The hype for Survivor’s 50th season was real. After all, 24 of the greatest players in the history of the show are going to attempt to Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast each other in the most cutthroat fashion humanly possible in an attempt to be called the Ultimate Survivor. There’s history here, and you could feel that history within the opening minutes with the intro and then seeing all the legends of the game on one beach to start this historic 26-day race.

Let’s get into the Tribes, and the fun part is, we don’t know if there’s going to be a Tribe Swap or not, because after all, Survivor 50 is named “In The Hands Of The Fans” for a reason.

  • Orange: Cila- Jenna, Rick, Emily, Christian, Savannah, Joe, Cirie, Ozzy
  • Purple: Vatu- Kyle, Aubry, Q, Colby, Rizo, Angelina, Stephenie, Genevieve 
  • Teal: Kalo- Dee, Tiffany, Charlie, Jonathan, Coach, Kamillia, Chrissy, Mike White 

When I took a look at these Tribes, the Kalo Tribe stuck out to me the most. This Tribe not only has the most New Era players (Dee, Tiffany, Charlie, Jonathan, and Kamillia), but it also includes all-time legends like Coach and Mike White, the creator of White Lotus.

We get our first taste of the fan vote once all the Tribes have been divided, as Jeff Probst explains the fans voted on if rice/supplies should be earned or given to begin the game, and in a close vote, the fans voted for the players to earn both, shocking a lot of the cast, but a move that I personally voted for and wanted. With only 26 days, the best players to ever step foot on a beach for Survivor should have to earn EVERYTHING, in this writer’s opinion.

So off to the marooning challenge we go, and it was won by Vatu, who earned a bond fire at camp. However, each Tribe still had to earn supplies. To do that, Vatu sends Q, Cila sends Ozzy, and Kalo sends Coach to go compete, and this is where gameplay starts to kick in.

When arriving at the beach for the challenge, Coach and Ozzy have a discussion about their past relationships in the game, and how they want to help each other. That discussion almost means nothing now though because to earn supplies, participants had to retrieve three bags of sticks and twine by climbing a pole, digging in sand, and swimming out to a buoy. Once all three bags were retrieved, they tied the sticks together to make a long pole that was extended to retrieve a key. The contestant that successfully retrieved the key, won supplies, and even though Ozzy knocked the key off the post, Coach stole it and won the challenge. 

Following the challenge, Ozzy and Q read what they hoped was a reward clue, only to find they were now exiled to Exile Island for losing the challenge, and they both lost their vote at their first Tribal. 

The next morning, Q and Ozzy have to make a decision: One person was returning with the supplies. One person was leaving with no supplies, but they got their vote back essentially with an extra vote. Ozzy chose the extra vote let Q take back the supplies. I’m interested to see how Exile Island is adapted for the New Era. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the twist the first time.

Over at camp, we’re starting to get a feel for the dynamics. Over at Cila, Jenna, representing Season 1 of the show, is already throwing out Cirie’s name. Savannah is honest with her Tribe and tells them she won 49; as they had not seen the season. She tries to do this to show trust, but it may backfire because she is now seen as dangerous. Meanwhile, Joe says he gets along with everyone and is looking to play a different game than Season 48 when Kyle and Kamilla “played him”. Rick Devens immediately bonds with Emily and Christian, and Ozzy makes it clear he0 wants to play with Cirie.

At Vatu, Q tells everyone the truth while the night he was at Exile, Kyle, Genevieve, Angelina and Stephenie form an alliance and want to rope Q in. Aubry and Genevieve are not seeing eye-to-eye and openly declare each other a threat. Colby in a confessional says at first he didn’t like Rizo. He didn’t understand what he did on Season 49, but he see’s how charismatic he is and reminds him of himself at age 25.

For Kalo, Coach is viewed as a hero for winning the challenge. Jonathan/Coach form an alliance, as do the New Era players of Kamillia, Tiffany, and Dee.

We’re still not even at the first immunity challenge. Instead, it’s day two, which in the New Era means a journey, and one member from each Tribe get on a boat. It’s Mike White from Kalo, Savannah from Cila, and Colby from Vatu. Before they get into the task, Colby tells Mike White and Savannah about Coach stealing the supplies from Ozzy. 

As for the journey, the three players draw rocks. The loser doesn’t play. It ends up being Colby vs Savannah, and they have to stack blocks until one side falls. Savannah wins and keeps her vote while Colby loses his vote, and Savannah tells Colby she’s looked up to him all her life, and that she would like to play with him. What Colby doesn’t know is that after he leaves, there is a note for the winner of Season 49 that the fans voted for dynamic advantages, and she earned a block a vote.

Back at camp, Mike White confronts Coach about what happened at the supply challenge. We see Coach upset because he wants to be an honest player and Slay The Dragon, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes again.

At Vatu, Colby tells the truth about his interactions while Genevieve finds the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol. Genevieve has to give the idol to another player on another Tribe, who won’t know it’s from her. This is the part of the twist I ADORE: If they get voted out with the idol in their pocket, it goes back to them. I’m glad fans voted for idols and that fans voted for many twists. We need chaos and dynamic gameplay for a truly memorable season.

Savannah tells the truth to her Tribe, outside of her earning the block a vote, but the Tribe doesn’t buy it. We also find out Genevieve gave her idol to Ozzy.

After approximately 4.5 pages of content and halfway through the three-hour premiere, we finally reach the immunity challenge. This episode was off to a glorious start, and then during the challenge while going up a ramp, everything changes when Season 48 winner Kyle damages his achilles and can’t even stand. Even though he finishes the challenge thanks to the help of his teammates, there is real concern for him moving forward. Medical even had to stop the challenge to make sure he could continue.

Kalo ends up finishes first, followed by Vate and Cila in last, as Cirie struggled getting a monkey spool over a platform, putting a target on her back, but it wasn’t enough of a target to vote her out, as Jenna goes out with a 7-1 vote. Yes, the Season 1 representative was the first boot of Survivor 50.

The next day. Jeff and the medical team come to Vatu’s camp and check on Kyle. Unfortunately, Kyle has to be pulled from the game due to concern of long-term damage to the achilles if he does not rest for three months, as this GOATED episode ends on a sour note. 

Despite Kyle’s evacuation, this episode was the BEST episode of Survivor I have ever seen! These 24 players came to play HARD, and they gave maximum effort, the only thing Probst asked for to start the game. For me, the most interesting aspects were Coach and Ozzy’s still continuing feud, the return of Exile Island, and how recent winners in Dee, Kyle, and Savannah managed to keep their threat level down, while players like Joe and Genevieve have completely adapted their games from the last time they played. Meanwhile, the old-school players like Jenna and Cirie maybe have not learned how to play in the New Era.

Is it next Wednesday yet?!

Grade: A+