It’s Survivor time once again on CBS, with 18 contestants descending on Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands with all the confidence in the world – “Easiest million I will ever make” – until they hit that beach and become exhausted inside a minute during the first challenge. This season features the familiar format from recent games, with three tribes of six contestants each, but this time two of them are alternates called up at the last second. And while everybody’s shooting to outwit, outlast, and outplay for a shot at 49’s last-person-standing prize, there’s an added layer of unpredictability: Survivor 50 is right around the corner, and two of these contestants will return for that competition.
Opening Shot: “Survivor is definitely like a scary movie,” a contestant says in voiceover as we see a shipwreck beneath Fiji’s crystal blue waters. First you’re running from the monster, but depending how long you last, you can also become the monster.
The Gist: As Survivor host Jeff Probst welcomes the members of Kele, Uli, and Hina tribes to the beach, it’s with a great deal of excitement from the yellow, red, and blue-clad players. Lots of these people have grown up watching the show, or are heads from way back, and now they’re here, fumbling brightly over Jeff’s on-the-spot introductory questions. They include Alex, 26, a communications director for a congresswoman, Jake, 36, a corrections officer from Canada, and Savannah, 31, a former reporter from Atlanta. We also have Sophi, 27, another Sophie, 31, Jason, 32 – he’s one of the alternates – and anchoring the older end of the group, 49-year-old Annie, Hollywood movie producer Nate, 47, and 51-year-old airport luggage handler Matt.
The excitement will waver as alliances are built and are broken. But first up is the all-important cook pot, flint, and machete challenge, this time involving stackable crates and swim-towing a boat to shore. Everybody is gassed immediately. Survivor is a lot harder than it looks on TV.
As the groups head to their respective corners of the island to build camp, they also start in on the whispering and plotting. In cutaways, we hear some of the strategies. Nate loves his Uli teammate Sage’s no filter energy. (She’s out here referencing “aqua poops.”) But he points out that Survivor, at heart, is a game of secret-keeping. Rizo, also of Uli, has a ton of self-deprecating humor, and an eagerness that’s infectious. But over at Kele camp, as a three-person alliance is established, it feels grafted onto at least a couple one-on-ones happening at the same time. And don’t go off alone on Survivor, even if you’re just looking for foodstuffs. Your teammates might gripe that you’re just looking for Idols, and not to be trusted.
By Day 3 of Survivor 49, the stakes are even higher, because a leader board’s been established and at least one team is still without essential camp supplies. As Jeff flaunts the immunity they might just win, he also sends them into a mud pit that leads to a complicated rope tunnel that itself leads to a sensitive teamwork challenge that induces bickering faster than you can say “Pass the coconuts.”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Survivor is a gold-standard reality competition, with veteran craft and a special upcoming 50th season to prove it. But the reality landscape never stops forming and changing. Recent entries of note include Got to Get Out on Hulu, where reality stars compete against regular people, and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, a somewhat surprising hit that’s just about to drop its fourth season. Watching the folks on Survivor struggle to make fire, we’d also like to point out Alone, the durable outdoor reality competition that forces its contestants to make nearly everything they need in order to survive.
Our Take: Safe and comfortable at home on the couch, we never, ever tire of watching for the first moment on any new season of Survivor when the fresh contestants get totally crazy tired. It’s a lot different when you’re the one pushing the crate, or digging in the sand, or running at a dead sprint while weighed down with mud, instead of being someone who was until recently also sitting comfortably at home. In Survivor 49, it only takes a few minutes for this to happen, and the moment’s bookended with a contestant nearly screaming at the sky because a portion of his at-home training was apparently worthless. Combine this regular component of the show with each contestant’s different approach to team interaction and social management, and we encountered another one of our usual Survivor feelings by the end of the first episode. Even the teams that win immunity from the initial Tribal Council know their victory is fleeting. It’s all getting real now.
We’re also intrigued with the fact that while Survivor announced a bunch of heavy-hitters – Mike White, etc. – for Survivor 50, it’s using this current season of the show to set up the rest of that cast, and maybe with more than just the two open spots. The familiarity of Survivor gameplay is one of its strengths. But what tricks does Jeff Probst have in his rolled-up sleeves? What twists could be in store for the players of 49, as the series anticipates its milestone moment? This sense of unpredictability will only heighten as the physical challenges continue, the alliances bend and break, the head games really start to cook, and their overall number dwindles.
Sex and Skin: Well, no, this is CBS. But you know how it is. Lots of tropical sun in Survivor’s home of Fiji means lots of skin in shorts and skimpy tops for everybody. Two guys adjust each other’s improvised headbands and immediately declare their bromance.
Parting Shot: “Dip your torch in the fire and get flame.” The first Tribal Council is as revealing as you’d expect, especially after the team in question has spent the last portion of the episode scheming about who to boot.
Sleeper Star: We feel like Uli Tribe’s Rizo, 25, has a kind of weird fun energy surrounding him he’s not necessarily even in control of. This could be huge for Survivor gamesmanship.
Most Pilot-y Line: Steven, 35: “As you get older, you run out of first-time experiences, and Survivor is jam-packed with first-time experiences.”
Our Call: Stream It! Survivor 49 proves the longtime reality hit is as addictive as ever. The tribe has spoken! It’s time to return to the island.
Survivor airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. on CBS. If you’re not a cable subscriber, you can stream Survivor on Paramount+.
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Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.