Survivor season 36 speculation: What’s the twist behind this rumored name?

Although Survivor’s thirty-fifth season will come first, rumors have already begun about season 36, and so has speculation.

Before we get any further, a warning: If you like to pretend that there’s only one season of Survivor in the works at any time, you may not want to read the following. Here, we’re discussing season 36 and potential spoilers.

As you may already know, season 36 reportedly has the name Ghost Island, which is at least a better name than Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Inside Survivor followed this report up with a leak of an possible concept that may have led to Ghost Island‘s creation. To boil it down:

• Season 30 was supposed to have had 30 returnees.
• One tribe would have been the “ghosts” that had to go live on Ghost Island, with chances to return.

Inside Survivor notes that it doesn’t know whether or not this will come back from the grave (pun intended) for season 36. We agree with the assessment that it likely won’t be a 30-player season. At this point, about the only season that might have an expanded cast is an all-winners season, which is still a dream here at Surviving Tribal.

Additionally, the focus on trying to make people quit really makes it seem too negative to fly. The show has a distinct relationship with quitting. The show doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach that way. If they pull themselves out for health reasons, like Kathy in Micronesia, the show handles it differently than, say, NaOnka and Kelly in Nicaragua.

Having players possibly try to make other people quit, though, is something else entirely. What kind of edit would someone who forces someone to quit take? After Game Changers, where positive moments like Cirie’s took a lot of the spotlight and the show ably handled the story between Zeke and Jeff Varner, a season where meanness might rule the day seems like too bleak of a turn.

This isn’t to say that some of the fun in Survivor isn’t to enjoy the falsehoods people tell each other before voting someone off. But trying to manipulate someone to quit seems like a different game.

So what will Ghost Island look like? It’s sans returnees, according to Inside Survivor, which means that my idea of “famous Survivor players come back to compete against newbies midway through, like Fans vs. Favorites but dialed up” won’t work either.

Something that keeps intriguing me is the idea that the pre-merge players might end up playing more of a role than they usually do. It reminds me of the Outcasts (something Inside Survivor has also picked up on), but maybe the chance this time isn’t to get back into the game. It’s something that yours truly is wrestling with. Alternatively, the jury itself may change somehow. We’ve already argued that the new Final Tribal style should stay. This is more about the composition of the jury.

Next: Should Survivor reuse the extra vote?

With a name like Ghost Island, Survivor has a chance to fundamentally alter some of the basics of the game. Let’s hope it does so for the better.