Survivor 41 has flown off the rails

reality blurred

"What started as a promising season with a few worrying signs has so far produced just one episode that actually resembles Survivor, and by that I mean a focus on players trying to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other," says Andy Dehnart. "I have not taken a scientific survey, but it seems to me like there’s far more agreement among Survivor fandom that the Survivor 41 is just not working. My sense is that’s because, in the past, we could debate and disagree about the merits of certain twists or advantages because they were taking place inside a familiar structure. This season, the structure has been trashed and replaced by Jeff Probst’s idea of 'fun,' and it’s just not working." Dehnart adds that Survivor has stopped trusting its players and format. "Survivor 41 completely dumped not only its theme song, but also any semblance of an opening sequence, which used to briefly show each of the players. Alas, that’s not the only way its players have been left out," he says. "What makes Survivor great is watching a diverse group of people try to work together while also competing against each other. The people who get voted out choose the winner, which is a simple but brilliant game mechanism that gives relationships between strangers some weight and consequence. What happened to letting us watch players get to know each other at camp? Why aren’t we seeing relationships develop or grow? I certainly welcome an opportunity to learn more about the players, but a flashback to show us a player’s life at home while they deliver exposition to the camera is not character development, it’s a bio. Survivor 41 has a very strong cast of people who’ve shown up to play the game. Alas, the game won’t let them, and the editing won’t let us see them. I really feel bad for this group, waiting through a pandemic year just to show up and discover that the game is now a game of chance, not strategy."