Survivor Season 15 Goes to China

Season 15 of Survivor is officially underway. This season is being billed as "The first time a major American TV show has taken place in the most mysterious place on earth". It takes place in Jiang Xi, an ancient South Central Province of China, in the shadow of a sacred mountain.

From the looks of the first episode, the location is pretty typical of Survivor - lush, tropical greenery, hot weather, rain and mud. If it hadn't been for the occasionally clip of a panda, a monkey and the Great Wall thrown in, you wouldn't have known it was China. And of course, the newly-made ancient-looking temple where Tribal Council is held.

The contestants this season are the usual mix of folks from all walks of life including a surfing instructor, a hiking guide, an elementary teacher, a chicken farmer, a grave digger, a waitress, a Christian radio host, a female wrestler, a former male model, a parkour athlete, a musician, a school lunch lady, a jeweler, a male flight attendant, an honor student, a professional poker player and a former Miss Montana. An interesting bunch. Standing out in the bunch are the grave digger, with incredible strength and a quiet, warm personality, and Courtney, the loud-mouthed waitress that you can tell from the start is going to be trouble.

The show opened with a Buddhist Ceremony of prayer and welcoming traditions. The only two contestants to have a problem with the ceremony were Courtney who rolled her eyes and refused to pray at times, and Leslie, the Christian radio host that was offended by the worship of "idols". After the ceremony, in accordance with Buddhist tradition, the participants had to leave behind their suitcases and abandon their worldly possessions. This meant heels, dresses, and no bras for some of the contestants (their words).

The two teams were split up arbitrarily ahead of time and the coveted buffs were given out. The yellow team is Zhan Hu (Fighting Tiger) and the red team is Fei Long (Flying Dragon). As the teams got to know each other there were the usual disagreements about how to build a shelter and who would do what, but no major conflicts have come up yet. The contestants were not given flint and were only given a bag of rice to get started - nothing new there.

The first challenge found the contestants going through your typical Survivor obstacle course - scaling walls, running through a maze, opening locks, solving puzzles. Fei Long won the challenge, securing flint and immunity for the team. Seeing the same challenge as in the past, you wonder if the show is going to come up with anything new this season...

At Tribal Council the team discussed voting off Ashley, the wrestler who had gotten sick and didn't help out a lot - but she had enough personality and potential strength that the team kept her around. They also considered voting off Peih-Gee, the contestant being labeled as "bossy". But the team ultimately voted off "Chicken" the older Chicken farmer from Virginia that spoke with an accent. They went back to camp with flint, one less person and the start of the game we've all grown to love.

There were no twists or turns introduced on the first episode, though apparently there will be an ability for one team to kidnap an opponent later in the game. There was no mention of exile island, or splitting the teams by age or gender, or anything like that. Just the same game that we've been watching for fifteen seasons now. Although, even if nothing changes about the show, reality is always interesting.

If you're a true Survivor Fan you may want to check out the CBS website. They have lots of behind the scenes videos, pictures and a community board. You can also catch up on missed episodes and keep track of another season of Survivor.