| At
some point after arrival, the contestants will assemble for
their cast picture (as featured on all the press releases).
This will, of course, not be shown. Immediately following
this, however, there will be a challenge. The clothing the
contestants wear in the cast pics is a near-perfect match
for what we see them wearing in the print edition of TV
Guide (see challenge shots, further down the page), as well
as in the ads CBS has aired thus far. |
According to TV
Guide's Shawna Malcom, this first challenge is, in a
dramatic departure from precedent for Survivor,
"an intricate obstacle course." Whew! But wait, it also involves
rowing, and puzzles! To the extent that building a ladder
can be considered a puzzle (which Survivor apparently
has believed, repeatedly).
As you might expect, the challenge is a multi-stage event.
From the TV Guide channel's preview (vidcaps below of non-contestants
in a test run) the sequence is fairly clear: (1) Race over
the berms to the beach; (2) assemble your rowboat, using
planks to attach the pieces; (3) row out and get fire; (4)
go back to the beach, race back to the wall with fire and
planks; (5) put your planks on the wall to build a ladder;and
(6) the entire tribe climbs the ladder to light a barrel
at the top.
TV
Guide's print edition shows a picture (follow link at
left for pics) of the Aitutaki (red) and Puka Puka (green)
tribes rowing color-coded boats, each with a single contestant
holding a lit torch. In the CBS ads, we also see shots of
Rarotonga (blue) assembling a ladder (and Parvati holding
a lit torch), with Manihiki looking on, ladder pieces in
hand. This is fairly near the end of the challenge.
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