Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's premiere concluded with the Brains tribe eliminating two male castaways from their tribe at two separate Tribal Council sessions during Wednesday night's episode of the CBS reality series' 28th edition.

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David Samson, a 45-year-old Miami Marlins' president from Plantation, FL, was voted out of his Brains tribe at the season's first Tribal Council, and then Garrett Adelstein, a 27-year-old pro poker player from Santa Monica, CA, was voted out of the Brains tribe at the second Tribal session.

"I have no regrets. I played the way I thought I needed to play to get forward in the game, and the tribe just doesn't have it together -- or they have it together, just against me. But no hard feelings to any of them. I consider myself pretty much the luckiest person in the world," David said following his elimination.

"I was so blindsided and I left a hidden Immunity Idol just sitting at camp dug up that I didn't even bring because I was so sure that I knew what was going to happen tonight. It's really embarrassing in a lot of different ways, really, really embarrassing," Garrett said after his vote-off.

Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's debut episode began with the season's 18 first-time castaways traveling to Cagayan in the Philippines to play a 39-day game in which they'd live at three separate camps on different beaches based upon three different stereotypes -- brains, beauty and brawn.

The Brawn tribe was comprised of Cliff Robinson, a 46-year-old former NBA All-Star from Newark, NJ; Lindsey Ogle, a 29-year-old hairstylist from Kokomo, IN; Sarah Lacina, a 29-year-old police officer from Cedar Rapids, IA; Tony Vlachos, a 39-year-old police officer from Jersey City, NJ; Trish Hegarty, a 48-year-old pilates instructor from Needham, MA; and Yung "Woo" Hwang, a 29-year-old martial arts instructor from Newport Beach, CA.

The Brains tribe featured David; Garrett; J'Tia Taylor, a 31-year-old nuclear engineer from Chicago, IL; Kassandra "Kass" McQuillen, a 41-year-old attorney from Tehachapi, CA; Latasha "Tasha" Fox, a 37-year-old accountant from St. Louis, MO; and Spencer Bledsoe, a 21-year-old student from Chicago, IL.

The members of the Beauty tribe were Alexis Maxwell, a 21-year-old student from Addison, IL; Brice Johnston, a 27-year-old social worker from Philadelphia, PA; Jefra Bland, a 22-year-old former Miss Kentucky Teen USA from Campbellsville, KY; Jeremiah Wood, a 34-year-old male model from Dobson, NC; LJ McKanas, a 34-year-old horse trainer from Boston, MA; and Morgan McLeod, a 21-year-old former NFL cheerleader from San Jose, CA.

Survivor host Jeff Probst welcomed all the castaways and immediately made each tribe determine a leader based on first impressions. The Beauty tribe selected LJ, the Brawn tribe opted to have Sarah as their leader, and the Brains tribe chose David.

Jeff then asked each leader to determine which castaway on his or her tribe was the weakest link and point him or her out. LJ picked Morgan because the beginning of the game is all about physical challenges. He also later admitted he thought she was "hot," not "cute," which would make her more of a threat to be manipulative.

Sarah picked Trish because she looked like one of their older, more frail, members. David then surprisingly selected Garrett, their biggest guy, because he announced he was thinking about him as a threat in the end-game due to the fact he was "built like a truck" and also intelligent.

The three people who were declared the tribes' weakest links were then taken by helicopter to their camps. They arrived before everyone else, and Jeff revealed they would have a decision to make on behalf of the tribes who just voted them out.

Once at the Brains camp on Day 1, Garrett read his choice aloud. He could either receive a clue to the hidden Immunity Idol or help his tribe by giving them a second bag of rice. Garrett went for the "obvious choice" of the clue since he was already on the outs of his tribe. He wanted David out of the game and didn't understand his "assidine" reasoning for declaring him the weakest player.

Over at the Brawn camp, Trish admitted she wasn't surprised she got the boot because she was thin and older than most of her tribe. She selflessly chose to help the group by getting a second bag of rice and hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

At Beauty's camp, Morgan also wanted the clue to the hidden Immunity Idol. She didn't care if she was a selfish person and said she'd hold a grudge and never forget what LJ did. She figured that LJ worried she'd be able to manipulate him with her looks, which was fairly accurate. 

