Oh what a feeling, Survivor is back! The long running reality show returns with Ghost Island, it’s 36th(!) season. There has been a lot of hype leading up to this season. Virtually all the pre-season press has been positive. Those press members lucky enough to have been on location for the first few days came back with great impressions based on the little bit they saw, especially with the cast. And that’s the key. A season can have great challenges, a fun theme, a beautiful location. But if the cast is a dud, the season’s a dud. And while it’s still obviously very early, I’d say our first impression matches up with all we’ve heard so far. So let’s get right to it.
There was no true marooning this time around, most likely because of the lack of supplies the tribes are receiving this season. There was no need for them to have to scramble for supplies since they were barely given anything to start. Each will only be starting with a machete, a pot, rice (less than usual), and a fishing kit. And that leads us right into our first challenge of the season, mere minutes after the castaways step foot on the beach. Since the theme of Ghost Island is “One bad decision can haunt you,” this first challenge focuses right in on that. It’s a reward challenge, with the winning tribe coming away with a shelter building kit. But that’s not all. The losing tribe also loses their fishing gear. A major blow for sure. The challenge consists of three people: a leader, determined by the tribe; one who will take on the physical part of the challenge; and one last tribe member who will be the designated puzzler. Malolo decides on Brendan for their leader, who then picks Michael and Laurel for the physical part and the puzzle, respectively. For Naviti, Chris makes what is probably a bad decision and volunteers to be the leader. He decides on Sebastian and Desiree.
The twist of the challenge is that once the puzzle portion starts, Probst starts a sand timer. Each leader has until the sand runs out to either commit to finishing the challenge or forfeiting. If they forfeit, they get to keep their fishing gear, but it comes at a cost. The other tribe gets everything plus 20 eggs and flint. I love this idea. I love getting the players into the game immediately. And I love putting them, specifically two players, in a tough spot right away, having to make a hard decision that affects their entire tribe. Chris ends up pulling the tiles, forfeiting for Naviti, as Desiree seemed to be somewhat lost on the puzzle. It had to have been a tough call but I’ve got to side with Chris. Yes, Malolo gets an advantage to start, but you need that fishing gear. That loss would have been worse that whatever Malolo gained from the forfeit.
Back at Malolo’s beach, Jacob is…not off to a great start. For whatever reason, he seemingly found himself on the outs pretty much right away. He then exacerbated the issue by going off looking for an idol. Everyone else realizes this and Jacob has already made himself a target. I feel like this happens a lot on the show. Someone gets into the game and just can’t sit still. They get antsy and fidgety and get themselves into trouble when all they needed to do was stop for a moment and slow down.
Nothing super interesting was happening with Naviti. We saw Wendell and Dom forming the beginning of an alliance, as we did with Sebastian and Chris as well. But before long we’re at the first immunity challenge of the season.
For the challenge, each team runs across a bridge, pick up bags of rope, pull a (I’m assuming extremely) heavy sled with huge oversized puzzle pieces, then solve the puzzle. Naviti crushes Malolo. They had a big lead going into the puzzle and were then led by Kellyn in finishing the puzzle. We saw a couple shots of her taking control, but apparently there was more to it than what we were shown. Former contestant Andrea Boehlke was on location and tweeted out the following regarding Kellyn’s puzzle performance.
I like Kellyn a lot and she just had the vibe of being a puzzle master. Early indications seem to support that. We didn’t see too much of her in these first two hours, but I think she’ll be one of the more fun contestants this season.
Anywho, we now have our first appearance of Ghost Island. Like with an Exile Island season, Naviti gets to choose one member from Malolo to send to Ghost Island. They choose Jacob, who surprisingly was boasting post-challenge about Malolo being one of the best tribes ever on Survivor. I like the confidence but this was an interesting decision. He claims he did it so he would get chosen to go to Ghost Island. It’s somewhat of a double-edged sword for him. Going to Ghost Island saved him from at least this vote, but it robbed him of an opportunity to bond with his tribemates and also to try to swing the vote another way. Plus, castaways now are no dummies. They know that going to a place like Ghost Island isn’t just some time alone. There’s going to be an idol or advantage, or at least a clue to one. You’re coming back with an immediate target on your back.
Jacob arrives on Ghost Island and is immediately presented with a choice. He breaks a small urn, which contains a parchment, reading “Game on. Follow the fire.” He then is presented with a game of chance. He has two bamboo shoots to choose from. One contains a key to unlock a third bamboo shoot. If he chooses correctly, he gets whatever advantage is in the locked shoot. However, if he chooses wrong, he loses his vote at the next Tribal Council. To no one’s surprise, Jacob plays, and he wins. But can you actually call it winning? After what he’s gone through, and what he risked just for the chance at the advantage, what does he get? The Legacy Advantage. The Legacy Advantage that he has to give to someone on Naviti. Rough start for Mr. Derwin here.
Back in the Land of the Living (Malolo beach) the tribe seems to be split between Donathan and Gonzalez. Quick aside, there was an early scene where Gonzalez told someone (I can’t remember which tribemate) that she could be called Gonzalez. I know there are two Stephanies on the tribe, but isn’t it a bit arrogant to choose to be the one who gets to be called by their last name? That’s usually a special decision reserved for Probst. Maybe that’s part of why she was being targeted. Anyway. The rest of Malolo thinks Gonzalez would be better in challenges, while Donathan would be a good person to keep around and use as a vote. Okay, that was maybe putting it nicely. The exact quote was “…if we need a little person to shove into something.” Sure, Donathan is a smaller guy but to use that as the best reasoning for keeping him around? Interesting choice But I’m here for it.
