What Survivor needs to change for season 41
By Noah Mussay
While we wait, let’s discuss changes Survivor should make ahead of Season 41
It’s been almost a year since the finale of Survivor: Winners At War, and I’m just itching to get back out on that island and watch 20 strangers ruin their bodies and psyches for a $1 million prize.
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a while. As you may know, the show typically films two seasons per year. While Season 40 of Survivor entitled Winners At War aired between February and May of 2020, Season 41 never made it off the ground due to a filming shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While we’re getting closer to having the show back on our screens as the Survivor news and spoilers fansite, Inside Survivor, recently reported that the next two seasons are on track to film in April and June of 2021, we’ve still got some time to waste. While we wait, let’s discuss some of the things that the show should change ahead of Season 41.
Changes Survivor should make ahead of Season 41
1. It’s time to move out of Fiji
Although Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly in 2017 that he wished to keep the show on the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji, where they’ve now filmed for eight seasons, I think it’s time for a change. While the show has evolved into a social experiment unlike any other, it’s one that we can’t forget plays out on the backdrop of some of the world’s most breathtaking destinations.
It’s a high-stakes game, but it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, thousands of miles from home. As a new fan of Survivor who’s gone back to watch older seasons, there are no better moments on the show (besides viewing a blindside) than when we see the castaways experiencing the island and the island’s culture.
It’s incredible to go back and watch Ethan Zohn play soccer with some children in an African village or Erik Reichenbach act like a wide-eyed child as he watches a Micronesian tribal dance and chows down on some betel nuts.
In recent seasons, however, these moments are few and far between. With the focus taken away from the survivalist nature of the show, Fiji doesn’t feel alive in the same way that Micronesia or Borneo did.
We need to go back to the days where each season of Survivor brought a new and exciting location that presented different challenges when the viewers could learn about a vacation destination without it feeling like one.
2. Reduce the number of idols/advantages in the game
In a pretty straightforward game, a hidden immunity idol can change the direction that the game moves.
Advantages such as the Vote Steal and the Idol Nullifier serve the same purpose and, like idols, require work to acquire. However, it’s getting out of hand. In the early seasons of Survivor, Hidden Immunity Idols were scarce, a single special treat for the castaway that found one at camp or on Exile Island. These days, with numerous immunity idols hidden at each campsite, it’s a free-for-all.
.Entire segments of the show are dedicated to idol hunting. Throw in a game advantage, and you’ve got a Tribal Council where rather than be held accountable for their actions, players can hide behind a bit of luck while fan favorites like Cirie Fields or Janet Carbin get screwed. While the kinks would have to get worked out, reducing the number of idols and advantages in the game; would force players to exhibit gameplay that focuses on strategy rather than luck.
3. Swap two tribes into two
Tribe swaps help the season avoid a pagonging; however, they’re often the luck of the draw. For example, if a player gets swapped with a majority of their tribe, they’re golden.
However, if a player finds themself on a tribe full of new faces, it’s quite challenging trying to dodge becoming the “new tribe’s” prime target. Instead, the players should get placed onto two tribes that later swap into two tribes. As a result, each player has a chance of staying in the game because of the relationships they’ve worked to create and won’t get voted out because of the relationships their new tribe has already made.
Are you excited for Survivor 41? What changes do you think the show should implement for next season?
All seasons of Survivor are currently available to stream on CBS All Access.