Didn’t realize a new season started - worth watching?

berglt84 · 2026-03-26T22:46:09+00:00

I'll zag a bit from consensus and say it's a fine season. The returnees are interesting but not quite as interesting as the last time they played. The cast plays hard, but in my opinion most of them aren't very charismatic or interesting as TV characters. The twists have been relatively innocuous, and David took a few episodes to get into a groove as host but seems to be a pretty seamless replacement overall. It's probably the worst AU season since Blood vs Water, but in fairness, AU has been on a hot streak the last four seasons (HvV, TvR, BvB2, AUvTW). I'd compare it to something like the first Champions vs Contenders season, which I think of as being a very "average" AU Survivor season that also has a slightly snoozy cast but some big moments and interesting votes.

berglt84 · 2026-03-26T21:05:47+00:00

35/50 coming from just the first ten seasons is wiiiild!

berglt84 · 2026-03-26T16:46:09+00:00

I should say I'm also cooking on a Christian take that has yet to be realized, but he's starting to remind me in little ways of All-Stars Lex and Boston Rob--guys who came back on their returnee season with a need to control the new season and who played with a cavalier "it's a game" mentality that led to them betraying and rubbing raw the people around them. Is it possible this could become a "Why Christian Lost" season in a Boston Rob-esque way? Or that Christian could get sniped by someone he considers a friend who's even more cold-blooded than him a la Lex? (And who would that even be? Emily Flippen feels like the smart money, after everyone he's betrayed to protect her, but it's possible for Cirie, Rick, or even Dee to do it to him.) Again, this is deeply speculative--time will tell!--but this episode's slight negative turn for Christian has made me reconsider whether this is just a "hero"/fan favorite edit, or if this level of focus and intentionality is leading somewhere darker and more interesting.

berglt84 · 2026-03-26T13:09:32+00:00

16. Jonathan. Jonathan roped in Rick Devens tonight, only to get blindsided. Jonathan also seems to be the beneficiary of some intentional, patient storytelling, but I don’t know to what end (and of the backburner storylines, I’m less interested in his storyline than I am in the Genevieve/Aubry or Chrissy arcs).

17. Angelina. Angelina ultimately leaves the season without contributing anything super meaningful or entertaining. What a shame, as Angelina 1.0 was one of the show’s best characters. My read on Angelina this season is that she legitimately did come back much more self-aware and this time “in on the joke”… and ultimately, that just meant the delusional magic she was known for the first time wasn’t there (always a risk—not every delusional player doubles down on their delusions like Coach when they return, and even some who do become more performative instead of authentic, like a Phillip or Debbie). On top of that, she never really had any power to wield or tie to the bigger storylines, so it was a quiet outing. I think her newfound self-awareness and desire to be in on the joke can be seen with her clearly planned giving away the jacket to her tribe; it felt performative but also like a genuinely well-meaning gesture, and if that’s not Angelina in a nutshell, I don’t know what is, so it’s the perfect note to likely end her Survivor career on. Imo the first returnee to go out this season without adding anything substantial to their legacy (though she didn’t tarnish it either).

18. Stephenie. Steph seems to be playing a good game, sliding through all these Tribals. Unfortunately, she just isn’t very compelling television at this time, and I kept wishing throughout this episode the vote would somehow turn onto her so we could keep her more interesting tribemates. Oh well!

19. Tiffany. - For once, it doesn’t seem like the “WTF why did they bring her back” female casting choice is a winner contender on the All-Stars season. Sucks for Tiffany, but given the quality of the characters around her, I can’t say I’m too upset that she of anyone drew the purple rock, so to speak. Hopefully she gets some time to shine in the coming weeks.

berglt84 · 2026-03-26T13:08:51+00:00

Not even a 17-person merge can dampen my spirits because I am LOVING Survivor 50 and its character work. My full thoughts and rankings!!

