S43.E01: Livin

[Whimsy]

Quote

One winning tribe earns supplies at the opening challenge while the remaining tribes choose between a mental or physical challenge to earn their camp essentials.

original airdate 9/21/22

[LadyChatts]

This was the best quote they could come up with for episode 1?  

So I thought I might actually make it through a premiere without disliking anyone.  That changed as soon as Cody and Sami started talking.  For a guy who says he binged Survivor when COVID happened, he sure seems like he’s a know-it-all and a mastermind.  Yet he thinks Dwight’s lying because he was too dry coming back from the island journey?  He’s so clever because no one knows he works in sales, because sales people are so threatening? 

I also don’t understand Sami’s logic lying about his age.  It might actually work to his advantage if people think he’s a dumb kid.  I don’t like him, but he seems smart and skillful at this game.  So I’ll give him that (the part about comparing his job in a pet crematorium to starting fire at camp was kind of morbid, though). 

Lindsay also kind of rubs me the wrong way for some reason, though I can’t figure out why yet.  I just think some people were playing too hard, too fast.  And Gabler seems to talk big until he decides to give up.  He’s just going to be that person in an alliance whose kept around because he can’t play the game on his own.

In all, kind of a boring episode with few people to root for.  Morriah seemed nice enough, so I was sad to see her go.

[jsm1125]

The show didn’t do a good job of explaining the Morriah boot. I’m not buying her being the weakest link, because she killed it during the immunity challenge. Something was off there, and I hope Jeanine and Owen can get saved from the rest of that tribe with a swap.

[jsm1125]

1 minute ago, Lucas Rowan said:

Not Elie, too?

I thought the Morriah boot was Elie’s idea? 

[Carey]

Meh, I thought Morriah's boot was a jinx.

Meanwhile, I can't say I'm a fan on Gabler.  I don't hate him, but man, he sorta went nuclear toward quitting.  Glad he didn't exit, that would've been embarrassing 

[susannot]

So far I like Jesse.  He is inspirational. I also majored in Pol Sci in college so I have that in common with him.

I also like Gabler because he is the oldest contestant and I am even much older than him.  51?  He is a mere spring chicken.

[susannot]

1 minute ago, susannot said:

So far I like Jesse.  He is inspirational. I also majored in Pol Sci in college so I have that in common with him.

I also like Gabler because he is the oldest contestant and I am even much older than him.  51?  He is a mere spring chicken.

Also Pet Cremator???  Has there ever been a more off-putting job description on any show?  He said he lovingly laid shih-tzus to rest.  OK, I know someone has to do it.  But are we supposed to like him for it?

Of course kid (forget his name) will go far as he is big and strong and as long as his teammates don't find out that he kills animals for a living.  I don't think that will fly.

[DEL901]

1 minute ago, susannot said:

Also Pet Cremator???  Has there ever been a more off-putting job description on any show?  He said he lovingly laid shih-tzus to rest.  OK, I know someone has to do it.  But are we supposed to like him for it?

Of course kid (forget his name) will go far as he is big and strong and as long as his teammates don't find out that he kills animals for a living.  I don't think that will fly.

Cremators don’t kill pets… or humans either.  They reduce the body to ash.  I don’t like him, but while I wouldn’t want his job, he isn’t a pet killer.  

[knitorpurl]

My favorite character of the episode was the beautiful octopus they showed coming back from the commercial. The crew continues to give us stunning nature footage.

As far as the people; I like Ryan a lot. He's smart and focused. No one on his tribe named him when they were talking alliances, but it's early so hope he can get something going.

Sammy really did blow my mind with the savvy number solve- I just did not see that at all. And it's funny to watch him try to play down his skills, like after he got the fire going he kept trying to deflect that it was a team effort. He seemed annoying at his first confessional, but he grew on me.

[TVFan1]

Booting Morriah was a mistake. If Baka loses again, the guys can easily pick off Elie and Jeanine. In keeping her, the girls would have the majority in their tribe. They should have booted Owen like they talked about.

I don't dislike anyone yet except Cody on Vesi. I don't know why, but he gives off a cocky vibe. If he were to be gone soon, I wouldn't mind.

