“Survivor”: Season 47, Episode 1

On Wednesday, Sept. 18, “Survivor” returned for Season 47! Few things bring me joy like this show does, so I’m incredibly excited to cover it for another season. I only have two more seasons left while I’m at Amherst. I will cherish them.

As soon as the tribes arrived on the beach, they had to complete a challenge to earn their flint. They crawled through mud and carried heavy puzzle pieces. The Gata tribe (Andy, Anika, Jon, Rachel, Sam, Sierra) was the first to complete it, earning flint and pots.

The other two tribes had to send one person to do a challenge on a separate beach to earn the flint. Aysha volunteered, and TK lost a game of rock paper scissors to go. Leaving the tribe that early is a considerable risk, as those first moments are vital for building social bonds.

We saw some of these bonds form early on Gata. Jon, a former speechwriter for President Obama, traded coming-out stories with Andy while carrying bamboo. It was a sweet conversation.

Unfortunately, the other four tribe members took Jon and Andy’s brief absence as an opportunity to create a majority Gata alliance.

On Tuku, Gabe pulled Sue aside and told her he wanted to work with her. At 58, Sue is the oldest player in the game. Gabe believed that her age would make her a wise and valuable ally. Sue talked to Caroline right after that. Their conversation was more personal, and Sue even viewed Caroline like her daughter afterward. Sue’s early social game is sensational — both Gabe and Caroline view her as their top ally.

At the separate beach, Aysha and TK were each given a photo of the woods. Their task was to use that photo to find a key, which had the following picture attached to it. They needed four keys to open the chest with their tribe supplies. Once they started, it was clear that TK was more physically fit, but Aysha was better at matching the images to the jungle to find the keys. Aysha quickly found the first three keys and was the first to learn that the last key was in the water. However, she had trouble tracking her steps back to escape the jungle. TK was slower to find his keys, but quickly found his way to the water. He narrowly beat Aysha out there, grabbing the last key.

I loved this challenge. In the last few seasons, “Survivor” had the two losing tribes choose to compete in a “Savvy” puzzle or “Sweat” physical activity to earn their tools. This was entertaining, but got old after a while. It was cool seeing them switch it up in such an exciting way. I was slightly bummed with the result, though. I’ve listened to Aysha on “Rob Has a Podcast” (the number one “Survivor” Podcast) for years, so seeing her on the show is incredible. I’ll be pulling for her all season.

While building camp at Tuku (Caroline, Gabe, Kyle, Sue, Tijuana, TK) Gabe found a beware advantage. He quickly stuffed it in his pants to hide it from TK. After reading this advantage privately, Gabe received clues to a box that ultimately led him to an idol. Gabe ran and found this box, which gave him a clue about the key needed to open it. Unfortunately for Gabe, TK saw him while he was trying to get the key. Gabe lied and said he was just looking for an idol without an advantage but TK saw right through it. Their relationship will be weaker going forward.

With help from Sue, Gabe eventually got the key, which opened up an idol that was good for one vote. He could either keep that idol, or risk losing his vote and try to find a key to open an idol that would be good for three tribal councils. If he chose that option, his vote was lost until he found the idol. Gabe decided to gamble and eventually found the three-week idol. When that note predictably told him he could gamble again for an idol that would be good until the final five, Gabe decided to cash out. That was a good move by him, as his tribunates were starting to wonder why he was away for so long.

On Lavo (Aysha, Genevieve, Kasha, Rome, Sol, Teeny), Rome also had issues searching for the idol. His tribemates were quickly suspicious of his absence. After he found the clue, he decided to wait to dig up the box until nighttime, which was a smart move. He recovered the box but was caught by Aysha almost immediately when he started looking again in the morning. She told the rest of the tribe, which led to a hilarious sequence of events. The key to his first box was at the bottom of the water well, so he was suspended upside down, face first in the well while the rest of the tribe was walking to catch him. He got out of the well before they arrived, but they saw him running away — not his smoothest moment.

On Gata, Andy tried to build a relationship with Rachel. He asked her if she wanted to get up early to talk before everyone else woke up. This made her anxious, so she said no. In the middle of the night, though, Andy woke her up and kind of forced her into that conversation. Andy was anxious and on the outs, so he tried to confide in Rachel. Rachel wasn’t really having it. I can’t really blame her — she’s out there to win “Survivor,” and being seen having a one-on-one early morning conversation could put a target on her back. He also wasn’t being fair to her: she tried to say no. The lack of positive reinforcement at that moment sent Andy spiraling, though. In the morning, Jon cracked a coconut open and was met with cheers from the tribe. Andy cracked his coconut and was met with silence. This sent him over the edge.

Gata lost the immunity challenge, with Andy lying down while the rest of his tribe was still fighting. He had overheated, but I think the more important factor was that he looked emotionally overwhelmed. After the challenge, Andy gave a pseudo-goodbye speech and said in front of everyone that Jon was his only friend in the game, that he was on the bottom (citing Coconutgate) and that he planned on throwing Jon under the bus. This was a bizarre moment, leaving players confused and his tribe a bit annoyed. They did not dislike him as he thought they did and didn’t understand why he was so defeated. I can empathize with Andy, though. “Survivor” often exacerbates self-esteem and trust issues.

Back at camp, the Gata majority debated taking out the loose cannon of Andy, or Jon, who was weaker in challenges. They ended up eliminating Jon, which makes Andy’s post-challenge outburst funnier looking back.

This was a great first episode, but the most interesting storyline coming out of it has to be where Andy goes from here. Does he take a breath and pull it together, or does he spiral even further? Tune in next Wednesday, Sept. 25 to find out!