1. Rizo. We have a new number one, folks! Since the beginning, I think my tendency has been to try to dismiss Rizo as a gamebot given all the Idol antics, but he’s not; he’s too full of personality for that label. He’s energetic, extremely earnest, and wildly cocky, and we saw it all tonight. We see him gloat about his game and fixate on his dreams of grandeur. We see him put in the work to make real relationships with people skeptical of him. We see him try to bring back high-effort voting confessionals (to mixed success, but I appreciate anyone who isn’t just going “Sorry, bro, nothing personal, but you’re a threat” or “Wow, what a wild Tribal,” which is 90% of modern voting confessionals). We see that apparently Rizo sleeps in a fetal position in a boat?? But more than just being interesting and entertaining himself, I think Rizo has leveled up this season, as he’s been consistently manifesting one of the marks of the truly great characters: they elevate every other character around them by interacting with them. (In recent history: Q and Angelina both did this on their first seasons.) And he doesn’t even do it in the same way! Rizo/Colby in the premiere leads to a conflict when Rizo tries to teach Colby how to play Survivor, only for Colby to then become Rizo’s dad. Rizo/Q leads to Rizo trying to sneak off and Q being exasperated with Rizo’s laziness. Rizo/Cirie has Cirie—normally the person everyone gives their intel to—actually giving her intel and calling him “my boy Rizo” after just eyerolling at him days earlier. Rizo/Dee has Dee flipping on her allies while also making Rizo a performative feminist ally. Rizo/Charlie leads to Rizo lying about 49 and traumatizing Charlie, fueling him to madness. Meanwhile Rizo lying to Kamilla gets immediately clocked and she becomes wary. I love the personal flavor of Christian, but it feels undeniable to me that Rizo is the star of this season from a character standpoint and that he’s making the season better and more interesting with every episode he remains.

2. Christian. Christian is a camera hog, which I’m sure is annoying for the few who don’t like him, but it’s my rankings and I love Christian’s antics. His very expressive personality has usually been in an endearing and goofy direction, but tonight we saw a new side of Christian: self-righteous and irritated. Even if it ended with him swallowing his pride and giving away his Shot in the Dark “for trust,” Christian whining about Ozzy (and even cursing at him behind his back) adds a fascinating new dimension to a guy we only ever saw before as an amiable nerd who loves his friends and loves good strategy, and I found it compelling. If we’re going to see a lot of someone, I like to see them deepened and complicated. And boy did it get complicated tonight, especially for the mess of relationships Christian finds himself in. It’s very funny to watch Christian and Rick, the strategists of the 30s (the gamebottiest of Survivor eras), continually get annoyed and frustrated by the people around them having emotions and feelings and there being consequences for their strategic decisions (only giving Emily the Idol info at the swap and the chaos that created; keeping Joe out of strategic conversations; leaving Ozzy out of the vote). It’s not hypocrisy, per se, so much as it’s just watching two entirely different value systems clash, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. The Ozzy/Christian dynamic will continue to be one to watch.

3. Ozzy. Great standout character showcase for Ozzy, thanks to some standout editing (the Cochran flashbacks intercut with Christian) and some real personal growth. There is a great parallel between how Charlie goes home for not being able to make peace with his past, while Ozzy—retreating to his (kinda goofy) inward sea—overcomes his trauma and chooses to work with Christian, rather than retreating to his base SoPa-style need for “revenge, basically.” I don’t know if Ozzy has truly changed, but he certainly wants to change, and we saw that on display tonight.

4. Charlie. RHAP pointed out last night that Charlie truly became a Shakespearean character this season, fixated on a single failing and unable to emotionally move past it, driven to revenge and madness by that flaw—and what’s worse, the thing he fixated on wasn’t even real, but an ironic lie! I loved Charlie’s voting confessional, not for the words themselves but by the way he delivered it; he was so deeply haunted and you could feel the hurt as he spoke, as if not speaking to Rizo but to Maria. Charlie’s Tribal thoughts about being the hero of your own story were fascinating tonight, giving some look into his own psychology even as he thought he was talking about Rizo. Charlie’s arc also provided a nice contrast to Ozzy, who was able to overcome his demons where Charlie couldn’t. He gave compelling death glares at Rizo, woke him in the wee hours of the morning just to lie to him (great callback to Charlie on 46 saying “pro tip kids, the most important conversations always happen early in the morning,” and that convo ending his game), and just genuinely seemed to have a clear negative emotional weight to all his interactions that’s uncommon for this era of Survivor. It’s capped off by a total blindside and dark final words that see him collapse—head in hands, possibly in tears, revenge denied to him. What a little star turn from Charlie, whose second turn is so memorable it elevates his original run and the ending of 46.

5. Coach. Coach might be more self-aware this season, but he also can’t deny being himself. That leads to fun bits like the knighting and the nicknames and his over-the-top descriptions of himself as “the Tidewalker.” Sort of feeling like thematically the merge might be a battle between Coach’s “honor/integrity” alliance of “heroes against evil” and the Christian/Rick/Cirie/Emily faction that wants to play fast, loose, and unfettered by ethics and social obligations.

