Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Premiere "Epic Party" Gameplay Breakdown

 "We want your blood!"

-Jeff Probst

Survivor is back, baby!  I've made it a personal rule to keep my expectations low for all-star seasons.  Though I love Cambodia and Winners at War, I found All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, and Game Changers all to be disappointing seasons.  Season 50 made it easy for me to lower my expectations thanks to that awful trailer of celebrity cameos.  I'm still dreading Mr. Beast's arrival, but I do like the Boomerang Idol.  This episode had highs and lows, but I really enjoyed it overall and I'm ready for whatever ride 50 has in store.  Now, let's take a look at who played well and who sucked.

Heads up, I'm treating this premiere as two separate episodes.  Everything through Jenna's boot is Part 1 and afterwards is Part 2, so I'll be giving out two Best and Worst Players of the Episode.

Who Played Well:

We'll start on Cila.  I love, love, love the alliance of Christian, Devens, and Emily.  I'd be totally okay if this ended up being the Final 3.  I think they're a great fit and it was smart for them to align.  Christian seemed like he might have been the decision maker on Jenna vs. Cirie, so I'll give him credit for getting the result he wanted.

Ozzy had a mixed start.  I don't like that he volunteered to go on the initial Journey even though it was great television.  I like that he tried to patch things up with Coach even though we now know that will be falling apart shortly.  He did managed to get an Extra Vote and kept his closet ally, Cirie, in the game.  I'll give him a net positive, but he needs to be careful.  People are seeing him and Cirie as a duo.  

Personally, I thought Cirie should have been eliminated here, but somehow she survived.  She has Ozzy going to bat for her and even with her challenge performance, I'll put her in the positive.

Joe and Savannah didn't seem to get their way in the vote, but at least they were part of the majority and didn't piss anybody off...besides Jenna.

Moving over to Kalo, maybe he could have handled everything with a bit more finesse, but I like that Coach won the Journey challenge.  I'm hoping the fallout won't torpedo his game.  Plus he made an alliance with Jonathan, which could be a very deadly duo.

We also saw Jonathan putting in some strategic work this time.  We saw him talking to Coach, Mike, and Chrissy about taking out Dee.  They could become a very effective group.  I also want to give some credit to Mike for getting so jacked before coming out to play again.  I'll knock Chrissy down a point though.  Tiffany already wants her out, but she's made more positive connections that could help her there, so net positive for her.

Dee, Tiffany, and Kamilla also made an alliance.  I'm worried for this group, but if they can avoid Tribal in this early stage, they could become a new Black Widow brigade.  

Finally, to Vatu.  I laughed hysterically when Colby told us he didn't like Rizo, but the kid grew on Colby over the episode, just like I think he grew on most of the audience of 49.  Colby also helped put together an alliance with Stephenie, Kyle, Genevieve, and seemingly Q.

Who Sucked:

I only have Vatu people to talk about here.  Coming back to Q, I don't like that he volunteered to go on the Journey, plus he lost his vote.  He did get into an alliance though, so it's not all bad.

I don't know what's going on with Aubry.  She came off really cold to Genevieve.  Maybe Aubry has a perfectly good reason not to like Genevieve, I don't know, but she shouldn't be acting like that.  It's like Aubry regresses with every season she's on.

As for Angelina and Charlie, we didn't really get enough from either of them for me to say either way.

And then there's Jenna.  Poor Jenna.  I do find it hilarious that the person from season 1 and the person who waited the longest to come back is the first one out.  She played too hard too fast.  Shades of Ciera Eastin in Game Changers.  You don't want to be the first person to start throwing out names.  She needed to focus on making those connections first instead of big game hunting like she did in All-Stars.

Verdict:

Best Player of Part 1 goes to Christian Hubicki for getting into an alliance with Devens and Emily and knocking out Jenna.

Worst Player of Part 1 goes to Aubry Bracco for her attitude towards Genevieve.

Moving on to Part 2!

Who Played Well:

I only have two people in this section and they are both on Vatu.  Stephenie was with Genevieve when she found the Boomerang Idol and both ended up with all of the information.  I also think Genevieve made a great call with giving the Boomerang Idol to Ozzy.  If they end up on the same tribe, I think Ozzy would be totally loyal to her.  I also think Ozzy could easily be voted out with an Idol in his pocket and then it goes back to Genevieve.

Who Sucked:

Going on the Journey is generally a bad idea, unless you're already in a bad spot.  I don't like that Mike, Colby, or Savannah volunteered to go.  Though to be fair to Mike, I don't think he can win, so I don't blame him for wanting to experience as much as possible.  At least Savannah got to keep her vote and won a Vote Blocker.  I also like that Mike was able to get attention away from him and onto Coach with the information about Ozzy being pissed at Coach.  Colby got the worst of it by losing his vote.

This was a short and weird Part 2, so I don't have anything for any of the remaining players.

As for Kyle, that sucks man.  He was in a really good spot too.  I think of the winners, Kyle had the best chance of getting a second win.  Hopefully he gets to come back again someday.  I really want Survivor to not use mud in climbing challenges anymore.  It's just asking for injuries and nobody wants that.

Verdict:

Best Player of Part 2 goes to Genevieve Mushaluk for finding the Boomerang Idol and using it well.

Worst Player of Part 2 goes to Colby Donaldson for volunteering to go on the Journey and losing his vote.

Looks like the Ozzy/Coach rivalry is going to get heated next week.  I really hope Coach can make it through and get the win this time.  As a South Pacific fan, it's fun to have so many references back to such an underrated season.  Also, I'd really like Mr. Beast to show up so we can get it over with already.