Solid premiere episode. Felt like old school Survivor is back! 2 tribes! Everyone got to vote! No beware advantages! Jeff forcing everyone on the mat to tell him he makes the best decisions! The Sorry for You banner that went up when yellow tribe lost immunity! Live Tribal in episode 1! Cinema.

Gonna fire off some quick first impressions on our castaways.

Yellow Tribe: Toka

• Devin- Big personality but way too stubborn and inflexible. Not switching his vote off Jenna after it seemed clear the vote shifted could be a fatal flaw. Gotta be able to shift with the tide. Think he’s gone soon.
• Kilby- Giving me similar vibes to that Brandon guy from a few seasons ago who couldn’t climb a ladder. If you told me that one of these people learned to swim from a dude he met on reddit 2 months before getting to Fiji I’d have no trouble picking Kilby out of a lineup. Big Reddit Energy.
• Mike- Yankees exec. Didn’t get a ton from him but he seems to be playing the game at a very high level. He’s my early winner pick if he can keep his threat level low.
• Brady- Likeable dude but a little too aggro for Survivor. He does seem to hold some cache on his tribe, as he was able to easily flip the votes onto Aaliyah after she threw his name out. I fear that failure to regulate his emotions are gonna get the best of him at some point, but I think he at least makes the merge. (Unless he chops his fingers off next episode)
• Jenna- Almost torpedoed her game when she wouldn’t give a second fact about herself in the icebreaker circle. Devin DID NOT like that. She was able to smoothly shift the focus onto Aaliyah when she learned she was in trouble. If she starts opening up to people, I think she can turn this rocky start around.
• Patt- Did she ever find her pants? Was jarring to hear her straight up say that they were planning to vote Aaliyah out during tribal. After blurting that out, it might be tough for people to trust her with info going forward.
• Jelly- She seems to have a good social game, but unfortunately was on the wrong side of the vote. Looks to be in some trouble going forward, let’s see if she can wriggle her way out of it.
• Maggie- Older women historically don’t tend to do well on Survivor. Hope she can buck the trend. Shoutout Sue!
• Thien An- Quiet episode from her but I like her vibe. She’s got good reads on people. Laying low, could see her going far.
• Aaliyah- Man. Definition of doing too much. Go with the flow! Throwing out a big name to save someone like Jenna who you’re not even working with is a tough way to go out.

Purple Tribe: Savu

• Eric- If I had a nickel every time someone did a Mickey Mouse impression and ugly cried later in the same episode on the last two seasons of survivor, I’d have 2 nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. The spirit of Rizgod lives on! Unfortunately for Eric he got the dreaded “this guy is annoying as fuck’ montage from the editors. Never a good sign. All in all, a rough first episode, it looks like he’s here for a good time not a long time.. Love how proud he was though after catching that minnow. They’re eating good on Savu tonight!
• Ori- Big Garfield vibes with how much this dude loves lasagna. I like that he seems to know nothing about Survivor. Need more of this and less superfans! More fun when everyone isn’t playing optimally. Seems like the classic meat shield who goes out a few votes after the merge
• Kristin- Love that she talks about how shrewd of a negotiator she is and then her go-to move is asking Kilby to do a thumb war. Well played.
• Carter- Redneck guy who was plucked straight out of the early 2000s seasons of Survivor. Think he can float deep into the game, he seems likable enough.
• Rob- One of the two Rhode Islanders on season 51. Unfortunately for Eric, this (rhode) island ain’t big enough for the two of them, as Rob quickly threw his fellow rhodie under the bus. He found an an idol and smartly didn’t tell anyone about it, but I think he’s playing too hard. I don’t see a deep run in his future.
• Sharonda- She knows what she’s doing. Building bonds with a bunch of different people on her tribe. I can see her making final three.
• Cristian- Like his wooden bowtie. Seems to be good at puzzles. Not much else from him.
• Ana- Voice actress. Quirky. She annoys me.
• Linnea- Got next to nothing from her. Jury is out.
• Alexis- Got next to nothing from her as well. Hoping for more from these two next episode.
• Lewis Tribe: Lewis
• Lewis- Bro just been chilling on exile for the first 3 days of the game. Is this the first non North American on Survivor? I guess the Open Era means the open border era? Donnie would not be happy. His hands are cooked after failing to get the idol, interested to see how he integrates into the game next week.

Alright that does it for our recap for this week. Thanks to all of you that paid your buy in already. For the rest of you don’t forget to Venmo me. $30 to @Dylan-Warner. Another email will be sent with our recap as our new website is now live. Go check it out, David and Mia put a lot of work into it and it’s awesome! Here’s some memes to tide you over until next week.