TV Show Review: Survivor - Borneo

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Kicked off a franchise still going strong

Cons: Will be slow by today’s standards

The Bottom Line:

Reality show

That started a hit franchise

Slow, but fun to watch

Back to Where It All Began

I haven’t reviewed very many of the reality shows I’ve watched over the years, but I realized that, even so, there is a big hole in my reality show reviewing.  While I’ve watched every episode of Survivor but one over the years (stupid VCR mess up, so that tells you how long ago it was), I’ve never reviewed a season.  So I decided to fix that with a review of the very first season.

While the show has evolved a lot since the original season back in the summer of 2020, the basics were all there.  Sixteen contestants were marooned in a remote area of Malaysia for 39 days.  They were originally broken into two tribes.  The tribes would compete in immunity challenges and then the losers would have to vote each other out one by one.  At ten players, the tribes merged into one.  Meanwhile, they had to figure out how to survive in the wilderness with nothing given to them, only the results of reward challenges to help them out.

By today’s game play standards, this season is going to seem slow.  They didn’t have nearly as many of the twists the show does now, and so much of the strategy the contestants employ now is also not here.  Yes, we do have the original alliance, but there’s just the one.  And we don’t even learn about it until late in the season.

But the original is interesting to watch to see just what worked and what didn’t – how they’ve tweaked things since then.

And the contestants stand out.  Okay, some of them stand out to this day.  Others are a little fuzzy after 22 years, but I could still recognize more of these contestants than I would from any other random season you could name.  Since this is the first, they stood out more.

One thing I am glad the show has gotten away from is the “local delicacies” eating challenges.  I do not miss watching the contestants eating strange foods at all.

Those used to the pace and game play of the show now will need to adjust their expectations.  But if they do, they’ll find much to enjoy about Survivor: Borneo.