Lock, Load and Light Physical Race / Mental

Much like in Survivor: Panama, this season starts with four tribes, which means our first Immunity Challenge will be played in teams of four, and I think the challenge team did a great job with this one. Last season's first Immunity Challenge was a bit more experimental, whereas this one combines elements from previous challenges that had already been proven successful. Each tribe has to run over a series of sand hills, which should sound familiar because there were similar obstacles in Survivor: Panama. Once you get to the shore, you have to use the puzzle pieces to assemble a "puzzle boat," which is an idea we saw in Survivor: All-Stars' "Floating Puzzle" challenge. In order to hold the boat together, a number of wooden braces need to be secured. Once the boat is assembled, each tribe has to paddle out to light a torch and then return to shore, where they must disassemble the boat, because those wooden braces need to be repurposed later in the challenge. Then, it's back over the sand hills to the start of the challenge, where four small puzzles have to be completed. Each puzzle makes up a letter, N, E, S, and W, the four cardinal directions. Next, there is a steep wall, and in order to make it climbable, the wooden braces from the puzzle boat need to be placed into the correct slots. This concept is somewhat similar to the "Great Escape Run" challenge from Survivor: Vanuatu, but the idea of the same wooden planks from the boat being repurposed as ladder rungs is a completely fresh idea and I think a really cool innovation. Also, the four smaller directional puzzles need to be placed into the wall in the correct spaces around the compass. Once everyone is to the top of the wall, the lit torch is used to ignite a final bale, winning your tribe the challenge. Probably none of these obstacles on their own are particularly spectacular, but the combination of all of them into one challenge makes this, for me, a pretty wonderful challenge.

Now, I just want to make a couple quick overarching observations about this season's challenges, because they are apparent here from the very beginning. First, Survivor: Cook Islands seems like a definite turning point in how challenges are presented; it makes the season feel a lot more modern, looking back at it. Excluding Palau, all of the seasons since All-Stars have had more colorful-looking challenges than the original seasons, but Cook Islands is where the show really doubles down on this art direction. Even in Survivor: Panama, we still had some challenges that had a lot of unpainted wood, but from Cook Islands and most seasons after, pretty much everything is colorful. I think I like it, but at the same time, it also definitely helps make so many of the challenges, especially in the most recent seasons, feel so "samey." I definitely think that Survivor: Cook Islands sort of sets a modern standard of what a Survivor challenge "looks like" and it is a set-up which is almost never deviated from here on out. The other thing I wanted to point out is, much like how Panama had a minor theme running in its challenges of skulls, Cook Islands also has a minor recurring theme, and that is about direction/exploration. Like in Panama, it's easy to miss, but if you look for it, you will notice that things like compasses and maps pop up every so often this season's challenges, which I think is a nice touch.

