Survivor Season 51, Episode 1
"Permanent Uncertainty"
Host: Jeff Probst
Cast: Rob Antonson, Brady Booker, Patt Cannaday, Linnea Capobianco, Cristian Chavez, Sharonda Cox, Jenna Doore, Kristin Flickinger, Ori Jean-Charles, Lewis Kelly, Danny Kilby, Carter Krull, Alexis Levine, Jelly Loblack, Eric Macksoud, Maggie Nestor, Thien An Nguyen, Mike Pinsky, Aaliyah Puglia, Ana Sani, Devin Way
Is Survivor back?
Well, officially yes as the episode aired was the season premiere for the 51st edition of the show. The hype around the season has centered on the Open Era, which we finally learned about on the first episode. Jeff explained to the contestants before the first immunity challenge that they are birthing a new game — the Open Era of Survivor where anything that has ever happened on any season in the past 25 years is in play.
You could certainly be wary of Survivor doing what it has done before. After all, it’s hard to see that much of a difference between any of the seasons between 41 and 49. However, something I’ve been noticing about modern pop culture is that many of the things that have blown up in recent years are new takes on old things. Isn’t The Pitt just ER meets 24? Shogun has been called Game of Thrones meets feudal Japan. The biggest blockbuster of the summer was a 2000+ year old story featuring Matt Damon and Zendaya. So why not take the things we love most about Survivor and throw them at a new batch of players?
So when you take all the old fun things about this show and combine them with arguably the show’s greatest strength (its casting), what we got was something that felt fresh.
The show kicked off with a marooning, though there was no indication of tribes. The series has begged for cross-tribal interactions and connections before, and this finally feels like the first way they’ve been able to really accomplish that. The players all got to know one another before they even knew if they were going to be sharing a beach together.
One person would be living on a beach by themselves, and that was Lewis, a farmer originally from Ireland. He opts to take the risk and head out on his own, finding himself on Exile Island. That does mean he’s safe from the first Tribal Council, but it is always a risk to isolate yourself from the people at the beginning of the game. It’s where many alliances get built. I do believe that Lewis is charming enough to make in-roads whenever he joins a tribe, though that may just his boyish good looks and his accent. Lewis was also granted a shot to win an immunity idol courtesy of Jeff Probst, but he fell just a bit short from being able to chop his way through a masthead.
One of the main stories of the first episode was the formation of the Helicopter alliance. This group saw Jelly (a sociology professor from Indiana), Aaliyah (a chef from Rhode Island), Devin (an actor from California), Ori (a personal trainer from New York) and Sharonda (an OBGYN from Kentucky) come together and look out for one another. Most notable was the obvious flirting we saw between Jelly and Ori. However, the group ends up being split up from one another and in one instance, potentially creating a star-crossed lovers situation between Ori and Jelly.
So the group is split up into two tribes. One thing I love about this season is some disregard for the gender dynamics. There are 11 women and 9 men and with Lewis being on Exile, it means that the gender dynamics on at least one tribe ended up being split 6:4.
The tribes end up as follows:
- Savu (Purple): Alexis, Ana, Carter, Cristian, Eric, Kristin, Linnea, Ori, Rob, and Sharonda
- Toka (Yellow): Aaliyah, Brady, Devin, Jelly, Jenna, Kilby, Maggie, Mike, Patt, and Thien An
Kilby and Kristin are chosen as negotiators for their tribes. While it does seem like Kristin gains the edge in the negotiation, Kilby doesn’t seem to do too badly for himself or his tribe here. Kristin earned the pot/flint/machete and the fishing supplies after beating Kilby in a thumbwar. Kilby ends up with the tools and the building supplies.
On the Toka tribe, Jenna finds herself on the outs right away. She has recently gone through a divorce and feels like she doesn’t have much to open up about without being incredibly vulnerable. When she tells them she’s a wedding photographer (which is true), it raises the suspicions of the others. Even subconsciously, she’s put up a wall between her and her tribemates. Devin is ready to target her right away.
On the Savu tribe, the person rubbing people the wrong way is Eric. Despite seeming to have a connection with a fellow Rhode Islander, Rob throws him under the bus by alluding to him being out looking for idols while he’s actually using the fishing gear. Eric seems to be in a terrible spot early on, though there is a chance that Rob got caught trying to paint a target on him. However, Rob is the first player this season to find a hidden immunity idol. In a breath of fresh air, it’s not a beware advantage.
The immunity challenge is a long obstacle course that (of course) ends in a puzzle. While Toka has an early lead, Savu nearly makes a comeback. Alas, it was not meant to be. Ana and Cristian are able to complete the puzzle before Kilby and Jenna can.
At Toka, Devin and Brady seem to be the biggest personalities on their tribe. While they initially seem on the same page (targeting Jenna), when Brady gets word that Aaliyah wants to go after him eventually, he changes his plans. Their disagreement on which one to go after is a really interesting one. Both seem to put their foot down, though also don’t seem that upset that the other is doing the same. It creates an interesting stand-off where they both want their own way, but know if they do a little too much, they might seem like an immovable ally.
And so it all leads to the most chaotic first Tribal Council I can remember. With both Aaliyah and Jenna’s names being floated, the other players scramble to figure out which one is better to vote out. With each of them having no real reason to trust anybody on their tribe yet, they each play their Shot-in-the-Dark (though they both wind up Not Safe).
While we obviously get a lot more story from Jenna than we do from Aaliyah in Episode 1, I will say I’m excited to see if Jenna can rebound from what seemed like a poor start to the game. And even though there seemed to be somewhat of a shift in the tribe (Devin and Jelly voted for Jenna), Lewis will likely join Toka next episode, which could change the dynamics.
Episode 1 didn’t really have a lot of twists, but it did have a lot of things happen: we had an idol find, we had Exile Island and we had a cross-tribal negotiation. But the best thing to come out of the first episode was letting us see the players play the game. Especially with a 10-person tribe, Jenna had room to maneuver around being the initial target and found herself being safe this week. It made for a great episode.
And so for now, I’ll say that yes, Survivor is back.
Grace Notes
- Jeff offering to eliminate the fire-making twist, but only if they agree on it unanimously, is not the defense of it he thinks it is
- I love the "Sorry For You" banner that popped up at the end of the first challenge
- Pantsless Patt is the best storyline of the episode
