The Marooning

The Marooning is the first episode of Survivor: Borneo and the very first episode of the entire franchise.

Day 1
The castaways are seen scrambling round a boat grabbing any supplies they can. Ola is seen throwing her supplies immediately off the side of the boat in hope the rival tribe wont be able to get these items. Tagi's raft is cut loose by Larry, while Pagong's raft is cut loose by Tia; despite the fact she is their smallest member. Both tribes are off the boat, and immediately it becomes clear that Eli is panicking, grabbing onto the raft, letting valuable supplies sink in the process. For Tagi it appears that Teddy is also somewhat nervous of the water, sitting dead center on the raft, not helping to retrieve the items that Ola threw off the ship. All tribe members climb aboard their rafts and set course for their designated beaches on the island of Borneo, which for thirty nine days may act as home to several contestants. "pagong"

- As we headin' off towards the island the only thing I could think of was 'Tia, what in the hell you doin'!?' Then I remembered about the million dollars.

"tagi"

- This is it, this is the game of Survivor. After all the anticipation this is what I signed up for and now it's real. I couldn't be more excited for what we've got in store.

Pagong
The tribe appear to be strong while working together to get the raft to shore. Uri appears to be the mouthpiece of the tribe, suggesting what roles people should take in order to get to shore quicker. Despite setting himself up as a leader this early into the game, Uri appears to be confident in his own abilities, and confident in the ability of his tribe. "pagong"

- Someone has to take... leadership... Someone has to take control immediately or things don't work, its been a fact throughout all of history, a society needs a leader in order to thrive... So we build our own society here, and I'll build my own leadership. Do I think that this'll bite me in the butt? No... Not yet at least, this is a smart group of people and I know if we work together we can produce the winner of this season.

Razzy, Alice and Eric are placed at the back of the raft, kicking in order to gain speed. Eli and Mandy sit in the center of the raft, holding onto supplies. Tia and Julia use ores to steer the raft. "pagong"

- I found it quite funny that a man like Eli, a man who wears a freakin' cowboy hat casually, would be able to cope being outdoors. But it seems that he was emasculated and had to hold the groceries with big mamma. So we thankfully have Miss Alice getting stuck in doing the 'guys' work.

"pagong"

- I felt pretty rubbish immediately into this game. I only learned how to swim about two weeks before we came out here. My tribe pretty much shafted me into the weakling position, wanting me to hold supplies while they work their asses off. I'm pretty certain some of them will judge me badly for this, I got some cold glares off the black guy and the lady sat across from me holding the rest of the stuff. It doesn't worry me too much though, I know I'll prove myself round camp when we work, and when these other peoples weaknesses are shown I'll make sure I show them as much or lack of grace as they show me.

The Pagong raft reaches the shore and the tribe members embrace one another. Eli immediately steps forward and gives a small speech on how the tribe should gather basic supplies in order to make a small shelter for the evening, and that they should then tear down this shelter in order to spend the entire second day making a bigger and better one. Razzy, Julia and Uri all speak against Eli's idea, stating that they should spend their time getting water and making a fire, as it would be pointless to create a shelter only to tear it down immediately. Alice jumps to Eli's defense, stating that they'll work much better if they remain dry for the first night. After a small debate Uri manages to get a majority of the tribe agreeing with his decision to get water, and he tells Eli that he and whoever values shelter above water can go and make their 'pointless shelter'. "pagong"

- We've already got a split in the tribe. The guy Eli wants to become the leader. Sorry buddy but that's my spot. He takes two others off to do some stupid pointless task but you know I've got a majority of the tribe on my side, which was clear because five of us went off to get water and fire going while Eli and the other two can run around wasting their time.

While the five get water, Eli gets supplies gathered, along with Eric and Alice. The three of them discuss the inevitable rain that will hit in the evening, with Eric suggesting that they should leave the others out to get wet while they remain dry. Eli says they should remain humble if rain does come, as opposed to rubbing salt in the wound. The three of them collect their supplies and make a small shelter on the beach, big enough for the three of them to remain under and to hopefully keep dry. Uri and Razzy attempt to build a fire, while Mandy, Julia and Tia stand round idly watching a fire fail to appear. "pagong"

- It got quite embarassin' when we see the guys fail to get a spark, and the others we didn't listen to making a nice lil' shelter on the beach. To really spite us the sky went a lil' grey and then... BOOM... rain comes pouring down... God is powerful but I trust in my heart he'll be good, hopin' he will be... To me at least (laughs).