4/5

Tow the Line Physical Race / Mental

Alright, this challenge is an interesting one, that's for sure. It's Survivor Folklore... but it really isn't. Of course, Survivor Folklore is one of my favorite challenges of all time, but this "version" just doesn't do it for me. The first glaring difference is that this is a tribal challenge; the second glaring difference is that the folklore is actually only a small part of the challenge, it's basically "just another obstacle," and this is actually something that bothers me about a lot of modern Survivor challenges- they often lack a clear identity. If you are going to have a folklore challenge, why not make the entire challenge based on folklore? We'll see this a lot more once we get into the second half of this show, but it often seems like we get a lot of really compelling ideas, but instead of expanding on them and really doing something special, they are just simplified and combined with one or two other ideas in order to make a single challenge that kind of feels like it is all over the place. I am sure there are people reading this who disagree with me, but I usually just walk away a lot more satisfied after watching something as pointed as a "shooting challenge" or a "memory challenge" than I do with some strange hybrid of a whole bunch of random concepts. At the same time, I can admit that this is still a pretty good challenge, and the folklore bit at the beginning does make the entire thing more memorable. I just wish they could have held off on folklore and made it its own challenge near the end of the season. There's definitely a certain bias I have, because to me, Survivor Folklore is not and could never be "just another obstacle," and perhaps the fact that we won't see Survivor Folklore again in any form until nine years later probably contributes to me being frustrated by this version. Anyway, let's just go ahead and break the entire layout down. The challenge begins with the story, and in my opinion, it's by far the weakest of the eight stories we've gotten out of this challenge. It's about the discoveries Captain James Cook made during his various voyages. The problem is that it doesn't feel like a story at all; it's extremely short and it feels more like a mundane history lesson compared to the fascinating stories we got to hear in past seasons like the Samburu warrior or the fearsome Keikahanui. Part of the problem is Jeff's delivery- I don't know why, but he reads the story in such a monotone way which lacks any wonder or excitement whatsoever, and to really drive home the feeling that is a boring excerpt out of your history textbook, he is literally reading off a card. Why is that?! Usually Jeff recites the story from memory to really make it feel like a genuine campfire story, and the irony is, this should have been the easiest story to memorize because again, it is so short. Now, if your tribe forgets the story, don't worry, you can just read the book in front of you once the game begins. Alright. I really don't have that big a problem with this, but I do think it further dissolves any chance this story had at feeling like an elusive, old folk tale that is only passed down verbally. At the same time, I understand why it was included, because they had to be prepared for the slight chance that all four tribes forgot the story, which seems insane, but who knows, I think the Thailand cast could have made it happen. Anyway, once your tribe is confident that they remember the details of the story, your tribe, tied together, has to go over and under some wooden obstacles and through a "field of poles," gathering answer pieces along the way. After that, we get another appearance of the "rope bridge" obstacle, which I continue to enjoy here. At the end of the obstacle course, that's where you have to answer to questions by arranging the answer pieces in the correct spaces on the answer board, which seems really easy- if anyone is familiar with those quizzes you may have had in school where you have to match each answer to a letter, that's basically what this is. Like I said before, even though part of this challenge frustrates me, I still find it to be an ultimately enjoyable experience, and if nothing else, it stands out for being unique and another example of production not being afraid of trying something new. Aitutaki pretty infamously threw this challenge in order to vote out Billy, but it is still pretty fun to watch.

3/5

Steeple Chase Endurance

First off, just look at that water. I don't think it's talked about enough just how stunning of a location this season had. I think there is a very high chance I will visit the Cook Islands for myself one day, and that is entirely thanks to this season of Survivor with sights like this that show just how beautiful the region really is. This challenge's intro is also really cool, it shows a bunch of waves and a whale turning over before zooming in to the challenge. With all of that aside, let's talk about the return of Hot Pursuit! A great way to know if a challenge is going to be amazing or not is to ask yourself "did it originate in Survivor: Palau?" If the answer is yes, it is very likely you have a 5/5 challenge on your hands. As I explained in my Palau entry, you can just never go wrong with this challenge, it is such a great idea that is perfectly executed. This version has a minor new element, where in order for one tribe to win, they have to tackle someone from the other tribe to the ground. I honestly do not understand what the point of that is, but it does lead to a fun moment where Yul tries to "fight" the opposing team right at the end of the challenge, which is about as effective as when Gary runs over and tackles Judd in that Guatemala tug-of-war challenge.

5/5

Mayday Physical Race / Mental

Well this is a real throwback! It's the return of Rescue Mission from the original two seasons of Survivor, but sort of reimagined as a more modern-feeling challenge. Honestly, the end result is amazing. I was looking back at what I said about this challenge in my The Australian Outback entry, and I said that this challenge would never again feel as "novel" as it did in Survivor: Borneo, and I stand by that, but that doesn't mean that the Borneo version is the best- I think this is the best. Comparing this version to the original version really demonstrates how much the producers had learned in thirteen seasons about producing a challenge, not just in ensuring the entirety of the challenge is exciting, but also in how it is shot. It is remarkably easier to grasp what is happening and feel actively invested in the challenge than it was in seasons 1 and 2. Okay, let's talk about the challenge, because there have been some very cool changes since we last saw it. First, the two people being rescued are now stranded on a raft far out into the ocean on the other side of the jungle. The scope of the challenge at that point is just incredible, but I want to really emphasize how much I love the raft thing. The rafts have these super tall masts, and the stranded players are actually all the way at the top of the masts. They are bound with their hands locked in a device called a "pillory," which was a form of punishment that was used especially in the 1700s and 1800s, which is very relevant to this season's theme of exploration which took place during those times. It would have been so easy to just make it a generic lock on a generic platform, but they gave it everything they had here. I get the feeling that the producers were really excited about bringing this challenge back and wanted to go all out with it. Alright, let's finally get into this challenge- right off the bat, there is another new change from the original versions. The stretcher is actually a puzzle that needs to be put together before it can be used; I like that, it's a great idea. Then we have the race through the jungle to the shore, where one person has to swim out, and it's actually a pretty far distance, all the way to the floating rafts. Once they arrive, they have to climb up the ladder to release the locked tribemate. Then, both players jump down into the water from the top of the masts, which looks really cool. Holding on to a buoy, the two have to swim back to the shore, where the rescued member then gets onto the puzzle stretcher and carried back through the jungle to the start. The challenge still isn't over yet, as at this point, two other members from the tribe have to use the materials to start a fire to burn through a rope. Cao Boi is just phenomenal here. As Jeff notes, he's "got his own system" going, where he waves the burning tinder around with the type of methodology only Cao Boi could pull off. Also, Jenny accidently cuts her hands, which is unfortunate. Overall, amazing challenge.

