Rétrospective: Koh-Lanta: Vanuatu (Épisode 2)

Date de diffusion originale: 28 juillet 2006
Audience: 6.2 millions de téléspectateurs

Ils doivent, jour après jour, déjouer les pièges de la nature, survivre, et surtout survivre aux autres. Telle est la loi impitoyable de Koh-Lanta.

Jour 4

Gaëlle prend bien mal les commentaires plutôt négatifs que Denis Brogniart a eu à son endroit la veille au conseil. Elle pleure à l'écart des autres, troublée par ces reproches qu'elle considère injustifiés. Pourtant, de part son portrait, on aurait pu croire qu'après avoir été jugée en tant que jeune mère pendant si longtemps, Gaëlle possèderait les outils émotionnels nécessaires pour faire face à une telle critique. Elle est perturbée par la peur de décevoir ses proches.

Marie revient alors sur le campement, ce qui redonne le sourire à Gaëlle. Selon elle, Marie est devenue en quelques sortes sa petite protégée. Seulement après 3 jours d'aventures, des liens forts les unissent déjà.

François-David, Nico, et Sébastien s'activent avec des bouts de bois, mais cette nouvelle tentative de faire du feu se solde encore une fois par un échec.

Du côté des Mosso, on manque d'eau. La mer est très agitée, rendant la traversée vers l'îlot dangereuse. Malgré la violence des vagues, Catherine, se foutant de l'opinion des autres membres de sa tribu, décide de se risquer. Devant la témérité de celle-ci, c'est à contre-coeur que d'autres seniors décident de l'accompagner. Non sans efforts, l'opération est une réussite. Mais vu la difficulté d'approvisionnement, Jean-Claude propose de rationner la consommation d'eau. Puisque l'idée fait du sens, évidemment que Catherine n'est pas d'accord. . .

Une tempête tropicale s'avance vers les côtes du Vanuatu. Et malgré tous les signes avant-coureurs, tant les juniors que les seniors demeurent insouciants du danger.

L'incapacité de faire du feu et le manque de nourriture résultent en une baisse considérable d'énergie chez les Tana. Gaëlle est d'avis que l'équipe devrait se fixer des objectifs à atteindre. Contrairement à ses 3 premiers jours sur l'île, Sébastien est de bonne humeur, volontaire, et travaillant. Quant à lui, Nico explique qu'après 4 jours sans manger, ils n'ont tout simplement plus de forces.

Selon Gaëlle, après quatre jours à répéter "Demain, demain, demain," il faut qu'il y ait du feu aujourd'hui. Les garçons tentes une nouvelle fois de faire du feu, cette fois-ci à l'aide d'une petite loupe, mais avec les même résultats:

Faire du feu c'est épuisant ! (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Le moment est venu de se rendre à l'épreuve du jeu de confort. Pour chaque équipe, il y a une plateforme flottante sur laquelle repose un coffre. La tribu qui ramène son coffre à la plage la première repartira avec son contenu. Avantage numérique oblige, Estelle ne participera pas pour les Mosso.

Sébastien est rapidement en tête pour les Jaunes. Encore une fois, il est évident que les seniors ne sont pas à l'aise dans l'eau. Mama et Catherine ne plonge même pas sous l'eau pour aider les autres à libérer le coffre. Les juniors travaillent en tandem et prennent une sérieuse avance. Nathelie renvoit Mama sur la plage, mais les juniors l'emportent haut la main. Comme récompense, Samson, natif de l'île de Tana, leur apprendra comment survivre dans la jungle.

Ne perdant pas de temps, Samson leur apprend à confectionner des pièges pour capturer des poules et des cochons sauvages. Pendant le reste de la journée, Samson et son interprète Alex répondent aux questions des Jaunes.

Finalement, on peut se débrouiller avec beaucoup de choses que la nature nous offre. Ça c'est clair.

Sur le campement des Mosso, personne ne veut endosser la responsabilité pour la raclée qu'ils viennent de subir. Mama est furieuse d'avoir écouter Nathalie au lieu d'avoir continué à aider son équipe. Quant à elle, Nathalie prétend que Mama et Catherine devaient retourner sur la plage pour recevoir le coffre.

Du côté des Tana, après leur avoir montré comment faire, Samson force les juniors à faire eux-mêmes le feu. Solidaires dans cette ultime tentative, ils réussissent enfin à faire du feu! Exubérants, les juniors pourront prendre leur premier repas chaud après 4 jours de galères.

Ce même feu cause quelques tensions chez les seniors. Mama, qui veille sur le feu dans les grotte, accepte mal la critique de Nicholas et elle s'emporte quand celui-ci mentionne son mari:

Mama vs Nicolas : le feu de la discorde (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Jour 5

La progression du cyclone Jim inquiète les autorités de l'archipel du Vanuatu. De par sa localisation, la plage des juniors est menacée. Les Tana n'ont d'autre choix que de déplacer leur campement, car celui-ci est maintenant submergé. Il semble impossible de sauver le feu si difficilement gagné, mais Sébastien et Ludovic réussissent à le faire reprendre.

Ludovic réalise que la plupart des Tana ne semblent pas se rendre compte de la gravité de la situation. Marie et Émilie sont même heureuses d'avoir l'opportunité de vivre quelque chose d'aussi spécial. Ludovic s'efforce de leur faire comprendre l'ampleur du danger et le besoin de s'abriter, mais en vain. Finalement, l'inquiétude de Ludovic viendra à bout des Jaunes et ils prendront conscience de l'importance de quitter leur campement.

Chez les Mosso, malgré la houle, ils négligent encore leur sécurité et tentent une nouvelle fois de rejoindre l'îlot pour s'alimenter en eau potable. Les conditions météorologiques n'inquiètent pas du tout les seniors.

L'essentiel, c'est de ne pas laisser son moral, se laisser perturber par ces quelques vagues.

Alors que le cyclone progresse en leur direction, les deux équipes s'affrontent pour l'épreuve d'immunité. Ils doivent maintenir un membre de leur équipe en suspend le plus longtemps possible à l'aide d'une corde. Estelle n'est pas contente d'être laissée à l'écart pour une deuxième épreuve consécutive. Faisant moins de 50kg chacune, ce sont Mama et Gaëlle qui seront en suspend. Le duel final oppose Ludovic à Nicolas, et ce sont les Mosso qui l'emportent:

Epreuve d'immunité : duel d'équipe à la corde (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Avec les conditions météo qui se détériorent, les deux équipes passeront la nuit dans un établissement scolaire.

Jour 6

Bonne nouvelle! Plus aucun risque de cyclone sur l'archipel du Vanuatu. Cependant, sur le bivouac des Mosso, les vagues demeurent trop violentes pour leur permettre d'aller chercher de l'eau. Il semble que les seniors aient perdu le feu, mais Mama et Estelle réussissent à le raviver avec les quelques braises restantes. La victoire de la veille donne lieu à une bonne ambience ce matin, mais Estelle n'a plus envie de faire de la figuration. La personnalité et l'autorité de Nathalie commencent à agacer certains membres de sa tribu. Et donc, malgré cette belle victoire, des tensions viennent miner l'esprit d'équipe chez les seniors.

Du côté des Tana, le retour est plutôt difficile. Le feu est mort et le bivouac a été dévasté par la houle. Mais en utilisant les trucs enseignés par Samson, ils réussissent à refaire le feu. Pendant que les bananes sont en train de cuire, ils réalisent qu'il faudra rebâtir la cabane.

Vu la bonne atmosphère qui règne au sein de leur groupe, les juniors ne savent pas pour qui voter au conseil. Ludovic et Sébastien considèrent voter pour Émilie, à qui ils reprochent de ne pas être à 100% dans l'aventure. Selon eux, elle serait peut-être contente de sortir pour pouvoir s'épiler. . .

Émilie, c'est une fille qui est volontaire. Et en plus, elle est vachement mignonne. . . Ça ne lui enlève rien!

Nico ne voit pas comment il pourrait voter pour un des garçons. L'équipe a besoin de force physique, donc une fille devra être éliminée. De leur côté, Émilie et Gaëlle sont d'avis que les hommes manquent parfois de dynamisme et ne sont donc pas indispensables. Les 3 filles se promettent mutuellement de ne pas voter l'une contre l'autre, ce qui veut dire qu'elles voteront pour un des garçons.

Lors du conseil, Denis Brogniart revient sur la présence et les enseignements de Samson, ainsi que sur l'arrivée du cyclone. Durant la conversation sur la partage et la participation de tous et chacun aux tâches quotidiennes, Gaëlle trouve que les filles prennent plus souvent l'initiative et fait référence à la sieste des garçons.

Sébastien prend alors la parole et réitère que les membres de l'équipe doivent apprendre à se parler pour qu'il puisse ensuite avancer dans l'aventure. Il en a long à dire sur ses coéquipiers, ce qui ne fait pas du tout l'affaire des autres. Émilie est particulièrement agacée par cette tournure des évènements. Force est de constater qu'une telle ouverture de Sébastien crée certaines frictions chez les juniors.

