Survivor started as the ultimate social experiment. Strangers were marooned on an island and had to create a community while voting people out. Over its 25 years, the show has evolved in various ways, with terms such as “castaways” being changed to “players,” as the strategic elements of the game took over. No longer are players strangers to what Survivor is all about. And no longer are the players strangers to each other either. At least on seasons like Survivor 50 that featured people who had all been on Survivor before.
Jeff Probst always talks about the unique Survivor community that is built with the limited number of people who have ever had the chance to play the game. Those shared experiences help castaways grow together both on and off the island, joining an exclusive community of less than 800 people.
So when players are brought back for a season like Survivor 50, many of them have crossed paths before. Not only are there people possibly playing again in the same season, but the tangled web in the Survivor community lends itself to personal relationships impacting the game in the form of pre-game alliances. And in a recent interview with The Wrap, Jeff shared his thought son how pre-game alliances affect the game.
“It’s real and there’s no way around it. So part of 50 was to anticipate pre-game alliances and design with them in mind. Things like a pairs challenge and a switch that are going to make it difficult,” he explained. “You can have all the alliances you want. The question is, can you hold on to them while you’re out there?”
Knowing who might have pre-game connections helps producers when choosing tribes, and random tribal swaps can also throw a wrench into things. Add in the inaugural pair elimination, as Jeff mentioned, and split tribal councils, and pre-game alliances can be thrown out the window at times.
They can also be a double-edged sword.
“My advice to players is just know those things can cut both ways. They did this season,” Jeff continued. “Mike White got cut in a brutal way with what he thought was a relationship that was going to help him in the game, and they used it against him.”
Mike thought he was sitting pretty with fellow Survivor: David vs. Goliath castmates Christian Hubicki and Angelina Keeley after a tribe swap. However, Christian saw an opportunity to cut Mike, and did just that.
Jeff also touched on the negative impact of social media nowadays and how it affects the castaways: “Social media has the biggest impact after we start airing the episodes and you read all the negativity about yourself,” he said. “Somebody thinks you’re dumb or you’re not physical or you’re unattractive or whatever it is…I try to remind the players, ‘Step back a little. You’re not as bad as they say you are.’”
Add us as a preferred source on Google