And I Thought My Ego Was Big

**And I Thought My Ego Was Big** is the season premiere of *Survivor: Honduras - Fans vs. Favorites.*

## Story

### Day 1

Su Sangster, the host, announces that *Survivor* has returned for a seventh season as he stands on a wide stretch of brown, sandy beach on the Honduran coastline. However, this season will be unlike those before it. This season, ten returning Favorites from the first six seasons will face off in an ultimate showdown against ten knowledgeable Fans of the show in a battle to see which side will come out on top.

As Su finishes the intro to the 7th season of the show, two helicopters appear on the horizon, coming in from opposite directions. The camera turns to the two mats on either side of Su, one light pink and one light green. A timeskip occurs and now the helicopters are landing on either end of the beach, and slowly, castaways begin to emerge.

From the first helicopter, a Hispanic man with a faint smile and a hibiscus flower emblazoned on his shirt steps out onto the sand first. Pasqual Vargas grins as he walks with confidence towards the mat closest to him, the light green one.

Meanwhile, a fiery looking young woman with bright orange hair twisted into two pigtails hops out of the Favorites helicopter right after a muscular guy with spiky blond hair. The two share a glare as they make their way over to the mat; Kit Prichard grins at seeing the blond, Thom Glover, intimidated.

Another strong looking contender exits the helicopter and proudly makes her way over to the mat with an expression of restrained excitement filling her face. Cerise Slade can barely make herself stand still on the mat once she reaches it.

The last Favorite to come out of the helicopter is unlike many of the others. Short, sturdy, and with a goofy grin covering her face the moment the sun's on her skin, Lorine Ito is absolutely exhilarated to be back on *Survivor,* even if it's easy to see that the older Asian woman is out of place.

As the entire Favorites tribe has been reaching their mat, the Fans have been piling out of their helicopter. Many of them are shocked when they spot their favorite castaways from seasons past. A woman with a freckle covered face and blond hair pulled into a ponytail gasps as she spots Alondra Sanchez and Nick Wilkins chatting with smiles on the Favorites mat and Harris Mueller scanning the faces of the Fans with a light smile.

Another Fan is similarly flabbergasted. This older African American woman walks slowly towards the mat as her eyes meet those of Polina Sokolov, who gives her a little smile. The woman grins back, putting her hand over her heart as she makes her way to the Fans mat.

The next Fan seen is a dark skinned 20-something guy with a pale pink ball cap pulled tight on his head and skinny jeans hugging his legs. He smirks as he makes his way to the mat, his eyes scanning the rest of his tribe analytically.

The last man to come out of the Fans' helicopter is a slightly overweight Asian guy, with large glasses on his face and a wide, cheeky smile on his face. He has a strong sense of confidence as he saunters onto the tribe mat, grinning at the rest of his tribe with a hint of condescension.

Once all of the castaways from both tribes make it onto their mats, Su welcomes them to *Survivor: Honduras - Fans vs. Favorites* to the fervent applause of the cast. He tells the Favorites that their tribe name is Vuelta, meaning "return" in Spanish. He throws them their buffs, and Tae Min Kim snatches the bundle out of the air with a smile on his face.

She then turns to the Fans, smiling as she tells them that their tribe name is Llegada, meaning "arrival" in Spanish. A tall, sinewy black woman with dyed blonde hair named Cressida Anube snatches the bundle of buffs out of the air once Sulola tosses it to them, and passes them out to the rest of her tribe.

Once the buffs have been passed out and tribes have settled a little, Su reveals that their first Reward Challenge will be happening now. Both tribes clap and adrenaline starts to mount as Su lays out the challenge. All ten castaways must rush into the rainforest and follow the path to a spot where two canoes can be found, one of each color. Once all ten castaways reach the clearing for their tribe, two castaways must carry the canoe back to the beach and paddle out to a platform where Su will be waiting. The first tribe to reach the platform will win fire in the form of flint; the other tribe will get nothing.

