Survivor season rankings: All Survivor seasons, ranked

35. Edge of Extinction (Season 38)

Take a look at the Final Five of Edge of Extinction on Day 35 before the challenge, and you’ll see looks of all of the finalists who won’t win the title of Sole Survivor and the million-dollar check. The Edge of Extinction combines the attention-and-runtime-stealing dynamics and gameplay twist of Redemption Island with the edit-stealing elements of a tribe captain season.

Whereas Redemption Island had a series of micro-challenges replacing that of rewards and seeing just two or three players at a time competing for a chance to stay in the game, 16 people were part of the entire season, and 13 people found themselves deciding the fate of the game. Hell, the winner didn’t even introduce himself to the other players who would sit with him at the Final Tribal Council until Day 35.

So much about Edge of Extinction completely throws away the idea of fairness within the game. The twist of players voted out having the chance to live with meager supplies on the Edge of Extinction for one of two shots (merge and Final Five) back into the game was a secret to active players until the merge.

A person voted out on Day 3 only met one of the three finalists. The winner got to spend weeks with the jury in similar circumstances, forming bonds and obtaining information they wouldn’t be privy to, such as how the jury wants to vote. They had the option of knowing the truth and able to tell lies. On top, there were way too many idols and few non-returnee characters given attention.

If Reem Daly wasn’t so entertaining and if the editors weren’t as polished as they managed to be, there would be no redeeming qualities about this twist. The next time it appears will be too soon.

Written by Daniel George.