Survivor Ghost Island premiere recap: I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!
39 days, 20 people, one Survivor Ghost Island winner! Let’s recap the Survivor Ghost Island premiere episode where two players were sent home early.
We just witnessed a promising start with the Survivor Ghost Island premiere tonight. Instead of lasting just one hour like last season, we got a rapid-paced two-hour introduction to all 20 players in a myriad of ways. We now know part of what Ghost Island entails, we know the early dynamics of these tribes and we are teed up for a full season of exciting play.
It all starts with an introduction and a twist. Survivor Ghost Island is just as much about the bad decisions of past players as it is about those given a second chance. As Malolo and Naviti face off in their marooning challenge, key decisions were made from the get-go. Brendan was chosen as the early Malolo tribe leader, picking Michael for strength and Laurel for puzzles. For Naviti, Chris takes up the early leadership role by picking Sebastian for strength and Desiree to solve puzzles.
The first challenge saw the physical player digging for three keys and moving through obstacles, while the puzzle-solver was solving a slide puzzle. Both tribes got just a bit of rice, a machete and the winning tribe would receive extra fire-making tools. However, as the puzzles were being solved, Jeff started a timer. If a tribe leader saw their puzzle-solver going slow, they could opt to cut the challenge and keep fishing gear, meaning both tribes received fishing gear and the winning tribe receives extra eggs and flint.
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After that monstrosity of a description, we saw first Survivor Ghost Island challenge! Both Michael and Sebastian blew out all their adrenaline early running for the first two keys, getting winded by digging for the third key. With Naviti getting a short lead on the puzzle, the clock started, and Laurel sauntered over as she tried to keep up on solving her puzzle.
The pressure was heavy on Chris and Brendan early, as fishing gear is a harsh thing to lose for your tribe. Chris made a judgment call that Desiree was struggling and pulled the plug early. That meant the tribe doesn’t lose the opportunity to fight for their meals, but it did cause some early strife, with Domenick trying to plant seeds of leadership early with an early callout.
Looking at Malolo early, it seems like everybody is getting along swimmingly with the early advantages at stake. If anyone stood out, it was Donathan Hurley, showing audiences that he was someone to look out for. Being a young, openly gay man in Kentucky is a certainly insular experience, and seeing him open up to people of color and become friends with Laurel was a great experience to see.
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Over at Naviti, you could see the tribal divisions starting early. Chris and Sebastian bro’d down almost immediately, both being fishing-oriented people from Florida. With Domenick working on the shelter and trying to unify everyone, they saw him as an early target to remove from the game, as he seemed to be the main obstacle on their way to the merge. As soon as Wendell picked up on that clue, he shared it with Dom and Bradley, further entrenching the early battle lines.
Jacob Derwin might have been pulling a Garrett Adelstein right out of the gate in Survivor Ghost Island, playing the game way too hard. He was playing a bit too hard early, searching for an idol and letting everyone know about it. Much like David Wright, viewers were given the idea that he was set to go early if he didn’t get his stuff in gear.
The first Survivor Ghost Island immunity challenge mixed plenty of features from challenges past. Players raced across a net bridge, lifted two tribemates to collect two bags of ropes, the entire tribe used those ropes to haul a mine cart filled with 3D puzzle blocks and pulled it through a track. Once pulled through twice, they would need to work together to create a 3D cube, with the first tribe to complete it winning immunity.
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Despite calling it quits in the first challenge, Naviti had a huge advantage heading into the puzzle segment. Kellyn, Bradley, Domenick and Wendell worked on the puzzle for Naviti, with James, Michael, Jacob and Laurel working it for Malolo. Too many cooks spoiled the broth for Malolo, with Naviti winning the first Immunity Challenge and earning fire. They opted to send Jacob to Ghost Island, as he acted like a bombastic fool in an attempt to secure temporary immunity. Way to put yourself ahead of your team, even if it was a necessary play! Perhaps save your boasting for confessionals next time?
