Would Somebody Like A Personality?

Well week 2 of Survivor Tocantins is in the books. Yawn! What started out as an exciting, action-packed episode turned into a real snooze fest. So much so, fellow Survivor Geek Jamie commented via email that it was a little “soap operaish” with little action. She referred to it as “Days of our Tribe”.

As I said, things did start out very promising. How can you go wrong with “No-Holds Barred” Water Basketball in the rain? This was the Rewards/Immunity Challenge. The tribes were playing for fishing equipment, immunity and the privilege of sending someone from the other tribe to Exile Island.

The first tribe to three won the challenge and Timbira sprinted out to a 2 to 0 lead. However, Jalapao stormed back and scored the next three baskets for the victory. Sandwiched in between was plenty of physical, full body contact, mostly by the women.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) the editors were able to “gel” any stray flesh that wasn’t contained by the competitor’s meager swimsuits. Otherwise it easily could have been “Survivors Gone Wild”.

Sadly this was the only challenge of the episode and the only real excitement. Ya, Brendan (Timbira) was sent to Exile Island. Okay, and there was a minor twist when he was able to choose someone from the winning tribe to join him and brought Taj (Jalapao). But the rest was boring!

The nondescript, humdrum last thirty minutes finally culminated with Tribal Council. Hurray! But alas, the outcome was the same as last week. Another amply endowed contender is blindsided. Big Boobs plus Bitchiness equals “The tribe has spoken” and Candace is sent packing. Don’t they ever learn?

What this season is sorely missing is PESONALITY! Where are characters like Richard Hatch? Oh ya, he’s in prison. Well then, where are the Ruperts, Toms, Fairplays or that goofy lunch lady? Not in Tocantins!

I know it is very early and perhaps I am too impatient. There is definitely the potential for a number of stars to emerge this season. There were a couple of incidents that showed several survivors having star quality.

One such occurrence was when rugged country-boy J.T. was showing city-boy Stephen the fine art of fishing. Afterwards, Stephen commented that he thinks he might be smitten with J.T. Is it wrong?

Another moment was when Coach was using his Svengali-like power to persuade Sierra and Erinn into voting for Candace. Hell, when he was done I was ready to vote for Candace.

Other possibilities are the 53-year-old bus driver Sandy. She was impressive during the challenge, hootin’ and hollerin’ while she tugged on the bra of an opponent to prevent her from scoring.

Tyson, who got nude (much to Jamie’s delight) in week one, could materialize as a superstar, as could Jerry, the likeable Army sergeant. Like I said, it is early and the potential is there.

Next week’s previews didn’t show me anything much in the way of action. Looks like a bunch of strategizing, conniving and plotting, which are all important components of Survivor. Let’s just hope another vital ingredient shows up – PERSONALITY! Until next week…from Tocantins.