S41.E01: A New Era

[Lady Calypso]

22 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Are they going to tell the others that the safe paper was drawn or is that a vote reading reveal? If it is a vote reading reveal, then the second and third player have no clue that safe has been drawn. Do they even know if someone else has used their die? The over thinking on this could be entertaining.

I think that's where the "If anyone has an idol OR AN ADVANTAGE and they want to play it" comes in, right before the votes. The safe person will show that they drew the safety parchment and then votes toward them wouldn't count. We see, in the introduction part of the advantage, that they put the die in and then draw a parchment to say if they're safe or not.

[seacliffsal]

I almost missed this as I had forgotten it was premiering last night.  However, I saw at the last minute it was starting.  Whew!

Things I really, really didn't like: seeing the crew (as we're repeatedly told that these survivors are on their own, blah, blah, blah...yes, I know there are multiple people in the crew, but showing it destroys some of the illusion); seeing film of their home lives (don't care-we start learning about them through the season and seeing their home lives definitely took me out of the show itself [I know that so many reality shows try to build personal stories, but I prefer those stories to slowly emerge as I'm getting to know the contestants]); Ricard focusing attention on himself so very, very early (and I blame him for the Brad fiasco-Ricard asked him what he thought, Brad hesitated, and Ricard told him to be honest, so Brad was honest [which, really, he should know not to do so if he's a fan, but then again, he wanted to build trust with his tribe-that's the real prisoner's dilemma...]); roll a dice to be safe (I do NOT want another Cirie situation in which someone does not receive one vote but because they are the only one withou immunity they are out).

Things I wish I saw more of: camp building, food gathering, etc.

Things I enjoyed: the immediate tribal decisions of separating two people out for the physical task versus solving a puzzle.  Inter-tribal developments-the three chosen for the unknown task developing relationships so early in the game.  Unintended hilarity during the challenges (i.e. not unclipping the boat).  The fact that Survivor is BACK!!!!!  Even with tons of annoying changes, it's back!

I also agree with others that Jeff seems to have aged quite a bit which only reminds me of my own ongoing aging issues.  Sigh.  Even with all of the criticisms he receives (just and unjust IMO) I am still glad to see Jeff as he is central to Survivor (IMO).

[violet and green]

12 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

Even with all of the criticisms he receives (just and unjust IMO) I am still glad to see Jeff as he is central to Survivor (IMO).

I agree. It was sweet to see him so enthusiastic, too.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Pretty sure that the die thing is a one and done, otherwise everyone would use it at every tribal because, why not? If it can be used whenever, all it is a 1 in 6 chance of being safe at tribal, regardless of my level of concern. It would be crazy to not do it. But if it is a one time use thing I have to be more careful in taking the risk.

My question is if it really is a 1 in 6 chance. What if 2 or 3 people use it at a tribal. Is production replacing the paper that was drawn so it stays a 1 in 6 or can it go to a 1 in 5 or 1 in 4?

It makes sense that the SITD would be a one and done thing to me too. But if it weren't, I don't think it would make sense to use it every week. Giving up your vote for a 1 in 6 chance to win is a pretty big deal. I don't think it would be worth it unless your back is really against the wall. I assume that production does not add dummy pieces of paper if multiple people take the SITD.

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Wow, that was intense!  Right out of the gate (well, second day) a strenuous competition and two people gone.  I didn't understand the new twist with the die.  Deposit it in the box and get a 1:6 chance of being safe?  Is that all there is to it?  Why is it a die if the player doesn't roll it?  What happens if a second person wants to use it?  Can he/she try or does production remove the box, which alerts the rest of the tribe that someone took a chance?  

Unless the first person already drew the safe parchment, then it's 0 chance for anyone else.

....

Wait.  I thought they all decided to protect.  So JD and Xander chose to risk?  Danny chose to protect?  

It is probably better TV if the player gets a sealed parchment and does not know whether they are safe until they open it than if they roll the die and know if it has come up Milhouse or not.

Danny chose to protect and the show revealed that choice as he made it. He also told the tribe the truth about his choice.

Alex chose to risk and the show revealed that choice as he made it. He also told the tribe the truth about his choice.

