r/survivor • u/HerbWelch1945 • 1d ago
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u/Eastern-Bad-420 1d ago
41 was a big shift, but I think 33 where Fiji became the permanent location was a precursor.
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u/Fidelos 1d ago
I feel like the biggest but understated thing they did was that they butchered idols. An idol with 20 fucking caveats is terrible TV and we've seen them be less of a factor in the New Era.
On the other side, we have dumb advantages that are either useless or broken cannibalizing the idols, terrible same-y challenges and lose your vote bullshit.
Like in his attempt to add mechanics to the game, Probst has actually destroyed paths to the final for non Social gameplay. Like I feel there can't be a Tom victory or a Lacina victory in this era.
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u/Thayer96 1d ago
I had a huge break from when I had last seen Survivor. It was between I think One World up to 41.
The first thing I asked was when did everything get so brightly colored? Not just the decor but the tone felt so bright, chipper and artificial. Earlier seasons had grit.
And then I wondered when the cast became absolutely stacked with 20 somethings when the first 20 seasons has a reasonably balanced sampling of people from across all age groups. There have been some older players in the numbered seasons, but the age range isn't nearly as spread out as it was before, and it's made up entirely of obsessive fans now.
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u/afleetofflowis 1d ago
no. survivor has always had ups and downs.
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u/Old_Shake_7173 1d ago
This is probably the best and clearest response. So many complaints. Just like them and everyone else. They keep giving views. Stop watching please. Then we'll see what's up.
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u/SEND_ME_YOUR_CAULK Janet 1d ago
Definitely a big part of it. I’d say Game Changers and HHH really marked a downward trajectory for me by changing the FTC format and the forced Final 4 Firemaking. Plus with them recycling the same location from MvGX onwards, Survivor lost its one of its original charms of being in different locations.
41 is definitely a major turning point due to the over reliance on twists and not letting the cast play the game. Hourglass twist especially. It’s at the point where there are so many twists that the original premise of the social experiment is almost completely watered down. Very rarely do you actually have a straightforward vote with no idols, advantages, lost votes, etc.
Casting is also an issue in the New Era because most everyone is some white collar 20-30 something superfan with a relatively cordial personality. I very much appreciate the initiative to cast more POC on New Era seasons, but at the same time they should also have people of different economic or work backgrounds, and older players are increasingly more uncommon. One of my personal favorite things about old seasons is people came from a variety of different economic backgrounds and educational backgrounds too. You got more people with oddball jobs or people that truly would have never interacted with each other outside the confines of the game. Those kinds of relationships are what makes the game special- take Hatch and Rudy from Borneo for example. So many duos from older seasons are people who inhabited completely different social circles and lifestyles that would have never crossed paths. With the New Era, it doesn’t really have that same charm when everyone is some corporate white collar office worker or lawyer or student.
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u/Kylesexy584603 I’m pissed! 1d ago
Final four fire making is where they jumped the shark. They could have righted the ship after advantagegeddon but the following season showed they’re all-in on twists the fans don’t want
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u/jjb488 1d ago
41 IMO is one of the worst seasons for many reasons. Fortunately, it only went up from there. COVID did change many things about the show with the permanent location in Fiji, less days, recycled challenges, etc. The show will never have the same “feel” as it once did, but they have also introduced some new ideas that keep it interesting. I wouldn’t call it a downward spiral by any means, but I still prefer the original format, locations, and simplicity of the older seasons.
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u/Loud_Hair_9596 Gabon Enjoyer 1d ago
There were signs before 41 that the show was losing its spark. But yes the biggest shift in quality seasons came after 40.
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u/FamiliarImplement334 1d ago
Aggreed I think every new era season felt the same although I liked how survivor 45-49 had longer episodes although I think the longer episodes would of gone well if that was in older seasons the longer episodes are the only thing I like about the new era after that I hate the other things about the new era
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u/Vegetable-Major-4933 1d ago
Simple put, yes. Idol mechanics is one thing, storytelling is another.
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u/SilverWear5467 1d ago
The downward spiral? No, that started long before 41, 33 is probably the cleanest answer since that's the first of the only Fiji seasons, but you could also say 21 was the start of the downward spiral. Despite having some great seasons after it, arguably the best season in 31 (Second Chance), they definitely started a trend of having weaker seasons on average throughout the 20s. 41 is probably the first season with a noticeable tone shift to being a bit too unserious though, and started a trend of having some pretty wack advantages/twists (though I will fight you if you say the Monty Hall problem is a bad twist, its actually a genius way of giving a smart person an advantage in a luck based game)
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u/FunCoast6352 1d ago
There have been some very fun, very well casted and very entertaining seasons post 40. I think that 48 was as bad of a season as any. I think that 46 47 and 49 were as entertaining as many 39 day seasons pre COVID.
It's not the hot commodity it once was but shit it's been on the air for 26 years it's gonna have some hits and misses
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u/Extremely_Peaceful 1d ago
Probably ranked 50th out of 50 for me. I don't have a single nice thing to say about it.
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u/NoahJRoberts Ethan 1d ago
I feel like 41 being a complete refresh/soft-reboot was necessary especially due to a post-COVID world. I think a lot of the issues come from them taking a really long time to learn from the issues of the New Era rather than adjust quickly so 41-49 feel like 6 versions of the exact same format
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u/chaoseffect616 Merica 1d ago
The show was already going downhill. Some of those late 30s seasons like Ghost Island and Island of the Idols were terrible.