Survivor 44, Ep. 1: I Can't Wait to See Jeff
Wipe the dirt off your buffs, grab your torch, and hold your advantages tight, Survivor 44 is HERE!!!! CBS is cranking out Survivor seasons and Tribal Council Blog is happy to break it all down for you. Like Survivor’s new podcast, "On Fire with Jeff Probst" think of Tribal Council Blog as a “companion” to 44. You watch the episode of 44 and then you come read Tribal Council Blog for a unique perspective, passionate deep dives, and some smokin hot takes about all that is happening on the island during season 44!
This blog is a great joy for me to write as an outlet to explore my creativity, voice, and passion for the greatest social experiment ever created, Survivor. Please feel free to comment on the website, check out my Instagram account for all content and blog posts, and my YouTube channel as well.
Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to sharing the journey with you this season.
With that being said, let’s meet the players of Survivor 44.
SURVIVOR 44 CAST
WINNER PICK
Lets roll with Heidi. I like her back story a lot and I think every aspect of it will lend itself to doing well in Survivor. I think she has the motivation of her young kids to propel her forward through the struggle and the big move decisions of the game. I hear her story and think grit, and grit will serve her well in this game.
EPISODE 1:
The boats intro nails it every single time! The music, the anecdotes, the images, the waves crashing over the boat, Yam Yam’s introduction to the world through his giddiness to poop in the ocean and of course, Jeff asking us who will have what it takes to be the Sole Survivor!!!
The introduction really is incredible. People are 100% authentic and aware of the magnitude of what is about to happen and they can’t control it. As a fan and hopeful castaway the magnitude of the moment where you walk onto the beach, stand with your tribe, and meet Jeff is euphoric through the TV. Jeff does an amazing job of acknowledging the moment too. His questions to “guy on the end” lands so well because we the audience, only know that guy as “guy on the end”, but we the audience also know, soon enough we will see the story unfold and the characters take shape, have a name, and so much more.
REWARD CHALLENGE
1st Place - WIN a pot, machete, and flint
2nd Place - Gets to choose the challenge (SWEAT or SAVVY) to try and win flint.
Last Place - Gets the activity that 2nd place doesn’t choose to try and win flint.
Our first little twist adjustment to the opening reward from 41, 42 and 43. I like it. I like that it forces both SWEAT and SAVVY to be done. Good move producers, we want to see both challenges to be played.
LET THERE BE BLOOD!!! AND MUD!!! AND SAND!!!! Bruce busts his bald head WIDE OPEN and enters into the worst opening to a reality TV competition ever.
SOKA (Orange), RATU (Green), TIKA (Purple) in that order enter the puzzle and are ready….
STOP!!!…BRING IN MEDICAL!
Ok. First, I don’t think it’s a surprise that somebody got hurt in the opening challenge. This challenge’s first phase involved hitting the deck and crawling under logs and through mud. We’ve seen people bust their ass on the opening challenge before so the bloodshed we see Bruce have isn’t a shock. The other important piece to point out here, this challenge is PURE ADRENALINE. If this challenge was to literally run through a brick wall, I think each tribe would find a way to do it. LOL.
Last point on this, they show Jeff stopping the action, calling for medical, and an accelerated version of the treatment Bruce receives. The question is “Do we need to see this?” In this case, the answer is Yes. First of all, they had that insanely cool and yet gorey super slo-motion videos of Bruce’s head busting open and gushing blood. We love to see that kind of action and being caught up in the challenge as much as the players are, but juxtasposing it with the raw emotion and human element of this guy being potentially hurt, makes the game real.
Jeff let’s Bruce bring us back in with “Survivor’s Ready?” and he even does the strange drop one arm and raise the other that Jeff does. Jeff is firing on all cylinders - in midseason form right out of the gate. 👏
BACK TO THE CHALLENGE
TIKA and SOKA get to the upward ring toss and SOKA wins their supplies. RATU is back in it and all 3 of their guys fling the rings off and beat out Carolyn and TIKA to guarantee the choice of SWEAT or SAVVY back at camp. Big win for RATU to be able to choose their task.
