When Survivor began its new era five years ago, it promised a fresh experience. “Drop the four, keep the one” was the mantra host Jeff Probst adopted in introducing Survivor 41. The show also dropped themes and 13 of the traditional 39 days but added journeys, booby-trapped advantages, and unique twists. It was a true fresh start.
Then … it stuck to the formula. Over and over and over again. All nine new-era seasons began with three tribes of six, flashback packages, the Shot in the Dark advantage, the loss of flint for challenge losses … you get the idea. With only a few exceptions, it can feel like if you’ve seen one season in the 40s, you’ve seen them all. I often make the analogy that Survivor is like pizza—even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty decent. But the show has been firmly in its Domino’s era for a while now; it scratches the itch, but it’s rarely memorable or noteworthy.
That may all change with the premiere of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. The first all-returnee season since 2020 has put a fresh coat of paint on that new-era formula. Wednesday’s premiere brought bigger tribes, new advantages, and old-school moxie to balance out the new-school superfans.
We began the episode with some standard Survivor fare. A dramatic marooning, Probst asking the contestants to put their returns into context, and a physical challenge. A lot of public good vibes from the players and a lot of private confessionals talking about how this season will be “a bloodbath,” “a massacre,” and “death row.”
Then the show mixed things up. After that opening challenge, the three tribes had to nominate one player each to go on a journey and compete for a chance to earn their camp supplies. It’s not totally new—we’d seen this “fight for supplies” on each of the past two seasons. But this time, the two losers, Ozzy and Q, had to spend a night stranded on the island—Exile Island—that they were brought to. Then, another twist: Ozzy and Q had to negotiate over who would sacrifice their vote to the other in exchange for camp supplies. Ozzy got the extra vote, while Q returned to his tribe with supplies but without power at his next tribal council.
Twist after twist. Advantage after advantage. This episode featured a second journey later on, with the tribes sending Mike, Colby, and Savannah to compete in some unknown competition. But when the three arrived, they learned that only two could compete—one would have to return empty-handed. Mike drew the odd rock and left, while Colby and Savannah competed in a stacking game that is eerily reminiscent of Tetris Tumble XL. They thought they were competing only to keep their vote—with no advantage at stake—but after Savannah won, it was revealed to only her that she’d also earned a block-a-vote. She kept that secret from her tribe, but they suspect she has something.
It was at this point that we learned what was up. Survivor fans had the chance to vote on several aspects of the game before this season was filmed. One option centered on how many advantages there would be and what level of power they would have. Fans had three options: minimal, strategic, and dynamic. With 36 percent of the vote, dynamic—the boldest option—won. So we should expect more twists and turns this season, as Survivor’s production team has been given the green light to make this season as wild a ride as possible.
And we didn’t have to wait long before getting our next twist. And our first celebrity cameo. Wandering the beach looking for an idol, Genevieve found a scroll with the details of a brand-new advantage: the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol. This is a fully-powered idol good through the final five, but it came with a big twist: Genevieve couldn’t keep it. She had to gift it to a player from a different tribe. Only there’s a twist there, too—if that player goes home with the idol, it’ll “boomerang” back to Genevieve. And the player she gifts it to won’t know that. So she could use this idol as a bridge to form an alliance with someone else … but it is perhaps even more useful as a trap.
She chose Ozzy as the idol recipient, as he’s the only player this season to have once gone home with an idol in his pocket. If it happens again, Genevieve will benefit.
So, to recap: In just four days of on-island action, we have one extra vote in the game, one block-a-vote, two lost votes, and one boomerang idol. It’s a good thing they had three hours to tell the opening chapter of this season. And Survivor will need every second of its 90-minute episodes going forward to remind audiences of all the trinkets flying around the island.
Despite all that hardware, the first boot was pretty conventional. Jenna Lewis, the sole Season 1 representative on the island, came in too hot too fast, throwing Cirie’s name around almost immediately. That’s a classic Survivor pitfall, and it resulted in the crosshairs moving onto Jenna instead, and she went home in a straightforward 7-1 vote.
Then, also in typical Survivor fashion, a player had to be evacuated for medical reasons. Season 48 winner Kyle Fraser suffered an ankle injury in the first immunity challenge. After a day of rest, the on-island doctor concluded that it was likely Kyle had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and couldn’t allow him to continue playing.
But we shouldn’t expect the rest of the season to be so straightforward. We know more twists are coming. The promotional material for the season revealed that MrBeast will make an appearance, as will Zac Brown and Jimmy Fallon, at least in some capacity. For the first time, Survivor is featuring celebrity cameos, bringing 24 contestants on one season, and letting fans vote on changes to the game. The stage is set for something unique.
If there is one thing we learned from the premiere, it’s simply this: For better or for worse, Survivor 50 will be something we’ve never seen before.