With the rain coming down heavily, all attempts at making a fire cease. Uri and his group run under a set of trees, all failing to keep dry. Eli, Eric and Alice remain under their shelter, and although still getting slightly wet manage to successfully keep dry for the most part. Eli decides that it would be both good natured and good for his game to give up his spot in his shelter, while Alice does the same. Tia and Julia take their spots under the shelter, thanking both Alice and Eli. Mandy looks over to the shelter, hoping that Eric would give up his spot, but he remains placed in the warmth and dryness of the shelter, leaving her out in the rain. "pagong"

- The move to give up our spots was somewhat strategic and somewhat to show what kind of people we were to the tribe. I hope now the others will possibly look at myself and Eli in a positive manner, instead of writing us off as wrong. Let this be a lesson to them.

"pagong"

- I'll take my hat off to them, they're good... But I'm better

Tagi
The Tagi tribe row towards shore, with no one taking a leadership role. Instead the tribe works together with each person participating in the journey to camp. When reaching the shore the tribe members begin to greet one another, but before anyone can get into any conversations Ola begins talking loudly, to the point of shouting, with her laugh overpowering everyone else to the point where they stand in silence and simply observe her. "tagi"

- Someone gag her... Please?

Andrew attempts to rally the tribe together to get to work, but Ola continues laughing and talking loudly. Andrew eventually loses his patience and bluntly tells Ola to "shut up", to which the whole tribe is stunned. Ola looks totally embarrassed and slightly horrified, she looks around for support and sees her tribe members refusing to look her in the eye, all unable to escape the awkwardness of the situation. As Ola stands off to the side her hand is held by Danni, who feels sympathy for the older woman. "tagi"

- I felt absolutely horrible for Ola. She was laughing, she was excited, then this jerk in a suit tells her to be quiet. No sorry he didn't say be quiet he said "shut up". Guess that's what a college education gets for you these days, everything but manners and empathy.

"tagi"

- I didn't feel bad for Ola at all. She's the reason old people get locked up in homes. Andrew did a public service by telling her to shut it.

Andrew suggests that the tribe get to working on a fire, as they need water to have the energy to build a shelter. Ben points out that they should be split up into roles, as it doesn't take eight people to build a fire. Andrew remains firmly on his point that a fire is necessary so all of them should work together to build it, but Ben rebukes his point by stating its going to rain. Andrew attempts to raise another point against Ben but is shut down when Ben points out that Andrew arguing is just wasting all their time, which spurs laughter from Sarah, who clearly seems to dislike Andrew already. "tagi"

- I am a bit of a s**t... I'm not going to deny that. I'll keep acting in a passive aggressive manner, shifting blame off onto others after I help stir up trouble. Its clearly working already because we've made Andrew the laughing stock of the tribe, which I'm sure Ola appreciates. Gotta love a hagress.

The tribe get to work immediately after Andrew and Ben finish their talk. Ben, Sarah, Larry, Teddy, Ola and Danni get to building their shelter. Olivia helps Andrew collect firewood, but abandons him immediately once he has enough to help the others with the shelter, leaving Andrew alone on the beach to fail at creating a fire. Before the rain hits the tribe manages to get a decent shelter built, but the tribe know they will need to make additions after the first night. Teddy is praised by the entire tribe for his work ethic, and strength when building the shelter, allowing the process of building one to come together easier, while Larry's knowledge of construction helps somewhat, but not enough to get much praise out of the others. "tagi"

- As a tribe I'm really proud of us, we've worked hard and its all going well. Ben is proving to be a big asset when it comes to getting an authoritative figure, which is odd as he's like 12. Everyone chipped in well, especially Teddy who is an absolute machine when it comes to sticking bamboo into other pieces of bamboo, I'm sure that comes naturally when you own a cigar lounge. But in all seriousness it's going really well and I am proud of us. Also finding an early friend in Ola will come in handy.

When the rain hits the tribe manage to stay dry, including Andrew, who abandons his attempts at building a fire. "tagi"

- For a first day things didn't go particularly well. I feel like Ben is trying too hard this early on, he's stepping into territory that he wont understand and that'll bite him in the ass. Things will turn in my favor soon, I'm certain of it.

