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Survivor: Micronesia - Episode 1 (Ratings Watchdog)

No time to read any other people's posts (sorry), so I am just going to throw my preliminary thoughts and ratings out there so you know where my head is at right now. It probably won't be until Monday that I post my final ratings, but I'll definitely be watching the episode a few more times before I finalize anything.

Airai Tribe

Alexis: UTR2

Alexis got one of the key confessionals about the twist in the opening scene. She talked about what the advantages are to being a Fan because they know everything about the Favorites. This was perhaps the most significant confessional on the Fans tribe because it was more than just stating "I'm a fan." It showed how her status would be an advantage in the game. Her other confessional was a negative SPV for Kathy in the scene where Kathy says things that annoy people sometimes. I feel like she's on the border of MOR2 but wasn't quite there.

Chet: UTR1

Chet was one of a few people who got no confessionals, but he was shown a little bit in the scene about Kathy, and he also got the treemail with Tracy.

Erik: UTR2

Erik's confessionals were both related to Ozzy (I thought Jason was supposed to be the one who wanted to beat Ozzy). He talked about Ozzy dominated the challenges and being able to compete at that level, and then in his second confessional, he said he beat Ozzy to the island but couldn't find the hidden Immunity Idol.

Jason: MOR3

I would say that Jason got perhaps the best edit on the Fans' tribe (along with Alexis and Tracy). He got the first confessional saying that he's a fan and he's always wanted to survive on his own, and then his role was to narrate the other scenes for his tribe. Amidst this, he got a strategic confessional talking about Kathy having the idol and not being the first one voted out. Obviously, he didn't need to be CP like the last few winners have been, but he got enough development for the average viewers to remember him and probably like him. That's what I would be looking for in a winner.

Joel: UTR2

Joel got one confessional talking about James being the most physical person up until now, and he also got a question from Jeff at the Immunity Challenge, which bumps him up to an UTR2. Not quite MOR.

Kathy: OTTN4

As expected, Kathy was the strongest character on the Fans tribe. She found the Immunity Idol despite not knowing what was going on; she got an entire scene devoted to her and her wacky antics; and she got quite a bit of SPV with people talking about voting her off if she didn't have the idol. A lot of the SPV that she got was negative, and I definitely feel like she was a simplified one-note character. It's interesting that two of her confessionals were basically about Yau-Man, so it might suggest that the two of them have a connection later on (or it could, more likely, mean nothing).

Mary: INV1

I'm guessing that almost every casual viewer has no idea that there's a Mary on the show. When you're supposed to be a fan of the show and the editing completely ignores you, there's no way you're winning.

Mikey: MOR2

Mikey B. had two confessionals: one where he described a few of the important members of the Fans tribe, and the other where he talked about the All-Stars thinking they'll kick ass in the challenge and that the Fans are the underdogs. His confessionals were a little bit more significant (insightful) than some of the people who just got UTR. I also felt like there may have been a slight negative in the way he described his tribemates sortof as stereotypes, but it wasn't really emphasized enough.

Natalie: INV1

I'm guessing that almost every casual viewer has no idea that there's a Natalie on the show. When you're supposed to be a fan of the show and the editing completely ignores you, there's no way you're winning.

Tracy: MOR2

Going by her Episode 1 edit, I'd put Tracy near the top of my contender's list if I had one right now. She got one of the first confessionals about being a "fan," and then they proceeded to beat that over our heads in multiple confessionals, so we're supposed to remember her for some reason. She was also the one who spoke out about not liking Jonny Fairplay, and since he got voted out first, that might possibly mean something. She was also shown reading out the treemail for the Immunity Challenge. Maybe a very, very small positive.

Malakal Tribe

Amanda: UTR1

I'm being extremely generous in giving her an UTR1. It's only because of the many SPVs when people were describing the couples and the alliances. She also said a few words to Ozzy. Other than that, she was completely and totally INV1.

Ami: MOR2

I guess I'll start by saying I hated the clip they showed for her at the beginning. She's not even with Chrissy anymore, so I'm sure she's not thrilled about that, but they should have shown something about the women's alliance. Other than that, she was shown as a part of the alliance between Jonathan, Yau-Man, her, and Eliza. We didn't see her at all until the end when Fairplay talked to her about wanting to leave and she had a confessional about not knowing where he's coming from. She was involved in a little bit of strategy talk at the end, which should bump her up to a MOR2.

Cirie: UTR2

Aside from her intro confessional, she wasn't shown at all until after the Immunity Challenge, where she had a short confessional saying that she had no strategy and she would vote out anyone as long as it wasn't her.

