During Survivor’s so-called new era, the show gained fans who wondered which seasons to watch first. Despite that, there is absolutely no doubt that Jeff Probst’s popular reality TV show still has millions of fans who’ve passionately loved the show for many years.
Of course, the kind of Survivor fans who know which player was the first to be medically evacuated love to debate every aspect of the show. Some of those debates are fun, including how to rank each season and who the best players are. On the other hand, there is a depressing debate that fans have also been having. Is Survivor going downhill?
Why Survivor Is Arguably Going Downhill
At the end of the day, whether a show is going downhill or not is always going to be in the eye of the beholder. That said, looking at the state of Survivor over the last several seasons, there are some solid arguments for why the show is on a downhill slide.
The most obvious argument that backs up the claim that Survivor has been going downhill is the quality of the winners. Since the “new era” began, the list of winners has been Erika Casupanan, Maryanne Oketch, Mike Gabler, Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho, Dee Valladares. and Kenzie Petty.
Depending on what a fan wants from Survivor, that list of winners is pretty underwhelming. After all, for Survivor fans who value strategy above all else, that is a pretty disappointing list of Survivor winners.
To be clear, many of those winners are extremely lovable and fun to watch. For example, it seems hard to understand how anyone could not like Maryanne and “Yam Yam”. That said, it would be a lie to try and pretend that Erika, Maryanne, Mike, and “Yam Yam” were known for their strategy. In Mike’s case, he barely seemed to understand the game early on, and he largely made it to the end based on attaching himself to the right people. Despite that, Erika, Maryanne, Mike, and “Yam Yam” each got almost all of the jury votes during their seasons.
Erika Casupanan, Maryanne Oketch, Mike Gabler, Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho all won their season 7-1. On the other hand, Dee Valladares and Kenzie Petty won their seasons by just 5-3.
Conversely, Dee and Kenzie were more strategic. At least, in Kenzie’s case, she tried to be. Yet both of them barely won their seasons.Those facts speak to the fact that many Survivor players don’t seem to value strategy as much anymore when they pick the winner. Instead, it appears to be more important if they like the winner.
Either that or Survivor’s producers did a terrible job portraying how strategic Erika, Maryanne, Mike, and “Yam Yam” were. No matter which case is right, that makes Survivor less entertaining for viewers who tune in for the strategy.
In addition to being
Survivor’s
host, Jeff Probst is also the show’s producer and showrunner.
The next problem with how Survivor has been going lately is Jeff Probst. While a lot of people don’t want to see him being a jerk like he was during some early episodes, Jeff arguably has gone too soft. In fact, so many fans feel that Jeff has gone soft that he spoke to People about how he was going to bring back more of an edge in February 2024.
“I’ve heard the criticism that I’ve become a little too soft — I hear you. Maybe I need to bring a little of the edge back, and I think you will start to see that.”
In fairness to Jeff, he would have made those comments after Survivor 46 was filmed. As a result, Jeff still might bring back more of an edge during Survivor 47. That said, Jeff continued to be pretty soft during Survivor 46. He even brought popcorn and candy to tribal councils and gave it to the players. Another example of how soft Jeff has gotten is that he let Liz Wilcox physically help Kenzie win a challenge, something he had strictly forbidden in the past.
Another argument for why Survivor has been going downhill is that there have been some awful new twists added to the game.
What are the best and worst Survivor twists, according to Screen Rant? | |
|---|---|
Twist | Best or Worst |
The Super Idol | Worst |
Steal A Vote Advantage | Best |
Redemption Island | Worst |
The Split Idol | Best |
Idol Nullifier | Worst |
Legacy Advantage | Best |
Tribe Switches | Worst |
Joint Tribal Council | Best |
Final Four Fire-Making Challenge | Worst |
Fire Tokens | Best |
Since Survivor 41, the hourglass advantage, which allowed one player to reverse the results of a challenge, was seen twice. Similarly, the do or die, which saw a player either get immunity or eliminated from the game based on the luck of the draw, was also seen twice. To say that most fans hated both of those twists is a huge understatement. It also has to be noted that many players hated those challenges.
Between diminished strategy, Jeff going soft, and awful new twists, Survivor has given fans several reasons to think it is going downhill.
Why Survivor Probably Isn’t Going Downhill
Thanks to how powerful nostalgia is, a lot of people will always have a special place in their heart for things from the past. However, the thing that many fans seem to have forgotten is, before it went on hiatus, Survivor had recently been in a dark place.
While it obviously was amazing to see Survivor: Winners at War, Survivor’s 38th and 39th seasons were two of the worst in the show’s history.
The 38th season, Survivor: Edge of Extinction, featured arguably the worst winner in the show’s history. After all, Chris Underwood spent more than three weeks out of the game before he won. The 39th season arguably is the darkest chapter in Survivor history as a result of Dan Spilo’s inappropriate touching controversy and its fallout.
During
Survivor: Edge of Extinction
, Chris Underwood was the 3rd player voted out on day 8 of the game. Chris then lived on the edge until he won his way back into the game on day 35 and then became the Sole Survivor on day 39.
Considering how bad Survivor’s 38th and 39th seasons were, the new era is a huge improvement over that. Still, fans have to admit that improving on those seasons is aiming low. With that in mind, it is a good thing that there are other reasons to argue Survivor isn’t going downhill.
While it can be argued that Survivor’s strategy has been ebbing, it is also true that the social part of the game is on fire. For example, the fact that Maryanne Oketch and Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho are so likable played a major role in them winning the game.
With that in mind, it likely shouldn’t surprise anyone that several “new era” Survivor players have become beloved by many fans.
In 2024, Rob Cesternino’s “Rob Has a Podcast” sought to put together a list of players who should return for Survivor 50. Rob did this by putting together a list of players for the show’s fan following of devoted Survivor fans to choose from.
After the fan vote, many players from the “new era” were chosen to be included in Survivor 50. Those players include Survivor 41′s Shan Smith, Carolyn Wiger, Venus Vafa, and Omar Zaheer. Fans also voted for Jesse Lopez from Survivor 42, Kaleb Gebrehold from Survivor 45, as well as Survivor 46’s Q Burdette and Charlie Davis.
After looking at all the arguments for why Survivor is going downhill and the evidence against that, we think that the evidence is stronger for the show declining slightly. That said, that is in the eye of the beholder and Survivor 47 could be a fantastic season that takes the show to a new height. It also should be said that even if Survivor is going downhill, it still is one of the best reality shows on television.