Survivor 32 was the last time the show was filmed anywhere other than the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Since then, Survivor has used many of the same beaches for campsites and locations for challenges. The location has become an almost non-factor in the game, leading to a stale feeling.
In the early years of Survivor, the locale was almost like an extra player. There were new things to see, different challenges derived from the locales, and different beaches. This added an interesting element to the game. For instance, on Survivor 3: Africa, there weren’t any water challenges. These kinds of things were sometimes twists in themselves.
Starting with seasons 19 and 20, the show began filming at the same location for back-to-back seasons. This made sense. They could film two seasons, one right after the other, without having to set up everything so quickly. It doubtlessly saved money. Survivor even started returning to some of these locations for later seasons.
Why does Survivor only film in Fiji now?
This all stopped starting with season 33. According to Screen Rant, the show saves a lot of money in production costs by reusing the exact locations in Figi over and over, and Fiji works well with the show and gives them cost-cutting incentives.
The result is that having the same locations every season has made the show's background bland. There aren’t any surprises. It has taken away the element of adventure from the show, and Survivor is the lesser for it.
This isn’t as significant a change as reducing the length of the game from 39 days to 26 days, but it has led to some stagnation in the game.
It would be nice to see some variation in the game derived from unique locations. Is it now an impossibility to rotate locations? Could they not film in Fiji every other year, two seasons at a time, and look elsewhere for the next two seasons? Are there no other previous locations that will work with the show?
The answer may be no to all of these questions. Maybe it’s the cost savings from filming in Fiji that is keeping the show on the air. If this is the case, then Fiji it is. It's better to have a slightly bland backdrop than no Survivor at all.
Survivor returns to Fiji for Survivor 48 starting Wednesday, Feb. 26, on CBS and Paramount+!