Survivor Smacked Me in the Chops

Survivor Smacked Me in the Chops is the season premiere of .
==Story==
===Day 1===
Over the waters of Caramoan, a first-class municipality on the eastern coast of the Republic of the Philippines, a fishing boat is about to send fifteen strangers to the adventure of a lifetime. The castaways, already divided into three tribes, see a second boat, which is driven by host Jeff Probst. Probst welcomes the castaways, and asks Jeff Kent his opinion on having three tribes instead of the normal two. He replies that because of the few numbers the tribes have, it is hard to lose a member. Probst then informs them that three former contestants, all of whom were medically evacuated in their previous seasons, will return for another shot at the million dollar prize. And by saying so, a third boat, containing the three returning contestants, arrives. Probst introduces Russell Swan (from , who passed out due to severe dehydration), Jonathan Penner (from and , who was evacuated due to an infected knee puncture in Micronesia), and Michael Skupin (who is infamously known for falling to his tribe's campfire in , which burned his hands). Probst then assigns Jonathan to the red Kalabaw tribe (named after the Philippines' national animal, the ), Russell to the blue Matsing tribe (an archaic Filipino word meaning "monkey"), and Michael to the yellow Tandang tribe (which means "rooster" in Filipino).
After the returnees meet their tribes, Probst tells them to hoard as much supplies as they can in one minute before they head out to their camps. From fruits to chickens to firewood, the castaways waste no time collecting as much supplies within the very tight time limit. The one minute lapses, prompting the castaways to lower their rafts and jump overboard. Over the commotion, Kalabaw releases their raft, but accidentally drops their items. Jonathan realizes that Jeff, who had a bad fall from the boat to the raft, is in pain because of his knee, and asks him if his leg is okay. Jeff replies that he is fine, though he tries to hide the pain from his tribemates.
After disembarking from their raft, the Matsing tribe is told by Russell that he will not step in as leader of the tribe. Instead, he insists that they should just work as a team. Moments later, as the tribe builds shelter, Russell starts barking orders on how to construct it, to Malcolm Freberg and Angie Layton's annoyance.
Using his experiences from Micronesia where he worked as an elementary ESL teacher for a year, Malcolm makes a ruse by volunteering to spark a fire, but merely guided Russell into it. With only bamboo and twigs, Russell makes fire at Malcolm's expense. Later, Malcolm and Angie agree that they will "act nice" to Russell.
At the Kalabaw tribe, Jonathan expresses his excitement being back in the game for the third time. While Jonathan swims alone at the lagoon, Jeff calls the rest of the newbies, declaring that one of them should win the game over the returnees.
Over at Tandang, RC Saint-Amour and Abi-Maria Gomes examine the island to determine where their shelter should be put. RC introduces herself to Abi-Maria as an executive assistant, not wanting to divulge her real profession as a banker.
As RC and Abi-Maria converse, the two agree to form an alliance and decide to bring in Pete Yurkowski. Abi-Maria uses her Brazilian charm to lure in Pete by asking him to cut bamboo for her. Later, RC and Abi-Maria go to Pete and ask him to join their alliance, which the engineering graduate accepts. RC goes to Michael next. Michael is surprised on how quickly alliances are built has changed since his days on The Australian Outback. Deciding not to lord over the tribe and follow their pace instead, Michael agrees to align with RC.
Back at Kalabaw, its members start to introduce themselves while building their shelter. Dana Lambert says she likes riding four-wheelers and she is from the South, while Jeff claims he is a rancher with a motorcycle dealership. While she is the only lesbian member of the tribe, Dana feels relieved upon knowing Jeff is also a Texan like her. Unknown to most of tribemates, Jeff hides a secret: he is the famed baseball player, Jeff Kent. Believing he would be in trouble if his secret is revealed, Jeff keeps this part of his identity a secret. The only one who appears to know Jeff's secret is Sarah Dawson, who once dated a baseball fan. While Jeff explains how he applied on the show, Dawson secretly gives him a piercing stare.
Back at Tandang, RC, Abi-Maria, and Lisa Whelchel are at the beach bathing. Not wanting to divulge her teen star past, a cautious Lisa introduces herself as a mother from Texas and has a ministry for mothers.
Lisa volunteers to stay behind to try to spark a fire, while the rest of the tribe explores the island. While away, RC uses this as an opportunity to tell her alliance to target Lisa, saying she is not trustworthy. In the evening, Michael secretly pulls Lisa aside to tell her he knows who she was.
===Day 2===
At Matsing, while Zane Knight and Denise Stapley collect firewood along the shore, Zane reveals his background. After warming up to Denise, Zane asks Denise for an alliance, which the latter accepts. 
Later, Zane secretly talks to his tribemates individually, all of which is successful. Noticing Zane's pride, Denise and Malcolm converse, saying that they should keep an eye on the tire repairman. The two agree to form an alliance.
At Tandang, the tribe chastises Michael for carelessly injuring himself several times while fixing the shelter. A worried RC advises Michael to keep his wounds clean. The returning contestant agrees, but continues to work anyway. Later, Michael gets more and more injuries: he accidentally cut his finger while chopping a coconut, and he got a gash in his foot.
At Kalabaw, the tribe goes to a nearby cave while waiting for the rain to subside. On the other hand, Jonathan returns to camp, secretly looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol. After checking rocks and tree holes, Jonathan remembers the objects that awaited them the moment they reached the beach on the first day: a pot, a bolo knife, and in his own words, a "beautiful box of rice." Jonathan puts his hand below the rice box, and finds a small roll of paper beneath it: a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol.
Back at Matsing, while scooping a portion of rice for lunch, Russell finds the same clue Jonathan got. Russell rushes to the well to read it. Lo and behold, Russell sees Zane glaring at him while swimming. Zane asks him if he already found the idol, but Russell says he did not.
===Day 3===
The three tribes meet Jeff Probst for their first challenge, which is for both reward and immunity. The two winning tribes will receive flint, while the tribe that finishes first wins a fire-making kit complete with tinder, husks, and kerosene.
As the tribes strategize and delegate roles, Matsing struggles to figure out who will perform the final leg of the challenge, a puzzle. Russell, who admits he is terrible at puzzles, assigns Angie and Roxy Morris for the job, even though Angie also declared she is not good at puzzles either.
Tandang amasses a lead when RC and Artis Silvester retrieve their paddles first, while Matsing's Russell and Zane are just right behind them, with Zane getting tired, being pulled by Russell. As Tandang and Matsing head out to sea, Kalabaw's Dana and Katie Hanson, come out with their paddles. Tandang extends their lead by quickly retrieving their chest of puzzle pieces. Carter Williams and Jeff catch up to Malcolm and Denise. Pete and Michael return to shore with their chest, prompting the rest of the Tandang tribe to help them move it to the designated spot. Kalabaw extends their lead over Matsing by reaching shore earlier. While waiting for Malcolm and Denise, Russell asks a visibly tired Zane if he is still fine. Tandang's Lisa and Abi-Maria make quick work on the tower puzzle, with Kalabaw's Jonathan and Dawson on their heels. Angie and Roxy of Matsing struggle at their puzzle. In the end, in a close race between Tandang and Kalabaw, with both tribes trying to figure how will the last piece fit, Kalabaw finishes first, while Tandang finishes in close second, sending Matsing to Tribal Council.
Returning to camp, Russell cheers his tribe up, when all of a sudden Zane seemingly asks his tribe to vote him out because of his poor performance at the challenge. But in a confessional, Zane explains that his speech is just a ruse to fuel the tribe's anger at Russell's poor leadership, hoping to use it to send him home.
Russell walks with Angie and Roxy at the beach telling them to vote for Zane. When Russell leaves the scene, Angie vents her frustrations about Russell, saying that putting her on the puzzle-building leg was to make sure Russell will not take blame if he messed up.
Angie talks to Zane, asking him if he could take back his decision to send himself home and vote Russell out instead. Zane is glad that his plan seems to work. Malcolm, knowing Russell is still a physical asset over Zane, asks Zane if he is still firm on his sacrifice. Zane reveals his ruse to oust Russell, and warns him that Russell is likely to have the idol. Later, Malcolm relays the information to Denise. As the time to go to Tribal Council nears, Russell thinks that he is safe because of his strength, but his bad call at the Immunity Challenge might be his downfall.
At Tribal Council, both Denise and Zane laud Russell for his experience, since it helped the tribe tremendously during the past three days. On the other hand, Russell castigates himself for subconsciously acting abrasively at the challenge, fully blaming himself for their loss. Zane takes his ruse further by also blaming himself for his weak performance, likely due to his nicotine withdrawal, something he just did a day before he left for the Philippines. In the end, Zane's scheme completely backfires, as his poor challenge performance weighs heavier than Russell's bossiness, sending the tire repairman home by a vote of 5-1. Before the Matsing tribes heads back to camp, Jeff Probst hands them their flint.
==Challenges==
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Share the WealthTwo tribe members, tethered together, must run inside the jungle to reach a chest containing paddles. Once the paddles are retrieved, two other tribe members must ride a boat and use the paddles to reach a buoy with a crate below. The paddlers must unclip the crate and bring it close enough to shore, where all six tribe members would then take the crate to a station where the final two tribe members must open the crate, revealing puzzle pieces. The first two pairs to solve the puzzle (a tower with a Filipino hut on top) win immunity for their tribes.Reward: Flint for the winning tribes; a fire-making kit for the first-place tribe.Winner (according to finish): ​ and 
==Tribal Council==
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VotedAgainst	Voter
 	
