DISCLAIMER: I know the identities of the two players in this cast that will be playing on Survivor 50. I know the identities of both players that were last minute alternates that were added to the cast of Survivor 49. I do not know anything else about the outcome or boot order or events of Survivor 49, but will be referring to the above information in my analysis. If you don’t want to know any of that information, turn back now!

Survivor is back! Despite my mixed feelings on the New Era, I love the show and the game so it’s always fun to get back into the swing of things. I mentioned in my pre-season assessment that I’m the commissioner of a Single Elimination Pool now, so I won’t be Edgic’ing as hard this season. I’m going a little deeper for the premiere, merge, and finale, but any posts in the middle are going to be looser and more vibes based. So with that, let’s get into it!

Jeff’s opening monologue focuses on individuality and the pursuit of greatness. Epic music plays as a montage of the show’s greats flashes across the screen. He talks about how this season will be defined by the decisions made and risks taken by each players’ pursuit of greatness. His opening statement gives the impression that Survivor 49’s winner is going to play a dominant game. Perhaps they will be someone who pushes the boundaries of the game. Maybe they will have to make hard decisions to push their individual game forward over the good of the group. I’m sure more will reveal itself and develop but the “pursuit of greatness” seems like it will be central.

Nicole earned the honor of being Survivor 49’s first boot. For most of the episode I thought she was doing okay. She had some good narration and some funny character moments, but things took a turn after Kele lost the immunity challenge and Annie and Nicole found themselves well on the outside of the majority. Annie’s content had been so negative that I thought the scales might be tipping in her direction. Especially after she threw out Alex and Jake’s names to Sophi. However… Nicole straight up vomited basically out of nowhere and without any follow up. After that point, I knew it was curtains for her. Thematically, I think where Nicole went wrong was that she was just going with the flow of what her tribe mates were telling her. She didn’t make any effort to make sure it wasn’t her, she just trusted that it wasn’t her. She didn’t try to push her individual game forward at all.

Let’s take a look at the remaining contestants who will continue their pursuit of greatness.

Contenders

Savannah - Is this about to be the easiest $1 million Savannah ever makes? It kind of feels like it. We are introduced to Savannah almost immediately and she tells us why exactly her life experience makes her perfect for this game and is quick to bring up one of the most important things in this story: winning. Even better, we see Savannah connect with and suss out her tribemates at the same time. However, she doesn’t appear overpowering or the center of attention despite definitely being a primary character on Uli. She acknowledges that the tribe is getting along now, but she’s ready to start playing and by episode’s end she makes what feels like a key strategic relationship with Nate. Savannah is off to the races.

Sophi - Sophi feels like the Savannah of Kele. Situated well socially within her tribe, strong personality, and capital P, Player. She is the one on Kele grabbing the game by the horns. She doesn’t get an introduction package but she still gets a confessional before the players land on the beach. Additionally, this introduction outlines how she wants to play the game, and it sounds like she wants to play the game hard. Sophi practiced what she preached in her introduction. She quickly made an alliance with Jake, and when she got the feeling that she wasn’t really going to be Jake’s #1, she pulled someone into the alliance of her choosing in Jeremiah. She is able to put aside her personal relationship with Nicole to vote her out. It is clear that Sophi is in pursuit of greatness out the gates here.

Jake - Jake’s edit felt like one big trauma dump fit for a one-on-one date on The Bachelor franchise. The audience is probably supposed to like Jake, but he’s not for me. Nevertheless, I think he is undoubtedly a contender for the title of Sole Survivor. Jake didn’t just get an introduction package, he also got a mat chat. We learned that his father has glaucoma and will lose the rest of his vision by the end of the year, and that he is missing the birth of his first child while in Fiji. So the emotional stakes are on. He got a lot of other character moments, as well. Shoe bandit. Real life Magic Mike. Was there another one? Hm… Oh yeah, the bromance between Jake and Alex that the audience seemed to get hit over the head with over and over and over again. Not a relationship that Alex commented on explicitly, by the way. Even though the vote ended up going the way he suggested, the deliberation he had with Alex felt a little lackluster. I think he will be a big character this season regardless.

Rizo - When I was first introduced to Rizo during the Survivor 49 Sneak Peek during the finale of last season I was extremely scared. I was fully prepared to dislike this guy. However, I found him to be a lot more likeable and interesting than I thought I would during pre-season press. It was the same for this episode. Rizo got a lot of personal content in this episode and quite the comeback arc during the Supplies Challenge. In his introduction package he proclaimed that he wanted to be one of the greatest to ever play the game, which is in the ethos of this season’s central themes. His scrappiness put him on top in the Supplies Challenge, which may set him up well to make good on that promise. However, he cooled down quite a bit and wasn’t shown to be a primary actor in the game going on at the Uli beach. Nate was sure to mention that Rizo would be a strong ally though. We’ll have to stay tuned for more from R-I-Z-G-O-D, but he’s off to a strong start.

Steven -  Steven is another case of getting an introduction package and a mat chat. I think Jake’s was probably the stronger of the two, but he also went on to pretty much be the main character of the Hina tribe. We got a lot of personal content from him and he was eager to strategize. However, we started to get a lot of self-doubt and paranoia from Steven, which may be setting himself up more for a personal growth arc than achieving greatness arc. Nevertheless, I think he had the strongest opening night edit among the Hina tribe.