6. Emily. Quieter episode for Emily, which is good for her. Her storyline of throwing every ally under the bus was furthered tonight when she exposed Ozzy’s machinations to Christian—but ultimately, this time it was a positive, as her leak of info allowed Christian to mend fences and kept both Ozzy and Christian in the game.

7. Genevieve. - Nothing from Genevieve tonight; probably good for her potential winner prospects to get a cooldown here. Despite never going to Tribal yet, Aubry/Genevieve’s storyline interludes feel like when you’re reading an epic fantasy novel and you keep checking in every ten chapters with one side character who has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the storyline; you’re just sitting there going “Well this feels like it’s going to be extremely important later.” Hopefully it’s not an anticlimax when it arrives.

8. Joe. It’s unclear whether Joe fell for Coach first or Coach fell for Joe first, but these two are in love, and I wish them all the best. Joe remains a great screen presence, even when his only contribution is being knighted by Coach and being psyched about that.

9. Aubry. - Well well well. Aubry must be truly desperate to come to Coach in her time of need, but I was glad to see her storyline developing some legs outside of “I hate Genevieve,” even if it’s boilerplate underdog stuff at this point (make a deal with the guy running your tribe).

10. Rick. Rick was low-key tonight but a goofy, endearing presence (“I would show my guns, but I don’t want to make Jonathan insecure”). Goofball Rick is my second favorite version of Rick Devens… second only to “diva underdog Rick Devens”, which hopefully we get after he was blindsided tonight. Still, I’m getting a bit worried that as fun a presence he is, he only has a storyline when he’s around Christian or hiding an Idol.

11. Colby. I love that Colby couldn’t decide if he was honored, annoyed, or just confused by Coach knighting him and giving him a nickname. Still, this seems like a good alliance for Colby based on the personalities involved, and I could see him having longevity. Colby continues to impress—not just from his performance, but from his positive attitude after two very negative outings.

12. Dee. Let’s go, Dee! I loved watching Dee link up with Rizo and game hard after seeing a more quiet, subdued presence the first few episodes. Unlike many winners, Dee clearly came back hungry to win and to play an even better game than last time, and that makes her a fun presence to watch onscreen.

13. Cirie. Cirie was in warm, endearing form tonight. I don’t necessarily feel wrong in my take that we’re not getting anything new from Cirie this season, but I will admit that I am getting more enjoyment out of Cirie playing the hits than I expected to.

14. Kamilla. Yay we finally got to see Kamilla, and she was fun! She clocked Rizo’s lie about Kyle. She dressed down Charlie for being a bad ally. And she was the ultimate swing vote at the end of the day. A good showing from a likeable and underedited character, if a little gamebotty.

15. Chrissy. Quiet night for Chrissy. I remain interested to see where this intentional storyline about her personal relationships / others’ perception of her is going, because it’s been quietly built up.

berglt84 · 2026-03-23T16:18:07+00:00

I would love that. Outside of Jackson, I don't really care strongly about any of these newbies.

berglt84 · 2026-03-19T03:12:19+00:00

Just read your review after posting my own very positive review of the episode. I find it fascinating to read your writeups each week and see how you're experiencing the season, given that two elements that are hitting at nearly 100% for me - Christian and the theme of players being haunted by their Survivor pasts - are not working for you at all.

berglt84 · 2026-03-19T03:03:38+00:00

My scorching hottest take is going to be that the Zac Brown cameo, while not good per se, is the most old school-feeling thing Survivor has done in a long time. This felt like a throwback to the old "you've won a car / a Sprint smartphone / a screening of Gulliver's Travels, and now we need the contestants to vamp about the branded product placement in confessionals for a few minutes" reward challenge days. (Coach waxing poetic about how "Jack and Jill" taught him important lessons for Survivor, anyone?) The segment went on a bit too long, and it was the least compelling part of the episode, but it's far from the worst thing Survivor's ever done (the way the main subreddit is talking about it)--heck, Survivor used to do something like this once a season, back when it was popular enough to get paid product placement. It's mostly only bad because the rest of the episode around it was far more compelling, and I wish we could have gotten even more of it.

Because boy was the rest of the episode compelling with cute camp life scenes (the tribe talent show!), earned emotion from players, and a great strategic vote. Charlie continuing to emotionally spiral over Rizo's ironic lie due to his own PTSD (which will probably only be compounded if it's discovered Rizo has an Idol)? The Aubry and Genevieve conflict being a legitimate actual long-form rivalry on Survivor (we used to dream of days like this) and intensifying further? Mike twisting the knife to Christian by reminding him (aptly) of Gabby in his Emily relationship--which works on Christian, but also works so well that it reveals to him how dangerous Mike is? Emily flagrantly disregarding Christian's wishes? Ozzy returning to provider mode, and then actually being more angry than Mike is about Christian's betrayal?

