Worst Twists in Survivor History – Number 15: Red Rover Swap
- First Appearance: China (Season 15, 2008)
Tribe swaps have become a staple in Survivor history. It’s almost more shocking at this point if there’s NOT a tribe swap during the course of a season.
The swap is an important part of the show because it really is a reminder of how quickly things can change in the game. If a player is on top one minute, a swap could easily put them on the bottom and vice versa.
How production executes the switch each season, however, isn’t always a winner. Survivor: China has the best example of that.
On Day 13, the two tribes received tree mail that asked them to pick two “warriors” from the other tribe. The two chosen by the opposition then became members of that tribe and were immediately on the bottom.
This twist was bad because the two players had no say in their fate. At least in normal swaps, players get to draw out of an urn or have SOMEWHAT of a say in what happens to them.
Nope – In this scenario, the other tribe could claim them and immediately vote them off, which they did to Aaron Reisberger and planned to do to fan favorite James Clement as well (but fortunately didn’t have an opportunity to).
Attempting new ways to do a tribe swap is welcome, but please Survivor, never do this type of switch ever again please.