Survivor Season 46 Premiere Recap and Live Blog
A new season of Survivor premieres tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The episode begins with a voice over from one of the new castaways Tevin: “Survivor is eighteen people coming together from all different walks of life. And they are here all together at one time having to trust each other, build a society, play challenges with each other with different strengths [and] different weaknesses. And to be able to trust one another while also not trusting anyone because you’re playing a game that is built on deceit. And you have to be vulnerable and you have to be authentically yourself. And you have to overcome and adapt to all the challenges in which they are guaranteed to face because that is what Survivor is about. But it is in that moment right there [that] makes the game so worth playing. And I’m ready for it.”
We meet some more of the new castaways. Bhanu applied for Survivor the day he became an American citizen. Jess is a twin, so she’s used to being competitive. Hunter is from a small town and may struggle relating to people with more life experience. Charlie is a self-proclaimed Swiftie and Harvard alum. Tiffany calls herself a hustler. Venus says she plans to play a sneaky game. Kenzie is “ready to party.” Soda wants to prove to her students that they can conquer anything. Q is an athlete who does not like losing.
The first challenge
The new castaways greet Jeff at the marooning. Jeff says it’s always exciting to begin a new season. He says they all can already envision themselves as the winner of the season. However, he reminds them that someone will make it to the end and not get the votes to win. He wishes them luck before introducing the tribes. The purple tribe is Yanu, the green tribe is Siga, and the orange tribe is Nami.
It’s time for the first challenge. They must go under net and bar obstacles to collect puzzle pieces of a podium. Once the podium is assembled, they must climb atop it and collect a flint. The first tribe to complete the challenge will win basic camp supplies. The tribe to come in second place will get to choose between the Sweat or Savvy task to earn their camp supplies. The third place tribe will get what’s remaining. The challenge begins, and the three tribes are fairly even. They all eventually work on the puzzle at the same time. Nami completes the puzzle first and Tevin retrieves the flint. Nami wins the challenge! Siga completes the puzzle next. Siga chooses the Savvy task. Yanu must do the Sweat task.
Sweat vs Savvy
Yanu arrives at camp. Jelinsky says he’s hyped to be on Survivor, and he says Fiji is so much different than Las Vegas. The tribe decides who will do the Sweat task. If they fail, then they won’t get their camp supplies until after the first immunity challenge. Jelinsky and Q volunteer to do the task. They must transfer water from the ocean into urns. The urns are forty yards away from the ocean. The buckets have holes in them, which will make the task take even longer. While they’re working, the other Yanu tribe members get to know each other. Bhanu shares he got his United States citizenship only a year ago. He wants to be the provider of the tribe.
The Siga tribe gets to work on the Savvy task. They must solve a word puzzle that will give them the answer to open a box with a lock. Ben and Charlie volunteer to do the puzzle. The other tribe members get to know each other. Maria and Tim bond over being parents. Ben and Charlie fail to complete the task. Apparently, the word puzzle had a secret message telling them to dig under the lock to find a key.
Meanwhile on the Nami tribe, Liz tells her tribe members about her different businesses. Tevin says in a confessional it was a bad move on her part. He thinks she’s flaunting how much money she may already have. Soda has been practicing building fire before the game, and she manages to build a fire for her tribe.
Getting to know you
Back on the Yanu tribe, Jelinsky and Q struggle collecting the water. Jelinsky says he’s never done manual labor like this before. He chooses to quit the Sweat task. He even grabs the hourglass and throws it toward the ocean, which shatters on the sand. In his confessional, Q is unimpressed and says that this shows how Jelinsky will simply quit whenever the going gets tough.
After failing the Savvy task, Ben and Charlie get to know their tribe members. Ben makes a good first impression with how upbeat he is. Meanwhile, Moriah is feeling uncertain about her social skills. However, she wants to prove to herself that she is capable of playing the game. Moriah ends up forming an alliance with Jem and Maria.
On the Yanu tribe, Kenzie is confident in her social skills. She forms a quick bond with Jelinsky. Jelinksy wants to name their alliance “Shaggy and Daphne.” Bhanu also approaches Kenzie about working together. Jess, however, is struggling. Jess says no one is talking strategy with her. In her confessional, Kenzie said she tried talking game with Jess, but it’s Jess’s fault why she’s not fitting in yet. Eventually, a four-person alliance forms with Kenzie, Jelinsky, Tiffany, and Q.
Back on the Nami tribe, Hunter is struggling. He is very introverted, and he notes how his other tribe members are very energetic. He wants to align with someone with stronger social skills, and he feels good with Tevin. Tevin wants to work with him too, but Tevin wants to get to know everyone on the tribe first. Tevin tells Soda he feels good about Hunter, and she agrees.
A small town Swiftie
Charlie shares with his tribe members how he’s a big Taylor Swift fan. He says in his confessional how he’s from a small town where everybody looks like him, but Survivor is more diverse. The three-person alliance with Moriah, Jem, and Maria discuss pulling in Charlie into their alliance. They joke how they can name their alliance Charlie’s Angels. In his confessional, Charlie says he’s on board working with the women. Tim notes how the women are already together, and he tells Charlie a woman must be voted out first. Charlie notes how he’s in the middle of the tribe right now.
Venus feels like she’s being underestimated on the Nami tribe, especially after Tevin calls her a princess. Venus goes searching for a hidden immunity idol, and Randen catches her. Randen believes Venus is a dangerous player; he compares her to past Survivor winner Parvati Shallow. Randen warns Soda about Venus, but Soda is not buying it. Soda gives Venus a heads up and lets her know that Randen is using her looks against her.