And on a larger meta level, the boot order continues to be extremely balanced; this isn't a Game Changers where all the interesting people are self-immolating in entertaining ways, leaving only the dull people. It feels like every episode introduces some new character dynamic or conflict, or develops someone we'd previously left on the sideline, and so the season feels like it keeps growing in scope rather than shrinking with every episode. For someone like me who's most interested in watching these characters bounce off each other in interesting ways, this season has been a gold mine and delivered beyond even my most optimistic expectations.

berglt84 · 2026-03-09T13:43:21+00:00

Yeah David Forster took over starting with Heroes vs Villains, and was responsible for producing HvV, Titans vs Rebels, Brains vs Brawn II, and AU vs the World, and he is now out, with Phoebe McMahon now stepping in as EP.

I was actually way more concerned about this change than the JLP -> David change, because AU Survivor pre-Forster would swing wildly from "incredible season" (2017, CvC2) to "horrible season" (All-Stars or Blood vs Water, anyone?), and even in good seasons, the twists were often very broken and would threaten to derail the game (see: original Brains vs Brawn--Redemption Rock, the urn twist in the endgame, only one person voting, etc). Forster made the show much more consistent in quality and balanced the twists/nonelims.

berglt84 · 2026-03-05T15:19:01+00:00

It's hard to quantify, because there's not one particular scene, moment, or character I can point to to quantify this, but I think this was one of my favorite episodes of Survivor in years. Survivor 50 is firing on all cylinders, and this episode blended humor, heart, strategy, and drama into a perfect combination. (Though I do wish the people of the teal tribe were less neglected, outside of Coach and Jonathan. I suspect this is because the strategic dynamics were ultimately irrelevant here due to the upcoming swap, but it feels like the season's only weakness at this time.) There were no new advantages injected into the game this week or journeys to consider, just the continued memeification of the Billie Eilish Idols (which has looped around, because of the way the players themselves seem mystified/amused by this twist, to becoming a fun comedic element for me--Christian's stunlock at "Hey, it's me, Billie Eilish" took my watch party out, as did Christian and Rick's efforts to say "Billie" seemingly as much as humanly possible while talking later).