JD chose to risk, but the show did not reveal him making that choice. Show, you weren't fooling anyone into thinking JD went with protect. JD lied to his tribe and said he chose protect, but Ricard seemingly sniffed out that something about JD's story was fishy. I don't know if he thinks the whole story was a lie or if he correctly deduced that JD went with risk and has an extra vote somewhere.

In retrospect, doing the prisoner's trilemma with Alex and JD, I would think it's particularly predictable that JD would go risk and there's a good shot that Alex would too.

I also think there's a good chance of going home with a pocket extra-vote as well.

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

The show definitely wanted the moment noticed, which is why I'm not as bothered by Ricard wanting the term tossed. The show was clearly looking for a player as a scapegoat to say it first so they could have a reason to toss out the word "guys". Ricard just happened to be the person to fall into that trap. Jeff was likely going to get rid of the term, either way, even if that meant him bringing it up again and again and again. Ricard was just the perfect "reason" for the show to pull the trigger. 

Now, I use "guys" a lot, though I've been trying to find other gender-neutral terms as of late. Language changes all the time, and even though guys has been used as a gender-neutral term for a long time, it IS kind of the default and used to be used to put the men in a higher power than women. I mean, if we said "come on in, gals!", that wouldn't be accepted at all because that's not a gender-neutral term and never will be. 

So, personally, I'm ok with the change to something truly gender-neutral. Come on in, folks. Come on in, everyone. Come on in, y'all. Come on in, castaways. Come on in, tribe(s). 

The only issue I had with it is the show blatantly using the players as a scapegoat and to shout to the audience "hey, look what we're doing!" If they did it quietly and didn't make a big deal, I think that would have been a much smarter move, instead of putting it ALL on the players.

I won't buy that Ricard on his own was stewing about "guys" and raised it as an issue. He had to be prompted by production so they could get their headlines about being a kinder, gentler Survivor at least when it comes to political correctness.

56 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Are they going to tell the others that the safe paper was drawn or is that a vote reading reveal? If it is a vote reading reveal, then the second and third player have no clue that safe has been drawn. Do they even know if someone else has used their die? The over thinking on this could be entertaining.

My guess is that they tell the players just before the reading of the votes if a player is safe because of SITD and/or how many people tried it so that they can freak out about who it might have been or if the numbers have fundamentally changed. It seems to me that SITD is not the same thing as playing an immunity idol or an advantage. But I guess we'll see.

[ByaNose]

Reading Ricard’s tweet about the “guys” issue:

Amazing premiere! I’ll just say this before I sleep peacefully having accomplished being a castaway on Survivor, unlike 100% of the trolls… if not saying “guys” makes even ONE person out there feel seen, it’s worth your embarrassing bs. #teamricard #Survivor41 #Survivor

So if you disagree you are a troll and it’s bs. Well, I guess what he says goes. LOL!!!!

[momlyd]

8 hours ago, vb68 said:

And I totally agree that Jeff could have quietly changed guys to everyone among other options without it even being noticed. but the show wanted it noticed.

This.

TPTB point this out because it will 1) rile up the "woke" viewers, and 2) poke the "unwoke" into responding and perpetuate artificial heat for ratings. I'm sick of that shit. If you can't generate your own relevance, then get off the air. 

[ProfCrash]

48 minutes ago, momlyd said:

This.

TPTB point this out because it will 1) rile up the "woke" viewers, and 2) poke the "unwoke" into responding and perpetuate artificial heat for ratings. I'm sick of that shit. If you can't generate your own relevance, then get off the air. 

I don't think it would have gone unnoticed. It is one of Jeff's catch phrases that has been used since season 1. I would have been shocked if he just said "Come on in everyone" and twitter didn't explode with "What happened to Come on in Guys". My take is that they knew they were changing it and they didn't want people to blame the show for being woke and were hoping for a Contestant or two to say something so that they could deflect responsibility.

Jeff was looking to grandstand and make a statement without taking blame for said statement.

[Melina22]

44 minutes ago, momlyd said:

TPTB point this out because it will 1) rile up the "woke" viewers, and 2) poke the "unwoke" into responding 

Agreed. I think what most of us are finding annoying is that until this episode, this "guys" thing has been a complete non-issue. Not once in my life have I ever seen anyone, male or female, upset by it either on or off the show. So last night it came across as so performative and pandering. And I say this as someone who otherwise loved the show, including the changes, and who really enjoys Jeff as host. I usually find his passion and enthusiasm for the game sincere, but last night his whole approach to the "Come on in, guys!" thing seemed disingenuous. 

