two dOrky magnets (S44: Episode 2)

This season is off to a truly chaotic start! Let's dive in...

• The episode kicks off on Ratu beach following, (I dare say), the most wild first tribal of all time. As most of us predicted, Matthew confirmed that his decision to play his Shot in the Dark was to not reveal who he was truly aligned with. Homie is already playing fast and hard, and we love to see it!

• Next, we get some time over at Soka where we follow the starts of a budding showmance between Frannie and Matt. It's kinda weird to watch two superfans know they should be keeping things low-key but can't help themselves from having moments like this:

• The Idol Cages have been unlocked! ...And not just in the show..in our league as well (see below). I don't know which celebration was worse, Danny's floss or Carolyn dramatically falling to the ground. Still, these are two excellent contestants to have found the idol - really interested in seeing how they use them to their advantage!

Which celebration was worse?

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  Danny
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  Carolyn

• I don't know about any of you - but Claire was a big shocker this episode. I did not get a vibe from her in episode one that she'd be the lazy one (not helping out around camp, sitting out on challenges...) And above all, seems proud(?) of her laziness. Did anyone else find this surprising?

• While Matthew's snake maze performance was wildly impressive I can't help but to feel that it IS TIME for them to switch up these puzzles and challenges. I am all for preparing for Survivor (learn how to make a fire, take up botany/figure which plants are edible, play sudoku/slide puzzles, debone some fish!), but it feels incredibly lame that this is now the SECOND player this SEASON that has admitted to recreating the puzzles and challenges. It's hard to imagine iconic challenge beasts like Ozzy, Boston Rob or Parv using 3D printers to "study" and "prepare" in this way. Those old school players were just that good! We're getting further and further away from survival and being able to think and adapt live and in the moment.

• After Tika's unfortunate loss, we head back to their beach where it seems like the writing is on the wall for Carolyn to go home. But Yam Yam is loyal, he's a fan of Carolyn's eccentricities and he's going to do everything in his power to keep her safe.

• Carson, who seemed to be locked in with Helen and Sarah is a bit more on the fence than I thought he'd be. Do you think he got word/a feeling that Sarah wasn't able to vote after last week's Survivor Summit trip? Regardless of however the vote was going to land, as a fan of the show I was feeling bummed we had to lose a player from the Tika tribe because I think this is the strongest group of reality television gold.

• Sadly, Jeff snuffed Helen's torch as she became the 3rd person booted from Survivor 44.

PS... I'm really digging production + the editing team spending episode time on these early camp life/relationship-building scenes. There are a lot of interesting dynamics starting to form and I am HERE for it!

FIRST WEEK AT CAMP VUKELULU!

SEASON 44 ADVANTAGES ARE LIVE....let's see who andd how they found em:

Looking at people's sole's this seasons, the clear favorites are Yam Yam (drafted as the Sole on 9 tribes) and hometown hero, Danny (drafted as the Sole on 8 tribes). Will history repeat itself and we end up with yet another season where no one picked the correct Sole Survivor? That will be the case if Brandon, Jaime or Josh end up taking home the million!

Josh is an interesting castaway - he's gotten the least amount of screen time - but yet everything about him seems like he'd make a great winner. He seems smart and social, does well in the challenges, he even LOOKS like a Survivor winner. But perhaps his limited number of confessionals is the reason why he's this season's most popular "Merge Bonus" pick.

The league suffers a huge loss as the third most popular Sole Survivor pick this season, Helen becomes the 3rd boot. "Sorry for you..." Amanda S., DMC, Emma L., Erin, Joyce, and Robert. I have a feeling some of you wish you had found the key to the birdcage that unlocked the Buyer's Remorse advantage!

But we're still very early in the season! It's anyone's game! Can't wait to see what happens this week!

- Tribemasters Liv + Brian