Savvy castaways know the game

Even before the big lumbering military plane touched down on a remote landing strip, you knew that "Survivor: The Australian Outback" was going to be different from the original "Survivor" that mesmerized millions of us last summer. For one thing, the contestants inside the plane were a savvier bunch than the 16 castaways who swam to shore in Palau Tiga. You could see it in the grim looks on their faces. (Of course, that could've just been air sickness.) You knew that these castaways had watch-ed "Survivor" and that nobody had to explain to them the concepts of tribes or immunity challenges. But we, the viewers, are savvier this time around, too. We know how the game is played. So start playing, already! And they did, in a breakneck first hour of "Outback" that hardly stopped to catch its breath. Not only was there a turbulent flight but a five-mile hike through rough terrain with heavy supplies in tow. Then there was the grueling effort to set up camp and try, in vain, to light fires. Using an expanded arsenal of cameras and technical tricks, "Survivor" co-creator and producer Mark Burnett did all he could to keep the action moving, moving, hurry up, let's go, moving. By the end of "Outback's" first challenge - an elaborate four-legged relay that looked like two "Survivor" races combined - you felt a little winded just watching. But it wasn't only the intense physical effort that distinguished the sequel. This time around you could cut the gamesmanship with a knife. Not that last year's competition was a love-in, but there were times when some of the players took the game less than seriously. (In particular, cutie-pie Colleen Haskell thought the tribal councils were a hoot and, in moments that never made the broadcast, she often made fun of "Survivor" host Jeff Probst.) By contrast, "Outback" was about as relaxed as a girls' gymnastics competition. Within minutes of arriving at camp, Debb Eaton, a hard-headed corrections officer from New Hampshire, got into it with teammate Michael Skupin, a balding alpha male, over how to build a shelter. Eaton did herself no favors, either, by trying to light a fire using a method she'd read in a book. She couldn't, which meant her team wouldn't be able to cook any food that night. Eaton must have figured out right about then that her goose was going to be cooked. When her team lost the immunity challenge, meaning that someone on the team would be voted out of the game the next day, Eaton launched a disinformation campaign to save her skin. She began spreading a rumor that one of her teammates, a tousle-haired New Yorker named Jeff Varner, was too ill to continue - "and frankly, he doesn't even seem that upset at the thought of (leaving)," she added. Thanks to some diversionary editing by Burnett, it appeared Eaton might actually succeed in getting Varner ousted. We even saw a closeup of him retching - which, incidentally, was only the second biggest gross-out of the night, topped by a truly revolting shot of hungry castaways trying to eat ant-infested figs off a nearby tree. But in the end, Eaton was doomed. All seven of her mates voted her out of the outback. Some things don't change, though. The camera work was again superb. Burnett and his crew could teach the Travel Channel a few things. And The Probst was as gratingly ingratiating as ever, always knowing when to say just the wrong thing. "So, uh, anybody have luck with fire?" he asked the weary castaways on Day 2. (He knew what the answer was, the jerk.) Burnett also managed to find a few moments of humanity in each day, from the bawdy bedtime antics of bartender Kimmi Kappenberg to a surprise letter that farmer Rodger Bingham found in his Good News Bible. "Things will be fine in Kentucky," his son-in-law assured him in the letter. "Focus on your task at hand. You can do this. It's not going to be easy but a challenge like this shouldn't be easy." "Survivor: The Australian Outback" will air 7 p.m. Thursdays through April 26 on CBS (Channel 5). You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com >>>