Pagong
After a wet first night the tribe awaken to further attempts at building a fire. Uri frantically searches the campsite looking for any dry wood, trying to get Razzy and Mandy to help him, to no avail. Eli mentions they keep some supplies, including some wood, in the shelter to keep dry. Eli walks over to the shelter, asking Julia, Tia and Eric to wake up in order to help them take down the shelter to make the new one. Tia arises immediately, once again thanking Alice and Eli for their generosity. However, Eric and Julia seem disinterested, and remain within the shelter, claiming to be too exhausted to get up. "pagong"

- Y'know its a cold and wet morning but we need to get things going immediately! We cant have Eric and Julia lying about doing nothin'.

"pagong"

- I already seem to dislike Eli, but I'll give it to him he has passion and fire inside him. If it comes down to it I might be tempted to take out Eric and Julie... Julie?... Julia! Before him... We need workers, not corpses.

Eventually, Eric gets up and offers to help build the new shelter, while Julia continues lying in the shelter. Julia begins smirking as Eli talks to her, with her immaturity and poor work ethic showing through. "pagong"

- F***ing grandpa needs to just go away. I'm tired! It's cold! I haven't done this before! Just because he lives in some run down shack where it's always cold and wet doesn't mean any of us are familiar with this!

Tension begins to rise, with Eli's polite tone quickly transforming into an aggressive one, and Julia sitting up in order to fully engage in an argument with him. Alice steps in, acting as an appeaser. The argument dies down and the group begin tearing down the small shelter (which Julia eventually gets out of) in order to expand it so all eight tribe members can fit inside. During the days work, Eli, Alice and Eric end up collecting supplies together, presenting an opportunity for an voting pact to be made.

"pagong"

- So today I got to making what I call a voting pact. The three of us will work together and vote as a group, meaning we'll have a good chance at surviving in this game. What's even better is the other five are the opposite of a united group, so voting them out or getting them to turn on each other will be... well... easy.

While the three are gone, Uri takes up the opportunity to plant seeds that should lead to the demise of Eli.

"pagong"

- I got our group ready to take out Eli. This is war, and in war you need an alliance. This alliance will be myself, Mandy, Tia and Razzy. Julia can help us but her actions this morning mean that even she wont be making it far into the game, one slip up with me and you're gone.

The tribe spends the rest of the day completing their shelter, which ends up working well for the second night, allowing the tribe to sleep a bit better as a whole.

Tagi
After their first night the Tagi tribe appear to be doing much better then their rivals. Larry gets up early to get started on camp life, he is accompanied by Andrew and Teddy. The girls remain inside the shelter, along with Ben. Danni and Ola appear to be bonding well, while Ben and Sarah are bonding in a flirtatious manner. Things soon get awkward inside the shelter when Sarah makes a comment concerning Ola's plastic surgery.

"tagi"

- Sarah is an idiot. She makes these comments and acts like she's sweet and kind, there's clear malice behind what she says.

After the awkward conversation Danni and Ola leave the shelter, leaving Ben alone with Olivia and Sarah.

"tagi"

- Sarah and Oliva are, well... b****es. But they're my b****es. I'll use them both to my advantage, let them gossip and snigger all they want. In the end no one will want these two to win, so why not let me go up against them?

"tagi"

- I set things up nicely with the two girls. I'll just see where the day takes me and see who we can get on side. I think I've made a good move pulling Olivia and Sarah in, because no matter if they both make it far, NEITHER of them is winning this game.

Andrew, Larry and Teddy spend their time getting a fire going, while discussing the other tribe members.

"tagi"

- I'm so happy that the others agree with me when it concerns the other 'tribe members'. Ben and Ola annoy me the most, and I swear if they last longer then me... (laughs and shakes his head)

"tagi"

- It's clear there is a big dynamic on our tribe. We've got the three school kids, the girls room, and the old men who work. It doesn't really bother me if I'm not in with all the gossip or involved in the braiding of hair, what matters to me is the million dollars, which I will be getting at the end of this! Haha! But for now I'm going to lay low, tell people what they want to hear, and hopefully stick with a majority when one is formed.

The tribe spend their day in their small cliques, getting the camp ready for their second evening.

