The season premiere of Survivor: Second Chance airs tonight on CBS! Read a live recap and join the discussion here.
Survivor is back! Last May, fans voted for whom they wanted to see return to play the game and get a second chance at the million dollar prize, as well as the title of Sole Survivor. Tonight we kick off that second chance season. There are plenty of players from recent seasons, as well as some who haven’t played the game in over a decade. How will the castaways fare this time around? Let’s find out!
The episode kicks off with a Jeff Probst voice over. “Survivor is the most physically demanding and emotionally taxing game on television,” he says. We see flashbacks of various scenes from past seasons, including players in strenuous challenges and people being pulled out of the game due to medical emergencies. However, the game does reward those who are willing to overcome the difficulties of the game. “For those who win, the reward is grand. A million dollars and a high that may never be repeated,” continues Jeff. “But for those who lose, the consequence is often a relentless nightmare of what ifs that never end.” And this leads us into the theme of the season. Each player coming back to compete is a returnee who is getting a second chance at the game.
We now hear from some of the castaways expressing their regrets and how they plan to do better this time around. Survivor’s first runner-up Kelly from Borneo is ready for redemption after losing by just one vote. Andrew from the Pearl Islands says his exit has haunted him for years and is ready to give it 1000%. Spencer from Cagayan admits he was too cocky to treat people like chess pieces, and he now feels he is more mature and understands he must relate to people on a human level. Kimmi from The Australian Outback has waited fourteen years for another chance. Kelley from San Juan Del Sur feels playing with her dad hurt her and believes she now can play a better game without him. Ciera from Blood vs Water admits she was too scared to play the game in the beginning, but now wants to play a fearless game from start to end. Tasha from Cagayan wanted to keep her Christian values in check, but her church members told her she should’ve been more aggressive. Now she believes she can play as cutthroat as possible and pray for forgiveness later. Jeff from The Australian Outback dropped out of an immunity challenge for peanut butter and was then voted out. He regrets that move and wants to redeem himself. Joe from Worlds Apart wanted to make the loved ones visit so his dad could see him, and is grateful for this second chance. Kass from Cagayan admits she needs to change people’s perception of her, but she still plans to cause chaos. Ab-Maria from Philippines admits she made mistakes with how abrasive she was, but she likes being the villain. Jeremy from San Juan Del Sur thinks he was too distracted playing with his wife since he was always worried about her, but now is ready to focus completely on his own game.
Jeff welcomes all the castaways. He talks to them all about the fact that they were voted in. Ciera says there is pressure to not only impress their families, but now America too. Jeff Varner admits people could have forgotten about him since it’s been so long since his original season, but he’s glad to be back. Joe says it’s a surreal experience to be playing with people he grew up watching. Kelly is amused at how Joe said he grew up watching the show (“We’re old!” Jeff Varner says), and she also says she replays her Final Tribal Council where she lost to Rich by one vote every day.
Jeff then separates them into tribes. The Bayon Tribe includes Joe, Jeremy, Ciera, Stephen, Tasha, Kimmi, Kass, Keith, Monica, and Andrew. On the Ta Keo Tribe are Vytas, Spencer, Terry, Woo, Abi-Maria, Peih-Gee, Shirin, Jeff, Kelly, and Kelley. They must now try to collect as many items as possible to bring back to camp, but there’s also an extra bag of rice to the first tribe member that reaches it. They have to decide how many items they will collect before trying to go for the rice, but it’s the Ta Keo tribe that reaches the extra bag of rice first.
The Tak Keo Tribe arrive at camp and begin to build shelter. Kelly notes how she, Terry, Woo, Vytas, and Spencer are the hardworking members of the tribe when it comes to building the shelter. Meanwhile, Vytas and Terry bond. Terry notes the difference between old school and new school. He was from an old school season, but admits that the game begins a lot more quickly in new school Survivor. He was haunted by his social game in Panama and wants to fix that. He then approaches Spencer. Terry tell Spencer his kids told him to trust Spencer, so he wants to align with him. In a confessional, Spencer says he’s glad someone trusts him since he doesn’t trust anybody in the game. He also says he is new school, but an every school fan. He wants to improve his game by having more one-on-one conversations. Meanwhile, Abi-Maria lost her bag with her bracelet inside it. She admits her emotion got the best of her last time, but it’s hard for her to not be herself.
At the Bayon Tribe, they’re building shelter too. Ciera says it’s peaceful so far. Keith is surprised to be voted back in. He says he coasted by last time and managed to make it to fourth place. He doesn’t want to change his game, but maybe tweak it a bit. Jeremy and Keith talk and want to have each others back. Jeremy also aligns with Tasha, Andrew, and Joe. Joe is glad that the alpha males are aligning instead of targeting one another. Stephen, however, feels out of place since he doesn’t fit in with the guys. He says it’s his nightmare to be with a bunch of manly men on his tribe, and he worries this could hurt his social game.
