Whispers In The Dark: Survivor Ghost Island Episode 1 Review
A creepy collection of snuffers, the return of tribal whispering, and the siphoning of rice into a sock… Tristan Kelly recaps the beautifully eery first episode of Survivor Ghost Island!
The greatest game on Earth is back for another run, and so too are some creepy haunted relics from the graveyard of bad Survivor decisions. Yes we’re looking at you, Erik ‘I’m an ice scream scooper who’d like to give away my individual immunity necklace’ and James ‘I don’t need to play the two idols that are in my pocket’ Clement… Jeff has dusted off his private collection of 35 snuffers and set up what is perhaps the most evocative twist in Survivor history. Ghost Island is in play! The opening stanza alone will have any fan frothing at the mouth… Could Ozzy’s stick actually come back as a playable idol!? Is the island going to be home to a genuine ghost or ghoul? And will Richard Hatch be restrained there in chains as a reminder to the winner of what happens when you don’t pay your tax? It seems that all these questions and more will be answered during what is set to be a sensational season long ode to Survivor folklore. Strap yourselves in for the ride people – it’s time to recap the premiere of Survivor Ghost Island! 39 days, a stunning shot of a bird that I’ve been informed is apparently definitely not a crow, 20 people, Jeff Probst standing on a giant rock… ONE SURVIVOR!
Get to know the castaways in more detail by exploring our preseason cast assessments and first boot predictor…
Jeff Hosts A Party
You can just tell that Jeff is super proud of his latest theme… He quickly brings the newbies up to speed, shocking them with the revelation that they’ll be challenged throughout the season to “reverse the curse” of some of the worst mistakes ever made in Survivor history. There’s a fair bit of oohing and aahing before Kellyn wins the honour of first confessional and Probst commands each tribe to select a leader. The game is on! Very, very rarely does nominating yourself for these sort of scenarios turn out well in Survivor, so I’m highly concerned when my number one winner pick, Brendan, steps forward for Malolo. However, luckily I’m given a bit of positive bell curve action when my first boot pick, Chris, accepts the responsibility for Naviti. The scene is set for our first alpha duel of the season! Jeff then asks the two blokes to select a puzzler and an athlete from each of their tribes to compete in an unknown challenge, and in doing so gets to play his favourite game of pretending not to know the new castaways names… “Woman in the back who just ducked, what’s your name?”
After running through the challenge, Jeff informs the group that this season they’ll be getting less than half the amount of rice as normal, but in compensation will be given a comprehensive fishing kit to start the game. This is a great idea that has the potential to bring back a bit more of the survival and community aspects of the game. Every decision in Survivor should be attached to high stakes, so now if a tribe wants to blindside their main provider early on, they’ll have to grapple with the possibility of not having enough food to survive, or learn how to hunt beforehand. Players like Sebastian will be licking their lips – although it will be interesting to see if all the big alpha dogs start targeting each other straight away in an attempt to earn increased power as the lone gatherer.
Anyway, Jeff gets us back on track with a convoluted explanation of what’s at stake in this particular challenge… Basically the winner goes back to camp with a massive shelter building kit, and the loser gives up their fishing gear. However, as always, there’s a fun twist… So if the leaders think that their team is about to lose, they can forfeit the challenge before a sand timer runs out, in order to earn back their fishing kit… The only catch of doing so is that the other tribe also then wins a basket of 20 eggs and a flint for making fire. Classic Jeff!
So the challenge gets under way, Brendan and Chris stare each other down, and then in the dying seconds Chris pull the trigger and forfeits the main booty to Malolo. Now normally I would criticise this decision for showing weakness to his opponents and letting his tribe down. However, in a preseason interview Chris expressed that he had developed a hunch about Sebastian being a fisherman (which turned out to be true)… So in a game of perception based probability I think he may have actually made the right call to secure the fishing gear for his tribe. It seems that Chris has more claims to success in this game than I initially predicted.
In contrast, a player who undoubtedly makes a bad decision out of the gate is Domenick, who is the lone person to accuse Chris of making the wrong move. “I’m a truth teller Jeff – I don’t lie…” What are you doing you fool!? Not only does this comment automatically pitch Domenick against Chris – it also hands out free information about his character to the rest of the tribe. There is simply nothing to gain from speaking out here – if you want to turn people against Chris, do it behind his back! At this point Domenick just looks like an easy first boot.