We have another “live” tribal as Gonzalez continues the (unwanted, by me at least) tradition of getting up, moving around, and talking to others. Everyone gets in on it except poor Donathan, who at one point was actively leaning away from one of the secret conversations. An interesting move. But it’s not enough to save Gonzalez, as she becomes the next in possibly the least coveted list of Survivor contestants: first boot. This would normally be the end of it, but this was a special double episode, so we have another full hour to go! Buckle up, friends.
At Naviti, Dom is still trying to convince everyone he is actually Tony Vlachos in disguise (In all honesty, though, how great would that be?) and instead of sleeping, is standing there in the darkness doing nothing, before deciding to go idol hunting. And like Tony, he’s able to find one in the middle of the night. So that’s now two idols/advantages already in play. I’ll get that later, with some final thoughts on this first week.
Jacob returns from Ghost Island with a story prepared, though not fully thought out. He says he received an idol and pulls out a fake one that he made. He’s okay up to this point. But then when he’s asked to show the letter, he stumbles and says he thinks he left it at Ghost Island. The camera was focusing on Brendan here and you can tell he’s not picking up what Jacob’s putting down. No letter=no idol.
On to the second immunity challenge of the night. There were balls locked in an underwater cage that needed to be released. Once that happened, certain, specially marked balls were collected. To close the challenge, the balls were shot into a basketball-type net. Naviti gets out to a lead, in large part due to the inability of James and Donathan to dive deep enough to unlock the cages. James would go down a few feet, maybe less, then pop right back up. And Donathan, Well, Donathan swam to the dock and just stayed there for a while. James and the rest of the tribe were imploring Donathan to get back in and give it a shot. He wouldn’t budge. Eventually it takes a pep talk from Probst himself to get Donathan to get back in the water and when does, he finishes with ease. Malolo, however, only gets to attempt a couple shots before Desiree nails the final shot, securing immunity for the second time for Naviti. Malolo, to their credit, celebrated with Donathan, showing their admiration for him conquering his fear and stepping so far outside his comfort zone. It was a nice moment and all, but the complete hesitation has to be worrisome for the rest of Malolo. Even if you see Donathan as someone you can keep around and control, it would be tough to live with that kind of performance at challenges, if they end up continuing. Naviti wisely sends Donathan to Ghost Island (his stay is uneventful; his parchment says something to the effect of “No game today.”).
Back at Malolo, Brendan is considering throwing a few votes at James, just on the very slight off chance that Jacob’s idol is in fact real. Stephanie decides to talk to Jacob and see if she can use her “flirtatious ways” on him and see if she can’t get some intel. And get some intel she does. A lot of intel, like all of it. Poor, super-fan Jacob sees his dream crushed on Day 6, at his first Tribal Council. I liked Jacob, he seemed like a fun guy. But in reality, Malolo really had no other choice. Yes, James floundered (see what I did there?) a bit in the challenge, but he sure seems like a solid, straight up dude. And he’s clearly strong, smart, and athletic. If you’re about overall tribe strength, it still would have been too early to get rid of him when you had someone like Jacob, already on the outs.
Just some final thoughts before I leave you.
- As I touched on earlier, we already have one idol and one advantage in play. I’m wary of it, but I’m okay with it for now. The Legacy Advantage can only be used at a couple specific instances, so it can’t hang around forever. And on a season whose theme is predicated on the misplay of past idols and advantages, it has to be expected that there will be a fair share of both in this season. As long as we don’t end up with another “Advantagegeddon,” I think we’ll be okay.
- We didn’t see a lot of Naviti this week, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. Most of the drama and interesting storylines were happening with Malolo. There’s still lots of Survivor left.
- It might be worth filing away that Libby was all but invisible, even with Malolo going to Tribal Council both times tonight. She seemed so bubbly and sociable in the pre-season, though, so I’d be surprised if it stays this way.
- The initial cast assessments have held true through the first two hours. It’s a fun, smart cast. Based off this first week, I’m expecting good things for this season.
- Donathan might end up being one of the most liked contestants of all time (by both fans and fellow castaways) but I’m just not sure he has what it takes to win.
- I was much more impressed with Stephanie than I thought I would be. I had her pegged as a first boot candidate, but she was great. She exhibited some strong social skills tonight and was active at Tribal, giving Probst answers, but not giving much in the way of actual information. I’m excited to see if she can keep it up.
- My top two choices for a winner pick before the season were Kellyn and Wendell. It’s still that way, and I’m going with Wendell as my official pick. The difference is all on speculation from pre-season interviews, but I’m worried Kellyn might get caught up in the “I can’t believe I’m actually on Survivor” glee of it all. If you lose focus for one second too long, that can cost you your game. I don’t see Wendell as someone who will allow himself to lose focus like that. That being said, a number of potential strong winners have emerged. Should make for a fun, competitive season.
I’ll have a fantasy update up by Saturday night, for those that wish to follow along with that. I’m going to try to come with one or two other Survivor topics to write about each week, but it remains to be seen if that will come to fruition.
Tags: Survivor, Survivor 36, Survivor Ghost Island
