Casting Survivor 50 was always going to be a thankless job. Every fan has their own personal preferences, and there was no collection of names everyone was going to be happy with. I always assumed I’d be happy with some of the choices and annoyed about some of the choices. Now that the cast has been revealed, I can verify that’s true, but even so, this collection of names isn’t sitting right with me. In fact, I was initially skeptical of the leaked names, and even now, the more I think about the cast, the more confused I get about what’s going on.
I’m sure Jeff Probst and the producers had some kind of process they went by to get here, but from where I’m sitting, there are fundamental things about the makeup of this cast that just don’t make any sense. I can’t figure out what process they went by because I don’t understand how any well thought out process could have led to this collection of names. As such, I’m not surprised so many fans are livid.
there being too many advantages and how self-referential and filled with superfans it has become, but in general, I’m still on board with the show and love it. So, I’m excited about having the New Era represented and excited to see how those players will bounce off the ones from previous eras.
But half of the cast debuting between Season 41 and Season 49 is outrageous. That doesn’t honor the show’s history, and it’s also a really questionable marketing strategy. I realize how we consume television has changed, but the early seasons of the show were among the most popular offerings on television. Jerri Manthey was arguably the most talked about player on The Australian Outback, which was watched by almost 30 million Americans weekly. The new seasons are lucky to have episodes break 7 million. What are we doing here?
There’s Way Too Many Players From Season 48
I know I already complained about the New Era, but this is such an egregious and nonsensical situation that it needs its own paragraph. Season 48 is arguably the most disliked season of the New Era. It had some moments here and there, but best case scenario, it’s near the bottom of the New Era rankings. I didn’t like it. My friends and family didn’t like it. The complaints on social media were loud and relentless, apart from maybe two episodes that featured some interesting gameplay.
The fact that Jeff and company could watch that season, see the reaction and still want to bring back 3 players is baffling. That’s no shot against Kamilla, Kyle or Joe. They were fun players to watch, and I’m not opposed to seeing all three return separately at some point in the future. Not now though. There are 24 total spots for people on Season 50, a season that is supposed to represent the history of the show. Why would you give 3 of those to a season everyone was collectively meh on?
We Need A Statement On Diversity
Survivor has been very open about increasing the number of diverse players on the show, and the casts in the New Era clearly represent that forward progress. The newer seasons have had fifty percent BIPOC representation, and that representation has helped give us some all-time fantastic players. There were a lot of questions about whether Survivor 50 would follow that mandate, given we’re dealing with former players and not new ones.
Many fans felt strongly CBS should carry that casting goal into Season 50. Others felt this all-star season in particular was a bit more complicated, given the show is trying to honor its entire run and much of that run was filled with predominantly white players. Ultimately, the show cast several diverse players but less than what we’ve seen in the New Era.
In absence of a clear explanation as to why, there is a lot of chatter on social media about the decision. Survivor producers should offer a clear and straightforward explanation and talk about what it means for future seasons.
To Sum Up
I’m going to watch Season 50, and I’m going to go in with an open mind. I love a lot of the returning players, and I can’t wait to see how they all interact with each other. I think this can be and will be a really fun and memorable season. I also get how hard casting something like this is, and I don’t want to pretend like I could have come up with a group everyone would have loved.
But it’s really obvious from this final list that Jeff and the producers didn’t go in with pre-conceived rules about how they would split things out. They didn’t have a mandate to cast a certain number of people from each era. They didn’t have a mandate to cast a certain number of winners or Final Tribal losers or a certain number of diverse players. They just picked who they ultimately wanted to be on the show. Maybe that mix of players will work together really well, but right now, that lack of an obvious plan has myself and a lot of other Survivor fans feeling confused and frustrated as there are giant gaps of the show’s history missing.