Dee hasn’t moved from the bottom of her tribe for me, but overall, she moves to the bottom of my ranking because the few people I ranked ahead of her pre-game did a little more this episode to make them feel not as hopeless. Dee’s linked up with Kamilla and Tiffany, which is a solid trio on paper, but I’m not confident they’ll escape a 5-3 numbers disadvantage on Kalo. Jonathan and Chrissy are gunning for Dee and approached both Coach and Mike with the plan who both feel like easy allies. This leaves Charlie in the middle but if he goes with the girls, it’s only a tie, so they’d need one more to flip and make the vote Chrissy instead of Dee.

Could it be done? Sure. Ultimately it will come down to Coach I think, and if he and Jonathan are committed to playing together, Jonathan appears more passionate about voting for Dee than Coach would be voting for Chrissy, so I think Dee will end up the vote. Dee’s done nothing wrong to land here at the bottom other than win her season, so that sucks for her, but that’s a returnee season for you. At least her Wikifeet fans got to hear her talk about toes.

Savannah owes a thank you to Jenna for tanking her game so bad that it saved Savannah from being the biggest first boot contender. I was gagged a little when she immediately told the tribe she won 49 – mainly because I didn’t think they’d let her break her NDA like that, but I’m glad they did. It’d be so awkward to have to tiptoe around that when it’s all but officially known by everyone in this cast anyway (another giveaway being that there was 1 winner on both Kalo and Vatu, so it made sense for 1 to be on Cila).

Savannah still sits low with me because the end of the episode set her story up for the rest of her time on Cila. She may have outplayed old school challenge beast at a game of reverse Jenga, but she did not outwit her tribe when she told them that her “winning” the journey challenge was essentially just “not losing.” Who would buy that the first journey trip of the game would have no advantage up for grabs? Come on, girl. In her defense, that probably would’ve worked against the entire cast of 49, but 50 knows better to call her bullshit. A block-a-vote isn’t even that big. The tribe is probably thinking she has something more dangerous than she does, so we’re likely to see some split vote on Savannah where blocking 1 won’t be enough to save her.

I got SUCH a strange vibe from Aubry in her one major interaction this episode. Genevieve approached her wanting to work with her as a potential “dangerous duo” and while Aubry said she was open, she gave off very skeptical energy. She wanted to suss out Genevieve a bit more before locking in which is a totally reasonable approach, but if I was Genevieve, that was not the reaction I’d be wanting. If someone asks you about an alliance, you never answer anything less than a resounding “YES!”

A tribal council for Vatu is going to be a mess with 7 people and only 5 voting (at most as of now) with the initial majority alliance of 4 now only having 3 with 2 eligible voters – thanks new era shenanigans for that! We didn’t have as clear of a boot story at Vatu compared to the other two tribes, but Genevieve seems to be doing extremely well and is making lots of inroads, so if there’s an “Aubry vs. Genevieve” thing brewing, then I think Aubry could be hittin’ the old torch snuff trail as soon as Vatu has to vote. Not her best look.

Q was not nearly as unhinged as I expected, but I still think he’s a ticking time bomb. Him being away from his tribe for the entire first day ironically worked in Q’s favor when normally that’s a terrible situation. I could’ve seen Q hit the beach hard and scare people, but he didn’t have an opportunity to do so. Kyle was brilliant and quickly caught Q up upon his return, so after a quick check-in with Kyle, Q felt comfortable enough not to do too much on his own. Kyle may have saved both Q and everyone from what could’ve been a wild Day 2.

Q’s still Q, though, and I didn’t see anything from him this episode that told me his chances of dominating this game should skyrocket, so I’m still going to keep him low. He lost – sorry, SOLD his vote, and he lost his closest ally Kyle (unless he’ll claim to have sold Kyle’s ACL too) so Q may start feeling pressure which is when he is prone to panicking. Bad for him, great for us.

Kamilla should benefit greatly from Kyle being pulled from the game, but someone who was an even bigger target than Kyle coming in was Dee, and that’s who Kamilla has chosen to play with on Kalo, so I worry Kamilla may not last long enough to see that benefit. That’s a hell of a duo, but those two seen as a pair or part of a trio with Tiffany is going to make the pre-game perception of Kamilla as a power player even harder to overcome.

