Episode 1: Season 4 of Survivor 'goes back to the beach' stranding it's castaways on Nuku Hiva, in French Polynesia, some 850 miles northeast of Tahiti. This time, they will get no food rations! Each of the two teams, Maraamu (Wind) and Rotu (Rain), will get one crate of the basics: 2 cooking pots, 2 machettes, 2 water cans (empty), 1 frying pan, 1 fillet knife, and 1 magnifying glass. 39 days, 16 strangers,
one utlimate SURVIVOR!

How exciting! Our two teams of contestants are - for Maraamu Tribe: Gina Crews, a 28 yr old nature guide from Florida; Hunter Ellis, a 33 yr old Fed Ex pilot (and former F-18 Hornet driver) from California; Peter Harkey, a 45 yr old owner of a bowling alley from Massachuesetts; Sarah Jones, a 24 yr old account manager from Alaska; Patricia Jackson, a 49 yr old truck assembler from South Carolina; Rob Mariano, a 26 yr old construction worker from Massachuesetts; Vecepia Towery, a 36 yr old office manager from Oregon; and Sean Rector, a 30 yr old teacher from New York.

Rotu Tribe is comprised of: Gabriel Cade, a 23 yr old bartender from North Carolina; Paschal English, a 57 yr old judge from Georgia; Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, a 47 yr old real estate agent from Vermont; Nehel Dennis, a 21 yr old student from Utah; John Carroll, a 36 yr old registered nurse from Nebraska; Robert DeCanio, a 38 yr old limo driver from New York; Zoe Zanidarkis, a 35 yr old fishing boat captain (and ex-Navy chief) from Maine; and Tammy Leitner, a 29 yr old crime reporter from Arizona.

Both teams are dumped off shore by Jeff Probst from the fishing boat, the Amaryllys. Each tribe gets an inflatable raft, which only holds six people, a set of oars, their crate, and the usual baskets to carry personal belongings. We later learn they each also got a coconut canteen with about a liter of water. Thus, the saga of Season Four begins.

Neither tribe seems to start off well, making little progress rowing ashore. Rotu figures out, probably thanks to Zoe, that it would be better to row together in a rythym than everybody just aimlessly paddling. This gets them ashore and Rotu is pleased with themselves. The Maraamu Tribe, likewise, makes it to their beach. Sean is overwhelmed and holds a baptism service with Peter.

Next comes the openning of the crates. They appear surprised that there was no food.  Weren't they told? Maybe they just thought Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett were kidding them? Anyway, at Maraamu, Hunter is the first to grasp the importance of the magnifying glass.
He quickly points out to the others that the they've got maybe two hours to gather firewood and get a fire going. The sun is setting fast and things need to get done. Sean, Rob, and Peter mock Hunter, saying he sounds like the weather channel. They don't seem to realize that as a pilot, and someone who went thru survival training, Hunter knows what he's talking about! Which way the wind is going blow determines the best place for the fire pit. They reluctantly get organized, and Hunter supervises the project. Peter takes final credit for actually getting a fire going thanks to his years of practicing yoga. His breathing technique enabled him to provide a steady flow of air to ignite the kindling. More like hot air if you ask me.

Rotu is in big trouble. Thanks to the topography, they have even less time to get their fire started before the sun sets. They almost succeeded till a batch of clouds darkened their efforts. A futile attempt was made to ignite the kindling with friction, but after all that rowing,
everyone's arms were spent. No fire for them tonight! Thus, Maraamu becomes only the second tribe to get a fire going their first night in all four seasons. These guys look good!

But looks can be deceiving. The first night, it becomes clear to all that Sarah has little to offer the team except her (aledgedly $5,000) breast implants. Vecepia notes that Sarah paid a lot of money for her body, so she may as well flaunt it. Earlier, Sean had complained that Sarah was not rowing much, and not at all towards the end. Rob takes notice of her, and when Sarah quips, "However much money I win, I'm going to buy a monkey", Rob chimes in that he wants a monkey, too! I BET HE DOES! Rob and Sarah split off from the others and they sleep in the raft. Too bad Rotu didn't have some of their friction.

The next morning we learn that both tribes have access to coconuts, and Maraamu also has grapefruit and mango trees as well. Both tribes set off to find their water sources. Maraamu's is not much more than a small grato. They can barely fit a single water can
into their pool of fresh water. Rotu, on the otherhand, has a beautiful waterfall along with a nice sized pond. There's plenty of showering, swimming, and other merriment. They also find some taro roots and wild peppers.

