A Wave Of Uncertainty

**A Wave Of Uncertainty** is the premiere episode of *Survivor: Barbuda*.

## Summary

### Marooning

Jeff is shown standing on a beach with three tribe mats. In front of him, three boats are heading towards him with six players on each boat, all excited to start a journey of their lifetime.

The first boat, colored green, contains the members of the **Liberta Tribe**. Among them, we have: Arthur, a programmer and student of the game. Djamila, a stay at home mom to three boys. Eshaal, a dry humored sous chef. Franklin, a gay and energetic grandfather. Georgia, a shopaholic real life Barbie doll. And TJ, a flirty college football player.

The next boat, colored pink, contains the members of the **Parham Tribe**. Among them, we have: Izaan, a self proclaimed super fan of the show. Kehlani, a laid back sketch artist. Lorelei, a relationship hopping prom queen. Nelson, a loyal firefighter and father. Rui, an athlete and food drive volunteer. And Seoirse, a cutthroat business major from Ireland.

Finally, the last boat, colored yellow, contains the members of the **Swetes Tribe**. Among them, we have: Alessia, an outgoing entrepreneur trying to start a makeup brand. Jin, a retired ex-rock band member. K’yeon, a loyal local DJ. Paige, a Twitch streamer and cosplayer. Ramiro, a young and mischievous student. And Selas, a non-binary human rights activist.

All three boats have reached the island and the castaways are standing on their respective tribe mats. Jeff welcomes everybody to the fourteenth season of Aidan’s Survivor, and everybody cheers as Jeff introduces the tribes and everybody receives their tribe buffs. Jeff asks Izaan about his sweatshirt and he says he’s a huge fan of Survivor so he wore a *Heroes vs Villains II* hoodie, and he’s excited to get the opportunity to actually be on the show.

Jeff directs his attention over to Alessia and asks what her first impressions of her tribe are just by seeing and not being able to talk to them. Alessia says that they all look like really interesting people and she can’t wait to hear all their backstories and get to know them, looking at Jin the entire time causing everyone to laugh.

Jeff then asks Georgia what her first impressions are of the other tribes now that she’s able to get a look at everyone she’s up against. Georgia looks up and down at the other two tribes and says that she’s not impressed, causing her tribe to laugh and the others to have mixed reactions of surprise and confusion.

Jeff says it’s time for the tribes to go back to their camps so they can get to know each other, build a shelter, and get ready for their first immunity challenge of the season in a couple days. Each tribe receives their maps to their camps and they head out in separate ways.

### Liberta

The Liberta tribe reaches their camp and decide to have everyone do some quick introductions of themselves before they figure out how to build their shelter. They go down the line, having each member say some basic information about themselves. Georgia looks infatuated with TJ as he introduces himself which goes noticed by Arthur.

After everyone is finished with their introductions, TJ takes the lead on the shelter building process. He decides to have him and Arthur gather bamboo to build the shelter, the girls weave palm fronds together, and Franklin can look for the water well. Everyone splits off and Arthur and TJ go into the woods together to carry bamboo. Arthur is immediately trying to bond with TJ and the two are able to click pretty well while working together on the shelter.

Back at camp, all of the women are sitting together while weaving palm fronds for the shelter. Djamila is driving the conversation between the three of them, trying to get to know them and enjoy each other's company. Eshaal and Georgia seem less interested, but still contribute to the conversation and they manage to get along pretty well. Djamila eventually weaves into the conversation that she’s a huge believer in girl power so she wouldn’t mind looking out for them, and she likes the tribe so far.

Franklin is walking along the path from camp trying to find out where the water well is. Eventually, he reaches the water well and decides to spend some time quickly looking for the idol while he has a moment alone. He searches all around the woods near the water well, not being able to find anything. Back at camp, everyone is starting to notice how long Franklin has been gone and Djamila suggests that he might’ve gotten lost or is still trying to find the well. Arthur says he’s probably looking for the idol since he was sent off alone, and everyone gets really suspicious of Franklin.

### Parham

The Parham tribe gets to their camp and everyone is in very good spirits now that they’ve made it. Lorelei suggests introductions so everyone gathers around to get to know each other except for Nelson who decides to get a head start on the shelter and goes to collect bamboo. Everyone goes around introducing themselves and while Rui is introducing himself, Lorelei and Kehlani both look very interested in what he’s saying the entire time.

While everyone is talking, Rui notices Nelson carrying a ton of bamboo to camp on his own. Rui suggests that everyone help out Nelson with the shelter now so they can have a comfortable place to sleep at night, so Nelson gives everyone jobs and goes off with Rui to get more bamboo. Nelson thanks him for the help, and Rui asks why he didn’t want to do a quick introduction. Nelson says he wants to get the shelter done before it’s dark and he’s the only older person on the tribe so he figured he’d let everyone else talk since he won’t fit in as much anyways. Rui frowns and tells him won’t know if he fits in or not until he talks with everyone, so he should put himself out there because they could have a lot more in common than they think.

