Survivor: Kaoh Rong - Season Preview
Part 1 - The Brains Tribe
By Jim Van Nest
February 16, 2016
Joseph del Campo - Joseph is now tied with Rudy as the oldest person to ever play Survivor. He's 71 years old, but you'd never really know it by looking at him. Dude is ripped. Let's see, the new Joey Amazing is a former Navy Officer and a 25 year vet of the FBI. So, we have a for really real, verifiable federal agent on the show. The worry for Joseph is the same as it is for the "old guy" on the season. Will he be able to mesh with the younger people and not try to tell them all what to do? I think he will. I also think he's on the perfect tribe for success. These are smart people. Debbie, Neal and Peter - I think - are old enough to know not to discount him due to his age. I think they'll recognize that this guy is a wealth of knowledge and that they'll all be better off if they tap into it. I don't expect him to be a slouch in challenges either. Joseph makes the merge easily and will probably be able to stay out of the "alpha male purge" of the immediate post-merge game. I'm gonna predict that this Joey Amazing tops our other Joey Amazing and makes a deep run into the game.
Neal Gottlieb - Neal seems like a pretty cool guy but he has a huge red flag - the longest bio in the history of ever. Someone who is that wordy in their CBS bio could run into problems with that wordiness on the island. He created and runs an organic ice cream company that is sold nationally by Whole Foods - so he has some savvy to him. He's a pretty fit guy, but not the in your face bro, like we'll see on other tribes. He wants to wait in the wings and let the alpha males take each other out, while he just chills and prepares to take the game over. Again, I could hang out with Neal, but I don't have a lot of hopes for him in the game. He seems very prone to talking, AND he's used to being the boss. I worry that on a tribe full of people who think they're smarter than you, trying to be the boss is a death blow. I worry that Neal will be an early boot. But, on the bright side, he'll get to enjoy the awesome pre-merge vacation!
Peter Baggenstos - Wow, this dude is a piece of work. One minute into his video and I could see him as a potential first boot. Peter is an ER doctor, which makes him the bestest kind of doctor, it would seem. He watched a couple videos about making fire and determined that their best bet is to win a challenge and get a flint. I admit, he does favor President Obama, but he doesn't want to hear about it. His bio is pretty thin, so we don't get too much of a peek inside. From that tiny bio and 150 seconds of video, I've learned that this dude is pretty smart and he knows it. He seems to think that he has a knack to get people to follow him and that he'll be able to be the leader out there. Hate to break it to him but on Survivor, the last thing you want to be is a leader and on a "Brains" tribe in particular, you don't want to come off like you think you're smarter than everyone else. I don't have a lot of hope for Peter, but his size and strength probably guarantee him a spot the merge - but don't forget about the inevitable tribe swap that will disband one of the three original tribes. If the numbers warrant it, Peter could be the alpha male vote out right after a swap.
All righty, kids, that'll do it for the Brains tribe. Overall, I worry that this tribe will perform like the last Brains tribe and find themselves at Tribal early and often. If that's the case, then anything can happen. If they're able to spread the wealth on challenges a bit and can avoid Tribal Council, some of these brains might make it far. I see Aubry and Neal as the possible pre-merge boots with Joseph and Elizabeth poised to make deep runs in the game. Debbie and Peter could go either way, but seem to be right around merge time boots.
Thanks so much for checking in with me for this Survivor Preview - be sure to check back tomorrow as it'll be time to talk about the Beauties! ‘Til then, take care!
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