Survivor airs its two-hour Season 42 premiere on Wednesday, March 9, and already the game is intense. The season was filmed shortly after Survivor 41, and unlike viewers, players had no idea what twists were added last time around.
18 players arrived in Fiji thinking they knew the game, and then Jeff Probst turned his assumptions upside down. Here's what went down at the dramatic Survivor 42 premiere on CBS.
Day 1: Bounty Challenge
The contestants arrived and split into their three teams: taku (orange), vati (green), and ika (blue). The groups were told that winning the challenge was to earn their flint, machete and pottery. That was plot twist number one for the players.
The first prize challenge was a relay race with a twist. One person from each tribe runs into the woods and opens two paddles with a cargo net. They run back, and then another player runs to the far end of the beach to get two more paddles. Teams paddle around a boy collecting bags of bamboo sticks. A tribe member then collects a stick from bamboo sticks and tries to retrieve the flint. The first person to get flint earns a pot, mache and flint for his tribe.
All the three tribes started the game without any food source, causing loss to all of them. Winning the challenge was extremely important.
The first runners were Jonathan (orange), Daniel (green), and Tori (blue). Daniel fell behind, and then dislocated his shoulder in the fall. The next relay racers - Dre, Hai and Lindsay - have to make a decision when they arrive at their beach destination. I got the first advantage.
"If you want, you can do your pedals and run back to your tribe," the message said. “Or you can secretly agree to work together and make a profit in each process. You have to untie 20 bales each in order to reap your profit. You are only moments in the game, And you already have your first big opportunity."
They take advantage of this by choosing to form alliances on other tribes. As instructed, he covered himself with mud and fake blood to make it look like he had committed a gruesome act, and then ran back to his teams for the final leg of the race. Roxaroy grabbed Flint, giving Ica the first win.
Medicals were brought in for Daniels, who actually dislocated his shoulder. He pops it back on the beach in front of the other players. He can stay in the game, but he has to be careful.
In the camps
In the winning camp, alliances begin to form between the three youngest and three oldest members. Tori lies and says that she is a caregiver, not a therapist, saying it is part of her social game. Roxroy, a stay-at-home dad, goes into dad mode and instructs everyone to focus and help build the shelter. Dre advises him to tone down the harsh father energy a bit, to which he agrees. Going from taking care of two young children every day to working with adults was a mental shift he had forgotten to prepare for, but he improved on the curriculum.
In the losing camps, Vati and Taku played sevi or sweat to win flint, machete and pots. Savvy was a visual puzzle that required him to guess the number of triangles in a large triangle. Everyone can take part, but they only get two guesses. In sweat, a tribe member fills a bucket with water and carries it back to the beach over and over again until a large barrel is full. He used to work alone, whereas last season two players could do it. Teams had four hours to complete each challenge. Failure means no supply until after the first immune challenge.
Both teams chose Sevy, and both teams guessed correctly with 51. Now, all the three teams have their essential supplies, but no food source yet.
Profit amulet
Drea, Hai, and Lindsay took private moments to find out what they earned in the first challenge with their benefit amulet. The amulet must be played with all other amulets in the game. But here's a twist: the fewer amulets in the game, the more power.
Three amulets have the power of an additional vote. Two amulets have the power of steal-a-vote. A talisman has the full power of an idol. The advantage can be used for the last time in any ability when there are six players left in the game. If you are the last person standing with the amulet, it is a statue "with full power".
Tribal relations
In Vati, Daniel shares that he had leukemia as a child and saw the survivor when he was ill. It made him feel better. Being on the show is like a lifetime dream come true.
That night, in a Taku fireside chat, Jackson shared that he is a transgender person and basically applied to Survivor 10 years before the transition. He said that his family had ostracized him after coming out. But over the years of transition, Jackson's mother became ill. He came home to care for his ailing mother full time, where he began to reconnect with his father and introduced his wife to his family. Jackson wanted to tell the tribe to be honest about who he is, but also to take pride in claiming his truth.
Second day
Ika is suspicious when Tori herself goes in search of food. Romeo, Dria and Zach think she went looking for an idol and lied about the food. He actually looked for food, but he also looked for an idol (unsuccessfully). She says that she will plan to come back from this.
A boat then comes to Taku, Ika and Vati. One has to board the boat and return to the camp that afternoon. This is the challenge of the first summit. Marine willingly goes for Taku. Jenny pulls the short straw and goes for Vati. Ica plays Rock Paper Scissors, and Dre leaves. After a long journey, the women face a prisoner's dilemma, jeopardizing their vote in the next Tribal Council.
If all players choose protection, nothing changes. If all players choose to risk, all players lose their vote on the next council. If the vote is split, nothing changes for the players who choose the Protect. nothing is lost; Nothing was achieved. Players who choose the risk get an extra vote. Dre took the risk. Marine took the risk. Jenny Protected. Each does not know what the other chose, nor do the members of their clan know what happened when they left. Drea now has one advantage amulet and one extra vote.
Day 3: An unexpected exit
The biggest surprise of the season premiere didn't come from one of the show's new rules. On the morning of the third day, Jeff arrives at Taku for a face-to-face with Jackson, stating that he and the producers are concerned about a medical disclosure Jackson made at the last minute.
Jackson volunteered that he was weaning himself off lithium (a mood stabilizer) before appearing on the show. He said it was not for his infection, as some might believe. He took it for sleep and anxiety while caring for his ailing mother before she died. As Jeff pointed out, the problem with medication is that it can cause a reaction when you're under physical and mental pressure. Before Jeff arrived, Jackson had noted to another member of the team that he had been feeling dizzy for hours the day before. The scene leads directly to Jeff and Jackson's conversation, implying that the dizziness could be a drug complication.
Sadly, Jeff said the show couldn't put Jackson's health at risk and sent him home before the first immunity challenge. The conversation was tragic, and Jackson was heartbroken, but he understood. The reaction of the tribe is emotional.
Immune challenge
Finally, it was time for the first immunity challenge. After the players learned of Jackson's departure, Jeff went about the game.
Each team starts on a platform in the water. At Jeff's signal, players dive, float on the boat, and paddle ashore, collecting three chests along the way. Once ashore, they drag the chest and boat across a track and down a net, where two players solve a giant dragon puzzle with the contents of the chests.
Lidia and Romeo of Vati and Ica challenged the team to equalize the numbers. Once the challenge begins, the contestants quickly learn that the chest is incredibly heavy, and they all struggle to get the chest in the boat.
Taku took an early lead, and Ika fell behind when he dropped his chest from the boat into the water. After extreme physical demands and a hard race to finish the puzzle between Taku and Vati, Taku wins the first defense challenge. Vati came to the second place by grabbing the resources of her existence. The Ica were defeated, sending them to the tribal council and forcing them to give up their flint.
Back at camp, Dre and Tory agree that Zach and RoxRae should be on the chopping block. They settled on RoxRay. Roxroy and Swati decide on Zach because he played poorly on Paheli and gave up physically several times. Romeo wants to keep Roxroy because of his strength and the alliance he made with Rocksroy and Dre on the first day. He tries to get people to vote for Tory, but it all seems to be leaning towards Zach.
First Tribal Council
After performing poorly in the puzzle part of the immunity challenge and realizing that he is in danger, Zach creates some ruckus with Tori, saying she is unreliable. Tori defended himself, and Zach's attempt to manipulate the people's vote to Tory did not work.
He tried his shot in the dark, losing his vote for a one in six chance in defense. But luck was not on his side. Any votes still count for Zach, and he was ultimately the first to vote out of Survivor 42.