SURVIVOR IS BACK!

I missed the first season of Survivor, but I watched every season from the second one to the eigth, which was all-stars. That, I guess, was considered the first generation of Survivor. Just 20 people on an island battling for $1 million. The second generation introduced Exile Island (which was stupid and, as far as I can tell, rarely used anymore.) and the Hidden Immunity Idol. Last night's 21st season premiere is the beginning of the third generation of this show. I didn't watch much of generation 2 because I didn't really care about the show anymore. It didn't seem to differntiate much from earlier seasons and was still trying to capture the essence it had in the first few seasons. Once Heroes vs. Villains came around, I was hooked again. I watched about the last half of Russel's first season and was amazed by how well he played the game. I thought he was robbed by an angry jury. I figured alums of the show would understand his strategy more and let him win. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. BUT THAT IS THE PAST AND WHATEVER HAPPENED HAPPENED! Generation 1 seemed to do what the real world does occasionally, in that it focused a lot on where the game was being played. Generation 3 seems like it will focus more on the people playing the game. (Generation 2 focused mostly on how great and groundbreaking the show still is. Also, there was that one season that bordered on racism.) Last night we were introduced to "the Medallion of Power." What's the Medallion of Power? Exactly. It's very mysterious and important.

Two groups of people are walking through the Nicaraguan jungle. They all assume that these people are their tribe. They approach Jeff Probst in front of a lagoon and he briefly interviews they group of them. He asks them about first impressions and whatnot. He then tells them about the Medallion of Power and releases them into the lagoon. A young Asian woman finds it up in a tree and everyone comes back to where they'd been standing before. Jeff asks someone, who assumes he's on the young Asian's girls team how he feels about the medallion of power. He says something along the lines of "This is really going to help our tribe." Jeff says "Well, it would, if these were your tribes." He tells them that the tribes are going to be divided by age. 30 & Younger in one tribe, 40 & Older in another. The young tribe is offered either fire, or to keep the medallion of power. If they take the fire, the old tribe gets the medallion. And that is exactly what happens. This works out well for the older tribe because the make fire without the flint in less than half an hour and they have the medallion of power. Everyone is freaking out about having Jimmy Johnson in the game. Two guys are talking, one of them says, "Is that Jimmy Johnson?"

"Yeah."

"No, Jimmy Johnson was the coach of the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys."

"Yeah, that's him."

It was quite possibly one of the greatest conversations of Survivor history. Eventually, it's challenge time (CHALLENGE TIME!) Sometimes, the challenges represent something in the native land they are filming on. Sometimes, the challenges don't. Sometimes, the challenges are simply transporting water from bucket to bucket in an interesting way. This challenge was that. One person was on top of a tower with a big tub of water and a bucket. Four people made a gutter that emptied into another bucket. Once enough water was in the second bucket, puzzle pieces would drop and the remaining tribe members would have to complete it. Naturally, I was rooting for the U30 tribe, because I'm under 30. They won, so I was happy. Other than age, though, I could really care less about the young team. The Old team has Jimmy Johnson and this really cool black guy who was really pumped when Jimmy Johnson gave them a pep-talk before the immunity challenge. After the challenge, everyone scrambles to figure out who to vote out. The general consensus is Jimmy Johnson or Wendy, because they are the two weakest players. They all head to tribal council and talk to Jeff. It becomes evident that Wendy is going to be voted out. Jeff says "ok, it's time to vote." Wendy jumps in and says "Wait! Can I say something?" Jeff allows her to say something and she rambles about how she can be a strong asset to this tribe. She also complains that no one asked how old she is, to which the aforementioned really cool black guy says "because that's impolite." and Jeff explains to her that in regular culture, you're not supposed to say that. Then he asks her age. "48." she tells everyone. "but you look so young." the really cool black guy says with a hilarious, sarcastic monotone. They go to vote and everyone who was debating Wendy or Jimmy votes Wendy. Everyone but Wendy votes Wendy. She votes for Eve (pictured), who I was convinced would be on the U30 tribe. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this season.