Survivor 45 Just Fixed Jeff Probst's Biggest Season 44 Fail

Here are the first two episodes of the long-awaited Survivor 45, ready to send us back to picturesque Fiji for one of the most high-octane competitions ever, full of intrigue, plotting and strategizing, personal drama, and exciting and dangerous challenges.

Unfortunately, for all the fun moments, last season had its share of problems: lazy editing, twists that made the challenges unbearable and played into the hands of only certain characters. As a result, we got too much action and not enough social play, and the dynamic between the castaways is one of the central aspects of the show.

But the producers and regular host Jeff Probst seem to have worked out the kinks, as Survivor 45 focused much more on the players themselves than on the challenges and Jeff's own commentary. And it's not just that the running time of the episodes has increased due to CBS's need to fill the airwaves in the absence of new scripted shows. The key to success is paying attention to the relationships between the characters.

What's Happened So Far

We're only two episodes in, but a crazy amount of things have happened in the 180 minutes we've watched so far. After viewers were shocked by Hannah's voluntary departure from the show in the first episode, the next one introduced another washout who was also a member of Lulu's tribe, Brandon.

Although Brandon claimed that puzzles were his cup of tea, reality showed otherwise, which frustrated Sabiyah. She wanted to force Emily off the show instead for being aggressive with her and Kaleb. However, Emily decided to bury the hatchet by giving her Shot in the Dark. In the end, only two votes were enough to get Brandon voted out at Tribal Council.

A Chance to Shine

This 90-minute episode showed the incredible dynamic between the castaways, we were shown their backgrounds, their distrust of each other, and their attempts to socialize. We should probably thank Jeff Probst himself, because this time the challenges really proved to be not just another element of the game, but an integral part of building communication.

Last season, Jeff lamented the fact that Claire Rafson of the Soka tribe sat out.