Survivor’s 41st season promises “A New Era,” but bears the scars of the old one
The season's cast shows promise, while the series' host/producer shows his ass
TV Reviews Survivor
Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to Survivor’s first-ever production stoppage and its longest time off the air, it was already at a transitional moment. Its last season, “Winners at War,” capped off two decades of outlasting, outwitting, and outplaying with an overstuffed celebration of the show’s legacy, but that season was preceded by the severe lapses from production in the handling of sexual assault and harassment on “Island of the Idols,” which we were promised would be addressed in the 41st season of the show set to be filmed last Spring.
We’ll never know what that version of Season 41—which was no doubt deep into casting and pre-production—would have looked like, but the post-COVID version we’re getting suggests that Jeff Probst and the team of producers at Survivor decided during the pandemic that the game needed change. Some of those changes were dictated by higher powers: last November, CBS committed to inclusive casting in its reality shows, with 50% of each show’s cast required to be BIPOC individuals. And other changes, like a shift to a 26-day game, were the result of pandemic-era safety procedures and quarantine rules. But as “A New Era” goes on, it becomes clear that Probst and co. have seized on the opportunity to pile up a seemingly unending series of twists and turns that disrupt the players’—and the audience’s—understanding of how Survivor works.
As he delivers his opening spiel, Probst—who, if you are unaware, has over the years taken control of the production of the show in addition to hosting—talks about how their “tiny little social experiment has evolved” over time, and it reinforced that for me the central struggle among Survivor fans has been whether “evolution” is the right word for what has happened to the game. Personally, evolution is an inherently natural process, and yet what has happened with Survivor in the second half of its existence—give or take—has been anything but that. For some time, a good season of Survivor feels like it is happening in spite of the game and its producers, whose efforts to flood the game with idols and complicate eliminations with elements like Edge of Extinction have largely detracted from my enjoyment of the casts involved, and eroded my trust in the producers (whereas my trust in Probst as a host has been minimal since his early days of embedded sexism and was more or less disappeared in season 39).
And so the 41st season—it’s weird not to have a tagline to call it by, huh?—manifests as a fascinating push and pull between the various forces operating both behind-the-scenes and in front of the cameras (which we now occasionally see, for some reason). With a full two hours allotted to the first days of the game due to the shortened 26-day competition, “A New Era” uses some of its twists to deliver great early game strategizing, and plenty of time to really delve into the cast and make them seem like a group of people that I’ll be excited to see play this game. But as the twists pile up, there’s always this nagging feeling that around the corner will be the producers tripping over themselves, or Probst stumbling his way through an impossibly messy attempt to navigate the consequences of his actions in Season 39. And while it’s nothing new for long-time Survivor fans to live in this space of ambivalence, this season’s insistence that it’s a whole new game—and the fact so long since the show was on the air—makes the whole exercise more fraught this time around even if I came out the other side encouraged about the season’s cast.
Because I need to cool down before I rant about Probst’s behavior in this episode, let’s focus on the cascading set of interventions producers made during the premiere, which for the most part resulted in positive outcomes. The choice to use a first challenge to determine which of the three tribes—Ua (Green), Yase (Yellow), and Luvu (Blue)—earned their initial camp supplies creates an immediate chance to see team dynamics with actual stakes, while also generating immediate conflict at the other camps as two players isolated themselves from the group to complete the “Sweat” option of lugging water to earn their machete and flint. It’s smart storytelling because while the separation breeds suspicion—and Naseer does catch Danny and Deshawn searching for an idol at Luvu—it still allows for either the pair lugging water or the other players left at camp to bond, share stories, and interact while stakes are still fairly low. One of the central priorities of many Survivor twists is to “start the game” immediately, and thinking back on those efforts this was one of the most successful, even if by the time we reached tribal council the “gameplay” that emerged from this didn’t end up mattering.
