Survivor 43 Discussion Thread

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Welcome to the Survivor 43 Discussion Thread! This thread is to talk about all things Survivor during the Survivor 43 season. I know we're a couple months out from the premiere, which is happening on Wednesday, September 21, but little tidbits have been dropping about the season here and there. I will share those in the next post.

As a general rule of thumb, you may discuss any episode that has already aired. You may discuss any predictions for future episodes/seasons. If you somehow have come across any spoilers about the boot order that go beyond just speculation and predictions, they should be kept to yourself. Minor spoilers about future twists and advantages or the cast can be discussed, but try to put them in a spoiler when you post. I will be doing that in the next post if you need to take a look. So in summary, be courteous as some people don't want to know anything about the season until it is officially released by production.

I'm am very eager to start a new season of Survivor and can't wait to discuss it with everyone! If anyone has a hidden immunity idol or advantage and would like to play it, now would be your time to do so... Alright, let's discuss!

 

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Martin Holmes has revealed some of the twists and advantages from seasons 41 and 42 that will be staying, as well as some that will be going. I'll share them in a spoiler for those who don't want to know anything quite yet.

Spoiler: Season 43 Twists/Advantages Spoilers

Here is a quick rundown...

STAYING

• 26 day format
• Shot in the Dark
• Risk vs Reward dilemmas
• Earn the merge
• Beware advantages
• Reading final votes in Fiji
• Reunion special in Fiji

LEAVING

• Hourglass twist
• Do or Die twist
• Silly phrases to activate idols (still will be a lose your vote component until specific tasks are completed)

Here is a link for some more info: https://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-43-whats-staying-and-whats-going-53075

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Martin Holmes has revealed some of the twists and advantages from seasons 41 and 42 that will be staying, as well as some that will be going. I'll share them in a spoiler for those who don't want to know anything quite yet.

Spoiler: Season 43 Twists/Advantages Spoilers

Here is a quick rundown...

STAYING

• 26 day format
• Shot in the Dark
• Risk vs Reward dilemmas
• Earn the merge
• Beware advantages
• Reading final votes in Fiji
• Reunion special in Fiji

LEAVING

• Hourglass twist
• Do or Die twist
• Silly phrases to activate idols (still will be a lose your vote component until specific tasks are completed)

Here is a link for some more info: https://insidesurvivor.com/survivor-43-whats-staying-and-whats-going-53075

Spoiler: Spoiler: Season 43 Twists/Advantages Spoilers

That's promising. Do or Die almost ruined a big moment of the season, and goes against the core concept of the show.

Last season it worked out to something like only half the post-merge votes were even traditional votes. Hopefully they bring back some balance to the game.

Reminder that for anyone needing a Survivor fix, South Africa returns next week with a 4 episodes per week schedule.

 

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The Survivor 43 preseason has begun! The official cast reveal dropped about 15 minutes ago. Here's an article from Mike Bloom.

Three Brand-New Tribes! Meet the Full Cast of 'Survivor 43'

One year ago, Survivor returned from its first-ever hiatus. The reality TV giant ushered in a "new era," complete with brand-new twists, fewer days, and more

parade.com

 

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I'm listening to the cast previews/interviews on RHAP. I'm almost through with the Vesi tribe. I've listened to 5 of 6. So far I'm liking Jesse and Justine. They both seem like they have the potential to go far. They seem down to earth and just simply like good people.

 

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Mike White of David vs Goliath won two Emmys last weekend for his work on The White Lotus. Go Mike!

 

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I'm almost all the way done with the preseason cast interviews on RHAP. I just have to finish Sami, but I've started his.

I won't make my winner picks until a little closer to the premiere, but here are some of my contenders:

Justine
Jesse
Elie
Owen
Morriah
James
Karla

 

[NYwdwfan]

I'm almost all the way done with the preseason cast interviews on RHAP. I just have to finish Sami, but I've started his.

I won't make my winner picks until a little closer to the premiere, but here are some of my contenders:

Justine
Jesse
Elie
Owen
Morriah
James
Karla

When is the premiere?

 

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When is the premiere?

A week from tonight! Wednesday, September 21st at 8pm ET. It's a 90 minute premiere.

 

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I know I reported this as a spoiler before, but Jeff made it official in his preseason interviews.

GONE: Hourglass twist, Do or Die

STILL REMAIN: Shot in the Dark

 

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About 24 hours until the premiere of Survivor 43!

I've been listening to many podcasts about the cast. I know who each of them are, and can match their names to faces already. I've been trying hard to make a winner pick. For the last several years, I've been making a male and female winner pick. This is the hardest I remember it being. I haven't fully decided yet, but here are the ones I've considered:

James
Jeanine
Justine
Jesse
Owen
Karla
Elie

I think I've narrowed it down to Jesse or Owen for the men and Justine and Elie for the women. I'll make my final picks tomorrow. I'm pumped for Survivor to be back!

 

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It's Survivor Premiere Day! Which means it's time to solidify my preseason winner picks. As I said in my last post, I usually choose a male and female, so I'll continue that. I'll start with my easier pick.

For the females, I'm picking Elie. Based on her preseason press, she seems very down to earth and relatable. I think she'll be able to make good connections as a therapist, and she's a good age for the game. She seems to not be too big of a threat, but also not a liability.

My male winner pick is much harder. I'm really torn between Owen and Jesse. I've been back and forth on them for days, and even this afternoon I'm 50/50. Overall, I think I like Owen better. However, I think he will be a bigger target. I also think his tribe will lose more challenges pre-merge, causing him to have a higher chance of getting voted out early or being down in numbers come the merge. I think Jesse is a good all-around players. He seems to be good at everything, but not necessarily top tier in one area. I think that's a formula for success on the show. So I'm going to make Jesse my male pick.

So that's...

Female: Elie
Male: Jesse

Here are all the picks I've made since I started paying attention to the Survivor preseason. I've been right twice, with Adam and Tommy. And some have been close (see Alison, Victoria, and Ricard), but others have been awful (see Vytas, Figgy, and Molly).

 

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Good first episode! I enjoy the two hour premieres to help us get to know everyone.

The two challenge hacks were pretty cool. Good idea to put the flint in the bamboo, and then stand in single file to do the maze. Although the maze strategy must have not worked as well as they portrayed it, because the next time they were back to standing side by side.

The savvy or sweat thing is still "meh" for me, but I'm glad we got to see both options.

I like this version of Shipwheel Island better. It's easier to understand, and the advantages are more out in the public. I liked Karla's choice, since she's seemingly in a powerful position. Dwight's choice is a little more questionable. I feel like he might be on the outs, but he isn't aware of his social status.

Gabler's chaotic energy is hilarious. He's definitely going to use his Shot in the Dark. Elie tells him not to. Gabler says okay.

I think the tribe as a whole made a good decision to vote out Morriah, but I do wonder if it's best for Elie and Jeanine. But I think they can get either Owen and/or Gabler on their side. They must have also filled Sami in on the plan, because the vote was unanimous if I saw it right.

There isn't anyone I dislike so far, which is always good. Cody is a lot, but he's a fun character.

Some of my early favorites are Jesse, Justine, Elie, Karla, Jeanine, and Lindsay. But like I said, I don't dislike anyone. I could list most of the cast as ones I like so far.

Through one episode, I feel good about my winner picks!

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I loved the bamboo pole challenge element because it was something different, it was more challenging than it appeared at first, and it was also a puzzle with one of those solutions that are obvious in hindsight but not necessarily in the moment.

I agree the tweak to Shipwheel Island worked well.

The Survivor tradition of all female alliances that last all of zero seconds appears to be continuing.

Good episode. Good characters and good use of an extended episode to start the season.

 

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I like the longer episodes early in the season. It gives us lots of time to get to know all of the players. The only person I don't feel like I know is Cassidy, but her tribe hasn't gone to Tribal Council yet, so I still have hope.

I like the Ryan and Geo relationship, although I'm afraid it won't last. Geo was someone I was very down on in the preseason, but I really like him so far. He was chaotic in his interviews, but he seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

I was half wondering if Gabler was going to get med-evac'ed. A 90 minute episode, so I figured something different was going on. It'll be interesting to see if the guys thing holds. I can see Owen going with the girls and breaking that up. If not, I think Jeanine is the next target.

The beads thing was fun, and it is definitely a group effort thing. It's much smarter to go for the whole string of beads, rather than just the single ones he needs. However, if someone would draw a rock and go home because Cody couldn't collect a bead, that would have been a little ridiculous. I wonder if the other tribes will have the same thing.

I am happy they introduced this in a 90 minute episode. In season 41 they introduced so many new twists in 60 minute episodes, and that's the reason we felt like we didn't know anybody. Because it was all about the new twists and advantages, and there was no more time for the characters and social gameplay.

Justine was the right move by Jesse. I'm not sure why Dwight didn't see any differently. It may come from being younger with less social experience, but Justine seemed way too open and blunt about everything. You don't tell someone you're a good liar. You don't tell someone you don't fully trust them. Even if you don't, you hide that. She gave Jesse all the reasons in the world to vote her out, then said she was hoodwinked in her parting words. It seemed obvious to me, and at least from what we're shown, Dwight didn't have any close bonds to Justine or Noelle. The only person he's linked to is Jesse, so why not try to build that bond and go with him? Especially when you have no vote.

Also, glad I didn't go with Justine as my female winner pick!

I still like pretty much everyone. Cody is a fun character. I look forward to seeing where things go from here!

 

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I realized I never posted thoughts about last week's episode.

Overall, it was a pretty bland event. It was pretty much guaranteed that Nneka was going home. Once Noelle kept her steal a vote, it was a done deal. They must have given her 100% assurance that she was safe, or she would have played it.

