DAY ONE of the 12th season of "SURVIVOR".  Once more, for the third time,
we are back in Panama's Pearl Islands along the Pacific coast.  This time, the
sixteen American castaways are divided into four teams.  Our host with the most,
Jeff Probst, introduces us to Exile Island.  Each episode, one contestant shall be
banished there, forced to spend a night alone.  Jeff also tells us that the island
has a mystery!  Hmmmm. 

The contestants arrive and Jeff asks if they've noticed anything in particular on
the way they had been divided.  Remarkably, a few figured out that the tribes
had been arranged by gender and age.  This seems to bother Cirie, who consid-
ers herself a young woman, but has been cast on the older women's tribe. 
Jeff then describes the significance of Exile Island and how it will impact The
Game.  He also mentions that it's time for the first Reward Challenge.

Each tribe selects one player to sort through a pile of skulls.  Inside each is a
cloth holding either a rock or an amulet.  There are only three amulets.  The ob-
ject of the challenge is to race and find an amulet.  The three tribes that succeed
will get a flint for starting a fire.  The losing tribe will have to choose one player
to remain behind at Exile Island.  The race is on!  Terry of La Mina tribe, the older
men, finds his first.  Austin of Vivero tribe, the younger men, is second.  It's now
between Ruth Marie of Casaya tribe, the older women, and Danielle of Bayoneta
tribe, the younger women.  Jeff says someone is coming through the brush.
It's Ruth Marie, who has the third amulet.  Jeff tells Bayoneta they must choose one to remain on Exile Island.  He also informs all that somewhere on the island
is a hidden immunity idol.  The gals use rock-paper-scissors to select who will
remain behind.  Misty is the unlucky one.  Jeff hands out the flints and maps to
the rest as they depart.  He then tells Misty she has only a machete and a keg of
water for supplies, but that the water must be boiled before drinking it.

Alone on Exile Island, Misty wanders around looking for the immunity idol.  The
older ladies arrive at their camp and after a group hug and prayer take stock of
the situation.  They find only a machete and a steel pot.  Their first task is to
build a fire, which Tina does rather quickly.  Their water source is located and
construction of a shelter begins.  Cirie has issues with gathering leaves, as there
are many creepy-crawlies about.  Tina wonders what the hell Cirie is doing
there?  We wonder that, too!

Over at Vivero Beach, the young guys decide a game of baseball is in order,
first.  They improvise with a stick and coconut.  Aras tries to get them motivated
into survival mode.  He has Austin and Nick help him create fire with yoga and
mental power.  Needless to say, this fails!  Austin then tries a more conventional
method, striking the flint with the machete.  But this fails as well.  These guys
are off to a bad start.  Their shelter is pathetic.  Speaking of pathetic, the young
ladies of Bayoneta tribe wander about their island looking for a place to set up
camp.  They can't decide where they want to build it.  So they blow the day just
meandering about.  Courtney finds a dead sea turtle and has a mystical experi-
ence with it.  She sees it as a sign of Mother Earth.  Danielle and Sally see it as
smelly carcass attracting flies.  The older men of La Mina are really flying!  They
quickly get a roaring fire going and begin work on their shelter.  Dan and
Terry bond together immediately.  Dan tells Terry that he not only worked for
NASA but was an actual astronaut who flew on the shuttle.  Terry informs Dan
that he's not just a commercial airline pilot, but also a Tomcat pilot in the Navy
Reserves.  Shane is having difficulty as he is going cold turkey from a three-pack
a day cigarette habit. 

Night 1 and a storm hits Exile Island.  Day 2 finds Misty tired, hungry and thirsty.
She continues searching for the hidden idol, and plans to trick the rest into
thinking she knows where it is as a ploy to not be voted off.

Day 3 and it's time for the Immunity Challenge.  The Immunity Idol is a pole with
three shrunken heads on it.  The challenge consists of swimming from a plat-
form off shore to a raft.  Releasing the raft from it's mooring and paddling to
shore.  Then on to a brain teaser of a tangled rope with a large ring on one end.
A clue as to how to unravel the rope is buried.  Once the rope is untangled, the
ring is tossed to capture a grappling hook.  Tugging on it then unfurls a flag.  The
first three tribes to unfurl their flags win immunity.  The older men get off to an
early lead, followed closely by the younger women.  The younger men are having
a lot of trouble releasing their raft.  Meanwhile, the older men have trouble pad-
dling, which allows the younger women to catch up and pass them.  They get to
the beach first and begin working on the rope.  The young guys finally release
their raft's mooring line and make up for lost time paddling like crazy.  The
young ladies are first to unfurl their flag, followed shortly by the older men.  The
older women spend most of their time trying to dig up the clue to the rope, and
this allows the younger men to catch up and win the final slot for immunity.

Back at camp, Cirie ponders her fate.  She knows she's not the strongest or best
suited for The Game.  Tina goes off by herself and thinks about her 16 year old
son who had died in an auto accident some four and a half months ago.  Tina
had been scheduled to participate in Survivor: Guatemala, but the accident
happened a week before it started.  So, now she is determined to play hard and
win for him.  Cirie begins politicking Ruth Marie and Melinda to boot Tina.  She's
viewed as being bossy and too strong a player.  Tina returns from the beach
with a fish she found that had washed up on shore.  Cirie offers to clean and
cook it, hoping to score points.

At Tribal Council, after the torch ceremony, Jeff asks how hard it's been, if it's
met their expectations?  Melinda answers that it's all-encompassing.  Cirie ad-
mits to not being an outdoors person and warns would-be contestants to stay
at home on their couches.  Tina says she's comfortable living outdoors, has
done so all her life.  Jeff asks how important it is to have someone like Tina
around?  Cirie answers not important at all.  If something needs doing, someone
will do it.  Tina doesn't think the rest have her work ethic.  Melinda and Ruth
Marie disagree.  It's time to vote.  Tina votes for Cirie, the rest boot Tina.  Jeff
comments on them booting the only person in their tribe who makes life easy.

SPOILERS:  Another new twist is revealed concerning Exile Island.  Shane's
getting worse from his withdraw symptoms.  Cirie says if he wants to quit,
let'em!  A major storm hits the islands.