Survivor: Cook Islands -- Episode 1

The premiere of Survivor: Cook Islands showed that the media furor over dividing the teams along ethnic lines was largely unwarranted. Things went pretty much they same way they always do on the show. The good-looking people banded together, and the lazy guy was eliminated first.

When the boat carrying the latest crop of castaways neared its destination, each teams loaded what supplies they could onto a raft and paddled to shore. Billy, of the Latino team, Aitu, said he felt as if he was undoing some of the choices his parents made years ago. They'd left the Dominican Republic by boat to reach the United States, and here he was leaving America to paddle to another island.

Rebecca, of the African-American team, Hiki, saw their trip to shore as a chance to disprove some stereotypes: "Yes, black people do swim. Yes, black people do know how to get on a boat and paddle. We don't just run track."

For the most part, the Hiki tribe got along well. Sundra and Rebecca, both of whom sport long braids and wear yellow shirts, formed a bond because they both live in New York. Sekou tried to take charge of preparing the camp, but undermined his own authority by following each command with a lengthy break. His breaks left the third woman on the tribe, Stephannie, in "a state of pisstation."

Puka, the team of Asian-Americans, hadn't even reached shore before Cao Boi (pronounced "cowboy") offended all of his teammates with a ceaseless flow of Asian jokes. Despite some regional ancestral similarities, Cao Boi couldn't be more different from his teammates. He fled wartime Vietnam as a child, while his teammates -- whose parents or grandparents hail from places as diverse as the Philippines, Korea, and Hawaii -- were all born in the continental United States.

Cao Boi's cultural peculiarities weren't entirely without value. Cao Boi's knowledge of Eastern folk medicine helped him diagnose Brad's headache as a case of "bad wind," which Cao Boi treated by roughly massaging Brad's face, and then pulling and pinching the skin at the bridge of Brad's nose. The headache disappeared, although the treatment did have an unfortunate side effect: a giant red mark between Brad's eyes.

The Caucasian tribe, Raro, seemed the most uncomfortable with the potentially politically incorrect tribal divisions. But they got over it, jokingly referring to themselves as the "Whiteys."

It didn't take Raros Adam and Candice long to realize they're not only white; they're also young, fit, and attractive. Thus, they felt obligated to start snuggling romantically on the first night.

At their camp, Raro flipped over a wooden box as a makeshift chicken coop for their two chickens -- one of which Adam had grabbed from the supply boat legitimately, and the other that Jonathan had stolen from the Puka tribe en route to the island. Jessica, this season's dreadlocked fire dancer, absentmindedly lifted the box, and the chickens quickly escaped into the jungle -- where, to this day, they rule with an iron fist over all the island's other beasts.

At the Immunity Challenge, teams learned that the first three teams to complete the challenge would win both immunity from Tribal Council and a flint for making fire. The first place team would receive additional fire-making supplies, such as matches, kindling, and Aqua-Net.

Before the challenge started, host Jeff Probst made small talk, asking the teams about their supply situation. Brad and Yul pointed to Jonathan as the man who stole their chicken. Jonathan shrugged, unconvincingly.

The challenge consisted of two parts. Part one required each team to assemble a boat, grab an unlit torch, row to a fiery platform, light their torch on fire, and return to shore.

Ashore, teams solved four small block puzzles (which composed the letters N, S, E, and W). Once the puzzles were complete, teams placed the puzzle blocks in appropriate slots on a wall: N on top, S on the bottom, etc. They then used pieces from their boat to create a ladder up the wall. The challenge was complete when the team members climbed the ladder to a platform, still holding their torch.

Hiki fell behind early when they couldn't figure out how to assemble their boat. They made a push near the end when Raro struggled with their small block puzzles, but couldn't make up the difference.

The consolation prize for losing was a chance to send any contestant from one of the other three teams for a two day stay on Exile Island. As payback for stealing Puka's chicken, the men of Hiki (who didn't consult the women of their tribe) chose Jonathan.

Before Tribal Council, the two Hiki men, Sekou and Nathan, tried to convince Stephannie that she'd never be able to break up an alliance between the two women from New York, Sundra and Rebecca. Since the same was probably true of buddies Sekou and Nathan -- and since Sekou's laziness already annoyed her -- Stephannie stuck with the ladies and voted off Sekou.

Nathan didn't seem too troubled by the vote, since Jeff gave the tribe flint on their way back to camp. The prospect of a toasty fire and parasite-free water was enough incentive to make him forget all about Sekou.