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

if not saying “guys” makes even ONE person out there feel seen, it’s worth your embarrassing bs. #teamricard #Survivor41 #Survivor

You know who might feel "not seen," Ricard?  Two women who had already said that "guys" didn't bother them at all, then you, a man, pop up the next day  to say you didn't like it and boom it's gone.

[mojoween]

Also, Evvie (a queer lady, I believe, gender pronouns didn’t come up that I heard) spoke up and said it’s perfectly fine.  No one else said anything.

Later on, Ricard, (a gay man), said no, it’s not fine, it needs to be changed.  No one else said anything there, either.

And the word gets changed, after the lady said it’s fine and the man said no.  Sigh.  

[TVFan1]

I believe they were going to change the phrase "Come On In Guys" either way if someone spoke up about it or not. If they were going to change it, just change it without making a big deal about it. The whole thing seemed over the top, when nobody cared about the catch phrase in the first place.

[kikimom]

Did anyone else think that Evvie looked like Harry Potter with the bowtie & jacket or just me?

[candall]

They're running the same number of episodes, but they only have 25 game days to spread across those episodes instead of 39, yes?  So why are they showing less of the camp building and food scrabbling and toothbrush substituting instead of more?

Suddenly it's Day Two and we've skipped over the hilarity of one tribe's slipshod bamboo sleeping platform collapsing in the middle of the night.  No spooky glowing night-cam eyeballs suddenly blinking out?  But that's the good stuff!

[Cotypubby]

But now Ricard gets to be all performative on social media and act like the big hero of the "unseen." 🙄 No longer using "guys" can now make people feel "seen." Which doesn't even make any sense but it's one of those buzzwords that woke Twitter gets hard over. It's OK ladies! The big man will save you from the horror of the word "guys."

Edited September 23, 2021 by Cotypubby

[preeya]

Let "WOKENESS" prevail!

[Wandering Snark]

So, we got to see our first "Viva diversity!" casting and I appreciated it. It was interesting to find single and married non-hetero people in the cast. The one that kinda blew my mind and made me go "Wait... whaaaa???" was when Ricard said he was leaving his husband, a "transgender pregnant man" alone. And that works how exactly?

[iMonrey]

So what happens if everyone chooses Shot in the Dark? Do they go to rocks?

I can't help but feel these constant tribal council whisper-scrambles are actively encouraged by Probst and other producers, because they've become too frequent. 

[TVbitch]

Looks like they are incorporating some of the new stuff that Survivor Australia did this last season with the losing and gaining of votes. AU got way too carried away with it for my taste, so I hope Probst doesn't go as crazy for US. 

I pretty much always greet any grouping of friends with "hey guys". Nobody cares, but I can see where it might be offensive to some females and to non-binary people, so I'm cool with the change. (I'm probably too old to change though.)

Probst did look like hell in the opening, but I guess the last couple years can do that to ya.   

[ProfCrash]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

So what happens if everyone chooses Shot in the Dark? Do they go to rocks?

I can't help but feel these constant tribal council whisper-scrambles are actively encouraged by Probst and other producers, because they've become too frequent. 

They drop their die in when they go up to vote, you would have no clue that someone else used their shot in the dark. The bigger question is are the papers refreshed after one is drawn, or do the odds of drawing the safe paper change based on other peoples decision.

I can see someone bluffing that they used their shot in the dark just to throw other peoples plans into a panic. Come out of the voting both with a big ass smile on your face and make a die dropping gesture. Then say that the paper is dropped in the voting urn so there is no way for anyone to verify.

If they don't refresh the papers, then everyone could choose to drop their die in and only one person would be safe.

If they do refresh the papers, then everyone could drop their die in and each of them would have a 17% chance of being safe (rounding up). The odds of all 6 players drawing the safe paper in that scenario is pretty darn small.

[SVNBob]

11 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

If they do refresh the papers, then everyone could drop their die in and each of them would have a 17% chance of being safe (rounding up). The odds of all 6 players drawing the safe paper in that scenario is pretty darn small.

True.  However there is an additional cost to using the SITD.  You also don't vote.

That means that if an entire tribe all used their shots at once, there'd be no votes to count, regardless of any draw outcome.

