Survivor Tocantins Premieres with Sudden Blindside

Survivor is back! Not only for its eighteenth season but the show also makes its return to Brazil in Survivor Tocantins: The Brazilian Highlands. Being the second, and not the first, season shot in HD we haven't heard much about the newly digital Survivor but WOW does HD make the show that much more amazing. As the tribes road into the starting point Jeff revealed that this season is all about impressions. A few of the players talked about another, describing their thoughts without ever talking to them. Through this we found out that Sandy was seen as the weak old lady while Sierra is already sick. She's had strep throat prior to starting the show yet they still put her on? Um that's a first. With the intro, which was good, over with it was time for the game to begin. Jeff announced they had 60 seconds to grab whatever they could from the truck and they were off.

The two tribes this season are Jalapao, who is the red tribe, while Timbira is the black tribe. Each had a good pile of goods after the minute but Timbira surely won out. They grabbed all of the water and beans while Jalapao had some wood and other randoms. They didn't seem to care though, but give them a few days and I'm sure they'll be kicking themselves. With that fun over with Jeff announced yet another bit of fun, well for some. The first vote was happening without any names or personalities to go off of. Timbira chose sore throat Sierra while Jalapao chose old, crazy lady Sandy. Yes she is crazy, as we soon were to find out. Neither were happy about being "voted out" first but things quickly were on the up for them. The tribes were duped as the two ladies were not leaving the game but rather flying to their camp! I bet the others were angry inside as the tables switched but hey Sandy was happy!

With Sierra and Sandy flying away to the camps the rest set off for their four hour trek. Jalapao was the first to be showcased and the wilderness they were in seemed harsh. The temperature was over 100 and all were feeling the heat. While Joe tried to navigate it became very obvious he had no clue what he was doing. JT then took over, something he didn't want to do, but proved a saving grace as he got them to camp before sundown. Over at Timbira things weren't looking well as Coach became, well the coach. Nobody really stepped it up yet were annoyed that Coach took the lead. While on a break Coach approached Brendan about aligning, something about being like the Native Americans and taking out the weak. It's obvious Coach is a bit strange, considering making an alliance without any knowledge of your partner generally screws you in the end.

While the two tribes hiked the two fliers arrived at their camp, four hours ahead of time. Sandy arrived first and had a tearful moment for being voted the weakest. She wants to prove that she deserves to stay, yet took the time to look for the idol instead of building her camp. I'm not sure WHY she would make such a choice, considering the chance of finding the idol at your camp in only a few hours isn't that likely. Over at the Timbira tribe, sickly Sierra stepped it up by forgetting about the idol and really going at the camp. She put together a full shelter by the time her tribe arrived, proving she deserves to say and showing her worth to the tribe. It was a smart move and I really do believe it will help her in the long run.

After around four hours the tribes finally arrived at their respective camps. Jalapao arrived first, just before sundown. They were glad to be "home" but shocked to see that Sandy had done nothing. Carolina complained, her first of many complaints, that Sandy just sat around waiting for them. Little does she know Sandy wasn't just sitting around, she was digging to save her ass! Timbira had a completely opposite welcome home experience. They arrived in the dark but were greeted by a pre-built shelter courtesy of Sierra. It was a HUGE selling point to keep her in the game and she surely deserves to stay awhile considering how hard she worked on her own.

The next day brought new life for the tired hikers. Jalapao began to build their shelter and.... a chair? Yeah Carolina wanted a chair, which nobody really seemed to even remotely begin to build for her. Sandy should have been socializing with the group but decided to continue looking for the hidden idol. She ended up finding the stick, marking the spot, and found the first clue. Bad part is the clue led her to a single palm tree which she couldn't find. She also had to take 10 paces from this hidden tree, which would have been pointless to find considering she doesn't know what a pace is... told you she's crazy! Back on Timbira castaways were in higher spirits. Being that they didn't have to build a shelter a few of members of the tribe decided to do a little water bonding. Tyson went to the stream with Sierra and Debby, filling up the water bucket fully naked. Not all were naked, only Tyson, and it made sick Sierra get a good laugh. Hopefully it cheered her up enough to stay in the game and not being the Debby Downer we all know I hate!

For their second date with Jeff the tribes met at a massive course for their first immunity challenge. While six of the players trekked over hills to a floating puzzle pod in the stream, the other two would remain behind to put together a stair puzzle. Once the puzzle was together, two more would complete a pen maze, raising their flag and winning immunity. Sierra and Erinn were the puzzle doers for Timbira while Sandy and Taj would be putting it together for Jalapao. JT was at the puzzle pod first but on the way back Timbira quickly caught up. When both had the puzzle pieces back, Jalapao quickly regained their lead as Sandy built the staircase, showing she deserved to be there; even if she is a little crazy. Things got hectic at the pen puzzle though as Timbira surpassed the heavy lead of the Red Tribe. It was very epic the way the challenge ended, after so many lead changes, but in the end Timbira took home the win and saved sickly Sierra to fight another day!

Back at camp after their first loss things seemed doomed for Sandy. Her actions at the immunity challenge didn't go unnoticed though as many felt bad for even thinking of voting her out early. Sydney and Spencer spoke out about keeping her in, or at least feeling bad if they did vote her out. Carolina then opened her mouth, giving people reason enough to vote her out instead. While cooling off in the lagoon with Taj, Joe and Sandy, Carolina complained that things weren't getting done. She wanted everyone to work on everything, all at one time, while she sat around and watched. Taj didn't take to that kindly and spoke out about Carolina's "whining". It was fun watching her call out Carolina to her face and it seems we may have another Crystal on our hands. Back at the camp Joe told the guys about Carolina and they didn't really say too much. We were then left in suspense as camp life ended with Sandy searching for the idol.

At their first tribal council, Jalapao was greeted by Jeff and were forced to get fire. He talked mostly about Sandy being voted out first, then her time alone and not really building anything. Carolina spoke out about how sucky it was that Sandy did nothing and I believe Sydney agreed. Sandy was the star of the show though as she admitted to being crazy, and loved being crazy. I'm starting to love crazy Sandy, just for admitting to it! As the votes went in it seemed very certain that Sandy would go. Her edit at Tribal Council made it seem everyone was against her but oh was I wrong! The first vote was for Sandy while vote number two was Sandy's vote for Carolina. The third then came up: Carolina followed quickly by several others with her name. Um what? Do I smell a blindside on the very first episode? If the rest of the show is like this I think it's going to be one of the best seasons yet. There are a ton of like able people already and only a few who are annoying: like Coach. Here's hoping the rest of the season goes down like this and more blindsides come our way.