Meanwhile, Garrett found the hidden Immunity Idol at his camp and therefore already had power in the game.

When the rest of the Beauty tribe arrived at their camp, they didn't know where Morgan was, so they basically caught her looking for the idol behind their backs. However, she quickly came up with a cover story and told them she picked rice and fishing and shelter stuff. LJ didn't like how calm and collected Morgan seemed after just getting voted out, so he wondered whether she may have found a clue to the idol or the hidden Immunity Idol itself.

Brice made a connection with Morgan right off the bat. Their tribe created fire quickly and the girls thought they were "kicking butt" in building their shelter. They thought they'd surprise the people who assumed they'd just act likes "princesses" around camp.

At Brawn's camp, everyone was thrilled Trish decided on the second bag of rice. Tony admitted he never would have made that same choice. Woo also knew who Cliff was and happened to be a huge fan of the former NBA player's. The two hit it off although Cliff didn't think anyone really recognized him or cared enough about his history for the information to be used against him.

Sarah, who is a police officer like Tony, asked Tony flat out if he was a cop. Tony denied his job although Sarah was convinced he just had "the look" of being a cop. Despite Tony's believable lie, Sarah -- who interrogates people on a daily basis -- felt something was off and she didn't really trust him. She thought he needed to go as soon as possible.

"I thought for a split second, 'Should I tell her I'm a cop?' Nah, you know what? If I tell her I'm a police officer, the first thing they're going to be thinking is like, 'This guy is strategical, he's tactical, he's probably sharp on his toes, he's very observant,' and they're going to be right. So obviously I'm a threat to them and they're probably going to try to blindside me right away," Tony explained to the cameras.

Over at the Brains camp, Spencer believed David's choice to get rid of Garrett in the beginning was stupid because Garrett could clearly help them in challenges yet already felt ostracized within the tribe.

J'Tia thought she was the smartest person in her tribe and directed everyone on how to build the shelter. Tasha thought J'Tia came across bossy and confrontational and Kass didn't appreciate J'Tia's attitude either. Likewise, David didn't like how she just barked orders at everybody.

The ironic thing was the Brains tribe had a tougher time building their shelter than the Beauty tribe.

On Day 3, the three tribes met Jeff again and he explained the rules to what would be their first Immunity Challenge.

Each tribe was required to maneuver a cart through an obstacle course, and at each tower, retrieve a key and use it to unlock a chest. They must then put that chest on their cart and continue on. Once a tribe collected all three chests, its members must disassemble their cart, slide it through a barricade, put it back together, and then get to the finish -- where two other castaways would use the pieces inside the chest to solve a giant dragon puzzle.

The first two tribes to finish would win immunity, and one member of the losing tribe would be voted out at the season's first Tribal Council. In addition, the two tribes to come out on top would win Reward in the form of fire. The first-place tribe would receive a big fire-making kit. The second-place tribe would earn a flint, and the losers would walk away empty-handed.

The Brains tribe was in last place for awhile because they couldn't figure out how to get its chest through the obstacle course. Jeff called it the worst performance out of the gate by any tribe ever on Survivor. He said they were a disaster and their brains must have evaporated. It was, however, very close between the Beauty and Brawn tribes.

Beauty ended up finishing in first place and Brawn came in second. The Brains tribe knew they sucked and no one was to blame. Tasha acknowledged they were all book-smart but dumb at playing the game, and David pointed out how they failed to assign tasks during the challenge.

David then suggested to Kass that the vote should come down to J'Tia or Garrett. David told the cameras he was thinking about Day 39 and it "scared him to the core" that Garrett hadn't revealed yet what he does for work. Kass thought David's plan was ridiculous because he was their strongest guy and a workhorse while J'Tia was passing out a lot of directions without any production. Kass therefore wanted J'Tia gone.

Kass, being honest, then told J'Tia to her face the tribe was considering voting her out. J'Tia appreciated her honesty but felt upset because she didn't think she was being lazy around camp.

"I just hope I have not ruined my chances. I might have," J'Tia said in a confessional.

Tasha agreed J'Tia had rubbed people the wrong way, but Garrett assured J'Tia she was fine because he wanted everyone to vote together to get David out. Garrett thought David was a threat and "a schemer."

Spencer, however, told Garrett he thought it was weird there was no discussion of an idol yet and therefore maybe David had discovered one. Spencer said he caught David walking off and wandering around numerous times, so he assumed the safe vote was J'Tia.

Garrett didn't want to tell Spencer he actually had the idol, so he didn't think he would be able to get four solid votes that night. All he knew is that he wanted to stay strong with Spencer.

That night, Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs Brains vs Beauty's six members of the Brains tribe arrived for their first Tribal Council session -- the first session of the season overall.

J'Tia announced she knew she was in trouble and also didn't deny she was bossy and that the shelter she instructed people to make was weak. Garrett, however, said he didn't feel like "a standing target" because he trusted his tribe. David agreed that Garrett wasn't going anywhere "yet."

J'Tia then openly announced David needed to be the person to go, and Spencer revealed the vote was going to come down to what would make the tribe get along better.

Jeff then revealed the votes. Two people voted for J'Tia and four people voted to oust David from the tribe.  David and Kass were the castaways to vote for J'Tia. David said "unbelievable" as he walked out of the game as the season's first eliminee.

On Day 4, Garrett on the Brains tribe noted it wasn't fun to starve and do manual labor. It wasn't cool to him and he wasn't having a good time playing Survivor. He said he wanted to "outwit and outplay" people but not actually try to survive in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, Kass was blindsided by David's ouster, and Spencer and Garrett determined either J'Tia and Tasha would go next -- possibly Kass.

Kass realized she was No. 3 to either the girls or the guys and she would serve as the swing vote. The guys tried to keep her securely on their side, promising her a Final 3 deal. Kass verbally agreed to it but told the cameras she had no allegiance to them and wasn't 100 percent sure she even wanted to work with them.

"It's game on as long as it's not me," Kass said.

Over at the Brawn tribe, Cliff and Woo had become one another's wingman and tried to "take care of business" together. Sarah found Cliff very likeable and funny and everyone loved him, so Cliff was a big threat in Tony's eyes.

At Beauty's camp, Brice insisted Alexis was just playing dumb by being flirty and she was all about her sexuality. He also joked that "all the crayons in Jefra's crayon box aren't bright."

Meanwhile, Morgan thought Jeremiah -- whom she just liked as a friend -- had a crush on her, so she figured she could reel him in and keep him in her back pocket. Brice then told Morgan and Jeremiah the three of them needed to be "the brains of the operation" and stick together.

"I think when my tribe first saw me, they kind of thought I would just be the fourth girl on the tribe just laying out all day. Don't judge a book by its cover because I'm playing the game," Brice explained to the cameras.

Over at the Brawn tribe, Lindsey was annoyed with Trish's voice, attitude and how judgmental she was. Trish thought the same thing about Lindsey and made fun of her for being all over Cliff.

"If I really snapped on her, she'd still be crying right now," Trish told cameras.

But Tony trusted Trish and thought everyone else was full of drama. He told her to stay strong and not let the others get inside her head. Tony then built a "spy shack" so he could listen to others' conversations in the shelter -- not "small talk but big talk." He also reiterated how Cliff was his No. 1 target.

"[Cliff is] the lion or the pride. So in order to take over the pride, the other lion has to come in and kill that one and then you have to kill the cubs. I have more brain that brawn, little do they know," Tony said in a confessional.

On Day 6, the three tribes met Jeff again and he explained the rules to what would be their second Immunity Challenge.

Each tribe was instructed to swim out to a large bamboo cage, climb up and over the wall, and then jump into the water where they'd find four large fish traps. They then must untie the cage door, push the traps through, and swim the traps back to the shore, where one tribe member would use the pieces inside the trap to solve a very complicated fish puzzle.

