Tonight is the season premiere of Survivor: Kaoh Rong on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.
Two years ago Survivor: Cagayan introduced a new casting twist that pitted castaways against each other by the traits they rely on in their daily lives: brain, brawn, and beauty. These three traits also represent different strategies used in the game of Survivor with brain, brawn, and beauty representing the strategic, physical, and social aspect of the game respectively. Survivor: Cagayan was a fan favorite season regarded by many as one of the best seasons of Survivor. Therefore, once again Survivor will use the brain vs brawn vs beauty format. Will Survivor: Kaoh Rong be just as good as Survivor: Cagayan? Let’s find out!
The episode kicks off with the marooning. The eighteen castaways are on a ship in southeast Asia. We hear Jeff’s voice-over as he says that this will be the most grueling 39 days in Survivor history due to the harsh humidity and unbearable heat. The castaways have already been divided into their tribes, and we hear from a few of them. From the Brains Tribe, Peter is an ER Doctor. Debbie is a chemist who believes she will do well in challenges. “Puzzle lay down for me like lovers,” she says. On the Brawn Tribe, Scot was a former professional basketball player. He will get along with strong people, but he has no time for weak people. Jason is a bounty hunter who just cares about his paycheck. On the Beauty Tribe, there’s Anna who says she uses her looks to her advantage in poker. Nick is a personal trainer who says his life is easier than most people because he’s better looking.
Jeff tells the castaways they have only a few minutes to collect as many supplies as possible before they have to jump off the ship and get on a raft. Everyone is scrambling as they grab as many items and food as possible. Caleb says he’s an outdoors man who doesn’t mind getting dirty. This is more his style than Big Brother was. Joe is a retired FBI agent, but says this will be the ultimate challenge. Their time is up and Jeff orders them to jump off the ship. They must jump into the water on rafts with the supplies they have collected and then paddle their way to their designated camps.
We first see the Brawn Tribe arriving at their camp. Jason says people find him intimidating with his body type and arms full of tattoss. The tribe introduces themselves to one another. Cyndey is a professional bodybuilder, Darnell is a postal worker, Alecia works in real estate, Jennifer is a construction worker, and Scot is a retired NBA player. Scot thinks they have a great group. Alecia expects the others to underestimate her, but she says she is fearless and daring.
The Brains Tribe get acquainted. Lis is a quantitive strategist. Debbie calls Peter Obama since they look alike, and Peter says he’s used to that in his daily life. Debbie lists all of her work experience, and already she is getting on the nerves of her tribe mates. Neal runs an organic ice cream business and says he’s quirky, but he claims Debbie is a whole different level of craziness.
The Beauty Tribe is working on building shelter. Nick doesn’t think anything will go wrong for them. They’re getting along well. Tai says he was surprised to be on the Beauty Tribe, but then says that there is beauty inside and outside too. Michele is trying to figure out who she gets along with best. She’s talking to the girls and wants to form an all girl alliance. She doesn’t think the guys will talk strategy, but it turns out they are. They discuss which girl to bring into their group. However, Caleb is wondering why Tai is on the Beauty Tribe; he says he’s just an old Asian man. Tai is a gardener from Vietnam, and he says he sees beauty in all living things. He talks about how he lived through war and survived.
Back on the Brawn Tribe, Jason and Scot don’t like Alecia. Jason doesn’t even bother learning her name and simply calls her Blondie. They think she is a weak girl and has no business being on the Brawn Tribe. Meanwhile, Darnell approaches Cydney about an alliance. She is on board with teaming up with him. However, he wants to align with Alecia, but Cydney says no. She wants the other girls gone first.
Over at the Beauty Tribe, the chickens escaped. They chase them around, and they manage to get two of them back. They discuss building a better chicken trap, but Tai wants the chicken to be happy. He ties them to a tree by their necks instead of having them cramped together in a cage. Anna appreciates Tai’s kind demeanor, and she wants Tai to be in the girls’ alliance. Meanwhile, Anna and Julia align too. Julia tells Anna about Caleb’s Big Brother past. Anna learns that he stayed true to a nine-person alliance until the very end, so she believes he is a loyal person. Caleb opens up about his experience on Big Brother and hopes it won’t hurt his game.
Back at the Brains Tribe, Debbie says she and Joe are workhorses. Debbie says before they can play the strategic game, they have to survive and work on camp life. Debbie feels close to Joe and wants the two of them to make it far. However, Neal and Lis are talking in the water. They discuss being annoyed by Debbie before they form an alliance. The also bring in Peter and Aubry to make it a four person alliance. If they lose the immunity challenge, then they can vote out either Joe or Debbie since they will be in the majority.