Edited September 22, 2022 by TVFan1
Mixing up names on tribes

[knitorpurl]

Almost forgot about Cody and how excited he was to find out that Justine was a salesperson since he could point out how untrustworthy they are, he explained untrustworthily from his point of view as a salesperson. LOL Proving your own point there I guess, buddy. Hope all your elevator customers are aware. That's just his way of livin'

Edited September 22, 2022 by knitorpurl
Because untrustworthily isn't a word, but I didn't want it spell checked, thanks anyway

[Lantern7]

Good episode. No Probst doing in-game hype, minimal twists, straightforward first challenge that didn’t force players into cross-tribal alliances . . . felt good. Of course, I don’t expect those to stay gone.

Is it bad I thought of Morriah as “Rainbow Brite Maryann”? So cheery AND she looked like she was assaulted by a rainbow.

I think Ryan might be an anime fan. He’s got an arm tattoo that looks lifted from Fullmetal Alchemist.

”Pet Cremator” sounds like the most off-putting job title ever. I know someone’s gotta do it, but damn, you think Sami puts that on a business card?

Great job by the artists with the idols and octopus-themed torch snuffer.

[Jules1]

For a change, I thought the first episode did a good job introducing us to all of the contestants. Not a lot of stupid twists. I have to admit I was surprised when the people who ran into the trees to get the boxes didn’t have some kind advantage/twist waiting for them. Don’t hate anyone…yet.

[Auntie Anxiety]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Is it bad I thought of Morriah as “Rainbow Brite Maryann”?

I thought there was a sprinkle of Punky Brewster thrown in as well.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

This was the best quote they could come up with for episode 1?  

So I thought I might actually make it through a premiere without disliking anyone.  That changed as soon as Cody and Sami started talking.  For a guy who says he binged Survivor when COVID happened, he sure seems like he’s a know-it-all and a mastermind.  Yet he thinks Dwight’s lying because he was too dry coming back from the island journey?  He’s so clever because no one knows he works in sales, because sales people are so threatening? 

I also don’t understand Sami’s logic lying about his age.  It might actually work to his advantage if people think he’s a dumb kid.  I don’t like him, but he seems smart and skillful at this game.  So I’ll give him that (the part about comparing his job in a pet crematorium to starting fire at camp was kind of morbid, though). 

Lindsay also kind of rubs me the wrong way for some reason, though I can’t figure out why yet.  I just think some people were playing too hard, too fast.  And Gabler seems to talk big until he decides to give up.  He’s just going to be that person in an alliance whose kept around because he can’t play the game on his own.

In all, kind of a boring episode with few people to root for.  Morriah seemed nice enough, so I was sad to see her go.

I can understand what Cody was saying. Dwight said they were walking through water up to his upper chest. At least from what we saw, the water that they were walking through was not close to that high. And it seems like if there was a slog through water that high, he would be soaked. 

Cody gives me a visceral reaction of being untrustworthy and smarmy and fitting the very salesperson stereotype that he was warning about. I could easily see him projecting some level of sketchiness onto everyone because of his own sketchiness. 

I could see someone thinking that 19 is too young to have life experience or that either the producers or the person would have ambitions to have the youngest winner ever, so pretending to be more middle of the pack typical might work.

2 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

The show didn’t do a good job of explaining the Morriah boot. I’m not buying her being the weakest link, because she killed it during the immunity challenge. Something was off there, and I hope Jeanine and Owen can get saved from the rest of that tribe with a swap.

I would say it's the typical Survivor mentality that they pretty much laid out. First tribal loss gets them thinking "we have to keep the tribe strong as possible to avoid future tribal councils." The majority of players consciously or subconsciously think that "keeping the tribe strong" means keeping all males, and as many competitors who are in their 30s or younger. The target is put on people 50 plus, overweight people and/or women. The tribe knew that Gabler had an immunity idol and didn't want to try to flush it. (I hope we get around to having a game where players don't overshare about their advantages again). The other women didn't want to vote each other, and they didn't think they needed to do a girls' alliance. So it was going to be Morriah.

