Survivor Season 35 - Episode 1 Thoughts

I really enjoy Survivor. I've watched almost every season, save for a few of the early ones, and the intermix of game strategy, personal interaction, and sheer craziness always manages to stay fresh. This season I'm going to try and blog about it a bit.

[WARNING, THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR Survivor Season 35, Episode 1 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.]

Season 35's theme is Heroes, Healers, and Hustlers. Heroes are people who are generally looked up to for their service - we've got an ex-Marine, a lifeguard, firefighter, and others. Healers have a nurse practitioner, and a urologist among others. Hustlers have a bellhop, a small business owner, and a variety of other occupations know for their hustle.

Right off the bat, the Hustlers are in a bit of trouble. They don't look like they have the physical skills that the Heroes and Healers bring to the table, but one of their members does manage to grab a Secret Advantage.

From both the Healers and Heroes tribes, we get examples of people coming out of the gate too aggressively. Bob is a Parole Officer on the Healers. Confronting the urologist over a perceived idol is a risky move this early in the game. But then NFL player Alan goes way over the top on the Heroes tribe. Accusing the firefighter of hiding an idol (on apparently no information, did we miss something in editing?) seems like a good way to start drama between a potential power couple, but mostly makes Alan look kind of crazy.

Good thing the Heroes have the most physical presence. They're a sure bet to win immunity. Except... well... Despite literally leaving it all on the field, taking the safe strategy burned them. Oops.

Finally, we get a massive scramble as Alan's crazy accusations provoke a bunch of drama. What should have been a simple four strong alliance picking off a couple of weak links (I'm sure Katrina and Chrissy are perfectly nice, and Katrina was an Olympian, at one point) turns into a ton of drama.

But in the end, none of it, not the super idol, or Alan's drama, manages to stop the logical, obvious conclusion that the weakest link needs to go.

At least the Heroes are smarter than some of the past teams.