You may notice that things around here are more low key than usual. The days of posting speculation, predictions, etc. are on hold. For this season, we will be "blogging" our way through.

ALSO, WE HAVE ENTIRELY STEERED CLEAR OF SPOILERS THAT MAY EXIST SO WE WILL NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING OF THAT SORT ON THIS WEBSITE.

It's quite hard to believe that this show is already in its 16th season and with a show that has lasted that long, sometimes you must rely on gimmicks to keep loyal fans tuning in, and also to lure in newcomers to the show. This is exactly why we have been introduced to the concept of Fans vs. Favorites. It wasn't exactly the first time I heard of this concept. MTV's Real World/Road Rules challenge recently toyed with the concept. I was skeptical of the whole idea at first, and upon watching the first episode of the season, here is why...

The editing in the premiere episode was heavily geared toward the Favorites of the game. We focused on their past blunders and their attempt to play the game "better." Some haven't quite raised their game since their last outing and what we have left is a show that shoves these favorites down our throats and pretty much only gives us a glimpse of these unknowns every so often. If the fans lost the first challenge, we would probably have just as much footage of the Favorites camp.

The episode begins introducing us to 10 fans of the game. They are then surprised to find out that they will be up against some of their most favorite players in Survivor's past. Cirie, James, Jonny Fairplay (JFP), Ozzy, and Yau-Man seem to get the most response out of the fans. A storm falls down on the cast of 20 before Jeff tells them a boat is waiting for them across the island. Also, an immunity idol which must be used for the first Tribal Council one attends is waiting for one member of each tribe. Ozzy and Erik find their way to the island first but neither of them ends up getting the idol. JFP spots the idol on the end of the boat, but he grabs the wrong one. This error is quickly spotted by Yau-Man who makes a dive and essentially pushes JFP against the boat to retrieve the idol. He then makes a confessional on how these hidden immunity idols can't seem to escape him. JFP makes a cry out against his behavior, which is something we are not used to. Could JFP be the victim in this scenario? Yau-Man then points out the idol of the other tribe to Kathy and she is now immune as well. If these two ever make it to a merge, you can bet Kathy will try to align with Yau.

The rest of the episode is pretty mediocre from there. The fans keep talking about how pumped up they are, but end up struggling getting a camp together before the first night's end. Over at the Favorites camp, relationships and budding alliances are starting to form. The tribe notices two showmances budding before their eyes: James and Parvati and Amanda and Ozzy. Amanda has pined over Ozzy in the past so its no wonder she decided to take her claws into him. And while Parvati said she would be more skeptical about playing the game, she still got her flirt on with James, who she says is the only one left to flirt with. Seeing all of this unravel, Vanuatu buddies Ami and Eliza join forces, also bringing in Jonathan and Yau-Man. The foursome realize their plans to take control of the game will not work without bringing in a fifth. Jonathan has his sights on JFP, but Eliza is weary of bringing in someone so untrustworthy.

What do we know about the fans tribe? Well, apparently Kathy has diarrhea of the mouth. She is very frank about Chet's homosexuality, and Tracy's boobs. The group said the lady is lucky she has immunity because she would be the first one out. Joel is excited to compete against James, Erik thinks he can overpower Ozzy, and Tracy wants to slap JFP. That's all we know about this group.

At the challenge, the stakes are for immunity, flint, and essentially bragging rights. You can tell that more so than previous seasons, this first challenge would give the winner momentum for days on. The challenge was to navigate a cart (wheels were assembled puzzle pieces) through an obstacle course. Then, eventually, the wheels were disassembled to fit another turn stile mechanism. When the tribe completes the puzzle, and raises their fire to light their wok, they win.

Probably the best part of the episode was when the Favorites tribe ate some tree log, sending Eliza and Yau-Man off their carts. I don't know how many times they panned to Eliza that she was in some sort of distress over the accident. Ultimately, Jonathan reasons the Fans' heart allowed them to win the first challenge.

Back at camp, the romance alliance wants to take out Eliza who has had a reputation of being very shifty in the past. The counteralliance sets their sights on Parvati, who they see is the one manipulating the others into doing as she says. This leaves JFP and Cirie as free agents. Both sides try to butter up JFP but he really doesn't know which way to go. Somewhere along the line, he starts getting homesick about his pregnant girlfriend. Parvati sees this as a chance to deflect attention away from members of her alliance and she can easily blindside Eliza. J-A-Y-E are concerned of this ploy as well, but it doesn't seem like they have any other choice but to get JFP out.

At Tribal Council, the Favorites center their attention around JFP who is possibly quitting from the game. Even so, the formality of voting someone out must occur. No one is quite sure what will happen, but in the end, all the votes were cast for Jonny Fairplay to go home. Not quite the entertainment value we expected out fo a character who has been played up so much over the years, but this is Survivor for you. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with more casting mistakes in this season.

Until next time...

So based on editing thus far... we can confidently say long shots to win the million dollar prize are:

Kathy, Yau-Man