Survivor is now 90 minutes and the expanded episodes are the best thing to happen to the show

With Survivor season 45 having just aired its third episode, longtime fans may have been wondering, "Wait, how long is Survivor?" after the reality show premiered in September with longer-than-usual 90-minute episodes. But after this week's extra-dramatic episode, it looks like the expanded runtime is a hit with fans, including yours truly. 

The Wednesday, October 11, episode proved to be yet another busy one for the Lulu tribe, who are down to four teammates after being sent to the Tribal Council two episodes in a row. This week, thankfully, they get some positive vibes after winning the reward challenge, earning not only a beautiful bounty of fresh fruit but also the opportunity for one Lulu tribe member to go raid either the Reba or Belo camps. The tribe chooses Kaleb to act as their proxy and he boats over to the Reba tribe to take stock of their goods. 

However, it's not the only thing he's after — Kaleb wants to schmooze the rest of the castaways in the Survivor season 45 cast after discovering a Goodwill Advantage, a power play that will let him gift a vote to someone who has lost theirs on the Reba tribe. "Kaleb comes in peace but he's definitely a player," Julie says. "The thing he wanted, which is so smart, is information." After conversing with the tribemates individually, he decides to give the advantage to Drew because "he's here to play." 

While Kaleb is trying to make alliances outside of the Lulu tribe, a new alliance seems to be forming between his own teammates. "I know I do not want to stick with Kaleb at the end," Sabiyah tells Sean, saying she's rethinking their strategy to take out Emily next. "I’m wondering if it's better for us to get an obvious threat out first," she tells him. 

The duo then enlist Emily to vote out Kaleb if they end up having to go to Tribal Council again, which — spoiler alert — they do after Team Lulu loses the immunity challenge for a third time. And here's where the newly 90-minute episode runtime comes in handy: with that extra half hour, Survivor fans get more time to see the inter-dynamics brewing between the tribemates, as well as the slow-burn set-up for some truly masterful gameplay. 

We get to see an overly confident Sabiyah throw her wax idol into the fire the minute she arrives at the Tribal Council.  We get to see Emily and Kaleb secretly switch up Team Lulu's elimination strategy to save both of their butts. We get to see Sabiyah decide to actually not use her idol and instead forgo her vote to save that power play for later in the game. And then we get to see the sheer shock when it's not Emily or Kaleb at all who is voted off the island, but a blindsided Sabiyah. 

"I didn’t think I'd be here this early, Jeff, I ain't gonna lie," she announces as her torch is burned out. And neither did we!

How long is Survivor 45? Fans are loving expanded episodes

This writer isn't the only one who is enjoying the expanded episodes of Survivor season 45. Here's what viewers are saying on social media: 

New episodes of Survivor season 45 air Wednesday on CBS at 8 pm ET/PT, then are available to watch on-demand on Paramount Plus.