Season 3, Episode 1

**Season 3, Episode 1** is the premiere episode of Australian Survivor (2016) which aired August 21, 2016.

## Story

### Day 1

The season opens to shots of the Samoan coast as Jonathan LaPaglia introduces twenty-four new castaways as they compete over fifty-five days until one person is left standing; the Sole Survivor. Three trucks that carry eight castaways each drive through the local Samoan towns and villages, Conner Bethune expresses his love for the game of *Survivor* comparing it to the Hunger Games and a way to transition into manhood, Elena "El" Rowland wants to be known as a hero after being surrounded by a military upbringing, Lee Carseldine believes that playing a deceptive game isn't a prerequiste to win and Des Quilty is under the belief that people will underestimate him and label him as a "country boy who doesn't know much" knowing himself to be much smarter than those around him.

Phoebe Timmins and Evan Jones outline their intent to not reveal their professions as a criminal lawyer and drama teacher respectively but will use their skills from their fields to advance their position if needed. Felicity "Flick" Egginton says that she is not afraid to show her body if it means that others will bend to her will whilst Sam Webb explains two potential pitfalls to his game; a beautiful girl in his tribe or being too trusting of those around him as "mateship" is absolutely pivotal in his life but understands that in the game of *Survivor* you're either first or you're last. Andrew Torrens outwardly detests the outdoors, but believes this experience to be a "business trip" and will do what he can to win the money and Kylie Evans describes how she has never left her children before and that everything she does is for them and at times does cause her to cry, though defends it as a sign of strength.

As the trucks pull up at a clearing, Jonathan calls them over in the groups they arrived in and welcomes them to *Australian Survivor* and emphasizes how important it is to prove just how much they want it as over 15,000 Australians applied to compete. When questioned by Jonathan about if he believes he can win, Nick Iadanza states that he has been talking the talk for a long time and now he has to walk the walk. Des says that the difference in age and that there are younger and arguably stronger players doesn't matter in the long term and Conner says that anyone can win or lose *Survivor* and that it boils down to a little bit of luck and strategy and that he has just a fair chance as everyone else. Jonathan then begins to divide the players into the Saanapu, Vavau and Aganoa tribes and outlines the basic premise of the game and that they'll begin their adventure with just the clothes on their backs, he then points to a barge in the ocean that has a fire-pit, fire

     being the optimal resource to cook food, drink water and keep warm and announces the first challenge; to claim fire for their tribe. Before they can reach the fire-pit, there is a closer barge with supplies to make life at camp easier but the tribe as a whole must agree to leave the barge before going for the fire. Whilst gathering supplies, Aganoa's raft begins to sink on one side whilst Kylie begins untying for Saanapu and Barry Lea and Nick begin untying for Vavau. As the first tribe to untie their rope and agree to leave the supply barge, Saanapu paddle out with Peter Fiegehen and Sam swimming ahead and Vavau's raft leaving with Kate Campbell and Craig I'Anson giving chase to Peter and Sam. Kristie Bennett elects to withdraw Aganoa from getting the fire and instead getting more supplies on the barge, meanwhile Sam reaches the barge and lights the torch giving Saanapu fire and ending the challenge.

As the Aganoa tribe arrive at their new home the players discuss their professions then get to work on building their camp led by Kat however Des focuses on the supplies, in a confessional, Des states "I've come on Survivor not to learn survival skills, I'm on Survivor because I like playing the strategy game". Kat approaches Des to begin more of the physical work and has a minor confrontation about her leadership, lack of military training and being younger than himself. Evan and Lee call the incident "a splinter" in the tribe as Des explains his intention to not do physical work, sit in the background, sneak up on the players at the end and embrace a villainous role. With no suitable structure for the shelter in place, El worries for tribe morale and with a recent downpour making the wood wet, getting fire would be impossible. Des looks over the efforts to make fire and is asked by Kat if he wants to help Rohan but rebuffs the offer stating a lack of confidence. At the end of the first day the tribe huddle together for warmth except for Des who decided to move further down the beach, the rest of the tribe join Des but the high tide forces them to move further into the jungle. With the tide coming further in, one bigger wave takes out the camp causing morale to drop even further.

On Vavau, Jennah-Louise Salkeld says that the game felt real upon arriving at their beach with everybody doing their own thing and that they expected others with knowledge of *Survivor* to take them under their wing. In a confessional, Craig explains that as a gay man he can be catty but can hold his own in challenges and against any alpha male whilst Nick begins unknowingly taking charge of the camp and at the point of realisation the rest of the tribe have assumed his role and begin work on a fire-saw but to no avail and instead go to relax in the sea. Andrew states that leaders typically are the first to be voted out as any criticism is seen as an easy excuse. Returning back to camp and abandoning fire, work turns to building the shelter as Sue Clarke talks about her life outside the game and describes herself as "not the average Nanna" which gives the tribe much needed confidence to finish a basic structure - though when the tribe lay down it breaks on one side, causing the tribe to break into laughter.

