Why the New Gameplay Worked on ‘Survivor’ This Season
As the longest running reality television series, “Survivor” has become a household name. Just think of the famous catchphrases. Who hasn’t said they wanted to vote an irritating person “off the island” or used “the tribe has spoken” at one punny point in their life? After three decades of filming, this year’s Season 46 is proving that changes to this season’s unique gameplay combining social, mental, and physical elements is the key to keeping the series exciting, highly discussable, and popular with viewers.
New aspects of the game introduced after the pandemic have earned the last five seasons the fan-dubbed moniker “New Era Survivor” for good reason. Instead of 39 days, “Survivor” is now played in a shorter and more intense 26 days. Forget those lavish days of “Survivor’s” past with building supplies, canned food and rice, and comfy hammocks. Contestants are no longer given any food to start, some hidden immunity idols come with a Beware aspect that can cause players to lose their vote at tribal council, and teams don’t automatically receive flint to start fires if they lose the first challenge. Even after the COVID restrictions which initially prompted the changes were lifted, longtime host and Executive Producer Jeff Probst announced “Survivor” will keep the compacted schedule and new facets to the show. This has led to “Survivor” players that are more competitive than ever to outwit, outplay, and outlast.
Thanks to those changes, this season’s gameplay has worked to make the cast extra chaotic, especially sneaky, and more outspoken. Cast member Liz Wilcox’s now iconic hunger-fueled meltdown over losing the chance to eat an Applebee’s Bourbon Street Mushroom Swiss Burger might not have occurred if the players still received rice at the start. After 18 days, Liz’s hangry reaction to not getting to eat her favorite juicy burger that reminds her of dinners with her daughter was honest and raw. She was candid at that moment in a way that doesn’t often happen in this age of reality television when cast members are often projecting an image of themselves knowing millions are watching at home.
By introducing a new buried and locked Beware Advantage immunity idol, production created an opportunity for Siga tribe member Jem Hussain-Adams to trick her teammates. Using the same clue and location where she found the idol as bait, Jem fooled the Siga tribe into digging a pointless hole for days creating chaos and confusion among the players. “Survivor” has a long history of contestants using their social game to build alliances. However, with a shorter amount of time to compete and a jury full of voted-off players to impress, many cast members choose to quickly burn those alliances by lying and misleading their teammates in an effort to build their “Survivor” resumé.
“Survivor” also expanded its vernacular this season when the Yanu tribe lost flint in the premier episode’s first challenge, causing team members David Jelinsky and Q Burdette to attempt to complete an arduous New Era Sweat vs. Savvy challenge to earn the camp supplies. They were given leaky buckets to gather and carry ocean water across the sandy beach to fill two gigantic ceramic pots. The Sweat challenge was so difficult that Jelinsky ultimately decided to quit after concluding that the instructions stating the task would take “several” hours meant seven hours. Since that memorable moment, Jeff and the cast have been substituting the word “several” for seven. Which made the producers’ choice to title the seventh episode as “Episode Several” quite the hilarious callback.
Of course, with some of the gameplay working extremely well there are bound to be areas that aren’t quite as successful. This season of “Survivor” has seen more blindsides of players, when their fellow tribemates vote them off without them seeing it coming, with hidden immunity idols than ever before. So far this season, an unprecedented six players have left the game with an unused idol in their pocket. One contestant, Randen Montalvo was medically evacuated from the show with his idol. While five other players chose not to use their idols thinking they would be safe at Tribal Council thus able to use their advantage on a later vote. Perhaps this shows the current players ability to truly outwit each other but in a game where each extra day a contestant lasts earns them more money, leaving with an unused immunity idol makes for a very expensive souvenir.
While some viewers may prefer the Old School “Survivor” from the first forty seasons, the New Era and its fresh additions to the game have some real devoted fans. Perhaps most notable is singer and songwriter, Sia who has since 2017 (or “several” years for those Jelinsky stans out there) awarded her very favorite “Survivor” players each season with cash prizes ranging from 15,000 to 100,000 dollars. With Season 46 concluding May 22, all that remains to be seen is who will win the million dollars and earn the title of Sole Survivor… and who will win that coveted Sia Prize.
The finale of “Survivor” airs May 22.