Kamilla, Dee, and Tiffany remind me of the Witches Coven from S31: Cambodia – the fandom’s dream but the other players’ nightmare. I love that Kamilla has no fear coming into this and playing hard, ready to slaughter, but allying with another major target is just a little too bold. Chrissy’s also not going to be taken down so easily, so this showdown is bound to be a bloodbath.

Tiffany was pretty much in the middle pre-game with not a lot of strong feelings for her from the cast in either direction. I still think she has potential but with a lot of anti-Dee sentiment on Kalo, I worry about Tiffany hitching her wagon to Dee and getting dragged down with her. If Dee’s side loses, I think Tiffany would be spared over Kamilla, but then Tiffany’s only hope would be a swap. Again, potential, but not a great start to the season for Tiffany having to immediately play from the bottom if it turns that way next week.

She’s not high on the totem pole but not on the very bottom, so she’s got room to climb. I think her post-swap game will be what makes or breaks her. I moved Tiffany down a few mainly because she is only tied to Dee and Kamilla now who are both high targets, so she’s started out with making things harder for herself.

This was a hard episode to watch for Cirie, and I know none of us wanted her legacy on Survivor to end in being the first boot (the alternative was the OGest of OGs, so it was lose-lose for me personally). Luckily for her and for her fans, Cirie’s still got that irresistible charm. It didn’t come up too overtly in the episode, but I imagine emotions played a larger role in this. Who the hell wants to be the one to make Cirie the first boot of Survivor 50? It had to have been like on this recent season of The Traitors with the players fearing the wrath of the Swifties for targeting Donna Kelce. The Survivor fandom would have rioted.

Cirie is the hardest person in the cast to rank. Every time she goes to tribal council, I think her name will come up, but every time it’s a 50/50 shot of her working a miracle and surviving. That said, I’m still setting her on the lower side of the list because that’s just too hard of a game to play the entire time. Cila’s vote leaned more “why Jenna left” than “why Cirie stayed” – it still is worth praise that even having a name as big as Cirie’s, she still ended up with six people rallying to her side. I also thought it was sweet for Ozzy to come so quick to her defense – goes to show that Cirie can embarrass you on TV, but you can’t help but still love her.

Kalo is coming for Chrissy – at least the women on it are. Chrissy was a quieter feature of the premiere, but all 24 players were larger personalities on their original season – that’s why they’re here – and we only have so much time per episode, so we see what’s most relevant. What felt like a standout statement, though, from Chrissy was that the winner of this game will be adaptable, thinking constantly, and never letting their foot off the gas.

The first two track, but arguably both Jenna and Kyle played with their foot too hard on the gas – Jenna strategically and Kyle physically. I love a woman who revels in villainy – diabolical and laughing while doing it – but was this ironic foreshadowing to show that Chrissy will go too hard as well? I’m worried hers was one of the two names to come up on Kalo, and if she soon is having to fight for herself, it could reinforce her ferociousness as a threat, making her a higher risk of an earlier exit. That said, I’d be so here for psycho killer Chrissy.

^Me with not NEARLY enough Angelina content in the Survivor 50 premiere.

Speaking as someone hyper-tuned-in to every second Angelina is on my TV screen, I think she was one of the less memorable ones of the week. Part of me thinks a quiet week for Angelina is a good thing, as that means she’s not making any waves. On the other hand, it worries me that she isn’t doing enough to stand out which is something I never expected to say about Angelina. Vatu was very much dominated by the Colby/Steph/Kyle/Genevieve foursome formation so Angelina may be on the outs with Aubry. However, with their voting situation being wild, anything could happen.

I was always worried about Angelina on this tribe, and this week didn’t do much to sway me the other way, especially with Q and Rizo not making as many enemies, but I still consider her middle of the pact. She looks to have a little more immediate work cut out for her than I was hoping, so I need her to rip off that jacket and get into game mode.

CRAZY EYES!

Joe is in a safe position right now, but I can’t get past the spaz energy he gives off. He kind of works himself up and starts to unravel – as soon as Ozzy defended Cirie, it shot up red flags to Joe of another Kyle/Kamilla situation in a very PTSD way. That set off the crazy eyes immediately and while he didn’t do any damage to himself this episode, it showed me a vision of what could come.