The Saanapu tribe arrive at their camp with fire and immediately begin work, Sam and Bianca Anderson talk about their lives outside the game with Bianca claiming she works in Insurance and will not reveal her true profession; a private investigator. Whilst stoking the fire, Conner unknowingly reaches for a hot stick which causes his hand to hurt and potentially blister, Kylie instructs him to keep his hand in the water until the pain subsides - as he sits in the ocean alone, Conner worries that this could cost him the game if his hand doesn't heal. Sam attempts to lead the charge in building shelter despite having no knowledge but the right attitude, joined by Kylie, Matt, Bianca and Brooke Jowett get to work. Still reeling from his injury and feeling at the bottom of the tribe, Flick and Conner go for a walk and begin initial talks to form an alliance with Matt, Sam and Brooke - with Conner more confident than before, Flick suggests privately that although Conner wasn't her number one choice to align with, having him on side will benefit her and when the time feels right she can take him out.

### Day 2

The three tribes convene for the first immunity challenge as Jonathan checks in with each group, Saanapu claim their fire still burns, Vavau has yet to get fire and Aganoa attempt to make themselves look better-off by claiming they already have fire by Lee and Rohan, but unable to keep the lie, Rohan

     comes clean and describe how the tide took out their camp. Saanapu and Vavau win Immunity sending Aganoa to Tribal Council.

In the run-up to Tribal Council, Des and Kat discuss how they could have handled the puzzle portion better. Rohan weighs up the benefits of Kat leaving which creates a more harmonious camp and less of a commanding presence and Des leaving which could improve the camp morale but the upkeep of the shelter would decline. El, Phoebe, Kat and Kristie discuss the potential of the guys teaming up and their being unaware that the women are together and intend to target Des to protect Kat. Des meanwhile begins to notice the tribe distance from him and in order to gain numbers he would have to show a greater work ethic, takes charge in improving the shelter and improve his social game though Rohan sees through Des' intentions. Evan notices the foundations of three alliances being created, Lee and Rohan, El, Phoebe and Kat and the "oddball" group of Evan, Des and Kristie and not wanting to be on the wrong side of the impending boy/girl split he will flip between the groups. Kristie believes that aligning with people based on anatomy is irrelevant and as Des hasn't done anything to wrong her, but Phoebe pushes the importance of Des leaving as long as "if no-one does anything crazy, we're all good". Kat privately admits that despite having some security, she doesn't feel safe.

As Aganoa enter Tribal Council they meet Jonathan and light their torches as Jonathan questions the tribe, they discuss the ongoing shelter situation and Des' ability to command following the loss of the immunity challenge, though these skills werent shown beforehand. Des defends his reason to not interfere as to teach the rest of the tribe to learn from their mistakes and Kristie is appreciative of his input.

     Kat calls the puzzle section of the challenge as a shambles and blames Des for wanting to take charge and not stepping up or working with her efficiently. Phoebe believes you can't blame one person for the loss of the challenge as the puzzle section was difficult for the other tribes as well, Kat felt terrible and responsible for the loss and then wanted to ensure her stock is valuable with the tribe and stated that one person had laid low, held back and not getting along with the group. Des speaks up about being the outsider and intends to vote the person he feels the least with, Kat smiles knowing that she'll receive Des' vote, knowing that they don't dislike each other but in this situation they don't work well. Des rebuffs Kat's claim saying "sometimes I don't like you, Kat". Once the votes were read, Des became the first player voted out of the game in a 7-1 decision with Kat picking up the spare. Jonathan closes Tribal Council by giving Aganoa flint and mentioning the seven remaining are the strongest and that will be tested soon enough.

## Challenges

### Reward

**Challenge:** Race For Fire

The three tribes ransacked a barge for supplies and loaded them onto a raft. Once all tribe members agree to leave the barge, they can paddle their raft to a second barge which has an unlit torch and fire-pit. The first player to reach the second barge and light the torch wins fire for their tribe.

**Winner:** Saanapu (Sam Webb was the first to reach the second barge)

 Won
 Lost
 Vavau |        Andrew, Barry, Craig, Jennah, Kate, Nick, Sue & Tegan

### Immunity

**Challenge:** Yank Your Hank

Each tribe will divide into two groups; runners and puzzle-solvers. The runners must traverse two A-Frames of varying height, climb atop an elevated rope net and navigate across a bridge maze with only three planks of different sizes, after finishing the course the runners will pull a heavy crate using a rope from the starting point to the end of the course that contains puzzle pieces. The two puzzle-solvers will then use the pieces to solve a well-known phrase (*Outwit, Outplay, Outlast*)

**Winners:** Saanapu and Vavau (both tribes also earned flint for winning)

 Runners
 1st
 2nd
 3rd

## Tribal Council

### Day 2

 Des (7 votes)
 Kat (1 vote)

## Gallery

*All images are taken directly from Network Ten and their affiliates*

## Trivia

* Andrew's opening confessional to his game being a business trip is a nod to *Survivor: Thailand* winner Brian Heidik who also viewed his season as the same.
* The opening challenges are variations of the challenges used in *Survivor: Cambodia*, the **Race for Fire** reward was used in the episode "Second Chance" and the **Yank Your Hank** immunity was used in the episode "Survivor MacGyver" and "The Puppet Master" from *Survivor: Samoa*.
* This is the first opening Tribal Council not to feature "self-votes" (the act of voting for yourself) previously exercised by Lucinda Allen-Rhodes and Kym Johnson.
* Des Quilty is the first male to be voted out of the Australian franchise in the opening episode.

## References

Episode 10 · Episode 11 · Episode 12 · Episode 13 · Episode 14 · Episode 15 · Episode 16 · Episode 17 · Episode 18

Episode 19 · Episode 20 · Episode 21 · Episode 22 · Episode 23 · Episode 24 · Episode 25 · Episode 26