A New Dawn

**A New Dawn** is the premiere episode of *Survivor 41.*

## Story

Jeff welcomes the castaways to a season he declares will be like no other before it; the beginning of a new era in *Survivor*. The eighteen brand-new castaways are split into three tribes of six: blue Luvu, green Ua, and yellow Yase. After being given their tribes, the castaways immediately compete in their first Reward challenge, and Luvu wins due to their greater rowing strength.

All three tribes struggle with the limited supplies and tougher conditions. Luvu does the best of the three with their Reward supplies, constructing a solid shelter and a small fire. Everyone pulls their weight, although Heather is exhausted by the challenge; Erika comforts her on this. Naseer struggles to connect with others, focusing on working around camp. On Ua, the tribe is disorganized, as most of the players are already focused on scheming and bonding. Shan and Ricard talk lots to everyone but don't lead any construction efforts. Genie speaks up to try to get everyone to do some work. By the end of the first night, they have a poorly built shelter. While Genie stays up late collecting wood for the shelter, she finds the Ua Hidden Immunity Idol. On Yase, things go a little smoother, as the group works together to build a shelter, and they even manage to get a fire without a flint to keep them warm. Everyone seems to get along, though some crude jokes from Tiffany seem to rub many people the wrong way.

The next day, at the Immunity Challenge, while Luvu has a small lead at the physical portion, they struggle at the puzzle, with Erika and Deshawn being unable to beat the other two tribes. Once the tribe returns to camp, Danny, Deshawn, and Sydney agree to form an alliance, as they feel like they all get along and are good competitors. They originally think about voting Heather for her weakness, but then Naseer begins campaigning for Erika to go since she blew the puzzle. Erika, who has allied herself with Heather, finds this out when Naseer tells it to her face. Irritated with Naseer's wild behavior, Erika goes to the other three members of the tribe and asks them to vote Naseer with her and Heather. While originally hesitant since Naseer provides tribe strength, they feel he is promoting disharmony in the tribe. Thus, at Tribal Council, Naseer is the first boot in a unanimous 5-1 vote while he votes Erika.

## Challenges

* Reward
* Immunity

**Challenge:** *Marooning*

Each tribe must race to collect boat paddles scattered around the ship deck in six different spots. Once they have all six of their paddles, they must jump off and swim to their tribe's boat. Once onboard and unclipped, they must then paddle out and around a buoy, come back, and grab the flint dangling on a rope on the edge of the ship. The first tribe to grab the flint wins.

**Reward:** Pot, machete, and flint

**Winner:** Luvu

**Immunity Challenge:** *Bonus Track*

Each tribe must climb over a net frame, then crawl under an obstacle filled with sawdust. They must then load bags of puzzle pieces onto a sled. Afterwards, two members at a time will move heavy sandbags off a track and onto a platform. Once the track is clear, they must push their sled down the track to the end, transfer their puzzle bags into a crate, and then hoist the crate to the top of a tall tower. Once at the top, two members must use the pieces in the bags to solve a puzzle. The first two tribes to finish their puzzle win.

**Winner:** Ua and Yase

## Next Time on Survivor...

After Naseer's boot, Erika and Heather try to prove their worth...

...while on the Yase tribe, connections begin to form...

...and on Ua, some players think they have the game in the bag.

## Trivia

The episode title was said by Xander Hastings when talking about how the season was the beginning of a new era in the history of the game.