On March 1, a new season of Survivor began on CBS. Jeff Probst, the long-time host and so-called “evangelist” of Survivor, returned to guide these 18 new castaways through their 26 day adventure in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, continuing the “new era” game change made at the beginning of season 41, due to COVID-19 and extended quarantine protocols. 

This season’s castaways include a NASA engineering student from Georgia, a beautician from Puerto Rico, a former NFL player from Pennsylvania, a TikToker from Arizona and a law student from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, separated into the Tika (Purple), Ratu (Orange) and Soka (Lime Green) tribes, all vying for the one million dollar check and the title of “Sole Survivor.”

This season was widely advertised by Jeff and the production team as “one of our most intense, unpredictable, inspirational, and entertaining seasons,” and it certainly started that way, with three medical emergencies (one at the Ratu tribe camp, one at the marooning challenge, and one at the first immunity challenge) in the first half of the premiere! Jeff also mentions there is a showmance (reality show romance), stating “I won’t say anything other than if it lasted, it would make me very happy.” This is the first “showmance” in seven seasons of the show, from the 37th edition in 2018.

As with every iteration of Survivor, new twists entered the game. One of the more notable is the “idol cage.” Each tribe camp has a birdcage with a small bag, hanging from the top. It is later revealed that that bag contains a hidden immunity idol, and a decoy that the player can choose to do with as they wish. At the start of the “new era” in season 41, the “shot in the dark” ensures that one time in the game, they can choose to not vote, but instead be entered into a one in six chance for immunity. In episode one, Jaime became the first castaway to be safe as a result of the shot in the dark.

Who will be the Sole Survivor this season? Who will have what it takes to outwit, outplay and outlast the rest? To find out, tune into Survivor 44 on Wednesdays 8/7c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.