5/5

United We Stand Physical Race / Mental

I adore this challenge. It's just extremely well-designed and fun to watch; certainly one of the most underappreciated Survivor challenges, because I don't think many would argue against it being an amazing challenge, but it isn't talked about much. This is another one of those "simple-but-effective" ideas, and it's impossible to overstate just how effective it turns out to be. At the start of the challenge, each tribe has to assemble two large stepping stones, which is a puzzle in of itself, albeit not very difficult. Then, all but two of the tribe members go out into the water, and have to use the stepping stones to carry the other two members across the water from one platform to the next. It's a brilliant idea, and there are so many potential strategies— many of which will be explored in this challenge and its future iterations. After that, the entire tribe has to swim out to a tiny little platform, and they have to somehow manage to get the entire tribe standing on the platform at the same time. It looks impossible- and yet, every time this challenge appears, one of the tribes is able to do it. It's never easy though, and it is very satisfying watching the entire tower crumble and everyone fall into the water. One of my favorite challenges.

5/5

Stairway to Heaven Physical Race / Mental

This is another memorable challenge in Survivor: Cook Islands! The beginning of the challenge is pretty forgettable, even though it is the challenge's namesake- essentially, each tribe has to work together to place their stepping stools in the correct order, that is, shortest to tallest, so that the tribe can use the stepping stools to reach an elevated platform. This is very similar to the Stairway to the Stars challenge from Survivor: Africa, just without any of the physical stuff; all of the stepping stools are pretty much laid out in front of everyone at the start. Before long, we are in the second stage of the challenge, which is truly where this challenge shines. We see the return of the "flying fox," now referred to as a zipline, and I've already talked about how I love it when flying foxes appear in Survivor challenges. It's just thrilling to watch people zoom by all fast and mighty, and in this challenge, these scenes are extra exciting. This flying fox appears to be much longer than any of the ones in previous seasons, and it spans over the beautiful shallow water of the Cook Islands with a downward slope. It is both awesome and hilarious watching various competitors using this flying fox, because in order to gain momentum, many of them try swinging their bodies as they fly, and in Ozzy and Nate's cases, bending their entire body back with their legs spread open. The goal is to get to a pontoon, grab a bag, and then bring it back to shore. There is no flying fox to bring you back, so you have to swim in order to return, which I can admit, coming right after the Reward Challenge which also featured a lot of swimming, does feel a bit redundant, but as always, these challenges are being reviewed mostly in a vacuum so I'm not knocking this challenge for that. The last stage of the challenge is a jigsaw puzzle which takes the form of a timeline, which I think is very cool for being very unusual, and once again, certainly ties into the season's theme. I feel like this could go either 3/5 or 4/5; I just really love the flying fox section enough that I think for me, it's the ladder score.

