In "The Truman Show," it's not long after the show's creator, Christof, announces "Cue the sun!" that his perfect world goes haywire.
Like Christof, Mark Burnett -- the creator of the world of the new "Survivor" -- has wasted no time in getting into the thick of things. In the first two episodes, we have seen more conniving, bad blood and clashing personalities than in the entire first half of the original show. And it couldn't be better.
In the first episode, friction abounded as sexually-liberally Kimmi discussed masturbation with corrections office Debb listening in horror. Debb, who began the day ordering her team around during the building of their shelter, accused Kimmi of having no dignity, but how shocked can a corrections officer be when only hearing a few sexual tidbits?
It's true that Debb had an abrasive personality and was judgmental, but it was still bizarre when her entire team unanimously voted for her to leave during the Tribal Council meeting. For example, no one voted for Jeff, who stood as an easy target because he was sick and unpleasant. Rodger could easily have been picked off due to his age; he is an obvious weak link in their tribe. Kimmi's obnoxious personality might also have made her a candidate.
Has the entire team already formed an alliance? What are the producers not showing us? Regardless, there may be an explanation. Debb made a bumbling, unsuccessful attempt to convince her team to vote for Jeff, suggesting that he actually wanted to leave because he did not feel well.
In the second episode, we were exposed to the evils of Jerri, the Los Angeles-based actress who we assume must work as the devil for her day job. In this episode, she convinced her team that she caught a glimpse of teammate Kel (a completely inept fisherman) eating beef jerky, which she suggested he managed to sneak into the camp under the producers' noses.
While this seems unlikely in itself, even more unbelievable is that everyone on her team seems to have believed her, save ex-police officer Maralyn. It's difficult to tell whether everyone on her team is blind, or they simply decided it would be an easy excuse to vote Kel off, regardless of the veracity of the accusations. To help shed light on this conundrum, the "New York Post" reported last week that in trying to catch Kel eating jerky, his team instead caught him taking part in Kimmi's favorite activity in the bushes. This topic appears to be an important one this season.
Regardless, if Jerri was indeed lying, hopefully she will be punished by being forced to start a fire without any matches -- which apparently is impossible, if the first episode of the show were any evidence.
Also shocking was Kimmi's refusal to take part in the vomit-inducing bug eating contest during the second episode, claiming that she was a vegetarian -- but not exactly. She only refuses to eat land-based animals but will eat fish. But she will also eat bugs and worms. Thus, when host Jeff Probst asked her to eat cow brains, she refused and almost lost the competition for team. She made up for it later by swallowing a worm, which she apparently considers to be a plant.
In the mean time, instant heartthrob Elisabeth got lucky and only had to eat an apple slice.
In the first "Survivor," nothing so exciting surfaced this quickly, and alliances were never so strong from the outset in the original show.
As for my predictions, if the Kucha Tribe finds themselves forced to vote someone out tomorrow, say good-bye to Kimmi -- whose teammates will not be able to tolerate her Long Island accent or her finicky vegetarianism any longer -- or to Jeff, who may be picked off as soon as he recovers from his sickness.
On the other hand, if the Ogakor Tribe enters the hot seat, either Jerri or Keith (the chef who doesn't know how to cook or fish) will be the next to go. They hate each other, and there simply is not enough room in the Australian Outback for the both of them.
"Survivor" airs Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.
