This Survivor recap covers the first two episodes of Season 43, which were two-hour and 90-minute installments to get fans buzzing.
A brand new group of castaways were on board as part of the Survivor 43 cast in Fiji. Host Jeff Probst also returned for more episodes, but he also let everyone know that Survivor will never return to 39-day seasons.
One thing of note is that the Survivor producers removed a big twist from last season, which should help usher in some new excitement when it gets closer to this cast merging.
On the season premiere, we got to learn brief bios for all of the new competitors. That includes elevator salesman Cody Assenmacher, pediatric nurse Lindsay Carmine, teacher Morriah Young, and Paralympian Noelle Lambert.
Right out of the gate, the tribes got to take part in a Reward Challenge, with two members of each tribe racing into the jungle for crates, two of them retrieving crates from the ocean, and the final two assembling a cube out of their respective crates.
A flint, a pot, and a machete were on the line for the tribes, with Vesi winning that first challenge. The other tribes — Coco and Baka —each had to complete an additional task to get their supplies.
Breaking down the three Survivor 43 tribes
The Coco Tribe is Geo Bustamante, Lindsay Carmine, Cassidy Clark, Karla Cruz Godoy, James Jones, and Ryan Medrano.
Members of the Baka Tribe are Elie Scott, Jeanine Zheng, Mike Gabler, Morriah Young, Owen Knight, and Sami Layadi.
And the Vesi Tribe consisted of Cody Assenmacher, Dwight Moore, Jesse Lopez, Justine Brennan, Nneka Ejere, and Noelle Lambert.
First Immunity Challenge, Tribal Council results
The first summit of the season happened, with Karla, Gabler, and Dwight taking part. Karla protected her vote and was safe, Gabler risked his and got an Immunity Idol good for his next two Tribal Councils, and Dwight lost his vote.
Coco and Vesi won the first Immunity Challenge of the season, meaning Baka was going to the first Tribal Council for Season 43.
On Day 3 of the season, a very one-sided vote sent Morriah out as the first person eliminated. Her vote was for Owen, but Sami, Owen, Jeanine, Elie, and Gabler voted against Morriah.
Second Immunity Challenge, Tribal Council results
On the second episode, a storm hit the show, with Baka taking the brunt of it. It was a tough way for them to have to head into to the second big Immunity and Reward Challenge.
The challenge required the tribes to retrieve a huge snake made of discs from the water and then use those discs to complete a puzzle on land.
A large supply of fishing gear went to the winning tribe (Baka), a small supply of finishing great went to the runner-up (Coco), and Vesi lost their flint for coming in last.
Since it was Vesi going to Tribal Council, Dwight would not be able to vote. Three votes went to Justine (Cody, Jesse, and Nneka), eliminating her from the season. As for the other votes, Cody and Nneka each received one.
Survivor 43 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.