'Survivor' premiere recap: David Jelinsky voted out after giving up twice

Survivor featured the "Yanu Tribe" voting out David Jelinsky at the first Tribal Council session after he gave up in two tasks that tested his endurance and strategy during the Season 46 premiere episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Survivor's "Yanu Tribe" voted out Jelinsky, a 22-year-old slot machine salesman from Las Vegas, NV, in a unanimous vote at Tribal Council on Night 3 of the game. Jelinsky had lost his own vote prior to the session.

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"This was a huge blindside. I thought with every ounce in my body that [Jessica "Jess" Chong] was going home tonight," Jelinsky said in his final words.

"I was the first one voted out tonight, but sometimes, that's just how the cards fall. I didn't even get to cast a vote this season. That's horrible! When you're comfortable in this game, that's when you go home -- and that's exactly what happened to me."


The Survivor broadcast began with the 18 new castaways meeting Survivor gosh Jeff Probst on the beach. They were already divided into the "Nami Tribe" (orange), the "Siga Tribe" (green), and the "Yanu Tribe" (purple) for Season 46.

The Nami Tribe was comprised of Hunter McKnight, a 28-year-old science teacher from French Camp, MS;
Liz Wilcox, a 35-year-old marketing strategist from Luther, MI who currently resides in Orlando, FL;
Randen Montalvo, a 41-year-old aerospace technician from Brooklyn, NY who currently resides in Orlando, FL; Soda Thompson, a 27-year-old special education teacher from Long Island, NY who currently resides in Lake Hopatcong, NJ; Tevin Davis, a 24-year-old actor from Goochland, VA who currently resides in Richmond, VA; and Venus Vafa, a 24-year-old data analyst from Hill, Ontario who currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.

The Siga Tribe featured Ben Katzman, a 31-year-old musician from Miami, FL; Charlie Davis, a 26-year-old law student from Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA who currently resides in Boston, MA; Jemila "Jem" Hussain-Adams, a 32-year-old international brand mentor from Berbice, Guyana who currently resides in Chicago, IL; Maria Shrime Gonzalez, a 48-year-old parent coach from Dallas, TX; Moriah Gaynor, a 28-year-old program coordinator from Boca Raton, FL who currently resides in San Diego, CA; and Tim Spicer, a 31-year-old college coach from Arlington, VA who currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

The Yanu Tribe was made up of Jelinsky; Bhanu Gopal, a 41-year-old IT quality analyst from Visakhapatnam, India who currently resides in Acton, MA; Jess, a 37-year-old software engineer from Hong Kong, China and Toronto, Ontario who currently resides in San Francisco, CA; Kenzie Petty, a 29-year-old salon owner from Gibraltar, MI who currently resides in Charlotte, NC; Q Burdette, a 29-year-old real estate agent from Senatobia, MS who currently resides in Memphis, TN; and Tiffany Nicole Ervin, a 33-year-old artist from Franklin Township, NJ who currently resides in Elizabeth, NJ.

Bhanu apparently applied for Survivor the day he became a citizen of the United States, adding, "From Slum Dog to Survivor, baby!"


Jess said she's always been competitive given she's an identical twin, and Charlie and Hunter revealed they're both big Taylor Swift fans. Charlie said he didn't plan on mentioning that he went to Harvard in order to keep his threat level down.

And Jem said she was ready to cut throats and be the "Sole Survivor."

When Survivor's longtime host welcomed and addressed the cast for the first time, he announced how there was going to be a challenge. Two members from each tribe had to race down the beach, crawl under a muddy net, and retrieve two very heavy puzzle pieces and bring them back.

Another pair would then go until a tribe collected all six puzzle pieces. After solving the puzzle, one tribe member must then climb to the top of a podium and use a long pole to retrieve a flint. The winning tribe would win camp supplies in the form of a pot, machete and flint.

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The second tribe to finish would get to choose between the "Sweat" or "Savvy" task, receiving a second shot at camp supplies. And the losing tribe would get whatever was left over.

Nami finished in first place, and Siga claimed second in the Survivor challenge.

Siga chose "Savvy," which left the Yanu tribe with "Sweat."

Once Yanu walked to camp, they learned what their "Sweat" task entailed. Two members had to gather enough water to fill two large urns. The players were warned it was going to take several hours of physical effort. If they failed, they would not receive their tribe supplies until after the first Immunity Challenge.

Q and Jelinsky volunteered, and the guys quickly realized there were multiple holes in each bucket, which made the task much harder.


Over at Siga, the instructions for their Survivor "Savvy" task was for two tribe members to work together to decipher a puzzle. There was a large board of scrambled letters and a combination lock box.

The two tribe members, however, were separated and not allowed to interact with the rest of their tribe. If they failed, they would not receive their tribe's supplies until after the first Immunity Challenge.