4/5

Depth Charge Physical Race / Skill / Mental

In a season absolutely chock-full with amazing challenges, I think that this may be the best one of them all. Part of it is that this has never been done again, which makes it feel extra special, but even aside from that, this challenge does several things which make it stand out as one of the best challenges of the season. You have an extremely creative idea unlike anything that had ever been done on the show up this point and which also continues to show just how beautiful the location is; you have the ultimate underdogs go on to win the challenge, even though at first it seems like they are going to lose; you have a fascinating instance of the players finding a way to "game" the challenge, coming up with their own unique strategy; and perhaps most importantly of all, you have one of the greatest Jeff Probst moments of all time. Where to even begin?! How about the rules— yes, that would make sense. Each tribe paddles out in glass-bottom boats. That's right, glass-bottom boats! That's so cool! And if they ever wanted to do a challenge with glass-bottom boats, Cook Islands was the season to do it, because like I've talked about before, the water in this season may be the most crystal clear water the show has even had the privilege to use. The glass windows on the boat have targets on them; not like a bullseye, but crosshairs which very clearly illustrate a specific target point. The goal is to paddle to the three unique underwater targets, which also have crosshairs. Using extreme precision, the crosshairs on the boat need to be aligned with the crosshairs on the underwater target. Once the targets are perfectly matched up, someone on the boat pulls a lever, which drops a cannonball into the water, which, if done correctly, lands in a weighted target, releasing a pair of buoys which rise to the surface. If you are even slightly off with the alignment, the cannonball will miss the target, so again, you have to be perfect. It is a brilliant test of accuracy and spatial awareness, or to put it in Brad's terms, this challenge is for the "creative spatials" of the world. Once all of the buoys are collected, the tribe can paddle back to shore and use the buoys, which have letters painted on them, to unscramble the answer to a clue, which is given on a separate buoy. Before getting into how exactly this whole thing plays out, I just want to again stress how much I admire this challenge's innovative design and ambition. Alright, so let's get into this. Initially, both tribes struggle with lining up the crosshairs on their boat with the crosshairs on the underwater target, and so between the two tribes, a few cannonballs are wasted before either tribe is able to hit a target. It's important to note that each tribe has a finite amount of cannonballs, so you can't just be reckless and keep launching cannonballs until you get lucky; you'd run out, and then I'm not sure, maybe someone would have to dive down and recollect them? But that would take a lot of time, and time is precious in Survivor challenges, so there is a lot of stress on both tribes, and stress makes good television. Raro manages to score with their second cannonball, and meanwhile, the more rootable Aitu tribe misses with both their second and third cannonballs. With their third cannonball, Raro manages to narrowly hit their second target, so that's now two-in-a-row for the Raro tribe, and at this point, it seems like all hope is lost for Aitu. But this is when the Aitu tribe begins to employ a new strategy, and they can thank Yul, thinking outside of the box, for coming up with this strategy for them. Yul realizes how difficult it is to line up the crosshairs on the boat with the underwater target; it is just too hard to pull of consistently. What he does instead is, he begins to look directly through the hole that the cannonball falls through, completely ignoring the crosshairs, and just eyeing when the cannonball hole passes over the weighted target. At first he is reluctant, but decides to "just go for it," and to his and his tribemates' surprise, his strategy actually works. Without using the crosshairs at all, they are able to land their first cannonball, and confidence that they would be able to also hit their other two targets without relying on the finicky crosshairs. Meanwhile, the Raro tribe starts really struggling, missing their third target multiple times. Suddenly, using their new strategy, Aitu hits their second target, and the comeback is in full effect at this point. Yul is so excited about how well their strategy is working that he starts to exclaim "I can spot the thing through the-" before Becky excitedly shushes him, making sure that the Raro tribe doesn't figure out the same strategy— it's a cute moment. Things continue to go downhill for the Raro tribe; at one point, Penner places a cannonball into the chute without pulling the lever back first, so it literally just goes straight through into the water, not even coming close to hitting the target. This scene does not go unnoticed by Jeff, who points out that "Raro just wasted a cannonball, they weren't paying attention!" Yes, this is where we get this legendary banter between Penner and Probst. Penner replies, in a rare moment of contestant-defiance to Jeff's commentary, "Oh please Jeff." It's almost like Jeff can't believe what he's hearing. He's like "what's that?" Penner repeats "I said OH PLEASE." Without missing a beat, and this is just incredible, Jeff narrates, with a straight face, "Jonathon getting frustrated by me," and he says it with that same distinct inflection he always uses while narrating challenges. I laughed so hard the first time I saw this, it really is top tier Survivor moment. Before long, Aitu is able to hit their third target, successfully taking the lead, and so they return to shore to begin the puzzle. The clue is "the most famous mutiny in history occurred in this ship," and they are able to figure out the answer almost immediately, "Bounty." For me it is one of the most satisfying challenge wins in Survivor history. Survivor: Cook Islands can be a slow, sometimes frustrating season, but when it's good, it's really good.

