Survivor Island of the Idols: What we want to see in season 39

With Survivor: Island of the Idols nearly two weeks away from kickoff, we take a look at some of the stories we want to see in season 39.

The long Survivor offseason is nearing the end, as the Island of the Idols preseason is almost underway! Unlike last season’s Edge of Extinction, the participating castaways are all first time players, but that doesn’t mean season 39 will be devoid of a returnee presence.

Boston Rob, winner of Redemption Island and Sandra Diaz-Twine, the Sole Survivor of both Pearl Islands and Heroes vs Villains are back as mentors. Although they’re not playing, their role with these new castaways will be a determining factor in the success of this season. Here are three things we want to see happen in Island of the Idols.

1) The spotlight on the newbies instead of the mentors

One of the biggest concerns many fans have about this season is how two people not even in the game will take away time from getting to know the twenty castaways actually participating. We saw in Edge of Extinction how the focus on the four returning players led to an unbalanced edit for the newbies. Hopefully, Boston Rob and Sandra’s presence will compliment the process of learning about the new players instead of stealing the spotlight.

I’m also worried about the weight that the edit will put on Boston Rob and Sandra’s advice. If a castaway decided to listen to their opinion on when to make a move, will that castaway receive less credit because they may have been swayed by legends of the game? As long as these two Survivor winners receive a very minor role in each episode, then their presence won’t have an unnecessary impact on this season’s result.

2) Voting blocs and fluid gameplay

There have been two obvious growing trends in the game of Survivor. First, advantages and idols are becoming more prevalent, and second, the gameplay is getting more sophisticated. Seasons like Second Chance, Millennials vs. Gen X, Game Changers and David vs. Goliath have showcased how a full cast of smart players can evolve the game.

We’re hoping that Island of the Idols will fall into that same category of gameplay, where a majority of the castaways are willing to make moves and form different voting blocs. As we saw in Ghost Island, there’s always the fear that players will shrink back and allow confident characters to dominate. However, production did a great job of pushing that big move mindset to the Edge of Extinction cast, so signs are pointing to that exciting, fluid style of play to continue.

3) The Social and strategic game triumph over advantage mania

There have been a total of 30 Hidden Immunity Idols found in the past four seasons alone! That nearly doubles the amount of the previous four seasons. It just goes to show that idols and advantages are being thrown into the game at an alarming rate.

Regardless of the frequency, the biggest concern is when these tools impact the social and strategic game. When castaways are more focused on finding another idol and constructing fakes, they spend less time trying to use their words and personal relationships to make something happen. We would love to see this new cast use their advantages to build on their gameplay instead of simply being their only plan.