This was followed up by a variation on the show’s common tactic of isolating castaways in the first episode to generate further suspicion, with one member of each tribe being sent on a group journey up a hill and then facing a “Prisoner’s Dilemma” situation where they choose whether to protect or risk their vote, with positive or negative consequences depending on how their choices align. Based on how things shake out—Luvu’s Danny is the only one who chooses to protect his vote, meaning that Yase’s Xander and Ua’s JD each earned an extra vote to use later in the game—it didn’t really impact the results of the first tribal councils, but it was again a good chance to closely interact with three players, and to then see their reactions play out back at camp. I was particularly impressed with Xander, who managed to frame his choice to risk his vote as a decision for the tribe since it could be used after the merge, and had some interesting things to say about the mental toil of lying right before we saw JD lying to his tribe about choosing “protect.” It’s good storytelling, even if it ends up mattering more for the future than for what plays out here.
The other twists emerge at the Immunity Challenge, where we learn that only one tribe will be able to win immunity while there are three tribes, and that there are additional penalties beyond going to tribal council for the losing tribes. I’m fine with the former twist—which I presumed, to be honest, given the shortened game—while the latter gives me pause. I’m with former A.V. Club Survivor correspondent Carrie Raisler in that I’m not sure that I actually want Survivor to be “dangerous,” so the idea of combining the lack of rice with the loss of flint when you lose an early immunity challenge—I expect the penalties to maybe change over time—strikes me as overkill. It’s already harder to win immunity when you’re down one person, and so to add an additional penalty seems like the “twist” in this episode that has the most chance of impacting the balance of the game on a broad level starting next week.
On an individual level, though, the “Shot in the Dark” dice—where you can risk your vote for a 1 in 6 chance of earning immunity—is the biggest addition to the game, and becomes the only twist that really changes the tenor of the end of this episode. Despite all of production’s intervention, the decisions at the first tribal council come down to age-old debates over “keeping the tribe strong” and holding people accountable for their poor puzzle skills in the first challenge. With Luvu winning immunity, Yase heads to tribal council after a disastrous puzzle showing, but Abraham’s insistence on booting Tiffany for “tribe strength” runs afoul of the group’s investment in “tribe vibe,” which felt like a satisfying rejection of a very masculinized notion of how to play Survivor. And although JD received a truly insane edit in this episode where he got both a superfan arc and a “Survivor helped me survive being bullied” sob story which made it seem inevitable he would be going home first after his tribe wasn’t having any of it, the tribe devolved into a series of whispered plan changes (I repeat my belief they should not be allowed to get up out of their seats). This brought the “Shot in the Dark” option into play for puzzle failure Sara, and while she ultimately opted not to roll the dice, the fact it came up at all plants the seed for the season’s uncertain future.
That uncertainty has been a reality of Survivor for years now, which means that seasons fully come down to how much we’re willing to watch this particular group of castaways suffer through a series of frustrations. And for the most part, Season 41 excites me, because this seems like a good group of people that the premiere does a lot of great work highlighting both through their personal stories—which in a production change involved a lot more photos and videos of their past experiences—and their game interactions. The extra-long premiere gives some larger profiles—Tiffany’s “Previvor” status, Ricard’s family, JD’s bullying, Sara’s grandmother who was lost to COVID—but generally reveals the cast to be diverse and engaging, and when combined with the core strengths of the show that no amount of twists can ever fully destroy I’m excited to see how this season will play out.
But then there’s Jeff Probst. Jeff, I’m going to speak to you directly here, not because I think you’re reading this, but because you kept talking to the camera and directly asking for our feedback, and so it only seems fair to return the favor. You are the person in charge of Survivor, which means that everything that happened in Season 39 was done under your watch, and we saw your failures to address those problems play out in how Dan’s behavior was handled. More pressingly, though, we also saw how the edit of the show worked to position you as the mediator, and bought into your belief—stated in numerous interviews—that your inane tribal council moderation was somehow generating meaningful change on issues of sexism and racism, instead of just being you patting yourself on the back for “having a conversation” despite having been in a position to keep that conversation from having to happen in the first place.
