Eastern Michigan Athletics
Survivor Episode 1 Recap
EMU's Erik Riechenbach on this season of "Survivor"
Erik Reichenbach, one of the 10 fans chosen to compete on “Survivor: Micronesia-Fans vs. Favorites” started the season off with a bang on the season premiere, Thursday, Feb. 7.
Boats took the two tribes to the island of Micronesia where host Jeff Probst told the fans that this season, they would be pitted against 10 former castaways for the million dollar prize, including Jonny Fairplay from “Survivor: Pearl Islands, Amy and Eliza from Survivor: Vanauatu, Cirie from Survivor: Panama -- Exile Island, Jonathan, Ozzy, and Parvati from Survivor: Cook Islands, Yau-Man from Survivor: Fiji, and Amanda and James from Survivor: China.
When Ozzy was introduced, Erik described what it was going to be like to compete against him. “I know a lot about Ozzy simply in terms of competitions. He just came in and he owned almost all of the challenges, but I myself am a track and cross-country runner and I think I have what it takes to compete at that level.”
The tribes were given their names and tribe colors as the Fans became the orange tribe, Airai, and the Favorites became the Malakal tribe in purple. Probst gave them their first mission: to cross the lagoon to the opposing island where two canoes were set out with a map to their camp site. There were also two hidden immunity idols to be found.
Erik was the first in the water, racing across and beating out Ozzy, but was unable to find the hidden immunity idol. Jonny Fairplay mistakenly found the Fans idol and when he realized what he had done, he dashed to his teams idol only to have his head smashed into the canoe by Yau-Man, who came out with the idol. Yau-Man then proceeded to point out to Fan Kathy that the Airai immunity idol was lying in the sand.
The tribes then went off to find their camp locations, the Fans struggled to find it, delaying the time to build their shelter. On the other side, the Favorites quickly built a shelter, which was a good thing as the first night there was a torrential downpour.
The next day, the two tribes met again in the first reward/immunity challenge. In this challenge, the two tribes had to assemble four jigsaw puzzle wheels and then attach them to a cart in which two team members must ride. They then went through a series of obstacle courses including digging up planks from a sandpit to complete a bridge so that their cart could cross. They then proceed to a finish platform where they disassemble their cart wheels to finish a turnstile. They then wind the turnstile to raise a fire-wok to ignite a cauldron. The first team to complete the task would win immunity and fire in the form of flint.
The Fans got off to a fast start, assembling their wheels and racing through the obstacle course before the Favorites even got the wheels on their cart. Fan Joel pulled the cart while Erik and Jason cleared the path. The Favorites finally got the wheels on their cart only to have the cart spill over, sending Favorite Eliza overboard. The Fans reached the final platform first, taking apart their cart wheels to complete the turnstile. The Favorites quickly attempted try to catch up, but it was too late as the Fans raised the fire-wok to win the immunity challenge and sending the Favorites to tribal council.
Tribal council was tense, as Favorite Jonny Fairplay was criticized for wanting to leave the game. Most fans of the show remember Jonny as the guy who lied about his grandmother being dead. In the end, the Favorites booted Jonny Fairplay off the island, being the first to be voted off “Survivor: Micronesia-Fans vs. Favorites.”
Tune in next week to see what is ahead for EMU’s Erik Reichenbach. The show airs Thursday at 8 p.m.