All Survivor fans should be excited for the upcoming season, Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
The cast is a great mix of six Old School players, six New School, and 12 New Era contestants, even if the season has a clunky tagline of “In the Hands of Fans.”
For years, most Survivor seasons were known by their locations and by a theme. The early themes included All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, Fans vs. Favorites, and Redemption Islands. Starting with season 26, the show had a string of themes for nearly every season.
These themes included another Fans vs. Favorites, two Blood vs. Water seasons, Second Chances, Gen X vs. Millennials, and Game Changers.
Several themes were a bit cumbersome, like Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and David vs. Goliath.
Others worked extremely well, like Heroes vs. Villains, the Fans vs. Favorites seasons, Gen X vs. Millennials, Game Changers, and Second Chances. Others did not work quite as well.
After the landmark 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, the game went through a transitional phase, escalated mostly by a one-year hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and by societal changes. These changes included things like the game being shortened from 39 days to 26, less food provided, new twists, more diverse casts, and no more themes.
Survivor 50's theme includes several of the aspects of the season being determined by fan votes.
While the lack of overall themes has been welcome, there are a few that could be revisited in the seasons that follow 50, and maybe a few that haven't been used, but fans would surely enjoy.
Survivor theme ideas for future seasons
Idea 1: Millennials vs. Gen Z
This is obviously inspired by one of the best seasons the show has ever had, Millennials vs. Gen X. In this rendition, the Millennials will be the crusty, old, set-in-their-ways elders, forced to play against a younger generation with their own values.
This one almost seems like a no-brainer. Season 33 was so good that this theme seems like a perfect follow-up. They could do it for Season 53, which would be 20 years after the first one, for a certain level of symmetry.
In a perfect world, they would bring back all the original Millennials, but that is a pipe dream. Still, it will work with a whole cast of first-time players.
Idea 2: The Final Five
The actual wording of this theme can be modified, but the thought behind it is that so many good players could have (maybe should have) won but didn't. Many great players are voted out during the Final Five tribal councils, or finish in fourth, or make it to the finals and don't win.
Some of these players have received the chance to play again, but there are surely 18 players who only played once that would want to play once more. This is similar to Second Chances, but with a narrower scope.
Every player within this subset of Survivor players probably thinks they should have won. They were voted out because they were too big of a threat. The idea could be modified for a bigger scope, such as anyone who made a merge but got ousted too early. Regardless, this would be an entertaining season.
Idea 3: The First Three
This one is a flip of the previous idea. Instead of one of the Final Five non-winners, this would draw from the pool of players who were one of the first three players voted out.
Oftentimes, players are voted out early because they are physically weaker than others, or maybe they just rub their tribemates the wrong way. Occasionally, however, they are voted out because they are perceived as too strong physically, or too strategic, or because they are perceived as playing too hard.
There have been several players who might have been excellent at the game if they had stayed in it longer. This one could be quite interesting, but it might be difficult to find enough who want to play again.
Idea 4: Survivor: The Next Generation
This one is easy and extremely enticing. Simply put, these players would be the children of past Survivor players.
Yes, there have been two seasons of Blood vs. Water, and some of those pairs were parent vs. child, but this isn't the same thing. This would be a whole season where all the players had parents who played Survivor.
There have to be at least 18 kids whose parents played on Survivor who would love the chance to outshine their parent in the game. Heck, even though she's only seven and more than a decade away from being eligible, Parvati Shallow's daughter is already training for the game.
This would be something that could easily be promoted, and it would be a lot of fun for long-time fans of the show, as well as younger fans.
The show could continue with the post-COVID trend of not having themes. It has worked well, but if they decide to go back and try some other themes, these four could be outside-of-the-box ideas that all have some appeal for diehard Survivor fans.