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This brings us to the player we think is the most intriguing returning player in the entire game, Sandra. The winner of Survivor: Pearl Islands is one who is universally named as the most surprising victor in the show's history. That tidbit alone demonstrates what a deft touch she had in manipulating the opinions of others in a way that could not be tracked back to her. Sandra came up with a gloriously simple strategy. Whenever the idea of a vote was discussed, she maneuvered the conversation in such a way that others were suggested. She was always agreeable to whatever name was raised. As long as her name was not on the chopping block, she acquiesced to any request. The end result was that she was a favorite of others as they attempted to garner a voting bloc against a particular enemy. She was somehow apolitically political. Sandra never received a single vote her entire season on her way to victory. As was the case with the first All-Stars when Tina Wesson returned, the most dangerous player this year in terms of strategy and manipulation is a woman. The question is whether Sandra can again manipulate her opponents in such a way as to avoid Wesson's fate of being quickly eliminated as punishment for being too good at Survivor.

PS: Yes, we know that our opinions of many of the Villains listed above fly in the face of convention. Feel free to look through the Survivor archive (BOP has recapped every season since our inception in 2001) to read the specifics of how we reached all of our conclusions.

Now then, let's continue on with the recap of the season premiere. When we ended yesterday's column, the Heroes had just claimed victory in the first challenge thanks to a topless sprint by Sugar. In the process, a couple of Heroes received broken bones. It was an intense start to the season, offering the promise of a true blood feud between the two tribes. Given the inordinate amount of interaction many of them have had over the years, we had hoped that some personal schisms might be on full display this season and this was definitely the case in the initial event. Here's hoping this rivalry permeates throughout the pre-merge portion of the season.

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