HOLLYWOOD—The fall guilty pleasure is back people. Yes, season 45 of the CBS reality competition “Survivor” kicked off on Wednesday, September 27 with 18 new contestants vying for that $1 million dollar prize and tons of treachery and backstabbing along the way. I would have expected something bigger for the 45th season besides new contestants, but I suspect the big celebration will come at 50.
With that said we have 3 tribes Reba, Belo and Lulu. We do have some interesting characters this time around. Sifu seems like a jokester, Drew seems like he might annoy with his intelligence, Katurah feels like she might be more cutthroat than anyone expects and Jake, a lawyer living with grandma, you cannot make this cast up people. Jeez, Emily is already annoying my blood and we’re not even 10 minutes into the game.
Reba includes Drew, Sifu, Austin, Dee, J. Maya and Julie. Belo includes Kendra, Bruce, Jake, Katurah, Kellie and Brando. Lulu includes Sabiyah, Brandon, Emily, Kaleb, Sean and Hannah.
They are already starting the game fighting for bare minimum supplies to start their camp. Lulu was seriously struggling, just as Belo and Reba were quick to gain on that key, but Brandon is looking like a liability for Lulu, but Reba managed to gain the victory. Ugh, the sweat versus savvy challenge is back again. So for Belo, Brando and Jake, Sabiyah and Kaleb for Lulu is about to do the challenge. Jeez, are we about to see a medevac in the first episode.
Hmm, Julie already lying about her career, as well as Drew, who just happens to be from my hometown, but he also has an alter ego. Drew might be a character. Over at Belo, Bruce was re-living his dream and the talk of the hour was Emily. Not sure that was a smart move Emily, there are plenty of people who might be looking at her, but Bruce is doing exactly what he should not be doing: being a boss. I was surprised to see Katurah, Kellie and Kendra bonding so quickly.
At Lulu, Emily was already doing too much for me. I felt like she was already annoying Sean and Hannah. Brandon suffered a panic attack during the challenge, and I wonder about his ability. Yeah, Lulu is looking like a hot mess. Well this is an interesting twist where Lulu and Belo are competing against each other, one will earn the supplies, the other will not. Moving logs and a mental trap but those logs were not hard, but figuring out this puzzle to get the flint, neither of them could figure it out. Time ran out for both and neither team won ANYTHING! Damn this is crazy, and I can already see Emily unraveling.
Already Sean alerted Sabiyah that Emily is going to be a massive problem. Oh, Lulu, this team is a hot mess literally, and Jake is already being seen as a target because he’s a lawyer, as Kendra wants to take him out, but Katurah was not spilling that tea about her career anytime soon. In case, I forgot to mention, we have 90 minute episodes all season, so does it feel like things are dragging?
Not quite, these longer episodes can absolutely work. Emily at least try to bond with your tribemates. Over at Reba, Sifu was already looking for an idol, and he was under the impression no one was aware of what he’s doing. Sifu is absolutely giving Tony Vlachos without the actual strategy. Not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. While Sifu was looking, Austin found the Beware Advantage with clues to an idol, but there are tasks he must complete or he cannot vote, he must decipher the message on the tribe’s flag. Should have left that advantage alone Austin. With that said, this first Immunity Challenge looked brutal.
I hate to say this, but Lulu is just so disappointing to watch. Kaleb is a superstar when it comes to athleticism when it comes to his team. Belo was the first to complete the puzzle, soon followed by Reba, yeah, Lulu is headed to TC and it looks like either Emily or Brandon is likely to get the boot. If you’re thinking tribe strength, it is a no brainer, Brandon has to go. Hannah what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to be voted out of the game?
This first episode is just brutal, and I don’t understand what yellow is trying to, you are taking out the strongest players. Man, thank God Brandon is still trying to game some and alerted Kaleb that he’s in trouble, but honestly this first vote could be literal chaos, because yellow is a mess. Damn, Emily is just a hot mess people, seriously this woman is about to annoy the hell out of it.
Sabiyah and Kaleb was targeted immediately by Emily at the Tribal Council and I can tell Jeff is already annoyed with this tribe. Hannah wants to go home, Brandon wants to go home, Emily is throwing out physical threats, but Hannah seriously wants to quit the game; this is just horrible.
This has to be the worst first episode of “Survivor” I have witnessed in years. Jeff Probst has to be livid at this result. Yeah, I’m not so sure I’m going to be into season 45 if this is how things are going to transpire. “Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
