Something Cruel Is About to Happen... Real Soon

Something Cruel Is About to Happen... Real Soon
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	Fiji
Episode Number	1/15 (202)
Original Release	February 8, 2007
Viewership (in Millions)	16.44
Ratings/Share (18-49)	5.7/15
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Reunion" (previous season)
Next	"Snakes Are Misunderstood... We Have an Understanding Now"
Subpages

Something Cruel Is About to Happen... Real Soon is the season premiere of Survivor: Fiji.

Story

“	The season begins with the arrival of 19 castaways in Fiji.	”
—Episode Synopsis

Day 1

Paddling on a canoe across Fijian waters, nineteen strangers docked on an island to begin the game. Before the castaways make it to the beach, Jeff Probst tells the audience that a castaway (Mellisa McNulty) withdrew before the season began. Not divided into tribes yet, the castaways did not know what to expect, but the survivors did introductions to each other anyways. During the get-to-know, Rocky was called out for looking like Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone, and went by the name "Rocky."

	Edgardo	“	I thought Jeff was gonna be there and split us into tribes, but it wasn't the case.	”

	Rocky	“	For some reason, "James" is too hard to remember, so "Rocky" would suffice.	”

The castaways explored the island, and they found their water source and several fruit-bearing trees. Cassandra found herself to be out of her element, opening coconuts with Yau-Man, who had outdoor experience.

	Yau-Man	“	I am definitely trying to prove myself. I see the guys are quite young and half of my age. I might be the first one booted off. I hope to be accepted here.	”

Edgardo and Anthony share insights about what would become of having all nineteen castaways on one island, without any further information, not even meeting Jeff Probst when they should have.

	Anthony	“	It's incredibly overwhelming because there are so many people, and none of us have a clue what's going on. We're looking for Jeff Probst. We're like, "Where's Jeff?"	”

As the survivors continued exploring the island, Jeff, who was aboard a plane, dropped a crate for them to collect. The younger men of the group tried prying the box open, until Yau-Man pounded the crate on a rock by its corners. The crate contained flint, illustrations for a shelter, a kitchen, a latrine and a kitchen table, and a map to the pre-cut lumber and tools needed for their task.

	Alex	“	Initially, and naïvely, this is awesome, but his is Survivor and something cruel Is about to happen...very soon.	”

The men found the lumber and tools for the shelter, a toilet seat, a pot, a grill, and a bag of rice. Sylvia, an architect by profession, led the charge in making the shelter, and her demeanor started grating on others. The girls took charge of fire-making. Meanwhile, Edgardo noticed that some were already walking in several groups, which translated to him as building alliances.

	Erica	“	I've never seen a group of survivors that have this much. I am really nervous because I think a curveball is coming. This is too easy.	”

	Gary	“	I'm sensing that Sylvia is trying to dominate. We're all here to do this together, and you're gonna upset the wagon by doing that.	”

	Edgardo	“	When we started construction, we're trying to prove to other people that they can handle workload. But as the workload started going on and on, and people started going around in couples. You can see some people are talking.	”

While carrying more of their roof, Erica and Jessica built an alliance but agreed to have a guy on their group. As the sun set, Sylvia was not contented at the pace they were going with the still-incomplete shelter. Unfortunately for the survivors, rains fell on their roofless shelter.

	Sylvia	“	I feel like, we are not going fast as we should, because we are still working on the primary shelter, while the kitchen and the bathroom are yet to be built.	”

Day 2

Learning from last night's rainfall, the castaways immediately went to work and finished their shelter. Dreamz compared the game to his life experiences, being homeless for some time. He began doing comedic spiels after a long day's work.

	Dreamz	“	Back as a child, I was pretty much homeless, and just stayed in the back of a soup kitchen going to trash cans and getting food. It's kinda like what's going on now. I love it. I wish I could bring my family from home here.	”

At night, Dreamz' playfulness turned from infectious to annoying, as some others got irritated by his endless talking. Lilliana called him out, but instead of stopping, he continued to blab sporadically, breaking Rocky's fuse, prompting him to confront Dreamz. Instead of sleeping in the cave, Rocky left the cave and chose to sleep on the boat.

	Rocky	“	I am pretty hard on myself when it comes to letting my emotions show. I hate to do it. It's just hard, especially in the conditions we're in right now. What am I supposed to do?	”

Day 3

The nineteen castaways finally meet Jeff Probst for their first Immunity Challenge. Jeff asked who led the building of the shelter, where the castaways unanimously saw Sylvia as the leader in the said task. In a twist, Jeff revealed that Sylvia will divide the eighteen castaways into two tribes of nine. Sylvia, not being on a tribe, was immune and sent to Exile Island, where she will stay until after Tribal Council, and join the tribe that lost the Immunity Challenge to even up the tribes at nine members each. Before Sylvia left, however, Jeff gave her information regarding the Hidden Immunity Idol. Sylvia's order of selection was in alternating between Moto and Ravu. Her selection order was as follows:

Cassandra Moto	Michelle Ravu	Liliana Moto	Erica Ravu	Stacy Moto	Rita Ravu	Lisi Moto	Jessica Ravu	Dreamz Moto	Rocky Ravu
Boo Moto	Earl Ravu	Gary Moto	Yau-Man Ravu	Alex Moto	Anthony Ravu	Edgardo Moto	Mookie Ravu	Sylvia Exiled

After explaining the mechanics of the Immunity Challenge, Jeff revealed that the tribe that wins the challenge would not only win immunity, but also the right to stay on the camp all nineteen players built, plus with additional amenities that were unusual in the game of Survivor: A couch, goblets, cutlery, and a shower head. The losing tribe would relocate to a new beach with only a pot and a machete.

Moto gained an early lead as Stacy and Lisi made quick work with untying their knots and releasing their puzzle bags. Ravu's Jessica fumbled with her knots, prompting Michelle to replace her. Ravu stole the lead when Moto crashed on a pole, but lost it at the puzzle portion. As Mookie, Michelle, Jessica, and Rita struggled for Ravu, Dreamz, Alex, Lisi, and Stacy managed to solve all three puzzles, found their knife and raised their flag first, winning themselves the high-stakes challenge. Not only was Ravu set to go to Tribal Council, but they were also sent to live in hardship and destitution.

The members of Moto, now the sole owners of the camp, were surprised to see their shelter outfitted with bed and linens.

Challenges

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Chariots of Mire
Two players ride a chariot as the other seven pull them along a 400-meter course, stopping to untie three hanging bags. At the end, someone grabs a tribe flag, and everyone comes back to the start, where four players open the bags and use the pieces inside to assemble three puzzles, revealing a combination for a spinning wheel with compartments containing bundles of fabric. The tribes will then follow the combination correctly to find a knife, and chop a rope to raise a flag.
Reward: The right to live in the luxurious shelter all 19 castaways built. The losing tribe will have to move to a new beach.
Winner: Moto

Tribal Council

Tribal Council 1: Ravu
Voted Against	Voter
Jessica (6 votes)	Anthony, Earl, Michelle, Mookie, Rita, Yau-Man
Mookie (1 vote)	Rocky
Rita (1 vote)	Jessica
Yau-Man (1 vote)	Erica
VOTED OUT: Jessica deBen

Voting Confessionals

Jessica's and Yau-Man's confessionals were aired.

	Michelle	“	(voting against Jessica) Girl, you're amazing, and you're tough, and I love you, and that's why you're a threat to me.	”

	Jessica	“	(voting against Rita) I'm sorry. This wasn't my idea.	”

	Earl	“	(voting against Jessica) Sorry, Jessica. I love you to death, but the tribe spoke this way. It was based on the challenge from today. They said you dropped the ball a couple of times and that really hurt us when we lost. Sorry. I love you to death. You're wonderful.	”

	Mookie	“	(voting against Jessica) I'm sorry, but you are the weakest link.	”

	Erica	“	(voting against Yau-Man) This is basically a throwaway vote. The tribe decided to vote out Jessica, and I won't write her name down.	”

	Anthony	“	(voting against Jessica) You don't deserve to go, but this is purely a strategical move. Sorry.	”

	Yau-Man	“	(voting against Jessica) Sorry, nothing personal here. This is strictly mercenary. I'm trying to stay alive to fight another day.	”

	Rita	“	(voting against Jessica) I'm sorry, Jessica. As you said earlier, for our tribe now, it had to be a majority vote, and unless the others were lying to me, this is what the majority ruled. Again, I'm sorry.	”

	Rocky	“	(voting against Mookie) The person I'm voting off tonight is Mookie. I think, brother, you and I realize why. Sorry, brother.	”

Final Words

	Jessica	“	I guess if you're going to get back-stabbed, it's good to get it done in the beginning when you don't know people that well. I was absolutely shocked. I felt like I worked really hard, so I don't know where I went wrong. I feel honored to have been able to play a game that not many people get to play. My torch may have been snuffed here, but I'm sure it's being lit somewhere else.	”

Still in the Running

Jessica 19th

Alex Moto

Anthony Ravu

Boo Moto

Cassandra Moto

Dreamz Moto

Earl Ravu

Edgardo Moto

Erica Ravu

Gary Moto

Liliana Moto

Lisi Moto

Michelle Ravu

Mookie Ravu

Rita Ravu

Rocky Ravu

Stacy Moto

Sylvia Exiled

Yau-Man Ravu

Trivia

• Unlike the premieres of The Australian Outback and All-Stars, this season premiered on its normal Thursday date instead of airing after Super Bowl XLI. Instead, CBS aired a new episode of Criminal Minds.
• This is the first and only season premiere to begin with an odd number of castaways.
  • The intended 20th contestant, Mellisa McNulty, was briefly mentioned, albeit not by name. She quit minutes prior to the game starting due to panic attacks.
• This is the second season premiere where Jeff did not meet the cast on Day 1, after "They're Back!". It would happen again in Island of the Idols.
• The title of the episode is said by Alex Angarita about the lack of instructions given by production.