[mojoween]

23 hours ago, knitorpurl said:

My favorite character of the episode was the beautiful octopus they showed coming back from the commercial. The crew continues to give us stunning nature footage.

I can’t remember them all but I loved all the things the cheeky little editors were doing with the chyrons (like when Cody was talking and said he didn’t want anyone to know he was a sales rep, and suddenly the chyron said “Sales Representative”.  Or when someone was talking and next to their name they kept putting up different job names).

I’m going to miss Morriah’s beautiful rainbow overalls.

Edited September 23, 2022 by mojoween

[SummerDreams]

It was a good enough episode but the 6 tribes thing always puts the older - more overweight - female people in the first out spot and I find it unfair. In a normal 9 people tribe I am sure that Moriah would have found more people to be aligned with and she would have been perceived as an advantage in the tribe and not as a liability.

I know Cody can be a bit much but I like him and his energy. I plan to watch this season with the mindset to try and see the good in people instead of getting annoyed with what we are shown. I don't forget that the editors have to follow a specific narrative and that's why they choose to show specific things and not others.

I didn't like that we got multiple head interviews from certain people and none or only one from others. I hope this becomes more balanced as we move on.

All in all a good season ahead with mostly likeable people. :)

[Haleth]

What a treat it was to have an extra hour to get to know the contestants!  I can already identify most of them.  And some great background stories too.  Jesse's is amazing.

I can't say I dislike anyone yet, but Cody is a bit over the top.  He needs to calm down and not play so hard right out of the gate.

I was sad to see Morriah go.  Loved her attitude about wanting to be friendly with everyone.  I don't know why they voted her out instead of Jeanine, whose name never came up, unless they think having a tiny girl might help with some challenges.  Or Gabler, except he has an idol.  (I'm curious about his job.  Heart valve specialist?  And he assists in surgeries?)

[seacliffsal]

IMO the person who should have been sent home wasn't because he had an immunity idol (Gabler).  But, they seem to like him so what do I know?  I liked Morriah and thought Jeannine cost her tribe a lot of time in the immunity challenge.  Oh, and I didn't know that psychologists were supposed to manipulate people into doing what she wanted them to do, so my eye is on her on this tribe.

Cody reminds me a bit of Brian Hedrik from Thailand.  I like Sami (and have respect for cremators and morticians as they do essential work that I could never do).  I also have a lot of respect for Jesse and Rudy (? not sure of his name but the one who overcame tremendous odds to even walk).  I like having a chess master on the show-it will be interesting to watch his strategy develop, I think he will be the one able to do some manipulation more so than the pyschologist.

I really enjoyed this episode and am so glad to have the show back.  Survivor really has become an institution.  I have watched since the very first episode and it makes me happy (albeit feeling old) when so many contestants talk about watching it as children and hoping to play it someday).  And while some survivors may become "influencers" it doesn't seem like this is the primary reason people want to be on it unlike other reality shows (cough* Bachelor, Big Brother, etc.*cough).

[mojoween]

If Jesse has fully completed his PhD studies I absolutely want to call him Dr. Jesse.

[Lady Calypso]

I also think the choice to boot Morriah was a mistake. They kept saying that she was a weak tribe member who wouldn't be able to help them win. But, like, we saw both challenges they competed in and Morriah definitely wasn't the weakest they had. Jeanine messed up on the immunity challenge, and Gabler/Sami couldn't stop bickering long enough to work together on the puzzle. Plus, Gabler had an immunity idol that they should have 100% flushed out. What if they need to take him out next Tribal and now they can't? I get he might have connected better than Morriah with the tribe and that's their actual reason, but what we did see didn't coincide with what happened. Jeanine was so right and I bet you Elie will come to regret choosing the men over the women. 

I definitely am still working on learning their names. The one guy who figured out the flint challenge, Cody, seems great. Jesse seems great as well; his plan to just listen to both sides and not choose alliances yet is smart. I like Karla and Geo a lot; they bonded over shared experiences, which was a great scene to insert, and Karla's instincts on not risking was correct. Everyone else I either haven't formed an opinion on yet or simply don't know their names. The one woman who said she'd be sneaky (Cassidy, I think) is probably going to be an early boot; it felt like foreshadowing, but I did like her, Lindsay and Karla's alliance (I think they're all on the same team).

Sami's annoying, so I guess he'll be the villain of the season. He's probably not a bad guy, he just got on my nerves a bit.

Overall, a decent premiere. NOT as good as the last premiere, because this one had more focus on some than others, but it wasn't a bad start.

[violet and green]

I like Cody, Jesse, and Nneka from Vesi, so I cheered when they won the first challenge and then immunity. Really like Ryan. I also like Sami the pet cremator! So there is at least one to root for on every tribe. Interesting bunch, and a great first episode. The colour of the shallows in the overhead views, and that octopus taking off... And no eager host breaking the fourth wall and divulging exciting details! Surprisingly good.

[TaraS1]

If they were going by "keep the tribe strong," they should have voted out Jeanine.  She looks like a big gust of wind would blow her over.

So far, I really like Ryan and Jessie.  And pretty much everyone else except for Elie and Cody - didn't hate them, they were just a little too much. 

Really enjoyable premiere! 

[iMonrey]

I don't understand why this show thinks we need to have a challenge right out of the gate, in the first five minutes, before they have even introduced all of the cast. Who exactly are we supposed to be rooting for when we don't even know anybody yet? Even if you've done some pre-game research and developed some pre-likes and dislikes, are you really familiar enough with the tribes to give a shit who wins the opening challenge for . . . what, a pot, a machete and a flint? Especially when the other two tribes are getting a second chance to win the same? 

The show just loves to do challenges and I'm so bored with them. They are stale and unoriginal and all look the same to me. Run through obstacles, untie things, dig through things, find puzzle pieces, put puzzles together, chop the rope, raise the flag. They need to take a page from Amazing Race or, hell, even Big Brother and come up with some new and interesting challenges.

I mean, I guess there's an audience for this, hence "The Challenge" but I couldn't make it through one episode of that show I was so bored out of my mind. And it's why I record Survivor and FF thru all the dumb, boring challenges. I'm so over them.

I don't get the "Risk" thing either. So if you choose risk you pull a ball out of your bag and it either says win or lose, but only one person can win? But they all had their own bags. Does that mean neither Dwight nor Karla ever had a chance for a "win"? Only Gabler's bag had "win" balls? 

Also, didn't Dwight tell his tribe mates he didn't choose risk? Then revealed that he did? Or did I miss something?

I wasn't sorry to see Morriah go. Wow, that chick really likes rainbows. 

[Tango64]

30 minutes into the episode and seeing clothing changes already. Is there an entire wardrobe department just off screen?

Who goes on Survivor, especially if you're supposed to be such a fan, without picking up a machete and learning how to make fire? I thought at this point it would be incredibly obvious that you practice the key skills as soon as you're accepted to the show. Or maybe everybody just counts on someone else knowing.

When the heart valve guy came back and announced he had immunity, it was weird how his tribemates were all cheering and celebrating for him. Don't they know the immunity is to be used against them, not against another tribe?

[KeithJ]

A two hour premier and not a single mention of a hidden immunity idol?  Probably too much to hope for that there aren't any this season.

[GenerationX]

Overall, a good start, mostly due to casting.  The biggest eyeroll of the episode was during the initial meeting on the beach when Probst mentioned something about hoping the contestants were open to what Survivor needed to teach them.  The show is not just a sentient being; it's a wise one, too.

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't get the "Risk" thing either. So if you choose risk you pull a ball out of your bag and it either says win or lose, but only one person can win? But they all had their own bags. Does that mean neither Dwight nor Karla ever had a chance for a "win"? Only Gabler's bag had "win" balls? 

No, there were three bags to choose from depending on how many people chose to risk the vote.

Bag 1 was for if only one person chose risk. They would be 100 percent be rewarded with an immunity idol for being the only person bold enough to risk.

Bag 2 was for if two people chose risk. As we saw, one draw had the idol that was good for the next two tribal councils, one had lose your vote for the next two.

Bag 3 was for if all three chose risk. Presumably, there would have been one idol draw and two "lose your vote for the next two tribal councils" draws.