And while there may well have been changes behind the scenes in production that will keep any of these players from going through what Kellee did in Season 39, the bare minimum that I expected from you was some self-awareness about how the power dynamics of the real world are amplified by the power dynamics of the game, and to acknowledge that simply letting that play out as a “social experiment” is a danger to the players involved. And then, moments into the beginning of the game as the three tribes prepared for their first challenge, you proceed to take a moment to perform your purported self-reflection, and reveal that you’ve been thinking about your use of gender-exclusive language—”Come on in, guys!”—when you begin a challenge. For a brief moment, I was pleased to see you stepping forward to make a gesture toward change: sure, it’s a small thing, but I’ll take any signal I can get that you’ve recognized how your own power over the game and its players might shape the hierarchies of gender that resonate throughout.
And then you decided to throw it out to the eighteen players who just spent two weeks in quarantine anxious about playing Survivor whether they think it’s okay if you keep saying guys.
It was an embarrassing display. I can’t even imagine what was going through the players’ heads when the host and producer of the show—who ultimately controls their entire edit, and thus how they will be perceived publicly and potentially subjected to all forms of discrimination—asks them to police his language on broadcast television. And I am sure those people felt very safe with you when, after one queer woman says that “guys” is fine, you decided that the fact no one else spoke up means that the issue is now formally decided, as though you just held a global tribunal on sexism. For you to act as though this was some type of democratic decision, as opposed to a group of nervous castaways whose fate is in your hands struggling with how to address something they had no reason to think they would need to have an opinion on, is precisely the kind of attitude that Season 39 revealed as a problem. And yet somehow you chose to see this perpetuation of those problems as a solution, which is unfortunately par for the course with you.
And yes, Jeff, I am aware you spent the last two paragraphs trying to interrupt me to remind me that at the immunity challenge, this narrative had a twist of its own: Ua’s Ricard, who I presume had spoken to a producer about his desire to say something given that you called on him directly, stepped up to say that he had been thinking on it more, and that it’s weird to keep using gender-exclusive language in a season where Survivor is more inclusive than ever. This was particularly fitting coming from Ricard given that his family narrative involves his pregnant transgender husband, a detail that I feel certain would have either been excluded from his narrative or precluded him from being cast on the show before this season. It was an incredibly brave moment, and you acknowledged it as much…right before you insist that actually, you wanted to stop using “guys” the whole time, so this is perfect.
Where do you get off, Jeff Probst? How do you have the gall to stand there as if you couldn’t have just said “I’m going to stop using guys in order to do my part to make the show more inclusive” and been done with it? Instead, you forced a gay man with a transgender husband—who is already going to be subjected to so much transphobic bullshit—to be the “villain,” and while you insisted that it was your decision and directly told angry people to tweet at you instead, you could have avoided the entire situation by just making a unilateral decision and telling the viewers who think it’s “woke” to avoid gender-exclusive language that they can suck it.
Of course, I know why you didn’t do that. You believe that you alone are America’s mediator who can create dialogue among average Americans. It’s precisely this hubristic bullshit that created problems with racism and sexism in the past, and it has the same result: by presenting it as a conversation to avoid suggesting that the show is making unilaterally “woke” decisions, you exposed your players to unnecessary vitriol. And while you were self-aware about those people’s anger when you turned to the camera and the editors flashed your Twitter handle onscreen, you still lack the self-awareness to realize you are continuing to fail the marginalized cast members every time you treat the real-life discrimination they face like it’s a sociological theory instead of a lived reality.
I’m glad that you’re telling Ricard’s story honestly, and that you eventually did make the decision to hear his concern and reverse course on using “guys” even if some people might not think it’s a big deal. But none of this was necessary. You are the show’s producer. You have the power to make these decisions, and you have control over how they echo among the show’s fanbase. It says so much that you believe four words you say before challenges are so vital to the Survivor experience that you couldn’t make that decision unilaterally, and that you failed to recognize that the subsequent dialogue would take a series of inevitable “I was hoping this woke bs wouldn’t affect my favourite show ever”—this is a real tweet, regrettably by a fellow Canadian—tweets and allow them to actively target a queer man for being “responsible” for what should have a choice you made off-camera to begin with (and yes, that tweet does position Ricard as a villain, because of course it does).