Charlie and Ben volunteered and attempted to puzzle. The guys struggled, however, and their timer ran out. They couldn't see that the puzzle was telling them to dig under the lock in the sand. The guys hugged it out and agreed they had just started the "dumb and dumber alliance."

The Survivor tribe still applauded the men's efforts, and everyone decided to stay positive. Ben then tried to make everyone laugh and win them over with his personality, and Maria said she loved his energy and confidence.

And Moriah bonded with Jem over their nerdy hobbies. Moriah also liked Maria a lot. The three women agreed to pull Charlie in and call their alliance "Charlie's Angels." Charlie was used to working with women and having women bosses, and so he had no issue with this at all. Tim, however, caught on to what the women were up to.


Tim told Charlie that they needed to take a woman out. Charlie played along but acknowledged how playing both sides of the tribe was dangerous.

Meanwhile, Tim and Maria bonded over being parents, but Maria was ready to lie, cheat and steal in this Survivor game.

"I have no intention of being anyone's mom. I'm just not going to be in a flashy red hard; I'm going to be in my little minivan driving the game," Maria boasted with a laugh.

Over at the Nami tribe, Liz was also bragging about how she had sold two companies, and Tevin said he, on the contrary, was competing on Survivor for money. The tribe was also able to make a fire.

The group was building tribe rapport by dancing and singing around the fire, but Hunter -- who described himself as "introverted" -- admitted he hated the songs. Hunter chatted with Tevin and they got along well, and the Andy Griffith admirers led their tribemates in getting the shelter together.

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But Venus felt left out and vulnerable given she's a petite woman, and so she went searching for a hidden Immunity Idol and was totally ready to cause chaos. Venus didn't want anyone to view her as "a princess" who couldn't get stuff done.

Randen caught Venus looking for an idol, and he called her "dangerous." Randen was convinced that Venus was the No. 1 threat on his tribe, and so he expressed his concerns to Soda and compared her to the iconic Survivor player Parvati Shallow.

But Soda warned Venus that Randen was after her, and she couldn't believe that he was pointing fingers at her.

"If you have my name in your mouth, you're going home," Venus told the Survivor cameras.

At Yanu's camp, Jelinsky decided to quit with a couple of hours left, and he even threw the hour glass onto the sand and broke the glass!

"When the going gets tough, he's going to tuck his tail and quit, and in Survivor, that's not an option -- period," Q complained in a Survivor confessional.


"He cannot do this physically and mentally, and we're done!"

Kenzie thought Q was an amazing and hardworking man, so she asked him to team up. She also drew Ben in with her, bragging about how she's in the business of making connections. It appeared almost everyone wanted to work with Kenzie, but she wasn't sure if it was real or not. Kenzie and Tiffany also thought Jess was quiet.

Kenzie, Tiffany, Q and Ben then formed an alliance.

On Day 2, a boat arrived at each of the three camps. One person from each tribe had to get on the boat, and that person would return to camp later that day.

Jelinsky volunteered, and Tevin was selected to go from a roll of the dice. Maria also took off on the journey, and everyone wondered if these players were going to come back with an idol or advantage of some kind.

On the Survivor journey, Jelinsky, Tevin and Maria were instructed to each pull one card -- the Skull, the Torch, or the Vote card. If they pulled the Torch card, they had to announce it. The goal was to convince the person holding the Torch card that he or she was the one holding the Vote card.


"The stakes are ridiculous! Your vote is on the line, but whoever is right gets an extra vote!" Tevin explained.

By random draw, Maria picked the Torch, Tevin picked the Vote, and Jelinsky picked the Skull.

"Maria, I'm not going to lie to you. I have the vote card. I don't want you to make the wrong decision. That's all I'm going to say," Jelinsky told Maria.

Tevin made a face and said, "Maria, I'm going to tell you right here, right now -- clear as day -- that that Vote card is right here."

Jelinsky reiterated how he wasn't lying, but then Tevin countered, "I would hate for you to lose your vote. Pick this because we'll have an extra vote. Pick the other one, and you might be disappointed."

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Something in Maria's gut told her that Jelinsky was the liar out of the two Survivor players.

Maria told the men in reply, "If you're being honest with me, Tevin, then I can trust that we can work together. But Jelinsky, losing my vote would not be good. So if I find out you were lying, I'd have to go back and tell my tribe the deceit."

"Oof," Jelinsky murmured.

Maria gave the guys a chance to change their tune, and so Jelinsky decided to tell the truth.

"I'll be honest because I'm not [deceitful] at all. I do have the Skull card. Don't pick it. This is a nerve-wracking thing," Jelinsky said. "I'm sorry I was deceptive; I was scared!"

