CBS’s Survivor is celebrating its 50th season with an all-returnee season, including legends of the game. 

The show strands castaways on an island, and every episode someone is voted out by their peers. One can win immunity by winning challenges or finding immunity idols. The show starts with everyone divided up into tribes, with one tribe being eligible for elimination, and after a certain point they merge into one tribe. Overall, it is a great test of wits and strength. 

Bernards graduate from the class of 1988,  Chrissy Hofbeck, is making her long awaited return to the island, as she is competing on Survivor’s celebratory 50th season. 

On her first season, Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, she played a very exciting and appealing game as she came in second place with 2 votes at the Final Tribal Council behind the eventual winner, Ben Driebergen, who won with 5 votes. She won 3 immunity challenges and played an action packed social game filled with advantages and great strategy. 

In the finale of her first season, she won immunity in a challenge to guarantee her spot into the final three, which is when the jury members of people who were previously voted out hold their own vote to choose the winner. After her immunity win, the Survivor production team controversially introduced a firemaking challenge instead of the traditional voting out process to have someone earn their way into the final three. The eventual winner, Ben, would complete the fire before his competition, Devon, to win his way into the final 3. This challenge severely benefitted Ben, as he was the favorite to win before the firemaking was introduced and it fit right into his skillset, as he won it in dominating fashion. He would then beat Chrissy in a 7-2 vote at the final tribal council. 

This ending is a hotly contested topic among Survivor fans, with many believing that Chrissy is the rightful winner because of this twist, which was giving Ben an obvious advantage due to his background as a former marine and his immense skills in nature, such as fire-making. If Ben was voted out in a traditional way like they had done in seasons past, many believe that Chrissy would have gone on to win the $1,000,000 prize. Because of this, many were excited to see Chrissy’s return to the island. 

An avid survivor fan and Bernards student Abby Renz said that, “It is great that our school is being represented on a show that I love so much”

As a smaller school, Bernards being represented on a national stage like this is not something that happens very often. 

Tyler Pace said, “I was a huge fan of her first game, and I am super excited to see her play again”

Chrissy along with 23 other legends of the game will face off to find the sole survivor.