On March 8, 2017, Survivor’s 34th season premiered. What started with 16 strangers in Borneo in 2000 has evolved into arguably the greatest reality TV show ever. The fact that it reached 34 seasons and 17 years is a testament to its influence and success. And now Survivor 34 begins, set in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji, where 20 returning players will compete for 39 days for $1,000,000. In chronological order from their first appearance in Survivor, followed by their rank in that season, these are the contestants. As the name suggests, these contestants have been brought back because of their contributions to changing the way Survivor is played.

Jeff Varner (Season 2: Australian Outback, 10th; Season 31: Cambodia, 17th)

Sandra Diaz-Twine (Season 7: Pearl Islands, Winner; Season 20: Heroes vs Villains, Winner)

Cirie Fields (Season 12: Exile Island, 4th; Season 16: Micronesia, 3rd; Season 20: Heroes vs. Villains; 17th)

Ozzy Lusth (Season 13: Cook Islands, 2nd; Season 16: Micronesia, 9th; Season 23: South Pacific; 4th)

James “J.T.” Thomas (Season 18: Tocantins, Winner; Season 20: Heroes vs Villains, 10th)

Andrea Boehlke (Season 22: Redemption Island, 5th; Season 26: Caramoan, 7th)

Troy “Troyzan” Robertson (Season 24: One World, 8th)

Malcolm Freberg (Season 25: Philippines, 4th; Season 26: Caramoan, 9th)

Brad Culpepper (Season 27: Blood vs Water, 15th)

Ciera Eastin (Season 27: Blood vs Water, 5th; Season 31: Cambodia, 10th)

Sarah Lacina (Season 28: Cagayan, 11th)

Tony Vlachos (Season 28: Cagayan, Winner)

Hali Ford (Season 30: Worlds Apart, 11th)

Sierra Thomas (Season 30: Worlds Apart, 5th)

Caleb Reynolds (Season 32: Kaoh Rong, 15th)

Debbie Wanner (Season 32: Kaoh Rong, 9th)

Tai Trang (Season 32: Kaoh Rong, 3rd)

Aubry Bracco (Season 32: Kaoh Rong, 2nd)

Michaela Bradshaw (Season 33: Millennials vs Gen X, 14th)

Zeke Smith (Season 33: Millennials vs Gen X, 9th)

3 former winners, 1 two-time winner, 2 4-time players, and 6 3-time players are included in this stacked cast. Although 4 players (Jeff, Brad, Caleb, and Michaela) have never reached the jury phase of the game, everyone brings their strengths and unique style of play to the table. And here is how they were divided into tribes.

Mana (Red Buffs): Aubry, Caleb, Ciera, Hali, Jeff, Malcolm, Michaela, Sandra, Tony, Troyzan

Nuku (Blue Buffs): Andrea, Brad, Cirie, Debbie, JT, Sarah, Sierra, Ozzy, Tai, Zeke

The 20 castaways begin on the same boat and have to gather as many supplies, such as food and survival gear, as possible. In addition, it was a race for which tribe could until their tribe’s toolkit before the other. And then they go from there. It’s no surprise Ozzy was the swimmer for Nuku. I don’t think there’s been a better swimmer in the history of the show. What was a surprise is no one else followed Ozzy over until he had a huge lead on untying the knots when Caleb finally reached it for Mana. It’s pure chaos with players nearly getting trampled, or in Tai’s case near getting hit by a falling crate. Survivor chaos is the best chaos. Ultimately Ozzy succeeded in getting the tool kit.

“For one of you, this is the beginning of a million dollar adventure! Good luck”-Jeff Probst’s final words as they paddled away to build their shelter.

Day 1 camp life

Right when they hit camp. Mana members begin strategy. Hali plans to lay low, while Michaela wastes no time getting to know her tribe. Michaela can’t afford to lose time, since no one has seen her or Zeke’s season at the time of filming. Some sound strategy from the Mana players.

And then Tony’s like “I’ve had enough of that, time for me to go looking for the idol”. He runs off, and everyone just watches. That is such a Tony thing for Tony to do. His playbook is too crazy for any normal human to try on Survivor. But remember, he won his first season. There’s a method to his madness. Caleb and Sandra then decide to investigate. For Sandra, this must be deja vu from when Russell Hantz snuck off in Heroes vs. Villains. Caleb didn’t mind that Tony went idol searching. Maybe Caleb is looking for a new bromance?

Over on Nuku, Zeke is living the dream being on a tribe with some of his favorite players, including Cirie. But instead of idol hunting, the tribe sets their sights on the goats. Sarah claims to be the “silent assassin”, waiting for the first person anxious enough to make a move and capitalize on the target that creates for said person. Sierra found the secret advantage back on the boat they started the game in. She found the legacy advantage, which will provide the player an advantage if they survive to Day 36. In Millennials vs Gen X, this advantage granted the holder immunity. So it definitely could be vital. This season, however, if it can be used 1 of 2 times: when there are 13 players left or when there are 6 players left. I like this updated advantage, it provides a dilemma.

