We have the 24 person cast for Season 50 who are flying out to Fiji for filming right now. I have at least heard the names of all of these players but haven’t watched all of the represented seasons. I’ve got some work to do as it looks like I need to watch 12 seasons, not including Survivor 49, before next year.

This cast is a bit of a head scratcher considering some of the rumored names that were left off like Amanda Kimmel, Sean Rector, and Jonathan Penner, as well as many others who I have and haven’t seen before. Overall, I think I can get myself excited for this and there are some questions that could be answered by this season. I’m going to go down the line and give my impressions on each person based on what I know about them right now. As I said, further watching is incoming. These are just my initial impressions and hot takes without any further research beyond what I’ve picked up online or from my own viewing.

Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, Survivor Borneo, Survivor All Stars - I don’t really know much about Jenna L. but I’ve heard her name floated around before. I’m happy to see that there will be Survivor Borneo representation. It only seems right that someone from that cast would be on Survivor 50. Can’t say much more than that, but it’s about time I go back to the first season!

Colby Donaldson, Survivor The Australian Outback, Survivor All Stars, Survivor Heroes vs. Villains - As of this very moment I’ve only seen a handful of episodes of Heroes vs. Villains. I tried starting it before watching many of the preceding seasons and felt like I had to stop and come back later, so frankly, I don’t know much about Colby besides that he was on the heroes tribe.

Stephenie LaGrossa-Kendrick, Survivor Palau, Survivor Guatemala, Survivor Heroes vs. Villains - Similar to Colby, I don’t know much about Stephenie on Survivor. All I know is that she got voted out of Heroes vs. Villains early enough for me to see it and that she dislocated her shoulder in the first challenge. I did, however, see her on the first season of The Traitors US where she played with Cirie. I liked her but didn’t feel like we got a major sense of her in that game. I mostly know that she was extremely popular from when her original seasons were airing.

Cirie Fields, Survivor Panama, Survivor Micronesia, Survivor Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor Game Changers - The Best to Never Win, the reason I started watching Survivor. Cirie… Personally don’t necessarily need to see her again. Especially knowing she’ll be on Survivor Australia vs. The World. I’m not complaining, I will always welcome an opportunity to watch her again but was it a need for this season? No. And I hate to say that! Because I actually think this New Era is actually more suited to a player like Cirie. Unfortunately, she has such a huge resume and legacy that I think a lot of these New Era players will be happy to vote her out early. I think they would be happy to vote any of the old school players out early. It’s just such a shame because, again, I think the New Era favors socially and strategically savvy players, there isn’t as much need to be a challenge threat, but her reputation precedes her. She’s going to need to try to win some immunities to make it far, which hasn’t exactly been her strong suit. Can she adapt? I don’t want her legacy to be tarnished by this go around. One advantage she may have over some of the other old school players though is that she still watches the show, so she may have already been cooking up some ideas.

Ozzy Lusth, Survivor Cook Islands, Survivor Micronesia, Survivor South Pacific, Survivor Game Changers - Another player I don’t really need to see again. I have not seen Survivor South Pacific, but for the most part, it feels like Ozzy plays the same game every time with his hubris slightly decreasing each season. The man has admitted that he’s not the best strategist. There is a little bit of curiosity though as to whether he’ll play a different game on Survivor 50 out of necessity. In a 26 day game where being a provider doesn’t seem to matter, and the challenges seem to be designed to get to a winner ASAP or have a “great equalizer” at the end, Ozzy’s typical gameplay doesn’t hold a lot of weight. Obviously providing would still be nice, but it seems like these New Era players do just fine. It’s not a necessity. There's also barely any swimming! The same question can be asked of both Ozzy and Cirie, but their way through this game is going to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. Can Cirie win a challenge or two? Can Ozzy strategize?

Benjamin “Coach” Wade, Survivor Tocantins, Survivor Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor South Pacific - Coach really annoyed me on Survivor Tocantins, but that’s probably exactly why he’s a good person to bring back. Outside of Survivor 46 and a handful of others, New Era has felt a bit devoid of truly big personalities. This is probably partially due to there not having been a “Second Chances” or “All Stars” for New Era players for these people to really cement themselves in Survivor history. Coach is a big personality, he can’t help himself, and he seems a little delusional perhaps. This is a genre of character that I think needs to make its way back into Survivor, so I don’t hate it. I look forward to probably being irritated by him.

