‘Survivor’ Needs to Cast Villains After Season 49 Players

My new Survivor The rule is: if you hear the word “strong” after the name of the tribe, it will be a boring season, and Survivor 49 has become as predictable as Jeff Probst's wardrobe choices. It all started with the destruction of Kele, the weakest of the three tribes. Since then, the two remaining members of Kele have remained out of sight (on page Tika Tree) while the two dominant tribes shoot at each other. All we've heard about the last few episodes is Hina vs. Uli, although all three tribes have been regrouped to prevent that from happening. Episode 5 was the worst, with most of the Uli pretending to debate whether they would vote out Jason Treul, the only old Hina left, or turn on their own and get rid of Javan Pitts, who is annoying the hell out of Savannah Louis. Of course they didn't. Of course they remained Uli strong. Of course, they played the safest game and kicked Jason out.

This is because Savannah, who seems to want to change things, is surrounded by people who all play the same and tiresomely. We saw this last season when Camille Karthigesu wanted to break up the dominant alliance of Eva Eriksson and Joe Hunter and couldn't understand anyone why it was smart (probably because she was working with another member of their alliance, eventual winner Kyle Fraser). Every week they talked about it, but no, we all knew it was just fluff filling up a 90-minute episode.

Whenever something goes wrong with a reality show, it usually has to do with the casting, and that's exactly what's happening here. Probst said last year that he doesn't want to direct villains anymore. He wants to focus on the fun aspects of the game, bringing in superfans who have watched the show their whole lives and dream of playing. This is the era of talking about how much this means to you and your father who is going blind. Probst said, “Just by changing the type of twists we bring to the game, we can create negativity.” But production does not do this. The twists have remained basically the same since the “new era” began with Survivor 41, and the benefits of Beware haven't changed, they've just become more difficult. The problems are so similar that one player put the puzzle together in his backyard to practice, and it ended up being the same puzzle he encountered in the series. He solved it in a matter of minutes. And as the 49ers proved once again, starting the season with three tribes is a failed experiment that Probst continues to run well beyond the point of diminishing returns.

Which brings us back to casting. Trying his best to avoid villains, Probst overcorrects and casts the most serious people imaginable, and they're just not fun to watch. Survivor! Who wants to watch Bhanu Gopal? literally begging for his lifeWhat is not a gaming strategy at all? These non-villains strive for loyalty, for numbers, for a “strong tribe,” for telling people they have an idol to gain trust. His Survivor by the book because that's what they know and expect, and that's the type of behavior and reward.

Best seasons Survivor varied. CBS has done a great job of giving more representation to people of color and queer people, but the show still employs the same types of players. We need different personalities that bring different styles of gameplay. We've seen contestants this season hint at Parvati SmallSandra Diaz-Twine and Ozzy Lust have names like they're Cher. These players are icons because they didn't play by the rules, but instead found a style that suited them and surprised everyone with it. Sandra threw Russell Hantz's hat into the fire because she hated him. The only reason Jake Latimer hid people's shoes this season was because he saw someone do something similar. Survivor. Sorry, but you can't be Michael Jordan by just pretending to be him for a while.

In Probst's pursuit of seriousness, the casting overestimated the people who watched every episode, memorized the order in which seasons were eliminated, and listened to all the podcasts where Probst says he doesn't need villains. Who will this attract? I wish there was a better way to say this, but nerds. Survivor it's full of nerds now. There's a lot of talk on the beach about Pokemon and Marvel movies. Charlie Davis on Survivor 46 I wouldn't keep quiet about Taylor Swift. This season we have “the man, the myth, the legend, RizGod, RizGod, baby” trying to turn his name into a catchphrase. I love nerdy stuff and I have stacks of comics to prove it, but these people are so knowledgeable Survivorthe past that they cannot see the future. They are so captivated by the sanctity of the game that they cannot find new ways to play it.

There were some great Survivor nerds throughout its history, such as the aforementioned backyard puzzle builder, Tika Three member, and certified cutie Carson Garrett, as well as winners John Cochran (one of Probst's favorites) and Aubrey Bracco. But it can't all be nerds. We need badass girls like Parvati and Jenna Morasca who will use their gimmicks and social games to get people to do stupid things. We need athletes like Ethan Zohn and Colby Donaldson who are good at competition and good to watch. We need strategic gays like Yam Yam Arocho and Todd Herzog to plot and plan while disarming everyone.

But most of all we need villains. Every reality show does this, be it Real Housewives or American Idolan enjoyable series that might not have been a hit without its recurring villain, Simon Cowell. Look at the composition of the original Heroes vs Villains season. The most memorable characters are Sandra, Parvati, Boston RobTyson Apostol – everyone was a villain. And why do we remember them? Because it takes a villain to find a new way to deceive the people closest to you, and that's what Survivor It will always be like this – Probst even said it in the Season 49 premiere! The alliance method of play was pioneered by original winner and original villain Richard Hatch. Being a hero is nice and all, but it comes with a code. At the beginning of the last episode, Javan says, “We succeeded blindly.” No, you didn't! You voted for one dude who wasn't on your original tribe. I hate to tell you this, but he saw this coming. Why? Because you stuck to the code. “Memorable TV” is about breaking the code.

Now there are villains and there are villains. We never need the darkness of Russell Hantz (or worse, his nephew Brandon Hantz) ever again. But what I wouldn't give for another Courtney Yates, whose main talents were being a funny girl and a mean girl. We see glimpses of it in players like this season's Savannah and Sage Ahrens-Nichols, who finally did the interesting thing and got Uli to vote out one of her members when she threw Shannon Fairweather (that's her last name, of course!) to the wolves. But they need people to help them in their villainy, just as Parvati needed her. other black widows. They were all different: Natalie Bolton was angry, Siri Fields was a mom, Amanda Kimmel was an athlete. It takes all kinds and it's a special sauce. Survivor appears to be missing at the moment. I hope after Survivor 50 (what has a good mix of types (but still a bit heavy on nerds) the series could return to casting a variety of personalities to usher in new gameplay for the next 25 years. And if they can't fix the casting, then at the very least they really need to make Jeff change his shirts.