The challenge ends and the once pristine looking castaways filled with “first day of school” jitters are now coming down from their pure adrenaline high - bleeding, mud soaked, and gone through their right of passage into the game. LFG!!!
SOKA (Green Tribe)
The cumbaya at SOKA is abruptly interupted by THE BIRDCAGE. Here’s what we know.
The Birdcage is in broad daylight
There is a bag with beads (a la 43) hanging inside the cage.
The bag inside the cage has the SOKA insignia on it.
There is a padlock on the cage.
It’s important to keep in mind that the beads and throwback to 43 wasn’t known by the 44 players. In other words, 44 didn’t see that beads played a role in an idol as it did in 43. The Birdcage is great. I’m in. The mystery and immediate twist elements accelerates the game dramatically. Remember, we still are doing 26 days, not 39. My guess, the advantage inside the cage is a new Beware Advantage that someone will unlock upon finding the key to the lock. As for the two sets of beads, they must be part of the challenge with the Beware Advantage. How great is Survivor!
RATU (Orange Tribe)
Brandon and Matthew take on the SWEAT challenge piling coconuts one by one into their bag. They have 4 hours to do it.
TIKA (Purple Tribe)
They are forced to do SAVVY because RATU chose SWEAT. They have 15 minutes to solve the puzzle and write their ONE guess on the blackboard. The two people on the puzzle Helen and Carson, the guy who told us he studied everything he could and practiced puzzles. Carson also tells us that he didn’t want to volunteer for the puzzle and put an unnecessary target on his back. Carson strikes me as an “overthinker” because I am one too. I think this will come back to bite him or maybe he just outwits everyone and wins.
The Birdcage part 2 looks like a bag of blood and 4 zombies banging on the cage trying to get it.
Carson and Helen solve the puzzle, 18 rings, and Carson wins the Way Too Early best confessional award insulting RATU for giving the guy with glasses the SAVVY challenge.
BACK AT RATU
Birdcage part 3 and the inch by inch crawl to exhaustion in the SWEAT challenge. Cue up the Al Pacino “Game of Inches” speech. Brandon knows it (he’s a former NFL player) and Matthew is living it. Inch by inch they drag the body bag of coconuts to a victory.
SWEAT and SAVVY were a familiar appetizer for the players and us the viewer. Think of an order of calamari with the round pieces and the tentacle ones. It satisfies the pallet as a viewer early on with the strategy elements and the ideas it forces the players into.
BACK AT TIKA
Carson is striking me most. He gained 30 pounds to come out to Survivor likely in anticipation of losing weight on the island. AKA he did his homework because he is a Survivor nerd and a NASA Engineer. AKA an actual nerd. Keeping my eye on him.
BACK AT SOKA
Heidi is “tiny but mighty” and follows Yam-Yam’s fire making at TIKA by starting fire for the green tribe. We have our first handshake agreement between Frannie and Matt and it makes me wonder what the real value is of doing that this early. After watching 43 and the bond of Jesse and Cody or even 41 with Ricard and Shan, if you can make a bond or truly feel a good enough vibe to shake hands and align with someone, it still seems to be the BEST TIME to do it.
First impressions go a long way and I think that is true in Survivor as well. You can always make more alliances and alliances within an alliance, but you only get one chance to make a first impression with someone on your tribe at the very beginning of the game. You have to hope it’s the right one and there’s certainly no guarantee of that. Craps ring a bell?
TIKA Night 1 (Purple)
The words you never want to hear on Survivor. No, not “The Tribe has Spoken”, but the much much much more devastating “we are pulling you from the game.”
Poor Bruce.
The experience of a lifetime is pulled out from under you as quickly as it began. You’re left feeling cheated and disgusted. He literally didn’t make it one night. In other words, no Tribal Council, no torch, no fire representing your life in the game, no votes, no voting, no strategy, no blindsides, no idols, no advantages, no rewards, and worst of all NO LUCK in this game. Bruce’s game was taken away from him because of adrenaline like the kid who got ate too much candy and spoiled his dinner except the dinner that got spoiled was one he dreamed of.
