Survivor: Fiji -- Episode 1

Survivor's fourteenth season brought a new group of castaways to the islands of Fiji. Despite some early strategic (or at least social) gameplay, Jessica was puzzled to find herself the first person eliminated.

This season was supposed to have 20 contestants, but moments before filming began, one of the survivors dropped out. That left producers scrambling for a way to split the group into two tribes.

So, instead of dividing the group, all 19 remaining contestants were plopped onto a beach, where they milled about until host Jeff Probst flew by in a plane and dropped a box with blueprints for building the castaway version of a mansion, complete with a separate kitchen and bathroom

Using provided supplies, the group followed the directions of resident architect Sylvia and managed to complete the floor of their shelter before the sun set and the torrential rains began.

Work continued the next day, and the group managed to finish their primary shelter. In two days, these 19 people had created something that far surpasses anything yet made by the dumbasses on Lost--who, after two-and-a-half seasons, are still living in lean-tos made out of tarp.

Yau-Man (no relation to He-Man) proved to be the most capable builder and survivalist, despite having all the physical prowess you'd expect from a skinny computer engineer in his mid-fifties, which he is.

The group settled in for a cozy night in their new shelter, until "Dreamz" and "Rocky" (who must really hate their real names if those are the nicknames they've chosen for themselves) got into a loud argument. Rocky bemoaned letting his emotions get the best of him, evidently forgetting that he's a reality show participant from Boston, who are almost always cast solely because of their quick tempers.

At the season's first challenge the following morning, the group agreed that Sylvia had been in charge of building the shelter, and Jeff Probst singled her out to divide the team into two tribes. Since she didn't know which team she'd wind up on, Sylvia wisely divided the teams evenly in terms of physical fitness -- although she made sure to separate Dreamz and Rocky.

Moto Tribe: Gary, Dreamz, Boo, Alex, Edgardo, Stacy, Cassandra, Liliana, and Lisi
Ravu Tribe: Yau-Man, Rocky, Mookie, Anthony, Earl, Jessica, Erica, Rita, and Michelle

As a reward for her hard work on the shelter, Sylvia was sent to Exile Island to spend the night with 1000 deadly sea snakes. On the bright side, she was immune from Tribal Council, and she did get a clue to the whereabouts of a hidden Immunity Idol. Unfortunately, the clue said the Idol was somewhere back at camp.

The two new tribes then took part in their first Immunity Challenge. The winning tribe would not only avoid Tribal Council, but would return to find their camp tricked out with a sofa, dishes, and a solar shower.

The losers would be sent to a new beach furnished with only a pot and a machete -- slightly better than the conditions those Tent City losers on The Apprentice L.A. have to live in. After voting someone out, Sylvia would return from Exile Island to fill the spot of the eliminated tribe member.

For the challenge, seven members of each tribe pulled a chariot containing the tribe's two remaining members, who collected three hanging bags of puzzle pieces along a dirt course.

At the finish line, four tribe members assembled the three puzzles, revealing the numerical combination to a wheel puzzle that functioned like a combination lock. Turning the wheel the correct number of times revealed a bin containing the knife, which cut the rope, which raised the flag, that wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

Both teams were neck-and-neck through the chariot phase and started their puzzles at about the same time. Jessica got hung up on her part of the puzzle, and Ravu fell out of contention. Alex cut the rope for Moto and raised their flag, giving them the victory and rights to the sweet shelter.

Ravu made their way to their new home, which had a cave for shelter and plenty of coconut juice to drink until they could build a fire and boil water. But there wasn't much time to get comfortable before Tribal Council.

Jessica, Erica, and Rocky had formed a pact not to vote for one another, and they tried to sway their teammates to vote for Rita. But, seeing as how Rita and Jessica were evenly matched physically, the team held Jessica's poor puzzle skills against her.

Although Erica and Rocky got wind of Jessica's impending doom, they didn't tell her, and she was surprised to be voted out at Tribal Council. Erica and Rocky stuck to their word and didn't write Jessica's name down, instead casting throwaway votes for Yau-Man and the hitherto invisible Mookie.

Next week, we see the first evidence of Boo's (also not his real name) bad luck streak. He settles into a hammock to relax after cutting his hand with a machete, only to have the hammock collapse underneath him.