Wow this episode gave me hope for the season!

We start with a narration by various contestants plus Rob and Sandra. I liked the opening as it gave us snippets of the people we are meeting and set up the theme. Then we get the classic Jeff Probst standing on a helicopter shot leading us into not a marooning. Let’s talk about the format for this episode. I loved it! It gave us time to learn the tribe dynamics and about the people competing.

Lairo

We start on the Lairo tribe pulling up to their beach. Karishma gets the first confessional about being ready for the game to start. They land on the beach and Chelsea gets a very long confessional covering the fact that they don’t see Jeff and the theme of the season. She also gives us the, “OH NO” confessional that has been used in every promo.

The tribe sees the theme of the season and wonders what it means but that doesn’t last long as they begin their shelter.

The girls go off to collect wood and Elizabeth admits to being an Olympian. Missy and Elizabeth especially connect as we learn Missy’s backstory. Missy had a brain tumor and almost died but she now she wants to be the S O U L survivor. Missy ends it by saying that it’s dope. I have a feeling that Missy does well due to having that confessional in there and she seems level headed.

Vokai

Side note: I love these tribe names. They are not similar to other names like Manu and they’re easy to remember.

Vokai hits there beach and they gather in a circle to introduce themselves. Lauren, Jamal and Tommy Sheehan are highlighted in this scene and we get a confessional from Lauren speculating the theme. Then, we are introduced to Janet who is nervous that she is on the outs due to her age so she has to prove herself and she does by making fire with no flint! I love Janet because she is the badass older woman we need on the show. Tommy specifically mentions Boston Rob in this moment. Tommy is psychic confirmed.

Lairo

Back on Lairo, we meet Vince. Vince is the first Hmong contestant ever and he wants to prove himself and represent his nationality well. Elaine, Tom and Vince hit it off and become a trio. The rest of tribe pulls a Wendy, Reem and Keith on them and makes them targets with Aaron leading the charge.

Vokai

Over on Vokai, Jamal gets the I like the tribe confessional and we find out that Jason goes idol hunting. MOLLY notices this and someone says, “Molly, you are very perceptive my friend”. Dan takes credit for Molly’s observation in his confession and tells us that he is confident that Jason is leaving first. Ok talent agent guy.

After one of the many commercial breaks this episode, we are introduced to my winner pick, Jack! He gets a clam that causes Molly to fall over. Jack is the youngest and wants to make connections so he teams up with Tommy. We shift to Tommy talking about how being a fourth grade teacher let’s him connect to everyone. We get a montage of Tommy connecting to various tribe mates and then creating a core group of 6. That group is Tommy, Jack, Molly, Kellee, Dan and Jamal who is not in this scene but Jack likes him. This leaves Jason, Janet, Noura and Lauren on the outs. Tommy has a good shot of making it far and the 6 will stay for at least one vote. Noura tells Jason about the idol rumor due to the fact that Jason reminds Noura of an ex. Noura is gonna be a character this season. Jason talks about how he thinks its ridiculous that he is targeted and I swear his voice was going in this confessional. The meta of Survivor is to never leave the group on day 1. Jason played it worse than the trio due to the fact that he was looking for idols versus the trio just getting wood. Then we get another commercial.

Lairo

We are introduced to the star of the episode, Elaine! She cracks her tribe up as she talks about going commando at the challenge and not knowing what cumin is. Honestly, I did not know about that spice either. The girls make a girls alliance and I am hesitant since Big Brother makes me nervous about girls alliances lasting more than a few hours. Missy forms it and tells Elaine about the alliance of everyone but Vince, Tom and Elaine.

Vokai

Here is the most uncomfortable segment in the whole premiere, the Dan touching everyone segment. Kellee is a bit of a germaphobe and does not like people touching her which is understandable. Dan is laying his head on her legs and she is clearly uncomfortable. Molly also feels that it’s not ok what Dan is doing. I agree that Dan shouldn’t be doing this and it’s so creepy. Thankfully, Kellee and Dan have a mature conversation and they set boundaries. Thank god that they didn’t have this issue be bottled up till one of them blows up causing a scene and ruining their games.

Lairo

Ronnie sees how likable Elaine is and wants to target her so he does not sit next to her at the end. Once again the poker player sucks at this game by thinking too ahead. He makes a fake deal with Elaine. Elaine immediately has a confessional about how that deal was complete bull and wants Ronnie out. Elaine shows that she is more than a likable person and is very perceptive. You see how short this paragraph is, that was the whole segment between two commercial breaks. CBS was being a clown by doing this and spoiling the challenge in a promo.