For everyone else, at least they won’t be first out.
RATU (Orange) Day 2
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THIS SEASON!!!!
We just get introduced to Matthew and his desire for a midlife challenge in place of a midlife crisis and what do we get - a Survivor Crisis of him slipping and falling while climbing rocks. DISASTER. His shoulder pops out and he needs a medic. Like, come on dude. Bruce hasn’t even gotten to the hospital and your dumbass is trying to climb rocks at 40.
He sliced his hands up. His foot is flowing blood. Is stupidity going to take him out???
Jesus Christ. Matthew is in a sling and his foot is taped up. Challenge liability. Total trainwreck. I mean the digital ink I just wrote my thoughts about Bruce’s situation hasn’t even come close to drying and Bruce’s nomination for worst start to a reality TV competition has no chance in comparison to Matthew’s, should it take him out.
Matthew said it and we are all thinking it. Can you f@#king imagine achieving the unthinkable of getting on Survivor and then shooting yourself in the foot with your own stupidity. I want to puke just thinking about what that must have felt like for Matthew. The good news, at this point, he’s still in this, but it doesn’t look good.
TIKA (Purple) Day 2
Carolyn, the Drug Counselor is definitely the odds on favorite for Most Likely to be Misunderstood.
RATU - Birdcage Scramble
Brandon finds the key to the Birdcage. The question becomes - What do you do now? Maddy wanted to keep it a secret but Brandon takes that as he can’t trust Maddy. Not to be outdone, Maddy then takes that as Brandon doesn’t want to work with me. Crazy.
Now, they open the Birdcage to reveal my first incorrect prediction of 44. The cage didn’t have a Beware Advantage, but instead it had a Hidden Immunity Idol and a “Dummy” Immunity Idol. Way to go Brandon, I feel like we ruined the good surprise on you.
Please let the finders at TIKA and SOKA be the right people and make some moves happen with their Birdcages.
FIRST BOAT JOURNEY
RATU - Lauren
TIKA - Sarah
SOKA - Matt
Twists are happening everywhere folks. Every player has to draw one of three packages from the bag. 2 packages have a Lose Your Vote and one is an advantage. If you draw the advantage, you’re done. If you lose a vote, you can draw again and either lose your vote a second time at Tribal or win the advantage.
Sarah - Lose a Vote & wins the “Inheritance Advantage”
Matt - Lose a Vote & Lose a Vote
Lauren - Wins “Bank Your Vote Advantage”
The Inheritance Advantage - secretly inherit all advantages and idols played at that Tribal
Bank Your Vote Advantage - secretly not vote at a Tribal and keep that vote for another Tribal
First off, it makes you wonder what Matt’s advantage would’ve been. New advantages are always great and at this point they are kind of like throwing darts at the board. See what hits and what doesn’t and see how it all plays out. The players will adapt to the new advantages and the great ones will truly harness their greater power and dazzle the viewers and their fellow players. (See Jesse from 43 for reference).
The final leg of the journey takes you back home to share your story with the rest of the tribe as to what happened. Survivor players at this point are far too savvy and knowledgeable to ever be naive. Plus, they all watched JD botch this part of the game and get himself voted out in 41.
So, what do you do? What story do you tell?
You can’t say nothing happened. That’s going to get you voted out for being a liar and untrustworthy. This is the best move I can think of in real time. Tell the “truth” of what the choice is on the journey and say you lost your vote. The key is to not reveal you have an advantage, obviously, but don’t reveal that there is a second grab in the bag. That’s the key detail to leave out. I think that’s the move for Sarah and Lauren because they both won’t vote at their first Tribal anyway. Then, they have their advantages, at least until the next journey, and even there, you have the choice to ally with the person who experienced it and gauge their story and how they quiz you about yours. In the end, keep your advantage a secret as long as you can, especially in the early part of the game.
