With Rudy gone, what do I have to watch for?

That's basically how I felt last week as I watched Rudy Boesch's torch go out as he became the second contestant voted out of Survivor: All-Stars. This is, of course, the second time in about 3.5 years that I have watched Rudy, the ex-Navy SEAL, get booted from my favorite show. Let me tell you, it hurt just as much the second time around.

Watching Rudy leave was heart wrenching for me, as he was my favorite contestant on the island. He's a bad-ass old man and I love that. Somehow though, hearing Rudy say, in his little good-bye speech, that the two that lied to him and voted him out better watch out because he has "a lot of friends" made me feel a little better. Jeri, the self-proclaimed bitch, and Jenna, the most worthless contestant on the show, will get what's coming to them. It's gonna happen, 'cause if I know anything, it's that Rudy Boesch is a man of his word.

Even more recently, in what CBS called "a historic edition of Survivor: All-Stars" (the show has only had three episodes) Jenna Morasca, the winner of Survivor: Amazon, took herself out of the competition to go home and be with her ill mother. In the end it seems Jenna made the right decision, as her mother died of cancer eight days later. Of course, the question on everyone's mind is, "Why the hell did she go on the show to begin with?"

What was most interesting about Jenna's withdrawal from the game was watching her say goodbye to all the contestants, not just her tribemates. This was a stunning example of what makes Survivor: All-Stars so different than any previous season. These people are already members of a little Survivor community. They've met as castmates on earlier seasons, at Survivor reunion shows, doing television appearances and traveling the talk-show circuit. Rumor has it that Ethan Zohn, the winner of Survivor: Africa, has really worked the Survivor alum scene, allegedly having relations with a good number of Survivor's female contestants. But the point is that these people already belong to their own Survivor world (a world, I might add, that I would do just about anything to be a part of) which changes the nature of the game quite a bit. In any other season if a contestant pulled out of the game 9 days in she wouldn't have known any of the contestants in the other tribe. Her farewell would be much less dramatic, as we would have only known her from three episodes, rather than one whole season and three episodes.

This aspect of Survivor: All-Stars is what will make or break this season. It could make for one hell of a show, if old grudges come into play and old wounds are re-opened. Not to mention the fact that this group is made up of all the most deceitful, conniving, and cunning cast members the show has ever had -- other than Amber, who I can only imagine is on the show because they didn't have enough people, or they didn't have enough attractive people.

On the other hand, the "old friends" aspect of the show could be its downfall. The first episode of the season was the most boring Survivor episode to date. Nothing happened, and the only reason that Tina Wesson was voted out was because she won the Survivor: Australian Outback season. It wasn't because she was weak or a threat to the other tribemates, it wasn't because she wasn't doing her fair share of work, it wasn't because of anything that had happened on the actual episode. It was, plainly and simply, because she had banked the million dollars already. Also, if all the contestants are already buddies, will the competitive aspect of the game be lost? Jeff Probst says absolutely not. In an interview on About.com Probst assured fans that the changed nature of the game really spiced thing up. "It's friends in a game that's designed to be played by strangers," Probst said, "which makes it really personal and sometimes really ugly." Good. Just what I was looking for.