Sheldon's First Impressions

Survivor is back. It’s called One World. Both tribes are living on the same beach- you know the rest. I’m gonna jump straight into my opinions on the cast.

Firstly, I really liked Kourtney, and I was sad to see her medivaced from the show so soon. She reminded me a lot of Sugar, and I think that if she still had a shot at the game, she would do well.

Monica has potential to be a power player and she could be a beast in challenges, but I think she would be largely under rated- sort of like Tracey in Micronesia. I would like to see her go far, but sadly she probably falls into the “older woman” stereotype.

Nina won’t last long by the looks of things. She was shown to be weak, and that does not fair well in Survivor. As a retired LAPD officer, she could have been tough though. But like Monica, she is the older woman who won’t be given a fair shot to prove herself.

Christina is a very crafty player and a good negotiator. She has enough spunk to make it far, but it looks like she has fallen on the wrong side of the numbers.

Sabrina seems to be a good player, but I think her move to give Colton the idol is a little short sighted. He could play the idol at the first tribal council that he goes to and go home in the next. It would have been wiser to someone who is not one of the Alpha males, but would stick along longer.

Leif looks like another person who has the potential to be a strong, underestimated player. But one would expect that he being the first little person on survivor would give him a ton of airtime. His prospects in the game don’t look to good for him.

Bill- “who’s Bill?” Bill’s shoe seemed to get more airtime than him. Editing sucks at times. I don’t think he will make it far. What worries me that his limited (non existent) airtime indicates that he is an early boot. This doesn’t look good for the Alpha male alliance.

Colton seems to be a big character this season. But I get the feeling that he makes a big move a bit too early, and goes from holding the most power in one episode to being the most vulnerable in the next. He seems to be the spoon that stirs the pot (John Cochran or Jonathan Penner type character), and whatever move he makes will be the subject of many debates. By the way, wasn’t the way he jumped, combined with the comical sound effect2, awesome?

Matt was one of my pre game favorite’s to do well. And I still think he is a good player who knows how exactly to play the game. But he came across as a tad bit too antagonistic and that may be his Achilles Heel. But if he survives being idoled by Colton, he should be fine and remain on the right side of the numbers.

Michael is going to be in a lot of trouble if there is a tribe swap, because he stole the woman’s scavenging’s. His faith in the game all revolves on Colton’s idol play.

Jay, based on the quality of his confessions seems to go further than his Alpha male allies. He sounds a lot like Brandon Hantz.

Kat seems to be like the voice of reason in the female tribe, and she looks smart enough to lay low and stay safe in the majority alliance. But I think she would be a pick to be voted out first when only her alliance is left in the game.

Alicia is the fun, feisty character that everyone loves or hates. She came across as Naonka2.0, but definitely without the quitter person. She could be the force behind the hot girl’s alliance that enrages the other players and makes the girls in her alliance look angelic. If she makes it to the merge, she would probably be the first target, and if she survives that- her aggressive gameplay might make her the perfect person to take to the end.

Chelsea is a power house this season. She is tough, a chicken catcher, and in a good alliance. I’m guessing that she goes on a little bit of an immunity run post merge and go far- but will be voted off the moment she loses immunity. If she is in the finals- she most likely will win. I just think she will barely fall short of making it to the very end.

There seems to be a slight feud brewing between Troyzan and Greg (who I will not call Tarzan). This reminds me a lot of the Jimmy T vs Jimmy Johnson pre-merge Nicaragua showdown. Troyzan reminds me a lot of Coach in Heroes versus Villains, based on how he commented on the girls’ strategy. I’m hoping Troyzan makes it far. As for Greg, I think that the previous seasons mustache man- Cowboy Rick, came off as much more likable and should have had more airtime than Greg had in this episode.

Jonas’s edit really took me by surprise, but in a good way. I thought he would be a supporting character, whose only role is cooking (Keith in Australia). He had a fair amount of airtime that was none in the lease bit negative, and hid seemed to be giving him some sort of Complex Personality edit, which the winner usually receives. This Sushi guy (or Hiro Nakamura) is definitely one of my picks to win.

My other pick to win, is Kimberly. She has got game- she is attractive, has a great personality and seems to be quite observant, like Sophie last season. I think she is smart enough to know who to align with and when to cut them lose, like Amanda. I think she will make a smart alliance like Amanda did in China and Micronesia, but will be command the final tribal council like Sophie did and won. I picked Kimberly as me pre show favorite to win, and after the premier episode, my opinion doesn’t change. She could have easily been one of those typical invisible females against over the top females like Chelsea and Alicia, but I think her game would be worthy of a win.

To sum up- I don’t think that Bill, Leif, Nina, Monica and Christine survive to see the merge. And depending on the move Colton makes neither could Matt and maybe Michael, and possibly Colton himself. I’m not sure where exactly the Troyzan vs Greg feud fits it, but I don’t think one of them would make the merge either.

My guess is that Kimberly, Kat and Chelsea have an alliance that goes far. Jonas, the winner of Troyzan versus Greg, and Jay make it far. Kat would be the first to be voted off when the dominant alliance Pagongs the minority, and Chelsea would be voted out in an Ozzy-esque way (Like in South Pacific). Kimberly wins for playing a well rounded game, or the win goes to Jonas for being the nice guy that could do no wrong. I’m also hoping for a final 2 showdown.

It sucks when you like basically the entire cast, and the reality is that half of them won't make the merge. Well that's Survivor.

I can’t wait to see how these storylines and twists will unfold and to see whose season predictions will be most right. In back to back seasons, I picked the winner on episode one (Boston Rob and Sophierce) – fingers crossed for a third time winner pick.