He’s obviously very afraid to repeating past mistakes, but at the same time, he’s a little stuck in old thinking. He commented that if you win challenges, you don’t go home which is true if you win every single immunity challenge, but that’s a very shallow strategy, so I worry that Joe is still not thinking long enough term and how to win the game if he gets to final tribal council again. I’m dropping Joe a few spots because I’m a little less confident that he’ll keep his cool that long or do enough to break his old mold.

“My dad’s 47…. *sobs*”

That was weird for me.

Rizo initially was looking like a flop with Colby calling him “annoying as hell” and a liability, but it didn’t take him long to flip that around and have Colby offer to be an older mentor or support figure. We didn’t see Rizo doing too much with anyone else, but it’s evident he may be able to lean into that goofy kid side of him that I thought he could, which should make him much less of a threat, coming across as fairly fun and likable to his tribemates (after some warming up).

We know these tribes won’t stick around for too long, but if Colby’s emerging as the leader of Vatu and he’s protecting Rizo, Rizo should be safe until a swap. He’ll still have a long way to climb, but with a few others taking dips, I think Rizo’s positioning in the game improves with what he gave this week. He needs to just stay cool and not try anything too “Rizgod” in making that Survivor legend name for himself.

Coach told us he we’d be getting Coach 4.0, but are we? It’s so Coach to tell us he’s evolved and we’re going to get something totally different unlike anything we’ve ever seen before only for, in under an hour, him to say he’s going to play “honorable” ... but cutthroat too. The honor shit just needs to go. No one is going to fault Coach for playing all cutthroat with zero honor – what he did at the challenge with Ozzy and Q was savage but smart given he was there to win reward for his tribe. Claiming you’re playing with “honor” with a list of caveats just comes across hypocritical to me.

If you’re going to go into Survivor playing cutthroat, as you should, you can’t get offended or accuse people of coming “against your honor” when they call you cutthroat. I had high hopes for Coach that he’d really lean into a “win at all costs” game and I believe he truly is, but he still won’t fully admit it. God, I love delusional Coach, but when you act that high and mighty, I’ve got to lower some stock in you. I think Coach is still going to make a deep run in this, and his closing scene of the night felt like a build-up, but right now he’s facing the same game-losing flaw he faced in S23: South Pacific. He’s got to start owning his game if he wants to win it. He’s in a great position if he just unshackles himself from the honor code!

Why over the past few season this show become obsessed with toes and feet???

I move Charlie a few spots down closer to middle due to the others above him on the list now putting in a little more, but I think he’s good enough for now. Charlie’s between emerging old school and new school alliances, and while he was mentioned as a threat by several going into the game, by the time he swaps onto tribes with the rest of the cast, there’ll be new shit to resolve from these first several days, so I don’t see Charlie having to do much besides coast.

He tried to get himself in the mix with a journey but lost to Mike in a serious game of Rock Paper Scissors. Still, we know Charlie has it in him to make moves and maneuver his way to the end, so I don’t think a quieter start for him specifically is a bad thing. As someone who was close to winning the first time, it would’ve been a poor decision to comes into this with guns blazing, so his laid-back approach landing in the middle of Kalo makes the most sense.

Okay Emily flippin’ your fate in this game. I’m living for this nerdy love triangle with Rick and Christian. I thought Emily would have a much tougher time finding her people, but she was able to quickly make ins with what ended up being the two most influential people in the tribe, and she herself said the start to 50 was leaps and bounds better than 45. If these three can rock this game together, Emily may have way more hope than I thought she had a week ago.

Emily gave us some of the same diabolism as Chrissy when she suggested voting out Ozzy to keep the fires fueled between Jenna and Cirie, but Emily’s name seems to be nowhere near the chopping block currently, unlike Chrissy. Emily’s got Rick and Christian tightly in her corner, and we saw her working on the other side of the eras talking with Savannah about options, so Emily might be someone safely in the middle. This early in the game, that’s a great place to be. She’s not at risk of going home, nor is she at risk of being seen as a threatening leader. This was a good episode for Emily, and I hope she keeps making friends with key players and doesn’t just end up as collateral damage to Rick and Christian playing a bunch of idols.

The way this man was flirting so much with Christian. Look at that little tuck of the hair behind his ear. He’s in love!

