I think the season is off to a confusing, but still promising start.
The weird over-sentimentality of it all is corny and misplaced, but I do appreciate that they seem to be legitimately trying to give every player a moment in the spotlight. The wokeness is being handled with all the subtly to be expected from CBS & Jeff Probst, but it should level out in time.
The biggest question mark for me is the strange and pointless fourth wall breaking, and the stylistic montage-y editing choices. The shot of the cameramen trekking up the hill for the exile challenge like...
I appreciate how hard it must be for the crew to lug around the equipment during scenes like that, but... what actually is the audience meant to gain from it's inclusion?
I think the cast is very promising, but it feels like there could be a lot of growing pains to this season similar to a season like Nicaragua, where coming after a major benchmark round-number season (and in this case COVID) is going to result in some misfires.