[JudyObscure]

37 minutes ago, Wandering Snark said:

 The one that kinda blew my mind and made me go "Wait... whaaaa???" was when Ricard said he was leaving his husband, a "transgender pregnant man" alone. And that works how exactly?

I started to think about that and then my brain said the same thing it did over the Shot in the dark; -- no, Honey, just leave it.  It was already tired from one-thirding my popover recipe a few minutes before show time.

Blessings on  ProfCrash.

[ProfCrash]

4 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

True.  However there is an additional cost to using the SITD.  You also don't vote.

That means that if an entire tribe all used their shots at once, there'd be no votes to count, regardless of any draw outcome.

That could be a cute way to not vote anyone out and survive as a tribe.

[HurricaneVal]

Jeff needs to lay off the Botox.  Holy cow.

I loved that it was a two hour premiere, but there was so much going on that it seemed chaotic to me--too many side comps were confusing.  I thought the two hours were going to allow us more time to enjoy the "joys" of setting up camp and learning everyone's names and basic personalities.  Instead, we got a lot less of that, and a couple of isolated side comps where only a few tribe members could participate. 

Ricard is playing too hard, too fast, and too openly.  If he weren't a guy, he'd be voted out already.  Brad was just rude to say it was going to be Sarah or Shan right in front of them.  Some people might say that it was good he was transparent and open and honest, but it just looked like he was being a jerk.  As in "Of course it is going to be one of the girly-girls and not one of us manly-men.  That's the only thing that makes sense.  Duh."  We didn't get to see any of the tribe bonding we usually see when tribes first hit their beaches, so it seemed extra cold, like Brad just initially evaluated them as disposable as kleenex and that was that.

I don't know everybody yet, of course, but initially I do kind of like JD--he seems like an earnest young man--and Genie, who seems nice and grounded.  Genie, unfortunately, is likely to be an early boot. 

I'm cautiously optimistic.

[jsm1125]

I can’t tell if Genie was trying to throw her vote on Ricard in case Sara or JD went for the dice advantage and were kept safe, or if Genie was just that out of the loop.

I think Sara looks like Drew Barrymore, and Brad looks like Jerry Seinfeld in the face.

I totally thought Sara was making it far pre-season. So much for that theory 

[ProfCrash]

8 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Jeff needs to lay off the Botox.  Holy cow.

I loved that it was a two hour premiere, but there was so much going on that it seemed chaotic to me--too many side comps were confusing.  I thought the two hours were going to allow us more time to enjoy the "joys" of setting up camp and learning everyone's names and basic personalities.  Instead, we got a lot less of that, and a couple of isolated side comps where only a few tribe members could participate. 

Ricard is playing too hard, too fast, and too openly.  If he weren't a guy, he'd be voted out already.  Brad was just rude to say it was going to be Sarah or Shan right in front of them.  Some people might say that it was good he was transparent and open and honest, but it just looked like he was being a jerk.  As in "Of course it is going to be one of the girly-girls and not one of us manly-men.  That's the only thing that makes sense.  Duh."  We didn't get to see any of the tribe bonding we usually see when tribes first hit their beaches, so it seemed extra cold, like Brad just initially evaluated them as disposable as kleenex and that was that.

I don't know everybody yet, of course, but initially I do kind of like JD--he seems like an earnest young man--and Genie, who seems nice and grounded.  Genie, unfortunately, is likely to be an early boot. 

I'm cautiously optimistic.

I think Brads move was awful but I don't think it was a man vs woman thing. The Green tribe got started on the puzzle first and lost to the tribe that got started on the puzzle last, by a lot. The entire Green Tribe did what it was suppose to do, move the bags, get over and under the obstacles, push heavy thing up. The two puzzle folks had a ton of time to get started on the puzzle and didn't realize until too late that they didn't have all of the pieces.

Sarah or Shan should have been on the chopping block because they failed at the puzzle when they had a huge lead.

It was stupid to say that to their face, because oh my god the reason is so obvious that I am not going to type it. But I don't think it was a gender thing and more of a "they sucked at the puzzle and we are only in this position because because they blew a ginormous lead with how badly the sucked at the puzzle."