All of the girls are weaving palm fronds together and getting to know each other more. They’re talking about the rest of the tribe and their first impressions, and Seoirse asks what the other girls think of Rui. Lorelei says not to say anything but that she thinks Rui is really cute and she really like him so far. Kehlani blushes and tries to hide it, saying that she’s not really focused on anything like that so she doesn’t have much of an opinion on him yet.

While the guys are working on the shelter together, Nelson goes off to get more bamboo which leaves Izaan and Rui alone. Izaan asks to talk really quick to see what Rui is thinking, and Rui says he really likes the tribe so far and they seem to work well together. Izaan tells Rui that he really likes him and would want them to look out for each other if they end up at a tribal council. Rui seems a bit hesitant but agrees and says he feels the same way, and Izaan smirks.

Later on when more of the shelter is complete, Izaan asks Seoirse if they can go on a walk together so they head down to the beach. Izaan says he gets really goos vibes from Seoirse and she seems like a competent person, so he wanted to work together and look out for each other, which Seoirse agrees to. Izaan asks how she feels about the rest of the tribe, and Seoirse says that she gets the vibe Kehlani and Lorelei both like Rui which intrigues Izaan.

### Swetes

The Swetes tribe reaches their beach and decide to kill some time by getting to know each other, procrastinating on building the shelter. Alessia shares about her makeup brand, K’yeon shares about being pansexual, Paige shares about being lesbian, Selas shares about being non-binary, and Jin shares about the rock band he was in. Everyone seems super impressed with Jin as he shares his old band stories with everyone.

Once the tribe’s conversation is dying down, K’yeon asks if anybody knows how to build a shelter. The entire tribe goes silent, nobody having any experience with shelters. Jin says that he can try his best to lead them in building the shelter. Everyone starts helping out by getting bamboo or palm fronds, and Jin attempts to lead everyone through building a structure. The shelter they build ends up looking pretty bad and when they try laying on it, the bottom falls down so they call it a day and figure it’s good enough.

While everyone breaks off into side conversations, Ramiro sneaks off from the group to go look for an idol. He speeds through the forest, mostly looking in trees, and isn’t able to find anything. Eventually, Alessia walks up to him without him noticing and asks what he’s doing which startles him. He tries making an excuse and Alessia rolls her eyes and says she’ll cover for him but she can only help so much so he better be done idol hunting soon. Ramiro laughs and thanks her, continuing to look as Alessia walks back to camp.

K’yeon, Paige and Selas are sitting on the beach together and Selas asks them about their LGBTQ+ identities. K’yeon says he came out pretty recently since he didn’t know being pansexual was a thing until recently, and he felt it really explained his feelings well. Paige says she knew she was a lesbian the moment she saw Daisy in a Mario game, causing the other two to laugh. Selas says they’re relieved to have other queer people on the tribe since they have a deeper understanding of each other right away, and the other two agree.

### Challenge

***LIBERTA***

***PARHAM***

***SWETES***

The three tribes arrive at their first challenge of the season. Jeff welcomes everybody in and explains how the challenge is going to work. Today, they’ll be playing **Jungle Relay**. Tribes will race into the jungle for bags of puzzle pieces in different areas of the jungle, going two or one at a time. Once back with all of the puzzle pieces, two members will work on putting together a 3D tree puzzle. The first two tribes to complete their puzzles will win immunity.

Survivors ready? GO!

The first pair of players heading out are Djamila and Franklin for Liberta, Izaan and Nelson for Parham, and Jin and Ramiro for Swetes. Izaan and Nelson are able to get their puzzle pieces the fastest, followed by Jin and Ramiro. Djamila and Franklin take the longest amount of time, but they’re eventually able to get back with their pieces. As each pair gets back, the next round of players are sent out– Seoirse for Parham, followed by Paige for Swetes, and finally Arthur for Liberta.

As the three run out to get their bags, they see a table with a sign and three necklaces. They run up and read the sign, and find out that the necklaces are Advantage Amulets. Each of them receive an amulet and it will hold no power until they are all on a tribe together. The amulet is a shared advantage between all of them, and they can all use it together to get an extra vote. However, if one of them is voted out then the remaining amulets gain more power, now working as a vote steal for the two remaining holders. If only one person is left in the game with an amulet, it will be upgraded to work as a fully functioning immunity idol. The amulets expire at the final 6. The three of them grab their amulets and agree to work together if they end up on a tribe together so they can use the amulets to their advantage.

The three all head back to their tribe mats at the same time, evening things back up. The next pairs to head out are Eshaal and Georgia, Kehlani and Lorelei, and Alessia and Selas. Alessia and Selas are the first pair to retrieve their puzzle pieces, followed by Kehlani and Lorelei, then Eshaal and Georgia bringing up the rear pretty far behind. K’yeon, Rui and TJ are the final three players to get puzzle pieces. All of them go extremely fast, with TJ trying to make up as much time as possible. Rui is the first back to his tribe mat, followed by K’yeon and TJ who are neck and neck now.

