The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Survivor Season 43.The long-awaited 43rd season of Survivor is finally underway, and it has come in with a bang. The first episode was packed to the brim with content, even with the 2-hour run time. The audience is introduced to this season's colorful cast of characters, as well as some new twists that are being introduced in Season 43, including some that are modifications of the twists and advantages that came into play in Seasons 41 and 42.
So far, it looks as though Season 43 will be following in the footsteps of its post-Season-40 predecessors, as the editing and play style feels very similar to those most recent seasons. However, 43 has the benefit of being made after Season 41 was released, so the producers were able to see how the audience reacted to certain new elements and tweak them as necessary to appease the people who reacted negatively to some of the newer seasons' twists.
In the usual opening montage, the audience is introduced to a few of the new castaways who will be doing their best to outwit, outplay, and outlast the others on the island over the course of 26 days. The editing tactics that were used over the course of the whole episode actually did a really great job at endearing these new players to the people watching, showing off their emotional backstories without overloading the episode with them. Usually it's pretty difficult to remember anyone's names at this point in the season, but this episode had enough standout players with the focus put on them that it felt like fans have already known these players for weeks.
As usual, there were a few standout castaways from the episode that got enough focus and screen time that they seem like they'll be players to watch going forward, as they very well might be the "main characters" of the season. Elie really stood out with what felt like a huge amount of screen time, which was helped by the fact that her tribe was sent to Tribal Council, and she therefore needed to do a lot of strategizing and is clearly in control of things on the Baka tribe. Sami and Lindsay also got a fair amount of screen time and seem pretty tuned into their own games, so they might also be players to watch.
Even from early on in the game, it seems that the players are bonding with each other, which always makes the seasons more interesting to watch. Season 42 had a pretty close cast, and it made for much more compelling votes when the players have emotional stakes in who they're sending home. At one point while building their shelter, Elie opens up about her sister's death, which causes the other women in the tribe to sympathize with her and initiate a big group hug. This would be a really cute moment of showing their bonding and the beginnings of their proposed all-female alliance, if only one of the members of that alliance wasn't the first boot from the game.
The women of the Coco tribe also make an alliance, continuing the Survivor trend of women on the show always flocking to work together. It makes sense, most women feel the most comfortable with other women, and as there have been fewer female winners overall in Survivor (though the past two seasons have been bucking that trend), it stands to reason that they might want to work together to make their chances that much better. Of course, these women still also bond with the men on their tribe, with Lindsay and James connecting while Karla and Geo have a deep conversation about their similar struggles in being both LGBT and latino. It's very smart of Survivor to set up these connections early on, because endearing these people to the audience and allowing fans to get invested in their personalities and relationships very basis of the show.
One player from each tribe is sent to a separate island once again this season, though the get-to-know-you hike that they go on - as well as the advantage risk game at the end of it - is a little different this time around. Players can choose whether to risk their vote or not, and depending on how many people choose to risk, they have to randomly choose either an advantage or a lose-a-vote from the appropriate bag (and one's chances of getting the advantage increase with fewer people risking their vote). Karla decides to play it safe and doesn't risk her vote, while Dwight and Gabler choose "Risk". In the end, we find out that Dwight has lost his vote, while Gabler has received an idol that is good for the first two Tribal councils.
This is lucky for him, because it turns out he might need it as his tribe loses the Immunity Challenge and is sent to Tribal. In a move that seems so bizarre that it becomes comical for a moment, he insists upon getting back to camp after the challenge that he won't be playing his idol and will instead by playing the Shot In The Dark at Tribal because he feels that he was part of the reason they lost, and so he needs to make a sacrifice by making a risky move. This is baffling to pretty much all of his tribemates, but apparently the decision wasn't erratic enough for any of them to see him as a real threat.
The tribe is split between two possible votes: Morriah and Owen. Elie and Janine hold most of the power for the vote, and so they have to decide who is better to keep around. Owen is already presenting himself as a strategic threat, but they see Morriah as a weak link on the team as far as challenges go (which is, admittedly, a strange conclusion to come to when she seemed to be performing fine in challenges so far this episode). In the end, after a Tribal where Baka keeps talking about being unified when they're clearly not, they decide to vote Morriah out and send her and her delightfully rainbow-colored wardrobe packing.
Overall, it was a good premiere episode, and did a great job of setting up the players of the season. Survivor usually takes a few episodes to fully ramp up, as the audience becomes more comfortable with the group dynamics and the stakes keep getting higher. It's already clear that the cast is full of super-fans (you almost need to be in this era of Survivor in order to keep up with the rapid gameplay), and they're all here to play their A game. Only time will tell which of these bright-eyed castaways is going to end up being the sole Survivor at the end of the 26-day run, but already it seems that there are quite a few contenders for the crown.