"From Pulau Tiga to the Pearl Islands, the most memorable players from the show's first seven editions compete for $1 million and bragging rights as the ultimate Survivor. The 18 castaways (two more than usual) are divided into three tribes instead of two: Chapera; Saboga; and Mogo Mogo, named for islands off the coast of Panama where the latest game takes place. The contestants include four former winners (Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Jenna Morasca) and one runner-up (Colby Donaldson).

At 76, Rudy Boesch is the oldest competitor and a shoo-in sentimental favorite.

The Chapera Tribe (team color is red) is the only group without a champ. Its members are Amber Brkich, Tom Buchanan, Alicia Calaway, Rob Cesternino, Susan Hawk and Rob Mariano.

The Saboga Tribe (team color is yellow) features victors Tina (Australia) and Ethan (Africa), in addition to Rudy, Pearl Islands fan favorite Rupert Boneham, Jenna Lewis and Jerri Manthey.

The Mogo Mogo Tribe (team color is green) is headlined by original top guru Richard (Pulau Tiga) and Amazon queen Jenna. They are joined by Colby, Shii Ann Huang, Lex van den Berghe and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien. " TV Guide

This first episode in what promises to be an exciting second chance for all contestants in a setting familiar only to one - Rupert Boneham - begins with three speedboats, each carrying one of the teams, on their way to their camps, with a military escort. Water and airspace have been cleared for their transit while host Jeff Probst flies overhead in a helicopter.

This time, the Survivors face 39 days with nothing but a water canteen. They arrive at camp to find one machete, a map to water which is undrinkable, and a cooking pot/bucket. They don't know who the other Survivors are, or how many teams there are.

The first order of business is survival: shelter and a fire to boil water.

Chapera team finds their water, argues on building techniques and Rob Mariano, originally from 'Marquesas', says he's on a buffoon tribe again. To the dismay of her tribe, Susan Hawk, originally from 'Pulau Tiga', drinks unboiled water and refuses to help with fire making, thus alienating the rest of her tribe.

Saboga team is energetic, calling themselves a "hot team" with different styles but they plan to work together. Rupert Boneham , originally from 'Pearl Islands', says he's the new guy on the block, doesn't know the others, and plans to again be the worker bee. When the team finds bananas, they exult.

Mogo Mogo team agrees on a spot to build their shelter, but not much else. Immediately it becomes a war of the genders, with a girl power meeting. Richard Hatch originally from 'Pulau Tiga' and the first Sole Survivor of the series, hangs back, not taking part of the activity and vows to shake things up and add to the team's paranoia. His naked swim has two of the women turning away, but they all agree that nobody trusted anybody else, and all alliances would wait until camp was set up.

None of the teams can make fire. Richard chortles that he could make it in an instant, but refuses to help. It's an exhausting business in the heat and humidity, and the survivors face dehydration.

Rudy Boesch, originally from 'Pulau Tiga', and Rupert form an alliance, as do Rob Mariano, originally from 'Marquesas', and Amber Brkich, originally from 'The Australian Outback'. Others sound each other out between arguments about shelters water and priorities. Some complain about sleepless nights and sore bodies. Shii-Ann Huang, originally from 'Thailand', calls Richard obnoxious and the prototype for all other winners, but dethroning him early would take the fun out of the game. Several of the contestants, including Colby Donaldson, originally from 'The Australian Outback', wonder why they signed up for another round.

Day 2 brings tree mail, the invitation to the first Immunity Challenge, Quest for Fire, the same as the first-ever SURVIVOR Challenge from Pulau Tiga, Borneo. The castaways start on floating platforms, dive down and release their raft from a mooring on the bottom of the ocean floor. They then have to transport fire torches on their raft to the beach, lighting torches along the way. The first two tribes to light the torches, bring their rafts to the beach and climb under a bamboo crawl win Immunity. Chapera and Mogo Mogo took early leads while Saboga struggled. Even Rupert, the powerhouse of Survivor Pearl Islands, couldn't muster the strength to pull his team together after he mistakenly dove for a raft that was already free. Saboga team lost the challenge, thus being the first team to face the Tribal Council, a far cry from the leading advantage readers predicted in the preliminary Poll 1.