Ghost Island is upon us! Or, the pre-season at least. Being a huge Survivor fan, I’m planning on having a lot of Survivor content. I previously wrote about the 82 ‘Survivor’ artifacts returning this season. The cast has been officially revealed. But this will be a shorter one, focusing on a new twist that we’ll see in the season premiere.
The main theme for this new season is the ghosts of Survivor past and how one bad decision can haunt you. They’re pushing that right along in the immediate beginning of the game. Speaking with Dalton Ross in an interview for EW, host Jeff Probst explained. This season the tribes will only be guaranteed to start with a machete, a pot, rice, and a small fishing kit. Right after being informed of that, the tribes will participate in a reward challenge. Each tribe will have to pick a leader, who will then pick an athlete and a puzzle solver to participate in the challenge. The winning tribe will receive a shelter building kit while the losing tribe does not get the fishing get. That alone would be a nice little twist, but there’s even more.
There will be a set amount of time during the challenge, during which either leader may forfeit the challenge, losing (obviously) but getting to keep the fishing equipment. However, the winning team, in addition to the shelter building kit, will receive 20 eggs and a flint.
One of the best parts of Survivor is watching the players have to make spilt-second, real-time decisions, especially ones that not only affect them, but their entire tribe as well. How does the leader decide when to cut bait? If you’re behind, how much faith do you show in your teammates, who you’ve only known for an incredibly short amount of time, to catch up? And it’s a decision the leader will have to defend to their tribe. Is getting something better than nothing, even if it means the opponents get a huge reward right off the bat? I love that Survivor keeps finding new ways to innovate and evolve the game. They don’t always hit, but they do more often than not. This particular twist could go either way. It could flame out and fail, or it could be a home run. And I’m excited to see how it plays out.