You Can Call Me Gonzalez
It’s ‘get to know you’ time back at camp, and Stephanie G quickly earns the first nickname of the season by introducing herself as ‘Gonzalez’. I love the sass – although there’s a fair chance she may have been forced to pick a new name in order to avoid fans confusing her with the other Stephanie…. Not ideal. Donathan is excited to be out of Eastern Kentucky and can’t wait to make some new friends; he naturally gravitates towards Laurel and “exotic” James, the two people he wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to hang out with at home. He’s also the first player to be subtitled, which all but cements his front-running status as character of the season: “Oh no, I can’t find a man in Eastern Kentucky!”
At Naviti, Domenick continues his poor start by bossing everyone around and forcing the nickname of ‘Sea Bass’ onto Sebastian, before reclining in his odd clothing choice of jeans to share his life story:
“I’m not a criminal… Just bad decisions… I like to party, drink a lot with the boys – gamble a little bit… Those days are over!” – Domenick
I’m sensing a bit of an AK vibe from Domenick – he seriously needs to cool his jets! Chris swiftly scoops up Sea Bass as a primary ally by ‘broing’ down with him over their Florida roots… Their first target is obviously Domenick. However, dream chaser Wendell has taken a liking to the ex gambler, and subtly suggests to Sebastian that they should maybe consider thinking about someone else to target. I like Wendell’s style – he clearly has a preferred agenda but isn’t shutting anyone out. I think he’ll go far in this game.
Back at Malolo, Jacob loses his shoes in the ocean then freaks out that all the “pretty people” are targeting him. So instead of trying to build some decent relationships with them he makes the cardinal sin of being the first person to madly hunt for an idol… Brendan isn’t happy about the ‘kumbaya’ vibe of the group being disturbed, whilst James hands down a lesson in Survivor 101:
“You don’t want to be the one to stand out for any reason in the early stage game” – James
Correct James! Jacob’s next mistake is allowing the entire tribe to wander off (in search of yams) without him – although he slightly redeems himself by taking the opportunity to check the rice jar for a clue… In a hilarious move, he siphons the contents of the jar into his disgustingly dirty sock, but unfortunately comes up empty handed. Jacob wins a few points for creativity and entertainment here, but ultimately, as he even concludes himself, he may have “already screwed” his game. So at this stage It looks like the first boot is down to three: Chris versus Domenick, or a Jacob landslide.
On a final note for this section, I’d like to give a quick nod to the editors for their great transition between a giant spider covered in bees to Naviti talking about their shelter looking like a spider nest. Sensational work!
It’s Time To Get Spooky!
But before that, just take a moment to cast your eyes over the Malolo crew in the front row of this photo… Is this the most outrageously dressed group of clowns in Survivor history? I’m absolutely loving the knee high sock look! So anyway, after a brief catch up with Probst and the unveiling of this season’s terrifying looking immunity idol, the first serious challenge gets under way… It’s a fairly standard affair of net running, knot untying, hard yakka, and puzzle construction – with Naviti eventually breaking away for a relatively easy win. The most important thing to note from this challenge, is that in an attempt to help her tribe to victory, Gonzalez gets on the wrong side of Donathan by shutting him down with the words: “Guys, we need to do, like one person talk…” If you’re not physically involved in doing the puzzle, it’s generally safer just to shut up and be quiet. By no means is this a massive mistake from Gonzalez, but Survivor is a cruel, cruel game.
Now it’s finally time for some spooky action! After the challenge Jacob rambles on to Jeff about Malolo being the greatest tribe of all time – which achieves his aim of being exiled to Ghost Island by Naviti, and therefore immune from the first vote. And this would have been a sensational move – if he didn’t immediately reveal his act of trickery to the entire group. The dude is way too overexcited for this game – which also makes him the perfect character to introduce us to Ghost Island!
The production designer and art department have outdone themselves this season – Ghost Island has some serious character! After goggling at Jeff’s snuffer collection, Jacob is instructed by the haunted spirits to smash an urn which in turn releases a second note telling him to “follow the fire” towards a little game of chance. Jacob now has a choice to make… If he plays against the spirits and wins, he’ll be given an advantage in the game, but if he loses, he will be forced to relinquish his vote at the next tribal council. I love it! Of course at this stage of the game, Jacob has no choice but to play – and luckily he does, because he ends up winning and receiving the authentic legacy advantage from Survivor Game Changers in 2017.
