Survivor season 35: The problem with casting Ali and Patrick together
Having a pre-show connection is a huge leg up, and for Survivor season 35 to start with Ali and Patrick on the same tribe could have been much worse.
The original social experiment pitch for Survivor is fairly basic; what would happen if you threw 16 individual Americans from all walks of life together in a tribal setting where they vote each other out on the path to a million dollars? Since then, to keep things fresh, everything from the format, the teams, the number of tribes, the gameplay mechanics and even familial relationships have been tested using the basic gameplay.
Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers is just the latest attempt at keeping things moving for Jeff Probst and the production crew, where six heroes, healers and hustlers wanted from finite walks of life come together to see how they can outwit, outplay and outlast each other. A potential problem in keeping things fair has already been avoided, but it could have been a cloud of doubt that hung over the proceedings of this season.
Warning: The rest of this post will discuss Survivor season 35 and its first three episodes, including eliminated players.
Before the season began, select members of the media had flown on location to interview each of the beginning 18 castaways of Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. One thing that caught the eye of Josh Wigler for the Hollywood Reporter is that Ali Elliott admitted to having known Patrick Bolton from her time in college.
“I got here, and I look over, and I see someone I went to college with,” Ali mentions about Patrick. “We actually were neighbors (at Auburn University). We were kind of in the same circle of friends in a sense, I guess you could say. It was a big circle, so we weren’t close, but this is going to be weird!”
The thing about Patrick was that he made no mention of it on the show, although he did confirm the connection in his exit interviews. Ali even posted a picture of her and Patrick on Twitter right after his boot episode, confirming that they did, in fact, know each other.
In all intents and purposes, Ali voting out Patrick at this time is the best case scenario for Survivor fans, production, the casting department and the legacy of the season. We’ve still yet to determine how fondly we’ll look back at Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, but if both Ali and Patrick went deep into this game it would possibly tarnish the legitimacy of the results.
More from Heroes Vs Healers Vs Hustlers
- Most memorable moments from Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers
- Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers DVD set now on Amazon
- Big Brother 21’s cast pre-show ties harken back to Survivor season 35
- Survivor season 35’s Simone Nguyen is now married
- Survivor’s Ashley Nolan is now teaching kids to surf
Think about the social experiment aspect again; Ali Elliott admitted she had to only get to know a possible 16 other people. That’s a huge leg up from a strategic point, as you have a built-in partnership from before you even fly out to Fiji. The fact that the two were put on the same tribe (one with just six players) makes it so easy for them to keep safe early.
Thankfully, the dominoes fell as they did. Simone naturally could not find anyone on her tribe that was impressed with her, down to the fact that they were playing dress-up with her clothes. The way the tribe viewed her, it didn’t matter that the second target at Tribal Council was Patrick. The Hustlers’ second-ever vote saw Ali break down that inherit relationship in order to further herself in the game, cutting into that mentality.
Imagine if things went south and Lauren was sent home. Knowing that Ali and Patrick had a passing friendship outside of the game of Survivor would provide fuel for the fire of rabid fans calling the show “rigged.” From this point on, the two could have been separated in the next episode due to a tribe swap, making it easier for the two to making relationships separately and return to create a possible merge alliance.
Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 33 Sole Survivors By Season
That did not happen, as Ali Elliott cut Patrick Bolton to effectively sever off any advantage she had early. This is still a huge oversight by casting, as I’m sure two players of similar ages going to the same university should have been a tip-off. Regardless, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers can carry forward without accusations that a possible Ali win wasn’t rigged in her favor.