Survivor 49 formally premiered this week, and for the primary time in months, the fanbase is lastly speaking about one thing apart from Survivor 50. Response to the debut episode was plenty of “it was okay” kind feedback, although that shouldn’t actually come as a shock given host Jeff Probst has repeatedly stated the season picks up after the merge. I do, nonetheless, suppose there’s one percolating theme that’s value speaking about: the tribe sizes.
The 2 most typical complaints about Survivor’s so-called New Period are the change from 39 days to 26 days and the prevalence of benefits and probabilities for folks to lose their votes. It seems like the times factor is rarely going to vary, however the producers could also be listening on the second entrance, because the Survivor 49 premiere didn’t comprise any idols, benefits or misplaced votes. As such, many followers have moved on to the third most typical grievance: the variety of tribes.
Again within the day, Survivor all the time started with two tribes of equal sizes. Sooner or later alongside the journey, nonetheless, the beloved actuality competitors collection began mixing in some seasons that begin with three smaller tribes as an alternative of two bigger tribes. For awhile, the present rotated between three tribes and two tribes, however because the New Period started with Survivor 41, the present has all the time began with three.
Now, there are undoubtedly some benefits to the three tribes format. It makes the immunity challenges extra fascinating, as there aren’t as many lopsided blowouts the place it seems over midway by means of. Three separate camps additionally makes it extra probably that you just’ll get very completely different vibes and tribe dynamics, which might make chopping between the completely different seashores extra pleasurable as there’s sometimes plenty of selection.
Three tribes can even make the post-merge extra pleasurable. As an alternative of 1 tribe having the numbers and with the ability to slowly decide off the opposite, the third tribe sometimes means there’s no absolute numbers benefit and new alliances have to be fashioned to get to a majority. That provides a far more compelling dynamic and prevents Pagonging, which is an actual time period Survivor superfans use to explain post-merge voting patterns.
Sadly, there are additionally some downsides to going with three tribes, and after so many seasons in a row, plenty of followers are beginning to really feel worn down by them. First, constructing a majority inside a particular tribe is method too simple and may typically really feel virtually arbitrary.
As a result of Survivor virtually solely casts superfans obsessive about the present today, most individuals hit the seashore with a objective of discovering three different folks to work with as quickly as doable. Since nobody desires to be voted out first, gamers are sometimes very fast to enter into these early makeshift alliances. If you begin with larger tribes, it’s arduous to type these coalitions shortly since you want extra folks, however with solely six folks, you may miss out in your probability to make that Survivor prize cash since you occurred to be getting water whereas 4 random gamers talked on the shelter.
It’s additionally so much more durable to cover whenever you’re dangerous at challenges. Opposite to what some followers would let you know, the slowest and least athletic particular person isn’t all the time the primary particular person voted out on a tribe of six. Generally not becoming in with everybody else or being perceived as shady are the larger crimes, however sure, in the event you’re not very athletic and your group loses the primary problem, you’re in serious trouble. That’s nonetheless the case if the sport begins with two tribes, however with extra gamers, there are virtually all the time a number of castaways who’re dangerous at challenges. Which means the folks on the backside have much more wiggle room to make use of their social expertise to maintain themselves round.
Jeff Probst and the opposite producers have by no means come out and stated they’re going to maintain three tribes endlessly. The historical past of the sport would inform us that they’ll need to change issues up sooner or later, however curiously, the variety of tribes was not one thing followers had been allowed to vote on forward of Survivor 50. They got a alternative on all the pieces from firemaking to immunity idols to tribe colours, however the variety of tribes was all the time set at three. With twenty-four gamers competing, nonetheless, it’ll be enjoyable to see how having eight at every seashore modifications the dynamics or mitigates among the points followers at present have with the format.
Regardless, Survivor 49 is setting itself as much as be a reasonably enjoyable season. It options plenty of actually partaking personalities and ought to be a extremely pleasurable watch. You possibly can catch it on Wednesday nights on CBS.