Bien qu'Émilie récoltent 3 votes parce qu'elle n'a supposément pas l'âme d'une aventurière et qu'elle a moins sa place au sein de l'aventure, c'est Sébastien qui paye cher son franc-parler. Ayant amassé 4 votes contre lui, c'est lui qui est éliminé.

Ludovic semble être surpris par l'issue du vote.

Rewatch: Survivor: Borneo "Pulling Your Own Weight" (Episode 5)

Episode 5: "Pulling Your Own Weight"
Original Airdate: June 28th, 2000
American ratings: 24 million viewers

Twelve are left. Who will be voted off next?

Day 13

At the Pagong camp, the tribesmates are sleeping in this morning. They want to relieve the stress of losing another member, as well as losing two consecutive challenges. Gretchen feels that their camp looks a bit trashy, and she thinks there's a lot they could do to make it look nice. But she believes that something will have to change to make everyone pitch in.

Meanwhile at Tagi, they hang the parachute up for shade. Kelly is irritated by Sean and Dirk's evident lack of effort around camp. She claims that they go on pointless fishing expeditions just so they can pretend to be doing something other than working around camp.

Sue has had enough and berates both of them for wasting three days fishing during daylight.

"I don't think it was a waste," was Dirk's ill-advised response.

"Well, did you catch anything?" Sue shot back.

"No ma'am."

"Okay. . . It was a waste of time, then," Sue ended this discussion in a manner that brooked no further argument from Sean or Dirk.

"It's been the people who really work and contribute to the camp versus the people who are lazy and who don't do anything to contribute to the camp," explains Kelly.

It's funny to me that a guy would read the Bible here. The only reason I'd bring a Bible is if. . . I mean, I'm religious too. . . If I needed toilet paper.

Jeff Probst visits the tribes and announces that the next challenge will be the "Weapons target shooting classic." There will be three rounds: the blowgun, the slingshot, and spear-tossing. Each team is provided with the three weapons so that they can practice for a few hours.

Surprisingly, Sean is good with the blowgun. Richard has no equal with the slingshot. And Sue is the most talented with the spear. She's quite happy with the prospect of kicking a man's ass on national television.

Back at the Pagong beach, morale is high and they are having fun practicing with the weapons for the reward challenge. Gervase acts as their unofficial Michael Buffer, encouraging his teammates. Jenna will represent their tribe for the blowgun challenge, Gretchen with the slingshot, and Joel will throw the spear.

Both tribes are very close at the end of the second phase of the reward challenge, but Joel's second toss wins it for Pagong. They receive a basket full of fruit as well as three chickens.

Things are definitely looking up for Pagong as they return to their beach. It is decided that the chickens will be killed if they don't lay eggs soon. Jenna names them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

When we won that reward challenge, that was our momentum right there!

At the Tagi camp, Sue is upset for losing that challenge. Richard returns with an eel. As expected, the envious Sean, still waiting to catch his first fish, says that it tastes horrible.

Among the Pagong team, Gretchen continues to feel that Greg is the leader. But it's a position he doesn't want. Greg had begun sleeping alone in the forest at night, and Colleen is now joining him.

Day 14

Jenna believes that there might be a little romance going on between Colleen and Greg. But he insists that there is no romance whatsoever.

When we go off, it's all about sex.

At Tagi, Richard squares off against a venomous snake, even though the castaways were warned that they were deadly. There is some concern among the tribe regarding Dirk radical weight loss. "You could eat more, Dirk," Sue tells him. "Because you're looking like hell. You look like a Nazi war prisoner camp dude."

Witnessing a better effort from Sean and Dirk around camp, Kelly believes that they now have a greater work ethic because they know they'll get voted off otherwise. Still, Richard, Sue, and Kelly have decided that the next one to go with be one or the other. Hence, it looks as though Sean's refusal to become part of their alliance will come back to haunt him.

Day 15

Since the next immunity challenge is an aquatic one, Richard is persuaded that Tagi has the edge because Gervase cannot swim.

For this shipwreck challenge, Kelly and Gervase will row their boats and must collect fellow tribesmates hanging on floating debris. Though the man can't swim much, he has upper body strength and can row faster than Kelly. He collects Joel and Greg before she has a chance to reach Sue. When Gretchen gets in, Pagong now has four rowers and they keep moving faster. Their boat is back at the beach before Tagi can claim their third stranded member.

Gervase joked with Jeff Probst prior to the challenge, claiming that he relished this chance to be in the spotlight. Well, he sure made the most of it. Meanwhile, Kelly cries in shame, unable to come to terms with the fact that she was beaten by a guy who can't even swim.

Back at the Tagi camp, inside Rudy's Rowdy Diner, Kelly tries to stay positive. "All which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

Blinded by his own innocence or stupidity, Sean thinks that Rudy is going home tonight. Dirk feels that he could be vulnerable, but he considers himself a valuable member of the tribe.

At tribal council, Jeff is getting better and better at getting the castaways to open up and discuss various issues. Unfortunately for him, Richard is no fool and dodges the bullet when Jeff inquires about the presence and role of alliances within the tribe. Either Richard's dissembling works, or no one wants to bring attention to themselves by calling him out on it.

Fire represents life on the island. Your torches represent your identity here.

When the votes are tallied, Sue and Rudy each get a vote cast against them, while Dirk racks up the remaining four votes and is sent home. On his way out, he thanks the Lord for the 15 days he spent on the island. He is convinced that this was God's will that he leave tonight and that the Lord obviously has a plan for him.

Let us pray that was the case. . .

To purchase the Survivor: Borneo DVD boxset: Canada, USA, Europe.

Rétrospective: Koh-Lanta: Vanuatu (Épisode 1)

Date de diffusion originale: 21 juillet 2006
Audience: 6.1 millions de téléspectateurs

Tel que mentionné précédemment, j'ai décidé de revoir et analyser la saison 2006 de Koh-Lanta pour ma première rétrospective. Pourquoi? Et bien, les équipes étaient composées de plusieurs aventuriers possédant beaucoup de caractère et de personnalité. Les éléments furent un facteur marquant. Et, qui plus est, c'est durant cette saison que nous avons assisté à la naissance de la première histoire d'amour de Koh-Lanta entre Émilie et François-David. Alors quoi de mieux pour cette première rétrospective!?!

Dans quelques minutes, ces huit femmes et huit hommes, ces naufragés volontaires, vont entrer en enfer.

Jour 1

Le vieux cargo transportant les aventuriers ne pouvant pas aller plus loin, les 16 naufragés doivent se jeter à l'eau et regagner la rive à bord d'embarcations gonflables. Mama manque son saut par dessus bord, trébuchant sur un cable et tombant sur le dos dans l'eau. Cette maladresse est venue bien près de terminer son aventure avant même que celle-ci ne débute. Jean-Claude requiert l'aide d'Alain pour rejoindre son radeau.

Ce n'est pas sans efforts que les aventuriers arrivent finalement sur la mangrove. Bien qu'il ne soit que 7:00am, il fait déjà 28°C et les moustiques se mettent à dévorer les naufragés. Premier défi: ils doivent faire un trek de plus de deux heures à travers la mangrove et la forêt tropicale pour rejoindre Denis Brogniart.

Cette longue marche est parsemée de cafouillages de part et d'autre. Mais Gaëlle, Nathalie et Marie font preuve de savoir-faire et s'enduisent de boue pour lutter contre les insectes. Quant à elle, Karine galère lors de son passage dans les marécages. Les hommes ne font guère mieux de leur côté. En voulant aller cueillir des bananes vertes, Nicholas dérange des guêpes assez aggressives et c'est Nico qui en paye le prix.

C'est vers 9:30am que les naufragés rejoignent Denis Brogniart. Surprise, cette nouvelle saison de Koh-Lanta sera de nouveau un choc des générations. Les moins de 31 ans formeront la tribu des Tana, tandis que les seniors formeront la tribu des Mosso.

Une autre surprise inattendue au terme de ce long trek, c'est que la première épreuve a lieu sur le champs. Le but étant pour tous les membres de chaque tribu de tenir tous ensemble en équilibre sur une corde pendant au moins 5 secondes. Mais le parcours pour atteindre la corde est semé d'embûches. Bien que les jeunes hommes dominent dès le départ, ils n'ont d'autre choix que d'attendre les filles qui ferment la marche. Catherine fait perdre un temps énorme à son équipe. Mais les seniors ne paniquent pas et reprennent l'avantage, arrivant les premiers à leur corde. Les Tana sont très mal organisés, alors que les Mosso sont plus méthodiques. Malgré tout, les chutes collectives s'enchaînent successivement, forçant Denis Brogniart à intervenir.

Reprochant aux équipes leur manque de cohésion et d'esprit d'équipe, l'animateur annule l'épreuve. Pour une personne comme moi, qui a découvert Koh-Lanta après avoir suivi plus d'une vingtaine de saisons de Survivor, de voir Denis Brogniart s'immiscer dans le déroulement des épreuves, des conseils, etc, me laisse toujours stupéfait. Jamais dans toute l'histoire de Survivor l'animateur Jeff Probst n'a posé un tel geste. C'est une des différences les plus marquantes entre la version originale de l'émission et son adaptation française.

