Survivor 45 | Ep. 1
Welcome Back the Tribal Council Blog for Survivor 45!
Let’s jump right into a few of the standout storylines going into the new season.
INTERESTING STORYLINES HEADED INTO SURVIVOR 45
STORYLINE #1 - 90 Minute Episodes
As if Survivor wasn’t going to occupy enough of my bandwidth from now until the holiday season, Survivor 45 is geared up with an Arnold Schwarzenegger level pump up from 60 minutes an episode to 90!! No complaints here, just have to make sure I have my computer fully charged to live blog during the gut wrenching action that is now 50% longer.
So the big question is what are we getting with the extra half hour per episode. More time at camp, more conversations around the fire, more strategizing at the water well, more interrogating at Tribal, and maybe a return of old school nostalgia with tree mail and the opening credits that superfans have been starving for since the new era began.
STORYLINE #2 - Bruce is back!
At the start of Survivor 44’s marooning challenge with the echo of Jeff’s initial “Survivor’s Ready?…Go!” call still registering decibals, one castaway’s journey was ended before it ever began. That was none other than TIKA’s Bruce. He split his bald head open in super slo-mo 7 seconds into Survivor 44 and officially ending his Survivor dream…UNTIL NOW!!!
Survivor not only stitched up Bruce’s bloody head, but more significantly resuscitated his Survivor dream back to life by recasting him for Survivor 45. Now Bruce has his shot at redemption and a chance to last longer than 15 minutes. Great job by Survivor! EVERYONE is rooting for Bruce! Me included.
It would be crazy if after all this, he was voted out first, right??? Come on, you know you thought about it.
Onto the episode, Survivor’s ready?…Take it away Bruce!
THE MAROONING
HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I probably say this every season and it probably warrants being said at the top of every season, the marooning is an incredible - the tension, the anxiety, the non flashy boats, the couple backstories, the editing, the sound effects, and finally Jeff introducing Survivor 45 from on bard the cargo ship.
The players say they “can’t believe this is happening” and neither can I. In this moment you cannot help but place yourself into this moment. Trying to be excited, hold back from revealing too much, let yourself enjoy it, holy crap there is Jeff, and then the giddy excitement of embarking on the journey that lies ahead.
JEFF’S OPENING REMARKS
Brandon gets the first shout out because of his emotion. His voice is permanently cracked and he reveals that he is living out his dream. Now, Jeff speaks to the elephant in the room, Bruce being back. But before the paint can dry on Bruce’s “I didn’t really have an advantage” speech, he gets called out by HULU’s Emily who is making her mark already. She isn’t buying Bruce’s we are all equal and that he had no advantage story.
My take is that Emily is literally coming out of the game hotter than maybe anyone ever. What was gained by pushing back on Bruce? I don’t see it. If people feel that way, they feel that way anyway, but my guess is now people are looking at Emily and saying “I’m going to keep an eye of her.”
MAROONING CHALLENGE
First, I appreciate how Bruce gingerly trotted to the cage filled with rope. He wasn’t about to make a misstep again. Our tribes REBA (red), LULU (yellow), and BELO (blue) are neck and neck after the rope. The first set back comes from the aforementioned emotional Brandon. He completes the swim and paddles the small boat back to the ship, but he is completely incapable of climbing the rope ladder. My guess is that the emotion and adrenaline was completely overwhelming. He literally crawls on all fours to the end line and doesn’t move out of exhaustion.
REBA (red) wins the flint, pot, and machete. LULU and BELO get nothing and now have to complete a challenge to obtain those supplies.
REBA (Red Tribe) - Day 1
Sifu feels interesting to me, but people will see him only as brawn initially. Julie the estate attorney comes out of the gate lying about her occupation. Drew keeps it short and sweet picking up where Carson left off with the two identities. Drew and Basile. One writes poetry, one wants to be the social butterfly. Both are full of 💩.
The other standout piece of REBA was on their tribe flag above and below the name REBA was a printed letters in what looks like another language.
My mind is racing. Is it really another language? Is the set of letters and the set of letters on the bottom cut in half and need to be put together to form words? Is it a code? What will they have to find to decode this? Do the letters on each sign of each tribe correspond or does each one stand alone in what it’s hidden power will be???
I guess this is the follow up to the birdcage from last season. There has to be more to this and I already love it. Big word puzzle guy. Let’s see what BELO has for theirs.