The Green tribe seems to have a decent number of players who are awkward or insecure in some way. JD strikes me as insecure and not really clued into the fact that he is not smooth. Brad is awkward and clearly not socially aware. Ricard is playing way too hard early on and thinks he is better at this game then he is. It is the tribe we should be seeing the most of if only because the dynamics at their beach have to be totally awful.

[LadyChatts]

8 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

I can’t tell if Genie was trying to throw her vote on Ricard in case Sara or JD went for the dice advantage and were kept safe, or if Genie was just that out of the loop.

I think Sara looks like Drew Barrymore, and Brad looks like Jerry Seinfeld in the face.

I totally thought Sara was making it far pre-season. So much for that theory 

I was wondering the same thing.  My guess is Ricard was a back up vote in case of the idol.  I was more surprised that Ricard and Shan voted for Sarah, and that Shan didn't look so evil when she got up to get her torch (wasn't that the whole thing behind her humming?  It was supposed to represent her evil side?)

[TaraS1]

I was so shocked by Brad throwing Sara & Shan's names out right in front of them that I just assumed at first that he didn't know everyone's names/faces yet and therefore didn't realize he was talking TO Sara and Shan.  I still like him, though, I'm glad he didn't get screwed by whatever Ricard was trying to do at tribal.  (Ricard, however, is already incredibly annoying and needs to go.)

As far as Jeff goes....remember people thinking Melania had been replaced with a double?  That's kind of how I felt looking at Jeff last night.  Like, it probably was him, but he looked different enough that I couldn't totally be sure lol.

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, Wandering Snark said:

The one that kinda blew my mind and made me go "Wait... whaaaa???" was when Ricard said he was leaving his husband, a "transgender pregnant man" alone. And that works how exactly?

Female-to-male who has not had bottom surgery and still has a uterus and therefore can still become pregnant. It’s not really that complicated. 

[LadyChatts]

3 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Reading Ricard’s tweet about the “guys” issue:

Amazing premiere! I’ll just say this before I sleep peacefully having accomplished being a castaway on Survivor, unlike 100% of the trolls… if not saying “guys” makes even ONE person out there feel seen, it’s worth your embarrassing bs. #teamricard #Survivor41 #Survivor

So if you disagree you are a troll and it’s bs. Well, I guess what he says goes. LOL!!!!

Already didn’t like the guy and now I feel completely justified.  He should do what Probst does and ignore the critics.

[tvfanatic13]

I haven't read the posts yet, but popped in to give my 2 cents, as a woman and LGBTQ. "Come on in guys" is a figure of speech, and a Survivor mainstay. It is not sexist, exclusionary or anything else. Changing it is ridiculous as far as I am concerned. People need to calm their asses down. Not everything needs to be course-corrected. Now, every time Peachy says "Come on in" I am going to have to shout "GUYS" at my TV. That said, I really have good hopes for this season based on the first episode, but I have been proven wrong before. 

[meep.meep]

If he wanted to change the expression, it would be easy enough to do so, on his own.  It's asking the contestants on camera that irks.

I noticed that Xander works hard to always keep one lock of curly hair outside his buff.  Does he think he's Joe 2.0?

 

[OldWiseOne]

14 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Ugh. That was like the definition of virtue signaling. Of course notice how none of the women were bothered at all by “guys,” and the first person to say it was fine was a woman, but hey then when a man spoke out against it, now it’s offensive. 🙄 

I noticed how most of the women didn't want to put a target on their own back by being the one to speak up as bother by "guys" - in a game for a million dollars as Jeff pointed out, where your teammates will be looking for any reason to have you voted out over them. Look at how offended some people in this thread are by the idea that women might be bothered by the use of "guys" as gender neutral. Now put yourself on the beach with people you don't know, can't trust, and are competing against, and then see how quick you would be to offer up an opinion on the subject.

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

Female-to-male who has not had bottom surgery and still has a uterus and therefore can still become pregnant. It’s not really that complicated. 

Sure we knew that, but then there's the whole question of if they liked it that way, why did they change it, and other things that felt like none of our business,  yet he's bringing it up and making it our business, so we're just trying not to think about it.  It really wasn't the biology that seemed complicated, but the choices.

[JayDub1987]

Well, thank God Jeff won't be saying "guys" anymore. I would assume that it means that all of the world's issues have been resolved. Hell, I bet even Covid has been cured. Thanks for saving us from ourselves, Ricard. I do like it when the virtue-signalers who label anyone who disagrees with them a "troll" makes it obvious early. Helps me decide who to have as my least favorite person from the onset.