Toujours est-il qu'il doit y avoir un gagnant. On demande donc à chaque équipe de faire le choix de l'aventurier le plus performant pour se hisser au sommet de la corde. Le gagnant remportera 3 allumettes. François-David fait donc face à Alain, et la fougue de la jeunesse a le dessus cette fois-ci:

François-David vs Alain : la conquête du feu (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Bon courage.

Deux pêcheurs locaux guideront les aventuriers vers leurs campements à bord de leurs pirogues. Malheureusement, les seniors connaissent certaines difficultés en cours de route et leur pirogue se met à couler. Les Tana rejoignent donc leur plage les premiers. Mais c'est à leur tour de connaître des soucis quand leur incapacité de lire la carte les empêche de localiser leur point d'eau.

L'équipe des Mosso arrive finalement sur leur campement. Bien que ceux-ci ont accumulé du retard, carte en main ils trouvent immédiatement le coffre contenant les gourdes. Leur point d'eau se trouve sur un îlot situé à proximité de leur plage. Chaque aventurier a droit à 5 litres d'eau par jour.

Du côté des Tana, on tente sans succès d'organiser la construction de la cabane. Les opinions diffèrent quant aux priorités de la tribu. Exaspéré par certains membres de son équipe, Sébastien voudrait que l'eau soit la priorité numéro. Mais d'autres, comme Nico, sont d'avis que qu'il faut un abris avant tout. Alors que le chantier prend un peu d'ampleur, les filles trouvent le point d'eau.

Avec des conditions météorologiques incertaines, la fatigue collective, et le manque de ressources, les Mosso décident d'utiliser une petit grotte comme abris pour le premier jour de l'aventure. Mika voudrait une véritable cabane, mais il comprend l'importance de savoir s'adapter aux autres membres de sa tribu.

On a aucun confort. . . On a fait le maximum de ce qu'on pouvait faire avec ce qu'on a trouvé.

Puisque la pluie s'est mise de la partie, sur le campement des Tana François-David est d'avis qu'ils ne devraient pas tenter de faire du feu pour le moment. "On a seulement 3 allumettes," dit-il, tentant de convaincre ses comparses. Gaëlle partage l'opinion de F-D, mais Sébastien, comme à son habitude depuis son arrivée sur l'île, n'est pas d'accord. À la tombée de la nuit, les jeunes se couchent sur la plage sans feu. "C'est n'importe quoi," déplore Sébatien. S'il y a quelque chose qui caractérise l'équipe des juniors depuis de début de leur aventure, c'est qu'il semble y avoir beaucoup de discussions, mais très peu d'actions. . .

Vers 2:00am, alors que le froid l'emporte sur le gros bon sens, les Tana décident de faire une première tentative pour se doter du feu. Hélas, l'allumette ne prend pas et ce premier essai s'avère un échec.

Chez les Mosso, Mama est incapable de s'endormir. La douleur ressentie depuis qu'elle est tombé du bateau, ainsi que son moral affecté par ce sentiment de solitude sur l'île, lui font considérer l'abandon dès la première nuit.

Une autre différence notoire entre Survivor et Koh-Lanta, ce sont les portraits des aventuriers. Ceux-ci nous permettent d'apprendre à connaître davantage ces hommes et ces femmes qui laissent tout derrière eux pour vivre cette folle aventure qu'est Koh-Lanta. J'avoue que je trouvais ça plus ou moins inutile et ridicule lorsque j'ai regardé Koh-Lanta pour la première fois. Mais maintenant, c'est une facette de l'adaptation française que j'aimerais bien voir dans la version originale.

Jour 2

Une visite du médecin rassure Mama, qui retrouve rapidement le sourire et le désir de continuer. Consciente du moral vascillant de Mama, Nathalie ne veut pas que la présence de celle-ci soit au détriment de l'équipe. Ce qui ne fait pas l'affaire de Mama.

Sur le camps des Tana, la déception règne. Alors que l'on prépare un petit déjeuner froid composé de fruits exotiques, Nico se sent responsable de l'échec de l'allumette de la nuit précédente. Environ 24 heures depuis le début de l'aventure, Sébastien veut déjà se casser. Pour un homme qui, selon son portrait, est capable d'encaisser et de ne pas laisser paraître ses sentiments, il semble être une petite nature qui se plaint continuellement. . .

Moi, je pense qu'il faut qu'il y ait quelqu'un qui prenne les décisions.

L'équipe se met d'accord pour une deuxième tentative de faire du feu. Mais l'humidité excessive des lieux a raison des allumettes, et François-David n'a pas plus de succès que Nico la veille.

Même chose du côté des Mosso, où l'on tente de faire du feu avec des bouts de bois. Bien que tout le monde met l'épaule à la roue, leurs efforts sont en vain. Sans alternatives viables, les seniors font tremper du riz dans l'eau froide pour le ramollir. Ça ne plait guère à personne, mais pour le moment c'est tout ce qu'ils ont à se mettre sous la dent.

Malgré les échecs, l'ambience sur le camp des Tana demeure positive. Les filles en profitent même pour faire la danse de l'appel du feu, espérant ainsi que la troisième allumette sera la bonne. Cependant, la fatigue a raison de Nico.

Pour l'instant, c'est clair que notre équipe, on foire plus ou moins, quand même. Parce qu'on n'a pas mangé, on n'a pas le feu. On avait gagné. Mais le seul truc, c'est qu'on veut faire trop vite les choses. On fait trop dans la précipitation.

"Le feu qui te brûle est celui qui te chauffera." Le message annonçant l'épreuve d'immunité semble promettre le feu à l'équipe gagnante. Et sur place, Denis Brogniart révèle qu'une récompense a été ajouté à l'immunité. En effet, la tribu gagnate repartira avec le feu.

Pour remporter l'épreuve, il faut être les premiers à embraser une vasque au terme d'un long parcours. Les juniors ont l'avantage après la première phase, mais les seniors ne sont pas loin derrière. Pourtant, les Jaunes libèrent leur radeau aisément, tandis que les Rouges font du surplace alors que personne ne semble vouloir plonger sous l'eau. Les Tanas prennent donc une avance considérable sur leur rivaux. Mais les seniors ne se ménagent pas lorsque leur radeau est libéré et ils reprennent du poil de la bête. Trop loin devant, le juniors n'ont aucune idée de cette remontée.

Se servant du trou creusé par l'équipe adverse, les Mosso reviennent dans la course et sont au coude-à-coude jusqu'à la ligne d'arrivée. Contre toute attente, l'organisation des seniors leur procure la victoire.

Les Jaunes sont déconcertés par cette défaite. Pendant que Karine pleure, les Rouges sont exultants, surtout car cette victoire inespérée leur procure aussi le feu dont ils ont tant besoin.

Après une défaite aussi amère, les Tana se couchent dans le noir, le ventre vide. La bonne atmosphère au sein du groupe fait en sorte que la plupart d'entre eux ne savent pas encore contre qui ils voteront le lendemain au premier conseil de l'aventure. Toujours débordant d'optimisme et d'énergie positive, Sébastien croit qu'il a de bonnes chances de partir.

Jour 3

C'est une troisième tentative de faire du feu chez les Tana ce matin. C'est la dernière allumette de l'équipe et Gaëlle a de sérieux doutes quant à leurs chances de succès. Contre toute attente, Ludovic réussit à créer une flamme. Mais alors que la joie règne, ils perdent le feu en l'étouffant.

Sur le campement des Mosso, le feu gagné la veille leur permet de manger leur premier repas chaud depuis leur arrivée. C'est donc un régal. Blessé à la main par un bernard l'hermite, Mika obtient sa vengeance en le faisant cuire et le mangeant.

Du côté des juniors, sans feu ils n'ont d'autre choix de de manger de petits crustacés crus. François-David se fait blessé lui aussi en tentant de mettre la main sur un bernard l'hermite. Nico dit que ça goûte les crevettes.

C'est pas si dégueu que ça. C'est pas mal. Bah, moi, ça ne me dérange pas.

La situation étant très précaire, les Jaunes s'en vont en quête de nourriture collective. Et ils sont vite consternés par l'absence totale de cocotiers et d'arbres fruitiers dans les environs.

Alors que tout devrait aller pour le mieux, il y a des tensions chez les seniors. En effet, les chaussettes de Mama ont brûlé alors qu'elles séchaient au dessus du feu. Elle est convaincu qu'il se passe quelque chose et que ça pourrait bien être stratégique.

Les Tana reviennent bredouilles de leur expédition pour trouver de quoi se nourrir, mais ils croient apercevoir un chat près de leur campement. Gaëlle ainsi que d'autres membres de l'équipe ne voient rien de mal à le manger, mais Karine se dit incapable d'en faire autant. Au menu pour aujourd'hui, crustacés crus et bananes vertes.

