Survivor premiere night. This is usually the time and place where I talk about how excited I am for a new season to start. And in the “new era” of Survivor, it’s where I talk about how I’m still excited, but with tempered expectations. And while that’s still the case for Survivor 45, I’m going into this season with a bit more optimism. The reason for that? Simple: 90 minute episodes. Fans have long been asking for this (the increased visibility and accessibility of Australian Survivor and Survivor South Africa – both of which air longer episodes – only increased the volume of those calls), CBS finally decided to give it a chance.
Now, it’s definitely a high risk/high reward situation. If production just gives us more of the nonsense that has so far defined the new era of the show, it’s going to be borderline unwatchable – maybe not even borderline. But if they add more of the fun camp life (more drama, pleeeaaassseee!) and hit on some new creative aspects, it could easily strengthen the show. In a recent article from Dalton Ross at EW, Host Jeff Probst went into some detail about how exactly the show will be different with 90 minute episodes. Some good stuff in there, for sure. But more complex idols? I mean, we’ll see, but that’s not quite what I’m looking for.
But we have a lot of Survivor left to go to see how the longer episodes play. So for now, let’s join the 18 castaways on the Fijian beaches and see what the premiere had in store for us.
Marooning
As always, let’s check out the tribe breakdowns first:
Belo (Blue)
Brandon “Brando” Meyer, 23, software designer
Bruce Perreault, 47, insurance agent (and first returning player of the new era)
Jake O’Kane, 26, attorney
Katurah Topps, 35, civil rights attorney
Kellie Nalbandian, 29, critical care nurse
Kendra McQuarrie, 31, bartender
Lulu (Yellow)
Brandon Donlon, 26, content producer
Emily Flippen, 28, investment analyst
Hannah, 33, therapist
Kaleb Gebrewold, 29, software salesman
Sabiyah Broderick, 28, truck driver
Sean Edwards, 35, school principal
Reba (Red)
Austin Li Coon, 26, grad student
Dee Valladares, 26, entrepreneur
Drew Basile, 23, grad student
Janani “J. Maya” Krishnan-Jha, 24, singer
Julie Alley, 49, estate attorney
Nicholas “Sifu” Alsup, 30, gym owner
A couple interesting sound bites as we are introduced to the castaways. Katurah says she doesn’t want to come off too smart or strategic too early. She’s going to hide the fact she’s a lawyer. I just don’t get it at this point. There’s rarely, if ever, a need to hide your job these days. You’re already going to have to lie and deceive so many people, why add one more unnecessary lie?
Emily gets a great clip, saying there’s no point in coming on the show if you’re not going to win, even going so far as to call it a waste of your time. I wouldn’t go that far, but I definitely agree with the overall philosophy behind it. Everyone wants to win, of course, but it seems like so many players these days are coming for the experience as much as wanting to win. I like the attitude.
Bruce gets introduced to all the players, but downplays his perceived advantage. And he’s completely right in saying his advantage ends after the beginning. He was medically evacuated on Day 1! And then Emily pushes back. I love that she didn’t automatically go all lovey, buddy-buddy, which has been so common in the 40s (to an annoying extent). But why take a stand like that so early? Why put yourself out there like that on Day 1?
The opening marooning challenge is run with three pairs of two. The first pair empty a large crate filled with rope and sand bags, and retrieving a key. The next pair jump into the ocean to swim to a boat where another key waits. They paddle back, giving the two keys to the final pair. They unlock two poles, used to retrieve their flint from an tall pole. As usual, winning tribe receives their camp supplies, losing tribes head to their camps with nothing.
In a close finish with Lulu, Reba takes the challenge, earning their starting supplies.
In a little twist, the losing tribes pick two players right now to participate in the Sweat vs Savvy challenge.
Lulu: Sabiyah and Kaleb
Belo: Brando and Jake
I like that production knows they need to mix up this part of the game, so we’ll see how this plays out. I’m not a huge fan of of this aspect in general, so it sure can use a shot in the arm.
Sweat vs Savvy
Another twist! This is now Sweat AND Savvy.
The representatives from each tribe arrive at a separate beach to compete head to head. This is also new. Previously, each tribe competed against nothing but time or themselves to win their supplies. But now, only one tribe will go back to camp with something to show for it. The other? Nothing.
Sweat: Move heavy logs from one stack across the beach a couple hundred feet away. Once that’s done they start right into Savvy. They have a flint connected to a rope, that they must move through a metal structure. The first tribe to complete both tasks wins their supplies. They have an hour to complete it.
I don’t hate this, but I don’t love it. But there is one good thing: only these four players know this is the twist. This feels like a lateral move, a change for the sake of change. Maybe just do away with the Sweat vs Savvy part? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?
Reba (Red)
Julie is an attorney, but lies that she’s an art teacher. Copy and paste what I said before about Katurah.
Sifu is out hunting for idols, very obviously too. He says in a confessional that part of his strategy is to look for idols and advantages, but without anyone knowing about it. Except the problem here is that everyone knows. He even starts spying on other groups, and Dee spots him right away.
On the other side, Austin knows what’s up. He’s out gathering wood, just keeping his eyes open. And he finds the Beware Advantage. Without much hesitation he opens it. It’s a clue to location of the idol.
The first part is standard, he loses his vote until he actually finds the idol. In addition to that, he has a series of tasks he must complete. First up: decipher the coded message on the tribe flag. I’m still out on the Beware Advantage. I think at this point I have to be passed complaining about (we’ll see how that goes), unless it becomes exponentially worse. But it’s just a miss for me. Let them find idols like the old days. Hide them better, where they need a clue or complete dumb luck to find them. I can hope, but I don’t see this part changing any time soon.
Belo (Blue)
The first thing Bruce says is he doesn’t want to be a leader, no “dad” of the group. He wants to be seen as the fun, drunk uncle. But then he immediately starts giving advice and directing the tribe on how to set up the camp. That’s a risky move.
Brando and Jake return, saying neither tribe won.
Kendra pitches Jake as a vote to Katurah and Kellie, “because he’s a lawyer.” You’ve got to be f-ing kidding me. I absolutely hate that Katurah is being proven right (in her mind at least). Someone’s job is such a dumb reason to vote someone off. I get it, you have to find something, and early on you might be grasping at straws for that reason. But come on now.
Lulu (Yellow)
Emily immediately starts raising the alarm on Kaleb and Sabiyah volunteering for the Sweat/Savvy challenge. Brandon arrives at camp after having to be attended to by medical, after he passed out for a bit during the opening challenge.
Sabiyah and Kaleb come back, also revealing the same. Emily of course does not believe them. In her mind she’s convinced they already have an advantage, trading the good of the tribe for personal gain.
Emily is quickly rubbing the others the wrong way. As Sabiyah says, she’s a glass half empty type person. Others talk about her being negative and pessimistic. Even besides this though, Emily does seem to have a very different personality from the rest of the tribe. She could be in big trouble already.
Immunity Challenge
First immunity challenge, here we go! One at a time, the players race up and over a ramp, sliding into a mud pit. Once all six players are over, the drag a heavy bag of coconuts to a net basket, where they throw the coconuts into the basket. Once enough coconuts are in the basket, it will be heavy enough to release a set of keys. The tribe then climbs to the top of a tall tower, where two players unlock and solve a massive Survivor puzzle.
Belo finishes first, followed shortly by Reba. Lulu struggled for the entire challenge, and barely even got a start on their puzzle. With the win, Belo secures their starting camp supplies.
Pre-Tribal
Hannah wants to get voted out. She wants comfort, she wants to sleep in a bed, she wants…nicotine? Yep, she literally said she wants nicotine. Which, I get it, nicotine withdrawals are a real thing. But it’s still wild to hear someone say that out loud. Brandon tries to convince her that she needs to stay.
And then Brandon starts breaking down a bit. He had a rough night’s sleep and is still in some real physical pain. He tells Kaleb and Sabiyah that he is going to play his Shot in the Dark.
Emily makes an impassioned pitch to vote either Kaleb or Sabiyah, arguing they are already a strong, tight – and therefore dangerous – duo. She prefers Kaleb, seeing him as a bigger long-term threat than Sabiyah. Brandon tells Kaleb about Emily, but Kaleb is still considering keeping Emily over Brandon.
The Lulu tribe is an absolute hot mess, and I love it. I wish we weren’t about to lose someone from this tribe, because this six person dynamic is TV gold. But with the way it’s gone up until this point, the remaining five players will provide plenty of fun and drama, I’m sure.
Tribal Council
Emily calls out Kaleb and Sabiyah for being the obvious strong players. They push back that they didn’t try to be in that position; it was just be default. By Emily pitching them as their own twosome, Sabiyah says Emily has isolated herself. Hannah once again talks about not wanting to be there, implying she wants to quit. With Emily taking the lead, the rest of the tribe agrees that they don’t want to keep someone who doesn’t want to be there. As much as some of them maybe haven’t gotten along, they all respect the game enough to let those players stick around. And with that, Hannah quits.
Man that is disappointing. I get it, everything can be so much harder once you actually get out there on the island, so I’m not trying to judge Hannah or rip on her for quitting so early. But a quit on the first vote? It’s just deflating as a viewer.
Winner Pick
Maybe I’m biased because Lulu got so much screen time, but I’m liking Kaleb and Sabiyah so far. They’re clearly going to be key if Lulu wants any chance to win immunity. I could see Emily pushing to vote them out anyway, but I think she’ll have a hard time forging the social bonds to make those moves. I like Sabiyah quite a bit, but there’s something about Kaleb. He’s my winner pick.
Okay, so overall not a bad premiere. Maybe my favorite of the 40s so far (not that that’s a super high bar to clear, but still). I’m going to try to have faith in production that they will use the extended episodes wisely, and that the cast will be more than just “Lulu imploded yet again.” We’re off to a solid start, and with the way the 40s have gone so far, I’ll absolutely take that.
