Survivor 45 First Impressions and Predictions

Survivor 45 has me cautiously optimistic. As time goes on, my opinion on Survivor 43 increases but for Survivor 44 it sours. I think 44's cast was incredibly top-heavy, with only three notable stands out. Survivor 43 didn't have the same individual star power, but it filled out much more evenly, with a ton of fantastic players.

When I look at 45's cast, I don't see individual stand outs, but I do see a lot of potential. This looks like a group that will genuinely fight, and they will be messy along the way. In fact, a lot of them stick out as more obviously terrible than obviously great, which I love. Nobody on this cast made me go "meh". With 90 minute episodes incoming, I'm excited to see what they serve up.

Time for my tradition of making terrible predictions. Last time I put Yam Yam as 17th, so I can't get much worse than that.

Zero Chancers

Sabiyah is maybe the easiest zero chance choice I've ever made. Her favourite player is Russell Hantz and she thinks he's the best player of all time. Enough said. She doesn't seem to respect the social game, and that will never work in the new era. Relationships are king.

I'm not sure what J Maya brings to the table. She's definitely driven and fearless, but I haven't seen anything that shows she's made for Survivor. I could see her socially falling through the cracks, becoming an easy vote at a pre-merge tribal. She has a tough road ahead of her if she wants to make the merge.

Long Shots

I'm thrilled to see Bruce return. The Bruce Caboose is once again loose. Last season I didn't place Bruce very high in my predictions, and for similar reasons he's low again. He'll come in with extra passion and fire to play, but he just comes off as too chill. New era winners are pretty eccentric, and Bruce is pretty cookie cutter.

There's a lot of other players lumped into this section. A lot of players that either just didn't give me enough to go off of or one's that give bad vibes. I think Sifu is gonna overplay and flame out. Emily will be incredibly entertaining but will flame out. Kendra will be the second coming of Carolyn. I got my eyes on Brando, because I genuinely like the guy, we would be friends IRL. Just looking at his tribe I think he's screwed, hopefully he's got an insane social game.

Dark Horses

I have to stand with my lanky brother Drew. If I can't believe Drew could win, how could I ever believe in myself? If I had Drew's tribe I would be crying tears of joy. He has huge physical tribe mates to offset his weaknesses, and he isn't even the obvious weak link. I think Drew will actually integrate well with this setup and could be positioned very nicely.

Kaleb's the obvious winner pick this season. And like I say every time, the most obvious person never wins. He's got everything: charisma, athleticism, passion. Kaleb could run away with this season, but the other castaways are going to sus him out really fast. I just hope they don't sus him out too fast, I want to watch Kaleb play.

Winner Contenders

If there was a council of superfans Brandon would be their leader. He's the epitome of someone that lives and breathes Survivor. And it sounds like he's coming into the game with a good head on his shoulders. I hope him and Kaleb team up and become a power duo, I could see Brandon riding that far and then winning the head-to-head. Brandon's locked in for the merge, everyone's gonna wanna work with him. I'm excited to see what he cooks up.

I love Kellie. There is something so magnetic about her. Her charisma is incredibly alluring, and it's not obvious. She is very subtly likable. Whereas someone like Kaleb is extremely overtly likable. There are no glaring weaknesses, no reasons for her to get randomly sniped. I think her and the other gals on blue will get along great, maybe bringing Papa Bruce into the fold as well. Usually I'd say someone like Kellie is a little too prototypical for my tastes, but I have to stan.

Dee is similar to Kellie, she's just so likeable and so gentle. Her personality is actually so sweet. I think she will be adored by everyone. My biggest fear for Dee is her strength. I'm already imagining her pulling a Frannie, being too strong for her own good, and not being able to hide it. I think if Dee plays up her "sweet girl" character and not her physical trainer character she is a huge threat. Please throw some immunities Dee, my prediction depends on it.

Here is my final ranking:

Winner Picks

1. Dee
2. Kellie
3. Brandon
4. Jake

Dark Horses:

5. Austin
6. Kaleb
7. Drew
8. Julie

Long Shots:

9. Katurah
10. Emily
11. Brando
12. Bruce
13. Hannah
14. Kendra
15. Sifu

No Chance:

16. Sean
17. J Maya
18. Sabiyah