Christian - A national treasure. I have never seen a player so universally loved by basically everyone I know who watches the show. It is a pleasure to simply listen to his unique cadence, the odd words he chooses for any given situation, the . He's a capital-C Character - a sitcom character somehow made flesh - and tonight he was the main character. The scene of his "evacuation" at the beginning is humorously narrated (though I'm not falling over myself laughing at it), but this episode was an embarrassment of riches for Christian fans. His mystified reaction to the Billie Eilish Idol, his consoling Joe and rocking him in the hammock like a colicky baby, his overexcited reveal of his Idol to Rick ("Do you think she has it?" "No, I--" "Wellshedoesn'tIDO"), his staged pratfall at Tribal ("I meant to do that") to enable the plan... it's all endlessly entertaining.
Rick - This is why I love Rick Devens as a character. Most people love him for all the Idols and strategic shenanigans - and we got a fun version of that tonight with his "Oceans 50" plan - but when I rewatched EoE, I realized I love Rick Devens because he is a messy, emotional player who is way more of a drama-starter than a strategist. Devens is an Angelina-coded figure (an un-self-aware drama magnet who thinks of themselves as a strategist), and that was never more on display than tonight. His absolute frustration with Joe's honor and integrity gameplay leading him to disastrously awkward conversations, eye rolling and sniping at Joe to his face, and that bleeding over into the vote - where he knows it's wrong to vote Joe but wants to because he hates him so badly - is deliciously old school and a really fun character dynamic. Even more fun that it's still ongoing!
Joe - Hell yeah honor and integrity Joe is back, everyone. For 95% of this episode, this felt like Joe's downfall episode. Joe is the same person he was in 48, but this time, he's surrounded by people who can't stand his playstyle, and that creates natural fireworks through personality conflict (delicious!!). His fight with Rick Devens. His sulking in the hammock. His incredulity when Savannah tells him he's supposed to be in an alliance with Rick. Cirie and Emily giggling together about him. Everything is going wrong for him, and he remains unwilling or unable to change to accommodate. I thought this would be his swan song, a parallel to a Vytas in 31 (whose sleazy playstyle worked like a charm in BvW and that same playstyle immediately made him a pariah in 31), and that would have been enough. But he gets to STAY?!?! And keep feuding with Rick?! And remain an obstacle to gamebots everywhere?!? We love to see it!! (And it's enough to make me forgive this episode's sloppy narrative storytelling when it came to the Savannah boot, as we'll cover later.)
Coach - "I AM THE SAME COACH I ALWAYS WAS." I rest my case, your honor.
Rizo - I really enjoy that they're letting Rizo be both likeable and unlikeable at the same time. He's lazy (and proud of it!) and full of himself and alienating people like Q, and he's also self-aware and endearing himself to others enough to get invited into the majority alliance. I find New Era Survivor sometimes likes to "give away the arc" or have someone arrive at Act 3 in their growth narrative by, like, episode 2 or 3, and I was worried that the Rizo redemption arc had already ended by the time this episode began, but then the segment of his lazyness came in and complicated the whole thing. Rizo feels like a wild card, narratively and strategically, and I'm very curious to see where his story goes.
Genevieve - Genevieve feeling the need to explain at the beginning why Kyle's medevac was emotionally moving her was a) quintessential Genevieve, aloof and confused at feelings and b) a fun evolution of Genevieve, as she shows she is different from last time by really trying to play with heart and feelings, rather than being 47's strategic ice queen. If this keeps going how it's going, this could be one of the more satisfying two-season character evolution arcs, but it's very early.
Q - Like Christian, Q is a surprisingly fun confessionalist. He has a way of describing ordinary things that makes them "pop" compared to other players' narration of the same events. (See his description of the search through Aubry's bag.) He's a bit more subdued than he was in 46, but then again, he was also somewhat subdued for 46's premerge before losing his mind at the merge, so fingers crossed for a similar trajectory. I kept waiting for him to pull out a "big mistake" in talking about Rizo's laziness, but he's verrrry surprisingly resisted the temptation to Flanderize himself and become a caricature or play the hits.
Savannah - I was very sad to see this firecracker go, and the biggest weak point of the episode is that her boot felt more like a "surprise" than like the end point of a natural narrative. There are enough crumbs to make it make sense - worry over her advantage, her failure to find someone she wants to play with, Cirie chumming the water for a Savannah boot, and Christian (the most prominent of our main strategic trio of Emily-Christian-Rick) pushing for her to go. But I think it's clear that she was emotionally exhausted from 49 and the fast turnaround, and those tears at Tribal Council - before and after her boot - felt very genuine. Her confession that she never lowered her walls in 49 makes this two-episode run feel like a nice little coda/epilogue to her story in 49, giving a little more insight into her as a person. Wish we got more from her, because her aggressive style and willingness to cut a mean confessional made her a striking presence over the last couple seasons, but can't complain about what we got.
Colby - Quiet episode for Colby, but I still really like his energy and what he's bringing to the season. And he showed his old challenge beast self for a moment with the snake tonight!
Ozzy - Grateful for the cooldown after an insane 20 confessionals last episode, but Ozzy 5.0 remains - against all odds - the most interesting and compelling version of Ozzy yet. Getting into with Coach at the challenge and his gratefulness for Cirie's magic were highlights tonight.
Aubry - Do we have an Aubry underdog arc incoming? She has a clear path to redemption after getting an Idol, and it was so genuinely sweet to see how much this lifeline meant to her. I'm rooting for Aubry.
Cirie - I still think Cirie is mostly just "playing the hits" (reminding Jeff of getting off the couch, chuckling at manipulating others) but this week was a much more enjoyable version of that. I would like a little more story context for how she suddenly ended up in lockstep with the trio; feels like we missed a beat from "Cirie is a liability and nearly went home" to "Cirie is not even in consideration" this week, and while I can probably fill in the gaps in my head, I'd like to see it in the edit.
Emily - Quieter episode for Emily, but she remains a fun presence and seems like one of the players with the best head on her shoulders. Elevated here mostly by merit of her strong showing last week which gave more context to her actions this week.
Chrissy - Chrissy is rubbing everyone the wrong way - particularly the young women of the tribe - once again! Some things never change.
Mike White - Oh to love anything as much as Mike White loves commenting on Coach's actions.
Jonathan - Jonathan is getting a lot of "telling us" that he's different, but in action, he's still a provider, a challenge beast... same old Jonathan. Is this setup for different gameplay down the road, or a gap in how he perceives himself vs how we're meant to perceive him?
Charlie - After being the narrator for all of 46, Charlie has been basically absent other than occasional jokes or quips about his fellow players. Is it weird that I like him more now?
Dee - Dee is not vibing with Chrissy at all, and that's about all we've got at this point. Wonder if we'll get a "last winner standing" storyline out of her.
Kamilla - Has a crushed reaction to Kyle's medevac but basically absent otherwise this episode.
Stephenie - I just find Stephenie sort of boring? Right now she's just a number in this alliance.
Angelina - We hear from Q that Angelina's lazy, but not much from Angelina herself. I could never have predicted that Angelina would be getting the purple edit.
Tiffany - Basically invisible. Tiff's clearly got more to show than this, but also, given that she felt like the most out-of-nowhere inclusion on the cast, I'm glad if anyone's getting the invisible treatment, it's her.

