For “Survivor” ’s Season 50, Superfans Flock to Fiji

A golf cart pulled up carrying one other tall, stubbled Australian: Jensen’s brother Zach, who co-leads the artwork division. “He bought me a job as an additional in ‘Star Wars,’ so I bought him a job on ‘Survivor,’ ” Jesse Jensen mentioned. “We have been Jedis in ‘Assault of the Clones.’ ”

On the journey to the following cease, in an open-topped truck, followers traded tales. “We watched all of ‘Cagayan’ in a day,” Anna Veire, a twenty-three-year-old Iowa State grad, mentioned, of her dorm ground.

“It was like ‘Survivor’ faculty,” Charlene Baes, the winner who’d invited her, added.

Jake and Kaylee Ben-Ami, newlyweds from Brooklyn, met once they have been distant colleagues at an H.R.-software firm. They shared Wednesday nights watching “Survivor” earlier than they shared a Zip Code. “I mailed Jake a ‘Survivor’ candle as a thank-you for being my onboarding buddy,” Kaylee mentioned.

Zimmerman listened, nodding. “It’s humorous the way you mark time by the present,” he mentioned. He defined the way it had helped him when his spouse was present process most cancers therapies: “The bizarre factor about most cancers is, individuals don’t know what to say to you. However some knew I appreciated ‘Survivor.’ So they may ask about that.”

The chatter thinned because the truck halted at Tribal Council, the present’s major gathering spot. It was noon. The torches have been chilly, the fireplace pit was empty, and the set, newly constructed for Season 50, was larger and deeper within the jungle than within the earlier seasons. Seventy-four phoenix statues stood sentinel. “It’s all about rebirth,” Zach Jensen defined. One fan knelt to stroke the prop grass.

Jeff Probst emerged from a marble labyrinth, arms aloft, dimples twinkling. “Welcome to Tribal Council,” he mentioned. Even in off-camera garments (black T-shirt, grey shorts, sneakers), he had a robust presence, scanning every face earlier than he spoke once more. He laughed. “To date, the gamers have been awestruck once they stroll in,” he mentioned. “Type of like you might be. However it’s tempered shortly once we sit down and I say, ‘However it’s going to be the demise of certainly one of you tonight.’ ”

That intestine drop got here for the competition winners on the ultimate cease, the “Survivor” problem subject. The group had simply polished off a giant buffet lunch, however the afternoon was about to take a Darwinian flip.

“There’s no obligation to run, no embarrassment right here,” Probst informed them, sounding extra like a hostage negotiator than a bunch. “You’re not taking part in for one million {dollars}.” Nonetheless, small speak stopped and fingers went clammy. They hadn’t realized that they have been to function dress-rehearsal stand-ins for the Season 50 contestants.

Briefly order, directed by Probst, the guests have been wobbling on large steadiness beams, a few toes above the bottom, every holding a ten-foot pole aloft, preventing to maintain large Ping-Pong balls from falling off the ends. One after the other, the poles dropped. Amongst agonized grunts and huffs, Probst narrated the fumbles. Then he boomed,“We’ve bought a winner!”

It was Jasmine Bacchus, the Brown grad who’d missed her likelihood years in the past, now a second-year J.D. and M.B.A. pupil at Harvard. Nonetheless locked in endurance-challenge pose, pole within the air, she had not heard Probst. Lastly, he whispered at her again, “It’s you.” Her pole dropped; tears flowed. The second performed simply as in an episode of the present. Probst stood nonetheless, arms folded, understanding that his job, in moments like these, is solely to not step on them. ♦