With Survivor 49's premiere last week, we were officially introduced to 18 new castaways vying for $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor. And just as with every season, we kicked things off with a grand entrance as each tribe sped towards Jeff Probst on the marooning beach with voice-overs explaining why they are the player who's going to win it all.
But before our contestants started sharing their master plans and life stories, we got an introduction to the season with a voiceover explaining how Survivor is like a horror film and how in Act I, you're just trying to make it day-by-day, running from the monster. But in Act II, the game changes and you become the monster.
This monologue was delivered by Jawan Pitts, and at this point in Survivor history, you might not have thought twice about it since it's become a fairly regular occurrence in the new era—having a contestant deliver the opening voiceover. But that hasn't always been the case. In fact, a player has only opened the show for the last six seasons. And if you look at which players, you might start to see a pattern.
The castaways that introduce the premiere always become key players of the season
Seasons 41, 42, and 43 all started with Jeff giving the season's introduction, but then the show switched gear with Survivor 44 when we got a clip introducing us to Carolyn Wiger as the first notable player of the season. Carolyn went on to unlock the caged immunity idol at Tika, become a member of the Final Three, and is now a fan favorite.
This pattern of opening monologues continued with Survivor 45, when the show had Drew Basile—a close ally of winner Dee Valladares and a Final 6 player—start off the season, and again with Survivor 46's Tevin Davis—who only made it to Day 16, but was blindsided due to his status as the biggest threat on the tribe. We then move onto Survivor 47 which opens with a voiceover from Gabe Ortis, who was famously blindsided on Day 18 as the strategic leader of the Tuku alliance.
But Survivor 48 did things differently. Rather than opening up with the marooning, we got an inside look at the moment our castaways learned they would be going to Fiji to play the game. And that sequence started with none other than Mitch Guerra's emotional reaction to hearing the news of his acceptance on the show. We of course know Mitch from being in the season's Final Five, but also from his multiple impactful moments that transcended the game.
If history repeats itself, Jawan might be a major player in Survivor 49—though he won't win
Knowing everyone who has been the opening voice for the show over the last few seasons has had a pretty decent impact on the game, it's safe to say we might see the same from Jawan this season. While we've already seen him have a very human moment over starting fire for the Uli tribe, who knows what's in store for the LA-based video editor. I originally predicted he might be one of the first on his tribe to go home, but now I'm not so sure. He could have a larger role to play.
We'll just have to keep tuning in each Wednesday to find out how Jawan's Survivor 49 journey ultimately plays out.