DoitBest said:

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I hate to be that guy, but Mrs.B actually picked Johnathan to go out first.

You entered Chrissy as her pick on the spreadsheet.

If Johnathan is indeed the first to go I would prefer to not sleep in the doghouse tonight...thanks

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Actually, I had it right, You're looking at the entry for Johnsy3. Mrs. Do It Best is in the 2nd row of competitors.

Now you're sleeping in my doghouse.

That episode was almost everything I wanted in a premier of fifty.

Colby being a father figure to Rizzo was perfect. I should have remembered what kryptonite Cirie is to her team that offsets the curse of Stephanie

A Kyle, Genevieve, Colby, and Stephanie alliance was unexpected but very welcome

Well spoke to soon, that ****ing sucks as an end for that survivor who got injired

I do agree this might be my favorite premier in a long time. Helps being a returnee season

I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of things, but some observations from the first episode.

The opening montage was one of the best things the show has ever done.

Dee's outfit for the first challenge. 2 thumbs way up. Homegirl knows exactly what she's doing out there.

Stephenie - my first big-time Survivor crush - a total bad ass in the first challenge after years and years away from the game.

I LOLed at Colby's immediate distaste for Rizzo. You could see that coming from a mile away, but then very impressed with Colby's 180 realizing that Rizzo was the same age now that Colby was on his first season.

How screwed up are Ozzy and Coach mentally that Q seemed like the most rational, normal person among the 3 of them?

Ozzy still a beast climbing and swimming in that first journey challenge. Ozzy really came across as a whiny a*hole to me for pouting about Coach. Coach was 100% in the right for my money on winning that challenge.

Real obvious (at least for one episode) that Jonathan's tribe has no inclination to vote him off pre-merge. The guy is so physically dominant in team challenges. I would watch that guy do any sort of challenge ever.

Cirie really blew that challenge, but as Christian later pointed out without completely saying it, why would you have the oldest person there trying a skill that obviously takes a lot of skill? That was bad planning & execution.

Christian and Rick Devens is the bromance I didn't know I needed until I saw it. The two of them trying to decide if it's "thumb in or thumb out" on the Vulcan "live long and prosper" was outstanding.

I'm not making this up - since I was taking notes the whole time for the pick'em game - Tiff did not talk to the camera until the 2 hour, 11 minute mark of the episode.

Savannah definitely should have told them about her block a vote. Or come up with a way better story. Q had a great story for how he got the supplies the next day.

Props to Colby for keeping his tongue in his mouth as Savannah stretched repeatedly to place the Tetris pieces and repeatedly flirted with him during their Journey challenge.

This is sort of a guilty pleasure, but I enjoyed Joe still blown away by the Kamilla/Kyle mastermind duo from Season 48. I watched Kyle's episode last week and then YouTubed the final tribal when he reveals to the jury how they sandbagged Joe and Eva.

Really crappy for Kyle to go out like that. He seemed to be in a really nice spot, which is really tough for such a recent champion.

My two unanswerable questions from Episode 1:

1. Could Jonathan snap Rizzo in half over his knee if allowed to try?

2. If Colby had found the HII from Billie Eillish, would have known who that was?

Only downside is having to wait a week for the next one!

Christian and Rick were a perfect duo bromance.

Loved it through and through which is a relief after how boring some of the more recent seasons have been.

Opening montage was brilliant. Honestly one of my favorite things was the tribal council music/voting music and how it paid homage to the OG music. As one who watched S1 as it aired on TV back in the day, the original music is very nostalgic for some reason and I much prefer it to the bombastic modern survivor over the top chanty music.

Christian - "looks like Mike has been hitting the White Lotus gym"

I thought Orange would crush challenges with Emily, Savanna, Ozzie, Devens, Christian, Joe.

Forgot how much I loved some of these players.
Also forgot how much I detested some of these players.

Mike White is ripped, that is awesome and inspiring.

I know Colby can't keep up with these kids on strategy, but he is just a genuine great person and he wins at life.

Kyle very well could have won this thing. When he was talking about how foundational relationships are to this game, and that you can't play without establishing the relationships first, I had to look at my personal and professional life. There are relationships I need to shore up and there are relationships I need to sever. Kyle gets it, and that is so impressive to me. Also, I couldn't believe Kyle was taller than Q.

I have a hard time remembering all the winners, but the ones who stand out to me for amazing strategic gameplay are Rachel Lamont, Kyle Frazier, Sarah Lacina. I really enjoyed watching Tony, and Cochran and they played solid games. Dee played well. Tom, Ethan, and JT were very likable winners before strategy got so layered.

Hated Kenzie's game play and Yam Yam, but they won their own way. I never really appreciated Sandra's style of staying under the radar, but it worked twice for her.

That's the fun part of survivor for me, never know what the criteria will be this season, no rule book

I didn't realize how much I liked Kyle until he handled that injury like a pro, just positive and sure that the team will be ok, don't pull him from the challenge, we'll figure it out.

I think after 49 seasons he's the only winner I can think of that hits ALL the qualities you'd want in a player. Strong, smart, strategic, good at building relationships, doesn't lose the forest for the trees. Clearly he's likable enough for everyone to want to work with him (again). He's kind of the total package.

Dee, Genevieve, etc. are clear(er) threats because they were devious, but of the 3 winners on this cast, he's the one you probably least want to go to the final tribal with.

I guess what I'm saying is if you fast forward to season 70, I could have easily seen Kyle being a 2-time (or 3-time?!) winner by then if given the opportunities. Tough break for a good dude.

CK, is it worth a separate thread just to post PickEm rules and weekly points?

I'd be down for that so it is easier to find. Hopefully chatter holds strong all season on this thread. Seems to be much more interest vs previous seasons