Eliza: CP4

Eliza had perhaps the most complex, strategy-oriented confessionals in this episode. She was the first one to state the observation about the James/Parvati and Ozzy/Amanda connections, and she also initiated the alliance between Jonathan, Yau-Man, and Ami. She then got a confessional about it and once again reiterated the "Showmance" alliance. Her third confessional was about Yau-Man starting fire and the tribe being ready to kick butt. She also got a question at the Immunity Challenge and two at Tribal Council, so her visibility was actually fairly high. However, it was high probably because she happened to be involved in the most important strategy, so I'm not sure how to gauge her in terms of being a contender. The fact that she was one of the people who didn't get an intro confessional can't be good for her chances either.

James: MOR2

Just like last time, James gets confessionals about people working together, blah, blah, blah. Then he has a confessional about Parvati being hot. It's obvious that they're trying to set up the new "Rombers" with all of the focus on the "showmances" and it's really obnoxious to see. He's sortof on the border between UTR and MOR, I think.

Jon: CPM5

I don't even know where to begin with this one. I'm not too thrilled that the entire first Tribal Council was centered around him, but I didn't expect anything different. I'm just glad that he's gone because otherwise he would have probably dominated the entire season. He had some negativity, obviously, but also some positivity (although I still think that a lot of that was staged). Nevertheless, he's voted out so I'm not spending any more time on him. My theory is that he always knew he was going to "quit" in this way because it was the best way to get the maximum exposure in the first episode and do something shocking that people will be talking about.

Jonathan: CP3

Jonathan was one of the more strategic people this episode, having confessionals about taking Parvati out first, wanting to take Fairplay to the end, etc. He also got the first confessional after the Immunity Challenge where he said there was no shame in losing and that the Fans had more heart. Then at Tribal Council he said that Fairplay was acting them to vote for him and he would be going home. So a strategic edit, but nothing that really stood out.

Ozzy: MOR3

I don't think this was a terribly bad episode for Ozzy, but there was nothing that really stood out about him either. His confessionals were a little more strategy-oriented than they were in the Cook Islands. Particularly, he had confessionals about not trusting Eliza, worrying about Jonny Fairplay just betraying everyone to keep up his reputation. I also noticed him in the background of a lot of the camp scenes. He got a brief Tribal Council question where he stood up for Fairplay about wanting to leave. I think I missed one of his confessionals on the re-watch, so he might actually be a 2 in visibility.

Parvati: CP3

I get the feeling that she was supposed to be portrayed a little bit negatively, by being the most focused on of the "couples." She had three confessionals, which were significant in that she talked about actually having a strategy (surprise!) but more so because she was the only person to reflect back on her old "gameplay" in the Cook Islands. She acknowledged that her entire strategy revolved around flirting, and although she said she was still going to flirt with James, she wanted to actually build alliances this time. We also saw her having a brief scene with Fairplay where they talked about him wanting to go home, and she had a confessional saying that it was part of her plan to let him stir things up. I'll be the first to admit that I don't like her, but the fact that she had confessionals of self-reflection would seemingly make her a possible contender.

Yau-Man: OTTP3

Overall, I think the editing was really sloppy this episode, but Yau-Man was the closest thing to an OTTP and I think that's what the intended edit was. He got the most applause right at the start; he shoved Fairplay out of the way to get the Immunity Idol, and he started fire with glasses. In the midst of that, he had a few confessionals about finding the idol, etc. and he became a part of an alliance with Ami, Eliza, and Jonathan. Kathy also had a positive confessional about Yau-Man that helped to inflate his positivity. Lastly, his comment when voting out Fairplay was obviously supposed to make the audience love him again.

POSSIBLE WINNERS:

Alexis, Jason, Parvati, Tracy

As I said way back when China ended, if a Fan wins, I expected them to have initial confessionals about the twist, being a fan, and wanting to beat the Favorites. Alexis, Jason, and Tracy were the three who encompassed this criteria the most. I also speculated that if a Favorite won, they would make a comment that the Fans would be no competition and they would have to reflect back on their previous game so that we can see how they've changed this time. Although Parvati doesn't really fit the first criteria, she's the only person who really fits the second. I guess Jonathan could possibly be considered as a contender as well since he got the typical CP premiere edit, but I'm not so sure. I'll stick with those four for now, although as I've always said, I'm less interested in picking the winner than in doing ratings.

ELIMINATED BY EDGIC:

Amanda, Chet, Kathy, Mary, Natalie

Those are the ones that I'll say I'm 100% sure on. That's being a bit conservative. I'd be really tempting to throw in a few others, but I won't overdo it for the premiere episode.

So those are my unofficial final ratings. I won't be submitting them right away because I want to watch the episode again, but that's where my thoughts are at right now.