Jelinsky said he'd rather lose his vote at one of Survivor's Tribal Councils than lie to Maria and Tevin and "make 12 enemies going into the merge."


When Jelinsky returned to camp, he told his tribe that he had been honest about the Skull card and lost his vote. His tribemates, especially Kenzie, were shocked and disappointed because they could have used an extra vote to their advantage.

"[If] they lost their vote, who cares! They're not on our tribe! You didn't even fight for us? You're supposed to be my number. All you had to do was lie to strangers," Kenzie vented in a Survivor confessional.

Bhanu was upset Jelinsky had given up so quickly as well.

Over at Yanu's camp on Day 2, Jess was struggling because she hadn't slept at all and she was losing her personal items, such as her water bottle. She admitted that her ADHD was "messing [her] up."

And Bhanu went searching for a hidden Immunity Idol, looking high and low everywhere. His tribemates were looking for an idol as well, but he was convinced he'd be the first to find it.

However, Tiffany discovered a "Beware" package. Her letter read, "Dig directly below the spot where you found the Beware Advantage." Tiffany and Kenzie dug up a box with a lock on it, and there was a hidden Immunity Idol in the box, which required a key to open it.


The location of the key would remain a mystery until after their tribe lost a future Immunity Challenge. After a loss, Tiffany had to return to the same location in order to receive further instructions. Until she takes possession of the idol, she cannot vote at Tribal Council.

On Day 3, the three tribes met Jeff for the first Individual Immunity Challenge of the season.

For the challenge, each tribe was required to race to the top of a ramp, where they'd be confronted with the biggest gecko they've ever seen. They had to race to untie the gecko and then get it over a wall, through a tight tunnel, and to the top of a deck.

Once on the deck, two players must race to solve a Survivor puzzle, which ended up reading "46 Survivor."

The third-place tribe would attend Tribal Council and lose its flint to make fire.

The puzzle came down to Soda and Venus for Nami, Jelinsky and Jess for Yanu, and Moriah and Maria for Siga working on the puzzle.


In the end, Nami won first place and Immunity, and Siga placed second. Yanu would therefore be forced to go to Tribal Council and vote out one of its members.

Bhanu cried after the challenge because he said he didn't want to send anyone home since this was a dream come true for the entire tribe. However, he noted how Jelinsky and Jess were the targets for that night.

Jelinsky, however, felt confident after the challenge because he thought he had a solid alliance with Q, Kenzie and Tiffany. He assumed they were a solid alliance, and so he decided to just chill in the shelter and relax.

Jelinsky told Jess that she was probably on the Survivor chopping block with him because they had done the puzzle together.

Tiffany then announced how they needed to target Jess but tell Jess that they were going to get rid of Jelinsky.

Tiffany didn't care about the challenge loss because she received further instructions for her idol: Crack the coded message for the location of the key." Tiffany had to decode "an alien language," and she had Kenzie helping her.


Tiffany found out that her key was tied to a rock in shallow waters, and she went searching in that place, turning over every rock and sweating bullets. She ultimately found the key, unlocked her box, and earned herself an idol.

Q then told the Survivor cameras how he wanted Jelinsky gone because he only wanted to go to war with soldiers who would work hard and not give up. Q said he was going to write Jelinsky's name down no matter what, and he told Jess just that. But Tiffany disagreed on this plan.

Jess, however, was nervous and didn't want to be the first person voted out of Survivor 46.

Kenzie asked her allies to think about whom could carry them through challenges, and she explained how Jelinsky had strength. But Q was acting stubborn about wanting Jelinsky gone.

At Tribal Council that night, Jelinsky, with some prompting and finger pointing from Jeff, owned up to having quit the "Sweat" challenge, and Q also announced how Jelinsky had given his vote away on the journey.

"It's a game for a million dollars, Jeff. We're not handing out favors!" Q declared.


Jess admittedly had brain fog at Tribal Council, and Bhanu shared how this was a challenging vote for him because he wanted to continue working with someone who's savvy and good socially, essentially taking a shot at Jess.

Tiffany, on the other hand, announced how she wanted to maintain tribe strength on Survivor.

Jelinsky -- who didn't have a vote that night -- insisted he wanted to stay in this game and he'd "never, ever give up in a challenge," except for the "Sweat" test and the journey, which made his tribemates laugh.

Jess then said she's more coherent in smaller group settings and she thought she had a lot to offer her tribe.

Bhanu proceeded to hint that Jelinsky was on the chopping block by saying, "I don't know how the tribe is feeling. Is it too little too late?"

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Jelinsky promised to give 100 percent effort in every challenge going forward, and then it became time to vote.

Once the Survivor votes were cast, Jeff read them aloud in the following order: Jelinsky, Jelinsky, and Jelinsky. It was clearly a unanimous decision amongst the tribe.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski