Let’s hit on a couple of things before we jump into this…

First of all, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that anyone willing to participate in something this nerdy is well aware of how “Survivor: Cook Islands” turned out. If you’re looking to avoid spoilers on a TV series that happened seven years ago, this might not be the place for you.

Second, “Survivor: The Amazon” came in a very close second place to Cook Islands in our re-watch poll. If you’d like to tackle that season by yourself, Mr. Rob Cesternino is very generously offering his “Survivor: The Amazon – Unauthorized DVD Commentary” at an exclusive DISCOUNTED RATE for Summer Book Club members.

Third, our friends at True Dork Times are once again getting in on the fun with stats, awards, and more.

And finally, this whole Book Club thing is kind of a work in progress. If you have ideas on how to improve the proceedings, please let me know.

My Big Question: Parvati Shallow, “Boston” Rob Mariano, Russell Hantz, Richard Hatch, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Ozzy Lusth, Cirie Fields, Tom Westman, Amanda Kimmel, Rob Cesternino, and Ethan Zohn.

That’s the full roster of“Survivor” Hall of Famers. All eleven have appeared on the show more than once.

Whenever the topic of worthy one-timers comes up, Cook Islands champ (spoiler alert!) Yul Kwon is always a popular pick. However, many seem to think his (spoiler alert!) over-powered immunity idol should count against him. With this re-watch, I hope to get to the bottom of that mystery.

And with that, let’s start this bizzle…

Episode Thoughts:

Standard definition?! Is it too late to vote for Gabon?

You know they mean business when the marooning is before the credits.

Parvati is Caucasian? I thought she was made of pure light.

Why are the tribe names in quotes? Because the actual names are longer?

I’m pretty sure splitting into four tribes is a ploy to sell more buffs.

Yul is right, it’s nice to have so many diverse faces in one cast.

Parvati’s occupation is listed as “boxer.” Tell me there’s YouTube footage of this somewhere.

So glad Probst learned the tribe names for this season. In Nicaragua he’d just say “old tribe” or “young tribe.”

Why didn’t “karma is a bizzle” ever catch on? (Quick Aside: If you want an easy laugh out of people at “Survivor” base camp, yell “Albert, drop your damn stack!”

It is ballsy to use being the fire maker as a reason to stay around when you haven’t made a single fire.

Booooring Tribal Council, awesome Tribal Council set.

I wasn’t against the ethnically divided tribes concept when this first aired, but re-watching it, there sure is a lot of “black people don’t like this,” and “Asian people don’t like that.” I could see where it freaked people out a little.

Also, I’m not sure exactly what the point is supposed to be. “Survivor” used to promote itself as a bit of a sociological experiment, but what are we supposed to be learning with this twist? Maybe it’s more or a Rorschach test where if you respond to it by saying, “Ha! I knew that ethnicity acted that way!” it says more about you than that group of people.

Discussion Questions:

Did you find the twist offensive? Why or why not?

With four returnees, two Hall of Famers, and a hunky winner, is this the most memorable original cast behind “The Australian Outback”?

Do you like it when there are more than two tribes? Is it too hard to follow?

Edit readers: Any early clues that Yul is going to win the whole thing?

Post your answers and questions below, and be sure to swing by True Dork Times for awards, stats, and more…

Tags: jonathan penner, ozzy lusth, parvati shallow, survivor, survivor cook islands, survivor summer book club, yul kwon