Likes:
Mari and Hannah forming the Freaks and Geeks alliance. Mari was my preseason favorite, so I'm really thrilled that she's working to undermine the Triforce right out of the gate. Hannah seems like a pretty sharp player, gives me definitive Aubry or Sophie vibes, but without the traits I disliked in both of them. I hope she'll wind up making a big impact on the game.
Michelle seems like a pretty competent player, and she seems to know how to work her faith and trustworthiness into a decent position. My hope is that she doesn't get dragged down by the Triforce if the F&G alliance wind up turning the tables on them. I could see her definitely getting together with Sunday (and potentially CeCe, who's also a pretty religious person) if they wind up on a tribe together.
Paul seems like a pretty cool old guy. The previews for next week make me worried that he might not be long for the game, but he got a pretty decent amount of airtime so I hope that he'll stick around for a while because he seems really interesting.
Adam seems pretty level-headed in comparison to the rest of his tribe, and he's a fanboy. I really hope he doesn't suffer from a lot of the typical fanboy mistakes, and actually gives us a good version of the archetype.
My pre-season read on Zeke turned out to be way off. He didn't come across as nearly as arrogant or jaded as his pre-show interview made him seem to me, and even though he accomplished some pretty amazing stuff he didn't get full of himself or start patting himself on the back. I really hope that he maintains that attitude, because he was by far one of the best parts of the episode.
The facial expressions from Bret, Lucy, and Michaela in the background of a lot of scenes really made the show for me. Bret initially seemed pretty generic to me, but I find him really entertaining and I hope he can provide some good entertainment. Lucy constantly looks like she is completely sick of putting up with everyone's BS, and I love it. I hope that we get some snarky confessionals out of her soon. Michaela seems like a largely untapped source of potential, so I'd love to see more of her in the days to come.
Dislikes:
Rachel just seemed kind of weird, and not nearly as savvy as she seemed like she might be in the pre-game. I think she could have been really entertaining, on par with Alecia, if she'd been given more time, and it's unfortunate that we lost her this early.
Taylor creeps me the hell out. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that he's married? If so, his obsession with Figgy is pretty disturbing and uncomfortable to watch. Even if that turns out not to be correct, he's still obnoxious and I don't enjoy him at all.
Jay also seems like kind of a meathead, albeit slightly smarter than Taylor. I hope that he'll distance himself from the Triforce and bring something interesting to the table, but if he flames out early I won't be too upset about it.
David was one of my pre-show favorites, and I really wanted to see how a guy with that little muscle mass could do out there. His ineptitude at the survival aspects of the game is interesting, and I think he's got potential for a great underdog arc if he can pull himself together, but it's almost cringeworthy to watch him fall apart over and over.
And an obligatory dislike for the lack of proper cast photos. C'mon, CBS.