Speaking of the challenge…

Immunity Challenge

We get our first appearance of Jeff in the actual game. He talks to Elaine and Chelsea about the lack of a marooning and Elaine joked that they thought that he quit. Jeff reveals the tribal immunity idol and its meh. It consists of two stone heads on bamboo and it’s a little basic for me.

The challenge follows the standard opening challenge formula of physical then puzzle. They have to climb a net, go over a ramp into a sand pit, pull a bundle of wood up so they can lower a bridge, go up a large ramp then complete a hut puzzle.

The challenge is standard modern Survivor. Dean volunteered for each section and flopped on every single one. Janet was again a badass by throwing the hook perfectly the first time. Jack was also a standout by helping his tribe up the ramp and having a hero moment according to Jeff. The tribes were even until the puzzle. Dean, Vince and Chelsea did it for Lairo while Jamal, Molly and Noura did it for Vokai. According to Jeff it was the biggest blowout but I doubt it since both tribe made it to the puzzle. Vokai wins and Lairo continues the Orange curse. One more thing, One person will be randomly drawn to go to the Island of The Idols. I like the random draw since it does not become the majority sending someone in their alliance to prevent the minority from getting an advantage. Elizabeth is chosen and we end with a confessional from her worried about being away from camp since the chosen person still goes to tribal.

Island of The Idols

Elizabeth heads to the island and discovers the Rob and Sandra heads and meets them right after. Rob explains the rules of their role as mentors and the lesson is how to make fire. According to Rob the elements of a fire is a spark, fuel and air. Rob makes a fire in a minute then sends Elizabeth with Sandra to learn how to make a fire. Sandra is encouraging and tells her to fold the husk like a bun. Elizabeth eventually gets one and goes back to Rob. Rob offers an immunity idol for the next two tribals if she beats him at firemaking but if she loses then she can’t vote at tribal. We pause on her decision for now to check out the Lairo camp.

Lairo

Back at Lairo, the group discusses who to vote. The group of Missy, Elaine, Tom, Vince and Chelsea want Ronnie out and think they have Elizabeth. The other group of Ronnie, Aaron, Karishma, Dean and Vince talk about getting out Elaine and think they have Elizabeth. RIP girls alliance we hardly knew ye. Vince is not okay with this so he tells Elaine and she does not understand why she is targeted.

IotI

We cut back and Elizabeth takes the deal. Rob tells us that he was surprised that she did that since she didn’t even try to get more out of the deal. To the surprise of no one, Rob wins and Elizabeth loses her vote. Rob takes this moment to teach her about trusting her gut and that she shouldn’t have challenged him. He is right that it was a dumb decision. Elizabeth chooses the next person from the opposite tribe to go and leaves voteless. I liked the segment since it didn’t take much time and Rob ripping on people is fun.

Lairo

Elizabeth is back and decides to lie about the island by describing Ghost Island. Elizabeth should not have lied due to the fact that everyone was gonna find out eventually and know that she lied. Elizabeth did not mention the loss of her vote so everyone started filling her in to vote with them. With the way that the vote looked like it was gonna go I thought that Elizabeth would be exposed. Then, Elaine goes to Arron and Ronnie to ask why they’re targeting her. they fluff her up by complimenting her but Elaine see through it in a confessional and brings up that it’s too early to target for endgame purposes. That is true because it’s day 3 not day 30. Elaine makes a fake deal to vote Vince and they buy it because Vince is now on the chopping block going into tribal.

Tribal

I like the set design of tribal but I like the fact that Rob and Sandra are in a booth commentating on tribal. Some highlights include Rob nodding when Boston is mentioned and Sandra saying the title quote. I’m getting ahead of myself so we start with Elaine subtly calling Jeff out for changing the endgame. Elaine also tells them to put a pin in taking her out. Both Vince and Elaine cry at various points and Ronnie lists all his jobs. I caught McDonald’s, Walmart, a protein bar company and a newspaper route. We get the vote right after and by a vote of 7 to 2…

The real Ronnie leaves and continues the streak of bad poker player placements. I’m happy to see Ronnie go since I love Elaine and Vince. Also, he overplayed like hell so bye.

Overall, this was a good premiere and it sold me on the concept. Some highlights were obviously Elaine, Molly had a good night, Janet broke the older woman and Tommy seems to be in a good spot. The winners of the night was the trio plus the girls as they kept Elaine and now are the majority. The loser is Aaron since he is now by himself.

The purple player of the episode is Dean as the only person to not get a confessional. Dean does not have a great shot because the only highlights of him were him failing at the challenge but he did switch his vote to the majority.

Next time on Survivor: Noura is going crazy and Kellee is crying. I am curious why this is happening.

Power ranking coming on Monday. I will see you guys next time!

Grab your stuff and head back to camp!