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Survivor 50 could be the last time we see players from seasons 1-40: Here's why

As we sit and wait to see how the commemorative season plays out, we're also wondering what the future of Survivor looks like after 50.
ByJacqueline Thomas|
“Epic Boss Girl Move” – Castaways begin to gauge how much they can trust their tribemates. Tribes must wind their way to victory in the challenge to earn safety and fishing gear. Then, a castaway risks getting caught red-handed with important information in the game, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-9:29 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream on Paramount+(live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential
“Epic Boss Girl Move” – Castaways begin to gauge how much they can trust their tribemates. Tribes must wind their way to victory in the challenge to earn safety and fishing gear. Then, a castaway risks getting caught red-handed with important information in the game, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, Sept. 25 (8:00-9:29 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream on Paramount+(live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential | CBS

I'm currently in the process of turning my best friend into a Survivor super fan, and in her education, we just got to season 16 (Survivor: Micronesia), also known as Fans vs. Favorites.

One of my favorite seasons with so many iconic moments in the show's history. Who could ever forget the Black Widow Brigade or when Erik Reichenbach blindsided himself? And of course it's where one of the greatest Survivor quotes of all time originated: "it's a ******* stick!" - Eliza Orlins

But this rewatch got me thinking about the new era and how we're getting far enough into it, that—after Survivor 50—it could be fun to start incorporating returning players again in unique themes like Fans vs. Favorites or Blood vs. Water. And then the big question hit me:

Will "returning players" only be from the new era moving forward?

Eliza Orlins, Amanda Kimmel, Jonathan Penner, Ami Cusack, James Clement, Jonny Fairplay, Parvati Shallow, Yau-Man Chan, Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, Natalie Bolton
"Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites" Finale | Joe Kohen/GettyImages

It would make sense. The seasons after Winners at War have felt like a different Survivor, and I have a feeling that season 50 is going to show us just how big that divide really is. We've gotten 8 seasons proving that the show's moving in a new direction and I think a part of making that shift includes really committing to it.

Keeping future "returning players" within the boundaries of the new era is just a part of Survivor building a blueprint for this new era of the game. Just as they did with the first 40 seasons.

And with Survivor 50 now confirmed to have a cast made up of 50% new era players, a season previously promoted as a way to "honor 50 seasons" of Survivor already feels more like an arrow pointing towards the future of the show than a celebration of it's historic past.

Of course, we'll still have all the other reality shows that continue to cast our favorite players, so it's not like we'll never see them again. The Challenge season 41 just added three Survivor players, as did The Traitors season 4. There are plenty of ways to stay connected to them, even if their Survivor journey is over.

But this is just another one of my theories. We won't know until Jeff has spoken...

Stay tuned for more news about Survivor 50! We'll be waiting for a while until we find out new information, but we have Survivor 49 first this fall on CBS and Paramount+.

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