Episode One "She Annoys Me Greatly"

The season began with the fans arriving in a kayak named "Vincent," shortly followed by the favorites via helicopter. Jeff then gives announces that the season is Fans vs. Faves 2. Each tribe received their buffs and the names of Gota for the fans, and Bikal for the faves.

The tribes immediately embark in their first reward challenge for flint and 20 pounds of beans. The tribes would wade across the water in pairs to retrieve a ring and return it to the flagpole while fighting off the other tribe. The fans were first to score, but the faves wouldn't give up that easy. They would then score the next four times in a row to win the reward. The one thing during this challenge that really worried me was Shamar of Gota shouting, "Break her wrist!" It shocked me, and everyone there. He tried to correct himself by saying he meant her grip.

Shamar then goes on to lose more brownie points with his team by telling them they're wasting time on the shelter instead of making fire to boil water. He primarily starts arguing with Matt and won't listen when Matt says he'd be better suited on the shelter team than the fire team.

Meanwhile over at Bikal, Laura, Dawn, and Francesca discussed the possibility of an alliance with Cochran. Francesca never followed up because she was looking to make an alliance with everyone, believing that nobody would see her as a threat, thereby making her a threat. She then tried to make amends with Phillip, whom she had infamously had an argument with in their original season. He later said, "She annoys me greatly." Thus the title of the episode.

Back over at Gota, Shamar regained some respect from his tribemates by teaching them to make fire without any tools. The attention then turns back to Bikal, where Phillip discusses his "B.R. (Boston Rob) Rules" that he created. Basically he plans to have an alliance in an alliance in an alliance, which is a great strategy. I've seen it used to great success before, when played the right way. At one point he goes to Erik and tells him he wants him in his alliance, but he's got the majority without him. Erik feels that this means, "You're either with us, or you're out." He's not happy about that.

Switching track back to Gota, Reynold and Allie start working together after teaming up in the reward challenge, thinking it would be a crazy alliance that no one would expect. Others immediately got suspicious after they got extremely cuddly the first night.They then get Eddie and Hope to work with them. They also show Michael discussing with Matt that they have options from both sides in their tribe, and that they're content to be stuck in the middle.

We then turn our attention to the immunity challenge. Teams climb up a four story tower in pairs, tossing crates of sandbags over the side as they go. The final pair from each tribe then collect the sandbags, and have to land them in 6 holes on a big board. The challenge was dead even until the last pair to climb the tower. The faves took the lead at that point, and even had 3 sandbags in holes before the fans started throwing. The fans weren't to be counted out however, as they came back to win the challenge, also winning their flint in the process.

We follow the faves back to their camp, where Phillip puts Francesca's name on the block while Cochran and Francesca put Phillip's name out there. Brandon and Erik then pledge to help take Phillip out of the game. Cochran and Dawn then pick up their old alliance from their past season, placing their votes on the fence because Dawn had been talking with Phillip. As the tribe is leaving for Tribal Council, Brandon and Erik bring up the threat of Andrea playing both sides and needing to go. Meanwhile, Francesca is paranoid that Phillip somehow has a hidden immunity idol.

Paranoia seems to be the main them as we enter Tribal Council. Phillip begins by proving that he can say Francesca and only used to mispronounce it as an insult to her. Francesca's lack of experience in the game due to being the first out in her season is then brought up where she defends it as an advantage for her. Talk turns to how comfortable Andrea is in the game where she declares she'll never get comfortable because she lost when she got comfortable last time. Cochran then discusses that the gameplay is a bit faster on your second time around because everyone already knows the capabilities of everyone else. When the vote is tallied, Andrea has four votes against her while Francesca is once again eliminated first with 6 votes.

It's hard to get a read on people after just one episode, but I think Michael is going to be a lot bigger in this game than he's been given credit for so far. He has Matt wrapped around his finger and can create the majority where he wants it in the fans tribe. Phillip may have the power at his tribe now, but I think people are going to get tired of him pretty quickly and look to eliminate him.

I think that Brandon and Erik have the biggest target on their backs at Bikal because they instigated the votes against Andrea and Phillip now knows they're against him. Reynold, Allie, and Shamar have the biggest targets on their backs over at Gota. Reynold and Allie for the fact that they're getting so close already, and Shamar hasn't completely earned his tribe's respect back for his behavior at camp, even though making fire did help.

Feel free to leave your thoughts about the episode! Do you agree with my opinions? Who do you like? Who do you think will be the next one to have their torch snuffed? Until next week, the tribe has outspoken.