Aubry Bracco, Survivor Kaoh Rong, Survivor Game Changers, Survivor Edge of Extinction - I haven’t seen Edge of Extinction but I’ve seen Aubry’s other two seasons. I’m not 100% sure why she was asked back. I enjoyed her on Kaoh Rong and like many, was surprised she didn’t win. She felt a little lackluster on Game Changers. Is the audience crying out for Aubry to return? I don’t really know. I hope she can make a good run of it. If nothing else, hopefully it’ll be fun to watch Q try to vote her out for the “big mistake” of being Aubry Bracco.

Chrissy Hofbeck, Survivor Heroes vs. Healer vs. Hustlers - I’ve heard this woman’s name but know nothing about her really. Perhaps she was pretty good at challenges? I’m not sure. Great journalism happening here. This is one of the seasons that will be added to my watchlist.

Christian Hubicki, Survivor David vs. Goliath - The David and Goliath crew are some of the players I’m most excited to see again. We’ve been treated to cameos of some of them on different seasons of The White Lotus but it’ll be fun to finally have them back on our screens. Christian made a name for himself with his Tribal Council metaphors and his ability to create good bonds with players across the aisle. He was a big threat to win the game but his torch was snuffed early. Will he be able to make a comeback in Survivor 50?

Angelina Keeley, Survivor David vs. Goliath - We’ve dreamed of times like this. I hope this game changer has packed her jacket this time because I’m hoping she can persevere a while on Survivor 50.

Mike White, Survivor David vs. Goliath - I’m pretty shocked to see Mike White on this cast list just because he’s now in this post-The White Lotus era. He’s so famous now and he arguably could (should) have won David vs. Goliath. I’ll be curious to see how he navigates Survivor 50 in this new phase of his career.

Rick Devens, Survivor Edge of Extinction - Again, I haven’t seen Devens’ season, but I hear his name a lot. Perhaps Jeff Probst is obsessed with him? I don’t know, but I’ll be finding out.

Jonathan Young, Survivor 42 - Jonathan is from a New Era season I haven’t watched but I guess he’s supposed to be a challenge beast? I’ll be curious to see how he’ll stack up to someone like Ozzy because these New Era challenges are so different than they used to be. Maybe the challenges were different on Survivor 42 but.. I don’t know.

Emily Flippen, Survivor 45 - I also have not watched Survivor 45 but I know that Emily Flippen was very popular and the audience was thinking she maybe would have a phoenix rising from the ashes type story. I don’t know to what extent that story played out but I know she didn’t win because the winner of her season is also on this cast.

Dee Valladares, Survivor 45 - I was hoping for no winners, I felt like the Sandra and Tony boots from Game Changers were such bummers. I know that she played one of the most respected New Era winning games by the online community’s standards. So I’m just a little wary of having such a recent, dominant winner on the cast. It just feels like wastes of spots? Maybe she’ll maneuver out of an early boot.

Quintavius “Q” Burdette, Survivor 46 - You’d have to go ahead and cancel Christmas if casting didn’t call up Q. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory and could have been assumed. He is probably among the most iconic players of the New Era. Q was very chaotic on Survivor 46 and I don’t expect him to bring anything less than that the second time around.

Charlie Davis, Survivor 46 - Personally, I don’t think I need to see Charlie again without Maria. If I’m seeing Charlie again, I wish it was on a rivals season and he was cast with his #1 who betrayed him. My guess is he wouldn’t play that differently considering he played not too long ago and made Final Tribal Council. I was rooting for him but liked Kenzie as a winner, too. However, probably casual audiences widely feel like Charlie was robbed. So this casting makes sense in that respect, even if I don’t really need it. If they were going to go with this genre of New Era game bot, I think I would have preferred to see Andy Rueda from Survivor 47. My only real hope for Charlie is that he drops the Taylor Swift schtick this time. That would be a win in and of itself.

