RECAP: “Survivor 49” Episode 1
Heading into tonight’s premiere for “Survivor 49,” I was very much in the mindset of, “Let’s just get through this so we can get to Season 50.” For those not in the know, S50 will be an all-returnee season – the first since Season 40, “Winners at War.” But honestly I’m largely underwhelmed by the officially revealed S50 cast – too many multiple-time returnees, not enough big threats post S41 – and on the other hand, I found myself quite charmed with the cast of “Survivor 49.” We didn’t have any pathetic failures to launch, as we’ve had in several recent seasons. They all seem to be playing and are excited to be there. And there are some breakout characters, both in good and bad ways.
So hooray for lowered expectations, because I for one happened to quite enjoy the “Survivor 49” premiere. Read on for my spoiler-filled thoughts on the tribes and their most notable members (thus far). Disagree with my takes? Drop a comment below.
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Hina Tribe (Yellow Tribe)
Seemingly the most well-balanced tribe, even if it lacks the muscle of some of the other groups. Hina dominated this episode, winning the marooning challenge (by a seemingly pretty large margin) as well as the Immunity Challenge. Only half of the six Hina tribe members made a significant impression this episode, and it happened to be all the men.
Jason is definitely one to watch. He has a great start to his story – he was an alternate for this season, who got added to the game mere hours before he was marooned with the rest of his tribe – and his game skills were readily apparent in his calm, methodical approach to the puzzles.
Steven initially irritated me with his try-hard social game, but I softened on him quickly when he opened up about his hearing loss and his history of feeling like an outsider. I do worry, however, that he is still hung up on his perceived inadequacies, and you could see his paranoia growing this episode, when his tribe was dominating and he was in absolutely no danger.
Matt is the oldest person on that beach, at age 52. He seems super handy and laid back. I think he’s wise to not fully share his survival skills with the group too quickly, as that’s what I would refer to as “job security” for a tribe of largely young people lacking in wilderness experience. He also seemed quite capable in the challenges. I would love to see an older player dominate this game again, we haven’t had that in years (and no I do not count Gabler).
As for the women, I honestly struggle to remember who Sophie is, MC got virtually no camera time, and I was delighted by Kristina with her cackling arrival on the beach, and obsessed when she confessed her phobia of birds. Hilarious!
Uli Tribe (Red Tribe)
The Uli tribe does not feel at all balanced to me, and I think the slightest loss is going to have these folks getting real nasty real quick. That said, every member of the so-called “vibes tribe” had a Moment this episode, and I got a sense of each of them. I’ll rank them from most interesting to least.
Nate excites me. He seems smart, savvy, and centered. He is keeping his career history as a producer on Marvel Comics Universe films to himself, and he understands that taking on the “dad” role of the tribe can be a huge trap – ask Cedrek or Sol how that worked out for them. Mind you, I think Nate presents as a more serious player than Cedrek (anyone would, really), and he seems to have a stronger social game than Sol already. As with Matt, I would love to see an older man have a great run on this season.
Savannah gives big Main Character energy, and I mean that as a compliment. I’m certain part of it comes from working as a broadcast journalist – that requires a healthy amount of ego, as well as equal parts of determination and delusion – but she’s for sure playing chess when it seems like some of her tribe mates are stuck on checkers. I am expecting big things from Savannah this season.
Rizo AKA “Rizgod”: I suspect that Rizo will play very differently depending on your generation. I bet the kids will love him, and see themselves in him. He is incredibly excited to be there and performative, and seems to have a very high opinion of himself and his abilities. Whatever those may be. As a Gen X-er, he’s not for me. I’m not going to dunk on the kid. I’m glad he will have his fans. To me, this was like a less infuriating Bhanu. The secondary marooning challenge, which he won only because he blatantly cheated and copied someone else’s work, was deeply frustrating to watch, and unsatisfying as a winner. The puzzle which tripped him up did not even seem like a particularly challenging puzzle – it was a simplified jigsaw. To watch him copy and paste Alex’s work, struggle to even physically dig the item out of the sand, and then crow about how proud of himself he was, and how he was doing this for his parents, and Albania, etc. I understand being proud that you won. But you won because you cheated. You were completely incapable of doing that challenge yourself. And you’re proud of that? Could never be me.