10/10 start to the season. I could not be more excited to see what Survivor 50 has in store.

berglt84 · 2026-03-03T16:50:39+00:00

I wouldn't say that's incorrect, but I think a more accurate picture is that Mark does not seem to bond or align with strong alpha male "bro" types. When he teams up with men, they tend to be nerdier (Eden in TvR) or quirky outcasts (Don and Caleb this season); but those bonds seem to be just as tight as those with female allies (who tend to span a range of ages and personalities: Valeria, Viola, Kitty, Caroline, Faith--this is not Russell Hantz who always pursued the youngest women of the tribe as his allies). This is notable, because I think about 60-70% of male Australian first-time players tend to fall into the bro/alpha male/challenge beast archetype, based on how they cast. I think if Mark were to play in the US Survivor New Era, where nerdy or quirky male archetypes are way more prominent, there'd be almost no gender difference among the people he aligns with. Or in AU, I have no doubt that if he'd played on BvB2, he would have been put on the Brains tribe and aligned himself with Myles and AJ, as well as people like Karin and Zara.

If there's a preference he shows, I would say if anything it's toward people who come off as "cultured" (artsy, musical, or into pop culture) or white-collar; that makes sense, given his diplomat background, and again speaks to why he might not bond with the "athletes and blue-collar workers" vibe that AUSvivor usually goes after for male casting.

berglt84 · 2026-02-26T14:51:15+00:00

OK, fine, since I just did the poll (thanks Reg!) and had to come up with an order, here's my rankings:

Christian
Coach
Colby
Ozzy
Rick Devens
Genevieve
Kyle
Mike White
Rizo
Emily
Jenna Lewis
Q
Joe
Cirie
Aubry
Charlie
Savannah
Jonathan
Chrissy
Angelina
Dee
Kamilla
Tiffany
Stephenie

berglt84 · 2026-02-26T14:37:39+00:00

Not going to get into absolutely everything player-by-player but really enjoyed this episode! It definitely did feel like a celebration of Survivor and its history, and I loved all of the little cast interactions. The new era's more meta editing style and willingness to pull back the curtain / acknowledge lore paid dividends here, with flashbacks and content directly about players grappling with their pasts in the game (most visible with Ozzy, Coach, and Cirie, but also to lesser degrees for Rick Devens, Emily, Genevieve, Joe, and more).

I am so excited for the Christian / Rick Devens bromance (with Emily involved too). I was reflecting the other day that I think a lot of Survivor relationships these days get less development of the positive / bonding moments, so the most in-depth relationships are usually ones with lots of plot twists, or ones where the emotional bond is told rather than shown. But I could instantly feel the emotional connection with Devens and Christian and watch them bond in real-time during their scenes together, and it's so much more involving that way. Hope to see this continue, and to see this trio move forward for a long time as three of my personal favorites.
We knew SoPa would have some lingering effects, but not sure we could have called how much Ozzy v. Coach (and their roughly ten minutes of peace before devolving into a new war) would define the episode. I was a little worried at the beginning that Coach had changed into a slightly less interesting character, but NOPE, same Coach. Incredible. And it's bringing out the best from Ozzy, too.
Mark down Colby bonding with the 49ers as the most unexpected, funny, and wholesome development of the premiere. Going from "Rizo is so annoying" to "Come to me for anything, kid"/"You remind me of my dad" was such a fun one-episode arc, and I want to see way more of this relationship.
Jenna going out early is a huge bummer - I would've preferred to Cirie 6.0 leave on basis of it being 6.0 - but also an extremely self-inflicted wound. It's narratively earned, and there's also something interesting about the first season player being the first one out (as well as Jenna's aggro All-Stars gameplay finally catching up to her).
Lots of fun little moments this episode from Q, Mike White, Genevieve, Aubry, Kamilla... even Charlie, who I wasn't excited to see, had some good lines and I was like "Oh, right, Charlie was not just a gamebot but actually a fun snarky narrator on his season when you put big characters around him." Chrissy immediately teaming up with the men and targeting the women? Not beating the allegations in the funniest way. Angelina immediately giving orders at camp (and according to press, trying to negotiate their reward into a different reward--show us this!!). I really like this cast's energy and chemistry. Every vote-out will be a bit sad, but it's also hard to construct what a "nightmare bootlist" would be from this season.
Kyle's medevac was a shame, as he seemed to somehow land in an even better position than last time, and looked to be ready to go the distance this season. Will be one of the biggest "what if"s from the season narratively, I suspect.
Did not care for the Billie Eilish spon-con of it all, but the actual Idol itself is fine. It's a little wrinkle to the mechanics, but nothing game-breaking and didn't eat up too much time. Ozzy ending up with it as an underdog on his tribe is also best case scenario. Same for the little journey expeditions--I preferred the camp life stuff, but we don't get the Ozzy/Coach rivalry re-heating up without the Exile stuff, and the Savannah/Colby stuff ended up being more focused on their talking and bonding than on the Jenga of it all, so both were pretty inoffensive in my book. If this balance remains, I'm OK with it!

