Welcome to a new season of Survivor! And a new spot for my recaps! I’ve been recapping the long-running CBS reality juggernaut since season 35, Ghost Island, on my own site, News from the Couch. I’ve done other writing for FandomWire over the years, mostly movie reviews, and now I’m excited to bring my love of Survivor to a new audience!
I’ve been up and down on the new era, with no season cracking the top half of my season rankings. But I’m going into this new season with extra positivity, assume it’s going to be good until proven otherwise. And we’re off to a good start! This was simply a good, solid episode of Survivor. So, let’s get to it!
Marooning
As always, before we get into the action, let’s first take a look at our tribe breakdowns.
Gata (Yellow)
- Andy Rueda, 31, AI Research Assistant
- Anika Dhar, 26, Marketing Manager
- Jon Lovett, 41, Podcast Host
- Rachel LaMont, 34, Graphic Designer
- Sam Phalen, 24, Sports Reporter
- Sierra Wright, 26, Nurse
Lavo (Red)
- Aysha Welch, 32, IT Consultant
- Genevieve Mushaluk, 32, Corporate Lawyer
- Kishan Patel, 27, ER Doctor
- Rome Cooney, 30, E-Sports Commentator
- Sol Yi, 42, Medical Device Salesman
- Teeny Chirichillo, 23, Freelance Writer
Tuku (Blue)
- Caroline Vidmar, 27, Strategy Consultant
- Gabe Ortis, 26, Radio Show Host
- Kyle Ostwald, 31, Construction Worker
- Sue Smey, 58, Flight School Owner
- TK Foster, 31, Athlete Marketing Manager
- Tiyana Halllums, 27, Flight Attendant
Once again, we get Jeff literally just describing the ethos of Survivor to the players. “You vote players out but then have to turn around and ask them to give you the vote for the $1 million.” Yeah, dude, we get it. I’m not going to ding the show for this, but come on, Jeff. Let’s find a way to mix it up at least a little bit next season.
As expected, the show wastes no time getting right to it. Probst walks the castaways into the jungle for their first challenge of the season. Two players crawl under a muddy net, race into the jungle, and retrieve two puzzle pieces from one of three different obstacles. They race back to the beach, and the next pair goes. Once they have all six pieces, two players solve the puzzle. The first tribe to finish earns their camp supplies: pot, machete, and flint. Both losing tribes will have to try to earn their supplies later on.
Something we’ve seen a lot of in the new era of Survivor is innovative — or at least new to the show — camera work. And here we get one of the cooler shots we’ve maybe ever seen, as a camera follows the track into the jungle along with one of the contestants. It’s little things like this that can add up over the course of a season.
Tuku is first to get to the puzzle, followed shortly by Lavo, with Gata bringing up the rear. But as any fan (and player) knows, it’s all about the puzzle; it’s the great equalizer. And that proves out here, with Gata completing the comeback, winning the challenge.
To earn their supplies, Lavo and Tuku each choose one player to take on the challenge. Aysha volunteers for Lavo and her tribemates are only too happy to let her take it on. Tuku decides to throw paper and rock, with the odd one out going. Why not just do odds and evens? It makes more sense and leaves out the chance that someone messes up — as TK does when he throws paper. But he still was the odd one out, so he joins Aysha, representing Tuku.
Supplies Challenge
Aysha and TK arrive at the challenge and discover that only one of them will earn supplies for their tribe. They have a crate with four locks. The two race against each other on separate paths to find the first three keys. A single fourth key will determine who wins the supplies.
I like it! Production finally did something different, moving away from the Sweat vs Savvy challenge, which had definitely grown stale. The final key is out in the ocean, and TK gets just enough of a lead on Aysha to get there first and secure the key and his tribe’s supplies.
Gata (Yellow)
Jon Lovett, co-host of Pod Save America, definitely feels like one of the potential stars of the season. I have no doubt he’s going to be an excellent storyteller and should provide some terrific confessionals (and if you’re reading this, well, you know how this prediction turned out…).
