‘Survivor’ Is Ruining the Game With Advantages — Opinion, Season 41

• I love “Survivor,” but the new season has too many advantages and twists.
• CBS is wasting its screen time by explaining advantages instead of showing us the social game.
• The show doesn’t need “fun” advantages to be entertaining.

I’m a superfan of “Survivor,” but the newest season has left me disappointed.

Although I’ll still tune in for every episode, many of the new twists on season 41 have completely changed the game — and not necessarily for the better.

For better and worse, this season is unlike any other 

 

Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images

Before season 41, “Survivor” was off the air for over 500 days — its longest break yet — due the coronavirus pandemic.

Upon its return, fans were told to “Drop the 4, but keep the 1” as the show ushered in a new era. And it’s clear a lot of changes have been made.

This season has no strict theme or tagline, like “Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers” or “Winners at War.” This is also the first season under CBS’s new diversity promise, where at least 50% of the cast must be Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Contestants also only compete for 26 days instead of the usual 39 due to COVID-19 quarantine times.

These changes have been beneficial, with the first two allowing for the most diverse cast of characters to ever play the game. Plus the shorter season has caused the pace of gameplay to accelerate, making it more exciting.

But not every change has been a good one.

During the show’s downtime, the production team had a long period to brainstorm new ideas for gameplay.

Host and executive producer Jeff Probst told the New York Times in September that one of his biggest focuses for this season was to make it “fun.” He said “literally every single idea” they had “went through one filter: Is it fun?”

A significant amount of ideas must have made it through the “fun” filter because this season is jam-packed with more advantages, twists, and consequences than ever.

Instead of showcasing the social game, season 41 is wasting time explaining countless advantages and twists 

 

Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images

On the season premiere, viewers watched tribes decide what kind of task to complete to earn their starter materials and saw three castaways meet a prisoner’s dilemma over risking their votes. On that same episode, we learned that anyone could now give up their tribal-council vote by taking a “Shot in the Dark” for a one-in-six chance at immunity.

All but one of the first seven episodes have featured a decision that resulted in an advantage being added to the gameplay, including things like extra votes and an advantage-stealing power.

With only 11 players remaining, there are a whopping two extra votes and three idols currently in play.

One recent advantage — perhaps the wildest one yet — involved an hourglass that allowed a player to “turn back time” by changing the winners of a challenge and flipping who has safety. The bizarre twist punished players for winning a challenge, which felt like a move against the core values of “Survivor.”

But fans who have seen season 34, “Game Changers,” know all too well how too many advantages can cause disastrous results.

At one crucial point in the 2015 season, there were so many advantages at play that five out of six players secured immunity.

This caused a complicated and unfair situation that’s not-so-fondly remembered as “Advantage-geddon.” The result was that Cirie Fields, one of the most beloved “Survivor” players of all time, was sent home despite not having a single vote cast against her.

With a more diverse cast than ever, ‘Survivor’ should lean on its talent instead of its twists

The best part about “Survivor” has always been the social aspect of the game. How does someone navigate forming relationships within a group that they must cannibalize? How do you strategize when presented with such a complex social game?

Season 41 is making it harder than ever for viewers to get to know players as individuals, too. One contestant, Heather Aldret, has only had two confessionals over the course of seven episodes.

But really, fans don’t need all of the twists and turns that Probst and the rest of the producers seem to believe make the show so entertaining.

The first season of “Survivor” did not feature any hidden immunity idols — they weren’t introduced into the game until season 11. There were no twists or tribe swaps. Sixteen strangers were sent to an island to play a social game unlike any other — and it became a cultural phenomenon.

So many twists and advantages have been added to the show since it began — I’ll admit, some of them make for great television — but it’s the core of the game that has kept fans coming back for the past 21 years.

The tenets of “Survivor” have always been simple: Outwit, outplay, and outlast the other contestants.

When the game becomes more about outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting the twists and turns thrown in by production, it might be time to get back to basics.