Survivor season 35: Episode 2’s photos have a mystery and a puzzle
Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers has a numbers imbalance already, and the photos from episode 2 reveal almost everyone who plays.
It’s a time-honored tactic in Survivor to use any numbers advantages and let people who might not have any strengths in a challenge to sit out, thereby making it potentially more likely that your tribe will secure a win.
And it is also a tactic of Surviving Tribal to look at all of CBS’ press photos to learn a little more about who will play in “I’m a Wild Banshee,” Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers‘ second episode.
One thing immediately becomes clear. This is a water challenge.
It might be the platforms out in the water that gives it away. Look closely next to Jeff Probst on the right. The covered item is more obvious, but you can just make out one of the immunity idols as well. A combined challenge thus seems likely.
So, three people on each tribe need to swim, presumably to the buoys? It’s not clear what they’re swimming to or what marks where to find what they need to retrieve. Now, though, we can really get into the puzzle of who’s participating and where.
From right to left, you have Cole, Jessica, and Roark doing the swimming portion for the Healers.
There are the three Hustler guys, Patrick, Ryan, and Devon, also planning to do the swimming. What’s the yellow pyramid shape in the water? That doesn’t seem like it’d be that hard of a swim.
The answer appears to be yes, the pyramid structure is an actual part of this challenge.
Finally, Ashley, Ben, and JP will do the swimming for the Heroes. This is slightly less important because the Heroes are down a member, meaning they’ll all play no matter what, but it’s still good to know where they think their strengths are.
It looks like what the swimmers have to grab are signposts pointing to different islands, for the other two participants to sort into correct directions. The two that we can read here — Vanuatu and Philippines — are both former locations of Survivor. Anyways, there’s Alan and Chrissy doing the puzzle portion for the Heroes.
Between these two photos, we also know who’s doing the puzzle for the Healers. In this photo, you can see Desi, and Mike is in the above photo. That means that Joe sits out for the Healers, and he’s standing by the bench in the right of this photo.
Finally, we can also spot Simone’s dark hair over Desi’s left shoulder. That means one of either Lauren or Ali doesn’t play for the Hustlers.
(Side note: Survivor has also done a season in Australia, which Chrissy is holding in this photo.)
This photo seems to indicate that it’s Lauren, since the person helping Simone appears to have short hair. It’s completely clear, though. It would mean Ali doesn’t play.
Speaking of, here are the Hustlers at work looking for food. A spear can go a long way, so long as Devon or the other Hustlers know how to use it.
What exactly are the Healers bringing toward the beach in this image? It looks like it could be a crate of supplies or something else. Does this mean that they win a reward? It doesn’t appear as though there are photos of the other tribes who have this box.
Alan, Ben, and Ashley talking together could be a very interesting scene for their respective edits, but even in this photo, there are some very different facial expressions going on.
Next: Breaking down the first elimination
Speaking of edits, never let it be said the Survivor photographers don’t know how to take a meaningful, symbolic photo when they need to. This is Alan, cast in shadow.
We’re still thinking about the Healers’ floating box of mystery, but what questions do you have for this upcoming episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers?