Episode 1 - This is Where the Legends are Made

[Fuskie]

Three separate tribes, Nami, Siga, and Yanu, arrived on the Fiji beach were greeted by Jeff who, after a few perfunctoril questions, got the game underway. Giving the castaways a dose of reality, Jeff warns them of false confidence, saying that everyone starts the game knowing that someone was going to be the first voted off the island but nobody ever believes it will be them.

To start the game, the castaways must work through an obstacle course in pairs to retrieve heavy over-sized puzzle pieces, then put together their puzzle as a team. The first team to put their puzzle together and retrieve a piece of flint from a hanging pole would win tools to build their camp. The Nami tribe was able to work through the course and the puzzle for the win. Siga tribe came in second, giving them the advantage to choose whether to participate in the Sweaty or Savvy challenge. Siga chose savvy, leaving Yanu with the sweaty task. Siga felt that they would be able to come together and work on the riddle quickly. Winning would be the difference between having supplies and going without.

Siga and Yanu each had to select two players to compete in their challenges. Q Burdette and David Jelinsky were chosen from Yanu for the sweaty task. They had to fill two urns with ocean water, but the buckets had holes in them. The back and forth was tough for them, and Jelinsky talked Q into quitting with more than half their allotted time left, flinging the half-full hourglass onto the beach. While they were competing, Bhanu Gopal, Jess Chong, Kensie Petty, and Tiffany Ervin, bonded at the Yanu camp, waiting for the results of the challenge. When they returned, the other Yanu members quickly became suspicious of the reasons for Q and Jelinsky quitting.

For Siga, Charlie Price and Ben Katzman volunteered for the Savvy task, which meant solving a riddle and opening a box with a six-number lock.As they tried to puzzle out the clue, the Jem Hussain-Adams, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, Tim Spicer, and Moriah Gaynor, spent time at Siga camp getting to know one another. Charlie and Ben were unable to complete the task before the hourglass ran out, leaving their tribe without supplies for fire and shelter.Their tribemates were more understanding and appreciative of their efforts.

As Nami began to build out their camp, Hunter McKnight, Liz Wilcox, Randen Montalvo, Soda Thompson, Tevin Davis, and Venus Vafa, were all getting along quickly, but Randen felt threatened by Venus while Hunter was uncertain of Soda. Siga quickly became divided by gender, with Charlie's alliance sought by both sides. Over at Yanu, everyone seemed to be getting along, except for Jess, who struggled socially and without the comforts of home.

On Day 2, a boat arrived at each tribe's beach with instructions to choose one member to go on a journey. Yanu chose Jelinsky, who felt confident he would be good with the game. Siga chose Maria with a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and Nami chose Tevin with a roll of the Shot-In-The-Dark dice. The trio met up at a beach where where they were told to play a game. Each drew a card from a 3 card deck. One card had the image of a vote, a second the image of a torch and the third, an image of a skull. The person with the Torch card had to guess which of the other two was holding the Vote card and which had the Skull card. If they guessed correctly, the persons holding the Torch and Vote Card received an extra vote at their next Tribal Council, while the one holding the skull card lost a vote.

 

Maria drew the Torch and had to choose between Jelinsky, who had the Skull card, and Tevin, who had the Vote card. Tevin truthfully told Maria he had the Vote card, while Jelinsky lied, claiming to also hold the Vote card. However, he quickly threw admitted he was lying and forfeited his vote at his next Tribal Council. The three returned to their tribes and described their journeys. While the Siga and Nami tribes were happy with the story told by Maria and Tevin respectively, Jelinsky's tribemates chided him for folding and losing his vote.

On Day 3, it was time for the first Immunity Challenge. The first two tribes to complete the challenge would win immunity, while the third place tribe would be the first to experience a Tribal Council, where one member would be voted out. The challenge started with a relay race in which tribemates worked together a 500-pound gecko through a series of obstacles. Next, tribes would select two tribe members to complete a 3D puzzle. Nami was again the fastest tribe, easily winning the Immunity Challenge, leaving Siga and Yanu competing for second place. After struggling early, Siga communicated well while working on their puzzle, beating Yanu and securing immunity.

 

Yanu headed back to their camp, and quickly Jess and Jelinsky were singled out as the most likely candidates to be voted out. Jess shared she wasn’t feeling confident in her performance so far. She hasn't been sleeping (on night one, the shelter she was in collapsed in the middle of the night). Jelinsky shared confidence in his early alliance. The rest of Yanu were split on what they wanted to do, describing Jess as the weak link of the tribe, but also suspicious of Jelinsky's propensity to quit when the going got tough. However, Jess tried her best while Jelinsky's actions did not live up to his bravado.

 

At Tribal Council, Jess was open about her difficulties, while Jelinsky reluctantly admitted his missteps but repeatedly promised he was 100% committed to his tribe. Q was unhappy that Jelinsky had quit the Sweaty task while there was still so much time left. Others in the tribe didn’t appreciate that Jelinsky had given up his vote during the journey. While they all felt Jess had her faults, the tribe voted unanimously for Jelinsky to be the first castaway voted off the island.