Most Survivor fans remember a time when making the Final Three and Final Tribal Council was not decided by a fire-making challenge. In the "old days," the Final Four players would vote one player out just like in every other Tribal Council, and then, the three remaining players would move on while the player voted out would become the final member of the jury.
Well, after the epic and incredibly dramatic fire-making challenge in the Survivor 47 finale between Teeny Chirichillo and Sam Phalen, Jeff Probst shared why the fire-making challenge is necessary and why it's probably here to stay in Survivor. In the episode, winner Rachel LaMont won the immunity challenge and chose Teeny and Sam to make fire for the spot in the Final Three.
"The last advantage of any type that can help a player is a fully-powered idol that goes until the final five," Probst said to Charlie Davis and Jay Wolff on the new episode of the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast. "It can't go beyond five because of math. So, once you get to four players, there wasn't anything left in the game that could save you other than winning individual immunity. And, we had several seasons in a row where a very dominant player would get to the final four. And, if they didn't win immunity, the other three wisely would just simply vote them out.”
I do recall this being an unfortunate reality of the game. You could dominate a season of Survivor, just like Rachel did. Then, if you lost one immunity challenge, you would lose the game. I often wonder -- because that's what Survivor fans like me do -- how many different winners we would have had over the seasons had the fire-making challenge been a staple of Survivor from the very beginning, or even halfway through. Remember, the current variation of the fire-making challenge only started in season 35. We had 34 seasons without this setup!
Probst revealed the two problems with the old way of voting to get to the Final Three.
"Number one, it didn't feel fundamentally fair from a game standpoint that there was this one spot where there was absolutely no possible protection or even the threat that someone might have protection," Probst said. "You just simply vote them out, and you know nothing can stop you. Number two, from a storytelling standpoint, it's not dramatic. It's almost a foregone conclusion that they're going to take out the biggest threat. And, since the audience knows there is no advantage or twist that can change that, there is no drama. So, as we started looking at it, we realized there's an opportunity here to solve both problems by creating a new layer to the format that would provide a dilemma and drama.”
And, a new layer of drama is what we got in the Survivor 47 finale. Every fire-making challenge is so dramatic. There have been a few blowouts, of course, but when we get a good one like with Sam and Teeny or Tony Vlachos and Sarah Lacina in Survivor: Winners at War, it's magic! It's super fun to watch those challenges, and it adds a layer of excitement to the game.
So, I agree with Probst, honestly. This solves many more problems than it causes, and it gives the players one last chance to make a big statement. It adds a real choice for the person who won the final immunity challenge.
For me, it also adds another layer of gameplay that can make or break a season for someone. We've seen players basically win the game by winning the fire-making challenge. It can be like fouling at the end of a basketball game, you know? You're losing, and you foul on purpose to get more possession in the game so you can catch up or win at the end. We've seen players give up immunity and go head-to-head in fire with the favorite to make sure they knock them out and secure the win. Chris Underwood did that in Survivor: Edge of Extinction. It's a massive gamble, but it can definitely pay off.
Most importantly, I just like that the whole season doesn't come down to one challenge. It's too much pressure on these players. Giving them something after that immunity challenge is clearly good for the game. Remember, fire represents life in Survivor. As long as the fire is burning, you are still in the game.
I really hope the fire-making challenge sticks around in Survivor, and based on Probst's comments, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.
We'll just have to see what happens in the next season of Survivor. Will there be a fire-making challenge in Survivor 48? Will a new wrinkle be introduced? Based on the Survivor 47 finale, I don't think we'll need one. That was as fireworks as it gets for a fire-making challenge!