Tiffany Ervin, Survivor 46 - I loved Tiffany on Survivor 46. She is a bit of a head scratcher in terms of being, I think, the lowest placing contestant on their original season. However, I think Tiffany can bring it. She’s strong, smart, and strategic and she gave us some great one-liners. She was among my picks if they were ever going to do a New Era Second Chances, so I’m happy she’s getting another opportunity even if this wasn’t the context in which I’d imagined it.

Genevieve Mushaluk, Survivor 47 - I’m excited for Genevieve to play again! I think what’s interesting about her is that we know that she’ll likely try to play an at least slightly different game. She was a pretty decent strategic player who had a mind for the game, but due to her position was swinging from the bottom as a free agent from the merge on. It will be interesting to see what she does with a fresh perspective and probably a different approach to her social game.

Kyle Fraser, Survivor 48 - No offense to Kyle but I am really displeased to see him and Joe on this list. I thought that Kyle played a great game on Survivor 48 and he was a more than deserving winner. However, we just saw him and he won and I was hoping there weren’t going to be any winners on the season. Additionally, I feel like this combination of players from Survivor 48 is a bit of a nightmare for all of them. Kyle’s undercover #1 will be there, as well as the guy he pulled one over on who he was also aligned with for long stretches of the game. By putting him in the cast with Joe and Kamilla it feels to me like the show is asking Kyle “prove it” regarding his win, which I think just don’t really like. The alternative is that he and Dee played perhaps the best winning games of the New Era and they want to showcase them both, but the way they edited Survivor 48 doesn’t necessarily make it feel that way.

Joe Hunter, Survivor 48 - I’m sure there’s a decent portion of casual audiences that were sad or upset that Joe didn’t win Survivor 48. The edit of that season makes a lot more sense knowing that he’s coming back. It shielded him, praised him, and revolved around him. I maintain that Survivor 48 didn’t feel like Kyle’s season, it felt much more like Joe’s while also not necessarily being a “why Joe lost” story. There’s a little nugget from Final Tribal Council that implies that he sacrificed whatever game he might have originally played when Eva came to him about her autism and that after that there was no turning back for him. So I’m sure there are some people out there who are wondering what kind of game Joe would play without Eva. I’m not one of those people, but I guess I will be treated to that story whether I like it or not.

Kamilla Karthigesu, Survivor 48 - Kamilla is the only player for Survivor 48 that I’m happy to see on this list. It felt like she was cast on the wrong season and she still made Final Four Fire Making. She’s entertaining and a great strategic player, so I’m excited to see her play again with a different batch of people. What I’m not excited about is that she is going back to Survivor 50 alongside two other players that made Final Four and her #1 ally. I just hope that the dynamic between her other original castmates don’t sink all of their ships since they all literally just played.

Rumored Survivor 49 Players

They haven’t officially revealed who the players from Survivor 49 are going to be, but it’s been rumored online that Rizo Velovic and Savannah Louie will play back-to-back seasons. Rizo definitely left an impression in the Survivor 49 First Look proclaiming himself “Riz-God” so… He’ll probably be a big personality. How he’ll do, I’m not sure, but if we’re hypothesizing based on the finishes of the rest of the cast he probably goes at least decently far. Same can probably be said of Savannah, who I don’t think I could identify from the First Look, so perhaps she plays a bigger role later in the season or even wins to make it three winners on Survivor 50. Again just speculation on the direction the show might be going with that, but of course, we won’t know until the fall. Of the New Era seasons that I’ve watched, the winner was featured in the First Looks for Survivor 44 and Survivor 46, but not Survivor 47 or 48. So it’s hard to say exactly these people's winning chances. What we do know is that they are players to be keeping a special eye out for on Survivor 49.

Although there are some swaps I would have made, I still like a lot of the people they selected and I think it’s a cast that makes decent sense and should hopefully have some interesting dynamics. I’ll be curious how they structure this season with 24 castaways and probably 26 days. I think the big takeaway though is maybe there should be full returning player cast seasons a little more frequently going forward because in service of these players from between Survivor Game Changers and Survivor 49 getting their chance to play again, there are many players from Survivor Borneo to Survivor Game Changers who have never played a second time or haven’t played in a long time who may not be physically able to play the next time there’s a returning player season. Just a bit of a bummer, but I am going to let myself be excited for Survivor 50 and root for its success.