season 13 episode 1 insider videos

Jonathan Interview

 From Exile Island, Jonathan describes how he was injured during the challenge, and explains the reasoning behind his taking the chicken. 

"The challenge was exciting, the first one. A huge, long challenge. Somehow in the challenge I tweaked something in my calf muscle, it feels like, and am not at full speed today, which sucks.

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Luck, bad luck. That's what happens. I actually did hurt my leg. It concerned me during the challenge. I was thinking about it a little bit. I was not as into the challenge as I wanted to be, and I was not physically fully into the challenge as I wanted to be. I was a little sore.

(cut)

The two black guys sent me out here, or I guess the whole black team did, but it seemed like the two of them made the decision. Only one of the African-American women sort of talked with them about it, but they sent me out here, for stealing the other guys' chicken. They said karma comes around, karma needs payback, something like that.

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I think the two guys who chose me thought they had a reason. I was surprised. Taking the chicken was well within the rules, it certainly wasn't personal. If you had asked me before the challenge how I got the chicken, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. It's not like I stole it from that guy. We were all running around taking stuff and there was a chicken in the box. That was free game. I assumed everyone else was doing the same thing.

(cut) 

What happened to the chicken - that's what already got this karma paid off. If that was bad karma losing the chicken, we lost all the chickens. And I went out yesterday at the challenge, maybe that was the karma. Maybe bad karma was saying we got three chickens, because we did, but I didn't say we lost 'em all. I just said, "Yeah, we got three chickens." I didn't know that was all the chickens there were. Maybe that was gaming 'em too much, but the fact is we got three chickens, and none of them lasted more than an hour at the camp. I don't know who lost the first one, I think Candice lost the first one. Then Flicka lost the second and third one, and those chickens are gone. So I'm out here for stealing a chicken I'm certainly not going to be able to enjoy, from a guy that didn't vote me out here. So this game is totally twisted, that's it.

(cut)

The first day I got to Exile Island, I was totally confident. There were sea slugs and things I was anxious to try. Making fire, eating raw sea slugs, building a shelter, all those things. I ran out of daylight before I could get my fire made. I was very frustrated, I was very tired, and I went to sleep without a fire. Which was OK, but I woke up very cold and it was super-windy, so I had to shift my camp in the middle of the night. But that was better, I had a better night's sleep after that. Then I woke up and was determined to make fire and (I) have done [this], to get some protein in me a little bit and (I) have done [this], and I was determined to find that idol, haven't done that yet. I'm surprised, because I thought I had a pretty good idea where it was, but not yet.

(cut)

There are some perks of being on Exile Island. I can try to find the immunity idol, which I've been looking for off and on all day. I think I have a pretty good idea of where it is, I haven't been able to find it yet. I get some time to myself. I get to heal up a little bit without anyone seeing that I'm limping around. Hopefully by tomorrow I can be healed up enough that I can say yeah, I dinged my leg but it's OK, and we'll see over a course of time whether my leg plays a factor or not. 

(cut)

I hope my tribe is missing me. We had a good time the times we were together. I'm sure they're missing me because there's only 5 of us and I do a lot of work around camp. I helped with the shelter, I helped with everything, so I'm sure they are missing having me around. But if they have fire tonight they'll be alright.

(cut)

I think the twist of the losing team sending one of the winning teams to Exile Island is a smart twist of the game. It gives the losing team some satisfaction, it gives them the opportunity to even the playing field a little bit by weakening one of the other teams. 

(cut)

The clue that they gave me to find the idol was something like, "To make top grade, stand in a line, and if the Southern island disappears, reward will be thine," or something. I took that to mean make the top grade means A or A+. There's a figure, there's a masthead stuck in the sand that makes a kind of A shape. I was trying to stand in the line and make an A or figure how to make an A+ out of it. Then when I made I looked down and looked around and couldn't see the Southern island, which is over there (motions arm) from where we are, I started digging. Made sense to me. Might still make sense, but I haven't found it yet.

Yul Interview 

 Yul recounts the many difficulties of his first night on the island, and later worries that his tribemates will find out about his successful career. 

"So it's day 2, and Puka does not have fire. Which is a problem because last night it rained, it got really cold, and we can't cook some of our food.

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Last night was really rough. For me personally it gave a whole new meaning to the word sucks (laughs). It really sucked. It really, really sucked. It was probably the longest night of my life. We were cold, we were wet, and I was sitting, or sleeping next to a guy who just wouldn't stop talking, and it was driving me nuts. I think I might have slept maybe an hour or two, but honestly, I woke up and was just thankful it was daylight.

