The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Survivor Season 42.The torches are lit, the shelters are built, and the sand is now stuck to every single part of everyone's bodies, which can only mean one thing: Survivor is back. Season 42 came in with a bang, with a two-hour episode full of interesting characters and strategic gameplay. This new season was shot back-to-back with Season 41, meaning that this group of castaways hadn't yet seen the previous season at the time they started filming their own. This not only means that they don't know what they're in for as far as gameplay changes go, but it also allows the show to reuse twists from Season 41 that these players haven't been able to plan for.
Of course, this also provides a problem for the show in that a lot of fans reacted negatively to the twists during Season 41's run, and since they filmed 42 before 41 aired, they wouldn't have had the ability to gauge the audience reactions and tweak the game where necessary to improve it. Hopefully this doesn't bog the season down too much or make it feel like they're just retreading the exact same ground from Season 41. Anyways, with talk of Season 41 out of the way, it's time to talk Season 42, and find out whether this premiere episode set a good tone for the rest of the season or not.
This first episode introduces the audience to the newest players of the game, and this cast, much like the one last season, seems like a really great bunch. There's a good mixture of people who seem genuinely nice and people who are going to make for good TV, whether that's because of their big personality or their plans for cutthroat gameplay. Again, like Season 41, there doesn't seem to be a lot of negative energy coming from anyone, at least not yet. There's no clear villain (though those archetypes don't usually fully develop until later on in the show), and so far it seems like this cast is just an interesting group of people all with their own story to share.
There are, however, a lot of players that provide great color commentary and bring a lot of joy to the game, like Lydia and Maryanne. Lydia's sense of humor and approach to the game is very relatable for the Gen Z portion of the audience, and Maryanne brings such a sense of joy and life to this game that can often get so entrenched in the drama. It will be interesting to see if her optimism and bubbly personality endure as the season goes on, or whether it will diminish as the conditions get tougher. In any case, these players (among others) made this first episode really fun to watch, with a lot of funny and memorable moments.
Just like last season, the castaways are given time to tell their backstories and explain how their pasts shaped them and led them to want to be on the show. Again, this is a great tactic to get to know the players as well as endear them to the audience by humanizing them and reminding everyone that they have lives and experiences outside of the show as well, and that they can often bring what they learned through those experiences to what they're facing on the show. The notable stories from this episode included Jackson, who opened up about being transgender and being estranged from his family because of it, only to reconnect with them years later over his mother's health crisis, and Daniel, who explained that he battled leukemia as a teenager (and who had to deal with a dislocated shoulder almost immediately in this episode).
Speaking of medical issues, the most controversial moment from this episode happened when host Jeff Probst showed up at the Taku tribe's camp to speak with Jackson. He explains that Jackson has now been put in a complicated position because he withheld medical information until right before filming began, and that the production team thought they would allow him to go on the show anyway and see what happened. Jackson speaks candidly about it and reveals that he has been taking lithium as a sleep aid, and wants to be open about it to break the stigma around taking medication. Jeff praises him for this, but ultimately tells him that unfortunately, the side effects of not taking lithium while on the island could be severe, and that Jackson must be pulled from the game for his safety.
This whole moment is confusing because it seems strange that Survivor would put Jackson on knowing about the medical issue only to pull him right away. Sure, they didn't have much notice about it, but they usually have alternate players on standby before filming starts for this very reason, so they can sub someone in if they need to. However, the whole situation is unclear so it's not fair to place blame in any one spot, it's just unfortunate that Jackson had to be pulled so early, because he seems like a genuinely nice guy who would have been interesting to watch play the game. Perhaps he'll get a second chance in a future season.
This episode already brought back some of the twists and advantages from Season 41, including the Shot In The Dark at Tribal Council and the "Risk vs Protect Your Vote" choice on the summit island (often referred to by players as "the prisoner's dilemma". One new twist that is introduced is the Advantage Amulet. For this twist, three players (in this case Drea, Hai, and Lindsay) each receive an amulet that can only be played if the other players with amulets are still in the game. If all three are played at the same time (say, if these three players make it to the Merge or end up on a tribe together), it gives the group one extra vote. If only two players are left because one of them got voted out, playing the amulet would give them a steal-a-vote, and if only one of those players is left, it becomes a full-on immunity idol.
This twist is actually interesting and one of the better ones in recent memory, because it involves a complex level of strategy. The players can either work together or decide to target the other amulet holders to make their own advantage more powerful. It will be interesting to see what these players choose to do and how they handle this new power.
After losing the immunity challenge, the Ika tribe is sent to Tribal Council, where Zach is voted out after his unsuccessful attempt at using the Shot In The Dark advantage. The vote had come down to him and Tori, and despite the fact that Tori is coming on quite strong in her gameplay, which could be a problem for her down the line, Zach was ultimately voted out for being the weakest link in the tribe. This continues the trend that seems to be happening recently of Survivor super fans being some of the earliest vote-outs in the game. Perhaps they're a little too well-versed in the game, and their tribe-mates are able to sniff it out immediately, like sharks to blood.
Overall, it was a strong start to the new season, and the cast promises to be entertaining to watch as the show goes on. There was a pretty even edit as far as screen time goes this week, with every player getting at least two confessionals and the show managing to show everyone off at least a little bit. It's difficult to tell if there are any front-runners as of right now, but Maryanne and Drea got a significant portion of the edit centered around them, with Jenny being another possible front-runner (her edit wasn't as obvious, but she's already being positioned as the smartest person on her tribe and will clearly be a strategic threat). Season 42 seems promising so far, so hopefully they're able to keep this momentum for the rest of the show.