Rumors are that Kimmi, the Long Island bartender Survivor II: The Australian Outback, will be following in the steps of the infamous Richard Hatch... at least in terms of running around in her birthday suit. But that is only one hint of the excitement that is bound to come in the second season of CBS's hit Survivor. Poisonous snakes, man-eating alligators, and bug-filled fruit are just some of the obstacles these greedy, fame-seeking survivors will have to endure in order to win a million bucks and an indefinite amount of money in endorsements and commercials. CBS executives are riding on the success of the original Survivor, whose scheming and crafty contestants entranced America last summer.
The much-anticipated Survivor II: The Australian Outback aired last night following the Super Bowl. In typically kitschy Survivor style, the contestants were divided into two tribes: the Kucha (Aboriginal for kangaroo) tribe and the Ogakor tribe (Aboriginal for freshwater crocodile). The first sight we caught of the survivors was on the bus-like military plane that was about to drop the contestants in the middle of the Australian Outback. Many of the survivors looked visibly nervous and uncomfortable. In an endearing touch, the cameramen made sure to zoom in on one of the men vomiting. As the contestants stepped off the plane, it became clear that the producers had garnered together an unusually attractive and buff bunch of young people to brave it in the Outback, with the oldest member in the group a 53-year old man from Kentucky.
The Kucha tribe seemed to have the glam-thing and the New York-thing going for them. Among some of the tribe members were hunky Nick Brown, a US Army officer and Harvard Law School student, tough as nails Alicia Calaway, a personal trainer from New York City, and Kimmi Kappenberg (how Long Island can you get?), a whiny but attractive Long Island bartender. At first glance, they looked a lot more likely to be the winners in the final challenge than the Ogakor tribe, whose members seemed to be a bit on the softer and mellow side.
Among the Ogakor tribe members are Mitchell Olson, an aspiring musician from South Dakota, Kerri Manthey, yet another aspiring Los Angeles actress, and Tina Wesson, a nurse and devoted mother from Knoxville, TN.
The show got off to a rather slow start as we watched the confused contestants gather as many supplies as they could from a wooden crate. They then had to find their way to their respective camps using only a map and a compass. Some of the members seemed to have some directional issues, but they all eventually managed to reach their destinations.
And then came the always-problematic issue of fire. You might think that the contestants would have diligently studied the art of fire making before they were marooned in the Outback. But no, we had to watch them as they pathetically tried to rub pieces of wood together in the hope of igniting a spark. Neither tribe had much success, despite one of them hoping that pounding on a drum would help them out. It is amazing how cluesless they all were.
One of the Kucha tribe members, Debb Eaton, a Corrections Officer from New Hampshire, told the tribe that she had at least read up on how to make a fire. However, her know-it-all attitude only seemed to get the other clueless tribe members mildly annoyed.
In one of the finer moments of the show, Kucha tribe member Michael Skupin fearlessly bit into a supposed "fig" that was growing off a vine near their camp. He immediately spit it out after noticing that it was infested with hundreds of bugs. Yum.
Jeff Varner, the sickly Internet project manager from New York who had thrown up on the plane seemed to be on the verge of throwing up again (which he, of course, did later).
On day two, suave host Jeff Probst gave the tribes their first challenge. Using boards, they had to cross a poorly constructed wooden bridge across the river. Then, they had to grab a torch, put it in a raft, float the raft across another body of water, and climb to the top of a structure where they placed the torch. This challenge proved that looks don't necessarily translate into action. The less-buff, less-attractive Okagor tribe proved to be quick on their feet, and won the contest easily. This victory gave them immunity for the evening, as well as a single match to start a fire. Meanwhile, the poor Kuchas had to decide which member of the tribe would be voted out.
This is when the show started to get interesting. The Okagor tribe faded into the background the last 20 minutes as the Kuchas began secretly discussing who was going to get the ax. The producers certainly wanted us to think that Jeff would be booted. Deb made sure to make all the tribe members aware of his tendencies towards vomiting and his unhappiness with being stranded in the Outback. Jeff started to become paranoid and seemed to feel as if all the tribe members were secretly scheming against him.
It came as a surprise when it turned out that Jeff was not the one voted off the Island. Deb, strong, independent, and scheming - the one who seemed most likely to initiate the famous alliances formed by Rudy, Sue, Kelly, and Richard on the first Survivor - was voted off with four votes. Jeff had only received three votes. The tribal council vote was certainly the most exciting and suspenseful part of the show. The producers set it up so that, even though the viewers thought they knew who would get booted, they would be wrong.
As Debbie exited the granite waterfall where the tribe was sitting, she appeared a graceful loser. "Kick ass," she told them as she walked off.
Much of the groundwork for the show was set in this first episode. The leaders of the tribes seemed to have already emerged. The arrogant Michael Skupin of the Kucha tribe should prove the most likely "leader" among his people. It was hard to tell who could be the leader of the Ogakor tribe, even though it seemed as through Maralyn Hershey, a retired 911 communications commander from DC might be a contender.
CBS executives are gambling hard on the success of Survivor II, especially with the network coming in third in the Novembers sweeps. In a daring move, they placed the show against the ever-popular NBC hit Friends. NBC, visibly nervous, responded by extending Friends an extra ten minutes every week. Will Survivor survive? The move may be arrogant, but CBS is hoping that they will be able to get America hooked once again... perhaps they already have.