Il y a une ambivalence concernant le vote qui approche. F-D est d'avis que la tribu devrait éliminer les plus faibles et/ou ceux qui ont le moins le moral. Karine sent la soupe chaude et à peur d'être celle pour qui on votera ce soir.

J'ai envie de rester parce que j'ai envie de me découvrir moi, de voir jusqu'où je peux aller, en fait. J'ai envie de manger des trucs de dingue, pour voir si je suis capable de le faire. Voilà, j'ai envie de me tester, jusqu'où je peux aller.

Mais Karine n'est pas la seule sur la sellette. Gaëlle trouve que Sébastien s'isole du groupe et certains considèrent ne pas avoir d'affinités avec lui. Émilie ne savait pas à quel point les nominations contre elle lui feraient de la peine. Elle ne croyait pas se retrouver au sein d'un groupe où elle serait aussi bien.

Juste avant le départ pour le conseil, les juniors mangent des noix trouvées dans la jungle sans prendre de précautions. Bien vite, certains d'entre eux tomberont subitement malades. Nathalie est clouée à l'infirmerie et rate le conseil.

D'entrée de jeu, Denis Brogniart annonce la formation d'un cyclone qui semble se diriger vers l'archipel du Vanuatu. Tentant de se justifier devant l'animateur, les juniors offrent des excuses. François-David explique qu'il voulait aller plus vite durant l'épreuve d'immunité, mais certains voulaient que l'équipe se ménage. Ludovic accepte le blâme pour avoir ralenti la tribu. Émilie croyait que les Mosso étaient loin derrière. Nico révèle que ce fut une décision collective. Ludovic s'en veut et il a des remords. Denis Brogniart réitère que sur Koh-Lanta, on n'est pas là pour se ménager. Il espère que l'amertume de cette défaite leur servira de leçon.

Pour ce qui est du fiasco concernant le feu, Gaëlle est d'avis que le manque de bois sec est grandement responsable pour leurs échecs successifs. Encore une fois, Ludovic accepte le blâme, sachant qu'ils perdent un membre de leur équipe ce soir et que c'est partiellement de sa faute.

Sébastien pense que la tribu doit être en mesure de se parler et de se critiquer sans que ça mine l'ambience positive qui règne au sein de l'équipe. Quant à lui, François-David est d'avis qu'ils font tous partie d'un groupe et doivent donc se concerter. Ce n'est pas à une personne de décider au détriment du reste du groupe. Collectivement, ils ont pris une mauvaise décision.

Les Tana ont décidé de vous éliminer et leur sentence est irrévocable.

Lors du dépouillement, Marie et Émilie récoltent chacune un vote, alors que Sébastien en obtient deux. Avec quatre voix contre elle, c'est Karine la première éliminée de l'aventure.

Dommage, car elle était charmante et semblait avoir une très belle personnalité. Mais ses déboirs du début et sa difficulté à s'adapter à cette nouvelle réalité qu'est Koh-Lanta ont eu raison d'elle. Évidemment, la déception de Karine est grande à l'issue du vote:

La déception de Karine (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Reste à voir si les juniors ont fait le bon choix. . .

You can now pre-order both Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: Thailand

This from EW.com:

Survivor has made a habit recently of bringing back former contestants. And the former seasons keep on returning as well. Following in the footsteps of earlier Amazon.com manufactured-on-demand DVD titles for the Africa, Marquesas, and Heroes vs Villains seasons, CBS Home Entertainment will be releasing two more installments on DVD via Amazon’s CreateSpace: the highly regarded (and title-appropriate) Survivor: The Amazon (season 6), and the less regarded Survivor: Thailand (season 5).

Survivor: The Amazon features the show’s first battle of the sexes, as well as Jenna Morasca and Heidi Strobel infamously getting naked for chocolate and peanut butter (even though nobody asked them to). Survivor: Thailand is generally considered one of the franchise’s weakest installments, but still includes a few classic moments such as the brilliant fake merge and brutal final endurance challenge.

You can pre-order Survivor: The Amazon here and Survivor: Thailand here.

Now we have even more to look forward to this coming September!

"Unofficial" casting for Survivor: South Pacific

Unofficial till CBS reveals that piece of information (mid-August, usually), but these guys normally have it right. So I figure that this is what the castaways will look like.

All I ask for is for men and women there to play the game and give it their best shot. The casting for the last two seasons was atrocious, so here's to hoping that Survivor: South Pacific will be a throwback to the heydays of Survivor.

Roll on September 14th!

This from Suite101.com:

Survivor: South Pacific’s group of men are a motley group, ranging from a Utah cattle rancher to a teenage husband and father to a privileged Harvard law student. CBS is expected to officially announce the cast in mid-August, but as usual, Internet sleuths at Survivor Sucks, True Dork Times, and Survivor Skills have unearthed their identities. Let’s meet the new castaways:

Brandon Hantz (19) is a married father of one child, with another on the way. He works for his family’s oil tankering service in Dayton, Texas. Hantz is the youngest contestant to ever compete on Survivor, but he is also notable for another reason: he is the nephew of Survivor’s most notorious villain, Russell Hantz.

John Cochran (24) is an Ivy League student residing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A graduate of Columbia University in New York, he is now attending Harvard Law School. Cochran comes from a prestigious background: he attended a private prep school in Virginia and his father is a neurologist.

Keith Tollefson (24) is an environmental specialist current residing in San Diego. He is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota and went to the University of Minnesota.

Albert Destrade (26) is a high school baseball coach from Plantation, Florida. How did this Cuban-American end up on Survivor? He applied with his best friend for The Amazing Race 19, and was transferred over to Survivor.

Oscar “Ozzy” Lusth (29) is the founder of a philanthropy organization called the Mexico Skate Project. This surfer and former waiter and photographer previously competed on Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia- Fans vs. Favorites. During his time on Survivor, Lusth made a name for himself as a strong competitor and unparalleled swimmer and fisherman.

Jim Rice (35) is a professional poker player and former wine bar owner who currently resides in Denver, Colorado.

Benjamin “Coach” Wade (39) is a university soccer coach and symphony conductor who divides his time between Bolivar, Missouri and Susanville, California. He previously appeared on Survivor: Tocantins and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. During his time on Survivor, Coach also earned the nickname “Dragon Slayer.”

Anthony Caruso (48) is a former NYPD detective who now works as a nurse for dementia patients in a psychiatric hospital. He is from Flushing, New York. Caruso is a big Survivor fan who has applied for the show numerous times, including twice in CBS’s on-line casting call contest.

Rick Nelson (51) is a cowboy and rancher from Aurora, Utah. Like Caruso, Nelson is a longtime applicant to the show and applied the last two years to the on-line casting contest. This year, producers placed his video in the Top Ten and he earned enough votes to score an interview in Los Angeles.

And also from Suite101.com:

Survivor: South Pacific’s group of women are a diverse group, ranging from a funeral director to a controversial beauty queen/go-go dancer to a Playboy model/Lingerie football player. CBS is expected to officially announce the cast in mid-August, but as usual, Internet sleuths at Survivor Sucks, True Dork Times, and Survivor Skills have unearthed the seven of the nine identities. Let’s meet these new castaways:

Sophie Clarke (22) is a pre-med student at Middlebury College in Vermont. She is originally from New York. Clarke is fluent in Russian and previously completed an internship in Moscow. In addition, she is well-traveled, having been to France, Italy, Thailand, and Kenya, where she lived in a village without electricity and running water (Alvin Reiner, June 25, 2007). Clarke applied to Survivor 23 via CBS’s on-line casting call contest.

Mikayla “Miki” Wingle (22) is a professional model who has appeared in Playboy magazine. She also plays football for Tampa Bay Breeze of the Lingerie Football League (LFL). Originally from Stanhope, New Jersey, this self-described jock may have the strength to compete in challenges, but her biggest “turn off” is people who lie (Top Models Weekly, July 25, 2011), so how will she deal with the cut-throat nature of the competition?

Semhar Tadesse (24) is a writer and aspiring actress from Los Angeles, California. With a frizzy afro, this Eritrean beauty brings a unique look to the show, but will this self-described “party girl” (Twitter.com, SincerelySemhar) have what it takes to survive in the South Pacific?

Whitney Duncan (27) is an up-and-coming country singer from Scotts Hill, Tennessee. Duncan competed on Nashville Star in 2007, earning fifth place. She is the cousin of Holly Bobo, a 20 year-old college student who was reported missing on April 13, 2011 (Camille Mann, April 18, 2011). As of August 3, 2011, the 5’3”, 110 lb. blonde still has not been located. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Elyse Umemoto (27) is a former Miss Washington USA who now works as a go-go dancer in Las Vegas. Umemoto is a member of the Yakama tribe (Adriana Janovich, March 3, 2008) and was raised on an Indian reservation in Wapoto, Washington. She is also the first Native American to win the title of Miss Washington USA.

