The two-hour premiere put the focus back where it belongs on the players.
Okay, there’s a lot to get to.
Not only isSurvivorback, but it’s back with a super-duper-sized two-hour season premiere.
Sami Layadi and Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
This was actually one episode consisting of three days and one Tribal Council for a full two hours.
How rad is that?
Some might even say as rad as a tattoo that readsLIVINwith two exclamation points and a smiley face.
The cast of ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
We can do this!
Maybe it just sounds too close to “gobbler.”
I have no idea, but what’s so wrong with just “Mike”?
Jeanine Zheng on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
Writing Gabler is hard enough.
I can’t even imagine saying it.
Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done had I been on this dude’s tribe.
The cast of ‘Survivor’ 43.Robert Voets/CBS
Maybe just called him Mastodon?
Okay, enough of that nonsense.Survivoris back, suckas!
And not just anySurvivor, but a100 percent hourglass-freeSurvivor.
The Baka tribe on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
GiveJeff Probstand his team credit.
right off the island.
And in their place, we have… well, so far, nothing!
The Vesi tribe on ‘Survivor’ 43.Robert Voets/CBS
And isn’t it wonderful?
Did you notice that about theSurvivor 43premiere?
In two hours of television, there was hardly any mention of idols, advantages, or amulets.
The Baka tribe on ‘Survivor’ 43.Robert Voets/CBS
Fine, yielded a single immunity idol for Gabler.
Don’t get me wrong: I like bells and I like whistles.
I just don’t like them overwhelming the true stars of the show the contestants.
Morriah Young on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
Look, I don’t wantSurvivorto become as absurd and ridiculous asBig Brother.
But there are spots to have some silly fun, and it’s nice to see editors finding them.
A classicSurvivorshot we’ve seen a million times.
But then something else happened.
That was some seriousTop Gun:Mavericks— right there!
(Sorry, Meg Ryan.)
And that shot was straight up beautiful.
But that’s how I roll!
So let’s roll on with some other observations for theSurvivor 43premiere.
Outsmarting the Competition (and Possibly Producers?)
Survivoris a game of cat and mouse between players.
But it’s also a game of cat and mouse between players and producers.
The production team is constantly trying to stay one step ahead of contestants.
But sometimes contestants are able to crack the code.
Survivorchallenges are conceived, tested, and rehearsed numerous times before they are actually rolled out for the cast.
But, occasionally, the players outsmart them.
I was there for one such occasion, on the very first immunity challenge ofSurvivor: Nicaragua.
Then again, pretty much everything about that season sucked.
But sometimes a player’s creativity actually pays dramatic dividends.
Is that what happened at the end of the reward challenge here at the marooning?
Which is why I love that Probst instead went super lo-fi and just dragged his heel across the sand.
It had no right whatsoever to be funny, and yet it was.
I’ve actually done that last part before (retrieving three keys instead of flint).
I did it during a challenge run-through for the third immunity challenge onWinners at War.
The one I did wasn’t too difficult.
But again, it didn’t take long.
(I asked Jeff Probst, and you canread his answer here.)
Or the middle of the list.
Or evennearthe bottom of the list.
The bottom of the list, is what I’m trying to say.
That’s where Cody would have been.
But respect where respect is due.
Cody was truly “LIVIN!!”
with that cagey maneuver.
Okay, with that, let’s go through first impressions on each of the tribes.
These people are going to be going at it in no time."
Sami is clearly a strong player in the game.
And I get it.
I just worry Sami is playing too above the radar by flashing so many skills so early.
If I were out there, I would have two eyes trained right on Sami.
The dude has to find a way to lower his threat level.
But at least Owen appeared to be touching base with everybody.
but more interesting was Geo’s decision to join him.
He needed to do something to flip the script, and helping Ryan secure the supplies did exactly that.
Getting His Assenmacher in Gear
Who is this Cody guy anyway?
I can’t figure him out.
But I’m fascinated by him.
He seems kind of like a more haywire version of Chris Noble, minus the rapping.
Do his tribemates love him or loathe him?
I can’t tell.
I’m not sure Cody is the most stable of strategists out there.
But this is definitely the tribe I feel I have the least of a handle on.
Forcing people to make difficult decisions is almost always a good thing.
I also thought it took up way too much time and happened way too often.
So, yes, I am impossible to yo.
Producers tweaked the concept here forSurvivor 43.Dwight, Karla, and… Gabler had to hike over slippery moss-covered rocks to get to a giant rock where a decision awaited them.
Dwight and Gabler can I just call him Mike, for crying out loud?
Seems like a win-win to me.
We’ve seen all theSurvivorchallenge areas over the past 11 seasons in Fiji.
(I asked Probst about this, and you canread his answer.)
Either way, this challenge looked massive.
Of course, my favorite part of the challenge was not the mere size.
Nor was it forcing contestants to crawl through the mud and other debris that then stuck all over them.
And that is exactly the order they ended in.
It’s like night and day.
Mike Gabler essentially called a tribe meeting to talk all about himself.
That in and of itself was actually not too bizarre.
I have a sneaky suspicion that happens on a semi-regular basis with Mike.
I’m sorry, come again???
Putting her body on the line!
THAT IS HOW YOU DO IT!
Okay, back to Owen and Morriah.
This is the point where I started to get really worried.
And we had hardly seen any of Morriah of this episode.
They couldn’t possibly rip her from us this early, could they?
Off to Tribal we went to find out.
Yeah, no Morriah’s wrong.
It’s okay."
Maybe that’s because in Morriah’s mind, MORRIAH JUST WONSURVIVOR!
I kid, but in all honestly, I wish I had Morriah’s rosy outlook on life.
I still am not entirely sure what that means, but I absolutely love it.
Really wish we could have seen more of her this season.
And the Winner is…
Okay, you longtime readers know how this works.
Every season, I make my winner pick after the first episode.
And then theloooooooooooongdraught began.
I had several picks make it to final Tribal Council.
I had others that won, but not in the season I predicted (thanks Jeremy Collins!).
I had people I picked multiple times and theystillnever won (looking at you, Spencer Bledsoe).
But I could never seem to seal the deal.
For 23 seasons, I suffered in misery.
It was an epic run of futility.
But then, finally, I hit pay dirt with Tommy Sheehan on season 39.
And then again last season withMaryanne Oketch.
Two of the last four seasons.
I really like what we have seen of Lindsay’s game.
The woman is playing, but not seemingly coming off as pushy or aggressive.
I like her position early.
Obviously, Sami had a great episode and seems to check all the boxes.
But he also so obviously checks all the boxes.
If I’m on a beach with that guy, I’m taking him out.
But I do think the guy has game.
And the game is just getting started.
So is ourSurvivor 43coverage.