I did like the way Karla got the beads. It was better and savvier than Cody. I really respect how she initially put the beware advantage back to consider her options and weigh the risks. She seems very level-headed and not impulsive. I think that's huge in the game of Survivor. I almost wish I would've made Karla my female winner pick.

Speaking of my female winner pick... Elie did not have a good episode. It's a very bold strategy to treat Gabler like he's dumb and can't just read the rules of his idol. Even if you think someone is dumb... you never treat them that way.

So far, this has been a slow start to the season. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I'd rather watch this, than production and editors trying to force feed us blindsides and excitement, when that's not reality.

 

[Jedijax719]

Can't really sink my teeth into this season. I don't have any favorites or people i am even watching. Last season I immediately gravitated toward Maryanne, Mike, and Omer. I really liked everyone else though. The previous season I really liked Shan and also liked Evvie and Liana. I also like Erika but wish they showed more of her journey. This season, for whatever reason, is just leaving me cold.

 

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Can't really sink my teeth into this season. I don't have any favorites or people i am even watching. Last season I immediately gravitated toward Maryanne, Mike, and Omer. I really liked everyone else though. The previous season I really liked Shan and also liked Evvie and Liana. I also like Erika but wish they showed more of her journey. This season, for whatever reason, is just leaving me cold.

This season has started out slower than normal, but I'm in the boat of "slow Survivor is still great TV". I do think they went too heavy on the flashback packages for each contestant... they didn't feel natural. 42 had a good mix of them.

So far the only player I'm really liking is Karla. Outside of that I enjoy Jesse, but I'm not sure I have a strong rooting interest in him yet. It's hard to say right now, because we haven't really seen much strategy. They've all been pretty easy, straight-forward votes. This past week was probably the most interesting.

They've talked a lot the past couple weeks on RHAP about how the three tribe format is getting stale. It leads to an overemphasis on keeping the tribe strong, which unfortunately often leads to women being targeted early. It can make for a more interesting post-merge, but the pre-merge can suffer from it. It worked in 41 because Shan and Ricard carried the pre-merge. Their relationship and strategy was so interesting. In 42 we had the Daniel drama that lasted for most of the pre-merge. This season just hasn't had any of that so far. I think it could if Baka would go back to Tribal Council. I think it'd be really interesting to see how the Gabler vs Elie/Jeanine thing plays out. Even Vesi would be interesting to see how Noelle plays it with the steal-a-vote and Cody's idol. I think it's coming; it's just a slow burn.

Another factor to feeling slow, is we started with a 2 hour episode and only one vote, which I honestly really enjoyed. But then we had a 90 minute episode for a pretty straight-forward vote.

 

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This was the best episode of the season so far. A great downfall story.

I'll start with Baka and Jeanine's advantage. First, I found it funny how it said if you take it, you must do what it says. Then she takes it all the way to Elie and asks if they should open it... didn't you just take it?! But Jeanine and Elie are pretty funny how they think they're duping everyone. The reads on that tribe are so off. Jeanine and Elie think Sami is in they're pocket. They don't want Owen. Owen is leaning towards Elie and Jeanine. Gabler wants Elie and Jeanine gone. Sami doesn't want Elie or Jeanine and thinks he has Gabler and Owen locked tight. The only real person who doesn't have a bad read on someone else is... Gabler. And Gabler has horrible reads on everything else... like the palm fronds last week. They're a hot mess tribe, and I love it.

I still really like Jesse. I think Vesi is a unit that could really stick together come the merge, but also we saw the confessional with Noelle saying she'll jump.

Ryan's decision to throw the challenge felt a little insincere to me. At first I felt like he was just making an excuse, but he leaned into it so hard that it's difficult not to believe him. But what a bad read...

You know... that's what this season has been so far. Bad reads. Justine. Lindsay. Geo. And all of them who are still in the game... Sami, Gabler, Elie, Jeanine, Ryan. I feel like there's a lot of bad gameplay. The only person who I feel like has good reads and is in control if Karla. I think she's playing the best pre-merge game so far. But also, Romeo was playing a great pre-merge game last season, too.

With all tribes fractured at least in some capacity, it will be interesting to see how the merge goes. I just hope the twist isn't as dumb as the hourglass.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Karla is playing well but what I like for her is that she's not playing a big splashy game. The past two seasons have seen the big players become targets at the merge. If everyone finds out she has an idol, and how could they not, that could paint a target but for the moment I like where she's at.

I appreciate the straight forward editing. It shows that a story can be entertaining without holding back all of the information to generate a big surprise blindside for the audience every time.

It was a bad move from Geo to reveal an advantage that is powerless now, but could be huge in the future. I don't fault him too much as he thought he could trust Karla but why share something that you don't need right now. Share it when you can work together. Once again, knowledge is power fails in ironic fashion because giving someone else knowledge of it gives them the power...