Within the Survivor fan community, there are people who’ve watched and ranked every season and observers who are still figuring out which seasons to watch first. As a result, each premiere episode of Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show has to pay tribute to what came before while also treading a new path.
On top of that duality, Survivor’s producers know that fans have high hopes that each season will feel dangerous and include great players. Fortunately for fans and everyone who works on the show, Survivor 47’s premiere episode was captivating on multiple levels and showed the season has a lot of potential.
Survivor 47’s Cast Is Full Of Big And Entertaining Personalities
From the outside looking in, it is hard to imagine how difficult it would be to cast a season of Survivor. After all, each season needs to have a slew of people with interesting personalities, and they need to mix together in compelling ways.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Survivor 47’s cast seems to be pretty fantastic.
Easily the two biggest standout players from Survivor 47’s premiere are Jon Lovett and Andy Rueda. Survivor managed to tell a story about those two players in a single episode that made viewers care more about them than some people who make it to the final tribal council.
After the tribes made it to their beaches, viewers were quickly given reasons to invest emotionally in Jon Lovett and Andy Rueda. As the two men made their way through the jungle, they seemed to quickly bond and to have the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.
On top of their bond, Andy and Jon were both fun to watch. In Jon’s case, he clearly has the gift for gab and had the potential to be the perfect narrator for Survivor 47.
Before
Survivor 47’s
premiere, Jeff Probst talked to
Entertainment Weekly
about how Jon Lovett could be a great narrator for the season. “Jon Lovett is one of the greatest storytellers that we will ever have on
Survivor
. This is a guy that wrote for Obama. He is a really amazing thinker and fascinating to talk to. And on a show like
Survivor
, where you rely on the players to be the narrators, having somebody like Lovett is just this beautiful gift to us, because no matter what the situation or how you pose a question, he will give you a compelling answer.”
During the first scene of Survivor 47, Andy told Jeff that he had “like four friends” growing up, and about how he struggled to fit in. Since most people have felt like an outsider, that instantly made Andy a lovable player who was easy to relate to.
Since Jon and Andy seemed like a fun pairing, it was heartbreaking when their relationship publicly fell apart. After suffering what appeared to be a panic attack, Andy admitted in front of all the tribes that he was considering targeting Jon to save himself.
Basic Facts About Survivor 47 | |
|---|---|
How Many Days Will The Season Last? | 26 |
How Many Starting Tribes Are There? | 3 |
Is There A Theme To The Tribes? | No |
How Many Castaways Are There? | 18 |
Andy made that admission after their tribe lost the immunity challenge and it seemed clear that he either sealed his own fate or Jon’s. Since both players had so much potential, that made the tribal council painful and enthralling to watch.
Ultimately, Jon was voted out and Andy was left in the game even though he seemed to potentially be a major liability for his tribe.
While Andy seemed to be in a very vulnerable position throughout
Survivor 47’s
premiere, it would be a mistake for viewers to count him out. Many
Survivor
players have had freak-outs or seemed to be disconnected from their tribemates early on and then recovered and lasted far into the game.
That gave Survivor viewers the chance to enjoy one of the best parts of watching a reality show, getting to judge the people on TV. After all, getting to call the Gata tribe stupid for keeping Andy is a lot of fun even if you didn’t actually want Andy to leave.
Speaking of Survivor giving viewers the chance to judge the players, there was an overabundance of that during Survivor 47’s premiere. The hard to believe decisions that two players made in their pursuit of an immunity idol were so baffling that you could almost hear millions of viewers’ jaws hitting the floor.
Someone needs to tell Gabe Ortis that players should try not to draw attention to themselves while they search for an idol. After lucking into finding the clue to the beware advantage with someone else nearby, Gabe briefly hid it. However, Gabe started searching and trying to retrieve a key the second TK Foster walked away. As a result, Gabe was very quickly discovered retrieving the key when TK returned to the area. Gabe then came up with a cover story that TK called out as completely unbelievable in a confessional interview.