Anika is shot by a cannon as soon as Gata hits the beach. She takes the leadership role, which is never advisable. But she can’t help herself. I like Sam’s plan of trying to be the “glue guy.” That’s how I think I would like to approach the social aspect if I were ever to play ( I won’t, no, thank you).
Andy starts working on an alliance with Rachel. He’s already working with and trusts Jon but needs additional numbers. Rachel likes him but doesn’t see him as a strong strategic partner. In particular, she thinks he’s too eager.
Andy is having trouble sleeping and feels like he may be spiraling. He wakes up Rachel to talk, which she doesn’t like. She knows how suspicious it looks to everyone else when two players go off together — and in the middle of the night! — to talk alone. She empathizes with him but still doesn’t love how it looks strategically.
Lavo (Red)
Teeny has grand plans to “play this game as everyone’s number one.” It makes sense on paper, but that can easily create big problems for her if the others find out. And in a show like Survivor, they’re going to find out.
Aysha returns to camp and has to face the music. She has no choice but to tell the full truth. And Jon isn’t the only podcaster on this season. Aysha podcasts for Rob Cesternino’s Rob Has a Podcast network. Teeny pulls Aysha aside, revealing she’s a big fan of hers and wants to work together. Aysha likes it but is worried about what might happen if her being a Survivor podcaster — and a relatively well-known one, at that — becomes public knowledge.
Rome goes hunting for the Beware Advantage and eventually finds it tucked in a tree. He is to head straight to a path where he’ll find a box that will have everything he needs to find an Immunity Idol. Until he claims the idol, he cannot vote at Tribal Council.
He has to soak a piece of driftwood to reveal the location of the key to unlock his box. As he’s working through the driftwood, Aysha finds him. She doesn’t see specifically what he’s doing but knows he was up to something. She tells the rest of the tribe, and they go out to find Rome.
Rome finds the key, which was at the bottom of the well. The rest of the tribe sees him at the well, and he sees them and just dips out of there. No acknowledgment whatsoever. He might need this idol, and he seems to be losing trust by the second with everyone else.
Tuku (Blue)
Sue, as the oldest person on the cast, is keen to make some quick connections. We’ve all seen “the old one” voted out early, and she is very aware of that. She makes a good initial bond with Caroline, so she’s off to a good start.
TK comes back to camp as a hero. Wins like this are hard to come by in Survivor, and the tribe is thrilled for their good fortune. And TK earns some easy points with his fellow tribemates.
Gabe finds the first Beware Advantage of the season, but he’s with TK and doesn’t want to clue him in on it. He finds the same note as Rome and sets off on his path.
He quickly finds the box, which has further instructions to find the key to unlock the box. But as he’s pulling down some vines to get the key, TK walks up on him. However, TK — facetiously — suggests they found the key before finding the Beware Advantage. Gabe goes along with it, but TK’s no dummy. He’s certain Gabe found the advantage and is actively choosing to keep him in the dark about it.
Gabe decides to bring in Sue to help him finish with the Beware Advantage. She plays lookout as Gabe returns to the box with his key. Gabe unlocks the box. He has one idol, good for one Tribal Council. If he chooses to take on a second task, he can earn an idol good for three Tribal Councils. He doesn’t hesitate and goes for the second task.
Gabe wakes up early to get to hunting for the key to unlock his next box. The key will be inside a piece of driftwood, so he gets to smashing. Lo and behold, he eventually finds it. He gets back to the box, unlocks it… and finds yet another box. He can choose to take on yet another task to get a regular, full-powered Immunity Idol, good to the Final Five. He decides to quit while ahead, and stick with his current idol, good for three Tribals.
Immunity Challenge
The tribes start in the water on a platform, dive in, and swim to the boat. They paddle to the shore, collecting three heavy chests along the way. Once on shore, they drag the boat along track and under net to the finish, where three tribe members use the keys in the chest to unlock and solve a large Survivor logo puzzle.