Stacey Powell (43) is a funeral director from Wichita Falls, Texas, who now resides in Fayatteville, Arkansas.

Christine Shields (44) is from the greater New York City area. No other information is known at this time.

There are two women whose identities have yet to be identified. Based on the casts of previous seasons, one of those women is expected to be an “older” woman. A currently unsubstantiated rumor by ‘DougJulet’ on Survivor Sucks indicates that one of the remaining women is a Mormon professor at Brigham Young University.

Rewatch: Survivor: Borneo "Too Little, Too Late" (Episode 4)

Episode 4: "Too Little, Too Late"
Original Airdate: July 21st, 2000
American Ratings: 24.2 million viewers

Day 10

You want to vote me off, fine. But we've got to organize this.

Everyone is feeling miserable at Pagong. The violent thunderstorm of the night before and their inadequate shelter made for a long and cold night, made even worse by the fact that the castaways were soaking wet.

Though she was unable to prevail upon B. B. to change its initial location, Gretchen wants to move the shelter away from the beach. She insists that she will not sleep another night in there. Gretchen's speech, compounded with the fact that no one wishes to live through another terrible night like the one before, provide the collective kick in the butt the rest of the tribe needed to get to work and move the shelter into the nearby woods.

With his funny sense of humor and great work ethic, Greg is gradually setting himself up as a power player within the Pagong tribe. "In his own way, Greg's a leader," says Gretchen.

At the Tagi beach, Sean and some of the less active castaways feel that Sue works too much. They wish she'd slow down a bit. Obviously, Sean has a much different set of priorities than Susan.

I had this vision and I thought I'd build myself a bowling alley right about here. That's what I'm doing here, slaving away.

For a guy with a Ph.D., Sean has emerged as the resident dumbass in the Tagi camp. While some of his teammates are starving and struggling to survive the harsh conditions of the island, this doctor spent hours putting together a fishing pole that has yet to catch a single fish, and now he spends half a day building himself a bowling alley! Hard to believe Sean wasn't invited to participate in Survivor: All-Stars. . . If that's not all-star calibre, I don't know what is!

Interestingly enough, Sean is doing all this while Sue and Kelly are searching for food. Apparently, he told them that looking for nuts was a waste of time. As expected, that crap did not fly too high with Sue, who is tired of feeding lazy people spending their days doing nothing productive.

For the reward challenge, each tribe must build a distress signal on their beach. A plane will fly two hours past sunrise to inspect both distress signals, and the winning tribe will be awarded a crate full of creature comforts such as pillows, hammocks, soap, and more.

At Tagi, there is a conflict of ideas regarding their distress signal. Dirk clash with Sue when she makes fun of him and he takes exception with what he considers to be "classless" ideas.

I think I'm going to handle this by beginning to develop alliances with some folks to insure that I move into the next round.

Realizing that tensions are appearing within the tribe and that friction is inevitable, Richard begins to plot the scheme that will see him go all the way to the end.

Meanwhile at the Pagong camp, work on the new shelter progresses. And yet, more and more it becomes evident that Ramona cannot handle the toll the island is taking on her mind, body, and spirit. Gervase, Jenna, and Greg realize that she's so out of her element as to become a liability.

Day 11

Both tribes are at work on their distress signals before the break of dawn. Feeling better that morning, Ramona works harder and is more helpful than she has ever been. As the Pagong tribesmates busy themselves putting together their distress signal, Greg is hilarious with his coconut phone.

Aboard the plane, Jeff and a couple of experts assess the quality of both distress signals. Pagong fashioned a giant smiling face, while Tagi set up a sign saying, "SOS: Tagi is groggy." And the addition of colorful moving human beings wins them the reward. The coveted crate is parachuted in the sea before their beach. While the mood is disappointed on the Pagong camp, the Tagi tribe is ecstatic.

The whole idea of an alliance is to make sure we're all voting the same way.

One would think that such a positive mood would be cause for celebration, but little did the rest of the Tagi tribe know that Richard, Kelly, and Sue would use this opportunity to seal the deal on the first and one of the most infamous alliances in Survivor history.

"We really could control our fate," claims Richard. "If we stick together." Though he was approached by Richard, Rudy is not getting with the program yet. Considering the number of votes cast against him during the tribe's two appearances at tribal council, this is a little odd. But Rudy marches to the beat of his own drum, after all. . .

Back at Pagong, Jenna's personality makes her appreciated by her fellow teammates. Ramona continues to put in the effort, redeeming herself in the eyes of Gervase at least. "I'm feeling good about being part of the group," says Ramona. But Jenna feels that it could be a case of "too little, too late."

Day 12

Pagong feels that they truly need to win the immunity challenge. Although they feel the pressure, the think they're the best tribe.

The immunity is a 5-leg relay: The castaways must swim out and dive to retrieve a map. Then they must run to a boat, paddle back to the beach, and finally use the map to locate their treasure chest.

Colleen was cocky prior to the challenge, but she loses a lot of time retrieving the bottle containing the map to the treasure chest. But Joel makes up a lot of it paddling the boat back. Unfortunately, Gervase completely runs out of steam during the jungle run, costing his team a lot of time. Richard and Rudy dig for the chest for Tagi, and the former Navy Seal brings it back to their crate first, earning his tribe the win.

We're all friends, and then you boot someone.

With tribal council looming, the Pagong tribe is dreading voting another member off the island. "I'm going not knowing what's going to happen. and I'm nervous," confides Colleen, feeling the heat for her weak performance that afternoon.

They arrive at tribal council wearing face-painting again. Jeff Probst really works the tribe for the first time, forcing them to open up and elaborate on the voting process. He's slowly growing into his role as the host of this show. Good-naturedly, Jeff rips into Gervase when he claims to have nothing to worry about during this council.

I feel guilty. I feel bad. Well, I'm going to have to put somebody's name down that I really respect and came to really like. It's like taking a piece of our family away.

It's obvious this was Pagong's most difficult vote yet. The main theme appears to have been about keeping the tribe as strong as possible. As a matter of course, opinions on the subject vary.

In the end, Jennna garners one vote, while two votes are cast against Colleen. Racking up four votes, Ramona is sent home.

To purchase the Survivor: Borneo DVD boxset: Canada, USA, Europe.

Rétrospective: Koh-Lanta: Vanuatu (2006)

Générique de la saison 6 (Saison 6) Vidéo koh-lanta-6 sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Maintenant que nous avons eu la confirmation par TF1 que Koh-Lanta: Raja Ampat sera diffusé en septembre prochain, j'ai besoin d'un petit quelque chose pour me mettre l'eau à la bouche.

Et puisque que je suis en train de revoir et analyser Survivor: Borneo, la toute première saison de l'émission qui allait devenir un véritable phénomène au petit écran, pour me préparer pour le retour de la série avec Survivor: South Pacific le 14 septembre, et bien je me suis dis que je devais en faire de même avec Koh-Lanta.

J'hésitais entre quelques saisons et j'ai finalement arrêté mon choix sur Koh-Lanta: Vanuatu, soit la saison 2006. Ma rétrospective suivra le format, le style, ainsi que le ton de ma Survivor rewatch. L'analyse que j'ai effectué des trois premiers épisodes de Survivor: Borneo ayant été bien reçue jusqu'ici, j'ai décidé de continuer dans la même veine. En espérant que ça plaira autant au public francophone. . .

C'est donc un rendez-vous pour mon analyse du premier épisode!

Rewatch: Survivor: Borneo "Quest for Food" (Episode 3)

Episode 3: "Quest for Food"
Original Airdate: June 14th, 2000
American Ratings: 23.3 million viewers

By the time the third episode of Survivor: Borneo was aired, it was now obvious that this new reality show would be the runaway hit of the summer. "Quest for Food" saw CBS increase its TV ratings by more than 22% compared to the previous week for the second episode. And little did they know that they would continue to skyrocket.

You are aware that my biggest concern when I began this rewatch was that, with everything that has happened in the following 21 seasons of the show, Survivor: Borneo wouldn't have aged well. My fear was that, with all the shocking and unexpected twists and turns we have seen since then, the very first season of Survivor would seem a bit dull and bland. And yet, regardless of the quality or lack thereof, of all the seasons that came after, Survivor: Borneo is nearly has good now as it were in the summer of 2000.

Which demonstrates once again just how important the casting turns out to be. It's no secret that the last two seasons (Survivor: Nicaragua and Survivor: Redemption Island) were probably the worse Survivor seasons in the history of the show. It doesn't matter how much you invest in gimmicks and gadgets. In the end, it's the castaways who will make or break a season. And those last two seasons were sorely lacking in that department. So much so that anyone involved in the casting should have been fired and never allowed to work in that field again.

What made (makes) Survivor: Borneo so memorable is the wonderful blend of disparate personalities. Sure, there are those you love, those you hate, and those you love to hate. But that's what Survivor is all about. That first season would never have been as great without colorful characters such as Rudy, Sue, Richard, Gervase, Greg, and the rest of the gang. Over the years, it feels as though the production invested a lot of money to design new challenges that likely took forever to be built, when most viewers don't give much of a damn about said challenges. It's the bonding, the clashing, the mind games, the backstabbing, the manipulating, the relationships between castaways, etc, that brings us back week in and week out. And in order for that to take place, you need a good core of participants. In that regard, Survivor: Redemption Island was a veritable travesty.