5/5

South Pacific Physical Race

Wow look, this challenge's name was ten seasons ahead of its time! Honestly, this is probably the least memorable challenge of the season, but I still have a soft spot for it because I love geography. I mean, who doesn't... right? Before the challenge, each tribe had time to study the different islands and countries in the South Pacific. Then, at the challenge, one person from each tribe at a time needs to swim out to a pontoon to untie a bundle of placards with island names on them. Each pontoon is further from the previous, so you are going to want your strongest member to go last. Once all of the island names are retrieved, they have to be assigned to the correct places on the map. If it were just a generic puzzle, this would be 1/5, but I like the added spice of making it a geography thing. Geography is fun!

2/5

Get a Grip Endurance

It is time for this classic challenge's second appearance, following Survivor: Vanuatu! Hold onto a pole for dear life; simple but great. This is actually one of the most memorable renditions of this challenge thanks to Yul. If you don't remember this funny little conversation, basically Penner says that the challenge is more difficult for him than some of the others because his feet are bigger. Yul pipes in that Penner has a point, because the surface area supporting everyone was about the same, and your mass goes up at a faster rate than surface area, so people with higher masses would have a more difficult time with this challenge. "It's kind of like why elephants can't run up trees." Great moment Yul, you deserve the worship you get!

4/5

Recollection Mental / Physical Race

This is basically them taking two completely unrelated challenges and combining them into what I guess you could call an elimination-style challenge, but there are only two rounds, so is it really? It's more just like a Part 1 and a Part 2. The first part is pretty unique; each person has to read different questions about past events in the game, and the answer to each question is a number. These numbers are then placed into a math equation to calculate one final number. This reminds me of a game they used to play on a really cool HBO kids show, with which you may be familiar (if so, good on you!), called "Crashbox." One of the segments was a game called "Psycho Math" where the talking calculator host (it was a weird show) would ask a question like "take the number of dimes you need to make a dollar. Add that to the number of days in February. From that number, subtract the amount of sides in a nonagon. What is the final answer?!" That's basically what this Survivor challenge is, except instead of random trivia, it's all stuff from earlier in the season, like "the number of days since the Aitutaki Mutiny," and so on. Once you figure out the final answer, you untie the box that has the same number on it that you came up with, to retrieve a key used to open a lock which raises a flag. Good job, you've beaten Part 1. Interesting idea, not particularly great television. Part 2 starts with the exact same concept of Part 1, but then we ditch the math theme entirely and get some physical obstacles. After finishing the math, you must race through a "timber tunnel," which is very similar to the big wooden structure last season's players had to climb through, and across some floating pontoons, which we also saw last season, in addition to Palau. These obstacles are pretty good overall. Ultimately, it's a good challenge; a bit all over the place, but enjoyable nonetheless.

3/5

Floatsam and Jetsam Physical Race / Skill

This is a combination of two previous challenges, most prominently "Troubled Water" from Survivor: Vanuatu, which consists of a large floating obstacle course, and the recurring classic, Jail Break. The Survivors once against must navigate all of the wobbly, floating platforms and obstacles, and this continues to be really fun to watch. It sort of feels like a Survivor x Wipeout crossover, except both this and the Vanuatu version happened before Wipeout was ever a thing. Often you'll see someone slip and fall; it's never anything serious, and it's just enough to give you a healthy bit of schadenfreude. Unlike in Vanuatu, once you collect both flags, you move on to a second stage, and this is where we see the Jail Break challenge. It's the classic tie sticks together to reach a key. The first person to collect two keys wins Immunity; it's a decent obstacle, but it's really the water course that makes this challenge so great.

4/5

Cannonball Run Physical Race / Skill / Mental

What a coincidence that both of this episode's challenges' titles end with the word "Run!" We all aspire to be the first person in the world to do something, whether that be set a world record or invent some completely new thing; I think there is at least a 25% chance that I am the first person to ever make that observation about the challenge titles and then exclaim it out loud as if it were an amazing revelation, and so I take pride in that. Anyway, I think this a really good, possibly underrated challenge. I don't know for sure that it is underrated, maybe everyone secretly loves the "Cannonball Run" Immunity Challenge from Survivor: Cook Islands, but I don't really see this one in conversation. Now, what I enjoy about this challenge is how it manages to have physical, mental and skill components, and they are all sort of related in a clever way. It's not like you do a random physical section and then have to throw balls into a basket and then solve a completely unrelated puzzle; in this challenge, every section seamlessly leads to the next. You start by transporting large puzzle pieces across a multi-layered balance beam; that's the physical part. Then, the mental part— you use those puzzle pieces to create a table maze; that's pretty cool in my opinion. I'm always impressed when the puzzle comes together to create another object that actually has to be used, like a boat, or in this case, a table maze. The skill portion is completing the table maze, and for the record, I enjoy table mazes. I believe this is the first one we've seen since Vanuatu's first Immunity Challenge, so it absolutely felt like it was due to return.