In addition to immunity, they’re also playing for reward. The first tribe to finish wins a tool kit, with the second tribe winning a smaller tool kit. The losing tribe has nothing left but to head to Tribal Council, where one unlucky player will become the first player voted out of Survivor 47.
Lavo cruises and easily finishes first. Gata is nowhere near completing their puzzle. Andy, not working on the puzzle, doesn’t quite collapse but sits down on the side, eventually lying down. Jeff sends medical to look after him, and so far, there’s nothing to worry about.
The Gata tribe, though, has something to worry about, as Tuku finishes second, sending Gata to Tribal Council. Medical gives Andy some water, cools him down, and he’s good to go.
Well, maybe “good to go” isn’t quite right. Andy has a bit of a breakdown on the mat before everyone goes back to camp. He talks about how emotional he is, feeling like he’s on the bottom, and that his tribemates don’t like him. He even says that Jon is his best friend in the tribe and that he was considering throwing Jon under the bus to save himself. He actually said that! Out loud! If he’s looking for a way to have his best friend abandon him, this might be it. Truly absurd.
Pre-Tribal
Andy, obviously, seems like the clear choice. But now Jon is feeling a little paranoid that he might be the target. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone else to put your name out there. Jon talks to Anika, Rachel, and Sierra and they all agree Andy should be the vote. They want to tell Andy that Jon is the vote, as they think Jon is the only name Andy would believe. Jon agrees but, of course, feels uneasy about it.
Jon talks to Andy, still wanting to work together. Andy wants to target Anika, and Jon hops on board. Jon doesn’t want to just sit there and let things happen to him. If he’s going to go out after one episode, he wants to go out swinging. The two of them approach Sam about voting for Anika, who tells them he’ll do it, but he actually wants no part of it.
It looks like the vote is coming down to Andy vs Jon. Andy provides more physical strength for challenges, but he’s given the tribe a clear reason to worry about his mental approach to the game. Jon is the opposite. He’s not necessarily a liability in challenges, but he’s not strong like Andy. But he’s more even-keeled and rational, and they don’t have to worry about him blowing up like Andy already did and very well could again.
Tribal Council
Our first Tribal Council is nothing special, as they often aren’t. As you would have guessed, lots of talk about Andy and the usual “here’s how the first few days of the game went” discussion.
Nobody plays their Shot in the Dark, and Jon is voted out first, seeing his Survivor journey come to an early end. That sucks. He would have been such a fun narrator for the season. I live for the chaos that players like Andy bring to the show, but every season needs someone like Jon. You know production would have leaned on him for an abundance of confessionals. But such is life in the game of Survivor.
That was a good episode! Survivor 47 is off to a strong start, with an abundance of potential. Let’s hope the show and cast capitalize on it.
Winner Pick
I’ve only made two correct winner picks since I started covering Survivor: Wendell in Ghost Island and Tommy in Island of the Idols. This is beginning to feel like an exercise in futility, but I have to do it. With maybe 0% confidence, I’ll say ER doctor Kishan. We didn’t see much of him, so maybe we would have seen more if he was an early boot. And the little we did see was extremely positive. As good a reason as any, I suppose.
Things I Liked
I started this partway through last season, and I’m going to keep it going, at least for another season.
- The cast. I’ve thought the casting has been a weak link recently for the show. I like where this cast is at, with some potential good players and big characters.
- Beware Advantage. These seem to be relatively easy tasks to earn the idols. I still wish they would do away with these and just go back to regular hidden Immunity Idols, but this works. It’s so much less fun when players can so easily be without a vote at Tribal Council. That looks like less of a risk, at least with the Beware Advantages.
- No Sweat v Savvy! That was tired and played out, glad they got rid of it.
- “Dude, you’re in the game still. Stop.” Jeff talking to Andy as he’s being tended to by medical. Incredible comment.
- The episode! A strong start to the season; let’s hope they keep it up!
If you want more Survivor coverage, we are back for another season of my Talking Llama podcast. Listen and subscribe where you get your podcasts.
You can catch new episodes of Survivor 47 every Wednesday at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS, and it is also available to stream on Paramount Plus.
