'Survivor: Cagayan' premiere: What the hell just happened?!?

It was a night of big decisions, big challenges, big contestants (in the form of former NBA All-Star Cliff Robinson) and big screw-ups as Survivor kicked off its 28th season in grand style. My full recap will be up at 1am, [UPDATE: Dalton’s full Survivor recap is now live!] but if you have already watched and want to read on and sound off on what happened and who was eliminated, then continue on here by all means. [SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Wednesday’s Survivor: Cagayan premiere.]

If there was any worry that a cast full of all new players would not be able to bring the drama on Survivor: Cagayan, that worry is now gone. Gone like the Brains tribe’s rice. Tonight’s premiere featured a double shot of episodes, meaning two Tribal Councils and two eliminations. And, shockingly, the person who could not build a shelter, and could not swim in the water, and could not solve a puzzle, and could not refrain from tossing out all of the tribe’s rice was NOT one of them! That’s right, the ghost of Brandon Hantz made an appearance as J’Tia decided to ruin her entire tribe’s food supply by pouring it into the fire. And then the tribe decided to keep her anyway!

That tribe was the Brains tribe, who did not display much of it throughout the two-hours, losing both challenges (one specifically on the puzzle portion) and twice telling the same person (J’Tia) right to her face that she was being voted out, almost ensuring the script be flipped. As a result, Miami Marlins president David and pro poker player Garrett were both voted out. Turning dumb into dumber, Garrett even had a hidden immunity idol, which he did not even bother bringing to Tribal Council. Ouch.

It was a wildly entertaining premiere that also saw crazy thunderstorms, the construction of a “spy shack,” and a very large man falling out of a boat. My full recap will be up later, but you can sound off right here and right now on what went down. Did the right people go home? Would you have kept someone that tossed out all of your rice? And which contestants are you already loving and loathing? Hit the message boards and let us know! And for more Survivor scoop sent right to your virtual doorstep, follow me on Twitter @DaltonRoss.