Survivor Heroes Vs. Villains - Sugar Boobs

Within half an hour into the two hour season premiere of Survivor Heroes vs. Villains, fans were treated to a dislocated shoulder (Stephenie), a broken toe (Rupert), and two bouncy breasts with a double bird courtesy of Sugar. Almost none of the seasons of Survivor have started off so strongly as this premiere. Maybe it's because the fans of the show know these players so well that we don't need a few episodes to warm up to them. I instantly cheered watching James jog gingerly over the mat to win it for his team in the reward challenge round. And love him or hate him, how could you really hate Boston Rob when he disarmingly asks, "I'm a Villain?" Or how could you not cackle when Tyson in his typical douche fashion deliver the best line of the night: ''Colby getting owned by Coach? Oh my Gosh, dude. I can only imagine what Colby's thinking. He's gotta be like 'I may as well just become a woman, because there is no point in trying to maintain my masculinity now." Dude was wearing a skimpy, nut hugging bikini - you have to love/hate someone as unselfconscious as Tyson.

I didn't mind the two hour running time at all as it set the groundwork and gave ample time to see the group dynamic in each camp. Though the Villains were defeated in the reward challenge, leave it to Rob to still make fire without the flint reward. Of course, Russell is immediately threatened by this display. His ego is so huge that he can't bear to see anyone else better him or steal the spotlight in any fashion. My guess is Russell's tremendous ego is to compensate for a small, stubby sausage. Strategically, Russell is playing the same game as in Samoa. As in last season, he approaches the perceived weaker females (Danielle and Parvati) to forge an immediate alliance. Normally, I'd say he's wrong to play the same game twice, but in this instant I'll forgive him because no one really knows Russell's game play. Samoa and Heroes vs Villains were filmed almost back-to-back. Still, this gambit could misfire since he's playing with a smarter, more seasoned and blood hungry crew of players.

Coach? Really?
In a recent interview with Jeff Probst, he explained how the producers came to pick this cast. Many people were considered, such as Ozzy, Yul, Terry, Yau-Man, Corinne, Richard (Hatch) and Shane. I would have loved to see any of these individuals return, but Probst reasoned that maybe people had enough of seeing certain people, like Ozzy for instance. Really? Because the minute I heard Coach open his mouth, I wanted to hurl. I never understood this man's appeal, but apparently Jerri does. (And say what you will about Jerri, but I don't think she's half as mean as so many make her out to be.)

In the Heroes camp, things got interesting much quicker because surprise, surprise, they lost the immunity challenge. Call them Heroes, but in the end, Tribal Council will always force you to stab someone in the back. Right away, we see who the really strong strategic players are. And no surprise, Tom, Cirie, Steph and Amanda stepped up, expressing the long view concern by trying to oust the more threatening player rather than the weakest link. Smartly, however, everyone realized that for the short term, Sugar was to go if the team was to remain viable in challenges.

It's still early, but so far this season is delivering. What do you think?

Sources:

ew.com recap by Dalton Ross - http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20343684_4,00.html