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For 39 days, 16 castaways were stranded in Asia.  Every 3 days on the island became a 1-hour show.  The first contestant eliminated pockets $2500.  Each successive eliminated contestant wins more money, through the next-to-last Survivor, who receives $100,000.  The final Survivor wins a million dollars!

Images (C) 2004 CBS, Inc. and Mark Burnett Productions. This page is in no way associated with CBS, Mark Burnett Productions, or the Survivor production.

SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK...AGAIN!

No idea WHY they'd come back to go through this hell again, but 18 previous Survivors (including the first three winners and the winner of Survivor: Amazon) have descended on the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama to outwit, outplay and outlast the others for ANOTHER million dollars!

This time, unlike the seven contests beforehand, there are THREE teams of six instead of two teams of eight. Each team is named after the island which they'll be calling home for the next 39 days. My team, decked in yellow, is the Saboga Tribe. And they are:

RUDY BOESCH - the hard-nosed 75-year-old ex-Navy SEAL from Survivor: Borneo,
TINA WASSON - the adventurous nurse and winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback,
JENNA LEWIS - the energetic insurance claims analyst from Survivor: Borneo,
ETHAN ZOHN - the pro soccer player and winner of Survivor: Africa,
JERRI MANTHEY - the lovely and talented bartender/actress from Survivor: The Australian Outback, and
RUPERT BONEHAM - the large-and-in-charge tie-dyed shirt-wearing mentor from Survivor: Pearl Islands

They don't know who the other tribes are...or even that there are three tribes. They're just dumped off on their island with nothing more than a machete and a map to their Tree-Mail and their water supply. Everything else...well, let's just say this is the least supplies given to a Survivor group EVER!

DAY 1: THE ARRIVAL

Upon arriving at their banner, Ethan seems content with the team, since they have "the mom (Tina), the nice guy (Rupert), the military guy (Rudy), the hot chick (Jerri)"...a well-rounded collection of individuals. Tina says it's not about the money for her but the life experiences. Rupert is the only Pearl Islands guy in the entire game, so he decides to hang back and do the work while the super-egos clash. "No strategy for a new game," he says. Jenna L. thinks she's a lock because Ethan and Tina will be the first two to go, being previous winners. Jerri's nervous, thinking Tina still doesn't like her even three years removed from the Outback.

Rudy leads these Saboga horses to the water...but he won't even TRY to make them drink it because it is cloud and ugly-looking. Rudy doesn't seem to have a problem with it, though, down a fair amount before the rest stop him. Ah, he's drank worse in Vietnam and Russia. Tina and Jenna L. find banana trees, though the fruits aren't quite ripe yet. So they have no food, no clean water, no shelter...and no fire. Things are NOT starting out well. The GOOD news is, though the tribe doesn't know it yet, the OTHERS are in the same boat.

LATER DAY 1: FIRESTARTERS?

So, down on the beach, Rupert, Tina, and Jenna L. work on getting fire. Rupert, being the strongman of the group, rubs the wood together briskly and achieves smoke...but he doesn't have the stamina to make it into fire. Ethan and Rudy then give it a crack, but Ethan runs out of steam as well. Rudy then tries the old bowstring-corkscrewing trick, using a makeshift bow...but the string snaps before they even get started. Jerri says it has finally hit that they have nothing and they need a LOT of help, which they're not going to get.

But, as dehydrated as they are, this is STILL a game...and this game needs alliances. And the first one is sparked by Rudy and Rupert. Rudy's sure that Ethan and Tina are sticking together, as are Jenna L. and Jerri. So the best thing as far as he's concerned is to stay with the "worker bee" and trust him. Rupert's sure that, if they can make it through the first few days, they can make it all the way. DAY 2:

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: QUEST FOR FIRE
"To and from each challenge
Fly your colors as you stride
In this show of unity
Your flag shows tribal pride

Three more days are guaranteed
For those triumphant in the game
Bring your dive mask with you
To face the man of flame."

We arrive at the Challenge Beach last, shocking both Moga Moga and Chapera tribes. We tell Uncle Jeff that we arrived on our respective islands to nothing but the machete, a bucket and dirty water. Rudy likes the fact that Susan Hawk drank the water...if only because it's one of the other teams. He doesn't mention that he ALSO drank the water.

