He Can Sleep With the Fishes

**He Can Swim With the Fishes** is the season premiere of *Survivor: Ecuador*.

## Story

### Day 1

Su Sangster, host of *Survivor*, can be seen walking along the bank of a winding river deep in the jungles of Ecuador. Tall, leafy trees stand behind him, and the calls of wildlife can be heard throughout the dense jungle. With a grin, he reveals that *Survivor* will be returning to the lush paradises of South America for its twelfth season, with an old twist being brought back for its second time around the block. Su begins to do his intro as shots are shown of two canoes, each carrying nine people, being rowed by native men to a meeting point on the bank of the river where Su is now standing.

The two canoes can be seen gliding through the still waters of the Ecuadorian river. One the first one, with chartreuse stripes down its sides, a younger woman with silvery-green hair and chunky black sunglasses can be seen beaming as she marvels at the jungle around her.

Behind her, a 20-something African American man with a vicious grin on his face can be seen cracking his knuckles as he surveys his fellow tribemembers.

Finally, an older Hispanic man is seen sitting in the very back of the canoe, with a small smile on his face as he watches the trees go past.

The shot shifts to the other tribe, riding in a canoe with dark green stripes along its sides. A woman with long blond hair and a very muscular physique can be seen grinning as she looks around her.

Seen sitting behind Kara is a younger Indian man, looking like he's fresh out of high school. He is absolutely beaming as he soaks in the sights around him, and his knee can be seen bouncing in excitement.

The final member of this tribe shown is a petite, older African American woman with messy light green hair, a guitar t-shirt, and a massive grin on her face.

The two canoes can be seen arriving at the riverbank where Su stands in waiting, smiling, with two mats in front of him, one chartreuse and the other dark green. The native men ground the canoes, and the new castaways step out and take their spots on the mats. A 30-something white woman with shoulder length brown hair and an elated expression on her face can be seen smiling as she takes her spot on the mat.

Su welcomes the two tribes to *Survivor: Ecuador* to a chors of whoops, shouts, and applause. He tells the people on the chartreuse mat that their tribe will be named Cuevita. He tosses the buffs and map to a middle aged Hispanic woman named Martina, and she grabs them with a smile. He then turns to the dark green mat and tells them that their tribe will be named Charca. He tosses the buffs and map to a burly dark-skinned man named Veldt, who catches them easily.

The castaways are about to head out to their new campsites, eager to begin the game, but Su tells them with a smirk that he has something else to reveal. Everyone returns to their mats, confused. And then Su shouts "Come on out!", and two people can be seen emerging from the jungle. One girl places her hand over her mouth in absolute shock.

The camera first focuses in on Kinti as she walks towards the newbies, who are in various stages of shock and excitement.

The camera then shifts to Everett, who is smirking as he walks towards the newbies and Su.

Everett and Kinti arrive at Su's side, and he introduces them to the cast, even though most of them already know who they are. He then tells Everett to join Cuevita, and Kinti to join Charca. Everett can be seen high fiving a grinning Zachary and shaking hands with a stately looking Asian woman named Mitzi. Meanwhile, Orlia gives Kinti a tight hug while shaking in excitement, and a white guy with shaggy brown hair named Cedric gives her a high five. With that, the tribes head out to their campsites.

The first tribe to get to know each other is Cuevita. They arrive at their campsite, a stretch of less dense jungle along a muddy curve in the riverbank. Immediately when they get to camp, everyone turns to Everett and begins to ask him how to do things. An Asian man named Kenji can be seen helping Everett find a good place to pick out the shelter, smiling.

As the tribe begins to get everything together, they all work under Everett's direction, listening to what he says. They divide into groups to get the things done that he says they need to get done, and no one seems bothered that he is the de facto leader. Everett looks pretty stunned as he walks off with Zachary, Kenji, Martina, and Enrique to cut down some wood for the shelter.

While some of them are collecting wood, some of the women can be seen gathering leaves to make the roof of the shelter. Mellorie, Issi, and Mitzi can be seen using a machete to cut down some branches of a tree to get leaves. Mellorie and Issi laugh and crack jokes, while Mitzi does her best to fit into the conversation.

Meanwhile, Emanuelle and Nobu have been tasked with finding the well. The two follow the map, and take a little longer than expected, but eventually find it. They can be seen laughing and discussing their favorite types of tropical fish as they fill up canteens for the tribe.

As it gets later in the day, the shelter is almost fully constructed under Everett's leadership. As the tribe huddles around in the shelter, they discuss making fire. Both Everett and Martina say they've had experience trying to make fire without flint. Working together, they are able to get a fire started, much to the delight of the entire tribe.