In Worlds Apart, Sierra preferred to align herself with strong players. She continued where she left off and quickly aligned with Brad and Ozzy. Meanwhile, Ozzy is worried about Cirie and wants to vote her out first. He’s not bloodlust or revenge seeking, but as much as I want Cirie to do well, it makes perfect sense to want Cirie out first. She’s the best player yet to win this game, and if Ozzy or anyone else wants to win, they have to make sure Cirie hangs onto that title.

Day 2 Nuku

Cirie has similar thoughts. She knows Ozzy could be trouble for her, so that’s something she’ll have to consider to have any longevity in this game. Luckily for Cirie, Tai the chicken whisperer is in her corner. I’m starting to think Tai doesn’t care if the players he align with, whether they be Aubry or Michele from his season or Cirie this season, can beat him in a landslide in Final Tribal Council. But honestly if it gives Cirie a chance to last more than a few episodes, I’m not complaining.

Day 2 Mana

Tony offers to fill the tribe’s canteens, but of course we know what we really wants to do. He will stop at nothing to find that idol. Unless it means building a “Spy Bunker”. In Cagayan, he made a Spy Shack that allowed him to observe players’ private conversations. That’s how he found out information like Jefra’s doubts in Tony’s loyalty, tipping him off to blindside Jefra before she had a chance to get him. The difference now is that he’s going underground. Troyzan finds out what Tony’s up to, but assumes he’s just digging for an idol, and is immediately suspicious. Troyzan tells Malcolm, Malcolm tells Hali, everyone’s clued in on Tony’s excavation escapade. Ciera leads the charge to vote out either Tony or his right hand man Caleb (Caleb has officially replaced Derrick). But Malcolm is concerned about Ciera, and Aubry seems to agree that she is a smart and dangerous player.

Day 3 comes around, which means it’s immunity challenge time! The first part is raft racing, then someone will obtain a set of keys. Then it’s a race back to the beach to get the bags full of pieces. Once all pieces are obtained, it’s a race to who can build the puzzle first. Along with immunity and flint, Probst enlightens the players on a twist. This season, in the event of a tie, there will not be a revote. Instead, the tribe must unanimously agree on one of the players involved in a tie. If no unanimous decision is made, they draw rocks and someone goes home. I feel the game changes in a drastic way that will heavily influence the strategy of voting people off. Andrea points out the obvious change, in that splitting the vote becomes much more dangerous. For me, that’s an understatement. The challenges goes back and forth but ultimately Cirie and Zeke trump Sandra and Ciera in the puzzle and Nuku wins immunity. Ciera felt confident she could figure out the puzzle since this challenge took place in her original season Blood vs Water, but she felt she let the tribe down. I don’t understand her logic. You tried a puzzle once like 4 years ago. If it didn’t work then, why would it work now?

Back at camp, Jeff provides some trivia: his tribe has lost the first immunity challenge in all three of his seasons. He’ll be hoping that this season goes better than those previous two though. Malcolm, Aubry, and Jeff, despite the temptation to vote out Tony, approach Tony and Caleb about voting out Ciera. Sandra gets involved and she is on board. Her strategy her whole Survivor career has been “as long as it ain’t me”, and it worked out for her so far. They tell Ciera that Michaela is the target, but that makes Michaela paranoid. This causes concern, and now the tribe has to decide whether Michaela or Ciera is really the first one to go.

I must say, this is already one of my favorite Tribal Council sets in the history of the show. The abandoned, dilapidated ship looks so cool! At the voting, we see Michaela and Ciera voting for each other. All of the votes other than Ciera’s were for Ciera. One of them had an “M” scratched out, so it looks like someone made a last minute change. But regardless, Ciera is out of this game. Not the way anyone envisions their season will go, but the three time Blood vs Water player is gone. The game is officially on. “Blindsides never go out of style”-Jeff Probst hitting them with a truth bomb on the way out.

A 9-1 vote has not happened on Survivor since Season 21: Survivor: Nicaragua. But when it does happen, it should unify the tribe right? Wrong. Things are peaceful...too peaceful. And now nobody knows who’s really on the bottom. So Tony and Aubry start plotting. They need a majority of 5 in case they go to Tribal Council again, so they build their “justice league” consisting of the biggest threats. Their plans include Caleb, Malcolm, and Sandra. That would leave Michaela, Hali, Jeff, and Troyzan on the outs. For Sandra and Tony, this alliance has even bigger implications. Their best chance of winning again is to go to the end together, otherwise the jury can easily award a non-winner.

Nuku are doing well having won immunity, so they shift their attention to chicken naming. Even Brad gets to name a chicken after his wife and Survivor Blood vs Water finalist Monica. However, JT is concerned that Tai is feeding the chickens more than the tribe. The Chicken wars have begun.

Night falls, and Tony works on his spy bunker. He nearly gets caught, but he overhears Sandra and Troyzan talking. And could that be it for Sandra and Tony’s alliance already? The trust is gone, and they think they might have to target each other.

Day 5 Nuku

Cirie is out recruiting for allies, and she scouts out Sarah. Sarah pretends to be loyal, but she will vote out Cirie if it comes down to it. Cirie is definitely going to have a hard time because everyone knows how good she is. Sarah’s a fan of the show, so she’s right to be content with working or not working with Cirie depending on what benefits her game. Zeke is more willing to play with her, but keeps his distance as well. As Cirie moves on to Debbie, I’m starting to feel Cirie is getting desperate. Debbie sees it, and then she goes off on a tangent about her lie detecting skills or something.

