Next Wednesday, Survivor will premiere what is arguably its most anticipated season yet. 2o of the show’s best(?) winners will compete for $2 million dollars. The larger prize isn’t the only thing that is different about the game. The show’s creators have revealed numerous twists that, for better or worse, will raise the stakes of the game.
To start off on the positive side of things, it was revealed that this season, castaways will be visited by more than just one family member when it comes time for the always-emotional reward challenge. With over half the cast having kids, producers likely wanted to take advantage of all the cute parent-child moments that would arise from the castaways seeing them after 30+ days. Another interesting layer to this twist comes from the fact that two of this season’s contestants, (Boston) Rob and Amber (Brkich) Mariano, are married and have 4 kids with one another. It will be interesting to see what will happen if both make it to that point.
The next big twist coming to Season 40 is something fans are less than excited about. Winners at War will feature the return of Edge of Extinction, the controversial twist that allows voted out players to earn their way back into the game through competing in a challenge at the merge or final 5. While host Jeff Probst is a major proponent of the second chance island, many fans hate it. #EndEdgeofExtinction even began popping up on Twitter, with fans imploring the host and executive producer to consider nixing the twist for season 41. Still, the twist is definitely on Winners at War, so even castaways that claimed to have hated it will likely have to spend at least some of their time on extinction island, waiting for the next challenge.
The last twist added to the season is “fire tokens.” Not much yet is known about the in-game currency that supposedly adds “another layer of duplicity” to the game, but it seems like castaways will be able to use the tokens for rewards or advantages.
It remains to be seen how this will change the game, so I don’t want to pass judgment just yet. I guess I’ll have to tune in next week!