3 ways Survivor 47 can be much better than season 46

Survivor 47 premieres on CBS this fall! We're about one month away from the season premiere on Wednesday. Sept. 18. As we look ahead to the new season, it's a good time to look back at the previous season, Survivor 46, to see what changes can make the season better.

Upon review, we identified three ways that Survivor 47 can be better than season 46. Filming of season 47 started right after season 46, so realistically, the contestants should have been able to watch at least some, if not all, of the previous season. They can make changes to their games based on what we saw in season 46.

Here are those three ways that Survivor 47 can be better than the last season.

More competitive immunity challenges, especially early in the game

“Wackadoodles Win” – Several castaways have some explaining to do after a fake idol was played at tribal council. A castaway attempts to fall on the sword for their tribe’s loss in the immunity challenge. Then, three castaways take a journey to compete for an advantage in the game, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, March 13 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential /

Look, Survivor 46 wasn't a bad season by any means, but it did get off to a bit of a rough start in my opinion. The Yanu tribe was a mess from the beginning of the game, and they lost nearly every challenge to start the game. It means that they, not the Siga or Nami tribes, went to tribal council almost every week to start the game.

If Randen Montalvo had been able to stay in the game, Yanu would have gone to tribal council and voted off a tribe member for the first four weeks of the season. That's not good TV. It's not good gameplay. It's rather sad.

And, had Randen not been pulled from the game, one of Q Burdette, Tiffany Erving, and Kenzie Petty, the winner of season 46, would not have made it to the merge.

Obviously, watching one tribe lose and basically waste away with limited food and supplies is no fun, but it's also not really all that fair to the other players. The game is going on around them, but the Nami tribe never even had to vote someone out until the pseudo-merge on Day 13. They played half the game without having to cast a vote, and I think that really hindered their gameplay.

Hopefully, in Survivor 47, we see more competitive immunity challenges early in the game.

Better hidden immunity idol play

“My Messy, Sweet Little Friend” – Idol fever strikes the NuiNui beach and launches a massive hunt for the last hidden immunity idol of the season. With the end of the game in sight, castaways begin to question whether their resumes are enough to win the title of Sole Survivor. Then, in a test of precision, castaways compete for immunity and a spot in the final six, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, May 8 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on-demand on /

On top of the bad challenges early in the season, Survivor 46 broke the all-time record for the most contestants to get voted out of the game with a hidden immunity idol in their pocket. We saw five contestants leave the game with an idol in season 46. Not one idol was played successfully the entire season.

Obviously, that has to change in Survivor 47. People will go home with an idol in their pocket. That happens often in Survivor, and it's going to happen again. But, it would be great for someone, anyone, to properly play a hidden immunity idol in Survivor 47.

Hidden immunity idols can be an injection of fun and adrenaline into the game when used correctly. We've seen the whole game shift on properly played idols, and that'd be a fun wrinkle to see in Survivor 47.

Fewer blindsides

“Run the Red Light” – Castaways compete for the biggest reward of the season, and an outburst resulting from the reward challenge could lead to a strategic shift in this week’s target. Then, an eerie sense of agreeability around camp causes castaways to second guess their vote before tribal council, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, May 1 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or /

Despite the lack of played idols, Survivor 46 was an incredible season for blindsides. It seemed like there were at least five or six votes in a row post-merge that epic blindsides. At the time, I enjoyed some of the blindsides, but I'm going to be honest. It was a little much!

It's not the blindside that's the problem to me. I love an exciting vote and reveal. I think the shorter, more sped-up season is stopping players from forming solid connections. The alliances aren't real alliances, and every vote can go either way. Is that the best way to watch Survivor? It's an exciting game, for sure, but I miss the days of two, loyal-ish groups heading into tribal council to see who comes out on top. That's when hidden immunity idols are more fun, too!

Survivor 46 was like watching a bunch of people playing roulette. They were all hoping the ball would land on someone else's number every week, basically. Sure, that happens often in Survivor, but these votes are almost being too left up to chance.

There was also too much discussion about big moves. We all know it's a hallmark of Survivor, but it's also, in my opinion, why there were so many blindsides. Everyone was trying to make the winning move too early in the game.

I hope in Survivor 47 there's clearer gameplay and fewer random blindsides for the sake of making big moves.

That's the list of changes I hope we see in Survivor 47, starting on Wednesday, Sept. 18, only on CBS and Paramount+.

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