Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders episode 1 recap: Delivered

Buckle up, Survivor fans; Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders delivers right from the start with an epic emotional roller coaster and a huge crash and burn.

It wouldn’t be Survivor without a first boot. It wouldn’t be the modern game if the first player voted out didn’t crash and burn. Such is the case for Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders episode 1, as we saw the aggressive return of Russell Hantz, the first real taste of “David vs. Goliath” mentalities and the seeds of disrepair set in immediately.

The first 20 minutes of the 90-minute premiere sets the stage for the tribes at large, as we get expanded vignettes of several of the competitors. Though I’m sure Aussies know who Commando Steve and these other champions, it’s great to get a better look at the castaways in and off the island, as it helps to understand better who these people are.

Then we come to Russell Hantz. He’s clearly not lost a step since Redemption Island, but he knows to observe rather than put a target on his back. It’s why he doesn’t step up in the opening challenge, where one player from each tribe slides down a water slide to catch a bag of survival items and bring it to their tribe mat first.

For what it’s worth, the Contenders really gave it to the Champions early on, securing rice, fruit and other supplies in an early pummelling one after another. In fact, the first Champion to win for their tribe was the oldest player in the game; the 61-year-old Shane, famous for breaking women’s swimming records. Though the Champions lost often, they won fire in the form of flint; the best item of all offered.

Back at the Champions camp, while everyone is trying to get to know one another and enjoy a barrel of laughs, Russell Hantz is already getting to work. Per usual, he tries to attach himself to the prettiest woman in the game; Monika, who competed in Miss Universe for Australia. We even get a Natalie White name drop in this, the year of our Survivor lord twenty-eighteen, showing that Russell knows how to win people over by suggesting they can beat him later down the road.

Over at the Contenders camp, Steve K. adopts Chinese military tactics in search for the Hidden Immunity Idol. Unfortunately, Matt, the traffic cop saw him poking around during the opening challenge and chronicles his every move, letting the tribe know that he’s a shifty character that can’t be trusted. More on that later.

The Champions continue their kumbayah mentality with a campfire storytime, discussing the various highlights of the numerous athletes to compete. Then we get to Damien, who shares his remarkable story of when he lost his legs in an IED attack while serving his country. It’s the kind of minutiae and character-building that separates Australian Survivor from its US counterpart, and even Russell Hantz is playing along.

Shonee of the Contenders gets really hungry on Day 2, going off with Anita and Fenella to break open a termite nest and try to eat some grub. We also get another closer look at Steve K. as he digs for idols under the guise of digging holes for the camp shelter, cutting to a vignette of the world-traveling take-out deliveryman who’s playing for his adopted daughter.

As we get to know Samuel, the funny astrophysicist, Russell sees an odd couple trio dynamic alongside Monika that could work for an alliance. That’s not all he’s up to, however, as he spots two trees crossing into an X, figures there’s a Hidden Immunity Idol there, pops it out of the tree and makes off like a bandit in the night. As much as Russell Hantz is overhyped by the community, he came to play hard once more in Australian Survivor and has delivered on Day 2.

Finally, we come to the first Immunity Challenge where tribes must scale up a 10-foot wall as a team, scale down a net, untie a battering ram and carry it through a series of low and high obstacles, smash through a cement wall, unlock puzzle pieces in the ram, places “Champions vs. Contenders” pieces in a hanging puzzle, then knock them down.

Here is where we see the Contenders jump out to a strong start, keeping inches ahead of the Champions throughout. It’s during the puzzle portion that Matt can’t put it together and doesn’t listen to his tribe as the Champions led by a fastball-throwing Damien picks apart the puzzle pieces with sandbags en route to a decisive victory.

After Jenna from the Contenders fights through a sprained ankle, the tribe must decide who will be the first player voted out of Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders. It’s become clear that Steve K. is too untrustworthy, as all he’s done is search for an idol. Everyone notes that, too, but doesn’t believe he found one by Day 2. I mean, who could have done such a thing without a clue?

It’s such a clear decision, yet Matt the traffic cop has to freak out about alternate plans in case of an idol that he becomes the king of paranoia. He starts demanding people give him secondary votes then runs off for hours searching for an idol, questioning why he wasn’t on the Champions tribe and basically making him the tribe’s target begrudgingly.

Still, it seemed like Steve K. was the obvious target heading into Tribal Council, as he pushed away concerns about bad first impressions. Matt had to insert himself into the conversation, calling him out in front of host

Jeff

Jonathan and say he saw Steve digging around for idols during the opening challenge.

Of course, that has Robbie calling out Matt for digging for idols on Day 2, in which Matt calls out a supposed bro-alliance of Heath, Robbie, Benji and the ringleader Zach. Then, as Tegan simply suggests that Matt got spooked and that everyone on Day 2 is just trying to find out who to get rid of (you know, while still making their shelter), Matt tries to mansplain to “the girls” that not one of them have tried to play the game yet.

It was a chaotic, epic meltdown that saw the vote go 7-5 in favor to vote out Matt, with Shonee and Robbie as notable players to turn the vote over and abandon their original plan. With a hint of Russell Hantz swearing on his wife’s life and showing his Immunity Idol in tomorrow’s episode, Australian Survivor is firing on all cylinders from the get-go.