‘Survivor’ gets tough in Guatemala

"Survivor Guatemala" began with an excruciating challenge: an 11-mile, overnight, 24-hour race through a dense jungle inhabited with irritable simians and falling branches covered with thorns.

The winners won the better camp and flint to make fire, and will live amid Mayan ruins. But most of them suffered for the win, vomiting relentlessly and cramping violently due to dehydration and exhaustion. Host Jeff Probst wasn't kidding when he told the tribes that it was "the toughest beginning to any Survivor we've ever had."

But Probst's reference to the previous seasons of the show introduced this season's other major challenge, and it is "Survivor" itself. Not the game, but knowledge about "Survivor," and its five-year, 10-season history.

That became obvious the moment Probst said that "each tribe will have one other tool to aid you in this game." With that, in came "Survivor Palau" cast members Bobby Jon (looking well-fed and coiffed) and Stephenie (looking pretty much like she did in Palau).

"These are two proven Survivor players. They've been through this experience," Probst said, calling Stephenie the "strongest woman to ever play this game" and Bobby Jon "arguably the hardest-working survivor ever."

Great resources, or easy targets?
The two joined "Survivor Guatemala" as full-fledged players, each competing for the $1 million, just like they did last season. While either tribe could easily vote their "Survivor" alumnus off right away, the new cast members are also not quite on an even playing field. The veteran players are more familiar with every aspect of the game, from living with hunger to the presence of cameras.

Jeff Probst admitted that they would be sources of knowledge and easy targets. "Stephenie and Bobby Jon are full-fledged members of your tribes. They are players in this game. You can use their backbone and their experience to further your own tribe. Or, if you think it makes more sense, they're certainly an easy first vote-off first time you go to tribal council," he said.

As it turned out, the tribe that lost immunity — Bobby Jon's — voted instead for the tribe's weakest and oldest player, 63-year-old retired firefighter Jim. He'd injured his bicep during the immunity challenge, and wore a sling to tribal council.

But beyond Stephenie and Bobby Jon's presence and knowledge of the game, it became clear that the others were familiar with the game, too, even if they'd never played. The editors included an unprecedented amount of discussion that showed us the cast members were hyper-aware of the show's 11-season history.

Stephenie's new tribemate Brianna didn't hide the fact that she knew who Stephenie was, telling us, "I cried. I couldn't help but just cry. She is such an inspiration." Not everyone was pleased. Fellow tribemate Jamie said, "How am I going to win a million dollars now that [Stephenie's] here?"

Bobby Jon got a similar reception, although one that made it clear his tribemates knew quite a bit about him. Brandon, a 22-year-old rancher/farmer from Kansas, acknowledged Bobby Jon's physical strength, but made the understatement of the season when he said that Bobby Jon is "kind of a little bit dumb, I guess you'd say."

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