BELO (Blue Tribe) - Day 1
It’s really great to get to know “Uncle Bruce” and hear his plan to not be in charge, buuuuuuuuut, Kendra isn’t about it. Kendra is a lot. She is definitely an acquired taste especially with her zodiac radar on full blast. Kendra, Kellie and __________ are all 29 or 30. Kellie and Kendra are both Libras and one is a Virgo. Honestly, who gives a 💩. I hate it. It would be a struggle for me. Especially because I am a Leo and she clearly has a disdain for them.
I think now that Bruce has made it as far into 45 as he did 44, I can say it, he has absolutely NO CHANCE of winning the game. He brought up Emily coming at him HARD at the marooning, but he couldn’t help himself. These three 29/30 year old zodiac enthusiasts don’t want to be told what to do. His best move, I think, was to let the three girls give him clues and then play along. Play up the zodiac BS to bond with them initially and NOT stick your foot in your mouth.
Lastly, we didn’t get any indication of the BELO sign having the REBA like printed letters. Maybe it’s elsewhere?
LULU (Yellow Tribe) - Day 1
Emily is dubious of everyone and everything. She is filled with skepticism and is suspect of everyone. Back to Brandon the guy who passed out blacked out on the boat on the initial challenge. The only other piece we learn is that Sean, the school principal wants to get the shelter going but he has no confidence in his tribe initially to get the job done.
Like BELO, the LULU sign also has no letters printed. Final thought here is that REBA, having earned the flint, pot, and machete may have earned a clue or code to the first advantage/twist where the other tribes may earn it later on. Maybe it will be part of winning Sweat or Savvy?
SWEAT and SAVVY
LULU - Kaleb & Sabiya
BELO - Brando & Jake
🚨TWIST ALERT 🚨 Instead of each tribe being able to pick SWEAT or SAVVY, they have to do both. Plus, instead of competing with a time limit or the challenge itself, they are competing against each other. One team will win the flint, pot and machete and one will leave empty handed. One team wins, one loses.
Huge stakes. Win and all is good, it’s what people want and expect to happen. You can hold your head high for all of 45 seconds as you claim the measly social currency of winning this challenge. Lose, and you are a disappointment to your tribe who doesn’t know a single thing about you at this point, except that you let them down.
Each duo has an hour to move 40 heavy logs for the SWEAT portion and then move over to finish the SAVVY puzzle. The heavy logs have to be moved at least 50 yards down the beach, aka FAR! Work together, talk to yourself, roll them, roll them on each other, flip them over.
Sabiya and Kaleb get to the puzzle first but with no advantage. The edit has it looking neck and neck and…
BACK AT BELO and LULU
Brando and Jake FAILED and so did Sabiya and Kaleb. I guess like a TIE in the NFL, it’s better than a loss? They didn’t lose but they also didn’t win. I guess a TIE is better than a loss. Plus, both duos can return to camp and tell the truth and come clean. They don’t have to lie, they have no advantage, and they can say that the other tribe doesn’t either. People are bummed with the non win but not with a loss. People will move on.
At LULU, Brandon and Hannah share some more emotion (Brandon isn’t going to make it lol) about the realities of being on Survivor on Day 1. I think this is an example of how the 90 minute episode allows for more moments or humanity to be captured and shown. In this moment, we learn a little bit more about how players are overwhelmed with the reality that they are on Survivor, they are living a dream, they actually have to build a shelter, and on and on.
At BELO, Kendra and the September birthday crew are talking women alliance and trying to not have a woman be first out. So, Kendra and Kellie land on Jake, because he is a lawyer. Insert Katurah’s outrage because she TOO is a lawyer but she told them she’s an office manager at a non-profit. Then, she doubles down on Jake being a lawyer and uses it against him. Our first example of knowledge being power. Well played Katurah.
LULU - Day 2
Emily is making her case for first boot. It’s not pretty folks. She pushed back on Bruce (first red flag) and is filled with negativity. I love that everyone else on the tribe has already had it.
“I feel like I’ve been isolated with crazy people…I don’t know what to say to these people. I’m not this person that jives with the mood of the tribe.” - Emily
I know Emily handled the marooning as poorly as anyone ever, and maybe Emily was never cut out for a social experiment like Survivor. But, Emily is living a nightmare that is worth pointing out. The nightmare is that you can be put on a tribe of people that you simply will not mesh with and it doesn’t matter how strong, smart, savvy, and your level of superfan of the show, because none of that matters if you can’t get along with the people. Ultimately, nothing else matters. I get that it can just be luck of the draw, but right now, Emily is drawing dead.
Look, if the conversation at my tribe was about the pyramids being “giant batteries”, I would be struggling too and I would hope that I would be able to step out of my typical sarcophagus and morph into whatever I needed to be to keep myself alive.