Rotu also finds themselves with a problem - Kathy. They were just getting organized to find the waterfall when Kathy announces that she found the way. The others look irritated. They apparently want to do things together. Kathy treats the rest like children out of their element.  She is certainly in hers! I feel sorry for her. She clearly has a natural inclination for exploring. She's probably somebody who camps a lot or loves nature hikes. This being said, if you are a true Survivor efficianodo, then you know that this type of person is usually hated by the rest of the tribe. In Season 2, Mike Skupin had similar trouble with Kucha Tribe. It'll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.

Maraamu also has it's share of problems. Namely with work ethic and focus. Rob thinks he hears a turkey, it's actually a wild chicken, and tries to catch it. This is more comical than practical. The chicken is quicker and more agile than ole' Rob. One more thing, wild chickens can fly, you dumbass! Hunter is annoyed that Rob disappears when there is real work that needs to be done, such as building the shelter. He tries to explain that first you take care of the essential needs: fire, water, and shelter, AND THEN you can deal with the luxury items, like meat. Rob grumbles that he's going to have to bust his ass to stay
useful with this crowd.

Back at Rotu, Kathy gets annoyed again. Or annoying, I should say. After returning from the waterfall, Kathy is bound and determined to get a fire going. Having the water is useless unless they can boil it, and that means fire. But the others, especially John, are tired from
the morning march. They want to take it easy. Besides, they spent all day yesterday trying to build a fire. Kathy disagrees, they maybe spent two hours. She finally gets frustrated amd storms off. Nobody listens to her at all. John is now more angry than anything and decides he's going to build a fire if it's the last thing he does. This time, with plenty of sunshine, they succeed. Kathy returns and John offers her a half-shell of water. How sweet!

Maraamu gets a lesson in kookiness as Peter, who's been working pretty hard, decides to 'chill out' with his bro' Sean. Sean is an expert in chillin'. Crashed out on the love-raft, Peter begins to explain what is meant by being holy according to Buddah. It means being aware
of all your holes. Controlling how you speak, breath, smell, see, hear, urinate, and crap.  Rob and others who gather about are giggling like Beevis and Butthead. Rob thinks Peter is a fruit-loop. Even Patricia walks away wondering what sort of nuts are on her tribe.

All good things must come to an end, and in Survivor, that means the weekly immunity challenge. Jeff Probst explains the format. Each tribe must carry a small outrigger (300 lb.s dry) with two tiki torches in them. They take them into the water and out to a bamboo bouy with a fire urn. Lighting the torches from the urn, they then return ashore, lighting other urns along the way. Then, it's a foot race to get their outrigger unto it's final stand.  SURVIVORS READY..........BEGIN!

Maraamu seems to be leading initially. They get to the main urn first. But they're having a lot of trouble keeping their torches lit. Rotu manages to catch up and get both of their torches lit first. As Rotu begins the return leg, lighting it's first urn, Maraamu does the unthinkable. Either Gina or Rob, looked more like Rob to me, bumps the fire urn over into the water! Quick-thinking Hunter tells them to light their torches from Rotu's first urn.  Atta-boy, Hunter! But the time lost is impossible to make up. Rotu glides in for an easy victory. Jeff lets Maraamu know they have a date with him tomorrow night at Tribal Council.

The next morning, Peter stirs things up as he explains his theory of strengthening the tribe. That means, ditching the weak ones first. Patricia is the apparent target. She's older and heavier than anybody else. She agrees that she may not be the fastest in a foot race, but she's strong and can endure. She probably is and can. Sean is more
interested in dumping Sarah. He may be intimidated, or distracted, by her silicon breasts. Sean is also not all that crazy about Hunter. "He has way too much energy for me." Sean is also an Alpha-male, and he deserves some respect and doesn't plan on kissing anybody's butt. Gina's not crazy about either Patricia or Sarah. She is crazy about Hunter! Heh-heh-heh. But she's also irritated with Peter and his attitude. She obviously figures Peter wants an all boy team eventually.

At Tribal Council, Jeff poses his usual batch of questions to Maraamu. The only original one is to Gina about how it feels to not being supplied any food. Gina likes the feeling of self-sufficiency. Vecepia is glad Hunter stepped up as a leader. Sarah is asked what role
she plays in the tribe by Jeff. I think he wants her to admit she's the camp whore. But instead we are treated to some babble about how she jumps in where ever needed. Uh-huh! When asked how he's blending in with the others, Peter says he's been having a hard time
ever since they landed ashore. Hmmmmm. It's time for the first vote.

The tribe appears very split up. Two people vote for Sarah (Sean for sure and probably Vecepia), Peter votes for Patricia (as expected) and the rest vote for Peter. He is stunned but gleefully takes his tiki torch up to Jeff, who ceremoniously tells him the tribe has spoken. Peter's flame is snuffed out and he has the distinction of being the first one voted off the island. Hahaha, that's right Jeff, rub it in. Why not kick him, too while you're at it?

SPOILERS: Next week, we see the children bite back at both Patricia and Kathy.