Back at Ta Keo, Vytas talks about how last time he was the only man on a tribe full of women. He tries bonding with them more and hopes this will help him. However, Shirin considers Vytas to be smarmy and wants to pull different people into an alliance. She tells Jeff and Spencer that Vytas is very well-connected. She notes how Vytas and Terry are close since Aras (Vytas’s brother) played with Terry in Panama, and Vytas is also connected to Ciera in the other tribe. Jeff notes how Shirin is talking nonstop strategy, but he doesn’t mind. Meanwhile, Abi-Maria finds her bracelet in Peih-Gee’s bag. She is now very suspicious and angry at Peih-Gee, but she doesn’t want to blow up on her. However, she tells several people about finding her bracelet in her bag. Peih-Gee overhears Abi-Maria and tries to clear the air with her. Abi-Maria is still noticeably annoyed, but tells Peih-Gee she will give her the benefit of the doubt.
Back at Bayon, people wonder where Stephen is. “He’s probably out looking for an idol,” Kimmi guesses. And she is right. Stephen is alone in the woods and already looking for a hidden immunity idol, but he doesn’t find it. He’s also worried what his other tribemates will think when they notice he’s out looking for the idol. At camp, Joe creates fire for the tribe, which everyone is obviously happy about. It’s not often a tribe gets fire going on Day 1.
The next morning at Ta Keo, Jeff is starting to feel overwhelmed by the elements and the pressure of the game. He talks to Peih-Gee about how the tribe is split into shelter people and beach people. Jeff notes how Shirin wants to get rid of Vytas, but Peih-Gee wants to get out Abi-Maria. Jeff feels somewhat connected to both sides of the tribe and is unsure which way he’ll go.
Stephen is not the only one thinking about a hidden immunity idol. At Ta Keo, Kelley is looking for an idol too. She searches in several places for a long time, but does finally find a clue. She reads it and learns that the idol is actually hidden at the next challenge. She will have to figure out how to find the idol at the challenge without drawing attention to herself.
The Bayon Tribe gets tree mail and learn they have a challenge coming up. Joe leads the tribe in a yoga session. Keith has no interest in yoga, while Tasha appreciates leering at Joe’s body. There’s also yoga going on at Ta Keo, led by Vytas. However, Shirin and Kelley are both extremely annoyed by Vytas and want him gone.
It’s time for the immunity challenge! Both tribes will race out into the ocean to a raft and light a torch. They will then have to light a series of fires back to the beach to reach a stand to place their raft. One person on each tribe will then have to use sticks and ropes to fashion a pole to retrieve a key. Light final fire wins imminity. The winning tribe will also get a fire-making kit. Both tribes are even as Spencer and Keith light the fires for their respective tribes. However, Bayon falls behind as Keith struggles to keep his torch lit. Ta Keo is the first to reach the beach. As Kelly begins fashioning the pole, Kelley realizes she missed an opportunity to get the hidden immunity idol. She wants to get it, but she doesn’t want people to see her and and then target her. Kelly’s pole is too short and she must rebuild it, giving Bayon a chance to catch up. Joe builds a longer pole and he gets the key for his tribe first. As everyone is watching Kelly and Joe focusing to retrieve the keys, Kelley quickly grabs the hidden immunity idol without anyone noticing. Joe gets the key first and his tribe opens the gate as Keith lights the last fire. Bayon wins immunity. They go back to camp with immunity and the fire-making kit. Jeff talks to Ta Keo, and Kelly feels like she let her tribe down since they had a lead before she tried to retrieve the key. Jeff then informs them that they will be heading to tribal council right now. They will not have the chance to return to camp and talk strategy before going to tribal council, which makes everyone nervous.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff talks to Spencer first about what second chances mean. He notes how especially heartbreaking it would be for the person voted out tonight. He talks to Woo next, and he notes the difference between old school and new school Survivor. Old school was more concern with camp life, while new school started playing the game right away. Terry agrees and says that he was thrown off by how fast the game began. Jeff Varner then speaks up and says that enough strategy has gone on that everyone should know who’s leaving tonight. However, Abi-Maria speaks up and says she is nervous. She believes there’s a male alliance and is worried she will be voted out tonight. Soon enough, it’s time for the vote. We see Abi-Maria vote for Vytas and Vytas vote for Abi-Maria. One of them will be voted out tonight, but who will it be?
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Vytas
Abi-Maria
Vytas
Abi-Maria
Vytas
Abi-Maria
Vytas
Abi-Maria
Vytas
Vytas
Vytas is the first person voted out of Survivor: Second Chance.
And that wraps up tonight’s premiere of Survivor: Second Chance! Thanks for reading and come back next week for another live recap.
