Welcome to Season 2: The Australian Outback!
“42 days, 16 people, 1 Survivor!” - Jeff Probst
Season 2 starts with a bang! The intro finds our new 16 castaways and our fearless leader Jeff Probst onboard a “38 squadron Caribou DHC-4 Military aircraft on loan from the Royal Australian Air Force”. Quite the step up from Season 1 already. They are not onboard a make shift pirate ship. Nope. This season is bigger, badder, and more dangerous but the stakes are the same, 16 people on a survival game show where only 1 person will win a grand prize of $1,000,000. This opening sequence setting has “how can we make it bigger?” written all over it and nailed it!
“These 16 Americans are about to be abandoned. This plane will land in the heart of one of the most unforgiving places anywhere on earth: the Australian Outback.” - Probst
Starting the season ramps up again with the message of being abandoned, the music more chaotic than the mysterious intro music a season ago, and the faces of the 16 castaways in deep thought of the unknown story about to unfold with them as the main characters. Pictures of the endless outback, rattlesnakes, and blazing sun put the viewer into comparison mode immediately. This season will look and feel very different from the beaches of Borneo. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not but it certainly will create a different viewing experience. Watching season 1, you can’t help but think about the South China Sea. It was a character very much like the Australian Outback will be in season 2. My initial take is it would be easier to have the water versus not. They used it for food, to fish from both on the surface and underwater via spear, to cool off, and lastly the calming effects the ocean/sea provided. These features would be invaluable in as grueling a situation as Survivor presents. Substituting the sea for the outback, it will be tough, it will create a different survival experience, and time will tell how it effects the viewing experience.
“For the next 42 days they’ll be left to fend for themselves, forced to work together to create a new society while battling the elements and each other.” - Probst
What jumps out is 42 days. Not 39. The iconic “39 days” was not yet iconic by season 2. The duration of the game of Survivor was roughly the same but 3 more days of survival is 3 more days of survival. You know what that means. 3 more days of bugs, 3 more days of the elements, 3 more days of the drama, and 3 more days to outwit, outplay, and outlast the rest for $1,000,000.
“42 days, 16 people, 1 Survivor” - Probst
Following the massive success of season 1, Jeff Probst sits at the cargo opening of the military plane and leads us into the intro montage. I can only imagine how cool it must have been to be Jeff Probst in this moment. Think about it. You are embarking on a new journey, hosting this unfathomably successful and popular TV game show, hanging off the back of an Australian Air Force plane, your life has been completely transformed, you’re about to spend 42 days in the Australian Outback, and you have a front row seat to see history all over again!
Join us here at tribalcouncilblog.com as we too embark on a new adventure. I am excited to see where season 2 in this binge watching journey takes the blog. For now, let’s head down under for another season of our favorite show.
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