On Day 2 Tai is looking for the hidden immunity idol, but he is unable to find it. While the rest of the tribe is carrying bamboo, they all get suspicious of him. They walk back and see that Tai was in fact looking for the hidden immunity idol. Anna and Nick confront him, and Tai knows he was caught. No one on the tribe trusts Tai now, including Anna who wanted to align with him. They all agree to vote out Tai if they lose the challenge. Meanwhile, over at the Brains Tribe, Aubry is getting overwhelmed with the heat and breaks down. Liz notes that that probably won’t be the last time Aubry will have a meltdown over something.
Back at the Brawn Tribe, Jennifer is having intense ear pain. Her ear is bleeding and she can hear something digging inside her ear. She feels the bug inside her ear and is desperately hoping for it to crawl out of her ear. While all her tribe members are more worried about how she’ll do in the upcoming challenge, the tiny bug finally crawls out of her ear. Cyndey and Scot see the bug crawl out, and have a strong reaction to it. Scot kills the bug in his fingers, and Jennifer says she now feels better and is ready for the challenge.
It’s time for the first challenge of the season. They will start out at a platform in the middle of the water. They will gather onto boats as one tribe member will dive for an oar one at a time. Once they collect all the oars, they will paddle back onto the beach. Afterwards, they will need to push their boats down the beach on a track. Lastly, they will have a choice between a puzzle or a balancing challenge. The first tribe to complete will win immunity and a fire making kit. The second tribe to finish will win immunity and flint. The losing tribe will have to go to Tribal Council.
The tribes strategize before the challenge begins. The Brawn Tribe falls behind as Darnell loses the swimming mask when he dives in. The Beauty and Brains tribes are doing well collecting oars, and the Beauty Tribe takes an early lead. They get back on the beach first, but the Brains Tribe are right behind. The Brawn Tribe are still collecting oars, but they finally can make their way back to the beach. However, due to the other tribes struggling placing the boats onto a cradle on the track, The Brawn Tribe are back in it. The Brains Tribe are also successful in attaching the wheels onto the boat and the Brawn Tribe manage to do so too. The Beauty Tribe is now in last as Lis and Aubry get started on the puzzle. The Beauty Tribe have fallen way behind now as they struggle to push the boat. They finally do, though. All three tribes have chosen to do the puzzle, with Jennifer and Alecia working on it for Brawn and Anna and Julia working on it for Beauty. Alecia is not helping out much, so she tags out and lets Scot take over. Soon enough, Lis and Aubry complete the puzzle. The Brains Tribe win immunity and reward! It’s now very close between Brawn and Beauty, but it is Anna and Julia who finish the puzzle second. The Beauty Tribe wins immunity! The Brawn Tribe will go to Tribal Council tonight.
The Brawn Tribe returns to camp. Alecia apologizes for not doing well at the puzzle, and Darnell apologizes for losing the swimming mask. They know they are on the chopping block. Scot wants Darnell out and calls him dead weight, and he tells Alecia to stay calm. He tells her all she has to do is stop scheming. However, when Scot and Jason ask he whether she has a hidden immunity idol or not, she neither confirms nor denies having one. Scot is flabbergasted by Aleica. He says that she’s been given a lifeline, but she is making things complicated for herself. Cydney wants Alecia gone since she aligned with Darnell. It seems like either Alecia or Darnell will be voted out tonight.
It’s time for Tribal Council. Jeff asks Jason his thoughts on the tribe. Jason says some people live up to his high standards. “Some people?” Jeff repeats. Jason calls out Alecia and Darnell as the two who don’t live up to his standards, but he simply refers to Alecia as Blondie. Jeff asks Alecia and Darnell their thoughts on being called out. Darnell admits that he lost the challenge for his tribe, but he still wants to stay. Alecia says she’s a mental giant, and she will work her butt off in challenges and she wants to be there. Darnell says he paddled and pushed the boat, but Alecia did nothing. Darnell feels bad for disappointing the tribe. Jeff asks him to compare this to life. Darnell gets emotional as he says he always has to fight for everything in life, and it hurts him to let people down. Jeff asks Jennifer if she can empathize with Darnell. She says yes and he is tugging at her heartstrings. Jeff points out how it seems like the tribe is torn, and Scot agrees. Scot says Alecia and Darnell are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and it’s a ping pong match to decide who goes home.
It’s time for the vote. We see Cyndey vote for Alecia and Alecia vote for Darnell.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Alecia
Darnell
Alecia
Darnell
Alecia
Darnell
It’s a tie vote. Everyone but Darnell and Alecia goes to vote again, and they can only vote for either Darnell or Alecia.
Jeff reads the votes again. The first vote is for…
Darnell
Darnell
Darnell
Darnell is the first person voted out of Survivor: Kaoh Rong.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor: Kaoh Rong. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts on the episode in the comments section below, and come back next week for another live recap.
