It is a commonly held belief that the portion of the Survivor fan base that is active in online discussions about the show is impossible to please, but three episodes into the open era, all corners of the internet are buzzing with excitement. After five years and ten seasons of predictable game structure, the show finally feels fresh again, but all change is not good change. The open era is not being well received simply because it is something different, but because the production changes being made are resulting in a much stronger and more satisfying television product. And while I certainly have my opinions on why that is, I figured that if I was going to speak for the fans on why this season is being so well received, I should put this one in the hands of the fans by asking them directly, and they certainly had a lot to say-- I received over seventy responses, only a few of which claimed not to be enjoying the season at all. As summarized by Sawyer, the main re-occuring points brought up in this conversation were tribe size, no lost votes (which relates back to the larger issue of the player's retaining agency with regard to the twists in the game), and casting.
As someone who has been active in the online fan base since the 2000's, it has been a bit amusing to see the overwhelming consensus move firmly to the camp that two tribes are superior to three, because I remember a time when incredibly predictable seasons like Redemption Island, South Pacific, and One World that had one tribe decisively taking out the other one by one were soon followed by seasons like the Phillipines, Cagayan, and Koah Rong, which featured very unpredictable pre-merge and post-merge phases that had fans insisting that three tribes was the way, and beginning to see that format more often as a result. But, with that said, it was clear after seeing nearly every season for a decade either start with three tribes, or expand to three after the first two players were eliminated, that it was time to try something different, and while we are seeing an expansion to three tribes in tonight's episode, it is the longest we have gone with two tribes since a season many have preferred to forget-- Island of the Idols, back in 2019.
While the risks of having two starting tribes remains, and we have yet to see how that will impact the post-merge phase of the game, there are many benefits in the early stages of the game, and we have certainly seen that play out to great effect thus far this season. As Kellyn Bechtold of Survivor Ghost Island said, "the tribe sizes are giving people more room to work." While starting with three tribes ensures that no one group has a clear majority over the rest come merge time, it does require having much smaller tribes to start, which, as PJ Brooks remarked, makes people risk adverse, resulting in boring gameplay: "They just want to lock in a "core four" and be done strategizing." With six people, there are only three possible outcomes. Everyone gangs up on one person, four people decide between the two remaining players, or two groups of three head off, which is more likely in theory than in practice, because players typically do not want to risk a one in four chance of pulling the wrong rock and going home at their first tribal council. Even if the players decide to switch up their alliance after a round or two, small tribes leave them with few options, especially if there's even just one player they absolutely do not get along with-- even more so if that person is already fully committed to getting them out. Chef Cocoa says that "two tribes is more of an even playing field, and gives more room for the players to navigate with their social games" and we have certainly seen that to be the case. No one is universally loved, and having even one person on a tribe of six who is dead set against you can very quickly become an impossible obstacle to overcome if they have any influence over the group. While Phillip Sheppard showed on his two seasons that it is certainly possible to poison the well against one person even on a ten person tribe, it is much easier to convince the three people needed to form a majority on a six person tribe than the five people needed on a ten person tribe without anyone second thinking the plan. It also means the odds are much higher that the plan will be leaked, giving the targeted player more opportunity to save themself. More people means more effort is needed to form a majority, which gives the players much more room to maneuver to a better position, and makes it much more difficult to become complacent while still maintaining a power position within the tribe, which often makes for a much more entertaining television product.
The most notable change from the new era to the open era is the absence of any twists thus far that have deprived players of their votes. We were reminded in episode two that players are not allowed to vote for themselves, and one of the biggest reasons for that is because being forced to put someone else's name down ensures that all of the players to show their cards. While not having a vote can be disastrous in the case of a tight vote where every person who is in on the plan is needed to get the numbers, it can also be a cop out for players who are with the majority, but do not want those in the minority to know that. Voting is the very core component of Survivor, and when that agency is taken away from the players, the game becomes something else entirely. In episode three, with an ultimate tally of six to five, the vote was as tight as it could be, and even one lost vote could have had a major impact on the outcome. The vote was so compelling and exciting because every single player on the beach had a say. Lost votes can certainly add chaos and unpredictability to the game, but they also add a great deal of uncertainty about what could have happened if everyone in attendance had a vote to cast. With no room left for doubt, the episode leaves fans feeling much more satisfied, even if losing Patt was not one's preferred outcome.
Furthermore, while there have been a number of twists added to the game already, all of them gave the players more choices to make, rather than forcing their hand. Lewis went to exile island because he chose to volunteer to do so. Abandoning the "Beware" aspect of idols meant that decisions about whether to confide in other castaways about finding one or not are much more freely made, as the beware idols were extremely difficult if not impossible to obtain without assistance. Both tribes got to choose who visited the other tribe, and while Carter seemed to do so accidentally, the option to mutiny was fully their choice.
