“Survivor” had a first of many in its 33rd season on Wednesday and one of them was me watching for the first time ever. Another was a cyclone hitting Fiji, and man, was there a big storm of season premiere.
We immediately start off with seeing the Survivors ride up to the boat. Giving their first impressions of each other in their confessionals, the obvious is made even more obvious — old people hate young people and vice versa. They walk onto the beach and Jeff Probst reveals the (shocking) twist: this season, the tribes will be divided into Gen X-ers and Millennials. The oldest person is a 52-year-old, and the youngest is an 18-year-old who hasn’t graduated high school yet (a very deep-voiced Will).
Probst allows the Survivors to run towards the items and (even bigger shocker) pegs the Millennials as short-term thinkers and Gen X-ers a long-term thinkers. We’re definitely in for a Millennial-hating season, but those lazy kids need to build the character from that shame, right?
As we get to know each tribe, there are certainly a few standouts. From the Gen. X tribe (Takali), Paul, a 52-year old bearded boat mechanic from Florida, seems to be one of the early game front-runners. He soon strikes what looks to be a solid alliance between himself, Chris (an attorney) and Bret (a police sergeant). While they seem to be a strong group of guys who have each other’s backs, I’d expect at least one to go pre-merge (big money on Paul, while he seems strong, I think his personality will rub someone the wrong way).
Jessica from Gen X also find an envelope at the supply grab announcing the “Legacy Advantage.” If she’s there on day 36, she will receive an advantage. If she’s exiled, she must give it to someone else. The likelihood of her being there seems slim to me though, as her bacterial infection in her eyes will hinder her ability in the immunity challenges the Gen X-ers will need.
From the Millennials’ tribe, Taylor, Figgy and Jay immediately stick out, and not in a good way. Forming a cool kids’ alliance with Michelle, these four seem to want to “brah” it up until the FTC. However, with Mari and Hannah on the tribe gathering the votes against them, the four may be in trouble should the Millennials’ (Vanua) see a tribal council.
Back at the Takali, David, a TV writer is the epitome of me, a lover of strategic gameplay, but a hater of the outdoors. This, mixed with his paranoia of other Survivors and his blatant searching for an immunity idol have the other Gen X-ers ready to give him the axe. Also in contention to go home, Rachel, whose over-eagerness annoys the Takali tribe.
Oh, and a cyclone happened, but you can read to news about that. What you need to get from that is that it was the first time in “Survivor” history that the contestants evacuated.
The first immunity challenge of the season starts, and each tribe has to get through three obstacles. However, they can take up to two shortcuts, with each shortcut resulting in a longer puzzle to solve at the end. As much as Jeff and the “Survivor” team were hoping the Millennials take the two shortcuts and lose, it is the Gen X-ers who fall to this fate, with the Millennials only taking one. The Gen X-ers attribute their loss to Rachel and David’s poor performance at the puzzle at the end.
After David pleads with them to stay, Bret, Chris, Paul, Sunday, Jessica and Lucy decide to split the votes and keep Ken, David, Rachel and CeCe out of the loop. The FTC ends the show and Rachel is eliminated with five votes, CeCe gets three, and Sunday and David each get one.
Who to look out for: From the Gen X tribe, I’m expecting Bret to make it far. He seems to be able to win challenges without appearing like a threat (Chris), nor does he look like he’ll be confrontational (Paul). From the Millennials, Mari and Hannah, the formers of the “misfits” within Vanua, are going to be able to ride high in the majority should they avoid a flip on them.
Dark horse: Call me crazy, but I LOVE David. Minus the paranoia, he reminds me a lot of myself in 20 years. I think that he’ll be able to appear as a non-threat and act as a vote to Chris, Paul and Bret and then make the strategic moves needed to win. On the Millennials’ side, I think Zeke has was it takes to make it far. While he hasn’t had many confessionals, I think that he’ll manage well on the “misfit” faction in the Millennials. Once the merge occurs, he’s then in a situation to align himself in the middle with a few of the Gen X-ers and position himself far.
Who’s gone next week: Maybe it’s because I’m a Millennial, but I really think that they’re going to pull this next immunity challenge out. If they do, I think CeCe’s gone. As much as I like her, she’s been place too far down on the totem pole and is going to need a big comeback to stay alive in the game. With the solid group of six forming, I think they’d take their chances keeping David as a vote rather than have her around to potential do damage. However, if the Gen X-ers do come out of the next challenge with a win, I expect to see a “cool kid” sent packing. My money is either on Figgy — to the other tribe members, she seems to be a big social threat with Jay and Taylor wrapped around her finger or Michelle — she won’t be a big loss to Vanua as far as winning challenges go.
Who will leave and who will survive? You can catch “Survivor” next Wednesday on CBS at 8 PM!