Survivor Episode 2 Loaded With Surprises

Dude, I’m tellin’ ya…………

Initially, I was disappointed with this past Thursday’s Survivor episode.  I watched it with one of my buddies who is a big fan and we both found it quite entertaining. That was mainly because of the humorous comments (at least to us) that we made throughout the show.

I found myself disappointed when they disqualified the contestant Ben from the immunity challenge for being too rough and taking what amounted to a cheap shot against a competitor. He was ejected from the contest and his short-handed team lost the challenge and had to face tribal council to vote a teammate out.

I thought this was B.S. because they don’t appear to issue rules to the contestants beforehand. They seem to place them in occasionally aggressive settings and insinuate that “anything goes”. After all, it’s Survivor. Outlast everyone else. 

There is an insinuation that this is the ultimate reality series where a group of people are dropped in a desolate place with minimal supplies and left to fend themselves. If you need to (and can) kill a wild pig in the woods…..go for it! (As Mike did in season 2; Australian Outback). If you steal the shoes from every member of another tribe on Opening Day and leave them barefoot and suffering……..go for it! (As Rupert did on Survivor: Pearl Islands). And if you knock a few people around, and scratch and claw and fight your way to victory in a rugby-type challenge, then that’s what you do……..

But first my buddy watching the show with me, and later another good friend with more brain matter than I, both disagreed with me and collectively helped me to change my outlook. Their first point was that I take things a little too seriously—which I am prone to do. They pointed out that this is a game show in the end. While they may market it as a test of people’s toughness, endurance and resourcefulness, it is still a game and a TV show that is meant for entertainment in the end. 

My argument was that some people, like myself, are ultra-competitive and will resort to most anything when faced with survival (or just plain victory). In real-life, I firmly believe that there are no rules to warfare. Absolutely anything goes. I believe the same holds true in interrogation of an enemy. I don’t believe the police have carte blanche when interrogating suspects accused of crime in the US…..no matter what the suspect’s place of origin is. But if they are suspected/accused/charged with terroism acts or engaging against the US for an established enemy of ours, then there are no rules to interrogation. Anything goes.

But I do acknowledge that not everyone agrees with my viewpoint. It could very well be in the small minority. And I attempted to apply this viewpoint of mine to a TV game show called Survivor. My mistake.

No wonder they didn’t invite me to play when I applied for this very season. My application and video probably revealed my “too aggressive” approach. {Although my much more passive and peace-minded friend didn’t hear anything back either}. I can contain it in job interviews and the workplace; perhaps I need to squash it when trying to get on reality shows too !

My more noble friends also reminded me that I don’t know all of the rules they are actually told beforehand (with the editing process, etc) and that everyone in the challenge was warned once before Ben’s expulsion. Which is totally true on both counts.

So I have backed down on my ultra-competitive, anything-goes-to-survive outlook, and do realize that if another competitor dies in a challenge or during the night, his corpse is NOT to be harvested for its meat and protein. Like I figured I would do if I found myself on the program and that actually happened.

I have also subsequently reviewed the rules of the show on Wikipedia and learned that they do address extra aggression in challenges. They state that:

So they do imply that even when we insert you into challenges that demand takedowns or wrestling, etc. you are to keep it to limited combat. While that wording still leaves the door open to interpretation, the parameters are established when host Jeff Probst issues a warning or forbids certain contact. So there you have it.

Ben deserved to be ousted from the challenge. He did leave his team short-handed, and they lost. And if anyone on the team feels that Ben let the team down, they had a right to feel that way.

Thanks to my more level-headed friends for setting me straight and also from keeping a future contestant from being butchered for his bone marrow when I’m eventually invited to compete on the show.

So what else happened on this episode?

Well, the puppet master Russell found an immunity idol without a single clue. Which is something I have to tip my hat to and give him kudos for. Later in the show, another contestant was provided with the first clue that suggested the idol was hidden in a tree somewhere nearby. Her stated response was that “there’s a lot of trees around here and I’m not gonna waste my time looking for a needle in a haystack”. Or something close to that. Which is what seperates winners from losers. I expect Russell to go farther than that girl. And he should since he’s carrying an immunity idol. We’ll see.

In the end, Betsy the policewoman was eliminated. I was not unhappy with this development just because she is a cop. The police and I have never really been bosom buddies. I do think there were other options the tribe could (should?) have gone with. But even if she was bullied by Russell and voted off unfairly (or prematurely), …..welcome to how the public gets treated by your own profession, darlin’. Feel a little mistreated? A little bit ignored and unappreciated? Like you got the shaft? Maybe you’ll remember how it feels to be bullied and bring those feelings to your job in the future. I hope you do and spread the word to your colleagues.

My favorite moment on this week’s show though, was when Probst asked Ben at tribal council if he felt sorry that he was ejected or had any regrets. And he told the smarmy gamesmaster, “No. No regrets at all. Nobody told me we were going to play by your sissy rules.”

It looked like Probst just got bitch-slapped. Good stuff.

Thanks, Ben.