[DEL901]

I wonder if Sami will be the MaryAnne of this season, young, equal parts annoying/endearing and surprisingly smart.  

[TVbitch]

Not a bad opener with some interesting contestants. Probst is truly drunk on his own Kool-aid about how the show turns everyone into their very best, wholly self-actualized self.

They all spelled Morriah differently. Maryah?!

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I wonder if Sami will be the MaryAnne of this season, young, equal parts annoying/endearing and surprisingly smart.  

I think Morriah was supposed to be the Maryanne, but oops!

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't understand why this show thinks we need to have a challenge right out of the gate, in the first five minutes, before they have even introduced all of the cast. Who exactly are we supposed to be rooting for when we don't even know anybody yet? Even if you've done some pre-game research and developed some pre-likes and dislikes, are you really familiar enough with the tribes to give a shit who wins the opening challenge for . . . what, a pot, a machete and a flint? Especially when the other two tribes are getting a second chance to win the same? 

The thing about right out of the gate challenges is that the players themselves don't know anybody yet, either. So it can be interesting to see how they choose who is doing what, how they communicate, and so on. It's like team building on speed. Plus, I at least saw some useful nuggets of info, like Noelle choosing to do the part involving going down the beach and into the water to get the boat, as if to say to her tribe right up front that she's up for stuff like that; or Cody figuring out the trick to getting the key off the pole, which was an indicator that he wasn't just the yee-haw! guy we saw in his intro. These are things to file away for later. Also, Geo struggling to move the crate led to him volunteering to dig for the pot and machete at camp, to make up for the bad first impression. So, for me at least, there's fun, relevant stuff to look for, even if it isn't always immediately obvious.

[Apocalypso]

I thought "Text me back" would have been a good title for the episode.  I liked it as a metaphor for preliminary selection of potential allies.

Sami's solution to the brain teaser impressed me.  I thought it was a much harder group teaser than the previous season's.

I really liked the extra time spent on character introduction, and found a lot of people to like.  That would be pretty much everybody except the sales rep who can't wait for the chance to bad-mouth the other sales rep he just made an alliance with.

[Lamima]

2 hours ago, TaraS1 said:

If they were going by "keep the tribe strong," they should have voted out Jeanine.  She looks like a big gust of wind would blow her over.

I wonder if it more had to do with all her peace, love and happiness....let's all get along attitude. Maybe she made it hard for them to talk and play the game.

[paul4295]

2 hours ago, TVbitch said:

They all spelled Morriah differently. Maryah?!

They really should just have a list of names at the voting table with the correct spellings.  I don't know why they don't do that.  Maybe they think it's comedy gold to have atrocious misspellings of people's names.

[sara416]

13 hours ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

I thought there was a sprinkle of Punky Brewster thrown in as well.

It was the overalls that gave her the Punky Brewster vibe. 

[pennben]

Did they see the end of season 42?  If so, perhaps they subconsciously saw Morriah as Maryanne & decided they couldn’t let her go through for fear of losing to her at end?

i always find for most women it’s long term bad in pre-merge situations giving voice to the ‘who is weak…we need to keep tribe strong’ justification. That can bite you really quickly. 

Edited September 22, 2022 by pennben

[LadyChatts]

1 hour ago, pennben said:

Did they see the end of season 42?  If so, perhaps they subconsciously saw Morriah as Maryanne & decided they couldn’t let her go through for fear of losing to her at end?

i always find for most women it’s long term bad in preserve situations giving voice to the ‘who is weak…we need to keep tribe strong’ justification. That can bite you really quickly. 

I don't think they would have seen the end before they started filming, but they saw the beginning at least because they mentioned it a couple of times last night.  Judging from Morriah's exit interviews, she may have been MaryAnne 2.0 if she stuck around long enough.

[eel21788]

17 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I also don’t understand Sami’s logic lying about his age.  It might actually work to his advantage if people think he’s a dumb kid. 

I don't think he thought that through. What happens when Jeff announces a reward that includes alcoholic beverages but states there is a virgin alternative for Sami? Maybe he'll try to claim it's a religious thing.