Day 3
Both tribes receive their tree mail, letting them know that they will be facing their first immunity challenge, and which ever tribe loses will visit tribal council, voting out their first member. This person will also hold the distinction of being the first person ever to be voted out of Survivor. "tagi"

- Today we have our first challenge, I've got to go in giving everything I've got! No one wants to be the first gone.

"pagong"

- This is a win-win for me. If we win, great! If not, then we can send Eli or Eric home.

Challenge: Quest for Fire

Tribes must guide a raft they lit a series of torches along the way. Throughout the challenge, tribe members must have a hand touch the raft at all times. Upon reaching shore, the tribe must lit the remaining torches before setting their side of the fire spirit ablaze. First tribe to set fire on their side of the fire spirit wins the challenge.

Winner: Pagong Information (Pagong): Eric, Julia, Razzy, Tia and Uri perform well, and help Pagong reach victory. Alice performs averagely, slightly struggling to hold the raft. Eli and Mandy perform poorly, both struggling in the water, reminding them both why they had to hold supplies on day 1 as opposed to swim. Information (Tagi): Ben, Larry, Olivia, Sarah and Teddy perform well. Ola performs averagely, slightly struggling to hold the raft up. Andrew and Danni both perform poorly, costing the team the challenge. Andrew continuously makes poor calls in the challenge, while Danni slips several time when racing back to shore.

Tagi
Tagi return to camp having lost their first challenge. Danni immediately apologizes to the tribe for slipping, but Ola assures her that it wasn't her fault they lost, before sending a glare towards Andrew. Andrew walks off, not wanting to listen to Ola or Danni speak. Olivia and Sarah return to the shelter, leaving Ben with Larry, Teddy, Danni and Ola. The five of them speak about tribal council.

"tagi"

- In all honesty it wasn't all Andrews fault today... Danni sucked hard too... And Ola wasn't particularly Pamela Anderson out in the water. But Andrew is a negative force and I want him gone, so I'm going to make Ola and Danni seem more useful then they are, and send Andrew on his way.

"tagi"

- Ben wants Andrew gone tonight... Which is hard for me because I think the guy wants me to stick with him. But we now have the students and the girls working together, that's a clear majority... If I don't side with them now I'm gone. I need one other guy to stick with me at this point and the only one I can save is Larry, so he has to become my ally out here.

Before tribal council, Larry is spoken to by Andrew, who suggests they vote out Ben. He states that he believes he can get Teddy, Danni and Ola to join them. Larry seems like he's interested in the idea, but still remains wary on where loyalties and majorities will be after the first vote. "tagi"

- Tonight I think we've got something good going. I've let Larry and Teddy know Ben needs to go. Danni and Ola seem to dislike the girls, and what better way to get them mad then to vote out their brain?

At tribal council the tribes problems all spill out in the open, with Jeff shocked that there are issues this early on in the game. Andrew calls out Ben on stirring up trouble, to which Ben, Olivia and Sarah fight back, stating that Andrew is the negative force in the tribe. Andrew then attempts to pass the buck to Ola, who he states is lazy. Larry steps in, agreeing with Andrew, pointing out that Ola spends most of her time sitting down. Ola promises that she will work harder around camp, and then goes on to state that she feels she is more of an asset then someone who achieves little in challenges AND at camp, before once again sending a glare towards Andrew. In the end, Andrew is left alone in voting out Ben, as the entire tribe come together to vote him out, viewing his negative presence and poor challenge performance as too much of a burden for the tribe as a whole.

Voting Confessionals
"tagi"

- You think you're a lot smarter then you actually are, let this be a lesson to you.

"tagi"

- My first victim, don't worry, you wont be the last.

"tagi"

- You sealed your fate when you shouted at my Ola, learn how to speak to people.

"tagi"

- Sorry buddy, but I can't stick with you. Teddy and myself need to look out for us now, it was too late for you.

"tagi"

- (holds up her vote and cackles)

"tagi"

- How in the hell are you a lawyer?

"tagi"

- You just creep me out, adios.

"tagi"

- As I said I gotta play this game for me, not others. I'm sorry you have to be the fist to go, much love.

Final Words
"tagi"

- Well I'm quite disgusted to be honest. It was clear that Ben was manipulating situations, I guess his attitude says a lot for the upcoming generation, God help us all. I'd like to wish Larry and Teddy luck, I'm sure they voted with me, it just sucks that Ben didn't get to see his name come up two more times! Oh well, I'm sure he'll see them in the future.