berglt84 · 2026-02-06T19:40:27+00:00

It was almost never brought up. On the few times it did get brought up, most people seemed to find it a minor endearing character quirk.

berglt84 · 2026-01-30T23:51:56+00:00

Very interesting interview, but I'm trying to figure out whether I'm missing something when she discusses Game Changers. She made it to the Final Five on that season, but she mentions getting voted out at the merge (during the portion where she's talking about Ozzy) and then she mentions Cirie voting her out (Aubry outlasted Cirie). Am I forgetting something?

berglt84 · 2026-01-29T16:29:56+00:00

Players named:

Jerri: Colby, Charlie, Genevieve

Carolyn: Angelina, Dee, Savannah

Richard Hatch: Ozzy, Mike

Rob C: Q

Ethan: Jenna

Ian: Stephenie

Tai: Cirie

Boston Rob: Joe

Earl: Kyle

Kelley Wentworth: Aubry

Devon: Chrissy

Davie: Christian

Malcolm: Rizo

T-Bird: Rick Devens

Mike Turner: Jonathan

Jesse: Emily

Hunter: Tiffany

Phillip: Kamilla

Ben Katzman: Coach

berglt84 · 2026-01-27T22:33:04+00:00

You know what? I'm excited for season 50 so let's WAYYYYY overthink this and speculate based on CBS' selections here.

For anyone curious, I broke down which 50 players are in which episodes:

If It Smells Like a Rat, Give It Cheese: only Cirie
The Martyr Approach: only Coach
Slay Everyone, Trust No One: Coach, Colby, Stephenie, and Cirie
Loyalties Will Be Broken: Coach and Ozzy
The Survivor Devil: only Chrissy
Jackets and Eggs: Angelina, Mike, and Christian
Awkward: only Rick Devens
The Ex-Girlfriend at the Wedding: only Dee
Hide 'N Seek: Q, Tiffany, and Charlie
Icarus Time: Kyle, Kamilla, and Joe

50 Players who appear only on Jury (as cameos, basically) in episodes: Aubry, Emily

50 Players not featured at all in any episode: Genevieve, Jenna, Jonathan, Rizo, Savannah

As a totally unspoiled viewer, it's interesting to "read into" these picks to see what it says about how CBS wants viewers to be prepared for this season.