The scene shifts to the Charca tribe returning to their camp after the opening of the season. The tribe can be seen setting down their stuff and deciding what to do. Kinti tells them that she can do her best to help but she thinks they should all collaborate, not wanting to lead the tribe straight out.

Kara, Veldt, and Erron all seem willing to step up to take charge however, and they all work together to divvy up responsibilities among everyone. Kara, Veldt, Erron, Cedric, and Kinti will collect the wood to build the structure of the shelter, while Peter, Lorraine, Lauwanda, Orlia, and Arpit will collect the roofing and other materials. Veldt can be seen smiling as the tribe gets to work.

As the group tasked with collecting the materials for the structure of the shelter get to work, Erron can be seen leading the charge, taking a machete and cutting down a sapling. He can be seen dragging it back to camp, and Kinti watches, impressed. He makes a joke as he walks past Kara and Cedric that makes them laugh as well.

Meanwhile, the other five can be seen collecting leaves and other things for the shelter. They all seem a little more awkward, and break off into two groups. Lorraine and Lauwanda can be seen chuckling as they tell stories, while Orlia, Peter, and Arpit are chatting about how excited they are to be on the show.

Back at camp, the group doesn't get their shelter as together as Cuevita, and they have an unfinished roof and not enough room for everyone to lay down. Kara elects to sleep on the ground alongside Kinti and Veldt to let the others sleep elevated.

### Day 2

The two tribes can be seen entering a mucky clearing in the jungle, where Su stands. He welcomes the two tribes to their first challenge of the season, a Reward Challenge. He asks them how camp has been; Everett reveals that Cuevita has a sturdy shelter and has already gotten fire, which shocks a lot of Charca. Erron for Charca says they aren't that far along but they're finding a lot of tribe harmony thus far.

With that, Su explains the Reward Challenge, called Over and Under. All ten castaways on the tribe will be attached to a rope and they must manuever under and over several obstacles. The first tribe to get all ten members to the other side of the clearing and onto the finish mat will win a reward of a firemaking kit. Zachary can be seen laughing, reminding everyone that Cuevita already has fire and has no use for the reward.

With that, Su lets the tribes strategize for a moment and then the challenge begins.

**Highlights:**

* The tribes are pretty close throughout the whole challenge.
* Emanuelle and Enrique slow down Cuevita a little, while Lauwanda and Lorraine slow down Charca.
* Eventually, Cuevita is able to get through a couple seconds faster than Charca, winning.

After the challenge, the Cuevita tribe is the first one shown. Zachary can be seen grinning as he flings the flint into a corner of the shelter.

Meanwhile, Enrique can be seen walking with Everett and Martina through the jungle. He expresses that he feels bad for holding back the tribe in the challenge today even though they won, but both Everett and Martina tell him not to worry, saying they like him and that it just wasn't his challenge.

Later on, Mellorie can be seen walking through the jungle with Kenji. The two of them crack jokes, getting along well, and Mellorie mentions looking out for each other, which Kenji agrees to.

On the beach, Issi can be seen hanging out with Zachary. The two can be seen flirting and laughing, and Issi winks at Zachary coyly as she splashes water into his face, making him chuckle.

Meanwhile, Nobu and Emanuelle can be seen sitting back at camp, talking with Mitzi. The three agree that they feel like they are sort of outsiders, and that they hope things improve soon for them.

The scene shifts to Charca, who seem a little upset to have lost the first challenge. Cedric can be seen sighing as he sits down in the shelter.

Kinti can tell that the tribe is a little down after the challenge, and she tells them all to not let the loss get to them, saying that the game can change at every challenge. Kara can be seen nodding at this.

Later on, Lorraine and Lauwanda can be seen walking through the jungle, both a little concerned about the challenge today. Lorraine is frowning as she kicks a stick out of her way.

Meanwhile, Arpit can be seen walking with Peter, Orlia, and Erron into the jungle, discussing the challenge today and talking about how poorly Lorraine and Lauwanda did.

After the conversation, Erron can be seen walking back to camp, looking a little perplexed.

### Day 3

The two tribes reconvene for the Immunity Challenge at the beginning of Day 3 in a muddy clearing, and Su explains the challenge. For this challenge, six castaways will have to dig around in a mud pit to find six bags of puzzle pieces, and carry them to the four other castaways who will use the puzzle pieces to make a puzzle of the season logo. The first tribe to finish their puzzle will win Immunity. The tribes have a couple moments to strategize, and then the challenge begins.