Jacob served as the Ghost Island tour guide, taking us through the very first twist. Following the fire, he opted to play a game of chance involved wagering a secret advantage or losing the next vote. Picking the right barrel and finding a key, Jacob won a Secret Advantage that he could will to a player on the opposing tribe. He opted to give Morgan Ricke on Naviti Sierra Dawn Thomas’s Legacy Advantage; a tool that once uncovered led to her elimination by Sarah Lacina in Game Changers.
Back on Malolo, with Jacob gone, Donathan found himself in trouble. The unified first boot decision was immune, and Stephanie Gonzalez started to paint him as the target. Stephanie Johnson, Michael Yerger and others weighed the pros and cons of keeping a stronger player or keeping a reliable vote.
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Tribal Council was a scene in of itself, even if some of the players pretended they weren’t in awe of its majesty. The arguments danced around keeping Donathan as a socially aware player or Gonzalez for strength purposes. While conversations seemed to be mundane for most of it, Gonzalez tried to big show it by getting up right before voting began to check in with everyone on who they’re voting out. Nobody went to talk to Donathan, however, although that didn’t matter. Stephanie Gonzalez was the first one out of Survivor Ghost Island.
With Domenick knowing he had a target on his back, on Night Three he searched for an Immunity Idol in the dark. Somehow he pulled it off, finding Andrea Boehlke’s authentic Hidden Immunity Idol that she didn’t use in Survivor Caramoan. We knew the twists were authentic pieces of history, but now the idols are, too!
Morgan found that Jacob willed her the Legacy Advantage, allowing her to use it at Final 13 or Final Six. While he gave Morgan an even stronger game, he decided to bury himself even further by coming up with a lie that he found a Hidden Immunity Idol. Playing a combination of a Bob Crowley game mixed with Day 1 David Wright from Millennials vs. Gen X, the crash and burn may be of epic proportions!
Good lord, did he just bumble his way through his deception. He sat everyone down and told them about his fake idol. As soon as Brendan asked him if he has the note and Jacob said he left it at Ghost Island, alarm bells rang through the Malolo tribe. No way does a “nerd” leave a piece of the show’s lore, with Jacob planting perhaps the biggest premiere episode target any player has seen.
Domenick showed us how it’s done with a fake idol of his own, looking awful in its authenticity with the exception that he kept the note! Showing his opponent Chris this trinket, Domenick began to start a slow burn ploy that, on the surface, was supposed to bridge their gap. Instead, Chris felt emboldened to take Dom out, setting each other for a strong conflict early.
The second Immunity Challenge was previewed earlier this week, with players racing through aquatic obstacles, unleashing buoys, gathering the marked ones and shooting eight into a distant basket. With Angela sitting out, Naviti held an early lead as James couldn’t dive to unleash the buoys. Donathan refused to dive for the longest time, taking the entire tribe and Jeff Probst to encourage him just to attempt. By the time Malolo even got to the basket-shooting phase, Naviti sunk all their baskets and sent Donathan to Ghost Island, much to Jacob’s chagrin.
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One thing we did learn is that Ghost Island will not produce a game of chance every single time. Another thing reinforced is that superfans who proud themselves as students of the game will be made to look like a fool if they screw up. Stephanie sweet-talked her way into getting Jacob to admit everything, including information about the Legacy Advantage that nobody even had to know.
Somehow, this was twisted to possibly set up a triple cross by Stephanie, as she took Jacob in and wanted to work with James, Laurel and Jenna to vote out a strength threat like Michael. We were then introduced to Libby for the very first time, as she had almost made it through two episodes without saying anything. A logical boot in Jacob, or a bumble into a blindside early on?
Tribal Council would let us know, as Jacob would continue to spread his lies about the fake Hidden Immunity Idol. James called him out for the information imbalance that comes with going to Ghost Island first before anyone else. Jacob seemed to just say all the wrong things one after another, including calling out the opportunity he was being played. Meanwhile, Jenna teased at the hint that fate could actually be in his favor.
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In the end, Jacob Derwin became the second Survivor Ghost Island boot, as the rest of the tribe split votes between James and Jacob after the latter’s Michael vote to send him home. Malolo is in trouble, but with the “Next Time On Survivor” preview showing tribes dropping their buffs, the game is about to be shaken up. Will Ghost Island give someone an immediate usable advantage in the game? Tune in next week to find out!