Hell must’ve frozen over because I liked Rick this episode (I still refuse to call him Devens). Maybe it was the effect from allying with Christian and Emily, but when he’s not in the position of being everyone’s annoying antagonist, he’s fun to watch. Him and Christian are such an amusing pair too – “Science is cool, kids!” The fourth wall newscasting was a little nauseating for me his first time, but in a season like 50, it’s a little more forgiving to have more interaction with the fans. After all, it’s in OUR hands.

Knowing where that fourth wall is and being a big fan himself, Rick is here to have fun and genuinely wants to give us a good show. As far as his game goes, I think there are eyes out there that will be on him after a swap, but he’s sitting pretty on Cila. Christian feels untouchable right now and Rick is his right-hand man, so no immediate worries. If this list was strictly looking at “safe next week” I’d put Rick nearer to the top, but I’m factoring in a mix of immediate and long-term longevity, and the latter is where Rick still gives me pause just based on reputation.

The show isn’t going to address the negative publicity that “America’s Sweetheart” Stephenie is getting at the moment, so I’m only writing in the context of what’s presented to me on TV. I’ll just say what goes around comes around.

We know Stephenie to be a competitive firecracker, and she’s coming into 50 probably one the hungriest even among those hungry for a win, given how long she’s wanted it. I was impressed though by how much self-control and solid instinct Stephenie had. It was no surprise she linked right back up with Colby but quickly establishing a majority alliance with Kyle and Genevieve put her in a very good position, the opposite of where she found herself at the start of S20: Heroes vs. Villains (also with Colby lol). Colby was more of the mouthpiece this episode for the duo, but Stephenie looked very solid and safe within the tribe.

We also know Genevieve to be someone who has a hard time trusting and warming up to people, so Steph must’ve done right there to win over Genevieve. After Genevieve found her Billie Eilish idol, Stephenie also got a confessional talking about how “we” could use the idol which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise if Steph’s logic is “well I was there when she found it so it’s both of ours.” Stephenie squeezes her way into the upper third of the list for me because I really didn’t see any concerning red flags. She’s playing calm and cool, building bonds, no one’s targeting her from what we saw, and she’s still physically fierce which gives her all the qualities of someone who should make a long run in this game.

Well, we confirmed Jonathan won’t be going anywhere for a while. Shocker! All of Kalo is counting their blessings over landing on a tribe with Jonathan – Charlie even compared it to having 9, 10, or 11 tribe members, so does that mean that Jonathan gets 3 or 4 lives in the game too? I’m glad to know Jeff Probst isn’t reading this or else he could snag that as an idea for a “twist” in 51 and beyond.

Jonathan is never going to thrill me, but he admittedly did impress me a little which his approach. I wouldn’t exactly call targeting Dee a groundbreaking strategy, but it’s refreshing to see Jonanthan wanting to offer more than just challenge strength. He knows how he’s perceived but he’s committed to showing more in 50 and so far, I think he’s done that. I just hope his alliance/bromance with Coach isn’t going to give us the second coming of 48. Gag. Still, Jonathan seems to have the right reads and making the right moves to impress, and with everyone wanting to keep him right now, he’s in a very good spot.

Biggest shock of the week for me has to be Colby Donaldson. I fully expected Colby to fade or fumble into the background not having any clue how to keep up in the new era, but he immediately got right to work making friends and forming a coalition. While I wouldn’t have minded him staying in the “Rizo is annoying” lane, I think it was a sweet interaction and a cool moment for those of us who remember when Colby was Rizo’s age – Rizo’s practically a spitting image of a young Colby, after all.

Colby’s in a great spot on Vatu and losing Kyle keeps Colby the most invaluable challenge asset. I think what Colby has going for him beyond Vatu also is that others, like me, will probably underestimate him socially and strategically (was I the only one getting Will Ferrell’s George Bush flashbacks? The entire episode I was waiting for Colby to throw out the word “strategery”). Colby could still be seen as just a loyal dude with muscles, but I think he actually may have come into this game more prepared than ever to win. New era merges are a mess so that’ll be his toughest to navigate, but if he can continue adapting, maybe he’ll fare opposite of his fellow OG Jenna.

