Survivor 43, Episode 1 "LIVIN" Gameplay Analysis

"Losing my leg is the best thing that ever happened to me."

-Noelle Lambert

Survivor is back, baby!  And I am hyped!  This was a solid premiere and I'm really optimistic about this season.  The cast has a lot of potential and we don't have the Hourglass or the Do or Die this time around.  I do wish the person who had been voted out had gotten a stronger edit, but beyond that I don't really have much in the way of complaints.  But we do have to figure out who played well and who sucked, so let's take a closer look!

Who Played Well:

We'll start over on the Baka tribe.  Elie formed an alliance with the girls as well as a bond over metal music with Gabler.  She was also the one who organized the vote against Morriah.  I'm not sure how I feel about the move overall considering Morriah got very little in the way of an edit, but Elie got her tribe to unanimously vote her way, which is typically a good thing.

Jeanine was also in the girls alliance with Elie and helped Sami solve the Savvy puzzle.  Though she did get stuck in the Immunity Challenge, no one brought her name up.  She suggested saving Morriah, but didn't put up too much of a fight, which is smart in episode 1.

Sami ended up getting on the right side of the vote and helped solve the Savvy puzzle.  I think he showed his age a little bit in the Immunity Challenge by bickering with Gabler, but overall it was a solid episode for Sami.

Gabler was a rollercoaster of a player and a lot of fun.  I like how he bonded with Elie, which ended up coming back to help when she talked him out of playing his Shot in the Dark.  I don't like that he Risked his Vote, but he at least got an Idol and told his entire tribe the truth.  When it comes to Mystery Adventure Island treks and expiring Idols, I think the truth is generally the way to go.  I also don't like that he put himself on the block for losing the challenge, but at least he didn't go through with it and ended up on the right side of the vote.  Overall, I would say net positive for Gabler, but it was close.

Finally, we have Owen.  He tried to scheme and plot early on, but recognized the rest of his tribe wasn't willing to do that and seemed to slow it down.  He also ended up on the right side of the vote.

Moving over to Coco, Karla, Cassidy, and Lindsay all formed a women's alliance (that will hopefully last longer than Baka's) and pulled in James as a 4th.  They could control the tribe.  Karla also formed an alliance with Geo and Ryan, so she's in a great spot, plus she decided not to Risk Her Vote!

Geo and Ryan volunteered to do Sweat, which I don't love, but they completed it so fast that it didn't give much time for the rest of the tribe to bond without them.  They both also made an alliance with Karla, so they made up for their rough start.

Finally, we have Vesi.  Cody figured out how to easily win the opening challenge and got into an alliance with Nneka and Jesse.  I also really like how he demonized Justine for being a salesperson when that's what he is as well.  

Jesse is in a really good spot because not only does he have an alliance with Cody and Nneka, but he's in with Justine and Noelle as well.  He's in the best spot on the Vesi tribe.

Who Sucked:

I only have players from the Vesi tribe to talk about here.  It's great that Justine and Noelle bonded so much and potentially have Jesse with them, but they were an extremely obvious pair to the point that an alliance was formed to counter them.  I wouldn't be shocked to see either of them go next.

Finally, we have Dwight.  He volunteered to go on the journey, which is terrible move.  It just puts a target on your back.  Karla and Gabler ended up going via chance.  This was a bad move for Dwight.  Plus he Risked his Vote and ended up losing it.  Not great.

As for Morriah, I feel really bad for her.  She seemed like she was going to be a lot of fun, but got almost no screen-time.  Was she really voted out for being the weakest?  It seemed like she did fine in the Immunity Challenge.  She did better than Sami, Gabler, and Jeanine at the very least.  It feels like we weren't shown everything here.

Verdict:

Best Player of the Episode goes to Karla Cruz Godoy for getting in an alliance with everyone on her tribe and not Risking Her Vote.

Worst Player of the Episode goes to Dwight Moore for volunteering to go on the journey and then Risking and losing his vote.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season.  I hope Vesi goes to Tribal Council next.  I think they could be a hot mess.

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