[eel21788]

7 hours ago, Haleth said:

  Or Gabler, except he has an idol.  (I'm curious about his job.  Heart valve specialist?  And he assists in surgeries?)

My best guess is he is a sales rep for a specific heart valve manufacturer. He's in the OR to oversee the placement and troubleshoot any problem the surgery team has with the device.

[rr2911]

Season 43 looks promising.  Morriah, who was voted off, was clearly this season's Maryanne.  So I was glad she was voted off!  Maryanne in my opinion, never should've come close to the final 4, but oh well, what are you going to do?

Survivor 41 and 42 set it's course towards diversity and inclusion, so I hope they don't have to go that route again and relive the events of those seasons or have any "special alliances".  For the enjoyment of the show, I hope the alliances are based on choosing people they think they can get them further in the game and nothing else.  The only complaint I had was Jeff Probst.  I don't know if it was me or was Jeff yapping more than usual during the challenges? 

[meep.meep]

2 hours ago, pennben said:

Did they see the end of season 42?  If so, perhaps they subconsciously saw Morriah as Maryanne & decided they couldn’t let her go through for fear of losing to her at end?

They had seen enough of it for someone to comment about cutting bamboo looking easier when Jonathan was doing it.

The first one out is usually an older person unless someone has really pissed people off.  They couldn't/wouldn't go for Gabler, so Morriah was next in line.

[Steph Sometimes]

I was wondering if so many people spelled Morriah as Marya (rather than something more common like Mariah) because that's how last season's Marya spelled it.

[SVNBob]

15 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Also, didn't Dwight tell his tribe mates he didn't choose risk? Then revealed that he did? Or did I miss something?

No, he told them he did Risk.  Then revealed that the Risk did not pay off.

Which was interesting, since neither alliance had claimed him before the trek.   He can't be the swing vote at this time, and could easily be the acceptable first target.

[Leeds]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

16 hours ago, Tango64 said:

Who goes on Survivor, especially if you're supposed to be such a fan, without picking up a machete and learning how to make fire? I thought at this point it would be incredibly obvious that you practice the key skills as soon as you're accepted to the show. Or maybe everybody just counts on someone else knowing.

It's as idiotic as going on The Amazing Race without learning how to drive a manual/stick shift.

11 hours ago, eel21788 said:

I don't think he thought that through. What happens when Jeff announces a reward that includes alcoholic beverages but states there is a virgin alternative for Sami? Maybe he'll try to claim it's a religious thing.

Or he could just say he doesn't drink.  It's not so unusual these days.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Leeds

[Kelda Feegle]

I'd really like to see voting done by choosing a card or something that is pre-printed with the names so that we avoid all the spelling issues and the identifying marks like hearts, smiley faces and cutesy tags.

[meep.meep]

The identifying marks are part of the game - it's how one player signals to the others that this is his/her vote.

And if you used cards, then the voters could look at how many were left and figure out how the people before them had voted.

There's nothing really wrong with spelling mistakes, and I can only remember one time when Probst couldn't figure out who the vote was for (Ghandia in Thailand was the "Denver Diva")

Edited September 23, 2022 by meep.meep

[KaveDweller]

On 9/22/2022 at 4:00 PM, eel21788 said:

I don't think he thought that through. What happens when Jeff announces a reward that includes alcoholic beverages but states there is a virgin alternative for Sami? Maybe he'll try to claim it's a religious thing.

The drinking age in Fiji is 18. 

Have they not let 18-20-year-olds on the show drink on rewards in the past? I can't remember, but seems there would be no legal reason to.

[LadyChatts]

21 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

The drinking age in Fiji is 18. 

Have they not let 18-20-year-olds on the show drink on rewards in the past? I can't remember, but seems there would be no legal reason to.

I'm pretty sure they didn't let Will, but he also was open about still being in high school.  I feel like someone here said they would still have to follow American law because of the show, but I might be wrong.

[seacliffsal]

It seems to me that Survivor requires the contestants to be 21 to drink alcohol, but my memory could be hazy on this.

[millennium]

"Cody, how's business?"

"Oh you know, up and down."

Edited September 24, 2022 by millennium