**Highlights:**

* Both tribes start out at about the same pace, but Charca gets lucky by finding their fifth and sixth bags quicker than Cuevita, giving them a lead going into the puzzle.
* On the puzzle, Charca extends their lead, with Arpit, Orlia, and Peter all showing fantastic puzzling skills.
* Cuevita does their best to catch up, with Mitzi and Emanuelle leading the charge by speedily putting together their puzzle, but it isn't enough, and Charca wins Immunity.

The Charca tribe can be seen celebrating happily after winning the challenge. Lauwanda, splattered in mud, can be seen doing a little dance, high fiving Veldt, and hugging Lorraine.

Meanwhile, the Cuevita tribe seems down in spirits as they walk back to camp. Everett can be seen shaking his head as he leads his tribe back to camp.

When the tribe gets back to camp, Everett pulls Enrique, Martina, and Kenji aside, and the four of them take a walk through the jungle to discuss the vote. They all agree that they should work together, and make a majority alliance of six people. Enrique can be seen smiling as they discuss who to add.

Later on in the day, the two people the alliance has decided to add can be seen walking in the jungle with them. Mellorie and Zachary seem happy to be added to the group, and Zachary can be seen grinning as he high fives Everett.

While those six are out discussing the vote, the other four can be seen sitting at camp a little apprehensively. Issi goes to the beach to sit in the water, seemingly unconcerned, but Nobu and Emanuelle both seem worried. They ask Mitzi if she is worried, and she pretends to be worried as well.

Emanuelle can be seen looking nervous as she talks with Nobu about the vote.

When the newly minted majority alliance comes back from their talks, Nobu goes up to Zachary and tries to pull him aside to talk. However, Zachary tells Nobu that they shouldn't do that. Nobu asks why, and Zachary gets annoyed, saying he doesn't want to talk. When Nobu keeps pestering him, Zachary yells at him to leave him alone and shut up. As Zachary marches away, Nobu looks a little pleased.

As the Cuevita tribe prepares to leave for Tribal Council, grabbing their bags and walking out of camp, Martina can be seen looking deep in thought.

The Cuevita tribe can be seen walking into the Tribal Council area. Tall, leafy trees in a ring cover them mostly from the rain, and in the center a large fire rages. Su sits on one side, while ten stools sit on the other. Behind Su is a hollowed out dead tree where the votes will be cast. Su has the castaways light their torches, then begins questioning. He asks Everett how it feels to be back, and Everett says it's great. He loves the tribe, most people are getting along, and thinks they just got unlucky tonight. He then asks Enrique how you decide a vote if the tribe is getting along. Enrique chuckles and admits not everyone is getting along, citing Nobu and Zachary's fight. Zachary speaks up, saying that Nobu was pressing his buttons to get a reaction, while Nobu says that all he did was ask to talk, and Zachary blew up at him. Su asks Emanuelle if she thinks the fight will effect the vote; she nods vigorously, saying that she hopes people see Zachary is unreliable. This makes Zachary roll his eyes hard. Then the castaways go to vote, with Mellorie being the first to go.

Kenji is the last one to return from voting, and then Su gathers the urn and counts the votes. He asks if anyone would like to play an idol, but no one moves, so he begins to read the votes. There are two votes for Zachary from Nobu and Emanuelle, and two more votes against Emanuelle in case of an idol. However, a majority of the votes are against Nobu, making him the first boot of the season. Nobu groans, giving Emanuelle a hug and wishing everyone good luck before leaving the Tribal Council area.

## Challenges

* Reward
* Immunity

**Challenge:** *Over and Under*
All ten members of the tribe must manuever over and under several obstacles, crossing from one side of a muddy field to another. The first tribe to get all ten members on the finish mat will win Reward.

**Reward:** Flint

**Winner:** Cuevita

**Immunity Challenge:** *Dig and Jig*

Six members of the tribe must dig for six bags of puzzle pieces in a large mud pit. Once they have all six bags and deliver them to the other four players, those four players will use the pieces to build a table puzzle of the season logo. The first tribe to finish their puzzle will win Immunity.

**Additional Stipulation:** If Charca wins, they will receive flint.

**Winner:** Charca
## Tribal Council

### Voting Confessionals

*Everett's vote was not shown during his confessional.*

### Next Time on *Survivor*...

Emanuelle fights for her life on the Cuevita tribe...

...while the peaceful Charca camp begins to experience its first dramas.

## Trivia

* The episode title was said by Zachary Heiffel when talking about how he could care less about what happened to Nobu Callait.
* Emanuelle, Everett, Kinti, Martina, and Zachary had the most confessionals with 3.
	+ Peter had the least with 0.