Survivor 48 (2025) / The Amazing Race 37 (2025)

[Timewalker]

Survivor:

The new season starts tonight (2 hours; regular episodes will be 90 minutes).

Here is the cast list, according to Wikipedia. I haven't read anything about them yet, so have no preliminary opinions to offer.


The Amazing Race:

The new season starts a week from now, on March 5 (it just made sense to combine them into the same thread).

Here is the cast list, according to Wikipedia. I haven't checked these out yet, either.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Welp, it's started. Seems like overall a pretty likable cast, the only person I intensely dislike is David. He's just a straight up narcissist, every interview is some version of talking about how great he is.

I have no guess who's going to win, maybe six people I don't think will be. Class move by Kyle after he broke his bottle helping the other guy finish faster.

The way the elimination was built up it really seemed like it was going the other way.

Amazing Race doesn't seem to have any known names from other reality shows so I'll just meet them all next week.

 

[Timewalker]

Survivor just started here, and I'm going to watch it online instead of TV, so that means I won't be able to see it until at least tomorrow.

The shows just sneaked up on me since I've had my mind on so many other things lately and have been sick most of the winter (nasty cold is going around this region; it really knocks a person out for a few weeks).

Anyway, headache tonight, so I'm just going to and will offer opinions tomorrow.

 

[Timewalker]

Okay, first impressions... Why do they cast airheads who keep blathering on about astrology? That's reason enough to boot someone, in my view.

I ran across a video of deleted scenes, and apparently David bragged that he could make fire without tools. To be fair he sorta managed, for a few seconds. But it went out, so his abilities fell well short of his bragging.

Good grief, that Sai is memorable for the wrong reasons. Talk about belligerent.

Agreed - that was a classy move that Kyle did.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

So, first impressions of Amazing Race.

I liked the Fork in the Road twist. A very nice way to eliminate two teams. I don't like the equalizers. Equalizers were a huge problem in the first several seasons but they'd solved them lately by having limited amount of spots on things you had to wait for. They didn't do that this episode and had 13 of 14 teams on the same boat, it kinda made everything before seem meaningless.

Spoiler: Elimination

For a while it seemed like both the black woman teams were going to lose which would be a bad look, and even worse it seemed like one of them was because they couldn't get a cab. Thankfully it didn't go that way. No obvious standout teams so far but a few obvious good ones and a few obvious weaker ones.

I'll hold off on commenting on Survivor cause I just don't have much to say. Maybe a premature move they made.

Spoiler: Idol

It's kind of funny how one tribe can't decide if they are helping Star find the idol or sabotaging them.

 

[Timewalker]

The website glitched when I tried watching The Amazing Race, and hardly any of the audio matched the video. Still, I got enough of an impression that I was disappointed with who was eliminated for the dragon dance.

I'm fine with who was eliminated for the singing.

Climbing that huge bamboo thing looked brutal.


I haven't seen Survivor yet.

 

[Timewalker]

I caught up on two Survivor episodes last night, and... holy crap, Sai can't be voted out fast enough. She is so incredibly obnoxious.

I do have a couple of early favorites. Mary might have been passive-aggressive with Sai, but she wasn't mean about it. She recognized that Sai is so paranoid that all Mary has to do is breathe and she'll suspect her of something nefarious.

I also like Mitch. It's good that Jeff asked him if he prefers people to finish his sentences for him or just let him finish at his own speed, which is good. As a disabled person myself, it can drive me into a rage at times if someone grabs something away from me if I'm not doing it fast enough (I have arthritis, fibromyalgia, and balance issues, so there are times when I have trouble manipulating objects quickly and times when I drop things or struggle to open something that most people don't have a problem with).

I can also sympathize with Mitch's speech impediment, given that my words can sometimes get stuck between my brain and my mouth - I know what I want to say, but it doesn't always come out right, or as quickly as I'd prefer. If someone decides to "help" me by finishing for me, they often get it wrong, which just leads to more frustration and a feeling of being disrespected.


Amazing Race... interesting tasks, but I wish the last-placed team had actually been the ones eliminated. Whine, whine, whine...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think Sai is going to last long, but I respect that she survived that she fought for herself harder than Justin. And she was right in her argument, I think Cedric made the right decision for himself.

For Amazing Race, I'm just glad the team that got paired up with the guy who couldn't get the beat wasn't the one eliminated.

I've been slowly rewatching through old seasons, just got to the end of season 12. It just shows how bad memory was, I *completely forgot* in this season that the hidden immunity idol could be played after votes were revealed. I'm glad they changed that. In season 11, it was played before votes. In season 12, it was played after votes were revealed. They found the perfect formula after, play it after votes are cast but before they are revealed.

Also, I forgot this was Cirie's first season. It's staggering comparing the way she played this season vs the way she played Traitors and Big Brother. She was always smart. She wasn't always cutthroat.

I remembered this season so different, I remembered Aras won and Terry was 3rd but forgot all the other details. By modern rules Terry would have just won.

I have no memory of season 13. Is that the race season that Earl won? If so I remember Dreamz was 2nd, Yau-Man was 4th. Do not remember who was 3rd and all else I remember is the idol drama where the idol holders were trying to trick between two people and Yau-Man said "Let's hit 'em in the side" to target the 3rd person.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

So I just finished 12 and started watching 13. I was right it was the race season, but Yul was the winner, not Earl. It's amazing how memory works. Also Ozzy's first season, Penner's, AND Parvati's. Memory is weird, I'm pretty sure all of those three made the merge but none of them are the 3rd place person I'm blanking on.