The first Immunity Challenge of All-Stars harkens all the way back to the first-ever Immunity Challenge of Survivor. It's a quest for fire. All three tribes start off on a platform out at sea, then dive down to unhook a raft from an anchor on the sea floor (hence the dive mask). They'll then swim to shore, lighting two woks on the way with fire using torches and a cauldron on the raft. Once on shore, they light a third wok, and then move the raft under a bamboo crawl. Once out of that, they light a final wok, and then bring the raft across the finish line. The two teams that completely cross first wins immunity in the form of a neat little two-piece Immunity Idol, representing humanity and environment.

So we swim out to the platform and, while awaiting the start, Mogo Mogo's Richard discards his loin cloth and exposes his "Little Richard" for all to see. This ALONE would dishearten any strong Survivor. Uncle Jeff proclaims, "Survivor All-Stars is officially 'on'! Survivors, ready...GO!"

36 pairs of arms and legs fling the attached 18 bodies off the platforms. Ethan and Rupert dive down to unhook the raft and all three tribes go neck and neck...that is until we feel that one of the anchors wasn't completely undone. Rupert dives to get it unhooked, but it already is! This gives Mogo Mogo and Chapera the chance to get well on their way towards the first wok.

We're playing catch-up for the rest of the challenge, struggling with getting to the woks and lighting them. Uncle Jeff says we're closing the gap by the time we reach the second wok, but it sure doesn't LOOK like we're gaining much ground. Both the other tribes have their third woks lit before we're even out of the water. We struggle with the raft to light the third wok and get it to the bamboo crawl...and it looks like Jenna L. is just SITTING on the raft instead of helping! Then we goof again, having to take off a torch to get under the foot-high bamboo structure.

This proved our ultimate downfall. Chapera finishes first, with Mogo Mogo ("Little Richard" and all) crossing second. But we don't quit, dragging that raft across with our last ounce of collective strength. Chapera gets the "humanity" portion of the Idol while Mogo Mogo gets "environment". Saboga...gets the knowledge that SOMEONE is going home tomorrow night, like it or not. At least we can take some comfort that neither other team gets the fire they so desperately need...much like we still do.

DAY 3: DEAD MAN WALKING

Nothing like starting off your second Survivor experience with a humiliating loss and a Tribal Council, eh? (I don't blame Rupert or Jenna L. for this. I blame Gordon for giving me this tribe :) ) Everyone is horrible, not wanting to think about who will be the first one "voted off the island". The two "J"s talk to each other about ditch Ethan and Tina (since neither wants to see them win ANOTHER million) and Rudy (just because of his presence in the tribe). Jenna L. even TELLS Ethan he doesn't want him around. And she also tries to get the "R-Alliance" to point that way as well.

Tina and Ethan stick together, trying to figure out what to do "as targets". Ethan tries to talk Rupert into seeing THEIR side of the story. Rupert is torn between the Winner Alliance and the J-Alliance, knowing that, whichever way HE goes, Rudy will go with him. If nothing else, he WILL stick with Rudy, no mater what. But which other pair to trust?

NIGHT 3 (TRIBAL COUNCIL): TORCH SONG

It is a dark and stormy night as the dejected Saboga tribe marches up the stairs to a high tree house where Uncle Jeff awaits us with wet torches, which we light. It's been an ugly three days. Jerri thinks this is total hell compared to the first three days in the Outback. Jeff think Rupert's gotta be nuts to come back so soon after coming in eighth in this very area, but he's thinking about his wife and daughter. Jerri and Jenna L. are collecting rain water in their hands and their buffs to hydrate themselves. Rudy thinks the tribe is just fine.

Ethan thinks he and Tina being previous winners is at a HUGE disadvantage, but Jeff spins it and says it's because they RESPECT the winners (yeah, right). Jenna L. flat out tells Jeff that there's no room in this game for former winners, because they ALREADY have six zeroes in their bank accounts. Tina says it's not fair, but the former winners knew this going in. Rupert and Rudy say that the ex-winners have every right to continue if they're the best. Ethan likens it to sports: the previous champs are not automatically excluded from ever winning again (and the Patriots know that first-hand).

It is time to vote: Ethan starts us off by voting for Jenna L., saying, "Your mouth just keeps going and going and going. You better be careful or it's gonna bite you in the big old butt of yours." Next to vote are Jenna L., Jerri, then Tina (who ALSO votes for Jenna L.), Rudy and finally Rupert.

Uncle Jeff brings the canister back out and reads the votes. The first two are for Jenna L., the next three for Tina and the last...for Tina Wasson. No second million for her as her torch is snuffed and she marches out.

And, now, the WORSE news: Normally we're allowed to bring our torches back, along with the fire it brings. But mean Uncle Jeff tells us we need to make fire on our own before we can bring the torches home.

Nope...not a good trio of days at all for Saboga.