The New Era is Just a Gamble

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When I was asked to write this a few weeks back, I said yes with full gumption, excited to settle in with my popcorn, take notes, break down the episode, and analyze the relationship dynamics shaping the biggest moments of the week. That’s always been my favorite part of Survivor—the way alliances, trust, and social nuance build toward a majority consensus to vote someone off the island.

But this week? Instead of rich interpersonal strategy, the outcome was buried under layers of gamification and production “knick-knacks”.

According to Merriam-Webster, a "bit" is defined as "a short theatrical routine" or "a piece of comedic business or repartee”. This week’s episode of Survivor 48, aptly titled Committing to the Bit, confirms that New Era Survivor is essentially a live board game—one that allows for some strategy but mostly relies on pure luck. It’s an overproduced bit that players are forced to endure.

Have you ever played Mario Party? For those unfamiliar, it’s a video game that plays a bit like Chutes and Ladders—you roll dice, move along the board, and either collect goodies or land on unfortunate circles that set you back. Along the way, you play mini-games to earn coins, which you then use to buy stars. Some games require skill, but many rely on luck.

How do you win? End up with the most stars. But here’s the catch—at the end of the game, the so-called “Mario Gods” award bonus stars based on completely random criteria, like who rolled the lowest numbers overall or some other arbitrary factor. Random rolls, random game mechanics, and ultimately, a random winner… hm...

At its best, Survivor is an intricate social experiment, where strategy, relationships, and adaptability dictate the outcome of each episode—and ultimately, the winner of a million dollars. At its worst, it’s a live game of roulette, where twists override gameplay and the most pivotal moments are dictated by sheer randomness. This week’s episode (and so much of New Era in general) was inarguably the latter.

The outrageous number of producer-driven ‘twists’ is creating an unfulfilling experience for viewers. This week, I was mostly lost during Tribal Council, chasing down the rules like Sai running after Mary on Vula beach. It felt like an incoherent swirl of a Shot in the Dark immunity “success,” vote nullifications, votes, re-votes, and players skipping over (or not even realizing?) that one of four people no longer had a vote, or I guess two...or whatever.

When one of our Survivor coverage heroes, Dalton Ross, titles his recap The Most Confusing Tribal Council Ever, you know the mechanics have officially forced the game beyond recognition. (By the way, I love Dalton—go read his articles. BONUS: plenty of Ghost Island references this week, so I’ll spare you mine!)

If you’re looking for a clear breakdown of what happened, Gia Worthy (@classicallygia) put together a fantastic six-minute video—complete with a whiteboard—to explain the madness. Season 43’s Dwight Moore even followed up with a 4.5-minute explanation into why this week’s mechanics aren’t consistent with previous seasons. And let’s be real—when a former Survivor player needs ten full minutes to untangle a single vote, something is off.

And the players? They’re not exactly having a blast either.

As Bianca pointed out, "We all know journeys don’t usually end well." No, they don’t.

Kamilla added, "A game of chance means I have no say in what happens." Yes, Kamilla. You only took six weeks off your life and lost months (maybe years?) to casting anxiety, so why would you want a say in your own game?

And in what might have been the most relevant and foreboding sentiment of all, Justin lamented, "I don’t have a voice tonight at Tribal Council. I’m like a sitting duck."

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy parts of this circus. There were highlights: we know exactly where alliances are forming in all three tribes (with Kyle and Shauhin in the best positions, in my opinion), we saw how Joe and Eva’s sweet friendship is (rightfully) starting to raise alarms, and we witnessed David unknowingly admitting that he and his girlfriend desperately need a serious compatibility conversation.

But what do all of these moments have in common? Real people, real stories, real relationships. Unmanufactured moments.

This isn’t the first time I’ve said that Survivor producers underestimate the power of human storytelling. If you haven’t yet, listen to your favorite Survivors on the Road to Reality. The Survivor casting team does an incredible job of finding people who bring intrigue, intensity, and humor to every season. In my podcast, I interview former cast members about their lives, and trust me—each conversation is fascinating. Because the people finding Survivors don’t mess around. They find incredible storytellers. They find interesting characters and narrators. Trust me, every single person cast makes for a great interview. Somewhere along the way, Jeff and the production team lost the plot. It was never just the game that kept us coming back—it was always the people who played it.

If it’s a fear of repetitiveness and a need to keep the show fresh: different puzzle decodes, weird phrases with bunnies and broccoli and literal rolling of dice for the same idol aren’t what has kept Survivor going for all these years—it’s the different people who make it interesting season after season.

So, Jeff, I beg you: Let. The. Players. Play. The game will be fascinating and engaging again - once you get out of the way.

As much as I’d prefer to keep the gambling in Vegas and not on the Survivor beaches, I suppose there’s a certain charm in watching the madness unfold. I held my breath as Cedrek was forced to make his decision. I was throwing my hands up in the air with frustration and confusion. And maybe that’s the real viewing experience of New Era Survivor: embracing the chaos, knowing that sometimes the game will make perfect sense, and other times, it’ll leave us furiously Googling “Survivor advantage rules” after the episode ends. Either way, we’ll keep showing up—because like it or not, we’ve already committed to the bit.

-Kellyn

Kellyn Bechtold (Survivor Ghost Island)  is a holistic career coach and business advisor. Her new consulting venture for small business founders, The Out Beyond, is launching this summer. Her Survivor podcast, Road to Reality, can be found on Spotify or wherever you listen to RHAP content. Follow her on socials everywhere @TheKellynB.

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