As Jacob reads out the legacy note we’re treated to a little Survivor history lesson on how Sierra misplayed the advantage last time by telling eventual winner Sarah of its existence. Can Jacob reverse the curse? It’s a great way to hook new fans into the rich tapestry of the show! Unfortunately for Jacob, this advantage won’t help his short term survival as he’s forced to gift it to another player on the other tribe (and then they can only play it when there are only 13 or 6 people left in the game anyway). He sends it to Morgan and if history repeats, Jacob will be out the door next, and Morgan will be winning the game. Only time will tell.
The Opening Duel
Back at Malolo, Gonzalez rehashes the tribe’s failure in the puzzle, which prompts Donathan to run a discrete smear campaign against her in order to shift the target off his own back as the ‘runt’ of the tribe.
“People are very underestimating of me when it comes to what I think in my mind, and I’m used to that… But I have my own thoughts, and my own plans, and hopefully it works in my favour tonight…” – Donathan
This a great example of self aware offensive play. If he can get through the first couple of votes I think Donathan is going to surprise a lot of people down the track – and the editors seem to agree with me… After almost an hour of play they finally deem a move worthy enough of cutting in the first crab of the season!
What an honour! If this was Aussie Survivor we would have already seen at least a hundred of these creatures by now – but one is at least better than none… Meanwhile, Gonzalez tries to convince the tribe to boot out Donathan, and then various groups splinter off to discuss their options. Stephanie J is leaning towards keeping Donathan as she thinks he’d be easy to “nurture” through the game – in contrast to Gonzalez, who has her “own agendas” and is more of a threat. Michael thinks that Gonzalez should be spared because she’s strong in challenges, but hits a brick wall when Stephanie J makes the obnoxious retort of: “She is, but is she?” The 18 year old is appropriately wary of attracting the ghosts by making a poor opening decision, and stripy Steph would do well to take a leaf out of his book. I would put a lot of money on Donathan being the one who later dismantles SJ’s game. On a final note, throughout the afternoon Libby seems to be involved in every single conversation as an active listener, which should set her up nicely for a long stint in this game. It’s time for tribal!
All It Takes Is One Missed Whisper
Malolo enter the theatre of tribal council through a sensational burning skull and then go through the symbolic ritual of ‘getting fire’… Jeff’s familiar words only seem to grow more powerful the longer Survivor spins its web of folklore. There’s a bit of chat about Ghost Island and Jacob’s poor start to the game, before the discussion morphs into a debate over what exactly constitutes desirable strength around camp. It seems a few punters are still torn between voting out Gonzalez or Donathan. Michael intelligently sums up the situation, yet again proving that his soul is older than his age:
“I think it really boils down to the conversations… Who was there at that time? And if you weren’t there, then you know, you could just as easily be the one that’s out tonight…” – Michael
Gonzalez suddenly twigs onto the fact that she might be in trouble, and summons her inner JT to stand up and cross the floor for a session of tribal whispering. She makes a beeline for Brendan who assures her that a visibly on edge Donathan will be going home, whilst Michael joins the party to reassure his allies in the front row that whatever plan they’ve made together hasn’t changed. I have to admire the tenacity of Gonzalez here – after barely putting a foot wrong over the first few days, she correctly deduces that her head is on the chopping block and makes every effort to save her game at the last minute. Sadly though, the damage has already been done, and in a unanimous decision, Gonzalez is sent home as the unfortunate first boot of Survivor Ghost Island. At least she’ll always be remembered by a cool nickname… James gets the last laugh by giving Donathan a knowing nod, and the tribe has spoken.
Previously/Next Time on TTHS:
In our Preseason Boot List I had Gonzalez ranked in 12th position as a dangerous player who was most likely going to be cut down around the merge as the ‘head of the snake’. I’ll give myself a pass for that one – her elimination just happened a lot sooner than I anticipated. Definitely not your typical first boot.
Next up we’ll be working through the second episode of the premiere – so stay tuned for some more spooky relics and exhibitions of poor decision making skills.
In the meantime, feel free to join the discussion below or chat with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Survivor Ghost Island continues in Australia on 9Go @ 8:30pm Thursday March 8 (available for streaming on 9now from 3pm)
Tristan Kelly is a 29 year old ex-doctor turned writer, based in Perth, Western Australia. During his final year of medical school he famously watched and analysed every available episode of Survivor (all 368 of them at the time), probably making him more qualified as a Survivor commentator than he ever was a doctor. In between writing and editing, he now spends most of his time organising various schemes and fantasising about one day winning the game.