On the season premiere of "Survivor: Heroes vs Villains," viewers welcomed back old favorites such as Boston Rob, Jerri (the self proclaimed "original villainess"), Rupert, James, Russell, Tom and many more on the 20th edition of the show that sparked an entirely new genre of television.
At the start of the episode, Rupert showcased that he was a true hero.
"In my world, I’ve always tried to show that good will win."
Russell, last seen just a couple months ago on "Survivor: Samoa," was definitely the antithesis of the tie-dyed teddy bear.
"I’m a villain," said Russell. "I think villains are smarter than heroes, because they don’t mind stabbing somebody in the back to get where they want to get."
Coach said he returned for the 20th season to "slay everyone and trust no one," while Cirie called herself a "gangster in an Oprah suit."
"Survivor: Heroes vs Villains" began as both teams arrived on the island via helicopter. After exchanging a few pleasantries--save Boston Rob, who said he expected to dominate the Heroes--the reward challenge began.
In a physical battle that involved teams of two racing to dig up a bag from the sand and cross it past their teams' goal line. In the first challenge, Stephenie dislocated her arm and Danielle emerged the winner for her tribe.
In the second battle, JT was able to get his bag across the goal line for the Heroes, tying the game at 1-1.
In the third battle, Russell pulls the bag out of the sand and runs with it. Soon, he is close-lined by Colby, knocking the big man to the ground. Colby eventually emerges with the bag, dragging Coach on his back. Soon, Colby's leverage is taken away from him, as he quickly gets dragged by Coach towards the Villains goal. Coach eventually succeeds in dragging Colby away from the Heroes goal, earning a point for the Villains.
In the fourth battle, it's Sugar and Candice for the Heroes versus Sandra and Courtney for Villains. In a very physical bout by the women, Sugar fumbles the bag with Sandra on top of her. Sandra then unhooks Sugar's top in an attempt to neutralize the perky Survivor. It didn't matter, as Sugar gets up, grabs the bag, and scores a point for her team all the while being half naked. Sugar then turns around and gives the Villains two middle fingers.
With the reward challenge tied 2-2, it came down to James and Rupert taking on Tyson and Boston Rob. At first, Rob sits back and attempts to wait and see which Hero digs up the bag first. Soon, James winds up with it and quickly evades Rob's mediocre tackle attempt to win the reward challenge for the Heroes.
Probst gives the Heroes flint as their reward.
At the end of the reward, Rupert reveals that he's broken his toe. The medical team takes a look at it and eventually bandages him up. Rupert is resolute in not exiting the game over a pinky toe.
“I felt it cracking inside me,” said Rupert. “But I'm not getting put out of this game over a damn toe.”
Meanwhile, despite the loss, Russell remains as confident as ever. He immediately creates alliances with both Danielle and Parvati. While Danielle appeared eager to trust Russell, Parvati wisely had her doubts.
"I feel like I’m making a deal with the Devil. But I want the Devil on my side," said Parvati.
Russell, meanwhile, continued to campaign for the title of "Ultimate Survivor," saying, "If I can whoop these all-stars, doesn’t that mean I’m the best ever?"
Over at a rainy Heroes camp, Tom sees chickens walking in the forest. Gathering a few fellow members of his tribe, they successfully throw a net onto the birds, capturing them for future consumption.
While James and JT shook hands and formed an alliance at the Heroes tribe, Jerri and Coach seemed to have a potential romance budding. Even their fellow castaways noticed, as many of the women confessed on-camera that one never knows where they'll find true love.
Soon after JT forms an alliance with James, he quickly is approached by Tom. Tom, wanting to form a trust with another "Survivor" player who's won the million dollars, quickly joins forces with JT to build an alliance. JT confesses that in this game, one has to "have a dark side" to play "Survivor."
With his broken toe, Rupert desires to appear useful to his tribe. In doing so, he attempts to make fire--it doesn't work. With Cirie watching his failed attempt, he hands the duties over to JT. JT, with the help of Colby, successfully generate a fire.
That night, Colby vents about how a needy Sugar continues to flirt with him while he sleeps. Annoyed by her loud talking at night, Colby says that if contestants rub themselves the wrong way with people, it can lead to an early exit from the game.
The next morning, the Heroes tribe chooses to kill one of their roosters. Instead of chopping its head off, JT grabs the bird and flips it around until its neck snaps. In his confessional, James recounted a traumatizing but “funny” story about how is grandmother used to kill chickens in a similar fashion.
At the Immunity Challenge, the Heroes jumped to a quick lead, paddling their boat out to sea and lighting their torch. When they return to shore, however, the Heroes ran into trouble with the puzzle portion of the challenge, which was being spearheaded by Sugar. As the Heroes tried to figure it out, the Villains not only caught up to them, but surpassed them. As Sugar cracked under pressure for the Heroes, Boston Rob and Sandra helped lead the Villains to their first victory.
The win by the Villains immediately prompts Sugar to tear up, which Probst quickly brings to everyone's attention.
Before Tribal Council began, the Heroes were scrambling to figure out who should be voted out. Amanda and Sugar's name came up, and eventually Tom threw out the idea of voting off Cirie.
Amanda and Cirie talked briefly before heading to Tribal Council, as well. Amanda said that she and Cirie "are out for blood this time. We’re here to win this thing.”
At Tribal Council, Stephenie said that her vote would be based upon who was the weakest person at the challenge. Cirie said that she didn’t believe that one challenge should judge one’s worth in the game, while Tom said the focus should be on winning in the future so that voting off members is no longer needed.
As rain began to come down and the votes were all in, Jeff, as always, read the votes. The first vote was for Sugar. Second vote: Sugar. Third vote: Sugar. Fourth vote: Sugar. Fifth vote: Amanda. Sixth vote: Sugar. Seventh vote: Sugar.
Sugar became the first contestant voted off "Survivor: Heroes vs Villains."
For more "Survivor" recaps, news and more, click here.
Michael Langston Moore also writes for the BOSTON TV EXAMINER column, as well as the AFRICAN AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT EXAMINER page on Examiner.com.
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