You invited those close-minded people to tweet at you, but the fact you thought that people like me wouldn’t be equally furious is enough evidence for me to say that the lessons you took from your experience in season 39 failed to go beyond the surface. In a premiere that promised “A New Era,” you proved that you’re still stuck in an old one, no matter what four words you decide to start challenges with in the future.
And given that both Seasons 41 and 42 are already in the can, I can’t say I’m looking forward to another 25 episodes of your bullshit.
Stray observations
- Sorry to everyone who is not Jeff Probst for that sadly necessary diversion. I didn’t want you to have to all hear that, but it wouldn’t fit in a tweet.
- In case you were hoping this indicates that we’re returning to regular coverage of Survivor, alas no. But the current plan is to drop-in at mid-season—probably the merge, but I suppose the game might be changing too much for that to be a mid-point—and then again for the finale, provided there’s interest.
- The choice to show the camera crew was mostly innocuous: it seemed to be an effort to emphasize that the crew was also part of the joy of bringing back the game, but it didn’t really resonate after that given that they still avoided showing the production apparatus in wide shots of challenges and of tribal council.
- That said, I appreciate a reality show really emphasizing COVID’s impact on the players and on the production, given that other reality shows have tried to create a “COVID-free world” in order to remain escapist. This very much felt like it understood our current reality of living through the second year of the pandemic.
- It doesn’t actually really come into play in the episode, but it seems like the “Beware Advantage” has replaced Hidden Immunity Idols at camp, at least for the time being. Tiffany almost finds the one at Yase’s camp that Probst hid in the opening, which the camera operators and editors have a lot of fun with.
- The scene where the composers turn Shan’s inner deviousness soundtrack into part of the actual score is one of my favorite bits of production playfulness in the show’s history, right up with the way they kept changing Debbie’s job chyron every time she brought up some insane thing she allegedly did. Great stuff.
- I am curious if anyone with young kids did any of the “Game Within The Game” stuff. Given the challenge level of the word scramble that proceeded once I solved the puzzle that appeared onscreen, it would seem the target audience for this is about 7, and I’m doubtful if this actually changes the accessibility of the show as a whole if they have this entry point? But let me know.
- “Young people typically don’t do that good on Survivor”—this isn’t expressly true, as many have done extremely well, but it’s true they sometimes struggle to win. Whereas JD’s edit seemed to be the most ominous, this actually proved to be more of an issue for Sara, whose youth may have contributed to the lack of social connections that spared Shan the same fate despite sharing puzzle responsibility.
- While the longer premiere meant that we got a pretty good grasp on more players than usual, it also feels like the game’s desire to keep adding new layers of gameplay will make it hard to predict who has a chance to go far, given the larger number of variables. I remain suspicious of how front-loaded JD’s narrative was, whereas Xander—who had a lot of gameplay involvement here, and also has an extra vote—was notably given absolutely no back story beyond his app developer job, which makes me feel like he’ll be around for a while.
- As always, would love to hear who you’re rooting for, and what you’re connecting with this season. And if you want to discuss future episodes we’re not covering, hit me up on Twitter.
30 Comments
Appreciate the Survivor coverage, even if its just periodic drop ins! Look forward to reading it.
Same!