As far as the votes, ditching Abraham was stupid. You're gonna need some muscle more than you need someone who is "nice" to everyone. As far as Sara, OK. Not really sure that there were any wrong choices on that tribe.

[LadyChatts]

49 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Sure we knew that, but then there's the whole question of if they liked it that way, why did they change it, and other things that felt like none of our business,  yet he's bringing it up and making it our business, so we're just trying not to think about it.  It really wasn't the biology that seemed complicated, but the choices.

What I thought was confusing was he first said he was just his husband, but then said he left his pregnant trans husband home.  It made me confused at first who he was talking about, and whether he had an ex husband and a new husband-I think either he could have worded that better or whoever put that package together could have done a better editing job.  I thought maybe he was going for some 'shock' effect-like he has a husband, but he's actually trans male.   

On the subject of Survivor going woke and this cast apparently solving the world's problems, Tiffany at TC made some mention about how they were all able to become a family and work together, and how there's only six of them and they did it in one day.  I kind of eye rolled at that, because she made it seem like they figured out how to make world peace.  Maybe they should put world leaders on this show instead.

Oh, and back to Ricard, he's going to have a hard time dealing with people not liking him this season if he's already calling people who disagree with him trolls.

Edited September 23, 2021 by LadyChatts

[Wandering Snark]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I can't help but feel these constant tribal council whisper-scrambles are actively encouraged by Probst

Oh, he LOVES when this happens and he definitely encourages it. He has since the first time it happened and he let it go/encouraged it happening. Now it's the norm and I scream "sit yo asses DOWN" at my tv. I especially hate the grouping up and walking from one side to the other then walking back. That "Well they think THIS... what do we think? Okay tell them we're okay with that." kind of thing really irks me. This in NOT what tribal is for. You're doing it ALL WRONG!!

[ProfCrash]

I am wondering how much COVID influenced the dynamics at camp. I would guess that most of these folks had been quarantined before leaving to play and might have been appreciating being around new people and being able to move about more. Perhaps it helped some of the camps stay a bit more chill then other camps. 

Not Green. Green is a social disaster right now.

[Wandering Snark]

30 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I am wondering how much COVID influenced the dynamics at camp.

Good point. The one player mentioned when they had the tribes first on their mats about how good it was to not have to wear a mask anymore. So there was definitely a sense of relief to being out of quarantine etc.

[Egg McMuffin]

5 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Jeff needs to lay off the Botox.

And the hair dye. Or at least get a better colorist. He’s almost 60 and jet black hair doesn’t look good on someone that age.

[Tippi]

I thought this was a good start.  Maybe we won't have to suffer through a showmance this time?  It will be interesting to see how these new twists play out.

I'm not sure about the lack of food.  I don't like to see the people starve on Naked & Afraid.  I don't mind fish and crabs being caught, but I don't like birds and snakes being killed.  It wasn't their idea to have some game show come to their environment!  Plus I'm so squeamish, I'm always wondering what kind of diseases the wild animals might have that would make them unsafe to eat.

I can see the Evvie/Harry Potter resemblance.  I was thinking Barbra Streisand as Yentl.

 

[violet and green]

48 minutes ago, Kyle said:

And the hair dye. Or at least get a better colorist. He’s almost 60 and jet black hair doesn’t look good on someone that age.

Tell that to Nick Cave.

Also, it was a ratty brown, not jet black. I am wondering it he'll jet it up for the reunion show. Definitely needs a better colorist, and his eyebrows redone. I found it really distracting.

[LanceM]

Is JD the only person in the world ever to say the phrase

"I want to be like Woo!

Just curious.

[watchingtvaddict]

Too much talking about the game Survivor and not enough gameplay for me. 

I could also do without the introduction packages and flashbacks to the contestant at home and the highlight reel of the contestant's journey in the game. What was with them flashing back to JD making fire again? We just watched it show!  

Did not like seeing how massive production is. Took me out of the game. Did not like Jeff asking about the "guys" thing... I think it would've been better if they created a poll on social media. Have the viewers decide. Instead they ask contestants from Season 41 while they're playing? Just more interfering from production and not enough "back to basics".

