Survivor South Pacific Preview

Season 23 of the CBS hit Survivor debuts tonight with a special 90-minute premiere episode. This season features 16 new castaways who think they're alone, that is until they meet returning Survivors Ozzy & Coach. I'm a huge Survivor fan and I've watched and re-watched all 22 seasons, but Ozzy & Coach would not even crack the top 30 of Survivors I'd like to see return. Ozzy was amazing in challenges, particularly in the water, but his social and strategic games sucked. He made the final two but couldn't win over the jury in Cook Islands and was voted out in Micronesia with an idol in his pocket because he was too arrogant to think he was in real danger. Coach was an obnoxious loud mouth who was mediocre in all aspects of the game. He had a decent strategy in Tocantins but shot himself in the foot in Heroes vs. Villains by siding with Russell instead of Boston Rob. One returning player will join each tribe and one thing is certain, after Boston Rob won last season, Ozzy and Coach will have huge targets on their back as soon as Probst says game on!

Here is an introduction the castaways and what I think of them going into the premiere:

Albert-a strong, young guy who "looks around and doesn't see many threats"

• I hate to break it to Albert but the strong guys are always big targets

Rick-an ultimate fan who has applied 14 times to play the game of Survivor

• Rick would have been a great contestant for Fans vs. Favorites and has potential to be the "Big Tom" of this season

Mikayla-a Jersey girl who claims she "knows this is nothing like Jersey Shore"

• She could be the Stephenie LaGrossa of this season, i.e. the tough girl who can play as hard as the boys

Jim-a self-proclaimed "Ultimate Survivor" who plays pro Poker and owns a wine store & a Marijuana dispensary

• If he has any sense he won't tell the cast he's a pro Poker player because they'll immediately drop him for fear he'll be a great liar and strategist

Whitney-a "kick-ass" Barbie in her own mind who already has "fans"

• I'm not sure if she's as concerned about playing the game as she is about pleasing her so called "fans", but if she is, she could fly under the radar and come on strong post-merge

Mark-the "daddy bear" of the bunch

• Daddy bears have done well historically when they've aligned with a young girl. i.e. Roger & Elisabeth in Australia and Pascal and Neleh in Marquesas, though I think he could come on really strong like a Tom Westman of sorts

Semhar-she calls herself a flirt & a charmer, but then again Parvati wrote the book on that

• She looks like she has no place being out here and will probably be out first if her tribe loses immunity #1

Sophie-the smartest person "on paper" who also thinks she'll be the smartest socially

• If her book smarts can translate to strategy she could be a threat if she is strong enough physically to contribute to her team and make the merge, though at first glance it seems she'll be an outsider

Cochran-the "nerd" and the ultimate underdog who expects to do all the puzzles

• He immediately reminds me of Rafe from Guatemala and I expect him to align with a strong physical player as Rafe did with Stephenie and float under the radar until it is time to use his wit and strategic smarts

Keith-the "sympathy vote" because he has a heart condition and uses a pacemaker

• He is a strong guy and seems he will be good in challenges and help around camp, though he'll probably go early post-merge for being a physical threat

Dawn-an English teacher at Brigham Young and adopted mother of 6 who will probably mother most of her tribe as well

• Apparently she was selected for Nicaragua but was dropped last minute so let's hope this is her season; her niche in the tribe will be as the "mom" so it should be easy for her to connect with people

Brandon-nephew of infamous Survivor Russell Haantz who hopes to play the game much differently

• He needs to keep his "uncle" to himself or he'll get the boot right away, even if he is the complete opposite of Russell as Probst is telling us

Stacey-she hates negativity and will "shut down" any negative forces

• She is straight-forward and will probably be bossy so I see her rubbing a lot of people the wrong way and getting kicked off early

Elyse-a Vegas girl who loves glitz, sparkle, and lights

• She seems like a girly-girl but I think she could surprise us like Parvati and prove to be really tough out there

Edna-wants to break the stereotype of the "slight Asian female" who is good at puzzles and nothing physicals, worries about her bossiness and her inability to lie

• If she's afraid she can't lie, she'll get eaten by the wolves in this game and I really don't see her making the merge unless she's on a completely dominant tribe

Christine-a Kindergarten teacher of students with special needs who thinks the experience will be "fun" and thinks there is always an advantage to being from New York

• This woman looks like she could have quite a mouth on her and I bet we'll get some great Sandra-esque one-liners in that great New York accent if she can align with the right people and make it deep into the game