Over the years, Jeff Probst has worked on Survivor as the show's host, executive producer, and showrunner. In his position of authority, the reality show host has had a lot of influence over many of the behind-the-scenes decisions that affect Survivor. As a result, it is always interesting to hear Jeff defend controversial aspects of the show or discuss the thinking behind many of the decisions that affect the players.
Now that Survivor 49 is airing, Jeff has once again been discussing many facets of the show that can make a huge difference for the players. One example of that is the fact that Jeff recently described what Survivor players go through before the game starts. Additionally, Jeff has just addressed the claim that the show's flint punishment is "too harsh."
Jeff Probst defends taking flints away from Survivor players as a punishment
Since the so-called "new era" began in Survivor 41, the show has operated under the ethos that players need to "earn everything." One of the aspects of that has been that, following some challenges, the tribe that comes in last place is punished by having things taken away from them that they are forced to later try to earn back. The pivotal thing that is taken away from the tribe is their flint, which profoundly affects the punished players because it makes it very likely that they can't make fires.
During Survivor 49 episode 2, "Cinema," the Kele tribe, aside from Sophi Balerdi, were shown eating earthworms to satiate their hunger in a small way. After losing the first two challenges, the Kele tribe has been forced to go without their flint for days and chose to eat earthworms partway into that period. In response to that moment, the co-hosts of On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast, Jeff Probst, Jeremy Collins, and Jay Wolff, had a fascinating discussion.
As a former three-time player and a one-time winner, Jeremy stated that he wouldn't eat an earthworm unless it was part of a challenge. However, every time Jeremy played Survivor took place before the "new era," which means he hasn't gone on the show since players have been forced to "earn everything."
Jeff and Jeremy's podcast is co-hosted by Jay, a fan who brings an extremely valuable outsider's view to the recordings. While reacting to Jeremy saying he wouldn't eat earthworms, Jay brought up the fact that the former Survivor winner didn't have to cope with having his tribe's flint taken away once they got it. After Jeremy agreed, Jay pointed out that "new era" tribes that go on a losing streak can go many days without fire before asking Jeff if the flint punishment goes too far.
"I mean, I'm having flashbacks, Jeff, to our friends in the Lulu tribe or the Vula tribe. I mean, Janu went 11 days, no flint, no fire. So that's a record. This is the fourth time we're seeing this kind of loss. That means it's a trend. So is the flint and pot and machete penalty too harsh?" Jay asked.
Without skipping a beat, Jeff completely rejected the idea that taking the flint away is "too harsh." Furthermore, Jeff argued that the punishment is working exactly as intended because it results in players showing how adaptable they can be without fire.
"No, no. It's exactly as designed because it forces adaptability. We're hearing it in Jeremy. He's saying, if I played on 50, I don't think I'd eat a worm. We don't know what Jeremy would do. That's what's going to be interesting about 50 because you're going to be forced into something you haven't done before. And what I think Survivor shows is that we can adapt much more than we think. Look at the rice negotiation in the new era. In the first season, players were desperate to get the required number of players in order to make a deal that they could get rice. You go a few seasons deeper, and the players start going, 'I don't even know if we need the rice. I'm not willing to give up my shot at immunity.' That's adaptation in real time."
Jeff is definitely correct in that taking the flint away does force the players into unexpected directions, and it's certainly going to be interesting to see how the old school players adapt to the show's current model in Survivor 50.