Survivor Edge of Extinction: First One Out podcast episode 2 takeaways

The second episode of the First One Out podcast gives us revealing interviews with the Kama tribe’s seven new castaways from Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

Josh Wigler’s First One Out podcast helps listeners to see the different mindsets between a returnee and a newbie. The first episode showed us how prepared, both mentally and physically, the four returning players are as they enter Survivor: Edge of Extinction. Their strategies and gameplans go beyond the typical remarks of: “I want to play a good social game.”

I’m not saying that the new players aren’t ready, some of them have done surprisingly intense preparation for Survivor. However, while a few of the first-timers are ready to play this game, the returnees are ready to win it. Episode 2 of First One Out, which you can find on RHAP here, allows us to get familiar with the Kama tribe. The seven new players from this tribe are joined by Joe and Aubry. Here a few interesting points we learned about each of the castaways.

Ron Clark

He is the puzzle master! If you thought Christian was good, wait until Ron Clark gets his hands on a puzzle. He told Josh Wigler that he went through every single puzzle in Survivor history, finding a way to reconstruct them and practice solving them over the past six months. That is some serious dedication! Ron said that he would definitely volunteer for puzzles, especially if it’s one that Survivor has used before.

Aurora McCreary

Understands how to manipulate. Out of all the castaways on the Kama tribe, Aurora is the most self-aware of her abilities and cognizant of how to play a strong strategic game. She is a divorce attorney and is used to handling arguments and difficult situations without getting emotionally involved. She wisely mentioned that the goal isn’t to convince people to vote your way, the objective is to make them think that your gameplan is actually their gameplan. If Aurora can mesh with her tribe early, then expect some brutal blindsides as the game progresses.

Victoria Baamonde

Received encouragement from a Survivor winner! The one big takeaway from Victoria’s interview is that she is a legit superfan. A hilarious story that she shared was that she connected with Cochran on Tinder! She said that Cochran got irritated when all she was messaging him about was Survivor related questions. Victoria did say that he gave her some advice about applying, and maybe that’s what led her to be cast in season 38!

Gavin Whitson

He got married just two days before arriving in Fiji! We go from one superfan to another. When Gavin got the call that he made the final cast of Edge of Extinction, Gavin wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his dream, even a wedding! It so happened that he booked his wedding during the filming of season 38.

Although they made arrangements 18 months in advanced, Gavin was able to successfully move his wedding day just before he had to leave on a “work trip.” That’s some intense dedication. Gavin claims to possess the southern charm of J.T. and the brains of Fishbach. That might be a lofty comparison, but he seems very similar to a Nick Wilson type of player that has the potential to make it to the end without becoming too big of a target.

Julie Rosenberg

Julie is a Michele Fitzgerald type of player that could make it all the way. Josh Wigler couldn’t stop himself from seeing 46-year old Julie Rosenberg as an older version of Michele Fitzgerald. Michele beat out Aubry for the title of Sole Survivor back in Kaoh Rong, mainly because of a bitter jury who were influenced by Michele’s innocence. Julie does give off that same vibe. She comes across as a very sweet, stay at home mom that will be loyal to any alliance she makes.

Eric Hafemann

Is out there for the experience as opposed to cutting throats. Similar to Julie, Eric is a genuinely nice person that feels more like an old school Survivor player. This fireman did mention that he’s prepared to pull off a big move, but will try not to be excessively mean to anyone. He is there to have a fun time and fulfill a dream, so if he’s going to make it far, it’s probably going to be by Immunity wins or by coasting along with a strong alliance.

Julia Carter

She has an incredible connection to Survivor. Julia shared her moving story of how the show became a part of her life. She lost her father when she was just six years old, and not too long after, the first season of Survivor aired. Ever since, the show has become an escape for Julia and she never misses an episode. In terms of her gameplay, Julia is much more of a social threat than a strategic type of player, that kind of reminds me of Ali Elliott from Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.