(cut)

Cao Boi's an interesting guy. I mean in general, I think our tribe is gelling well together and we work well together and we get along as a team and all try to be helpful. I just gotta say for me the person I'm having the most problem gelling with is Cao Boi. He's a nice guy, he's definitely well-meaning, and I have a lot of respect for him. He's definitely lived a hard life. He grew up in Vietnam, came as a refugee, and has learned a lot of life lessons and has a lot of wisdom. But when you're sleeping, and cold and wet, and this guy next to you is non-stop talking, and twitching in his sleep, at some point you're like "UGH!" (puts his head in his hands), I gotta get out of here.

(cut)

At least with respect to me, Brad, Jenny, and Becky, we seem to be working well together. I think all of us are trying to work together and be collaborative. I don't sense a whole lot of ego, trying to dominate or become the leader or any of that.

(cut)

So Brad had a headache yesterday, and Cao Boi volunteered to solve the headache. I didn't see what he actually did, but I know when Brad came out he had this huge, it looked like a massive hickey on his forehead. I don't know exactly what happened; he claims it was not a hickey, it was some sort of pounding or rubbing, but it looks like a gigantic hickey right on his forehead . And he can't get rid of it, I think it's a permanent mark.

(cut)

I went to college at Stamford, I was basically a computer science major. I did pretty well in school, was a phi beta cappa, all that kind of stuff. Then I went to law school at Yale, graduated about 6 years ago.

(cut)

After I graduated from law school, I've had a pretty interesting career, I've spanned a lot of different fields. I practiced law for about 5 years, I've worked at a variety of different law firms. I worked in politics for Senator Joe Lieberman, working on techology policy. I got to work a little bit on the Homeland Security bill, which was probably the best experience I've ever had, professionally. I clerked for a judge. At some point I decided to get out of law and go into business. I became a consultant at Mackenzie, specializing in technology, then I moved to Google, where I worked in strategy. After Google, I went back as a consultant, where I am today. 

(cut)

I think I've been blessed in some respects. I had a family that encouraged me to study. I think some of that could pay off in the game. I'm good at puzzles. I have a background in strategy consulting, which might help me out, but you know, I think it might give me an edge, but I think the other people here are also bright, otherwise they wouldn't be on the show. I'm also a little bit concerned people might find out about my background, they might overweight it and see me as more of a threat than I really want to be, so I'm trying to keep that a little bit discreet.

(cut)

The tribes have been divided along ethnic lines, and I'm really ambivalent about it, honestly. I suspected that would be the case, based on the progression of where the show was going over the past several seasons. Last season, the tribes were divided based on gender and age. It seemed like ethnicity would be the next logical demographic. I don't know, I have a lot of reservations about it. For me personally, I'm very supportive of the fact that there's more representations of minorities on TV generally, and I think that's a fantastic step in the right direction. At the same time, my concern is if we're divided based on our ethnicities, it might perpetuate common misperceptions people have about minorities, prejudices or stereotypes. It's a big risk. If I'm part of something that kind of ends up demonstrating to people that even if you're a minority, or part of an ethnic community, you're still an individual, you still have an individual personality as a human being, I'd really be happy and proud to be a part of it."

Tribal Council Clip 

 Watch the first Tribal Council in its entirety as each member of Hiki casts a vote.

SEKOU (votes Sundra): You improved towards the end, but we needed you early on. You are our weakest link.

NATHAN (votes Sundra): It's all love, girl. You're the weakest link.

REBBECA (votes Sekou): You are a sweet, sweet man. We just collectively thought this was the best move for us to do right now.

SUNDRA (votes Sekou): You have a heart of gold and you're such a sweet, sweet man, but I think you may be our weakest link to win future challenges.

STEPHANIE (votes Sekou): Sekou, I'm really sorry. You're a great guy. This is just strategy.

Sekou’s Final Words

 Sekou recalls the positive experiences he had with the Hiki tribe in his final words.

