CBS
After 44 seasons, no one would fault Survivor for having a predictable, if not boring, season premiere. Two decades on air can leave the well running dry, but here’s the thing, y’all: Survivor fans know better. You do not commit to watching 43 seasons over the course of 20 some-odd years because things have gone stale. Jeff Probst has made a deal with the devil, and in return, the devil was delivered.
You see, if there is one unimpeachable truth about Survivor, it’s that the long-running reality series has a way of reinventing itself. In past seasons, that comes in the way of returning players. Surprising twists. Tribes split by age (??) or race (?!). This season, however, the season premiere shocker comes in the form of three different players facing medical peril before the first tribal council. Even Jesus was like, “Guys, this is a lot of trauma for three days.”
By the end of Wednesday’s two-hour season premiere, Bruce Perreault was removed from the game and Matthew Grinstead-Mayle and Brandon Cottom nearly had their flames snuffed by the fickle hand of fate. For those who love statistics, there have only ever been 16 contestants evacuated prior to this season. So essentially, the 44th season premiere of Survivor tried to up that by about 20 percent.