In an attempt to climb every square inch of his new home, Matthew Grinstead-Mayle took a terrible fall off some rocks that landed him in a sling. Elsewhere, during the episode’s immunity challenge, Jeff called a second timeout when Brandon Cottom found himself lightheaded due to heat exposure. Luckily, both men were allowed to stay in the game.
The episode also saw a series of new twists for season 44, including the inheritance advantage, which allows a player to inherit anything played at tribal, and the bank your vote advantage, which lets a player to hold onto their vote for a future tribal. Separately, all three tribes’ camps came equipped with locked bird cages containing “hidden” immunity idols and fake medallions of power, with the corresponding keys hidden away.
While the show’s two-hour season premiere resulted in not one, but two surprising exits from the game, it was a different moment at tribal that made history. That’s because after four seasons of the new era of the CBS competition, the shot in the dark advantage has finally been played correctly.