The premiere of Survivor 44 aired on March 1. Every Wednesday night at eight pm Eastern Standard Time (EST), the channel CBS releases a new episode. This reality competition show features a combination of eighteen unique personalities who all think they have what it takes to be the “sole survivor” and win one million dollars. These eighteen competitors are marooned on the Islands of Fiji and fight to survive for 26 days while simultaneously voting their tribe members off. The host of the hit reality show, Jeff Probst, guides the players through the game during challenges and tribal councils. 

In this season, there are three tribes that fight for immunity at challenges. Each tribe, Soka, Ratu, and Tika, consists of six players. Whichever tribe loses the challenge is sent to tribal council where they hold a vote to determine who is going to be kicked out of the game. Throughout the game, players are voted off and tribes combine into one singular tribe, also known as the merge. Making it to the merge is a huge accomplishment because it takes players into the next phase of the game. After working together with members of their tribes in the beginning of the season, the competitors will have to learn how to win challenges by themselves to win individual immunity post merge. 

The first episode of the new season was loaded with twists and turns throwing the viewers off guard. Most Survivor super fans who have watched for years are familiar with many of the advantages that are found in the game. One of the first, newest advantages found in the game was locked away in a bird cage in the middle of a path along the island. Each tribe stumbled across the bird cages back at their islands and began to frantically search for the key hidden somewhere in the jungle. The only tribe to find the key in this episode was the Ratu tribe. Brandon found the key and tried to keep it to himself, but one of the other tribe members, Maddy, saw him. They ended up opening the bird cage with the rest of the tribe where they found a hidden immunity idol, which can be used at tribal council to guarantee safety from the vote. 

Along with the new advantages, there were three separate occasions where the medical team was brought into the game to give three players medical evaluations. The first occasion was at the very beginning of the episode during the first challenge. A member of the Tika tribe, Bruce, was the first player to be medically evaluated when he hit his head on one of the obstacles and started to bleed. After a partial day at camp with his tribe, he was removed from the game for his own safety after he started to experience severe headaches. 

The second medical situation happened to a member of the Ratu tribe, Mathew, who went exploring the island on day two. He tried climbing a tall, jagged rock when he slipped and fell and dislocated his shoulder. He managed to pop it back in place, but he also ended up cutting the bottom of his feet to the point of bleeding. After a quick evaluation by the medical team, they gave him a sling for his shoulder then approved him to continue to play the game. 

The third and final incident of the first episode involved another member of the Ratu tribe, Brandon. It was day three, and the seventeen players still left in the game were at their second immunity challenge. Whichever tribe lost had to go to tribal council where someone would earn the title of the first person to get voted out. It was towards the end of the challenge when Brandon started to become physically exhausted from the physical activity involved in the challenge. One factor that did not help the situation was the heat. The challenge had to be stopped and the medical team came in to assess Brandon’s situation. They took him to a shaded section under a tree where he was given water and told to sit out the rest of the challenge. Likely due to the Ratu tribe being down a member, they ended up losing the challenge and being the first tribe sent to tribal council. 

Throughout the episode, there was some noticeable tension between two players of the Soka tribe, Frannie and Matt. Their friendship was growing closer by the hour, evolving as they spent more and more time together. Some expert Survivor fans already have been predicting a showmance between the two. So far, Frannie and Matt’s relationship has progressed to a point where it may become something more. Fans have been excitedly waiting for the next few episodes to see if the showmance progresses, or if it is all a part of the game. 

Following the chaotic immunity challenge was an even more chaotic tribal council. The Ratu tribe had to decide who was going to be the first person voted out of the game. Two players, Jaime and Mathew, both played their shot in the dark. This gives them a one in six shot at being safe from the vote. Mathew did not draw a safe card, so therefore he was still eligible to be voted out. However, Jaime drew a safe card, making Survivor history by being the first person to be granted safety by using their shot in the dark. Brandon was not feeling entirely safe from the vote, so he ended up using the immunity idol he found in the birdcage, which made him safe from the vote. After only getting a singular vote during tribal council, Maddy became the first player voted out of the game. 

This game has so much entertainment as well as excitement throughout to keep viewers engaged and wanting more. Although there are only one hour episodes that come out once a week, fans continue to look forward to Wednesday nights. Also, with all of the excitement that happened in the premiere, many Survivor fans have already gotten pumped for the next episode to come out.