Survivor- “The Beginning”

Hello Colleagues,

 

I am entering my first blog and I am excited to say it is a show I grew up watching as a kid. I always remember Survivor for its dramatic plot twists and cunning social tactics to turn friends into foes and vice versa.

The show started out with the traditional introduction of the contestants and gave a brief background on their lives. There is a similar theme to the last season with the contestants being related by blood or in a relationship with one other member. There are 18 contestants at the start of the show. The teams are split up into two with the couples competing against one another. The orange team is the Coyoba tribe while the blue team is Hunahpu tribe.  The Coyoba tribe consists of a majority of the younger contestants with one old farmer who is 25 years older than the rest. The Hunahpu  tribe is more seasoned competitors. There is a young  fireman (who competes against his wife in the opening challenge) who tries to create alliances with every member in his group. He understand this game can not be won by yourself.

Survivor is a good case study for group development especially in the early episodes of the season.  It demonstrates group development in many ways. The forming stage of the groups when the loved ones are split apart is a good example. This required the members to become familiar with one another and finding common interests and or feelings in order to form relationships. The Storming stage occurred when the the old farmer was able to create fire and the rest of the Coyoba tribe realized he had some value. The performing stage was when the Hunahpu tribe worked together and won themselves immunity. Immunity means that you do not have to vote one of your members off the island.

 

After the first challenge the Coyoba tribe lost and had to make the hard decision to vote one of their members out. Through the group development process some members were able to form alliances and worked cooperatively to find an outcast. There were two contestants that stood out the most. One bring the old farmer, and the other being the twin from Sri Lanka who had been on America’s race. If only the Sri Lanka twin had shared more chemistry with the others in the stages of group development she might be around for the next episode. Until next week on Survivor!

 

-Zack Kelem