A quick scene from Mana camp has Jeff Varner reading our minds, when he says “he can’t wait for the fireworks”. And when Sandra and Tony go head to head, those fireworks are bound to be coming soon. Caleb and Malcolm aren’t fond of Tony, but feel that the longer Tony stays in, the safer they are as well.

Day 6 Immunity Challenge, with a Fishing Kit on the line as well. The challenge is to untie a 400 lb stuffed snake from a waterlogged cage, drag it to the beach, unlock the numbered tiles which unlock a combination that allow you to finish off the challenge ring toss style. First tribe to complete the ring toss wins immunity. Jeff couldn’t really do much in the swimming portion, which was partially why Mana fell behind. They would struggle carrying the snake as well. Nuku had a huge lead that just increased and increased. Malcolm, however, lead a huge comeback effort in the ring toss. He tied it up, but then right after JT sealed the deal and Nuku won immunity.

Sandra and Tony are doing what they can to get the numbers to go against each other. Michaela and Jeff are the swing votes, and they have reasons to vote for both players. It’s a tough dilemma. Tony and Sandra are both great players, but who to get rid of first? The poisonous snake or the poisonous spider? Which is which? This is a vote that could definitely set the course for this season.

18 are left going into the next episode. Probst is already shaking things up with a tribe swap. It’s just a matter of will it be 2 tribes or 3? Either way, this game will continue to heat up, and more battles are to be won and lost by these amazing players.

Dock of Shame: Ciera and Tony

As former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino pointed out on his podcast, it is interesting for the faces of the “Big Moves Era” of Survivor to be the first two voted out. It was realistic to brace for these two decent players to be among the first two out, but they didn’t do themselves many favors either. Ciera’s mistakes were more subtle, but she did not need to bring up Caleb. Although it was a logical backup for if Tony had an idol, it did show that she was playing a bit hard even for this calibre of players. Also, you cannot give people additional reasons to vote you out. By volunteering for the same puzzle you previously failed at, you put a tremendous amount of pressure on your shoulders. And her logic was problematic. How did she expect to get that puzzle the second time if she failed the first time, assuming she doesn’t have the same puzzle back home? Also, just because you played with winners before doesn’t mean you’re prepared to deal with Tony. Speaking of Tony, he expanded his Texas sized target on his back to one akin to the Contiguous 48 US states. He had his tribe even more worried about him than they already were. Not only did he put too much stock into finding idols and building spy bunkers, he unnecessarily betrayed Sandra. A calm person would’ve solidified that alliance and go with it for the next vote. But Tony is anything but calm, turned on Sandra over nothing, and when Sandra is threatened, she will not just roll over and die. She is hungry for a legendary 3rd win. And even if she doesn’t achieve it, she did well to take out Tony.

Stats:

-Malcolm and Jeff have been on a tribe that lost the first immunity challenge in each of their third seasons.

-Despite being targeted, Sandra has yet to receive a vote against her this season. In fact, throughout her three seasons she’s only received 1 vote against her that counted on Day 37 in Heroes vs. Villains.

-Returning players from Blood vs Water have been the first boot in every returning player season since Season 27: Vytas Baskauskas in Cambodia and Ciera in Game Changers.

-Sandra is 16 and Cirie is 9 days away from reaching the 100 days on Survivor milestone.

-Despite this being his second season, Episode 1 of Game Changers featured Caleb’s first visit to Tribal Council

-If Ozzy is voted out this season, we will have been voted out 5 times in 4 seasons. No one has been voted out more than 3 times. In South Pacific, Ozzy was voted out twice while Redemption Island was in play, allowing him to return by winning challenges. The third time, Ozzy was out for good.

The Survivor Podium

These are my top 3 players of the day.

Bronze: Malcolm Freberg: What an effort by Malcolm to give Mana a chance to win that second immunity challenge. Although his ally Tony ended up going home in the second vote, Malcolm has done a good job building personal relationships leading to alliances. His ability to form bonds with players very different than him such as Aubry should bode well for a swap.

Silver: Jeff Varner: Jeff found himself this season in a similar position as he was in Cambodia. The difference is, Jeff played way too hard in Cambodia. This time, he took a slight back seat while still putting himself in a position to decide which way the vote can go. Patience is a virtue, and as long as Jeff remains patient, he’ll go deep in the game.

Gold: Sandra Diaz-Twine: If you told me before the premiere that Sandra’s tribe would lose the first two immunity challenges, I would expect Sandra to be one of those two casualties. But by surviving these votes and influencing them in such a fashion, Sandra is proving that her wins were no fluke. She is a legitimate contender in this season. Nobody has won Survivor three times, but Sandra is starting to make me think she might. But this was just the first mountain, and she has several more to climb. Despite that, well done so far.

Next time on Survivor:

A tribe swap means everyone is a dealt a new hand, and this could be the chance some players need to really kick off their game for real.