Whew, mercy, it seems some folks have VERY intense feelings about this show. However, as they say, “get woke, go broke” so probably gonna be some very dismal ratings this year, ESPECIALLY since they seem to think viewers need even more “let’s continue to panic over Covid” television to watch, ffs.But I have to admit that the network’s “we’re all woke now” decision is especially hilarious considering that show has been based on a Western fantasy of colonization since the very first episode. First, every single contestant (and camera crew and the host) is a Westerner brought in to an indigenous land, and not one of them even bothers to learn the local language(s). Second, these Westerners steal a few indigenous words to name their “tribe,” which isn’t set up like a real tribe at all (real tribes involve mutual support, not backstabbing and betrayals). Third, the fancy Westerners all pretend to “survive” the “barbaric lands of the dusty natives” while eating imported food that they sure as hell didn’t grow, hunt, or gather themselves. Fourth, the fake “tribes” all work to find “idols” that are mock versions of indigenous sacred objects.Could it REALLY get any more imperial than that? Sweet baby jesus, might as well slap on the blackface and be done with it.
As much as I agree that this show has a history of being problematic at times, equating it to blackface is an insult both to the show and undermines the actual legitimate despicable harm of blackface. I mean Jesus Christ man
Can you name one time when going woke has meant going broke?
I can only think of folks who tanked their careers by turning into right-wing shitbags
It’s not even right wing. Clint Eastwood has been a well known conservative for a thousand years or so and is still a legend, he’s just avoided doing anything racist outside of creating Gran Torino.
a fun challenge is go to the twitter accounts of the fabled “they” who say “go woke, go broke” and see how many times they’ve said the n-word. More than once, usually!
“Waddaya want from me?” -Jeff Probst
If I was going on Survivor, I’d learn to start a fire by rubbing sticks together.Seriously, it looks like a skill a normal person can learn, and if there was $1M riding on it, I’d put in the time. I’d work on it every day.
I like rolling the dice better than having dozens of idols, which I hope is the plan. I like a player to have some chance of winning when everybody gangs up on a player, especially when it’s for a stupid reason.I though JD was going home with an extra vote in his pants.
I think it was Cochran who said at a reunion (probably Caramoan) that before he went on the show he had read an interview Jeff had done where he said “If you come on Survivor and you haven’t already learned how to make fire, you’re crazy.” (or something like that) So Cochran had spent weeks learning how to make fire before going on Caramoan.I mean, unless you’re drafted off the street with no prep time, it’s pretty incompetent for players not to practice making fire at home. Especially now that they have the final 4 fire challenge.It was Lauren in the Island of the Idols season who got to the final 4 and was upset when she was picked as one of the two people who would have to make fire. She literally said that she didn’t know how to make fire and had never done it the entire game. She didn’t expect to win the final 4 challenge (I don’t think she won any individual challenges) but she expected to be the person who was brought to the final 4 by whomever won that challenge. I remember her acting almost insulted that she would have to make fire here. I had been enjoying her that season (hey, it was a low bar, with such a dark and terrible season) but that reaction really soured me on her.
Yeah. It’s like NBA players that can barely make half their freethrows.It’s a part of the game you have complete control over. Learn to do it.
Love the coverage, and especially love the very well-thought-out criticism of Probst’s performative bullcrap that redirects the anger of conservative lunatics onto a player rather than himself as he tries to stir up controversy and get publicity and headlines. (That renews my nasty suspicion that someone in production prodded Jeff Varner in season 34 into outing Zeke as well.)Despite this revolting mess from Probst, I liked this episode, and I like this cast so far. And I’m glad that the “shot in the dark” dice twist seems to be pretty even-handed and not overpowered in favor of any one player. If you want to see real game-breaking twists that’ll make you appreciate U.S. Survivor more, check out Australian Survivor season 6, which just dropped on Paramount Plus in the U.S. with absolutely no fanfare. It’s a really good season in spite of the producers’ and editors’ terrible choices. (Skip to 1 minute and 35 seconds into the first episode to avoid spoilers for previous Aussie Survivor seasons in a completely pointless bit of filler recap.)
Jeff Varner…I just finished watching Survivor Outback with my son who had never seen it and Jeff Varner is/was an asshole. He’s perfectly capable of outing Zeke on his own.
