Spoilers for the Survivor Season 48 premiere: MAJOR CHANGES have appeared in the latest episode of the show

‘Survivor’ Premiere: Autistic Player Brings Ally to Tears in Powerful Moment

Spoiler Alert

CBS

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor Season 48 premiere.]

Survivor has had its share of neurodiverse players, but the Season 48 cast features what the show is calling its first openly autistic player. Eva Erickson, a 24-year-old PhD candidate, came into Survivor with a plan to divulge her neurodiversity to one ally to start, and if circumstances forced her to open up more, she would. She fears telling more people about her autism because, as she describes it, they could try to take advantage of her struggles with social cues and difficulty to catch someone in a lie. But Eva quickly pinpointed her “ride or die” ally in the Season 48 premiere, which aired on Wednesday, February 26 on CBS, and as her ally said himself, “she came to the right person, 100 percent.” This moment of connection resulted in a powerful confessional interview from contestant Joe Hunter, who was deeply honored by Eva’s show of vulnerability and trust.

“I was diagnosed when I was very young, just over a year old. Having autism gives me a lot of great strengths for the game, as well as some blatant weaknesses. Weaknesses, for sure, are social cues,” Eva said in the premiere as footage showed her gathering bamboo for the Lagi (purple) tribe. “I don’t know when someone’s lying to me. I’m a very direct person, and I expect others to be direct with me, and they’re not going to be in this game. But on the flip side, my autism makes me so driven.”

One driving force was finding her “ride or die” so they could start strategizing together. Eva chose Joe, 45, a fire captain and dad who’s playing to inspire his kids and himself. Her choice was driven by the player who made her feel the most comfortable without even trying. She pitched their partnership, to which he quickly agreed, and then waited until later in the day to share her diagnosis, explaining that she’s “never seen it as a roadblock” but the world told her family it would be.

“When I was a little kid, they told my mom I would never live independently, that I would never hold a job, that at most they could hope that I would marry someone with autism as well,” Eva shared. But her parents raised her “to believe that this was not a problem, that this is not something bad or wrong with you. You just have this thing and it makes you unique.” She explained that she’ll sometimes get overstimulated, and Joe asked how he can help in those moments. All she needs is for him to squeeze her hands to help her recenter. She said it’s going to be a “tough” game when she gets “fixated” on success and failures, and Joe was “honored” to be given her trust in this way. He was brought to tears in confessional.

“This is bigger than the game now and transcended it in a way that changed everything,” Joe said. “What if my daughter was here in that situation? I have made a decision. She’s with me. I got her.”

“As time goes on, and if something does happen, I will share it with everyone, but I don’t want someone to see my social skills as a thing that they can then take advantage of,” Eva further explained. As Joe replied, “I would absolutely love to help you with that situation.” They hugged, and Joe then told the cameras that their partnership was “meant to be.”

“I’m not gonna let her down. Even if that hurts my game, whatever. If I gotta go home early, I’m not gonna let her down.”

Jeff Probst told us that Survivor 48 is defined by partnerships. Eva and Joe’s just became our favorite.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS