Tonight is the premiere of S43. The episode is two-hours long and is being considered a single episode. The episode title is "Livin."

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Brian

On Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 4:42:20 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> Tonight is the premiere of S43. The episode is two-hours long and is being considered a single episode. The episode title is "Livin."
>

One of the best season opening episodes that I can remember. I liked that we were given back stories on so many
of the players rather than having that information doled out over the first several episodes. Knowing something about
their lives won't necessarily help me remember names, but I am less likely to think, "Who the hell is that?" quite as often as
in past seasons.
I also liked that so many of these people had thought about social strategy prior to landing on the island. They didn't
always stick to their plans (Sammy), but the fact that they understood the importance of having a social strategy,
beyond hooking up with an alliance within the first 24 hours, was refreshing.
Other thoughts:
-limiting the the power of the first advantage to the first two tribal councils, rather than up to F6, was a good idea.
-Yet another first timer who insists on being addressed by his last name. Sorry buddy, but in my posts you will be called "Mike".
-So far, this looks like a very good group of players. I'm so glad that Survivor no longer looks to cast people based on their
perceived abrasiveness.
-It is still way to early to think about F4, but Sammy, Carla, Elie, and Cody received lots of face time over the two hours.

On Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 2:12:09 PM UTC-6, zeppo wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 4:42:20 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:
> > Tonight is the premiere of S43. The episode is two-hours long and is being considered a single episode. The episode title is "Livin."
> >
> One of the best season opening episodes that I can remember. I liked that we were given back stories on so many
> of the players rather than having that information doled out over the first several episodes. Knowing something about
> their lives won't necessarily help me remember names, but I am less likely to think, "Who the hell is that?" quite as often as
> in past seasons.
> I also liked that so many of these people had thought about social strategy prior to landing on the island. They didn't
> always stick to their plans (Sammy), but the fact that they understood the importance of having a social strategy,
> beyond hooking up with an alliance within the first 24 hours, was refreshing.
> Other thoughts:
> -limiting the the power of the first advantage to the first two tribal councils, rather than up to F6, was a good idea.
> -Yet another first timer who insists on being addressed by his last name. Sorry buddy, but in my posts you will be called "Mike".
> -So far, this looks like a very good group of players. I'm so glad that Survivor no longer looks to cast people based on their
> perceived abrasiveness.
> -It is still way to early to think about F4, but Sammy, Carla, Elie, and Cody received lots of face time over the two hours.

I agree, that was a very good episode. Having two hours makes a big difference especially when it was planned to be that way from the start. Having more details about the players definitely helps but I'm still lost on most of the names. Probably should have watched more than one cast member's intro video before the season started. Overall, the cast is pretty likable but Mike Gabler (sp?) annoys me for a different reason than he does you. The nonsense about using his SITD instead of his idol b/c he screwed up in the IC was lame as fuck. Was he truly expecting the rest of his tribe to give him a pass with that logic? And if he was truly fine with going b/c he had achieved his goal of getting an idol then I hope he gets booted soon. I kinda of wish Elie hadn't talked some sense into him.

I loved how they had the three players at the "rock" reveal what they had done but kept the punishment/power part a secret until they got back to camp.. Limiting the power to just two TCs is a huge improvement. I hope that's a sign that we're not going to end up with a ton of powers floating around at the end of the game.

I also liked how the first tribe to the puzzle phase of the IC got to choose which of three puzzles they wanted to do. It's a nice change and could possibly lead to conflict if they continue with this option for awhile.

As for your F4, I'm drawing a blank on who Carla is. Elie seems very smart as does Sami. Based on how she was edited, I have a feeling the "older" blonde (Lindsay?) who's been applying to get on the show from the start could go deep into the game. She comes across as a well-rounded player and also likable.

--
Brian

On Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 3:16:14 PM UTC-7, Brian Smith wrote:

> I agree, that was a very good episode. Having two hours makes a big difference especially when it was planned to be that way from the start. Having more details about the players definitely helps but I'm still lost on most of the name
Probably should have watched more than one cast member's intro video before the season started.
>Overall, the cast is pretty likable but Mike Gabler (sp?) annoys me for a different reason than he does you. The nonsense about using his SITD instead of his idol b/c he screwed >up in the IC was lame as fuck. Was he truly expecting the rest of his tribe to give him a pass with that logic? And if he was truly fine with going b/c he had achieved his goal of >getting an idol then I hope he gets booted soon. I kinda of wish Elie hadn't talked some sense into him.

Yes, Mike annoys me for a lot of different reasons, that one included. Like you, I can't imagine what he was thinking.

> As for your F4, I'm drawing a blank on who Carla is.

Heavy-set woman with the nose ring.

>Elie seems very smart as does Sami.

But Sammy appears to have a hard time resisting the temptation to show off. He made absolutely no effort to hide his fire making and puzzle solving
prowess, even though he said that he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself in the tribal portion of the game.

> Based on how she was edited, I have a feeling the "older" blonde (Lindsay?) who's been applying to get on the show from the start could go deep into the game. She comes >across as a well-rounded player and also likable.

Yes, some of the guys on "Sucks" are obsessing over her.

IMO, this cast looks, at least so far, to be made up of players who are all likeable and well rounded. Even Cory, who I initially thought was going to be a doofus,
turned out to have charms that I hadn't expected to see. His advice to his alliance partners to avoid "software saleswoman" because you can't trust anybody who
works in sales was hilarious.