Why Is ‘Survivor’ 46 Both The Most Frustrating And Most Entertaining Season Of The New Era?

If you consult Survivor superfans (or trawl the Survivor subreddit), you’ve likely heard the opinion that the new era of Survivor, starting with Season 41, has lacked a certain something. From the never-changing backdrop of Fiji to the lack of fun themes of Survivors past, to the same challenges and “twists” over and over and over, the show has definitely gotten stale. Not to mention a homogenous cast of mostly 20- and 30-somethings when the survivors used to be so diverse. And yet, even though the current Season 46 has all those points above, it’s become not only the most frustrating season of the new era, but also the most entertaining. I simultaneously yell at the screen and can’t wait for the next week’s episode. But why is that? It’s all thanks to casting.

Just because there aren’t any villains doesn’t stop people from hating each other.

On Survivor alum Rob Cesternino’s podcast, Rob Has a Podcast, host and executive producer Jeff Probst said what everyone was already thinking: They aren’t casting villains anymore. Jeff said:

“In the hands of somebody else, I can tell you, for sure, there would be more ‘villains,’ more negativity, more yelling at each other. It’s just not going to happen when I’m part of the show. I’m just not interested in it. There’s too many other things we could do and still have fun.”

Though that’s a controversial change from the villain eras of the past (though, I personally am happy we’ll never have another Russell Hantz), people still surprise each other with how out of control they can get once they arrive on the islands of Fiji.

Much of the frustration for many viewers is just how out-there the cast has been this season, all while never getting voted out. Let’s run down a few bullet points:

• Q–who has pissed everyone off so thoroughly by flip flopping, trying to control everyone’s game, and unsuccessfully asking to get voted off–still hasn’t managed to get voted off. And every confessional features his wide grin at still being left in the game.
• Liz–the self-professed millionaire who’s allergic to everything and who rightfully flips to demon mode when people don’t bring her on food-based rewards.
• Venus–whose Mean Girls-esque attitude has found her gloating about moves that she was never actually in charge of.

And yet…these self-made “villains” still manage to make for good TV. Not only that, but many fans have found moments in recent episodes where they liked the three above despite all the hijinks. Because they’re real people, and few are fully evil on or off the island.

The strategy is unprecedented.

Perhaps it’s thanks to the survivors of Season 46 being familiar with the formula of the new era that has made them wild out. Alliances? Who needs them? Blindsides? Every time. Agreeing to step out of a challenge so everyone can get rice? No thanks.

Of course the most maddening and equally entertaining strategy–or lack thereof–from this season has been the immunity idols. Not a single person has actually played an idol. In fact, four people have gone home with idols in their pockets and (spoiler for last night’s episode), that includes three people in a row. Nothing gets a Survivor Superfan yelling at the screen more than people never learning from the mistakes of the people who came before them.

But there’s one strategy they still need to abandon.

You might wonder why all these supposed new era “villains” aren’t getting voted out. Yeah, me too. But it can be chalked up to an age-old Survivor strategy that really needs to be abandoned: Bringing a goat to the Final Tribal Council.

It happens almost every season. When people are thinking of who to vote out post-merge, their strategy goes from weak links to the strongest competitors. Their reasoning is that, if they’re in the final three with two duds, it’ll be easier to win. That might have been true in the past, but that was proven an outdated strategy thanks to Gabler’s win on Season 43. The man who just sat on the sidelines and who no one thought would win broke the odds and took home the million (only to be swiftly donated to charity). Gabler is proof that the goats have just as much–if  not more–of a chance of winning the whole game. People like Maria who insist on bringing players like Q and Liz to the end may just find themselves missing out on the money.

And yet, with all of the above, the frustration of the viewers melts into entertainment and suddenly you’re like Jeff Probst at the last two tribal councils: Sitting back and watching the island burn while you munch on popcorn and licorice.