REBA - Day 2
Sifu is idol hunting. Sifu is hiding and channeling his inner Tony but he isn’t very good. Already he is painting a “I can’t be trusted target” on his back. Meanwhile, Austin stumbles upon the first BEWARE ADVANTAGE and of course he opens it.
What we learn is…
Austin can win a Hidden Immunity Idol.
Austin has to complete tasks (yes plural) to earn the Idol.
Austin cannot vote at Tribal until he has completed all tasks and gained the idol.
He was given a piece of paper with half letters on it to match up with the letters on the tribe sign.
Allow me to take a quick victory lap for figuring out that the letters were half letters and that an advantage would connect back with deciphering the half letter code. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, if only I could decipher it without holding it up to the sign.
DIG IN… something, something, something. Damn, just when I thought I was cool.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Well, I guess this won’t be the season with no Immunity Challenges.
First, each tribe member must climb a ramp, slide down, (and WATCH YOUR HEAD BRUCE) and crawl through mud under bamboo.
How did they even make such thick mud?
Next, drag the net of coconuts across dirt and over a log and then empty the coconuts into a trough.
Has to be at least 150 pounds.
Next, cornhole toss coconuts into a net to drop a basket with a key.
Pretty simple. The net was almost too large.
Then, get everybody up the steep ramp onto the puzzle platform and unlock the puzzle pieces.
Brandon (LULU) hits the dirt again. LULU is the non athletes. Sean is the leader and they get by on the strength of their buffs to grab onto.
Finally, the classic Survivor logo puzzle.
BELO wins Immunity! (Bruce won’t be first out) REBA wins Immunity comfortably.
No surprises here. LULU has the non athletic tribe and this challenge was brutally physical. Plus, Brandon is CRYING AGAIN!!! In 44 we had the first episode plagued with medical visits and in 45 we are plagued by Brandon and his crying. This is the THIRD time! Now, he is crying over how bad he sucked in the challenge (again) and how he feels bad for voting for someone who performed better than him. While I think Emily is the easy vote on account of her negativity, Brandon is making a case for why he is NOT cut out to be on Survivor.
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
Wait, did I just hear Hannah talk about how she doesn’t want to be here? Is she having another crying session with Brandon. Is she talking about comfort and her bed???
Oh God, cry number 4. Brandon is suffering from stomach pains stemming from night 1, and NOW HE IS TELLING PEOPLE HE IS PLAYING HIS SHOT IN THE DARK?!?!?!?!?
IS THIS REAL????????????
I don’t understand what is happening and the look on Kaleb and Sabiyah’s faces tells me they don’t either. Emily has revealed herself as untrustworthy, negative, and skeptical of everyone and everything. Brandon has proven to be a challenge liability who has willingly said he was playing his Shot in the Dark. Plus, he’s cried 4 times already!!! Hannah has had it after 2 days on the island and wants comfort and bed. Kaleb’s name is being thrown out there by Emily because she knows her days are numbered and she sees Kaleb and Sabiyah building a relationship, however what Emily is really doing is trying to control the vote.
PREDICTION: Emily gets voted out and the season continues on a greater trajectory.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 3
Nice slo-mo camera shot of LULU dipping their torches in and getting fire. Nice touch.
Emily’s aggression comes out again and targets it at Sabiyah and Kaleb. Hannah is literally making a case to vote her out.
“I don’t need to be voted out to go home.” - Hannah
Hannah just became the worst player in the history of Survivor. I hate it. This is pathetic. Why is Sean crying? Hannah sucks. What a waste, what a waste, what a total waste. I guess the only thing that can be said is I hope that casting takes a long, hard, look at their process and figures out where they missed on Hannah or what could be done differently to prevent this from happening EVER again.
This isn’t the first casting mistake in the new era. Hannah quitting 45 and Jackson being forced out via medical in 42 - like can we do something about this? Hannah leaves us saying she has so much respect for everyone who has played Survivor and now every Survivor and Survivor fan has ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT for you Hannah. You literally area a waste of a dream and it’s so unfair.
Well, on that horrendous note, the episode - We Can Do Hard Things - ends without actually having a vote and a reminder that not everyone can do hard things, like making a dream come true and making it everything they ever wanted. Instead, some will cower and retreat to food and comfort.
Thanks for reading this week. Appreciate the support. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest all season long. I will be writing about each episode all the way through to the announcement of the winner of Survivor 45. See you next week for hopefully a much much much better episode.
The blog has spoken!!!
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