REVIEW: Thursday's terrific "Survivor"

At right: Some things never change, do they? Brad Virata and Yul Kwon try to make fire.

“Survivor's” controversial game of apartheid -- with its 20 contestants divided into four “tribes” of blacks, Asians, Latinos and whites -- began Thursday night.  

Critics spent two weeks decrying the 13th edition of the adventure reality game that they had yet to see (and, one suspects, had ignored until now). The windfall of publicity was just what a TV show looking for a rebound in the ratings needed.  

When it aired, “Survivor” delivered an exciting and entertaining hour. And the first results from the racial groupings seemed to vindicate the show's producers, who have been slammed in the past for loading up on white contestants while choosing non-white players that reinforced negative images of minorities.  

Some players took to the groupings, however tenuous, and set about translating their lifelong perceptions of racial identity into game strategy.  

“No one suspects these little people with slanted eyes,” said Cao Boi Bui, a free-spirited member of the all-Asian “Puka” squad and its only native Vietnamese. “People always underestimate Asians.” Stephannie Favor, a member of the African-American “Hiki” team, said, “I think we all feel the pressure to represent.”  

The ugliest side to “Survivor's” racial politics has been its reflection of “white privilege” in American society, that is, the tendency of the dominant race to favor its own kind. It's been a running joke among African-Americans that “the brother gets voted off the island first,” and though a black woman did win the fourth “Survivor,” the perception persists.  

But by giving each player enough racial allies to form a flying wedge through most of the competition, “Survivor” took white privilege off the table, at least for now.  

True, the all-black Hikis are down one member as a result of the first elimination. But as host Jeff Probst noted, if its members kicked out the right person, it will make their group stronger. That's how you win on “Survivor.” And indeed, no one could say afterward that jazz musician Sekou Bunch was sent packing because he was African-American. He was sent packing because he alienated teammates and couldn't get a fire started. That's how you lose on “Survivor.”  

Or at least, how you're supposed to.

Other notable things about Thursday's episode:

• Jeff Probst had told us in a conference call that this was the most extensive contestant search in "Survivor" history. At one point, he said, they scouted out the Miss Koreatown pageant in Seattle for potential players. (Next edition of "Survivor," they deal with sexual stereotyping....) As a result, Probst said, they got a pile of people who had never seen the show in their life.  And that allowed them to play the game fresh -- notice the intro scene was almost exactly like the intro scene to "Survivor 1."  Also, notice in the final scene how excited the Hikis were to get fire -- apparently none of them knew that the losing team almost always gets fire after tribal council.
• I think this was one of the most beautifully designed challenges I've seen on "Survivor," with colorful puzzle boats whose braces are converted into ladder rungs on the final ascent.
• The white people reinforced white privilege, didn't they? They just yakked on about game theory through individualist eyes: "This is Survivor. Somebody's gonna win a million dollars and they're gonna have to cut the throat of the guy next to them at some point," as Jonathan put it.  Of course, it wasn't "the guy next to him" who sent him off to Exile Island ...
• My money's on Ozzy, the strong, non-leaderly leader of "iTunes" (which is what Aitu sounds like).
• I think Billy was based on Hurley from "Lost." He's big, droll and hilarious, and people are suspicious of him. "We got this ass backwards ... My parents paddled AWAY from an island," Billy, whose folks grew up in the D.R., joked.
• With four tribes, it is possible that the racial groupings could go well into the show. But it would help if Hiki didn't lose another member in the next two episodes.