Within the first few minutes of the season premiere of “Survivor” on CBS Wednesday night, it was clear that Gorham’s Dan Foley stood out.
Foley, a 48-year-old postal worker, was older than most of his fellow “Survivor” players, and was referred to by a competitor as “our Harry Potter grandfather.” He wore a tweed cap and a T-shirt in tropical Nicaragua while the other men were shirtless and the women wore bathing suits. And he made no attempt to hide his opinions, calling his tribe members’ decision to use bamboo to build a shelter “the dumbest idea.”
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But when the 90-minute episode was over, Foley finally blended in. Instead of being the one person voted off “Survivor,” something that happens at the end of each episode, he was among the 17 people who lived to play another day.
Still, in several scenes throughout the show Foley was shown rubbing other players the wrong way with his loud and opinionated style.
“I’ve gotten myself in a bad position really fast,” Foley was seen saying into the camera.
But in the end, Foley’s six-member team in the game, the Blue Collar tribe, won an immunity challenge that featured an obstacle course and a puzzle. That meant another team, the White Collar tribe, had to vote a member off. The third team on this season of “Survivor” is the No Collar Tribe, a collection of free-spirited folks, which also won immunity.
This season of “Survivor” was filmed last August and September in Nicaragua over 39 days, so Foley has some idea how far he progressed, though he’s contractually required not to say. The season’s winner will get $1 million.
How Foley fares the rest of the way is hard to predict. He was seen being friendly with only one fellow tribe member, an oil driller from Texas named Mike Holloway. And he played no major part in his team winning immunity.
But Foley has a passion for “Survivor” and is a student of the game. He has been trying to be on the show since its first season, in 2000, and had applied more than 100 times.
“I am here to live my dream,” Foley said on camera near the beginning of the episode. “I plan on being remembered, one way or another.”
The next episode of “Survivor” will air Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
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