Entertainment
Where To Start Watching Survivor
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
CBS has announced that Season 50 of flagship reality contest, Survivor, will start on February 25, 2026, with a three-hour premiere. Season 50’s cast is entirely returning players from other seasons, celebrating the show’s longevity and wide array of personalities. In advance of the premiere, CBS will also be showing key episodes that feature its cast members in their prior appearances on the show.
While existing fans are probably already on Paramount+, brushing up on their favorite contestants and revisiting old seasons, newcomers to Survivor might feel overwhelmed. There are 50 seasons, and a season full of returning players doesn’t resonate with newcomers because they aren’t familiar with the personalities and strategic moves necessary to understand the events.
Boston Rob? Parvati? Sandra? Russell Hantz? Who is the most strategic genius, and what was the dumbest move in the history of the game? These are all things that get discussed during seasons featuring returning players, and without having seen the series, new viewers might feel out of the loop.
One nice thing about Survivor is that all the seasons are around 13 to 15 episodes long, making it easy to binge a season in a couple of days or even less. Plus, with a few exceptions, it doesn’t need to be watched in order, because almost every season has a new cast.
Start Watching Survivor With The Show’s 28th Season
Committing to watching all 48 seasons that have fully aired so far (Season 49 is in progress) is not a small task, but it is a fun one if you enjoy the show. However, since we’re talking about hundreds of hours, it’s good to have a taste of what you’re in for, and Survivor: Cagayan is the perfect season for that.
Subtitled Brawn versus Brains versus Beauty, this 28th season of Survivor was filmed in the Philippines and splits contestants into three tribes based on the aforementioned attributes. The season features some of the show’s most memorable personalities, with plenty of fireworks and drama for newcomers to munch along with their popcorn.
Explosive blindsides? Check. Hidden and secret advantages? All over the place. Strategic power players clashing head-to-head for a million dollars? You bet. There’s even a guy exasperated that he doesn’t speak llama. Being right in the middle of all the seasons, it has the perfect blend of old and new that can give a new viewer a taste of the show’s overall vibe.
All The Elements Of Modern Gameplay Are In Cagayan
Survivor: Cagayan also has almost all of the elements that continue in the game today. Earlier seasons don’t have hidden immunity idols, which players find around camp or on the island, because they wouldn’t be introduced until Season 11.
Other advantages that allow players to block or steal one another’s Tribal Council votes are also introduced in later seasons, and a few of them are part of Survivor: Cagayan. New viewers are thus set up for the 30s and 40s, which introduce numerous permutations of existing advantages, as well as new game twists based on emerging strategies.
Alternative Places To Start Watching Survivor Include Borneo And Pearl Islands
There are a few other great seasons that can help newcomers to the show decide if they want to keep watching. The first season, now known as Borneo, is a natural starting point because it is the first, but the production is laughably low, and the players largely don’t seem to realize they are playing a game. The second season, Australia, has a little more gameplay but the same limitations as the first.
Marquesas, Pearl Islands, and Tocatins can all be good starter seasons because they introduce some of the game’s biggest personalities and most solid strategic moves. Further along are Millennials versus GenX and Kaoh Rong, the latter of which shares the Brawn versus Brains versus Beauty theme of Cagayan. These are not intended to be highlights of the best seasons, but rather the ones that best introduce new viewers to the world of immunity idols and tribal councils.
All seasons of Survivor are available on Paramount+. Eight seasons are available on Hulu. The current season airs on Wednesday nights on CBS.
