Filming for Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance started on May 31, the same date that Survivor originally debuted on US television 15 years ago, and it seems this won’t be the only nod of recognition to the first season. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, host Jeff Probst revealed: “…we have this great opening plan where we’re going to do something we did the first season, and you’re going to see chaos and scrambling out of the gate.”
For those unfamiliar with the first season and how it opened, the 16 castaways were taken to a remote fishing village where they boarded a small boat. Once in the middle of the ocean, the castaways were instructed to salvage as many supplies as possible from the boat, before jumping overboard onto wooden rafts. They then had to paddle to shore to begin their 39-day adventure on the deserted island of Pulau Tiga off the Malaysian coast of Borneo. This event and the episode title itself is known as The Marooning.
The last time Survivor featured an opening like this was Season 25 in the Philippines – similar to Borneo the 18 castaways were instructed to salvage supplies from a fishing boat before paddling rafts to shore. In the second part of Jeff Probst’s interview with Entertainment Weekly, he revealed that “…we sent them [the castaways] on this huge journey though old, historic parts of Cambodia…”, which brings to mind the opening to Survivor: China. In China, the castaways arrived on location, with luggage in tow, and visited local points of interest and observed some of the country’s traditions and culture before beginning the game. This suggests that Survivor Second Chance will begin with the castaways visiting cultural landmarks of Cambodia before being taken to a local fishing village, where they will board a boat, set sail, and then be marooned.
A Survivor: Borneo meets Survivor: China style opening sounds very exciting and should make for an exhilarating start to an already hotly anticipated season.
Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance is currently filming on Koh Rong Island in Cambodia, and will air on CBS this fall on September 23. You can check out our Second Chance Retrospectives for each of the castaways here.
Buy Survivor: Borneo on DVD and watch how the original marooning happened: 
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I am so happy they are doing this! I love it when they have to salvage items and get on a raft rather then just walking to the camp. It makes the episode so much better!
I agree with Jacob, it’s fun to relive some of the classic openings of survivor again. Can’t wait for more information on this season and for september to arrive.
i agree with you in the fact that survivor has focused more on strategy instead of culture, but there are only so many different cultures in the world, and most of them arent in a place where a survivor season could be held.
As survivor has drifted towards a more strategic game, the only thing that bothers me is that it is no longer about the culture of the location. It used to be a big deal and there would be a lot more involvement in the history and practices of the places. Vanuatu is another great example of this. It seems like naming the seasons after the locations was centered on that idea, and now it has become arbitrary. If they can bring back those cultural elements, while the game remains very strategic, it will be the true ideal for me. (Survivor will be my favorite show either way of course.) I’m very excited to see that this season will be opening in this way.
Yes! I don’t like how tribes are picked pregame its unfun. I like school yard picks because its shows strategy of certain people.
[…] recently hinted that Survivor: Cambodia will start with a nod to the very first season, and that is speculated to be the marooning. In Borneo, the 16 castaways were taken on a boat into the middle of the ocean and told to salvage […]