For its 48th season on CBS – and its streaming home on Paramount+ – Survivor returns to Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands, where longtime host Jeff Probst welcomes 18 new castaways. They include firefighters, surgeons, flight attendants, music executives, marketers, financial managers, and pizzeria operators, and they all have their own ideas about how best to play this game. but amid the sand, surf, mud, and limited resources of Survivor, as Probst says, “they must learn to adapt, or they’ll be voted out – and in the end, only one will remain to claim the million-dollar prize.” So what are these players thinking as they hit the beach in their Zodiac boats? Sure, Outwit, Outplay, Outlast, all of that. But as one of the Survivor 48 contestants puts it: “You gotta come out swinging. This is my season.”
SURVIVOR 48: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Who will heed the call of the conch? As Survivor 48 opens, it features ecstatic reaction videos from some of the contestants as they learned they’d be participating.
The Gist: There is Eva Erickson, a club hockey player and PHD candidate. (“I’m gonna battle my ass off and beat them!”) Shauhin Davari, a bearded and boisterous debate professor. (“I’m gonna eat your lunch!”) And David Kinne, a musclebound stunt performer. (“You need to worry about me!”) Each contestant that arrives on the beach in Fiji seems to have their reasoning for being there and their strategy of play already figured out. Which allows the reality competition they signed up for, the one that many of them are superfans of and say they grew up watching, to immediately fuck with their confidence. “You wanted Survivor?” shouts Jeff Probst as the first challenge begins and every member of the newly-formed Civa, Vula, and Lagi tribes quickly becomes exhausted and covered in mud. “This is it.”
The “new era” format of Survivor continues with Season 48. 26 days of game play, six people to each initial tribe, resources like the triumvirate of cook pot, machete, and firemaking flint always under threat, many major physical challenges, and individual hunts for immunity-granting idols. “If you know Survivor, nothing’s ever random out here,” says Mitch Guerra, whose speech impediment is part of his inspiration to participate. “I knew I was gonna play a social game,” stresses Bianca Roses of Lagi tribe. And David’s confidence level is in the red, but is that beneficial or annoying? “Kyle seems like a sincere guy,” David says after his Civa tribemate apologizes for a flub. “But he’s not me.”
As the first few days on the island transpire, complete with group challenges, a minor injury, and a few instances of idol-searching for future gain, the alliances also start to pop off. Saiounia – “The lack of a filter? It gets me in trouble” – is quick to lock down a Vula tribe “core 4” she believes in. But it also feels like her truest belief will be in what’s good for her. And while Kevin Leung feels lucky to be included in a group alliance, he’s also psyched about his “side alliance” with Mary Zheng. There are even players like Thomas Krottinger, who seems to be in it for the long game. He’s out here strategizing on the power dynamic in eventual tribal merges before anyone’s even faced elimination at the Tribal Council.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Season 36 of CBS’s globetrotting reality competition The Amazing Race is right around the corner. And in other news involving veteran reality series that take place on tropical islands, Netflix is bringing back Temptation Island.
Our Take: In a world overrun with reality programming, Survivor deserves accolades for continuing to stand above and apart. Maybe there are hopefuls who harbor big dreams of making it onto Too Hot to Handle or Love Island or something, but those reality competitions generally are not breeding the intensity – a mix of stanning adoration and studied commitment to the structure and tactics of the game – that Survivor inspires in its contestants. And after 25 years and almost 50 seasons, it’s generational. In Survivor 48, both Mitch and Kevin cite past players by name, sometimes going back decades. People who they saw themselves in, whose participation gave them the allowance to try and do the same. Jeff Probst will rattle off stuff like “From the comfort of your couch you heard the call of Survivor and answered it.” But experientially, its contestants really do put humanity back into the press release speak.
This is a huge reason why Survivor’s super-sized episodes become so engrossing. (The 48 premiere is two hours; most eps are 90 minutes.) There is plenty of time to observe the clash between players’ individual expectations, log those results, and then compare and contrast these personal styles as they merge with the show’s tribal dynamic. Cooperation, or at least being receptive to the concept, is already a major talking point this season, and a source for conflict. Among the Lagi tribe, as Star strikes out on her own in search of idols, Shauhin – who from the start represented as one of this season’s most confident players – questions his tribemate’s readiness for “the social part of the game.” Obviously there is a cash incentive. But with Survivor, it’s continually striking how seriously, how personally, these people take this shit.
Sex and Skin: Nada, but you know the basic Survivor dress code, which shakes out as a haphazard mix of swimwear and workout gear, street clothes, and other bits of improvised coverage.
Parting Shot: “I think that what’s stabbing her in the butt cheek is that she won’t listen to people around her.” Strong words fly as the losers of the day 3 challenge gather for the first tribal council – and elimination vote – of Survivor 48.
Sleeper Star: In a season where more aggressive players are already singling out those they perceive as weaker, perhaps Joe’s opposite approach – emphasizing teamwork over personal gain – will prove out. “We can’t do it alone,” the firefighter says in a cutaway. “I want to build strong bonds within our team. That loyalty piece? Taking a group to the end? I wanna change the game a bit and really try that.”
Most Pilot-y Line: [Jeff Probst as motivational speaker voice]: “Here’s the rub. Just because you attack the game doesn’t mean you’ll be successful. You can still fail. But failure in the pursuit of something amazing – that’s admirable. That’s worthy. That’s worth getting up off the couch and leaving your ordinary world behind.”
Our Call: Survivor 48 is an automatic STREAM IT. Even after 25 years and so many seasons, and as the vast reality landscape surrounding it somehow grows more wild and more homogenized at the very same time, Survivor remains wholly itself. So grab a torch, dip it in, and get fire.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