Choices reveal character. And it is perhaps not a coincidence that in a season where we are being given the opportunity to get to know the players better through their choices, the "sob stories" fans have been complaining about for years have been notably absent. As Daniel said, "no sob stories, lots of camp life." And getting to know the players by seeing how they play and interact with others, rather than by hearing about their backstory is much more effective storytelling-- as the old adage goes, show, don't tell. And as a user who goes by "gumby chen moonves" noted, "the "open" focus of the game has sort of meant there's less game mechanics that need to be explained each episode. I feel like the New Era consisted of so many drawn out segments explaining rules, having contestants do this, that, and the third to obtain advantages. 51 gets right to it." By keeping the twists simple, and easy to explain, production has allowed themselves much more time to help viewers get to know the players more organically. As Marsanne Golsby put it, "The tiresome gimmicks are gone, at least so far. The idol is just an idol, with no annoying conditions attached, which means the focus is on actual gameplay." Seeing players interact with each other and decide which path they want to take in the game without having their hand forced by lost votes or other twists is much more compelling than listening to the players describe to us the twists that are being added to the game, often at their expense.
The over-arching theme to all the praise is agency. Fans want to see the players play the game-- not the other way around. Although fans were loving Patt and looking forward to seeing her play, it felt fair to lose her in the fallout of a power shift put in motion by the underdogs, because she was genuinely outplayed. She did not go home because her allies lost their votes, or because she was forced to write her own name down, but because the underdogs could clearly identify that they were on the bottom, were willing to take a big swing to improve their positioning, felt they had better relationships with her allies than with her, and did not want to vote them out for that reason, while identifying her as a bigger threat come swap. As Luke Bentz put it, "every player who has been eliminated has been due to the consequences of their own choices. It has felt good not to see someone's dream get crushed because they played Yahtzee on a journey and lost their ability to vote. All of the eliminations have felt earned." As he alluded to, just a few seasons ago on Survivor 48, in a low moment for the show, Justin Pioppi went home in an episode where he was chosen to go on a journey without any say in the matter, was forced to risk his vote playing a game of pure chance at a time where he desperately needed it, and never would have risked it willingly, and faced even more bad luck when the consensus target in Mary successfully played her Shot in the Dark to save herself. A large part of the fun in watching the show for many viewers is imagining oneself in the players' shoes-- because it is a fun thought exercise to imagine what choices one would make in their circumstances, and when the players are forced by production to make choices they don't want to make, the show is no longer fun to watch. Thankfully, production has started to correct course for Survivor 51. As "Tha Dab Crab" remarked, "production is letting the players play the game, its just that basic. The 40's was all about smothering player agency to manufacture moments. 51 has already delivered several authentic moments and we're just getting started."
Finally, it is worth noting that excellent casting is the key element that has made this season resonate so well with fans thus far. As Amanda D put it, "Best cast in years. So many personalities, oozing with charisma, each playing in their own way with boldness." Cah pointed out that, "the cast isn't all nerd superfans who know every possible move and strategy and all try to play the same 'optimal' way." Ian Hollenberg added on: "it feels like casting found new, different archetypes that were missing in the new era, which heavily skewed white-collar superfans." This cast has felt much more chaotic and emotional, in a way that is very reminiscent of the old school days of the game, and the editing of the show isn't shying away from the more volatile aspects of their personalities either. As user DFAkin put it, "51 isn't afraid to paint people as villains (Rob, Devin) or idiots (Devin & Brady's ego getting undermined, Rob quitting) and it's refreshing." While it is a net positive that the show has moved towards more multi-dimensional portrayals of the players over time, rather than fully humiliating and lambasting them to an audience of millions, it has felt at times that they have over-corrected, and gone so far out of their way to avoid portraying anyone as a villain to a degree that has felt inauthentic to fans. If everyone is a hero, then no one is. Audiences get invested in the show when there are stakes, and when everyone is likable, it doesn't feel like the outcome really matters. Rooting for some people means rooting against others, and with more variety in terms of personalities, temperaments, and gameplay styles on this season, it feels much more like watching a high stakes game that matters, and less like watching a group of theater kids go back to camp as adults for one last hurrah. And while there are still many of episodes left to go, and many more ways that things could go wrong, for the time being, that makes even many of the show's toughest critics feel more hopeful than ever that the team behind the camera finally remembered what made audiences fall in love with the show many years ago.
Thank you to Sawyer, Kellyn, PJ, Chef Cocoa, Daniel, Gumby Chen Moonves, Marsanne, Luke, Tha Dab Crab, Amanda, Cah, Ian, DFAkin, and many more who contributed their thoughts to this conversation.