‘Survivor’ 49 Premiere: Was [Spoiler] the Proper First Boot? (POLL)

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor 49 premiere.]

Jeff Probst warned that the Fiji warmth hit the Survivor 49 forged quick, however it is a uniquely humorous bunch even with out weather-induced delirium driving their conduct. The primary episode of Survivor 49 proved as a lot. This charismatic bunch had memorable characters on tribes Hina, Kele, and Uli, leading to one of many extra memorable first-boot gamers of the brand new period. It was additionally a disappointing first elimination for a few causes (keep tuned for our exit interview with this participant tomorrow).

The 2-hour Survivor premiere aired on Wednesday, September 24, on CBS. There are all the time standout personalities on this Emmy-winning competitors sequence, however Season 49 undoubtedly has extra per tribe than regular.

On the Hina (yellow) tribe are Steven Ramm, Kristina Mills, Matt Williams, Sophie Segreti, Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu, and Jason Treul. MC and Jason are the 2 alternates. Notably, Jason revealed his alternate standing throughout his first interview with Probst pre-marooning problem, and MC didn’t.

On the Kele (blue) tribe are Alex Moore, Kimberly “Annie” Davis, Jake Latimer, Jeremiah Ing, Nicole Mazullo, and Sophi Balerdi. Together with his spouse’s blessing, Jake left his 9-months-pregnant spouse behind to compete in Fiji. As of Episode 1, he didn’t know if she had given delivery but, and he gained’t discover out till his time within the recreation is over. Jake and his spouse accepted that he would miss the delivery of his first little one within the hopes that he would win $1 million for his or her little household.

On the Uli (crimson) tribe are Nate Moore, Savannah Louie, Rizo Velovic, Shannon Fairweather, Sage Ahrens-Nichols, and Jawan Pitts. Rizo competed within the post-marooning solo problem for sources, preventing towards Alex from Kele. Rizo — who, at 25, is the youngest contestant of the season — was slinging Gen-Z slang all through the problem that required discovering puzzle items hidden in pretend coconuts, fixing mentioned puzzle, and digging for the wheel of a ship buried within the sand. The puzzle was a map to the wheel.

Alex had an enormous lead, not solely as a result of Rizo was self-admittedly horrible at puzzles but in addition as a result of he didn’t notice there was one coconut left to crack open. He used Alex’s lead and Survivor‘s lack of strict problem guidelines to his benefit by operating over to Alex’s solved puzzle whereas his opponent dug for the wheel. Rizo positioned his unsolved puzzle on high of Alex’s to repeat his work and gave hilarious dwell commentary of his strikes all through. Alex’s lead shrank by the second as he struggled to search out the hidden treasure. Rizo went from saying his crew was “cooked” if he needed to clear up a puzzle to successful the problem, thereby snagging provides for his tribe.

The immunity problem noticed Hina victorious once more. Nate (a Marvel producer) and Nicole (a monetary crime guide) tried to guide their groups to second-place victory and keep away from Tribal Council. Nate’s management gained it in a nail-biter end, however Kele struggled to speak successfully all through the final leg, so their loss wasn’t too shocking. Primarily based on deliberations again at camp, neither was who they ended up voting out. Nevertheless it didn’t make their justification for the elimination any much less disappointing.

You need to make a plan with allies earlier than Tribal Council. There aren’t any ensures within the recreation, however making an attempt to outlive by yourself, particularly in week one, goes to get you voted out quicker than working with a crew. Annie and Nicole turned simple targets for the alliance shaped between Jake, Alex, Sophi, and Jeremiah, however Alex was inclined to guard Annie, with whom he teamed up in secret.

Robert Voets / CBS

Annie campaigned greater than Nicole, who spent loads of time observing the behaviors of her teammates, on the lookout for clues of deception. Nicole’s profession in investigating monetary crimes made her assured in her means to identify a liar, however that talent proved to be underdeveloped. It’s attainable that there have been conversations left on the cutting-room flooring that made Nicole suppose enjoying her Shot within the Darkish wasn’t mandatory. From what viewers noticed, Nicole did a complete lot of observing and no strategizing to avoid wasting her pores and skin. The truth is, she didn’t notice that her pores and skin wanted saving till sitting in entrance of Probst at Tribal, however even these crimson flags from particular feedback from Jeremiah didn’t make her use the one probably lifesaving transfer at her disposal.

In the long run, the crew voted Nicole out as a result of they seen her as too bodily weak, they usually needed to win challenges. Problem efficiency is all the time thought of when deliberating on eliminations, however it’s not usually the deciding think about current seasons. A savvy participant concocts a plan to point out their tribe that they’re a strategic asset they don’t need to lose. Nicole wasn’t the only purpose Kele misplaced the immunity problem; her path on the puzzle was sturdy sufficient to maintain the competitors with Uli comparatively shut. However her lack of strategic talks after the problem made her a straightforward goal. It’s a disgrace, as Nicole was a really entertaining persona on this tribe from the soar.

Survivor is supposed to be a cutthroat recreation. Voting somebody out based mostly on problem efficiency is, frankly, a boring alternative. Jake and Alex orchestrated this vote with assist from a semi-reluctant Sophi and Jeremiah. With their choice, the Jake and Alex “bromance” took management of the tribe’s narrative, and everybody else let it occur. Hopefully, the best and apparent strikes gained’t proceed to win the hour in 49’s Tribal Councils. Then again, Nicole didn’t battle arduous sufficient to remain (from what we noticed). Each suspicious look she gave and paranoid query she requested through the pre-vote interview made me beg for her to trigger a dwell Tribal to shake issues up. However alas, the tribe spoke, and Nicole didn’t.

Do you suppose Kele voted out the fitting participant? Solid your vote within the ballot under.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS