It’s Survivor season again, and we’re back with the 48th installment of the series. 18 players answered the call (literally, as the show opens with a montage of casting producers informing them they made the cut) and now they’re here to play, inspired by their favorite players across 25 years of history. Mitch was inspired by Christy overcoming her disability in The Amazon, Kevin longed to play like Yul Kwon but only felt like he could compete after seeing underdogs crush it in David vs Goliath, and Chrissy’s a day one fan who saw Jeff himself asking for applicants and knew it was her time.
But dreaming of Survivor and actually playing it are different worlds, and right out the gate, the game is on as the purple Lagi Tribe dominates the reward challenge for supplies. The orange Civa Tribe holds their own but can’t keep up with a tribe of physical titans, but the green Vula Tribe is a total mess between Kevin dislocating his shoulder carrying a huge chest and Cedrek failing to get up the ramp. But like last season, the losers have a second chance to compete for supplies by sending sole representatives to play another challenge. Civa chooses Kyle while Kevin steps up for Vula, hoping to redeem himself and prove he’s not a liability despite his injury.
While the men head off for a showdown, the rest of the players get to know each other and form early bonds. On Lagi, Thomas senses he could be the weak link but manages to form solid bonds with Joe and Shauhin the shelter builders, along with his true number one Bianca as both want to play social games and aren’t chiseled athletes like the others. On Civa, we have the vibe tribe as stuntman David wows everyone with his physicality, Mitch and Kamilla are excited to finally play their favorite game after years as super fans, and firewoman Chrissy takes the lead as the social queen of the tribe, using her experience with a variety of bold personalities to examine her options. And on Vula, it’s all about alliances instead of friendships as Sai ditches Mary and Stephanie in favor of working with the men instead.
Across the sea, Kyle and Kevin compete for supplies, and this challenge is all about thinking on the fly and solving problems. Kyle’s manic approach fails as Kevin’s slow and methodical one gives him the lead, but Kyle’s strength lets him reach the final stage first. But rushing the final phase causes Kyle to break the glass bottle containing his key, giving Kevin the win by default. And just like that, Kevin’s the hero, Kyle’s failed again and helps Kevin finish his task out of respect, and the game changes as Vula gets their supplies.
Back at Vula, Kevin’s introduction to the tribe shakes things up. Fire starter Mary immediately bonds with him and pitches an alliance to which Kevin agrees without hesitation. But Sai, Justin, and Cedrek have their eyes on their tribe’s new hero too, pitching him a four person alliance too. He’s gone from injuring his shoulder to winning supplies and becoming the swing vote MVP of his tribe. Not bad for the so-called golden retriever. Kyle’s arrival on Civa is uneventful though, because the rest of the tribe is more concerned with discovering mysterious letters and symbols painted around camp. And as Mitch says, it’s kind of concerning how they’re spending more time on a wild goose chase than getting camp set up.
The same can’t be said for Lagi though, as Eva’s going all in on gathering bamboo for their shelter. As the first openly autistic contestant, she knows her strengths and weaknesses in game like this. On one hand, she’s going to miss some social cues because nobody will be direct with her as they lie to her face. But on the other hand, she’s able to fixate and focus on her goals, and her determination can be a super power in the right situations. Eyeing lovable family man Joe, she links up with him as her number one as Joe’s prepared to take a solid alliance all the way to the end without betraying them. And as her number one, Eva opens up to Joe alone about her autism and how he can help ground her if she needs help. In a season all about pairs as Jeff has said, this could be the one to watch.
Unfortunately, this leaves Star as the outsider of Lagi without any notable allies. So off she goes to find an advantage in the jungle, disappearing from camp to everyone’s alarm. And it only gets worse as another major alliance takes shape against her. Thomas, Shauhin, and Joe team up as the California Girls alliance, named after their mutual state of residence. Joe pitches Eva as their fourth while Thomas pitches Bianca, effectively making it a five person alliance at this point, and so Star’s fate seems to be sealed without a miracle on her side.
Meanwhile on Vula, it’s a battle of social and strategy as Stephanie and Sai pit their approaches to the game against one another. While Steph’s keen to lay back, get to know her fellow Vulas, and not direct anything out of fear of being seen as bossy, Sai is up and at ‘em, rallying the men to her side to hunt for the tribe’s idol. Finding a locked puzzle box alongside Justin, she hates the idea of doing math out there in Fiji and feels the frustration as her vote’s lost for the time being. But she’s not going to wait to solve it, and so the entire alliance gets to work, putting together the numbers, the symbols, the colors, everything to crack this code. And with the inspiration of her family pushing her to keep going, Sai finally gets her fully powered idol and retains her vote. No twists, no catches.
Back on Civa, the good vibes have stopped being so good. Turns out Charity is rubbing people the wrong way, both because of her lack of conversation and her steak cooking preferences of all things. Kamilla and Kyle end up having so much in common between their origins and favorite movies, so they’re a quick duo to form. Chrissy and David are tight as well, so they happily join the anti-Charity club and forge a solid four with one target in mind should they lose.
But today, it’s not going to be Charity’s time. And it won’t be Star’s time either as both Lagi and Civa win immunity, leaving Vula in last yet again despite almost pulling off a comeback. And guess who’s responsible for the loss? Kevin and Stephanie, who flubbed the puzzle at the end and shall face the consequences of taking that risk. And seeing how Kevin is in good with everyone, Stephanie is the easy vote here.
But it won’t be so simple because these players are willing to keep their minds open. Mary is going to stick with Stephanie to the bitter end and gun for Sai, putting Kevin and Justin in the middle to decide this round and end someone’s dream. Stephanie might have laid low and gotten to know people, but when it came to the puzzle, she didn’t want to listen to direction and took over to the detriment of the tribe. On the flip side, Sai’s trying to call shots left and right as self-appointed leader, and she’s got an idol making her a threat both in the short and long term. If Kevin and Justin stay with Sai, they have a solid four and put Mary on the bottom. If they flip, they have new allies and potentially a new idol to put in their own pockets for a change.
Ultimately, this vote comes down to whether Sai’s bold fearless gameplay or Stephanie’s chill sit-on-your-hands approach wins out. It’s a tale of two playstyles, and it soon becomes a battle between them at tribal with snarky comments and astrology debates galore. But with the writing on the wall as her numbers just aren’t there, Steph plays her Shot in the Dark, pulls a dud scroll, and takes the first boot spot with only Mary voting to keep her. It’s a sadly early exit for one of the quirkiest characters this season, but her slow approach to the game just didn’t pay off when Sai got ahead early and never let go of her control. Vula’s a game-heavy tribe, not a vibe tribe. And Steph’s quirky vibes just weren’t cutting it.
Overall, it was a perfectly fine premiere. Nothing amazing, but nothing horrible either. The cast is fun, everyone got at least one memorable moment for better or worse, and there aren’t any obvious holes in the dynamics to be explained. Unfortunately we’re stuck with three obvious boots sitting on the bottom (Charity, Star, and Mary) regardless of who loses immunity next, but maybe we’ll get a shakeup despite this cast seeming pretty stable and level-headed so far. But hey, even if the season takes a while to get going, at least we have the Survivor 50 fan votes to keep us entertained, beginning with sending Forced Fire Making to a landslide slaughter like Vula did to Stephanie tonight.
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