Survivor South Pacific I Need Redemption S23E01 (CBS)

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Well another season of Survivor has started and they decided to keep the Redemption Island format. I think it’s interesting because it adds another layer to the game, but overall the concept is flawed. This was demonstrated by Matt last season. He made it back into the game and got immediately voted out again. This time, the evictee goes to Redemption Island crying, which was a first. At least I have trouble remembering it happening before. During tribal, it looked like Cochran was going to go, but he savvily took control and exposed the reasons why he was a better player. It also looked like Ozzy’s alliance was now backing Cochran and not Semhar. The editing actually made us believe otherwise, but that may have been only Ozzy, being hypnotized by Semhar’s voluptuous body.

It was also pretty funny how disappointed Upolu was when they received Coach. Ozzy was happy with his tribe, and they were happy to have him. I doubt that they’ll vote him out quickly, as he’ll be the person that they’ll be looking for leadership, much to Dawn’s disappointment. It didn’t take them long to make a pecking order as well. Cochran, Dawn and Papa Bear are all going to go next, unless they distinguish themselves during the challenges. The challenges were good. It was fun watching them do them. The strangest addition was Russell Hantz’s nephew. That wasn’t these strange part. The strange part was that like any doofus, he’s got his family name tattooed on his body, not just once but twice. He says that he’ll keep his T-shirt on and not tell anyone about who he is, but already Sophie is onto him. She knows that he’s hiding something and from the previous, it looks like he’s going to tell Coach who he is. That means the cat is out of the bag. Everyone will know pretty soon. It’s going to be a good new season.

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It didn’t take long for Survivor to start up again. Ozzy and Coach are back this season. They will compete against each other. Redemption Island is back. Russ Hantz’ nephew is here too.

Whitney, Keith, Dawn, Mark, Semhar, John, Elyse, and Jim are in the Savaii. Edna, Sophie, Albert, Christine, Rick, Mikayla, Stacey, and Brandon are in Upolu. I got that from the intro.

The survivors arrive at the Redemption Island Arena. They have already been divided into tribes. Edna whispers to Brandon that she hopes that it isn’t Russell who’s flying in. Brandon is Russ’ nephew. Like a dimwit, he’s got two ‘Hantz’ tattoos on his body, so he plans on never taking off his t-shirt and not telling anyone that he’s related to Russ. John is a super-geek. They all recognize Ozzy and Coach.

They are temporary players.
Christine about Ozzy and Coach

John wants Jeff to call him Cochran. It’s his last name. Jeff makes them take eggs. Ozzy is in Savaii and Coach is in Upolu. Rick didn’t want Coach on his team. Christine is shooting daggers at Coach already. Ozzy’s team loves him and gives him a big hug. Upolu is already looking at the red team with envy.

I have a buff collection at home.
John

Jeff explains the Redemption Island rules. Ozzy will face off against Coach in the first challenge. They have to climb to the top of a 12-foot pole to retrieve a wooden turtle. They must crawl under a log, and transfer a pyramid puzzle across 3 tables. The winner receives a reward. Reward is food and flint.

Ozzy has the lead. They both have played the game twice before. Ozzy slithers through his hole. Both Ozzy and Coach have trouble with the puzzle. Ozzy asks his tribe for help. Upolu also helps out Coach. Ozzy is in the lead and wins the reward. Coach is receiving conflicting advice. It was a tribe win.

Edna helps Coach out to carry his stuff. Everyone leaves him in the dust. John is a Harvard law student. Semhar is a spoken word poet. Ozzy tells his tribe to relax and go out for a swim instead of working at camp. John doesn’t want to go out in his underpants. It takes him a while, but he gets into the water after a while.

At Upolu, they go through their backgrounds and get to know each other. Sophie is a Russian Economics major and she’s a medical student. Coach knows a bit of Russian and they talk. The subtitles are in Russian while they talk. They didn’t say much. They start working on their shelter. Edna is an anesthesiologist and she likes Coach. For now, Coach is an asset. He’s giving them small tricks to make it easier. He’s a team player.

Christine goes off looking for immunity idols. She’s a teacher. I wonder why these survivors are dressed as they are. I would be dressed for survival instead of trying to impress.

Back at camp, they immediately think that Chritine is looking for the immunity idol.

