10 Thoughts On… Survivor: Cagayan – Episode 1 Review

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1. There is absolutely no question that this was the best Survivor premiere of all-time. I have already been accused of saying that every year, and let me dispel the rumors. That allegation is completely correct. Every Survivor premiere is the best of all-time because it is and will always be the best show on television.

2. With that caveat, this Survivor Cagayan was particularly good because it was so unpredictable. While I was looking quite forward to seeing how Marlins President David Samson would fare on the series (given his eclectic personality), his bold move to try and oust his tribe’s strongest member clearly backfired as he was the game’s first boot. While I understand the strategy behind David selecting Garrett as the weakest member of his team and to establish himself as the Brains’ dominant alpha, he made the play too soon and paid the ultimate price.

3. I have been reading Garrett Adelstein’s post-show interviews with great interest and after being completely blindsided at the first episode’s second tribal council, I wanted to see how he would defend himself. In almost every interview, Garrett has said that Kass was primarily playing Survivor to make an impact and that is primarily what prompted the attorney to turn on her alliance. In the grand scheme of the show, Kass siding with J’Tia and Tasha will go down as one of the most shocking moves in Survivor history. I rank it alongside the time Malcolm saved the Three Amigos with three idols as one of the show’s most jaw-dropping moments.

4. Did Kass make the right move? That is a question that I have been wrestling with since Wednesday. The honest answer is that I am not sure. I see the arguments for the Brains tribe no longer having any physical presence. While I love Spencer, he clearly is on the Brains tribe for a reason. The other side of the argument is that Kass was almost certainly at the bottom of the Garrett/Spencer duo and that she needed to improve her positioning. I guess my conclusion is that Kass took advantage of being in a strong position. She would be in #3 regardless of who she was with (J’Tia/Tasha on one side and Garrett/Spencer on the other). The long-term effects of her decision will be seen right away because if the Brains now lose every challenge from here on out, she will have definitely made the wrong move (especially because she will be dumped right after Spencer is). The fact of the matter is that she made entertaining television and as a Survivor fan, we can all appreciate that.

5. Let’s credit the producers and editors for not showing us the argument between J’Tia and Kass after the former decided to throw out her tribe’s rice. I am also happy that they didn’t show Kass agreeing to vote alongside J’Tia as this made the blindside even sweeter.

6. As far as my thoughts on the rest of the episode, I definitely think that this twist is interesting. While I initially didn’t really see the point of dividing the tribes according to brains, beauty, and brawn… it certainly played out well on television as you automatically found yourself rooting for where you saw yourself in highschool.

7. There is no question that Brice Johnston was the most impressive player in the first episode. His strategy was spectacular. Recognizing that Morgan was on the outs after LJ selected her as the tribe’s weakest, instead of isolating her… Brice recognized that she was just craving an alliance of any kind and capitalized. This paid off immediately because as Morgan cozy’d up to Jeremiah, it bought Brice two allies instead of just one. I have never understood why players shy away from aligning with showmances. While the showmance will always take each other to the end, that’s something to consider only in the end-game. In the early part of the game, aligning with a showmance wields three strong votes and when the tribes consist of only six players, this is major power. In recent years, Survivor has also adopted a Final 3 scenario and because of this, I actually feel that aligning with a showmance is the best move a new Survivor can make. The jury would almost certainly credit the third wheel of the showmance more than the showmance itself.

8. I don’t think there is a single person alive who isn’t rooting for the Woo Tang alliance of Woo Hwang and Cliff Robinson. They are this generation’s Richard Hatch and Rudy Boesch.

9. I am glad there are no returnees this season.

10. Alexis is unbelievably hot.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.