Either way, I'm happy to have my show back! And I really liked the first two challenges. I'm also happy two tribes went to tribal. 

[HurricaneVal]

14 minutes ago, violet and green said:

and his eyebrows redone.

He needs his eyebrows freed.  There is no movement.  He looks like a wax statue of himself--a bad one at that!

[ProfCrash]

55 minutes ago, Tippi said:

I thought this was a good start.  Maybe we won't have to suffer through a showmance this time?  It will be interesting to see how these new twists play out.

I'm not sure about the lack of food.  I don't like to see the people starve on Naked & Afraid.  I don't mind fish and crabs being caught, but I don't like birds and snakes being killed.  It wasn't their idea to have some game show come to their environment!  Plus I'm so squeamish, I'm always wondering what kind of diseases the wild animals might have that would make them unsafe to eat.

I can see the Evvie/Harry Potter resemblance.  I was thinking Barbra Streisand as Yentl.

 

I wonder if the year off from playing allowed the fruit trees and other food sources near the camps to rebound. They had to be well harvested after how many back to back to back seasons being played. 

[JudyObscure]

12 minutes ago, watchingtvaddict said:

Too much talking about the game Survivor

Yes, and it's so forced. I just watched it again and Ricard says: "The reality is Survivor has changed over the last 21 years and these changes have allowed all of us Black people, Asian people, queer people to be here simultaneously."

Everyone nods and grins and Jeff seems really excited over that statement.   What old show are they talking about? The very first season had men and women  of all colors, truly old people like Rudy, and the winner was a gay man.  

[watchingtvaddict]

6 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Yes, and it's so forced. I just watched it again and Ricard says: "The reality is Survivor has changed over the last 21 years and these changes have allowed all of us Black people, Asian people, queer people to be here simultaneously."

Everyone nods and grins and Jeff seems really excited over that statement.   What old show are they talking about? The very first season had men and women  of all colors, truly old people like Rudy, and the winner was a gay man.  

All of this! The whole premise of Survivor is creating tribes from people who would ordinarily never meet/interact in real life.

Remember when one of the contestants was super excited to meet their first black person! 

[Msample]

As a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, I’m on Team Danny.

[Michichick]

10 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Reading Ricard’s tweet about the “guys” issue:

Amazing premiere! I’ll just say this before I sleep peacefully having accomplished being a castaway on Survivor, unlike 100% of the trolls… if not saying “guys” makes even ONE person out there feel seen, it’s worth your embarrassing bs. #teamricard #Survivor41 #Survivor

So if you disagree you are a troll and it’s bs. Well, I guess what he says goes. LOL!!!!

That’s not what he said. He didn’t say everyone who disagreed was a troll. He said the trolls were saying embarrassing BS.

I do not like Ricard. But you are misreading his tweet.

[fishcakes]

It was a fun first episode and I was surprised after the first hour that I was liking everyone. But then Ricard started his inexplicable grudge against JD and put an end to that. I thought I wasn't going to like Shan the evil pastor, but her evil theme song was so cute, especially when the Survivor musicians played their version of it over her TH.

JD seems like a really nice kid, but he's too eager and he also can't tell a story to save his life. When his tribe wanted to know what happened when he was off with Danny and Xander and he started with being on the boat and hair blowing in the breeze and then after numerous cuts of him talking, he still hadn't even gotten the three of them up the hill, I was surprised that the editors didn't superimpose changing seasons or calendar pages falling away over his face as he spoke. As a superfan who doesn't seem to have real allies right now, I'm afraid he's going to get in his own way, much like Cochran did his first season.

A couple of people looking directly into the camera, which we haven't really seen before. Tiffany did it when she was looking for the idol and one other person who I can't now remember. Jeff did it a few times too, but I didn't really mind. That, and the home videos, reminded me a lot of Season 1. Also, he was at least funny, telling people if they had complaints they could tweet at him @JeffProbst because "I'll probably never read it anyway!"

Speaking of twitter, Ricard is trying to make fetch happen and failing. #ricard currently only has ten tweets that pertain to this Ricard, three of them are his own tweets, and one of them is some spammer trying to sell Survivor buffs.

Team Blue paddling the clipped-in boat was hilariously futile and reminded me of this from All-Stars:

Edited September 27, 2021 by fishcakes