In addition to immunity, the first and second-place tribes would receive Reward in the form of fishing kits. The tribe to finish first would get a large kit complete with a pan, oil, and salt and pepper seasonings. The tribe to come in second place would get a smaller package that included lures, weights and fishing line.

In order to even up the numbers, the Brawn tribe sat out Cliff and the Beauty tribe sat out Brice.

The Brawn tribe came in first place, the Beauty tribe finished in second, and the Brains -- once again -- finished in last place. Therefore, the Brains tribe would lose another castaway at the upcoming Tribal Council session.

J'Tia worked a long time on the puzzle and seemingly lost the challenge for the group. Even she admitted she had failed and let her tribe down.

After the challenge, Tony found a clue to the hidden Immunity Idol inside the basket of fishing goods. He actually found the idol soon afterwards and didn't plan on telling anyone about it. He believed sharing such information would just give people more leverage to vote him out and "sneak attack" him.

At the Brains camp, Garrett noted it was clear J'Tia must be the castaway to get sent home. He thought she was their best option and so he decided to have an open forum to discuss J'Tia's vote-off. Garrett was also trying to get Kass to speak aloud and prove her loyalty to himself and Spencer. Kass did call out J'Tia for not contributing to the challenge in any aspect.

Tasha was really annoyed how Garrett wanted everyone to be open with their feelings, as she felt that defeated the purpose of the game Survivor and being strategic. She wanted to have individual conversations with people, but Garrett refused any side discussions.

"I absolutely love Survivor, and now that I'm here, it's frustrating to play with people that don't want to play the game. I looked forward to scheming and backstabbing, but apparently, I'm being told, 'No.' It saddens me," Tasha told the cameras.

"I don't know why Garrett thinks he is the authority... He is not the leader of this tribe. He lays around all day, pretty much watches everyone work. He's always hungry, and now he doesn't even want to play the game... Get out of here!"

Tasha announced Garrett should just quit and it was "the least strategic game" she had ever played. She said it was just silly.

"Like the Survivor genius he is, Garrett decides to have an open forum on what we're going to do later at Tribal Council. Garrett, you're an idiot! What are you doing?! You're a first-class grade-A moron in Survivor. Why would you do that?" Spencer said in a confessional.

"It would've been so easy to just tell J'Tia what she wants to hear. But now that Garrett's put it all out in the open, we have to babysit these girls and make sure that they go home."

And Spencer was correct. Tasha began scrambling to try to get Kass to work with her, saying, they'd be one and two in their alliance women. Tasha thought she could work her way to the top and told Kass it'd be the only day they'd have the numbers. Meanwhile, J'Tia planned to go crazy at Tribal like "a mental patient" and go out with guns blazing.

Kass soon noticed J'Tia had poured nearly all their rice into the fire.

"How did we come up with the criteria for Brains? I'd like to see that data because ironically, I was going to approach J'Tia about turning this around, but then I get back to camp and she just poured all of our rice on the fire. I can't align with someone like that," Kass noted.

That night, Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs Brains vs Beauty's five remaining members of the Brains tribe arrived for their second Tribal Council session -- the second session of the season overall.

Tasha called J'Tia volatile while Garrett argued he wasn't trying to mastermind anything by having the open discussion about J'Tia's elimination at camp. J'Tia was still furious, saying Garrett had basically bent her over his knee and spanked her in front of everyone.

Kass noted everyone was just so paranoid, and then Garrett accidentally revealed he was in an alliance with Kass and Spencer. Kass didn't seem entirely onboard despite Garrett's assumption.

Covering up his tracks, Garrett tried to convince Tasha the four of them were working together and were equal. He claimed he just needed Tasha to separate from J'Tia.

Jeff then revealed the votes. Two castaways voted for J'Tia -- Garrett and Spencer -- while the three women voted out Garrett. Basically everyone was shocked at how Tribal turned out, and Spencer sarcastically asked the ladies who would welcome him to the bottom.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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