I was nervous for which direction Genevieve would go in the game, but she really ate this episode up. She’s definitely playing out in front, but I think she’s built a strong support group who has her back. Kyle called her the scariest one on the beach but still someone he wanted to play with which is a pretty powerful statement when it could’ve been “she has to go.” I did not expect her to click so well with Colby and Stephenie, and while it was a miss branching out to Aubry too, it shows that Genevieve is playing focused more on the social game this time.

She’s so smart and she’s so smooth, and yes people will pick up on that, but I still believe the winner of Survivor 50 will be someone who drove the game – maybe not always with their foot pressed hardest to the pedal, but enough to have made a memorable splash, and Genevieve did that in the week one. She lost a close ally in Kyle due to circumstances out of her control, but that could work in her favor as looking all “alone” as the sole 47 rep and draw to other future allies. Genevieve still has the reputation to be an early target, but her relationship building was propped up enough that makes me see positive things in her future.

I was already impressed by Ozzy in the pre-game, but the premiere episode continued making the latest version of Oscar (with his new power mullet) look strong with the most game awareness I ever recall seeing from him. It’s funny that the start of his story was tied to Coach again, but while Coach was touting a totally new version of himself, I think Ozzy was able to follow through more on that evolution, explaining it better in his confessionals. He acknowledged that he didn’t like staying overnight at Exile Island as it stripped him of Day 1 alliance-making, but he repaired that a bit by winning the negotiation with Q. Ozzy got what he wanted out of that while making Q think he also got what he wanted – that’s how you win a negotiation, folks.

I don’t think Ozzy is just playing the same “provider” game that Rick accused him of repeating, and instead I think that may have been a naïve mistake on Rick’s part to not see that that’s only what Ozzy wants people to think. His name technically came up, but it’s unavoidable for someone like him. Ozzy did the most with what he was given, and he got his way in saving Cirie. He’s not running his tribe, but he doesn’t need to be. If Ozzy keeps up with his more astutely aware social game and speaks up strategically when it serves him, Oscar could succeed where Ozzy couldn’t – starting with making use of his idol this time.

Asking Dee where if her teeth were real?? And calling them CHOMPERS?? MICHAEL WHITE!!!!

He’s fully embracing the embracing the goofy grandpa role and I think it’s working beautifully for him. What I think I’m going to love most about Mike is a bit more meta in that he’s a TV-producing Goliath. I know that at the end of the day, yes, he wants to win, but he also wants to make 50 a spectacular season. Kalo didn’t have much need this week to get down and dirty, but when they do, I think Mike is going to revel in it but in a way that’s maybe a little less obviously “diabolical.”

Mike had to go into the game and immediately ground himself in the eyes of others given his celebrity status, and from what I saw, he did that. He’s a little in the middle of Kalo like Charlie, but we saw Mike engaging a little more with others. We know Mike wants to be cutthroat, but I think he’s so far masking that masterfully. Everyone seems enamored with Mike and while he’ll still eventually be seen as a threat, likability is also a huge help in saving yourself (see: Cirie). Mike’s building a sturdy foundation that could prove unbreakable later.

My #1 last week felt a little too good to be true which should shoot up major red flags in doing it again, but damn, Christian dominated so much this week that this feels like the best spot for him. I loved every second of his screentime in the premiere. He was charming, charismatic, hilarious, strategic, and the surprise story about his son gave us everything a star performance could to kick off a season like Survivor 50.

Christian quickly propelled himself to the top of Cila with Rick and Emily, and there’s always risk that comes with playing at the top, but like Mike, the energy Christian emanates diffuses reservations that people could otherwise have about playing with him. There are going to be so many threats in the game that it’s going to be difficult to narrow down who’s the biggest, so on a regular season, this breakout start would most definitely be “too good to be true,” but this is the season where it’s possible for Christian to still blend in among all the big dogs. He has a gifted mind and if there’s a way to “science” Survivor, I’m feeling confident right now that Christian will find it. My single hesitation with him would be that he looked too perfect to pull this whole thing off, but it’s Survivor 50, so I think the impossible is a little more possible this season.

Like a relic from Ghost Island, Ryan's an old school TDT blogger who took a break in the middle of the new era but is back for Survivor 50 by popular demand...or at least Jeff Pitman's. For more #Survivor commentary, follow on Bluesky: @ryankaiser.bsky.social