Sage: Hilarious secondary character. Her reaction faces are priceless to me. Her total lack of filter and ability to read the room is going to be a major hindrance in this game – though she’s not the only person struggling with this (see also: Jeremiah) – but I found myself chuckling at her several times. There’s a weird charisma there that is almost anti-charisma, yet it works.
Shannon: Oh, I don’t know. Savannah seems really impressed by her, and her tribe mates seemed to gravitate toward her wellness-based approach to things. I just think the whole woo-woo schtick is going to get real old real fast. Maybe she’ll prove me wrong.
Jawan: I was enjoying Jawan for a good chunk of the episode – I especially enjoyed Jawan wearing those overalls with no shirt – but he was losing me toward the end. He doesn’t seem to have a read on his place in the tribe, which is worrisome. But more than that, his minor freakout over not being able to make fire is a bad sign. That was a no-pressure environment and he still seemed to spiral a bit. That’s not good.
Kele Tribe (Blue Tribe)
And then we have our flop tribe, Kele. On paper, Kele should have the advantage in the challenges. Two out of the six are buff guys. But I also think there are some serious weak spots in the tribe, and even after losing one of them at Tribal Council this week, they still appear to have some dead weight.
I’m honestly not sure how to rank the tribe, because I both liked and was irritated by almost every member of this tribe. So I guess I’ll go alphabetically:
Alex got such a raw deal on that secondary marooning challenge. I’m not even sure it was technically a fair fight. Either he was digging in the completely wrong area, or not digging deep enough, but him losing that task killed my soul. To his credit, Alex showed us he can pivot, as he was ready to at least consider voting out his secret No. 1, Annie, after learning that she was floating eliminating a meat shield in the next vote. He ultimately opted to NOT do that, but the fact that he was even open to it is a good sign for him, I think. I hope he can find his footing in the game.
Annie: I don’t think Annie had a great premiere episode. She did not do at all well in the challenges. I’m still baffled why they would send her out in the marooning challenge to carry a box that seemed to weigh as much as she did – that was stupid, guys. I assume the thought was to counterbalance her lack of strength and speed by pairing her with Jake, but it only served to slow Jake down. Her social game is also not good, alienating her tribe mates by going off alone, flipping on her alliance with Alex before they even got to the first Tribal – a mess. I didn’t connect with her in any way. Not even with her audacious eyeshadow game!
Jake: I was a Jake fan right from the drop, because: look at him. A former exotic dancer, built like a brick shithouse, with a swoon-worthy Canadian accent – I am in love. I slowly fell out of love with Jake over the course of the episode. I suspect he shared his story about missing the birth of his first child so he could compete on the show as an attempt at humanizing/ingratiating himself to his tribe and viewers alike. I just questioned his judgment, personally. I also really dislike this shoe-thief bit he’s doing. It feels like it’s purely for the camera, and like…be good TV by being good TV. Don’t manufacture pranks for engagement. We had one amazing shoe thief on this show with Holly from “Survivor Nicaragua.” Unless you’re destroying someone’s Italian loafers in a fit of spite, you can’t live up to that icon.
Jeremiah: I found Jeremiah initially annoying with all the astrology talk, but enjoyed his talking heads quite a bit throughout the episode. He’s playing hard, and I appreciate that. But Jeremiah kind of sucked in the challenges, and then his shockingly blunt comments at Tribal Council have me wondering how he can possibly play this game strategically. Say less, bro. Why would you even say, “The person going home tonight will be blindsided; they believe they are part of the majority and they are not.” WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?
Sophi: Sophi seems like the sharpest member of her tribe, although that’s kind of damning with faint praise. I think she has a good read on the situation in which she finds herself. Annie feels like a lock for next to go, but after that she’s easy pickings while the three guys bro out together. I’ll be curious to see if she can extricate herself from this, as of right now she has decent relationships with everyone on her tribe. That could change if Annie finds out she tattled on her plan, though.
Nicole: Our first out seems like a lovely person, but probably not well suited to this game. Her background in financial crime investigation is actually such a cool aspect – had she survived pre-merge I think she could have been quite effective in mid game. But physically she was not excelling in challenges, and she flopped both puzzle components. I felt terrible for her when she yakked in front of everyone on national television. I felt worse when she was blindsided by being the first torch snuffed. You could tell she was really hurt by that, and I hope she doesn’t take it personally. Everyone seemed to like her very much, they just did what you’re supposed to do in pre-merge: vote based on what will make the tribe strongest.
What did you think of the “Survivor 49” premiere? Are you digging this cast? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.