 	
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===Voting Confessionals===
===Final Words===
===Still in the Running===
								
								
==Trivia==
===Behind the Scenes===
* Day 2 at Matsing, Zane complains about the intermittent rain. The tribe then collects banana leaves to use as roof for their shelter. Later, Zane tells Denise the history.
* On Day 3, the tribes receive war paint and their swimwear through Tree Mail. As Lisa changes to her swimwear, the rest of Tandang discuss to vote her out.
* An ecstatic Kalabaw returns to camp after a come-from-behind first-place finish at the Immunity Challenge. Jeff Kent invites the tribe at the lagoon, but, Jonathan returns to the shelter under the premise that he will get his bag but in truth he is looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol or a clue to it. After looking for the obvious hiding places, Jonathan suspects that the idol or a clue could be hidden in their rice box. His speculations happen to be as he finds the clue beneath the rice box.
===Other===
* This is the first time that a man has been voted out in the first episode since Jon Dalton in , 9 seasons ago.
* Kalabaw and Matsing used their raft as the floor of their shelter, while Tandang used theirs as their roof.
* Following Tribal Council, Entertainment Weekly writer Dalton Ross interviewed Jeff Probst at the voting booth. Jeff stated he was surprised by Zane's move that Jeff jokingly "voted" Zane by writing his name down on a spare parchment and placed it in the urn. Jeff predicted Russell is in trouble. He also chastised Angie and Roxy's half-baked answers at Tribal Council and wrote both of their names on another parchment.
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:Philippines Episodes
Category:Season Premieres
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Episodes
Category:Survivor: Philippines