Day 1: Lost...

Somewhere in the pristine waters of the South Pacific Ocean... a game show is about to begin... again. But not in the way that you'd expect. As the 20 make their way to the island nation of Palau, Probst arrives in the Probst-Boat (apparently the Probstwing was still in the shop, and the Probstmobile isn't equipped for water travel). The usual spiel aside, there are two machetes and two maps to water waiting for the castaways on the island. Also, there are two Immunity Necklaces for the first man and the first woman ashore.

Go.

Go!

Okay, the game has already begun, but technically, Stephenie is the only person in the lead, by virtue of being at the head of the boat.

Then, after the tribespeople got over the initial shock, they started paddling to land. Not content with having a little lead (and never mind that Caryn is noting that people were jockeying for position and trying to change places), and certainly not content with Wanda standing up and singing Survivor-themed songs to the tune of "Heart & Soul"... poorly (Willard: "I wanted to knock her off the boat"), Stephenie and Jonathan break away from the pack and start swimming. Take into effect that they're still at least half a mile away from land. Good luck. See that boat over there? Yeah, that boat? The one that just passed you. You just lost immunity. Fools. Katie even goes so far as to say that they've painted giant bullseyes on their foreheads.

No, I don't think Target is sponsoring this season.

As the boat lands ashore, Ian singlehandedly grabs himself some instant security in the form of an Immunity Necklace. Jen and Kimberly fight for the lead, but in the end, it's the long arm of Jolanda who gets Immunity for herself. "There was no way I'm letting some young girl beat me." I have a feeling that she was going to say something else, but anyway...

Willard notices the flag just has the show's logo, which, if you forgot already, looks like this...

Quoth Gregg: "We're not a tribe. We don't have our buffs. We're just getting to know everyone's name. We don't have a clue what's happening next."

Now the surviving time begins. One group heads out to search for water. One stays to make the fire. And one does a little barn-raising. Soon, the men are hacking the holy heck out of nearby trees while others try to decipher the water map. And within all this, Wanda finds some time to annoy further with her vocal stylings.

Simon: Absolutely terrible.

Sorry, wrong page. Tom is just glad he didn't pick the "loser job" of making fire. As for those who did... well, the dad-blasted thing broke off. Meanwhile, it's an Extreme Makeover as the clothes get a good old-fashioned tearing into a la Pearl Islands. The water group (Caryn, Coby, Willard, and Angie) find their well... and an added surprise... SHOES!

On the way back, Coby begins scheming with the others. The young ones can't be allowed to have all the power. As Angie said, "Me and Coby pretty much knew, when we saw each other, that we were going to be kindred to one another because we understood being different." That's understandable, as Angie's a little bit tattooed punk metal rock-and-roll, and Coby's a little... shall we say... eurotrash discotheque gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

In an impressive move, Janu uses her rock climbing skills to scale a tree and aid in the construction of the shelter. Tom, Stephanie and Ian plot. Tom is sure the tribe will be re-shuffled soon enough. But then again, you can't be sure of anything with this lot, as Gregg said that with this abandonment comes a sense of lost security. But you can be sure of this.. Jolanda came prepared. She just downed her first grasshopper. Jungle woman.

Meanwhile Coby (yes the same one who allied with Angie), Caryn, Tom and Gregg talk strategy. Coby is pushing for Jonathan to be voted out. Greg claims he is not learning towards anyone at the present time.

Day 2: Found...

The next day, Jeff arrives with news. The Immunity Necklace's power is good for one night... but one night only. As recipients, Ian and Jo are guaranteed to stay in the game for... "another 10 minutes." They will be choosing this season's tribes. The catch: there is only room for 18. Two people will be left in the cold and out of the game before they've ever started. Ian & Jo will choose their tribemates, their tribemates will choose THEIR tribemates, and so on, man/woman.

The tribes they choose are...

Ian's tribe: Ian, Katie, Tom, Janu, Gregg, Jen, Coby, (in a stunner with Angie remaining) Caryn, and (with Jonathan and Willard remaining...) Willard. Jonathan is out of the game and the Ian's Tribe Alliance is intact.
Jo's tribe: Jo, Bobby Jon, Stephenie, Jeff, Kimberly, James, Ashlee, Ibrehem, and (with Angie and freaky song lady remaining...) Angie. Angie's no longer Coby's concern as she ousts Wanda... who sings on the way back home. Which is nice... if only for the fact that we will no longer get to hear her.. ever...

After that, the game begins in earnest as Jeff passes out tribal names and buffs.

Ian's tribe, the Koror, which I will be covering, will be clad in brown, while Jolanda's tribe, the Ulong (mmmmm... ulong), which Wolvie will be covering, will be clad in blue. And until further notice, both tribes will be living on the same beach.

Koror have a meeting. Ian is glad they ended up with a wise tribe consisting of both young and older people. Gregg thinks they are weaker than Ulong but they will prevail if they work hard.

R/I-CHALLENGE: Obstacle Scavenge (for various supplies)

Players must make their way through an obstacle course involving a net maze, a jungle race, and a tire run. After that, they must choose what to gather, if anything, from a supply heap - jugs, flint, flour, and rice. The trick is to make the load as navigable as possible while yielding the greatest reward. The next obstacle afterwards, is a 10-foot wall to scale leading to a swamp, and then an outrigger race to the tribal flag. First team to cross the finish.. oh, sorry. TRIBE to cross the finish wins immunity and whatever supplies they collected.

Welcome to flavor country. It's a neck and neck race when Koror decides only to take flint, taking the "fire = life" imagery to new heights. Meanwhile, Jolanda believes they should go with water and food as well. The others listen, and watch as Koror paddles off to certain victory, while Ulong "is looking for another island."

That leaves Koror with flint and immunity... and a choice. They can either go back to the original beach, or take a map and go to a new beach. Tom wants to go to the new beach... because it's there. And would you really blame him? New adventure awaits at the new beach.

Post-challenge: Lost again...

While paddling to their new camp, Koror catch a wave that capsizes their outrigger and, as if to say, "Ha ha!", the flint is overboard. The tribes begin a frantic search, but to no avail. Tom: "We were so elated. We were just loving life. We couldn't wait to see the new beach. And all this to happen. We're just crushed right now. We don't have the water, we don't have the fire to purify it. We lost everything we won today."

Except at least another round in Pulau.