After a short segment about Liz and her food allergies, we see a boat landing at each camp’s beach. One tribe member must board the boat. Jelinksy, Tevin, and Maria will go for their respective tribes. They must play a game requiring them to read each other. There are three cards, which they will claim by random. One person will get the torch card, who must guess who has the vote card and who has the skull card.
Winning an extra vote
Maria gets the torch card, Tevin gets the vote card, and Jelinksy gets the skull card. If Maria guesses correctly, then she and Tevin will win an extra vote and Jelinksy will lose his vote. If she guesses incorrectly, then she and Tevin will lose their votes. Tevin and Jelinsky plead their cases. Maria believes Jelinsky is lying, but she wants the discussion to continue. She tells Jelinsky she will warn her tribe members about him if it’s revealed he’s lying to her. Jelinsky crumbles under the pressure and admits that he has the skull card. Jelinsky has lost his vote. Maria and Tevin have won an extra vote.
Jelinksy returns to camp and he tells his tribe members the truth. They are unimpressed how he gave up too easily. The Siga tribe members, however, are impressed how Maria managed to win the extra vote, but Tim is concerned how Maria’s extra vote will allow the women to take over the tribe.
The next morning, Jess is struggling with the lack of sleep. She is still feeling like she’s on the outs of the tribe too. She would love to find a hidden immunity idol, but she’s too nervous to go hunting. Bhanu, however, is determined to find a hidden immunity idol. But it’s Tiffany who finds an advantage first. She finds a Beware Advantage, and she shares this with Kenzie.
The immunity challenge
The note informs her to dig under where she found the advantage. There is a locked box with a hidden immunity idol. However, she won’t get the key until their tribe loses an immunity challenge. If their tribe loses, then she will have further instructions. In the meantime, she will not be able to vote at tribal council until she retrieves the hidden immunity idol. Afterwards, Tiffany lets Q know that she lost her vote. She notes how half of their alliance can’t vote at the moment, so he cannot let Jess or Bhanu know about this. Q says he won’t say anything.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. The castaways must race to the top of ramp and untie a giant gecko. They then must get it over a wall, through a tunnel, and on top of a deck. Afterwards, they must solve a puzzle. The first two tribes to finish will win immunity. Nami takes the early lead, but Siga and Yanu struggle with how heavy the gecko is. Nami remains in the lead and easily takes the win after Soda and Venus complete the puzzle. Nami wins immunity! Siga gets ahead of Yanu with Maria and Moriah working on the puzzle. Yanu finally get to work on the puzzle too. Jelinsky and Jess attempt the puzzle, but they’re too far behind. Maria and Moriah solve the puzzle. Siga win immunity! Yanu will go to tribal council tonight.
What’s the plan?
Yanu returns to camp. Jelinksy cannot vote tonight, but he feels confident in his alliance with Kenzie, Tiffany, and Q. He wants Jess to be voted out tonight. While Jelinksy and Jess are talking at the shelter, Bhanu asks the others the plan while they’re at the well. Tiffany tells him the real plan is to vote out Jess, but they’re going to tell Jess that the plan is to vote out Jelinksy.
Later, Tiffany goes to find the next part of her advantage instructions. She deciphers a clue that leads her to the key to unlock the box. Tiffany retrieves the hidden immunity idol from the box. While Tiffany is away from the camp, Q talks to Bhanu and says he wants to flip the vote against Jelinsky. He is unimpressed how Jelinsky has repeatedly failed to deliver.
Tiffany finally catches up with Q, and Q says he wants Jelinsky out first. Tiffany says Jess must go first, and then they can vote out Jelinksy afterwards. Tiffany says Kenzie won’t be on board with voting out Jelinksy. Bhanu says they have to consider their options. Tiffany and Q talk to Kenzie, and she campaigns for Jelinsky to stay. Q says it would be a mistake to keep Jelinksy. Kenzie thinks Jess is the weakest tribe member and she cannot get a read on her. However, she admits that she doesn’t like how Jelinsky has repeatedly given up.
It’s time for tribal council
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks what’s surprised them most the first three days. Jess says she knew it would be challenging, but the sleep deprivation is messing with her. Jeff asks about the Sweat task. Q lets Jeff know they quit the task with two and a half hours remaining. Jelinsky tries to avoid admitting they quit the challenge until Jeff calls him out. Jelinksy also reveals he lost his vote, but Q cuts in and says that he gave his vote away and allowed the other tribes to earn an extra vote. Q says they’re not supposed to hand out favors to the other tribe.
Jess is still struggling, and she cannot articulate what she wants to say. The talk turns to the vote, and Kenzie says it’s tough since they’ve been through it all together. Bhanu agrees it’s a tough vote. Tiffany says she wants to focus on tribe strength in challenges. Jelinsky says he wants to stay in the game, and he will never give up on a challenge again. Jess believes she’s delivering at camp and challenges. She may not be coherent in this public setting, but she feels more confident in individual conversations. Bhanu says he likes Jelinksy, but he thinks it may be too late. Jeff says it sounds like Jelinksy is about to be voted out. Bhanu takes a beat before saying “Time to vote?” Soon enough, it is time to vote.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Jelinsky
Jelinsky
Jelinsky
Jelinsky is the first person voted out of Survivor 46.
And that wraps up the season premiere of Survivor 46. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
