HOLLYWOOD—It is hard to believe that the reality TV competition series, “Survivor” is in its 51st season. I will admit after ‘Winners at War,’ the 40s have not been great. The only season I found fun was 47, and even the iconic ‘Winners at War’ had issues in my opinion with a lackluster winner, sorry Aubry, I love you, but Cirie controlled a massive majority of the game in the jury phase and to see her sniped out just killed the season for many fans.

I think the casting was a big issue with that season because more iconic players should have been in the mix, it was way too much new era and not enough old era players in the mix. With that said, things are changing for season 51. How so? Host Jeff Probst has coined it the ‘Open Era’ what does that mean? From teases it looks like we could be in a situation where all twists from the previous seasons could come into play. That is one of the big issues with “Survivor” in recent seasons because the twists have impacted the game. Not to mention we have 21 players and there will only be 2 tribes.

Now that I like because I cannot recall the last time this unfolded, and it means more opportunities for potential idols to be played earlier in the game and not towards the end. This premiere needed 2 hours considering we have 21 players, as host Jeff Probst hoped on the players boat from his massive boat with the phrase: “Permanent Chaos.” The players started to scavenger for items to utilize as they started to play the game. The first confessional was from Devin Way, and I knew that guy was familiar. He appeared on the Tyler Perry series, “Sistas.”

Kristin and Sharonda seem to be close allies, while Kilby feels like he might be comic relief. There are so many people my brain was going bonkers. The first twist of the game revealed that 1 person is going to exile, and 20 players must agree. No one wanted to volunteer, but Irelander, Lewis decided to go solo from the group. I think he might get an advantage like he’s safe from the first Tribal Council? We can’t have 20 members on a single tribe right.

Jelly and Ori were bonding, and I don’t know if this is a relationship in the works. Like you rarely see this on “Survivor.” Devin started bonded with Aaliyah, Jelly and Ori so this is a nice foursome. Something was dropped from a helicopter. So it was buffs for the tribes to be formed.

Our two tribes for season 51 are Toka and Savu. On Toka includes: Jelly, Devin, Kilby, Aaliyah, Brady, Patt, Jenna, Maggie, Mike and Thien An. On Savu is Ori, Kristin, Rob, Linnea, Christian, Sharonda, Carter, Alexis, Eric and Ana

The next envelope involved 2 reps having to be chosen to determine how supplies are divided amongst them. Which resulted in Kristin and Kilby. You can’t split things; bundled items must go together. Lewis found himself on Exile Island and he had no idea how long he might be there. At Toka everyone started to introduce themselves and it seems Jenna was afraid to open up about herself, and Devin felt something was off and wanted to get to the bottom of it. Jelly is a ball of energy to say the least, while Devin seems to be getting a lot of confessionals; like narrator vibes.

Over at Savu, Linnea seems to be taking control, with Ori and Sharonda reassuring their alliance, by getting close to others, and play a divide and conquer game. Eric seems like he is going to annoy a lot of people in his bonding technique. Uh-oh, Eric, you got a target on your back. Lewis learned he is not going to compete in the Immunity Challenge; he will not go to Tribal Council and will be safe. he has the opportunity to obtain an idol at the top of a pole to get an idol lying at the top.

He can only chop the mast down with a very small axe and he has an hourglass to do it. His hands looked bad, but Lewis continued to chop away at the tree as time dwindled. He started to vomit and it didn’t look like time was on his side and he ran out of time. This feels like a twist where no one could accomplish the task in such a short time period. You can’t help but feel for Lewis in this instance.

Hmm, Thien An was concerned about Devin thinking he’s gaming very hard, and the fact that he’s getting so many confessionals make me worry Devin could be in major trouble; he is playing super-duper hard. Rob was already throwing a potential ally (Eric), under the bus. Rob, Anna and Carter are a trio, and it seems Eric having a moment, might have helped his case or maybe not. Wow, Rob literally found the first idol, and it just seemed way too easy. Guess the good thing is we don’t have to worry about Beware Advantages this time around.

The first Immunity Challenge was the start of new details per Jeff coined the Open Era, which means any twist from the past 25 years of the show could come into play. I like this, you can’t predict what is going to unfold. Jeff introduced a new twist getting rid of fire-making, but a bunch of these players really want to keep this in the game. Nobody wants fire making no matter how much you think the players do.

In season 50, it was done, and now we have the coin flip back. C’mon, this episode started strong, but now it’s becoming utter BS. So, we get $2 million winner if the coin flip works and they land it they get an idol. If the flip fails, the person who flipped is out the game. This coin flip will continue really?

What we go 5 seasons, and there is a $5 million winner? I don’t see it. Savu seems more cohesive as a team compared to Toku where there is not much team player ship. Savu was victorious meaning, someone from Toku is getting the boot.

Back at Toku, it seemed Aaliyah and Jenna were becoming early targets, but then the ladies chatted about Brady, but I don’t think he’s out. Thankfully, Jenna was given a heads up by Patt that her social game needs to be worked on. Jenna spilled she is recently divorced which explains her inability to open up more to others. That forced Jenna to start to go to work and placed a target on Aaliyah.

Devin was not happy to realize his ally chatted about Brady who was ready to go to war. It looks like its Aaliyah vs. Jenna vs. Brady vs. Devin for this first Tribal Council with about 10 minutes left in the episode. Patt seemed to point at Devin and Brady having a bond early on, as Jenna acknowledged her emotions and the danger pointing in her direction. Devin seemed to be vocal about putting a target on Jenna’s back and that she has winner written all over her. Whispers started with Jelly and Mike behind the scenes, as Patt and Kilby were going thru it.

I like Devin, but he’s doing a lot for me. Jeez, there is a ton of whispering and literal live TC taking place. This is madness for episode 1 of 51, and this seems like a great start for 51 if we are going to be honest. I cannot believe some of these players are not playing with everything that is erupting. I really don’t know who is getting the boot here, but I like it. Devin feels like he should be an obvious target, but that does not appear so.

What? Jenna and Aaliyah are both playing their Shot in the Darks. Jenna was ‘Not Safe,’ and Aaliyah was ‘Not Safe’ either, so there are only 8 votes. It was Aaliyah who was taken out, Jenna survived so Brady won this battle, Devin is licking his wounds, so we shall see how everything else unfolds as the game moves forward. ‘Open Era’ might be the NEW burst of energy “Survivor” needs.

Written By LaDale Anderson