Jim tells everyone that he’s a forensic science teacher when he’s a medical marijuana dispenser. And he’s a poker player. He’s got an MBA. He owns two medical marijuana dispensaries. He doesn’t tell anyone this.

There’s feathers flowing around me.
Mark

Mark is gay and he’s a retired NYPD detective. Holy crap. Ozzy tells them that they should get a fire going. Dawn, an English professor, expected to have a shelter done on the first day, but that won’t happen with Ozzy’s laid-back attitude.

Mikayla gets on top of the Upolu shelter to get it done. She’s a lingerie football player. Brandon isn’t comfortable around Mikayla. It’s because Brandon is a born again Christian. Brandon is also married. He sure is watching her a lot though.

Coach is talking about a ‘strong five’ alliance. He wants Sophie, Rick, Brandon, and Albert.

This is Coach 3.0 and I’m here to win.
Coach

At Savaii, Dawn drops the pot into the fire. She says that she’s having a mini breakdown. She’s dehydrated. Mark tells her that she needs to keep it in control because the young ones will start picking them off. Dawn falls down trying to get a vine. Then, she has a cry. She cries some more. Mark tells some other people that Dawn was crying this morning. Middle-aged woman breakdown. Yawn.

If she doesn’t get it together, she’s gone.
Ozzy

The next day, Ozzy starts working on the shelter for his tribe. Ozzy is skeptical about Cochran. He’s a bit of a wimp.

Brandon is fishing the next day. He gets a small one. Sophie thinks that Brandon is hiding something. She’s right. He looks ridiculous not taking off his shirt completely while he’s fishing.

It’s time for the next challenge. Both tribes will race through pathways and a web of coconut. All tribe members must go up a 10-foot wall. Then one tribe member will dig up a machete. The machete is used to release a bin of coconuts. 3 tribe members will shoot coconuts into a basket. First tribe to shoot enough coconuts so that their flag will raise will win immunity. The winning tribe will win a clue to the immunity idol. Upolu is also playing for fire in the form of flint. They strategize.

Savaii has a bit of a lead. Upolu makes it up. They hit the wall first. Rick pulled up Edna and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. Upolu has the lead now. Cochran has trouble getting over the wall. Albert pulls Brandon up alone. Nice. They are in the lead. Ozzy made up a lot of time. Rick keeps the lead for Upolu. Ozzy, Semhar, and Keith score quickly. Mikayla is doing really good. Semhar is exhausted. Savaii’s bag starts to lift. They are neck in neck. Both bags are in the air. Mikayla scores the final win and Upolu gets immunity. The difference was one coconut. Jeff tells Upolu that back at camp, there’s a hidden clue to the hidden immunity idol.

The loss was on Semhar. Semhar says that she feels sort of bad. Jim is pissed at losing and he wants Semhar gone.

At Upolu, people immediately start looking for the clue. Stacey finds the location, but doesn’t realize she found the clue, so she leaves it.

Semhar takes it up with Jim. He says that he rolled his eyes when she said that she felt sort of bad. It’s either Semhar or Cochrane. Mark tells Dawn that they should vote for Semhar.

Ozzy is talking with his tribe. He thinks that Cochran is the weak link. Ozzy wants to keep Semhar around and Jim is already thinking about Ozzy potential all-girl alliance so he’s suspicious. Ozzy tells Semhar that in order to stay, she needs to get some work done. She needs to work on her social game. She picks it up with Whitney. Whitney and Keith say the they will vote for Cochran.

Jim tells Cochran that Ozzy wants to get rid of him. Cochran says that now he’s paranoid and it’s become a nightmare.

It’s time for tribal. The initial questions are about Semhar and her position in the tribe. It’s obvious that some people will vote for her. Ozzy supports her. Dawn says that another target is Cochran. Cochran says that he’s an easy target. He was pretty quick during the challenge. As a law student, Cochran can make speeches and he does so, putting the focus on Semhar and her laziness at camp.

Votes to Evict

Mark Semhar
Semhar Cochran
Cochran Semhar
Elyse Semhar
Ozzy Semhar
Keith Semhar
Dawn Semhar
Jim Semhar
Whitney Semhar

Semhar is voted out by a 8-1. She leaves crying for Redemption Island. Wow, that was decisive.

* * * * *

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