when they two of them are told that the loser of their duel will go to Exile Island, meaning that one of the two of them will be miserable for the next couple of days (and also won’t have the opportunity to play a critical early social game). But hey, the winner gets flint and beans!
They’re competing in a bit of an obstacle course that requires them to climb and struggle to obtain some ropes with rings on the end. Then they have to hook their ring on a little cart and pull it to them. Jeremy gets off to a huge start, but has trouble with the ring toss, allowing Val to catch up. He gets back ahead, though, and is back in the obstacle course to get his second ring while she’s working on pulling her first cart toward her.
She is able to reel in her first cart, but hubby’s lead is too large. Val is going to Exile Island, and there are tears from both of them. Along with the promised flint and beans, Jeremy gets the shocking news that he gets to send one of his own tribe members to spend time on Exile with his wife. He chooses Poppa Keith, because Jeremy knows his fellow firefighter knows how to make fire and will help to keep her safe. It’s about the best choice he could have made given the circumstances. For his part, Keith is good with it and even a little emotional on behalf of the couple.
Jeremy immediately aligns with Natalie, who calls him her designated “twinnie.” It sends a chill down our spines. Basically, every woman on the tribe seems to want to work with him. He hyperbolically calls himself the prom king, but he doesn’t really have a bad read on the situation. Of course, this is how Brad Culpepper started, too.
Over at the Evil tribe, poor Dale is immediately off on his own because he’s so much older than the rest of his teammates. The good news for him is that he finds an emblem on the water basin, and he sets it aside in hopes that he might be able to convince people that it is an immunity idol. Then he tries to use his glasses to start fire, but has no luck until he snaps them in half to double the magnification. Things change for him at this point, and he’s included in the social activities of the tribe again.
Val and Keith are at Exile Island, and they’re each told to choose an urn when they arrive. Both urns hold a piece of paper. Val’s has a clue about an immunity idol, which is a huge boon for her given her disadvantage after being sent away from her tribe. Keith’s is blank, and he tries to ask her what is on hers, but she doesn’t really want to share. This is probably short sighted, since she should want to build alliances for the merge, but Keith isn’t really upset about it. He is excited to officially learn that tribe mate Jeremy is also a firefighter, though, and hopes to use that fact to build an alliance.
Be sure to come back for Part 2 of the recap of the season premiere of Survivor
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