Survivor Edge of Extinction: First One Out podcast episode 1 takeaways

One of the highlights of the Survivor pre-season in recent years is Josh Wigler’s First One Out podcast. He sits down with each of the four returnees in episode 1.

Besides 30-second trailers and short bios, we don’t have much of an opportunity to get to know the latest Survivor contestants before the season starts. Although ET Canada usually has pre-game interviews with each castaway, it sometimes comes off as a little cheesy and unnatural.

Thanks to Josh Wigler, RHAP and the Hollywood Reporter, Survivor fans are treated with an excellent podcast that gives us time to learn about the cast in a way we don’t get until the season begins. It creates an environment that makes you feel like you’re in Fiji, about to embark on this 39-day journey with the cast. In the first episode of First One Out, which you can listen to on RHAP here, Josh Wigler speaks with the four returnees to see how they felt going into Edge of Extinction. Here are some important takeaways from their comments.

Joe Anglim

Joe has a helpful girlfriend. Not only has Joe been dating for about year, but it’s who he’s dating that might get Survivor fans interested. Sierra Dawn Thomas, who played in Game Changers and even voted Joe out in Worlds Apart will be crossing her fingers that her boyfriend makes it to the loved ones visit!

In his interview with Wigler, Joe discussed how their relationship grew after Worlds Apart. For those who feel that Joe doesn’t have a social or strategic game, this relationship may have extra benefits! Sierra has not only played in Fiji before, but she also competed with Aubry and for a time was the head of strong alliance in Game Changers. It will be interesting to see how her experience and approach to the Survivor affects Joe’s gameplay.

Doesn’t want to overthink, wants to focus on building genuine relationships. Throughout his comments, Joe emphasized that he is in the perfect place in his life to make it to the end this time. He has declined Jeff’s invitation before, but couldn’t pass it up this time. In his third attempt, Joe stressed his goal to pace himself over the 39 days, and form heartfelt relationships with everyone he can.

Aubry Bracco

Trying to play off of other player’s needs. Out of the four returnees, Aubry seemed the most mentally prepared for the dynamics of the game. Similar to Joe she feels the need to stay chill, have fun, and focus on building social relationships, but she takes it a step further.

Aubry wants to be aware of the different phases of the game. When people are in fear of the conditions, she wants to be their therapist or older sibling. When people are desperate, she wants to be there to hear them out and give them hope. When castaways feel comfortable, she wants to understand that and take advantage of their overconfidence. If one returnee is going to control this entire game, I think it’s Aubry.

Using Sarah and Sandra from Game Changers as inspirations. Aubry openly acknowledged that she was never in control of any vote in Game Changers. However, she feels that she learned a lot since that experience, especially with Sandra and Sarah’s determination to do and say whatever it takes to win. So on top of her smart social game plan, Aubry is 100% ready to cut throats.

Kelley Wentworth

Implementing the buddy system to search for idols. The one perception Kelley is afraid of is that when she goes for a walk by herself to “get firewood”, people will think she’s going to find an idol. In order to still find a way to search without raising suspicion, Wentworth proposed the idea of bringing back Boston Rob’s buddy system. So when she goes off with one or two people to search for an idol, it looks less suspicious.

Wentworth wants to focus on making other people’s game fun. This is an approach that I find capitalizes on one of the most important parts of the social game; satisfying the other castaway’s interests. Let’s face it, you’re starving yourself on an island to win a million dollars, most people can only think from their own selfish point of view. Kelley plans to exploit that.

Similar to Aubry and Joe, she wants to have fun and enjoy her time out there, but her focus is to make sure the other castaways are having a fun experience as well. This mindset would definitely help her fit in despite the large target she has as a returning player. She understands that she can’t control everything, but building solid relationships will help her form alliances that could take her deep into the game.

David Wright

No one has prepared as much as David. While the other three are determined to start slow and build strong personal relationships, David was the opposite, thinking all about practice and strategy in his pre-game interview. He can make a fire in 20 seconds! He also spent a lot of time building different puzzles, including ones that he had to solve in his own season, as well as puzzles that were featured in other seasons set in Fiji. He even worked on improving his swimming skills, which he feels are significantly better than in Millennials vs. Gen X. 

Expect more fake idols and even a fake advantage! As mentioned in our cast assessment of David, he discussed his brilliant idea of creating a fake advantage. He calls it the “Sole Vote Advantage” which has the theoretical power to end Tribal Council and allow the user to stand up and say who they want out. Additionally, he plans on making another fake idol as he did to perfection in his first season.

Plans to work with Wentworth right out of the gate. David is still a super fan of Survivor, and Second Chance is his favorite season, thanks impart to Kelley. Since they will start on the same tribe, David wants to make sure they are on the same page as returning players. He is still the same paranoid and anxious David that we knew in Millennials vs. Gen X, but he feels a lot more confident and focused this time around.