One person having the ability to manage who can go home is a massive advantage. Let’s compare Survivor’s Super Idol to Big Brother’s Diamond Veto.
Spoilers for Big Brother 21 up until the first week of the jury phase.
Considering the advantage-heavy era Survivor has cultivated for itself over the past five years, I’m surprised that we haven’t seen the Super Idol appear at least once a year. The ability to control who is safe among two or multiple targets after the votes are counted is super powerful, undoubtedly capable of changing tribal dynamics at the drop of a hat.
It’s among the most powerful twists in CBS reality competition if played correctly, although it does have its rivals (especially when you consider its multiple variations). Chief among them is the Diamond Power of Veto; a power that allows its holder to both remove an eviction nominee and name the replacement. Typically, only the Head of Household can replace the noms.
Both push the limits of fairness within each competition, but which power is better, more balanced, and has more caveats; the Super Idol or the Diamond Power of Veto? It all comes down to implementation and variation, so let’s take a trip down memory lane for both!
Discussing Survivor’s Super Idol
The first iteration of the Super Idol, ironically, was the second and third seasons to feature a Hidden Immunity Idol altogether. In Guatemala, Gary Hawkins Hogeboom was able to play an idol before the votes were cast to negate any votes for him ahead of the tribe casting them. However, in Panama and Cook Islands, there was an idol hidden on Exile Island that allowed a player to negate the votes of anyone who receives them after the votes were cast.
Whereas the first iteration was less dramatic than the current standard, the Super Idols those first two instances gave its holder way too much power when held in the hands of an intelligent player. Valid until Final Four (extremely unfair in Cook Islands with the first-ever Final Three finale), the idol would allow a likable player to use it to the benefit of a small to major alliance.
Whereas Terry Deitz was a competition beast in his own right, securing safety long past the idol’s effectiveness, Yul Kwon exploited the limits of its power. He was able to convince Penner at the merge to flip on his alliance for a 5-4 blindside as if he didn’t, it would be possible that Penner would have been voted out had Yul’s alliance put their votes on him and use the Super Idol.
Having such an idol doesn’t guarantee power for long, as players far on the outs such as a Cao Boi wouldn’t have been able to control or cultivate an alliance possible to last through to the end. However, Yul’s strategic use of the idol as a threat to turn a minority alliance into a majority proved it was disgustingly broken.
Survivor has attempted to bring back the Super Idol in varying degrees, to various levels of success. Cagayan had the “Tyler Perry Idol” which had the same powers with one major exception; it could only be played on the holder of the idol (also, all idols have lasted until the Final Five for more than a decade).
Koah Rong and Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers have shown that producers know just how godlike the Super Idol can be. In the former, it could only be formed if two players with idols hand it to someone after the votes are cast, as Tai infamously refused to give it to Scot Pollard to save his game. In season 35, it only lasted the first round and had to be willed anonymously to another player on the other tribe if its holder didn’t go to Tribal Council.
In every single instance since season 13, Survivor has made the Super Idol weaker to the point of comical effectiveness, which might be for the better. Perhaps in conjunction with the Idol Nullifier as a counter should it be brought back, as then it would have a potential “solution.”
Big Brother’s Diamond Power of Veto
The idea of changing who has the potential to go home with Survivor’s Super Idol was at the forefront of my mind when watching Big Brother 21 this summer. We’ve compared both shows’ powers and twists a lot this summer, but the third “Whacktivity Competition” (ugh) for a timed power saw the winner turn a regular Power of Veto into a Diamond Power of Veto ahead of the veto ceremony.
For four weeks, its holder, Christie, had secretly been allowed to ruin the Head of Household’s reign by allowing the veto user to take somebody off and replace them with a nominee of their choosing. By doing this, however, Christie would likely have to tell the veto holder who might not either be on her side or willing to keep herself safe by passing over that power.
Of course, Christie didn’t maximize its potential by telling almost everyone in the house, but because she was in a majority alliance, it gave her the option to threaten an opposing Head of Household. She told Cliff, who put up two of her alliance partners on the eviction block, that she had the DPoV, primarily working towards a deal that allowed her to name her replacement nominee without her using it.
Cliff could have gone back on his word and replaced the nominee with Christie or forced Christie to use her power, but both would result in him becoming the number one target in the house. In effect, the Diamond Power of Veto, like the Survivor Super Idol, becomes more effective when used as a threat to gain power or exchange possibilities, as Cliff put up Christie’s target to make a deal and prolong his game.
Ironically, this version of the DPoV is the most reined back version of this power in Big Brother history. The first usage replaced the standard veto at the Final Four of the show’s fourth season, allowing them to replace a nominee and be the sole vote to evict. However, that’s almost effectively what winning the veto has done in every season following. BB21’s version wasn’t even activated!
The only true usage was in Big Brother 12 when Matt Hoffman used it on himself when he was nominated for eviction. It was part of another twist called Pandora’s Box, which was itself a risk to open with the potential on a punishment. His power allowed him to use it within two weeks, but he could replace himself right before the votes to evict were cast, not with a few days leadup for the potential replacement to campaign.
Which is fairer?
Ironically, for a show that throws unfair twists all the time (including instances of production almost throwing a lifeline to their favorites), Big Brother’s Diamond Power of Veto is inarguably fairer than Survivor’s Super Idol.
For one, the fact that it has only had a month’s potential usage at most suggests one can’t use it to lord over others to stay safe up until the finale night. It has every opportunity to fall flat or not even be used, and the Big Brother 21 version where only the veto holder can have their power upgraded gave more balance to contend against itself.
Survivor’s Super Idol lasting until Day 38 on Cook Islands was the most unfair version of a game power perhaps in any of CBS’ core competitive reality shows, even if idols were rarer back then. It had the potential to backfire on an outsider, but a keen player showcased precisely how it could lead to victory in the long run.
The fact that both shows’ advantages have seen its most overpowered versions occur years ago shows that even though both the Super Idol and the Diamond Power of Veto are incredibly strong, there are ways for them to be countered if they become involved in the game. Their relative rarity is proof that they are a spice to be thrown into the pot only once in a blue moon.