But I digress. . .

They must work together to build shelter, find food, and survive the island. But ultimately, it's everyone for themselves.

Day 7

With their food stores dwindling, at the Tagi camp Stacey, Kelly and Sue embark on an early fishing trip. Yet once more, all the fish traps are empty. "That saying: There's a lot of fish in the sea," says Sean. "Not this sea."

On the raft, Rudy is once again a topic of conversation. The younger girls feel that the ex-Navy Seal eats too much and doesn't put in the effort that should be expected of a man like him. But Sue feels that Stacey is the weakest member of the tribe, and as such she'll get her vote. Stacey, for her part, realizes that she likely cannot trust Sue.

"We want food!" complains Jenna. With their food supplies diminishing rapidly, starving is becoming a growing concern on the Pagong beach as well.

During their wanderings, Greg and Colleen stumble upon a mud volcano. When they return to tell the others of their discover, the entire tribe decides to go on a field trip together. The time spent at the mud volcano helps the team bond, a task made easier with the absence of the strict B. B. "We're going to be here 39 days," says Jenna. "You got to keep yourself happy."

Back at the Tagi beach, Dirk reads his Bible. He feels that his praying, meditating, and praising God give him the strength and energy he requires. But his preaching annoys certain members of the tribe.

I've gone 23 years without sex. I think you guys can go for 7 weeks.

Pure and righteous Dirk has a little crush on Kelly, but Stacey doesn't think he has a chance in hell. "You should try it some time. You might like it," opines Sue upon discovering that Dirk is still a virgin.

As a matter of course, Richard's talking about sex and homosexuality doesn't sit well with the extremely religious Dirk, whose virgin ears are not used to such vulgar and lowbrow discourse.

Jeff Probst introducing the reward challenge to viewers is sort of a waste of time, ewpecially given the fact that Survivor is a one-hour show (40-something minutes if you take away the commercials). Getting rid of such footage in future seasons was no great loss, if you ask me.

According to tree mail, the reward challenge will include diving and/or holding your breath under water. Gervase, who is not a very good swimmer, always struggles in aquatic challenges. Still, the Pagong tribe is confident and they enter the challenge area dancing.

To win fishing supplies, the tribes must swim out, dive down to the bottom of the sea to retrieve a chest, and bring it back to the beach. Colleen and Greg do basically all the work for Pagong. Gervase, one of their strongest players, is not a factor throughout. With the whole team contributing, the Tagi tribe wins easily. In the end, they're the ones dancing and getting the last laugh.

Day 8

At the Tagi beach, there is a little fishing contest going on. With the mask, snorkel, and spear, Richard hopes to silence his critics and prove that he can catch something to eat. Meanwhile, armed with patience and the Superpole 2000, Dirk and Sean head out on the raft, hoping to beat Richard and shut him up.

Unfortunately for them, Richard proves once and for all that he can talk the talk and walk the walk. After catching three rays during his first foray underwater, Richard is well on his way to become the provider of the Tagi tribe. Sean is envious of Richard's success and can't quite hide his jealousy. Too bad the Superpole 2000 worked so well on Gilligan's Island but not in real life. . .

My position with the tribe. It's probably going to increase as a result of this.

With the entire tribe starving, the rays taste like heaven. "You just need to keep me and I'll provide you with all the fish you need," jokes Richard, obviously enjoying his newfound status within the Tagi team.

Day 9

Joel and Colleen go on a fishing expedition with the raft, but they return empty-handed once again. After nine days on the island, with all but depleted food stores, the situation has become dire indeed.

Oh, I'm so ready to eat rat!

Having no viable alternative to fall back on, the Pagong tribe begins to hunt for rats for sustenance. "Rats aren't bad. Rats are rats," Greg rationalizes. "The questions of their edibility only have to do with your perceptions."

Joel is the first to have the courage to taste one. When asked about the taste, he replies, "Almost like chicken a little bit. Use your imagination." Gervase and Ramona look on, disgusted.

"Am I using a lot of imagination?" inquires Ramona. "As poor as we get in the ghetto, we never eat the rats."

Starving, Ramona caves in and gives rat meat a shot. To her dismay, she actually likes it. She hands a piece to Gervase who, after taking a bite, exclaims, "We got to kill some more rats tonight!"

Tree mail instructs both tribes to build a stretcher to carry their smallest members. At Tagi, Rudy is in charge of the set-up, building it to Kelly's size and weight. A bit clueless but enthusiastic at first, Pagong comes up with a number of great ideas, chief among them the straps that allow the stretcher to be turned upside down without Colleen falling off.

Simulating a place crash, Kelly and Colleen are hidden in the jungle, dangling in parachutes from tree branches. The remaining castaways must find them, place them on their stretchers, and be the first to return to the first aid tent to win immunity.

Pagong takes an early lead and get Colleen to the finish line to win immunity. Once again, Jeff not narrating and commenting on the ongoing challenges during that first season feels more than a little odd.

I don't think it's going to get any easier. You know, every time we go there it's going to suck even more.

The mood is a bit subdued during the meal before tribal council. Stacey first believed that it was a done deal that Rudy would be voted off. Yet now she realizes that it's her card which could get pulled. Rudy concurs, knowing that it's either him of Stacey going home tonight. He has a feeling that the younger members might band together to get rid of him. "I'm going to vote Stacey out at the council tonight, because I don't like her. And I never will!" he explains.

Richard hoped to have a discussion pertaining to their vote before the tribe left for tribal council, but his idea was collectively shut down.

The wind picks up in intensity and a violent thunderstorm unleashes its fury on the castaways as they reach the tribal council area. Jeff attempts to get the Tagi members to open up and reveal stuff they wouldn't necessarily talk about at camp, but no one really steps up to the plate. The rain begins to pour as the vote begins.

Drenched, Jeff reads the votes. Though Rudy received two votes, Stacey racks up the five remaining votes and is forced to leave the island. Due to the bad weather, Jeff allows the rest of the Tagi tribe to remain at the tribal council area for the night, or at least until the rain stops.

To purchase the Survivor: Borneo DVD boxset: Canada, USA, Europe.

Koh-Lanta revient sur TF1, les premiers scoops!

Vu sur le site de TF1:

Koh Lanta, une 11e édition prometteuse, riche de nouveautés et de rebondissements.

Pour sa onzième édition Koh Lanta emmène le téléspectateur dans un paysage sublime, situé dans une région très reculée, le Raja Ampat, à la frontière de l'Indonésie et de la Papouasie, où les 20 candidats, divisés en 2 équipes, devront survivre et surmonter les épreuves.

Grâce à un casting qui recèle de personnalités attachantes, comme chaque année depuis 10 ans, émotions, souffrances, larmes, engueulades... sont au rendez-vous de Koh Lanta. Afin de satisfaire et séduire son public toujours plus nombreux, l'émission propose quelques nouveautés. Comme le précisait Denis Brogniart lors de la présentation à la presse du premier numéro, le 27 juillet « nous avons créé, le collier d'immunité qui permettra à celui qui le trouvera sur l'île de l'utiliser s'il se sent en danger lors d'un conseil. Quant au vote noir, il autorisera la personne éliminée de déposer avant de quitter l'île un nom dans l'urne. Petites vengeances et surprises en perspectives ! » D'autre part suite aux remarques de certains téléspectateurs, il n'y aura plus de « repêchage » lors d'un abandon par exemple. Tout départ sera définitif.

Si les conditions climatiques ont parfois été éprouvantes pour les candidats et les équipes de tournage, mais comme le remarquait Denis Brogniart, « c'est aussi ça le charme de Koh Lanta », les paysages sont à couper le souffle. La beauté de l'eau a incité la production à privilégier les épreuves aquatiques pour le plus grand plaisir des fans de l'émission très demandeurs, mais pas pour le doyen de cette année, Gégé, 65 ans qui a appris à nager pour l'occasion et n'est donc pas très à l'aise avec cet élément.

Encore quelques semaines de patience pour découvrir ce lieu magique et le visage des 20 candidats.

Des scoops, vous dites??? C'est du réchauffé tout ça. . .

Ça fait déjà environ 2 semaines que toutes ces informations sont disponibles partout dans les média. Vu la forte baisse d'audience lors de la dernière saison, je suis un peu perplexe par le peu de renseignements que la production accepte de dévoiler.

Si TF1 désire réellement nous mettre l'eau à la bouche et créer de l'engouement pour Koh-Lanta: Raja Ampat, le temps est venu d'en divulguer un peu plus. Après tout, le premier épisode sera diffusé dans quelques semaines. . .

