Welcome to Give Me Five! Each week, Brent Sullivan will look at the top five impactful moments from the latest episode that could influence the rest of the season.
Another season of Survivor is underway, and right out of the gate, there was a #SurvivorFirst! This season seemed to have less pre-season material compared to the last few, so I went into this week’s episode with limited knowledge about the cast, but that made it feel sort of like an older season, in a good way.
I don’t let the theme of a season influence me in any way before it starts, so I didn’t have any side to take, but having the first challenge on the boat tie directly into the theme made it more enjoyable and seeing how it turned out was exciting. But enough of the small talk, let’s get started with top David vs. Goliath moments from Week 1!
1. Day 1 Showmance?! I am all for love and is there is no cooler place to meet the love of your life than on the world’s best TV show. But a day into the game? Really?! I know that both Dan and Kara are first time players, but the show has been on long enough to realize that you don’t put yourself into any sort of power alliance this early, especially a romantic power couple. There has only been one romantic couple that ever succeeded in finishing the game together, and Rob & Amber had the luxury of being the first ones to do it, so no one looked at it as a threat at the time. More power to Dan & Kara if they can keep it together, and we did see a lot of them early in the episode, but I wouldn’t count on both of them making too far. On a side note: I do hope that true love prevails, and it makes for a great Survivor moment as well!
2. So many alliances! Wow, there was certainly a lot of deals being made this week and most of them on the David tribe. If I list them all, one of them is bound to be right, so I can say that I picked it right at the end of the season. Let’s start off with Nick. He was the biggest offender. Not only was he trying to make deals with everyone around him, he even wanted to name the alliances. We were treated to an especially fun one between him and Elizabeth where at one point he decides to call them The Thoroughbreds. His plan seems a little too ambitious if you ask me, but at least he has a plan. We also saw Elizabeth and Lyrsa bonding in the woods about how no one will expect them to work together since they are so different. Carl wanted to take Jessica under his wing because she reminds him of his daughters. But by far my favorite pairing so far is Gabby and Christian. It just seems like the two of them were made to play this game together. I hope that this one lasts because I would love to see where it goes. Also, Davie and Carl, Dan and Kara and Natalia… did I miss any?
3. Mike makes a rookie mistake. I say “rookie” here only because he said it himself, but I don’t consider Mike a rookie at all. Not only is he a huge fan of the show and knows a lot about it, but he has also been on The Amazing Race, twice. This is an all newbie cast, but if there was anyone here that should have known better, it was Mike. Let me get on my soapbox for just a second here… I believe that everyone should be out there looking for an idol as early as possible. This is a game and finding idols is a huge part of it. The other nine players on the tribe should also be looking. However, the mistake here was looking too early and being the first one caught. Mike knew this, but his love of the game and his desire to find an idol overtook him and now he has a target. This will be huge if the Goliath tribe goes to tribal council early on and they are looking for a scapegoat. I truly don’t believe that people get voted out of this game anymore for just being someone with money or someone who is famous, but they can use that against you if you are already making other bad choices as well.
4. The first idol is found. Apparently other people were looking for the idol – at least they all were later on. Jeremy noticed that everyone was gone and then so was he… but alas, with some editing trickery, Dan appeared to have already found the idol. Dan immediately shared it with Kara and Natalia before sticking it down his underwear. So, the first idol of the season is officially in play and three people know about it. How will this impact the pre-merge game? How long will Dan be able to hold onto it before he plays it? Also, will the girls be able to keep it a secret? And how long before the David idol is found?
5. No Tribal Council. A truly tragic ending to this week’s episode. I don’t think that I am alone in feeling such sorrow for the way that Pat went out of the game. As a massive fan of the show myself, I never want to see anyone evacuated. A pure vote-out (or rock draw) will always trump any sort of injury or accident any day. You can tell how bad Pat wanted to be there and even after his rough start, it seemed like most of the tribe really liked his work on the shelter and it also seemed that they were targeting Nick at the tribe’s first Tribal Council. I would say that an event like this will make the tribe stronger and could help form bonds that last farther into the game as well. Either way, I hope that Pat is feeling better and is welcomed back to another season in the future!
There you go. What moments from the premiere week episode do you think made an impact?
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yas, you did forget bi and jessica