"Well, as you can see I've been voted - the first one voted out on Survivor 13. My torch may be out but my flame is still burning. I have a lot of pride in my tribe, the Hiki tribe, I believe that they will win some competitions if they just stay focused and keep in mind the struggle we had to take upon entering the game. Our first competition losing the precious reward of having fire and flint. I hope that and I encourage them that they will keep all my sentiments and also remember whatever took place to help build that camp, and keep everybody focused and rally together, and don't give up, OK. Don't give up, be strong, and go out there and win. I'm still behind the Hiki tribe; fallen member, but I'm still standing with a lot of courage for them and hoping that this decision they made to vote me out will be to help the tribe. I believe a good leader is one who can at least instill some guidance, and I'm sure that I have a real strong effect with my tribe, that they will know what to do when they get to the next level. I have no doubt that they're a wonderful group of people. I loved sleeping with them, sharing coconuts with them, discovering new things that I didn't know about. I believe that they'll do well and I have no problems with the decisions that they made to vote me out, whoever chose to vote me out.

(cut)

I didn't come into the tribe with the idea that I was going to be the leader, but apparently they saw me as a strong influence, and as being one, and allowed me to exercise whatever opinions or thoughts that I had. I felt cool, I'll just do what I know what to do, I don't have to sit around and ask anyone anything. I guess that makes me stand out as a leader, and in situations like these, you have to just step up to the plate and do what you need to do. I hope I didn't offend anybody in my decision-making, I was just doing what I believed was necessary do to. Everybody did contribute in our group. If they considered me as a leader, then fine, I've given them something that they can go out there and meet these challenges and win. I'll be really proud knowing I was the first leader of the Hiki tribe. If they can bring home the cheese, fine with me, as long as they stay out there and remember the struggles we went through. Once again, if they saw that I was a real strong leader, well guess what, they're going to be a really strong tribe, and I'm proud of that."

Sekou, The Day After 

 The day after being voted off, Sekou describes the challenges he faced in his short time being on the island. 

"I was disappointed leaving the game when I did, because I thought it was so early, having to vote someone off, me being that one. I was looking forward to losing a good 20-25 pounds, getting more out in the wilderness and doing some discovery out there on the island. More competitions - I really wanted to be involved in sports. I thought I had a good shot with not getting voted out, so I was confident right up to the very last vote being read. (laughs) 

(cut)

I think - I don't think I was resistent or slow; I wanted to see what everybody was made of. I think that first day, getting to our camp, was a real struggle. It took a toll on us. We were all throwing up, we were debilitated, we were weak, but I tried to round the group together and motivate everybody, say, "Hey, that's behind us now, let's move forward." I think when I made that move it kind of established in their minds perhaps that I was taking a leadership role or something. I don't know how they really took to that. I just knew that I was ready to get into the game, do the work, contribute my portion, and get moving.

(cut)

After we lost the competition, I saw how things would shift dramatically. Nathan kept warning me all along that "sisters", as he refers to them, would stick together. They're black women and they're gonna stick together and we gotta watch out for that.

(cut)

We had to begin working up a strategy to get one of them to vote with us. I think I tried the hardest because I knew my head would be on the chopping block for a number of reasons. Maybe because I was the oldest one, and um...maybe they felt I was taking a leadership role and they needed to get me out.

(cut)

I'm not in the running for that million bucks but I feel like a million dollar experience because it was like going to camp, and I haven't been to camp in over 30-something years. Sometimes you lose a part of yourself growing up in the city and the fast life, and competing in your career and everything, that you lose a sense of yourself, you forget that part of yourself, and all through your life that part of yourself is screaming, "Let me out. Pay attention to me." During this trip, I got an opportunity to get back in touch with that part of myself. That's why I call it the million dollar experience. 

(cut)

The way I think about the tribes being divided by ethnicity, I thought, "That's different." (laughs) Wow. Some of us thought, "What do you think this means?" I thought, well this is the tribe I've been put in. It's like being born - you don't choose your family, you're just put right there. My view on it was, we all came here individually, and no matter what, one person out of twenty people, whatever tribe they're from or their ethnicity, is going to be the winner. That didn't bother me as much as getting sick and losing the competition. I just knew that this wasn't going to be about race, it was going to be about your strategy and your chacter and how well you get along with people. That was going to determine whose gonna be the winner in this whole affair. So that wasn't a major thing for me, and we all laughed about it. We thought it was pretty funny."

CBS Early Show-Secret Scene 
Watch as the Hiki tribe tries its best to make fire.

(the tribe watches as Sekou tries to make a spark against the stick)

SEKOU (solo): The most important thing for us to have right now is fire. Because we don't have a flint, we will have to actually put our body in it. And it's really more a spiritual thing.

(the tribe encourages Sekou as he says he wants to bring the fire "from within")

SEKOU (solo): You have to actually heat up the wood. Once the heat gets there, then BOOM, you got it. We're gonna have us a fire. We're gonna have a fire.