STORY TIME
Matt - shows one lost vote but not the second
Sarah - she “risked” and isn’t sure what will happen at Tribal
Lauren - says you either lose a vote (anytime) or get a secret advantage & LIED saying SHE LOST HER VOTE.
Yes Lauren!!! We have a secret and it’s episode 1. 👏👏👏
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Bruce is fine, so why can’t he come back? Advantage ROTU because Matthew can sit out.
CHALLENGE OUTLINE
Push the boat in the water, paddle out and around buoy to platform
Dive in water, all 5 swim to rings, drag chest ashore
Put chest on track, pull it up and down track
Open chest, find key, and start giant slide puzzle
One puzzle you have to know how to solve, if you are playing the odds, is a slide puzzle. Jaime (RATU), Helen (TIKA) and Matt (SOKA) are the callers for the slide puzzle. This puzzle is unbelievably tough and…
MEDICAL PART 3!!!
Brandon, the former NFL player is gassed out, light headed, and needing some water. He also screwed over his tribe because he’s the strongest guy out there and the puzzle pieces each weigh 4,000 pounds. Don’t forget, Brandon also did the coconut 4 hour SWEAT challenge. Losing Brandon and his strength is the recipe for RATU coming in last and heading to Tribal Council. Now, Brandon and his idol, Matthew and his dislocated shoulder and damaged body, and Lauren and her Bank a Vote Advantage are all headed to Tribal Council.
The whole tribe knows about Brandon’s idol and Matthew’s injuries and the disadvantages that creates in challenges going forward. If you’re Brandon, you could play your idol and ensure that you don’t go home and essentially start over again, or roll the dice and play some Survivor and put a target elsewhere and keep that idol. The past few seasons has proven that having an idol doesn’t put a target on you at this early stage of the game.
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
ROTU may not have won the challenge but what they did win was information via Matthew at the sit out bench from the SOKA tribe. At SOKA, Matt showed that he lost his vote, Lauren said she lost her vote, but didn’t show it. The move is Lauren. Matthew and Brandon are in. Maddy and Lauren want to vote Brandon and Maddy is playing hard. Then, there is Jaime and Kane. Jaime was in on the Lauren info and needs to make a decision. Matthew, Brandon, and Jaime could put Lauren on the spot and flip this, but is it worth it?
Prediction: Brandon gets voted out with an idol in his pocket. Lauren should’ve been voted out.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Jaime decides she is going to play her Shot in the Dark and she’s telling everyone. Lauren decides to Bank her Vote. Matthew decided to play his Shot in the Dark as well.
Matthew - NOT SAFE
Jaime - SAFE (First in Survivor History)
Brandon - IMMUNITY IDOL
VOTES
Brandon 2 (Doesn’t Count)
Maddy 1
NO VOTE - Matthew, Jaime, Lauren
YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS Brandon! Well done!!!
What a phenomenal first Tribal Council!!! Amazing outcome of a single vote being the death blow to Maddy’s game. Maddy played HARD to get votes on Brandon and got two, and they didn’t count. This result is directly because Jaime and Matthew decided to forfeit their vote by playing their Shot in the Dark. With tribes only having 6 people, losing a vote being the common risk for the early stage of the game, and birdcage Immunity Idols accelerating the game quickly, it’s no surprise that a single vote was all it took at the 1st Tribal to eliminate Maddy.
Deep breath.
Wow, that was an absolutely unprecedented season premiere. 3 medical calls, multiple bloodshed moments, Bruce being pulled from the game, multiple new advantages, new methods to Hidden Immunity Idols, the 1st successful Shot in the Dark, a successful Hidden Immunity Idol played in episode 1, Tribal 1, and the super rare single vote elimination!
Deep breath again.
If this episode is any indication of what’s to come this season, we are all in for a treat and one hell of a ride. Buckle up folks, this ride is going to be bumpy and scary, but worth it in the end. I hope you enjoyed the blog and will continue to ride with me all season long.
