It’s not abnormal for famousreality showsto switch up their format, in fact, a successful series is usually one that can evolve but still keep its fanbase tuning in every week. That’s the case forSurvivor, created byCharlie Parsonsfor CBS, a historic reality competition that has seen numerous changes since it premiered more than two decades ago. The success of these has varied, with many being extremely necessary, like ensuring its cast reflects the show’s diverse viewers and making the game a respectful one for each of them. But there is one kind of change the show has attempted numerous timesthat always yields upset from the watchersat home:changes to its rules.
Whether it shifts how someone makes it into the top three or throws in a cavalcade of complicated twists,Survivorhas garnered criticism from even its most loyal of fans to alter gameplay that, oftentimes, nobody was complaining about. The series ‘new era’ has featured many of these, but where it found the most vitriol isits new concept of making its players ‘earn the merge’. It’s a strange adjustment to one of the show’s beloved aspects, and with the series itself trying to work around this change, it’s clear this is one of the worst edits to its format thatSurvivorhas ever made.
A reality show where a group of contestants are stranded in a remote location with little more than the clothes on their back. The lone survivor of this contest takes home a million dollars.
The Merge Is a ‘Survivor’ Mainstay
WhileSurvivor’s’new era'(seasons 41-46) has seensome great improvements,it has also tried some wild tactics to recapture the chaotic excitement of its earlier seasons.From the infamous hourglass twist of seasons 41 and 42 to its insistence on subjecting players to strange games that lose their vote, these attempts to spice up the game often ruin people’s entire strategic games (and the viewing experience). One major change was how it handled the ‘merge’ and the jury; while they start off in a tribe, around the midpoint of each season the players merge into one large group with every subsequent vote-out putting the eliminated person on theSurvivorjury. Not only does it give them a chance to help decide who wins, but it also grants both the player and the fans who loved watching thema further presence in the game, a reward for making it so far in this grueling and cutthroat setting. Well, recent seasons held true to that - sort of. Rather than merging andallowing competitors a larger playground for deceitand granting them a spot on the jury, it implemented a convoluted ‘earn the merge’ mechanic that sees them come together but still be separated into groups to compete for immunity, with the person getting voted out not making it onto the jury.
This is a confusing change that many have rightfully labeled as redundant. To not allow merged players onto the jury is one thing, but why bring the cast together only to separate them again? Last season saw this occur on multiple episodes, the group getting divided after coming together and having their own eliminations - this new swap often made the strategic alliances individuals had made previously pointless.What frustrates viewers the most is the simple wonder of why this is being done. If the show wants to keep the people in groups, why not just hold off on the merge? And if they want to add excitement, they can conduct a tribe swap (a scrambling of the tribes) that has only been done once in recent years despite being anoverwhelmingly successful practice throughout its history. ‘Earn the merge’ hurts people’s games and, most importantly, robs viewers of seeing many of the people they’d loved to that point earn their rightful place on that season’s jury.
‘Survivor’ Needs to Make a Change
While it’s fumbled on occasion, the newest portion ofSurvivorhas seen a tremendous amount of enjoyable additions to the series. From groundbreaking winners to an abundance of hilarious moments, it’s steadily been able to combine the strategy and deceitful gameplay that made the show so famous with a social awareness that all current reality TV should embody. But its strange decision to complicate its own merge rules is a huge signal that the show is stillstruggling to adapt to a modern setting.The paradoxical rules see a merge happen earlier than necessary while still subjecting contestants to a fractured cast, needlessly complicated this already complex premise and unfairly removing the prize of the jury that countless previously merged casts got. Going back to the way it used to would be an easy fix, and it’s obvious thatSurvivorneeds to learn: it’s okay to try new things, and it’s also okay to retire them when they don’t work.
Survivoris available to stream on Paramount Plus in the U.S.
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