I was a huge fan of the show for the first several seasons. I tried out many times to no avail. But when players began to repeat and idols began to screw with format I began losing interest. Multiple repeating “All Stars” finished me off.
But I was thinking of picking it up again – until I read this piece. Holy shit, can producers muck it up any more? I couldn’t even keep track of all this manipulative bullshit when it was written down in front of me.
You’d think Probst slapped your mother lol.
There is interest in more Survivor coverage, at least from me 🙂
My husband was a big survivor fan before I even really knew him, and we enjoyed watching together for most of the last decade or so, but I had to stop after the Kellee/Dan incident. And it’s frustrating but not surprising to hear that things are more or less the same – casting efforts may have improved, but Probst is still the same jackass as always.
I find it interesting that in a sentence where you admonish Jeff for not using gender-inclusive language you use the term… “suck it.”Anyway! I loved the episode. Really glad they spent more time focusing on the characters and I’m glad they do the character flashback things — that’s a pretty cool addition. Not sure about the twists yet but I guess we’ll see how that plays out. I like that two tribes who don’t win immunity have to vote someone off, I think that’s a nice touch. Excited for the new season!
I do not at all understand the Beware Advantage. Also does this mean no hidden idols at all? Did they clarify that?I did really like the change to include some back story and “real-life” footage (in quotes because the one lady being excited about being chosen and then the neurosurgeon dude in his scrubs in the hallway both seemed staged).
I’m guessing it’s just a double-edged sword. It will help you and hurt you at the same time.
Just recently watched the first two seasons of Survivor and the Jeff from Season 1 and 2 is VASTLY different than Jeff 41. Which is to be expected but he’s almost like a WWE wrestler at this point. And yet I like him.The only thing I had against him in this episode is that by changing his mind after Ricard voiced his displeasure about “C’mon in guys”, it made Evvie look kind of stupid. She took a “risk” (not necessarily on the island but now/social media) by saying the old way was fine. And then a fellow LGBTQ cast member kind of one ups her? Like Ricard’s opinion means more than Evvie’s? The whole thing was just weird.
And maybe because I’m an old school watcher…I don’t like the inclusion of the camera crew and I don’t like the flashbacks to the player’s lives back home. IMHO, it’s just not necessary and takes me out of the show. I’m not sure if Covid is a good enough reason for it but whatever.
As of right now, I’m rooting for Danny, Voce and Evvie. Shantal and Xander could be fun.
Brad looks like he could be Bill Walton’s son.
The only thing I had against him in this episode is that by changing his mind after Ricard voiced his displeasure about “C’mon in guys”, it made Evvie look kind of stupid.I respectfully disagree. This is more of a “reasonable people can disagree”/”not a monolith” situation than one-upmanship or trumping. Brad looks like he could be Bill Walton’s son.100%, that made me happy.
Big picture, I agree with you about it being a “reasonable people can disagree” but in the moment, it felt to me like Probst was (I’m assuming not consciously) minimizing Evvie. I think there was even a reaction shot of her looking down, like she was kind of pissed or embarrassed? I don’t know, maybe I viewed it wrong but that was my takeaway. And I’m not saying Ricard was one upping her, it was Probst’s reaction that was one upping her.I’m putting way too much thought into this.
I’m just not a fan of the fact that only one person was vocal both times and that was enough.Especially because why is Ricard’s opinion more valuable that Evvie’s, when it should be the opposite, as far as this situation goes.
I dunno, I figure the person married to a pregnant transman might also have some valuable insight to share on the subject of language and gender.Regardless, in a group setting like this, if anyone voices discomfort with a label, the respectful thing to do is to rephrase what you’re saying. It’s not a matter of one side “winning” or “losing”.More importantly, I would point out that Jeff Probst could never say the phrase “C’mon on in” again for the rest of his life, and it wouldn’t really matter. The whole topic felt random and weird.
