A last shot at surviving on 'Survivor'

After 21 seasons of twists and turns, now this - an island by the name of "Redemption" somewhere off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and San Juan del Sur (where the 21st season was shot).

Those voted out by tribal council head to this island where they have a chance to redeem themselves by outwitting and outlasting someone else who was voted out by the previous tribal council. The redeemed contestant heads back to the mainland later in the game. And . . . Russell Hantz and "Boston" Rob Mariano are back and at each other's throats.

MY SAY "Redemption Island" offers a whole raft of interesting and potentially pleasing game-changers - like, can someone "redeemed" actually come back to to win a million bucks? But mostly it offers Rob and Russell a chance to kill each other - in figurative terms only, one assumes.

Let's scope this out: After a few bites at the "Survivor" apple already, everyone in the world knows the Hantz style of play, so he may be an early out at tribal council. He then heads to Redemption Island, where he beats one ejectee after the next . . . until Rob arrives. Showdown!

BOTTOM LINE Sounds like fun. Meanwhile, Probst has, in fact, signed only through the end of this season. Remember: Regis Philbin leaves in November, and Probst has been often mentioned as a possible replacement.