The challenge begins, and both tribes set off at a feverish pace into the jungle. For the Fans, Cressida and Uriah Masterson lead the charge, while for the Favorites, Kit, Thom, and Nick Wilkins are at the front. The only castaways who really struggle much are Polina and Lorine for the Favorites, along with Marshall Jameson, Nichole, and Hideki for the Fans. However, no one is too far behind, and both tribes are neck and neck at the clearing.

For the Fans, Cressida and Uriah take the canoe, while Kit and Nick take the canoe for the Favorites. The Favorites have a slight lead until they hit the water; Cressida is a kayaking instructor, and she is able to row the Fans' canoe fast enough with the help of Uriah to pass the Favorites. Nick and Kit work hard to catch up with the Fans, but the Fans manage to maintain their lead and get to the platform a couple seconds ahead, winning the Reward.

Su hands the Fans their flint as well as a map to their campsite, and gives the Favorites their map as well before urging them to depart back to their camps to make the most of the daylight.

Vuelta returns to camp empty handed. A little agitated that they were defeated by the upstart Fans, most of the returnees use their pent up energy from their loss to help construct the camp. Although they are unable to make fire, Tae Min and Thom lead the efforts to build the shelter, and by nightfall they've made a good structure big enough for the entire tribe.

Tae Min and Pasqual go to the well to get water, and the two friends from *Canary Islands* hug and immediately get to the strategic talk, knowing they want to join forces to create a tough majority alliance on this Favorites tribe.

The tribe sits in the shelter as evening comes, swapping stories from their past seasons and having some laughs. Polina sits in a corner of the shelter, trying to join in but not really making much headway. Nick talks to her some but besides that Polina seems isolated from the rest of the tribe.

As it becomes darker, Alondra is seen walking alongside the shoreline, thinking about the game that has just begun and marveling at the beautiful sunset over the ocean with a smile on her face.

The scene shifts to Llegada earlier in the day, where the Fans are just arriving. Immediately upon arriving at camp, Cressida takes the leadership role, delegating most of the men to the shelter while telling Freya to lead the ladies in frond weaving. She also sends Marshall to go and try to find the well, which he dutifully does.

Shots are shown of Uriah and Sven Lukashenko as they cut down bamboo to make the shelter with. The two guys laugh as they work, and Sven shares in a confessional that he thinks Uriah would make a great ally moving forward in the game.

Meanwhile, Freya, Nichole, Moira Pruitt, and Pia Chavez sit on the beach, weaving palm fronds that they've cut down in the jungle. Freya and Nichole are both fond of nonfiction, and discuss their favorite books. Moira and Pia meanwhile share numerous jokes and get along swimmingly. Pia points at Moira's poor weaving and cracks a joke, and the two women chuckle.

Once the weaving is complete, the women carry the woven fronds back to the clearing where Cressida and most of the men are doing their best to build the structure they'll be sleeping in for the next couple weeks. Moira trips over a rock and drops all of her fronds. Nichole helps her up, and then Moira makes a crude joke that only Pia laughs a little at.

By the time night comes, the Fans' shelter is only half constructed. However, the skies seem clear for now, so they don't have to worry about being drenched in their sleep. Cressida takes the flint and manages to get a fire going, making the rest of her tribe extremely happy. They sit around the fire as it becomes dark out. Pia and Moira lean against one another, laughing uproariously, while much of the tribe isn't as loud and looks at them strangely from time to time.

Slowly, as the night wears on, the castaways start to head into their half completed shelter, barely cramming themselves inside. Uriah is the last to enter after taking care of the fire a little bit, remarking about how he can't wait to see when the game will really start kicking.

### Day 2

At Vuelta, the tribe wakes up early in the morning to do some housekeeping items. Thom and Harris focus on making sure the shelter is solid, while Polina and Lorine go to collect water from the well and assess if it's drinkable without boiling. Meanwhile, Alondra, Nick, and Cerise go to look for coconuts in the jungle. Nick finds one of the trees, and cheers on Cerise as she climbs up and chops down some coconuts.

Back at the shelter, Harris and Thom finish up their work on the shelter, tying a couple knots to make sure the structure is held together tightly. Once they're finished, the two guys go walking down the beach, chatting about the game. Thom talks about how he's worried Kit will be coming after him, while Harris assures him that he doesn't have to worry.