Some Hope

Nate - Nate had a strong premiere but I think if you blinked you may have missed it. He has a very chilled vibe, so it feels a little understated compared to the other castaways that had good nights. Nate got a great mix of strategic and personal content. Even though he didn’t get an introduction package, the show bothered to bring up his occupation and his family. Nate demonstrated self-awareness and initiated what seems like is about to be the core four of Uli by striking up a conversation with Savannah. He also got the “Rad Dad” socks moment, so just another subtle check mark next to his name.

Alex - Alex received an introduction package and a lot of screen time. We got a good idea of Alex’s position in the tribe, and his thoughts about it both from him and his fellow Kele tribe members. Alex and Sophi were perhaps portrayed as the two most strategic and complex players on Kele. However, I’m not 100% sure on how we were supposed to receive Alex. During the Supplies Challenge, it definitely felt like the audience was supposed to be rooting for Rizo. Both players honestly had a pretty poor showing in that challenge in their own ways, but it felt particularly sad that Alex managed to fumble the lead when Rizo was honestly doing so objectively poorly. We see him make a side alliance with Annie, who’s on the outs, but it feels like that gets immediately squashed by the end of the episode making the audience perhaps go “what was the point of that?” His explanation in both confessional and to Annie’s face for wanting to align with her was also clunky at best, but who knows. I might be being too judgemental and that was supposed to be really sweet and inspirational. Again, I can’t tell how we’re supposed to receive him, but I could certainly see him being a big character throughout the season and one of the players from Kele with potential.

Jason - I know it’s not the point of Edgic but Jason is kind of here just so it’s not a complete Kele and Uli blow out in these top two tiers. He didn’t get a ton of content but he got some personal content, some narration, and character moments. Nothing particularly strategic or complex, but it feels like there’s potentially something to build off of there. The inexplicable clown music over his mat chat is pretty suspect, but… I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to bookmark someone else from Hina.

Jeremiah - Jeremiah had a solid premiere. Humor, strategy, narration. He had it all. He was an active participant in the alliance formation and strategy on Kele. Additionally he got to claim that he would be the “first male Taurus to win Survivor.” Overall, good first night for Jeremiah but it feels like he’s missing some personal content that would push him into the next tier.

Kristina - Kristina wasn’t featured a ton but still got multiple funny character moments throughout the premiere. She seems friendly and sweet and helps to communicate to the audience that Hina is in fact this season’s vibe tribe. Kristina remains ear marked for me since she got a mat chat, but I could see her odds quickly slipping if her visibility remains fairly low despite her clearly big personality.

Unlikely

Shannon - Shannon seems to have been received positively by her tribe. Pretty much everyone seems to like her and everyone seems to want to work with her. Despite this, she was clearly not a main driver of the plot or strategy on Uli. She may be an important player on Uli or throughout the season, but I don’t think she got enough complexity or shine to be the winner. Something about her presence in the premiere was just giving “supporting character.”

Jawan - I thought Jawan had a strong showing for a lot of the episode, but it was all undone by his breakdown over not being able to make fire and Savannah completely annihilating him for it in her confessional. Jawan had the opening line of the season; one which suggests he will probably make it to Mergatory. In general, he had a good amount of content. Mostly narrational but overall it was solid until the foreboding fire content.

Matt - I actually liked Matt’s content in the premiere but it was pretty minimal and as a secondary character to Steven. Despite saying that the weird thing about his appearance was his beard and not his dreads, Matt seems self-aware, down to earth, and a little cheeky. He also got fire content, so perhaps he’ll be on the ride for a while. I just don’t anticipate winner.

MC - Pretty quiet episode for MC, but her tribe mates do seem to be receiving her positively. She is shown bringing positive energy, working well with her tribe, and beasting at challenges. Not much complexity or content for her in the premiere which isn’t a great sign, especially because they made a point to shout out Jason as one of the last minute alternates, but not MC. Bummed cause she seems fun, but chances don’t feel strong right now.

Got Nothing For Ya

Sage - Sage didn’t get a ton of content and the content she did receive was a mat chat about how she’s a nervous pee-er and a scene about her liking poop… So not exactly amazing when that’s all you get in an episode. It was funny, but clearly not winner. Some of her tribe members talked about connecting with her, but others were sure to note her lack of filter and the possible downsides to that. Things aren’t seeming hopeful for her.

Sophie - Sophie apparently had more confessionals than Sage, but I feel like she made no impact on me. Among the castaways that had pretty low visibility during the premiere, it is Sage that I struggle the most to remember a single thing about. For better or worse I remember Sage’s poop comments, MC was great in the challenges, and Annie is being portrayed as unlikeable at pretty much every turn. Feels as ghostly as you can get without being literally invisible.

Annie - Unfortunately, it’s not meant to be for Annie. She is pretty much featured in the background for most of the two hour episode. Her tribe mates describe her as breaking the rules of Survivor 101 and socially isolated. Most of her first-person content portrays her as bossy. She has a nice moment with Alex part way through the episode, but it’s immediately flipped on its head during the pre-Tribal Council scramble. The NTOS has Sophi seemingly calling Annie a Karen so… yeah, feels like there’s pretty much no hope for her.

After the marooning, I was having a mostly good time being back in the Survivor-verse. Two hours felt a little long but at the end of the day it was fun to be back watching the show. I’ll be back in a few weeks to discuss the merge!

**Images from Survivor CBS