All of the tribes are now back and send out their puzzle solvers. Arthur and Eshaal are solving for Liberta, Izaan and Seoirse for Parham, and Paige and Selas for Swetes. Arthur and Eshaal are working really well on the puzzle together with Arthur calling the shots and Eshaal untying bags and handing him pieces. Izaan and Seoirse are quickly struggling with Seoirse trying to be methodical about her approach while Izaan is grabbing random pieces to try and toss aside when they don’t work. Paige and Selas have good communication with each other while solving the puzzle, working together well.

Eventually, Arthur and Eshaal are able to put their puzzle together first and win immunity for their tribe, surprising everyone because they were expected to lose. Not long after, Paige and Selas are able to get their last piece in and win the second immunity necklace for their tribe. Seoirse is frustrated with Izaan and walks off when he says they tried their best. Liberta and Swetes have won immunity, meaning Parham will be attending the first tribal council of the season.

### Parham

The Parham tribe gets back to camp after the challenge with a low morale from their loss. Seoirse apologizes that they couldn’t get the puzzle done, and Rui tells her not to blame herself for it. Everyone starts to split off, leaving Rui, Kehlani and Lorelei at camp together. The three are talking about non-game related things together with both of the girls trying to flirt with ruI, Kehlani being a lot more subtle than Lorelei. Unknown to them, Izaan is just outside camp watching them, assuming they’re strategizing together.

Izaan finds Seoirse and the two go off together to talk. Izaan says that he just caught Kehlani, Lorelei and Rui strategizing at camp together so he thinks they're aligned and trying to control the tribe. Seoirse pretends to be interested in what Izaan is saying and asks what he wants to do, and Izaan says he thinks they should take out the glue of that alliance and vote for Rui. Seoirse says she’s on board but he has to get the numbers, and he says that he’ll talk to Nelson about it.

After his talk with Seoirse, Izaan goes off on his own to find Nelson. When he finds him, he asks to talk and Nelson reluctantly walks down to the beach with him. Izaan says that he knows Kehlani, Lorelei and Rui have an alliance together so the people not in it need ot band together to save themselves. Nelson asks Izaan what his plan is, and Izaan says he wants to vote out Rui and try to get his alliance to split their votes so he, Nelson and Seoirse can be the majority. Nelson nods, not saying much but pretending to agree.

Nelson approaches Rui to talk and the two go to the water well together. Rui asks him what’s up, and Nelson says he just talked to Izaan and he’s trying to target Rui. Rui is surprised and asks why, and Nelson says Izaan thinks Rui is aligned with Kehlani and Lorelei. Rui scoffs and says Izaan tried making an alliance with him on the first day, and Nelson laughs saying Izaan is trying to align with him and Seoirse now. Rui says Izaan has to go, which Nelson agrees with, and Rui thanks Nelson for giving him a heads up.

Kehlani and Lorelei are still hanging out at camp when Rui sits down with them and lets them know what he just heard. The girls are shocked and Lorelei says that makes no sense, and Kehlani says they have to make sure Izaan goes if he’s trying to vote for Rui. Rui says that he thinks Nelson will vote with them since he told him about Izaan’s plan, so they should have the numbers on their side. Kehlani says that she and Lorelei can also talk to Seoirse about it to get everyone on board with voting out Izaan

Kehlani and Lorelei go sit on the beach with Seoirse and Seoirse asks them if they know what’s happening with the vote. Kehlani says that they were told Izaan started targeting Rui out of nowhere so now Izaan’s name is out there for trying to play too hard, and Lorelei nods saying she really wants Izaan gone. Seoirse asks if everyone else is voting for Izaan and Kehlani says that she thinks so. Seoirse nods and says she’s fine with that and the girls smile.

### Tribal Council

Izaan, Kehlani, Lorelei, Nelson, Rui and Seoirse arrive at tribal council and dip their torches in the fire. Jeff asks Izaan how he’s feeling right now, and Izaan says that it still doesn’t feel real that he’s actually on his favorite show and he’s having the time of his life so far. Jeff asks Nelson how he feels attending the first tribal council of the season. Nelson says that it’s never fun to lose a challenge, but especially losing the first challenge is tough because they have to decide who the first boot is. Jeff asks Rui what went wrong with the challenge, and Rui says that he doesn’t want to point finger but they lost their lead with the puzzle and it ended up costing them. Jeff asks Seoirse how she feels being one of the puzzle solvers and not being able to win. Seoirse says she’s worried because she was one of the people who cost them the challenge but she hopes she can prove herself in the upcoming challenges because she has a lot to offer.

Everyone casts their votes. Jeff asks if anybody has an idol to use and nobody stands.

Jeff reads the votes.

First vote…

**RUI**

*(Rui looks nervous and Lorelei holds his hand which Kehlani notices)*

**IZAAN**. That’s one vote Rui, one vote Izaan.

*(Izaan scoffs and crosses his arms)*

**IZAAN**

**IZAAN**

*(Izaan starts getting worried and looks at Nelson and Seoirse)*

First person voted out of Survivor: Barbuda...

**IZAAN** (5-1)

Izaan looks heartbroken and says he didn’t see that coming. Izaan brings his torch up to Jeff to get it snuffed, saying he can’t believe his dream is already over. Izaan walks out and Rui has a sigh of relief, thanking everyone else on the tribe for keeping him.