When Harris and Thom return from the beach walk, Thom starts telling people what to do around camp. He asks Lorine to go and fill up their pot with water while he tries to get a fire started. Lorine rolls her eyes as she plods off into the forest, pot in hand.

Meanwhile, Tae Min and Pasqual discuss more strategy while collecting firewood for the fire Thom is trying to make without flint. Tae Min says he wants a strong group, but Pasqual counters, saying they should get some strong people but also weaker people to have a mix. If they take all the strongest, loudest people, egos will clash and it'll be harder for them to win post-merge. Tae Min agrees, and Pasqual returns to camp while Tae Min goes to get his first recruit.

Tae Min walks into a clearing, where the tree mail stand can be found. Here Nick is waiting for him, as they decided to meet up here earlier in the day. The two grin at each other, and soon Tae Min brings up the idea of an alliance with Pasqual and others. Nick is all in, and the two shake hands.

The two men return to camp a couple of minutes apart to witness Thom's attempts at making a fire. He does his best with the methods he learned online between *Barbados* and this season, but he is unable to even get a spark. Frustrated, he storms off to vent on the beach. Kit smirks as she watches him go, while other members of the tribe look shocked at his outburst.

Over on Llegada, the Fans wake up early to get work on the shelter started as soon as they can, hoping to have it finishes by nightfall. However, Marshall, Moira, and Hideki all struggle to get up at the crack of dawn, irritating some of their tribemates immensely. Cressida especially can be seen fuming as she cuts apart a bamboo pole.

Pia notices how much of the tribe is pissed with Moira's oversleeping, and she pulls her aside under the rouse of gathering palm fronds. As Pia does so, Moira just walks behind her. Pia tells her that she needs to get her act together and help out more, to which Moira just sleepily nods.

Cressida, Uriah, Christopher, and Nichole go into the ocean to cool off after completing most of the shelter. Cressida rants about the lack of work ethic with some of her tribemates. Christopher makes a few scathing jokes that elicit laughs from Uriah and Cressida, while Nichole just nods along with a smile.

Having finally gotten out of his sleepy stupor, Hideki decides that it is time to begin setting himself up to do well. He approaches Freya as she drags some palm fronds back towards camp, and asks her if she'd like to ally with him. She eagerly agrees, and the two talk about their plans moving forward.

Freya and Hideki go down to the water to relax with Cressida, Christopher, Nichole, and Uriah. These six splash around and have fun, and soon enough Sven makes his way down too. Meanwhile, Pia and Moira are at the well while Marshall is napping in the shelter. The seven discuss the game and agree that the other three are the weakest members and social outsiders, and that they should be the first ones to leave if the Fans have to go to Tribal Council. They gradually all leave until it is just a smiling Christopher basking in the setting sun.

### Day 3

The two tribes make their way into the challenge area from opposite ends of the beach. Su welcomes the them to the first Immunity Challenge of the season, and they applaud excitedly, the adrenaline flowing, as Su lays out the rules. Six members of the tribe will be attached to an anchor in the water; they must get themselves and the anchor to shore. Once they've completed this task, the other four members of the tribe must assemble a puzzle replica of the anchor. The first tribe to finish their puzzle will win Immunity.

Su reveals the Immunity Idol, carved like the natives of this region of Honduras would carve it. The tribes clap once more, their adrenaline reaching a fever pitch upon seeing the coveted Immunity Idol.

The challenge soon begins, with both tribes beginning to swim madly towards shore. They find it much harder than expected to drag along the anchor. Cressida leads her team of Fans (Christopher, Uriah, Pia, Sven, and Moira), but they lag behind the group of Favorites (Thom, Kit, Pasqual, Nick, Cerise, and Alondra) by a considerable amount. The Favorites have about a fifteen second lead once they hit the beach, and the Favorites puzzlers (Tae Min, Harris, Polina, and Lorine) make good use of it, getting off to a quick start. Meanwhile, Moira slows down the tribe, collapsing once they get out of the water. Pia has to help her get to the mat so the Fan puzzlers can start. Marshall, Nichole, Hideki, and Freya do their best to catch up, all doing well on the puzzle. Even Marshall surprises everyone by being a proficient puzzle solver. But the Favorites are used to *Survivor* puzzles, and in the end their lead plus experience allows them to beat out the newcomers by a decent margin.

