The countdown to Survivor 50 is officially underway and CBS has finally given fans the answer to one of the biggest mysteries by revealing the official opening tribes for the season!
With the February 25 premiere date inching closer and closer, CBS has revealed the breakdown of the starting tribes and there are some interesting dynamics in play. Season 50 will see the 24 players beginning the season split into one of three tribes: Cila, Kalo, and Vatu. Each tribe will have a total of eight players to begin, with an even split on each tribe composed of four men and four women giving us the following three opening tribe line-ups:
Cila Tribe: Joe Hunter, Savannah Louie, Christian Hubicki, Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, Emily Flippen, Rick Devens, Jenna Lewis-Dougherty
Kalo Tribe: Jonathan Young, Dee Valladares, Mike White, Kamilla Karthigesu, Charlie Davis, Tiffany Ervin, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Chrissy Hofbeck
Vatu Tribe: Colby Donaldson, Genevieve Mushaluk, Rizo Velovic, Angelina Keeley, Quintavius "Q" Burdette, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Kyle Fraser, Aubry Bracco
Looking at the tribes, it immediately stands out how imbalanced the Kalo tribe is when it comes to mixing old and new school players. While there are a mix of old school and new school players on both Cila and Vatu, the Kalo tribe is comprised mostly of new school players with Benjamin “Coach” Wade being the closest we have to old school on the tribe hailing from season 18. It’s going to be interesting to see how having a larger group of new school players on the tribe will influence their strategy in comparison to the other tribes which have a bit more balance.
It’s also interesting to see that CBS chose to put Charlie Davis and Tiffany Ervin on the same tribe rather than splitting them up into separate tribes. CBS seemed to have made a conscious decision to split up players from the recent seasons across tribes with all three of Survivor 48’s returning players on separate tribes and Survivor 49’s Rizo Velovic and Savannah Louie also separated from one another. This could help or hinder Charlie and Tiffany’s game as it would be easy for Kalo to want to split that duo up early out of a fear they could band together.
Cila certainly seems to be the most stacked tribe of the bunch with some competitive beasts and some of the most strategic minds all thrown together. We’ve got Ozzy Lusth, Joe Hunter, and Savannah, who have proven to be comp beasts alongside one of the best puzzle solvers in Christian Hubicki. Then you toss in Cirie Fields who is one of the most incredible strategists in reality TV and there are some really big threats on this tribe.
Seeing how the Cila tribe members come together will be really interesting and could quickly turn into a keep your friends close, but your enemies closer situation as they’re likely to see their fellow tribemates as threats to their long-term goal. Of this bunch, we’ll have an eye on Joe and will be eager to see who he forms an early connection with. As he proved in Survivor 48, his loyalty is unwavering so once he finds his person in the game, we expect he’ll commit to them for as long as he remains on the island.
Finally, we have Vatu which is where we imagine we’ll see some very early drama thanks to CBS’s decision to thrust Quintavius "Q" Burdette and Aubry Bracco together as there is no love lost between that pair. We imagine they’ll quickly target one another, which will make it interesting to see where the lines in the sand get drawn. Aubry will likely find an ally in Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick who has a complicated history with Q and will likely have no problem targeting him early. It’s also interesting that this particular tribe has four members from the last four seasons of the show, something that could help Q should he be able to convince Genevieve Mushaluk, Kyle Fraser, and Rizo Velovic to band together to give them a majority in the tribe.
Needless to say, it’s going to be interesting to see how these players’ personalities will mesh on their tribes and what alliances will form early as the game begins. There are some really fun dynamics in play which could lead to early downfalls for some players, while setting others up for some unexpected alliances that could take them deep into the game!
Don't miss the three-hour Survivor 50 premiere on February 24 at 8/7c on CBS!