The Day Boston Rob Lost His Hat

This from Realityblurred.com:

Production on Rob Mariano’s new reality series shut down when he lost his hat

Survivor Redemption Island winner Rob Mariano filmed his new History Channel series Around the World in 80 Ways for 10 weeks starting right after the finale of the CBS show, but production had to stop when he lot his hat.

“The hat fell off while I was on a speedboat in Dubai — into the Persian Gulf — and production shut down for a day and a half so we could get another one shipped in,” Rob told The Boston Globe’s Sarah Rodman.

The show follows Rob and Grave Digger creator Dennis Anderson as they travel around the world using different forms of transportation, but the catch is they can only use each type of transportation once. Clips of the show shown to TV critics last week make the show look good—it’s produced by Deadliest Catch producer Thom Beers—and Rob and Dennis have surprisingly great chemistry together for people who didn’t meet until they filmed a brief test pilot, which was shot after the season premiere of Survivor. I’ll have more from my interview with them when the series premieres, but it looks like a fun series.

I so wish Russell could have stolen that Boston Red Sox baseball hat during Heroes vs Villains!

Rewatch: Survivor: Borneo "The Generation Gap" (Episode 2)

Episode 2: "The Generation Gap"
Original Airdate: June 7th, 2000
American Ratings: 18.1 million viewers

Although this was only the second episode, ratings indicated that Survivor would undoubtedly be the hit of the summer. Racking up an additional 2.6 million viewers for the second chapter, Survivor was well on its way of becoming the TV phenomenon of 2000. Indeed, beginning with episode 3 the following week, the ratings would never dip below the 23-million viewers mark.

This episode's title is definitely apropos. Not only regarding B. B.'s clash with the younger generation of castaways he must learn to live with on Pagong beach, which is at the heart of this one. But on a wider scale, generation gaps are a reality that participants have been forced to deal with on every season of Survivor. And it underlies one of the golden rules of Survivor: If you cannot adapt, you'll be voted off. Simple as that.

Day 4

At Tagi beach, the food situation has become quite dire. The rice and what little fruit the tribe has left is nowhere near enough to satisfy their hunger. They are approaching starvation, yet none of the castaways appear quite hungry enough to eat the rats they have captured. Yet. . .

The raft is used for a fishing expedition, but all the fish traps proved to be empty.

Who doesn't want to own the B. B. action figure?

Back on the Pagong beach, B. B. takes on the leadership role once again, supervising the construction of the shelter. The patriarch managed to get basically everyone involved this time, which explains the tribe's progress regarding their living quarters. Yet though things are moving forward, few of B. B.'s teammates appreciate his over-the-top workaholic personality and the demanding pace he sets.

"Honestly, if we were to ever lose an immunity challenge, I think he'd probably be the first one voted off," confided Ramona, a thought obviously shared by several other Pagong members. But even though it's evident that he is putting his own head on the chopping block, B. B. continues plow ahead without regards for the feathers he's ruffling along the way.

Within the Tagi tribe, an unlikely cook has emerged. Chef Rudy prepares rice and papaya for his team.

Richard is aware that his being gay would likely be hard for Rudy to handle, so he leaves the former Navy Seal in the dark about that particular nugget of information. "If he knew I were gay, that would be, probably, very difficult for him," he claimed.

But when Sean outs him, the cat is out of the bag. Oddly enough, at least based on what we've seen on camera, Richard's homosexuality didn't prevent the two men from bonding rapidly and ultimately becoming strong allies. "For a homosexual, he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met," exclaimed Rudy. Ah, there just might be hope for the world yet. . . ;-)

I think they find me abrasive, authoritarian. There's probably a couple other adjectives you could throw in there that'd probably work too.

Alas, all is not peaches and cream at the Pagong camp. Ramona remains ill. Unable to eat without throwing up whatever she ingurgitated, she must rely solely on water. Already weak, her condition continues to wane.

B. B. continues to toil to get the shelter done to his specifications, all the while grumbling about Joel and Ramona, among others. A clash between the older man and the rest of his tribe appears inevitable at this point.

Day 5

Back at the Tagi beach, there is a budding friendship between Greg and Colleen developing, one that has not escaped the attention of the rest of the tribe. "Greg is great. It's just good to have a friend, you know," says Colleen. "She's really fun to play with," opines Greg. Still, you don't want your tribesmate getting ideas which could cost you your place in the game. . .

That night, in order to lighten up the mood and get people to discover a bit more about each other, Greg (wearing a weird headpiece à la Jamiroquai) hosts the All New Newly Stranded Survivor Game. Everyone is laughing and having a good time, forgetting the travails of the previous few days.

Day 6

You know, if the sky was blue and I said it was blue, he'd say it's red just to disagree. I can't let that bring me down anymore.

Unfortunately, the laughter of the night before is gone come morning at the Pagong beach. When B. B. refused to listen to Gretchen and imposed his own will as to where the shelter should be build, it appears that he didn't consider how the tide would factor into the equation. Hence, it seems that its position is now threatened to be washed away by the rising tide, and it's not even the full moon yet. The tribe has no choice but to carry logs to act as wave breakers, but they don't yet know if that will prove to be enough to save their shelter.

Pangs of hunger drive the Tagi members to strange measures. Sean utilizes his vast intellect to create his patented Super Pole, which took him 5 hours to build. He spends the rest of the day fishing, but as Sue predicted, rather acerbically, he came back empty-handed.

I've been working my ass off while a lot of you have been lying on your ass watching me. So don't give me any of that.

We can all agree that B. B. has been digging his own grave for a while now. But his washing his clothes with canteen water in the food kettle the rest of the tribe was about to cook in is the drop that spilled the glass. Even worse, all the canteens were empty and the falling rain will render the terrain too dangerous to navigate to go get more water.

That raised the ire of the entire Pagong tribe, and B. B. suddenly finds himself without the support of even his habitual ally, Gretchen. The easy-going Gervase has had enough and henceforth won't take any crap from the older man. It's agreed that they must all vote on everything they do, though B. B. refuses to go along with the decision.

Lose and face tribal council, where you must vote one member off the island.

There is no ambiguity pertaining to the message each tribe gets from tree mail. The castaways get the distinct impression that they'll have no choice but to eat disgusting food. "Sounds tasty," says Gervase, evidently concerned by the upcoming immunity challenge.

B. B. seems like he's good at starting fires, but he can't take the heat. Realizing that he is in a heap of troubles, the patriarch confides in Gretchen that they might consider throwing the challenge to "lighten the load." It's obvious the older man feels like quitting, but he nonetheless tries to find a way to save face.

The gross food challenge has become an enduring Survivor classic and this first one was a doozy. Jeff Probst reveals that they will sample a "local delicacy," yet nobody's fooled. When the bowl of beetle larva is unveiled, both tribes know that the game is on. "First person who refuses to eat a bug loses immunity for their tribe," explains the host. "Guys, bon appétit."

Surprisingly, almost all the castaways downed their beetle larva without a glitch. Facing Dirk, Gervase was issued a 5-second countdown to finish his bug by Jeff, otherwise he'd lose the challenge for the entire Pagong team. But Gervase overcomes his revulsion and rises up to the challenge, forcing a tie-breaker. Both tribes are asked to assign the person they feel is the most sqeamish player from the other team. The final showdown will be between Gervase and Stacey. Tagi wins immunity, and the victory appears to earn Stacey the respect of her peers.

With the threat of the soon-to-be-held council hanging over them, the mood is subdued at the Pagong beach. As they pack up their belongings, Colleen is crying. For his part, B. B. appears to have come to terms with his fate and seems ready to go home.

The younger Pagong members arrive face-painted at tribal council. Though no mention was made of it, I thought it was a nice little touch.

Jeff Probst appears more comfortable during this second tribal council. He projects more assurance as he walks the castaways through what is about to take place.

Compared to subsequent seasons, during which the council is used for posturing, manoeuvering, and strategic purposes, it's interesting to see just how subdued and frightened the castaways are during the first few tribal councils of that first season of Survivor. It's obvious that no one wants to be there, but they act as though they don't want to bring attention to themselves and just want this thing to be done with.

It's time for you to go.

Though Ramona is sick, continues to weaken, and is little more than deadweight, only two votes were cast against her. B. B. pays the price for the way he conducted himself, racking up the remaining six votes against him. Yet in getting rid of him, Pagong loses its hardest working member and a man who always gave everything he had. Three days before, the Tagi tribe strengthened themselves by eliminating their weakest link. Now, the Pagong tribe will have to make do without the only person who seemed to know a little about survival. . .

Stay tuned for more!

To purchase the Survivor: Borneo DVD boxset: Canada, USA, Europe.

TF1 vous invite à l'avant première de la nouvelle saison de Koh Lanta!

Vu sur TF1:

Pour vous remercier de votre fidélité TF1 est heureux de vous inviter en présence de Denis BROGNIART à la projection en avant première du premier volet de la nouvelle saison de Koh Lanta Raja Ampat le mercredi 31 Aout 2011 à Paris!

Pour être sélectionné, envoyez « invitation koh lanta » à telespec@tf1.fr en précisant vos Nom, Prénom, Adresse et Téléphone.