Even though Gabe Ortis’ idol search was very questionable, he came across like a highly likable person throughout.
Later in Gabe’s search for immunity, things went horribly wrong for him. After finding a wooden box that was part of the beware advantage process, Gabe put it in the wrong place. That resulted in the box falling and rolling down rocks which made loud noises that further revealed he was up to something. If that wasn’t enough, Gabe also risked exposing himself by repeatedly smashing a piece of driftwood that had a different key in it. While Gabe clearly believed he was alone, and almost certainly was right, making loud noises like that was still risky.
Similar to Gabe, Rome Cooney made some hard to understand decisions during his search for an immunity idol. Most notably, there was a point in the episode when it almost seemed like he wanted to be caught searching.
As Rome was in the jungle obviously looking for an idol, Aysha Welch walked by and called out to him, saying, “Hi Mr. Gamer.” While that would scare most players off from continuing their search until they could find some privacy, Rome kept going undeterred.
After making her way back to camp, Aysha told almost all of their tribemates that Rome was up to something, and they walked over to see if he was still being shady. Since Rome kept going, his tribemates discovered him, and instead of being social, he just walked away. Truly, an incredible Survivor moment.
In addition to Andy, Jon, Gabe, and Rome, Survivor 47’s premiere introduced fans to several other fascinating players. For example, there was Rachel LaMont, a player whose attempts to distance herself from Andy revealed she has the potential to have a spectacular social game. There was also the aforementioned Aysha, a Rob Has a Podcast host who obviously has a deep understanding of strategy that could make the season very fun to watch.
Survivor 47’s
Kishan Patel is an emergency room doctor. It will be interesting to see if his medical expertise plays a role in the season. Even if it doesn’t, Kishan almost certainly would have the ability to stay cool under pressure and that could make him a standout player.
Teeny Chirichillo was only the focus of a handful of scenes during Survivor 47’s premiere. Still, Teeny got enough screen time to come across as an exceptionally fun player who will be interesting to track throughout the season.
Another Survivor 47 player who stood out is Sue Smey. The oldest player of the season at 58 years old, Sue seemed to instantly build bonds with virtually everyone in her tribe. The only reason to worry about Sue is that she commented on being in a power position along with her allies.
“So I’m feeling good with it. Now we’re gonna be a force to be reckoned with.”
Throughout Survivor history, a player talking about being in control has often been a harbinger of their downfall coming very soon.
Between Survivor 47’s many interesting cast members and their fascinating interactions, the season seems to have the potential to become the best of the new era.
Survivor 47’s Production Is So Good That The Show Looks Better Than Most Big Budget Movies
During Survivor 47’s opening moments, the show allowed a handful of players to introduce themselves to the viewers. Throughout that, a series of gorgeous shots of the players during challenges were shown. If that wasn’t great enough, Jeff Probst was then shown standing on a beach as a drone camera flew around him and then up into the air. That shot allowed viewers to see the picturesque beach and ocean surrounding the host.
Only three minutes into Survivor 47’s premiere, fans were reminded of what makes the show’s production staff so incredible.
Little could they have known that something even more special was to come.
During Survivor 47’s premiere episode, fans got to see an incredibly elaborate first challenge that was captivating to watch. Absolutely huge and featuring a slew of props, the challenge also forced the players to be drenched in mud and then run into the jungle.
As epic as the challenge was, it needed an equally impressive production crew to capture it. Fortunately for Survivor viewers, the show’s crew really outdid themselves. One shot from the challenge was so incredible that many fans posted it on X/Twitter. For the shot, a drone beautifully tracked a player as they ran into the jungle and through a track. The moment was so incredible to behold that it is hard to imagine how Survivor’s crew could surpass it.
For fans who appreciate incredible visual storytelling, Survivor 47’s premiere was captured so beautifully that it is reason enough to watch the episode.
