CBS announced the new cast today. There are two former players also returning: Russell (whyyyyyyyyyy) and Boston Rob (this will be the SIXTH time I have watched him compete on a CBS reality series). The season's big "twist" involves Redemption Island, which sounds vaguely like a ripoff of Real World/Road Rules Challenge, but has voted off contestants engaging in "duels" on a weekly basis that will allow for returns to the game or something. The season premieres Wednesday, February 16 at 8 PM.

Contestants:
Andrea (21) 14th Voted Off/Reentered Game/16th Voted Off on May 15 (Jury)
Ashley (25) 17th Voted Off on May 15 (Jury)
David (31) 10th Voted Off on April 13 (Jury)
Francesca (36) 1st Voted Off on February 16
Grant (29) 15th Voted Off on May 11 (Jury)
Julie (50) 11th Voted Off on April 20 (Jury)
Krista (25) 5th Voted Off on March 16
Kristina (46) 4th Voted Off on March 9
Matt (22) 2nd Voted Off/Reentered Game/8th Voted Off on April 6 (Jury)
Mike (31) 9th Voted Off on April 13 (Jury)
Natalie (19) Third Place, May 15 (received 0/9 votes)
Phillip (52) 2nd Place, May 15 (received 1/9 votes)
Ralph (45) 12th Voted Off on April 27 (Jury)
Boston Rob (33) Winner, May 15 (received 8/9 votes)
Russell (38) 3rd Voted Off on March 2
Sarita (36) 7th Voted Off on March 30
Stephanie (26) 6th Voted Off on March 23
Steve (51) 13th Voted Off on April 27 (Jury)

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/cast/

lol at Fab...er, Matt

I'm all for seeing Boston Rob and Russell again... but so soon?

Premieres tonight.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this season even though my hatred for Russell runs deep, the last season sucked and Redemption Island sounds hokey. Don't disappoint me, Survivor.

A special agent.

They need to quit with these "What If?" moments. Fuck.

lmao what an insane first tribal council. I really, really hope the rest of the season can keep up with that because that was hilarious.

Francesca was, for once, not a stereotypical angry black woman and was kind of a breath of fresh air. So it figures she would be voted out first. Kinda hope she makes it through Redemption Island at least one go round. She just made (obviously) fatal mistakes of aligning with the wronggggg people. While you have to applaud Kristina for finding the idol and everything, when are people going to learn playing so aggressively so early when you don't have the numbers NEVER works out?

And...Phillip. Oh, Phillip. He used to be a special agent, did you hear? I don't think he mentioned it. Apparently being a former agent doesn't help him learning how to say words like "Francesca." He needs to stay around the whole game to provide me with hilarity.

I was kinda rooting against this alliance from the start for targeting Boston Rob so quickly. This is now the SIXTH time I've watched Boston Rob on TV (4 seasons of Survivor including this, 2 seasons of TAR) and he will always hold a special place in my heart.

Russell...eh. He approached a nubile young woman as an alliance mate. An original approach, for sure.

Also, the "what if" moments need to be ended forever. No more of that, ever.

fuck yes! If I hear What If one more time....

Great premiere. But the last season started out great too and the petered out very quickly...

"What if?" moments? Do explain.

I'm guessing they're talking about: "What if that person comes back into the game and..."... But yeah I don't really get what they're talking either. I didn't notice that some "What if" moments were constantly happening.

No, no.

They were stupid commercials sponsored by Sprint which ran throughout the hour, showcasing one former player from some past season and being like "WHAT IF REDEMPTION ISLAND EXISTED THEN? WHAT IF?!?!?!?! WOULD THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COME BACK? WHAT IF?!?!??!?"

Oh. Don't have a clue about those.

At least I'm not losing my mind. Thanks for es'plainin' Libs.

Oh, Boston Rob. I love you. I love how his tribe (which, so far, is mostly a sea of people who blend together) just does whatever he says. He's such a Svengali. We hardly knew ye, Matt/Fabio 2.0. I almost feel bad that he was voted out largely for showing good sportsmanship to the other tribe. I feel like him and Francesca battling it out on Redemption Island is so strange but hilarious at the same time.

Also, whatever casting agent found crazypants Phillip deserves a raise. He is a comedy gold, perhaps even more of a loony tunes than Coach was.

I think any hope of Russell attempting to play differently this time went out the window when he decided to enter an alliance with Stephanie and Krista. Really? lol and I love the random battle brewing between Russell and Ralph. Who is, no doubt, the hairiest person I've ever seen on Survivor. That is not pretty in HD. Good for Ralph for stealing the idol away before Russell could get his clutches on it, though.

Russell is quite boring this season. And I've enjoyed his Machiavellian schemes in the past. But now he's just predictable, from the attitude to the maneuvers.

Rob and Phillip are clearly the reason to watch this season thus far. Everyone else is fairly bland. A few--the hairy country bumpkin, for example--clearly have 'memorable character' potential, but nothing too dynamic yet.

I do kind of dig Andrea, though.

So is Boston Rob. I mean they're on their fourth/third time. And both have gone very far. There's not much to them than what we already know.


? All girls so far are pretty invisible (with the exception of Kristina and Francesca).

A. She's the hottest girl this season.

B. The promise of her waging war on Russell next episode.

Ahhh, Andrea is not in Russell's tribe. She's in Rob. And we all know how misleading the previews can be. She will probably have a line or two and then the focus will shift on something completely else.

Oh, happy day. For the first time in three seasons, I get to experience 'Lil Russell not getting his way and actually getting voted out of the game. I had an instinct I liked Firefighter Julie and that instinct was not wrong when she didn't side with the dark side. Throwing the challenge was kind of a lame move but it produced a happy result so I guess I can't complain.

I'm finding Ralph/Man Sweater strangely entertaining so far. I also like most of the people on the Zapatera tribe from what we've been shown (Steve, Julie, Mike, Sarita, etc.). Stephanie is super snotty and terrible, which is actually a change of pace from the young women Russell aligned with in previous seasons (Natalie was quiet but sweet, and Parvati was intelligent and cunning). Blonde Krista of the invisible edit is clearly a non-factor whose only role was to be a Russell drone.

I know this show will fuck with me and Russell will probably last forever on Redemption Island and then come back at some point, but I'll just enjoy it for now that he actually got voted out so early on.

Speaking of Redemption Island, I was disappointed Francesca didn't win the duel. She was kind of awesome. And she did better in the competition than I expected her to. Oh well. Matt vs. Russell...yay?

Phillip didn't have nearly enough screen time in this episode. No one on Boston Rob's tribe seems to have a personality other than him, Phillip and Kristina. Even Andrea was strangely muted when the previews swore she was going to vow revenge or something.

I was sad to see Francesca losing after she started out that great in the Arena...

I kinda wished the blindside worked. Just because that's often the best way for some drama to happen.

It'll be annoying if pudgy, older Russell is able to magically beat every other competitor and return to the game.