L'heure et le lieu de l'évènement seront communiqués aux personnes sélectionnées.

Le nombre de places pour cette soirée étant limité, les premiers à répondre à ce mail en précisant leurs coordonnées recevront une invitation pour 2 par mail pour assister à cet évènement.

La rumeur voulant que la saison débute en septembre sur TF1 semble vouloir se concrétiser. . .

Rewatch: Survivor: Borneo "The Marooning" (Episode 1)

39 days, 16 people, 1 survivor!

Episode 1: "The Marooning"
Original airdate: May 31st, 2000
American ratings: 15.5 million viewers

It was with both pleasure and trepidation that I revisited the very first episode of the reality show which soon became by favorite TV show for years to come. I had not seen a single minute of Survivor: Borneo since the reruns aired on CBS during the summer of 2000.

It sure brought back memories to see the original castaways board that boat in that small Malaysian fishing village to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. And when the host Jeff Probst gave them two minutes to salvage whatever they could from the boat, the game was officially on and chaos ensued.

To win, you must survive the island, survive the vote, and ultimately survive each other.

Remember when Survivor pushed the contestants to the limit of their abilities and endurance? There were very few puzzle challenges back then, and every single minute seemed to be gruesome and painful. This is, in my mind, what Survivor is meant to be about. And that's how it all began.

A group of strangers forced to throw themselves off the boat and somehow make their way to their respective beaches on rafts that could not fit them all as well as the material they had salvaged from the ship. With an unforgiving sun beating down upon them, they were forced to row and swim, ever so slowly, toward their destinations. Getting there was obviously an ordeal for most of the contestants, especially Ramona. When you end up vomiting before the game has even truly started yet, it probably dawns upon you that this may not exactly be what you signed up for.

They must learn to adapt, or they are voted off.

Left to fend for themselves (this is Survivor, after all), the castaways are at a loss as to how to get organized. But this first episode, rewatched with 22 Survivor seasons under my belt, shows just how the entire production team is also learning the ropes. The camera crews are all over the place, creating a chaotic jumble of images. The picture quality isn't the same, nor is the location scouting up to par with subsequent seasons. Russ Landau's unforgettable soundtrack feels more present in this first episode, creating a musical backdrop to what is taking place. Even Jeff Probst appears uncomfortable, not quite sure as to exactly what sort of role the host is supposed to play in a reality show like this.

Day 1

With a few boxes' worth of survival supplies, both the Tagi and the Pagong tribes finally made it to their beach. Funny how the bulk of those supplies would disappear in future seasons, forcing the castaways to make to almost nothing but machetes and a bit of rice.

As a corporate consultant, Richard Hatch tried his best to get his tribesmates to sit down , talk, and come up with a plan so they could all work together. "Guys, the first thing we ought to do is talk about how we're going to do whatever it is we're going to do. Talk about the process," he opined. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the Tagi tribe felt that they had things well in hand and there was hence no need to discuss anything. At which point Susan Hawk came up with the kind of quote that would immotalize her in Survivor lore:

I'm a redneck. And I don't know corporate world at all. But corporate world ain't going to work out here in the bush.

Meanwhile, Rudy Boesch, a retired Navy Seal, tried to take control and issued orders to the rest of the tribe. Which quickly put him at odds with several of them.

Funny how such disparate men would soon become part of the first and one of the most infamous Survivor alliances in the history of the show. Funny also how Richard appears to put so much effort into creating a good team spirit and building their campsite, as he'll soon become one of the most selfish, cocky, and calculating players ever. But this was day 1. . .

On the Pagong beach, it's not Club Med either. B. B. seems to have his priorities straight, something that will rapidly put him at odds with the rest of his tribe. Along with Ramona, following the water map they'll finally manage to find their water spot after over an hour of searching. They hatch the very first strategic move the game has ever seen by considering not telling the others where the water can be found, hence forcing them to keep the two of them around if they want to survive.

As night falls on both beaches, the castaways try to get some sleep in their unfinished makeshift camps as rats prowl the premises. Both tribes get a taste of what life on the island will be like. . .

Day 2

The hardest part is hanging around with all those young kids. I don't even know what MTV means, you know.

Rudy is aware that things are not necessarily looking up for him. A hardened military man, he appears baffled by this stranded community among which he must now make his home. "If they listened to me, they'd all have haircuts and everything else, you know. We'd be in formation in the morning and all that kind of stuff. But they're not going to do that. I've got to fit in, not them. You know, there's more of them than there is of me."

God knows there's been quite a few characters on Survivor over the years. And yet, no matter how many fish in the sea, Rudy managed to leave an indelible mark on the history of this TV show.

Still, as a rule, military figures haven't fared all that well on Survivor. And Rudy is no exception. As a former Navy Seal, one would have thought that survival was second nature to such a man, and that starting a fire would be a piece of cake for one such as him. Be that as it may, as some of his tribesmates pointed out, he was pretty close to worthless when the Tagi crew attempted to create fire. With the help of Sean, Richard and Sue, Dirk gave it everything he had. But nothing short of divine intervention could have struck the sought-after spark. Alas, the Lord was busy doing something more important. . .

For her part, Sonja's only claim to fame during her time on Survivor would turn out to be singing "Bye Bye Blues" with the ukulele. Yes, she did leave her mark. . .

On the Pagong side of the island, B. B. is giving everything he has to build the tribe's shelter. To his dismay, his teammates do not seem to attach the same importance to the project. The old man's patience comes in short supply, and the Pagong widespread laziness and lack of work ethic irk him to no small degree. Tension exists between B. B. and Joel, and it's only a question of time before this kettle explodes.

Gretchen tries to reason with B. B., encourages him to calm down and take a 15-minute break. But the old man will have none of that and continues to dig his own grave. "I thought we were going to try to stay competitive. And if you work all day and you're burned at the end of the day, then we're not going to be competitive," she tells him. But as a matter of course, Gretchen's words of wisdom fell on deaf ears. On a more positive note, Gretchen did manage to create fire using B. B.'s glasses.

Back on the Tagi beach, Richard is already trying to catch some food using the fish traps and the rat traps. You can see that, right from the beginning, Richard wanted to assume the role of provider for the rest of his tribesmates.

The tribes' first tree mail summons them to their first encounter against the competition. The first challenge in Survivor history was the "Quest for Fire," for both reward and immunity. The castaways needed to swim to a raft containing fire, push it toward the beach and lighting torches along the way. At the beach, they had to carry their raft toward a fire bowl set upon some kind of statue. Pagong were the first to light up their fire bowl, getting their hands on the coveted immunity idol and a number of waterproof matches as their reward. During the course of the challenge, there was no commentary coming from Jeff and the host's silence was a bit odd compared to his active involvement in future seasons. Setting up the challenge at dusk was also a questionable call, as the lack of light made for poor visibility. The good news for viewers is that the production crew would learn from their mistake and turn Survivor in the most visually stunning TV show this side of National Geographic.

Day 3

This chick thinks I'm voting for one person, but I'm not.

Annoyed by Rudy's demeanor, Stacey tries to convince her tribesmates to vote him out. But little does she know that Richard and Rudy have bonded, and that Sue is not being honest with her or getting with the program. Still, Sonja, who was responsible for the Tagi lost of the previous day, and Rudy will be on the hot seat that night.

Dirk was the first God-fearing contestant on Survivor. He appeared to undergo a thoroughly uplifting experience while reading the Bible and praying. In any case, he was in no danger for this first council and thus did not need any intercession from God.

With Russ Landau's now mythical "Tally the Vote" theme playing in the background, the Tagi tribe entered the council area. The wooden chest containing the million dollar prize in cash was a bit overdone, methinks, and it's a good thing they got rid of it in subsequent seasons. "On the island, fire represents life," intoned the host. Once again, Jeff Probst doesn't seem quite sure about what his role should be at tribal council. He doesn't quite know how to set the tone yet.

The tribe has spoken.

In the end, Stacey's strategy is foiled by Sue. Rudy nevertheless got 3 votes cast against him, Stacey got one, and Sonja was the first ever castaway to be voted off the island with 4 votes cast against her.

All in all, though it certainly doesn't hit you with the same sort of impact it had in 2000, the first episode of Survivor: Borneo survived the test of time and still delivers. It marks the beginning of one of the biggest reality shows in the history of television, and as such it makes for a satisfying viewing experience, even more than a decade after it first aired.

As is often the case within group dynamics, strong personalities come to the fore early on. Survivor: Borneo was no exception to that rule. Richard, Rudy, Sue, B. B., and Gretchen stayed in the spotlight throughout the episode. Other castaways such as Greg, Colleen, Jenna, Gervase, Kelly, and Sean, who will come into their own at the series progresses, remained in the background and did not create any waves. It will be interesting to watch them gain confidence and take their rightful place among their respective tribes.

Stay tuned for the rewatch of the second episode. . .

To purchase the Survivor: Borneo DVD boxset: Canada, USA, Europe.