The first episode of season is usually my favorite. I like getting to view the contestants for the first time and I can usually figure out who has a chance to make it as far as the merge.

You also get to see how stupid most of the people are.

To begin the competition, Jeff announced that each tribe would pick a leader based on first impressions. Russell from Galu and Mick from Foa Foa were the two chosen. Galu was perfectly fine with their choice but a couple of members from Foa Foa weren't too thrilled with their tribe's choice. Both Ben and Russell were pouting because they weren't chosen. When they have three people trying to take charge, you know they're doomed already.

Some impressions I got ...

In Galu, one guy was miffed about not getting chosen as the "smartest" tribe member for the opening challenge. John, a rocket scientist, comes off as one of those people who just love to hear the sound of their own voice. Shambo is probably my favorite of all the castaways this season. She makes the mullet look cool. Unfortunately, I think her tribe will try to get rid of her in one of the first few times they go to tribal. One I was really disappointed in was Russell, the leader. For a lawyer, I would expect more much leadership ability than he demonstrated in the first couple days at camp.

In Foa Foa, they have the trifecta of stupidity. Ashley, Marissa and Natalie make up what I call "The Dumbasses of Eastwick". They aren't the only dumbasses in this tribe though. Mike (aka Verosi) is the oldest contestant and somehow despite being terribly overweight, slow and lazy, he doesn't think he is the weakest member of the tribe. He is sorely mistaken.

And then there is Russell.

He was already being billed as the worst villain in the history of Survivor. He didn't disappoint. Now, I'm all for villains. Back in the first season of the show, I was rooting for Richard to win. He was very forthcoming with his strategy and made no apologizes for anything he said or did. He actually played with a lot of integrity. Now, this Russell guy isn't a villain ... he is just an asshole. He lost me at the point he told his story of tragedy during Hurricane Katrina. Fact is, he never lived in New Orleans and he is a billionaire oil company owner. If you're going to be a villain, at least do it with some integrity. Here's a clip of Russell doing some sabotage at camp and talking about his strategy ...

In the reward challenge, the teams ran a relay race with a puzzle at the end. The key was choosing the right people for each leg based on the tribe leader's first impression of the individuals. Mick did it the best and Foa Foa won the challenge and received flint to make fire back at their camp.

Later in the immunity challenge, the teams had 6 members each running up and over A-frames carrying rope. They then used the rope to move a heavy crate full of puzzle pieces. Finally, four members of each tribe had to put together their puzzle. My first observation was that Mike, who claimed he was very valuable to the tribe, just stood there watching Galu put their puzzle together. At one point, his teammate actually had to rip the piece out of his hand. Yeah, he's soooo valuable. Thanks to Shambo, Galu was able to kick butt in the puzzle and win immunity.

That meant it was time to see if Russell was actually calling the shots. All the bimbos were aligned with him but Marissa started to distrust him and so he called for her to be eliminated. Betsy was right to say Ashley is the weakest but Russell needs her for vote. So, Marissa got the axe thanks to Russell and his dumbasses.

Russell 1, Foa Foa 0.