– Apart from putting a target square onto Ricard for the whole “guys” thing, my biggest objection was that it was framed as a form of social veto outside the confines of the game. The game itself has built-in forms of anti-democracy (advantages, idols, and the new “Shot in the Dark”), but in general discourse, it scanned as petty and unnecessary to frame the whole situation as Ricard objecting after the fact and getting his way, which also turned out to be Probst’s way thanks to the magic of bullshit. My initial reaction was one of knee-jerk anger, but that’s because I live in California, where we just wasted half the year and a quarter-billion dollars on an irrational, vocal minority deciding they could undo an election just because they were pissed at the result, so I’m a bit sensitive to the idea of one person coming in after the fact to change a decision that’s been made. I love this show, but they do know how to push the buttons, and I fully admit that I had to pause my record and process both scenes for a while before I understood what was really going on (I’m far from perfect; I’m trying to be better, please don’t jump down my throat). I personally think the use of the word, “guys” is innocuous and there’s absolutely no ill-intent behind it (I would never dismiss Ricard’s point of view, because his lived experience is vastly different than mine, and I’m certain there was no bad intent behind his speaking up, either), but I also have no problem chucking it. My issue is, if Probst really wanted to change his script, he could have just done so without announcing it, and almost no one would have noticed. And those who did would either scream anti-woke bullshit or just note, “Huh, they changed his host copy? That’s new,” and left it at that. I don’t necessarily think there’s as much intentionally performative bullshit here as you say, more that they were trying to fill two hours and this was the “best” they could come up with, but either way, the presentation was awful.- That said, the rest of the episode was quite good. The edit suggests a strong strategic presence from the women (particularly Shan and Tiffany) over the men, which is always welcome. Though personally I’m currently rooting for Voce, because he looks like a “Survivor” version of Leonard Hofstadter and has the brains to go with it.- Probst did say the “Game Within Game” was meant for “younger fans,” so I’m presuming children, but I’ll admit, it was fun to play along and have Probst pose the strategic dilemma as a teaser for the next episode. If nothing else, I give the show credit for finally trying to insert some at-home value to the show. As for the strategic lesson itself, obviously there’s a lot of context needed due to tribe and game dynamics, but in a vacuum, I’d be okay with floating my name as a decoy because I feel like I could work it to my advantage, particularly in a season where they appear to be emphasizing the idea of risk/reward. A savvy player can easily spin the situation to their favor and sell it like they’re putting themselves out there for the tribe at a danger to themselves, and thus use it to call in IOUs or promote their social game before the jury at the end. Xander’s explanation of the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” was a great example of this.- Along those lines, I’m wondering if this means that the overall tone of the show may shift along with the casting. Since the beginning the show has cast models and hotbodies for sex appeal, even though they concede that even the most gorgeous contestant stinks to high heaven after three days and is covered in so much dirt and grime that there shouldn’t be anything inherently sexual about the game. Yet it happens more often than not, and showmances definitely become a thing (and of course, Rob and Amber). But if the “GWG” twist is truly geared towards children, maybe this means the show will – in addition to its inclusion quotas – get away from trying to sexualize the contestants in general, and thus get in the habit of casting real people with non-sculpted bodies again. This cast seems to be a step in the right direction on that front, and I can only hope that this means there will never again be a “Brains v. Brawn v. Beauty” season.- I liked the idea of the first challenge, but I don’t like the idea of taking a reward back if you lose immunity. Especially since Ua already won their flint fair and square and then had to give it up. Once you’ve earned something, you should keep it. That said, I was never in favor of just giving the losing tribe flint after the first Tribal Council. I feel there should have been some means where they had to earn it, like the Savvy v. Sweat task, which had a really clever early-interaction dynamic to it. But yeah, once they have something, it’s kind of bullshit to take it away unless they do something grievously wrong to deserve it, like when they have to give up a tarp or something for more food when they run out. Failure to win a challenge that only one of three tribes can win doesn’t count.