The Favorites celebrate wildly as Su hands them the Immunity Idol as well as their flint. Lorine snatches the Idol out of her hands and holds it up to the sky, whooping. Meanwhile, the sullen Fans look disappointed at their loss, and Cressida snarls as they walk away from the challenge.

The Llegada tribe returns to camp after the challenge, still disheartened but beginning to get into game mode. The moment that they return to camp, Pia notices that something is off when almost no one will talk to her or Moira. Sensing something is amiss, Pia tries to air her concerns with Moira, who brushes them off, saying that they have nothing to worry about, talking about her plan to take out Hideki.

Moira goes to try and talk to her fellow Fans. Clips are shown of her walking through the jungle with Sven, deep in conversation, as well as sitting by the fire with Uriah and picking his brain. She feels confident because everyone is telling her that they think Hideki is annoying too.

Meanwhile, Nichole and Christopher walk down the beach, discussing strategy, and soon Freya joins them. The three members of the majority alliance discuss who to take out. They think about Marshall, who has struggled to make any social connections and is a complete shut off socially. Freya does bring up his good puzzle performance. Then they talk about taking out Moira, who has been more annoying and failed in the challenge, but is also more of an obvious target while Marshall could glide by under the radar.

The next shot is of Marshall sitting alone in the shelter, fiddling with the strap of his canteen. He watches everyone else getting ready for Tribal Council apprehensively, worried about his place on the tribe.

Soon enough, the castaways of Llegada are grabbing their bags and trooping off towards Tribal Council. Uriah is the last person in line as the tribe marches down the beach.

The castaways arrive at Tribal Council, lighting their brand new torches for the first time before taking their seats. Su asks Cressida what she thinks of her tribe, and she says that she believes some of them need to step it up for Llegada to be successful. Su then questions Moira if she knows what is happening tonight; Moira nods with a smirk, and the camera pans to Hideki who attempts to stifle his chuckles. Finally, Su asks everyone to raise their hands if they feel safe. The only two who don't raise their hands are Pia and Marshall. Then, the castaways go to vote.

Su asks if anyone would like to play a Hidden Immunity Idol; no one reacts, although Sven glances down towards where Marshall, Moira, and Pia sit on the left side of the tribe. Then she begins to read the votes. Moira is shocked to see her name, and even more shocked when it is revealed that she has been voted out in an 8-2 vote, with only Pia voting against Hideki with her. Moira hugs Pia and scorns the rest of the tribe before having her torch snuffed.

## Challenges

* Reward
* Immunity

**Challenge:** *Paddle Battle*
All ten members of the tribe must race from the beach into the rainforest and reach their mat in the clearing, where two canoes can be found. Once all ten members of the tribe have reached the mat, two castaways will carry their canoe to the beach and row out to a floating platform.

**Reward:** Flint

**Winner:** Llegada

**Immunity Challenge:** *Anchorage*

Six members of the tribe must swim from a platform to the shore while connected to a heavy anchor, and pull it along with them. Once all six castaways and the anchor are on the tribe's mat, the other four castaways must create a replica of the anchor out of puzzle pieces.

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

**Winner:** Vuelta
## Tribal Council

### Voting Confessionals

*Freya's vote was not shown during her voting confessional.*

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

On Llegada, Pia does her best to scramble out from the bottom of the tribe...

...while on Vuelta, Kit and Thom continue to feud.

## Trivia

* The episode title was said by Lorine Ito when she was talking about her annoyance with Thom Glover and his arrogance.
* Cressida, Moira, and Nichole had the most confessionals this episode with 3.
	+ Alondra, Cerise, Harris, Marshall, Polina, and Thom had the least with 1.