Another edit: Wait. Dreamz and Yau-Man are not here. I thought they played in the race season. Guess I remember almost nothing about this season besides Yul winning.

 

[Timewalker]

I don't think Sai is going to last long, but I respect that she survived that she fought for herself harder than Justin. And she was right in her argument, I think Cedric made the right decision for himself.

For Amazing Race, I'm just glad the team that got paired up with the guy who couldn't get the beat wasn't the one eliminated.

I've been slowly rewatching through old seasons, just got to the end of season 12. It just shows how bad memory was, I *completely forgot* in this season that the hidden immunity idol could be played after votes were revealed. I'm glad they changed that. In season 11, it was played before votes. In season 12, it was played after votes were revealed. They found the perfect formula after, play it after votes are cast but before they are revealed.

Also, I forgot this was Cirie's first season. It's staggering comparing the way she played this season vs the way she played Traitors and Big Brother. She was always smart. She wasn't always cutthroat.

I remembered this season so different, I remembered Aras won and Terry was 3rd but forgot all the other details. By modern rules Terry would have just won.

I have no memory of season 13. Is that the race season that Earl won? If so I remember Dreamz was 2nd, Yau-Man was 4th. Do not remember who was 3rd and all else I remember is the idol drama where the idol holders were trying to trick between two people and Yau-Man said "Let's hit 'em in the side" to target the 3rd person.

I'll grant that Sai made a logical argument for voting out Justin. Justin lied about the journey outcome, so of course that brings up questions of whether he's trustworthy. But that still doesn't mean she's a likeable person. I find her to be a very paranoid, unpleasant person. I sat here giggling at how Mary just smiled at her and remained calm, while Sai was becoming more and more paranoid and enraged.


My memories of past seasons have more to do with people's behavior, not with what seasons they were on. Unless someone or a situation was especially memorable, or it happened somewhere other than Fiji, it all tends to run together for me. I know there are at least three seasons I missed completely, due to either not having a TV or not having cable. Unfortunately the old Survivor seasons are geoblocked in my country, so I can't watch them.

If I could, I'd watch that one I missed when Coach was on (it was his second time, I think). In spite of his overdramatic approach to the game, I found him to be a kind of goofball who loves tall tales (yes, I know this can mask some self-esteem problems).

I knew somebody like that in the SCA, who told tall tales about his life before he moved to my city. Some of them were really unbelievable, so I just smiled and nodded as though I believed every word. And then when he crossed a line, he'd learn that he could only go so far.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think the one Coach came in 2nd was his third season, his 2nd was Heroes vs Villains.

For me I tend to remember the winner, my general impressions of them, and any really great moves more than bad behavior. Unless it's extreme bad behavior like Colton.

 

[Timewalker]

Colton is a disgusting waste of oxygen.

 

[Timewalker]

Amazing Race: What a waste of the Express Pass. Sheesh!

Anybody have any favorite teams yet?


Survivor: Another dumb move. Bianca, wtf were you thinking?

Please vote Sai out next. Or Cedrek. I can't stand either of them.

I still like Mitch and Mary. At this point, I'd be happy if either of them won.

Oh, and production? When a player is having a full-blown anxiety attack, you should actually do something, rather than let them go through it just for the sake of drama.

So are they merging next week, or just all living on the same beach but not merged?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This episode is why I hate the U Turn. One of the most likable and strongest teams gets out because the weaker teams gang up on them.

I'm not sure what to expect from the rest of the season. I'd love it if Eva or Joe won, but I doubt that anyone is going to risk going to the finals against them. I don't even dislike Sai much but she's clearly not winning. I still don't like David, I hate any player who acts like they are morally superior to the other alliance. Who's he kidding? He allied with who he did because he's afraid of being targeted as a physical threat.

I like Kyle and Camila, I like Mitch, I like Star. I don't think Mary's a strong player but I think she's got a shot to win cause she's not going to be seen as a threat for a long time. Shauhin seems okay but he hasn't gotten much screen time. Cedrek I don't mind but I don't think he's a strong player either.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I love the last few eliminations, now I like 8 out of 9 players left. All we need to do is get David out and I’ll be happy with any winner.

Usually I hate the U-turn but I approve of its outcome this week.

 

[Timewalker]

I'm pleased that both Sai and Cedrek are gone. I couldn't stand either of them. I'm not unhappy at who was voted off in the most recent episode, either.

I'm still hoping that either Mary or Mitch win. I'd be okay with Eva winning, too.

I'm not happy with the editing of the last episode. There's so much that should have been shown, like wtf happened with that advantage clue Eva found in the bowl of chips? Did she manage to find it, or not?


Amazing Race... holy crap, that haystack thing was brutal. I'm reminded of the season way back when, when one of the 2-women teams got stalled looking for something buried in the sand in Egypt. They kept at it until well past sundown, when Phil came along to put them out of their misery.

So here's a rules-related question. If the guys had opted to quit the haystack roadblock and take a time penalty, could they still have come in ahead of the team that was lost for most of the episode? Or are they not allowed to do this anymore?

*facepalm* to the one who didn't know if the sheep was female or male. Yeah, like male sheep give milk. GMAFB.