- Mind you, all three tribes made grievous errors that caused them to lose challenges in this episode, so maybe it could be justified. If you can’t unclip a boat, should you really be trusted with blades and fire? I don’t know.- The emphasis on having tribes of six was harped on a lot in this episode, but it’s nothing new. It’s been done six times before (starting with the first All-Star season), and in two other seasons (Cook Islands and Exile Island) the game began with four tribes of even fewer players. Also, many recent seasons start with two tribes of nine or ten before swapping into three tribes of six (or five), so I don’t know why this is a big deal. Sure, the game calendar is accelerated, but that really doesn’t have a bearing on initial tribe size.- The “Shot in the Dark” is a fun twist as an idea, but will most likely have no real impact. As Voce pointed out, it’s a 16.7% chance of success, which is small enough to not create contingency plans until post-merge. If anything, I think it was just created to introduce an infinitesimal bit of drama into early votes where the outcome is all but assured by giving them a Hail Mary and eliminating that throwaway vote for someone else that hasn’t mattered since they changed the tie-breaker rules to no longer count previous votes against.- However, the twist could be interesting if the dice can be used as bargaining chips or collected by players. For example, say you and your allies go to a merge of 12 or 13, and you only have six votes on your side. At best you’ve got a tie-breaker situation, but you could be in the minority. Using that strategic conundrum Probst poses in GWG, say you let your side use you as a decoy to draw votes, but they all give you their dice, so that you have six. At that point, you have a de facto immunity idol. If you can convince one vote to flip or go for a throwaway option, you’ve just turned the entire game to your favor, and it’s a huge risk because six people have to surrender their vote to do so, so lines are instantly drawn. I’m guessing there’s some rule that makes this an impossibility, but until I hear otherwise, I’m going to play scenarios, which has always been the fun of this show, and any season that can get the wheels turning this early definitely has potential.- In general I’m against video packages on contestants, because for the most part they just eat up screen time and are manipulative as hell. If you watch “Ninja Warrior,” you know exactly what I’m talking about, as half the show consists of these packages, many of which last longer than their actual run on the course. Here though, it’s alright, because they’re trying to frame it like everyone on this season is already a “survivor” in one form or another, no matter how far they go in the game.- That said, when they gave Tiffany two packages, I got a huge vibe of Tina from Exile Island, who had the most tragic backstory ever only to be the first one voted out. I also figured Brad was dead to rights because he looked like Marquesas Peter. Seriously, I was waiting for him to start talking about holes.- Seeing the crew was fun, since this has always been one of the biggest productions in unscripted TV, and working in the industry myself, it’s one of the hardest gigs to get, because once you’re in, you’re in but good until you choose to leave, and very few do so. So including the wider shots here not only had the overt affect of reassurance and comfort food for an American institution, but it also gave that more subtle family vibe to the industry workers who had to go without their steady gig for the last year and had to go back to the hustle of finding other work.- As fun as all this looks, there will be a part of me that wishes that this was the “Back to Basics” season, starting a “New Era” by going back to the show’s roots. Basic game, minimal twists (I’d allow for one idol for the whole season, and you have to EARN it), and just solid gamers across the board. That doesn’t mean this won’t be a good run, but if ever there was a time to hit a reset button, this was it.- Do you think they called this “A New Era” to get an endorsement deal for Probst’s baseball caps?
Kudos to whoever on the production team scored actual music to match the pastor lady’s “scheming music in her head.” I can’t think of another Survivor character with her own motif.
Reading the view …Well, that escalated quickly.
My take:The most tiresomely predictable part of a first episode of Survivor is the big burly bros having the “We have to protect strength” conversation, usually joined by at least one woman who thinks she’s “one of the guys”(she never is). At least that only played out at one TC.Brad is a moron.Just like cops who revel in lying and treachery in the game(fuck you Tony), I have a big problem with a preacher doing the same. It’s one thing to do it, it’s another to revel in it when you have a career where the whole thing is trust.JD let himself get overexcited, and I bet he would admit that on watching it back. He was trying WAAYY to hard. He also needs to stop trying to BS people, he’s not as good at it as he thinks.