4/5

 Compass Ropes Physical Race / Mental

Wait, the Guatemala maze was only two seasons ago, and you're telling me it's already time for another breathtaking challenge set? That's right, it's the super awesome giant compass challenge! And like I always say in these types of challenges, you should just look at it. There are no words I could use to describe how cool it is, what they have created here, better than what you would understand just by taking a couple of minutes and looking at it. Another truly spectacular challenge build. Now, before we get too excited, apparently there have been some reports that the toll this specific challenge took on the nearby environment is a large part of the reasoning that the Cook Islands government banned Survivor from ever returning there, and that's not good. Obviously it wasn't worth it... Well I mean, maybe it was, since I mean like, just look at it!!! So anyway, this is a new variation of one of the most consistently epic challenges, Out on a Limb, dating back to Survivor: Borneo and most recently appearing in Survivor: The Amazon. It's always been big, but this is the first time it has not only been impressive in size, but also impressive in design— really impressive in design. Of course, the idea of making it take the shape of a compass is to once again play into the season's theme, and I love the dedication there. There are eight stations that need to be visited, all with their own unique obstacles, and once a bag is collected from each, they can move on to solving a really awesome 3D compass puzzle, which Jeff announces is the hardest puzzle to ever appear on the show to that point. I really love that he says that, it makes the challenge feel all the more daunting. At the same time, I think that's an interesting claim to explore. I think he's probably right that this is the hardest puzzle so far, but at the same time, there really haven't been that many difficult puzzles in general up to this point. It wasn't really until the more recent seasons that puzzles became prominent equalizers across the majority of a season's challenges, and usually they are relatively quick puzzles, like fitting jigsaw pieces together or a slide puzzle or something. But I digress, the puzzle really is great. We get all sorts of classic obstacles in this challenge; there's a crawl through, there's a rope bridge, there's a plank bridge, there's a swinging rope, and that is only half of everything there is to see here. Amazing challenge!

5/5

Self-Destruction Endurance

Let's discuss this season's Final Immunity Challenge, because it's an interesting one to say the least! Each person stands on a very narrow perch above the water, which continues to be absolutely gorgeous, by the way. Every 15 minutes for the first hour, the perch becomes smaller. I don't really get how it works, but there is a string you pull and it causes part of the platform to fall away; there are smart people on that challenge team! By the time one hour passes, the perch is reduced to less than the size of a postcard, which is just crazy to think about. It's honestly an incredibly exciting challenge to watch; there are many extremely close calls, especially with Ozzy, where you can't believe that they were able to recover, and there is some simplistic beauty in the challenge's location, just surrounded by shallow water. I am a little bit iffy on the merits of this being a Final Immunity Challenge; I mean, it's miles, actually light years ahead of Panama's Final Immunity Challenge in terms of fairness, but this certainly favors someone with smaller feet. Still, it does seem like enough focus and willpower would allow just about anyone to win, unless you are very overweight, but a person like that would be unlikely to be on the show in the first place, let alone make it to the Final Immunity Challenge. I think overall it's actually pretty fair; a Hands on a Hard Idol or dexterity challenge would obviously be more fair, but I won't knock this one too hard for giving a bit of an advantage to the smaller feet people of the world. Now, the Survivor Wiki tries to claim that this challenge is actually a variation of Perch, and no, I'm not talking about Vertigo, I mean the 10 hour Australian Outback, Jenna and Heidi take their clothes off challenge, and I'm sorry, but No. I don't even see how you could make that comparison; Perch is all about pure willpower, as I've went on and on about before. This, on the other hand, is mostly about balance and focus. If anything, this is far more resemblant of Survivor's first ever aired endurance challenge, "Walk the Plank," than it is of Perch, where Richard annoyed everyone with singing and Jeff walked into the water with all of his clothes on to remove parts of the balance beam over time. Anyway, I think it's a great challenge, definitely better than the last couple of seasons.

4/5