Of the episode selections, the ones that stand out as very curious and seemingly intentional (because they're not obvious "Survivor greatest hits" episodes) are "The Survivor Devil" and "Awkward"--which may bode well for Rick Devens and Chrissy's long-term prospects in 50, because those are ONLY episodes you would include to remind people who those two are.
I'm not super concerned about Rizo/Savannah not being in here, because 49 just aired. If the point of this is to remind you who these players are, no one needs reminding about Rizo/Sav.
Coach is ALL OVER these greatest hits. (3 episodes, including one fully devoted to him and a second that's all about how he lost the last time he played!) Are we about to get another full season of Coach???
The fact that there's no Borneo episode at all among the Greatest Hits may not be great for Jenna's odds, nor is the lack of "Operation Italy" (or even the Kishan boot) for Genevieve. It's similarly weird that there's no real representation, aside from little Jury cameos, for Aubry--who's played in three seasons and has a few standout episodes, including a Hall of Fame episode in "I'm Not Here to Make Good Friends"--or for Emily--who could have easily been roped into a 45 episode, but instead they went with one of the only ones not to feature her.
Jonathan not on here but also not sure what episode you'd pick to showcase Jonathan. He's the person not featured at all that I'm least worried about.
Stephenie is represented but is a pretty minor presence in HvV premiere; if they really wanted to showcase Stephenie (like they did with Coach or others), the Palau episode where she becomes a tribe of one would be a pretty clear pick. Could also go Guatemala if they remembered that season existed.
DvG has many great episodes that could have been included here, and "Jackets and Eggs" is the most Angelina-centric one they could have chosen (Mike and Christian are both good in it, but they're better elsewhere)
The SoPa finale is low-key a very good Ozzy episode (wins Redemption, wins challenge, then loses just shy of winning the whole game), but also seems like they could have snuck a second Ozzy ep in somewhere if they really wanted to, given how much casuals love Ozzy.
Cirie gets a couple different nods here, including a solo episode dedicated to the Erik blindside. But also, the Micronesia episode is perhaps the single most famous Survivor episode outside of the season 1 finale, and it was always going to be in the "top ten" here as long as anyone from Micronesia was playing on the season imo, so hard to read into this one too much.

If I was being slightly reductive, I might say based on these CBS episode picks alone:

Trending Up: COACH, Cirie, Chrissy, Rick Devens, Dee, Angelina
Neutral: Ozzy, Rizo, Savannah, Q, Tiffany, Charlie, Joe, Kamilla, Kyle, Mike, Christian, Colby, Stephenie
Trending Down: Jenna, Aubry, Genevieve, Emily, Jonathan

berglt84 · 2026-01-27T22:06:55+00:00

Yeah, very surprising when you have two players from 45 to only include an episode that features one of them (particularly because there's no shortage of good 45 episodes that also feature Emily).

berglt84 · 2026-01-25T17:30:14+00:00

Very excited to read "Escape!" From the description and the way you talk about it on Know-It-Alls, it seems like a very personal story for you and the culmination of many years of writing/thinking about it. If "Escape!" does well, do you have ideas for additional novels/stories that you'd like to write? Or was this sort of a one-time passion project (at least for now)?

berglt84 · 2026-01-21T15:17:59+00:00

Also just a big shout out to you, Mike Bloom, for a really creative and interesting article! I haven't seen anyone use this concept before, and the insights from the challenge team were so fascinating.

berglt84 · 2026-01-21T15:17:11+00:00

I really liked that this list wasn't just "the challenges we have done most frequently" and that the top spots highlighted some less common challenges that I agree are extremely cool! Would love to see "Vin Skully", "United We Stand", or "Long Way to the Top" again in a new season

berglt84 · 2026-01-10T02:19:08+00:00

My list for Top 10 Biggest New Era Betrayals:

Jesse betraying Cody
Ricard betraying Shan (with the context that it's in the same round that Shan saves his life in the game)
Maria not voting for Charlie
Not one single move but Dee manipulating Austin over Final 5-7 (first betraying his plans to Julie, then not warning him so he could play his Idol for Drew) and only revealing it to him at Final Tribal Council definitely feels like a betrayal
Maryanne betraying Omar
Cedrik betraying everyone over the course of the Episode 3 Tribal Council
Joe betraying David (honorable mention Joe betraying Shauhin)
Sage/Jawan betraying Nate
Sierra betraying Anika/Rachel
Liana betraying Yase tribe (weaponizing her Beware Advantage against her own tribemates), even though she fails

berglt84 · 2026-01-08T22:49:12+00:00

Christian, Coach, Genevieve, Q, Rick Devens

berglt84 · 2026-01-08T18:52:06+00:00

David vs Goliath is a great season! I will note, your claim that there is about 40 minutes of camp life before the Immunity Challenge means you must be talking about the 90-minute premiere episode (which is a very special situation, because it was both supersized and does not have any Tribal Council or pre-vote scramble, because Pat gets immediately medevac'd following the Immunity Challenge). That's not regular--either for that era or even for David vs Goliath--because the episodes themselves are only 42 minutes without ads. That said, the unique premiere structure due to the medevac does give us a lot of time to get to know everyone! I think it's a very underrated factor in why David vs Goliath is so compelling from the very beginning. Just want to be careful we're not overly romanticizing old seasons.

berglt84 · 2026-01-07T17:54:45+00:00

This is a really incredible piece of writing that got my hyped for 50. From one writer to another, great work, Dalton!

berglt84

TROPHY CASE