First of all, I can't get over this Aussie invasion. I love actually seeing people use "bloody"

I'll wait for tomorrow and more confessionals to get a more solid grasp on things. But day one leaves me pretty excited for the game. It looks like we'll have a few good characters and quite a lot of great, or at least competent strategists, some of which might border on gamebot but it's early. I'm pretty glad Helios won immunity too, they just have more going on and were super hyped for this from minute one. Asteria kind of got off to a slower start - I believe it was just Jeanne, Joanna, and Christy on, maybe Ryan.

The standout from Asteria right now is Christy, but the pickings are so slim. She's definitely the winner of "most involved" for day one, or at least that's what her confessional would tell us. With Christy, we have someone who could end up being a dream to watch - good strategist, questionable likability meaning a potentially amazing character. I think she's very condescending and cold, and in the best way possible. Time will tell if it's... forced or not but I think she could be the real deal.

I'm going to keep my eyes on Penny from Helios, obviously. She is going to be ballsy and assertive, she's smart, and has the most potential to be an absolute powerhouse out of the whole cast, perhaps. Penny wants to do the whole "clueless airhead" thing, which I think a couple of people are trying out. But I have to comment on this:



In regards to Erin. And I thought it was smart, but only if it worked and then Erin says this in her confessional:



So there's one person she's worked her magic on, but Helios is a very perceptive group from what I can tell. I think there's plenty of people who know how to sniff out everyone's motives and plans and it's awesome.

I thought the same thing tracy. Penny has some set of balls. I laughed in disbelief when she told Rob "You would have lost anyway." She's definitely going to last a while and will probably be a big factor in the way the season turns out.

Haha good to see Penny working her magic already. This is how she plays every single game. It bites her in the butt most of the time :P

I don't think it will hurt her this time, though. Everyone is so concerned with playing an UTR game and Helen is dying for a trustworthy partner, that Penny could be everyone's BFF early-game.

Plus, Ted is seen as the primary threat right now, so he takes a lot of the targets.

Episode 2...

Asteria

I wish Butch had stayed around if only because he was hilarious to watch. He didn't know how to PM people, and then when he figured it out he just immediately came out of the gate with awkwardness. I get that he's annoying and wouldn't be of any help in the challenges so it's understandable. But I would've wanted to use Butch as a pocket vote, but the Asteria core is pretty much going to sit pretty anyway.

What annoyed me was how everybody was skirting around the vote so much at Tribal Council. Why do people do this, and at a first TC, when Butch was obviously not playing any idol? I was happy to see Christy step up and name Butch as the one who should go. Asteria needs to be more open and less dead and dull in general, it'll probably help them a lot. Maybe I'm being unfair since my Castara Cunts would walk in and tease whoever the fuck was leaving every round .

I think Christy is easily the one on top of things right now, and having the HII in her backpocket is a biggie. Rob is kind of admittedly cocky and I normally take to these kinds of players, but it feels so unwarranted since Christy isn't nearly as smug and she's doing better than him. Oh, and not to mention everything Rob does is completely contrived.

With that said I don't think the easy boots on Asteria are as clueless as they look. My dream scenario is Jeanne wakes the fuck up (and she has, I think) and pulls off a gigantic coup sending Rob home, with it all starting with his dumb stray vote. But dreams are dreams for a reason. And I think I want Christy to succeed anyway, succeed as in dominate the hell out of this - she's smart, effective, and seems more natural by the day.

On a scale of: - - - -

Christy
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Daniel
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Jeanne
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Joanna
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Rob
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Ryan
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Shawna
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Helios

I think once you boil it down the Helios dynamics are kind of simple - Brian/Helen/Penny/Erin/Jake - but that's only on paper. It seems like this tribe is closely on the brink of everyone running wild with paranoia and that's largely because:

1.) so many of them are incredibly perceptive
2.) there's some major schemers in the group, namely Penny. This girl is already planning what she wants to do at the merge regarding Helen and Brian. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some kind of Helios self-destruction a little later down the road. You have a couple of other relationships and connections that go beyond the extent of that fivesome alliance and players that are aggressive in Penny. But she hasn't gotten everyone all completely snowed. I'm most impressed with Brian and Helen right now. I think I can get behind this entire alliance, but I also really like Ted and Jan so I'm torn.

- - - -

Brian
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Erin
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Helen
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Jake
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Jan
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Ken
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Penny
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Ted
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

LOVING Jan as well... She's adoradorbz.

The biggest opportunity for Jan is Ted creating paranoia and suspicion, which automatically puts the targets on himself, Ken and Brian. Penny and Helen, being the pro-active players they are, might decide it's time to act. Of course, this will only work if Helios wins a few more challenges. Otherwise, it'll be Jan vs. Ken, which doesn't look too good for our girl.

As for Assteria, well, I can't see anyone waking up and doing something against Rob/Joanna/Christy. Jeanne is too thick and would probably approach one of those three for an alliance instead of re-grouping and bringing Daniel, Ryan and Shawna together. In fact, I don't want Jeanne to. I despise Ryan and Daniel. Both bring nothing to the table and just need to GTFO.

Helios lost and I'm a little disappointed. I wanted the Ted mutinies story to advance itself, but maybe it's best it gets dragged out a little bit. The longer Helios thinks he's still going to take Rob out the funnier this shit gets. Now I haven't been free enough to read confessionals at all this round, so I hope Jake leaves and not Jan. They're both pretty clueless from what I could previously tell, but Jan is adorable and funny.