‘Survivor 44’: Carson Garrett’s Tree Puzzle Triumph Proves Challenges Must Change
First things first, we love Survivor. It has been one of the most exciting and compelling reality competition series on television since its first season in Borneo in 2000. However, because we admire Survivor so much, we acknowledge that the show needs some format changes. And Carson Garrett mastering the tree puzzle in Survivor 44 Episode 6 confirms our demand for producers to retire (some) old challenges.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor 44 Episode 6, “Survivor With a Capitol S.”]
Carson dominated the tree puzzle in ‘Survivor 44’ Episode 6
The Survivor 44 cast entered “mergatory” in episode 6, where they lived on the same beach but had to earn their merge buffs.
At the Immunity Challenge, host Jeff Probst split them into two random teams. The winners would receive immunity, the merge buffs, and be rewarded with the merge feast. The losers would return to camp with nothing, and one would leave at the next Tribal Council. And even though they didn’t know it yet, whichever Survivor 44 group had Carson on their side immediately had a significant advantage.
The Orange team contained Heidi, Lauren, Josh, Yam Yam, Kane, and Danny. And the Purple team included Carson, Matt, Jaime, Frannie, Brandon, and Carolyn.
Orange made it through the extensive obstacle course and started working on their tree puzzle first. However, it would soon be all over once Purple reached the puzzle.
Carson and Matt worked on the tree, but Matt quickly realized that he should take a backseat while Carson expertly maneuvered the challenge. The 20-year-old finished the puzzle in record time, singlehandedly earning the win for Purple. And after leaving to enjoy the merge feast in Survivor 44 Episode 6, Carson told the cameras that he had 3-D printed the tree puzzle at home and practiced it several times.
Carson’s puzzle preparation calls for change after ‘Survivor 44’
Survivor 44 Episode 6 isn’t the first time Carson has mentioned his 3-D printer. He’s been very open about his extensive preparation for the game by recreating repeated Survivor puzzles and practicing them. And he’s not the only one. Matthew Grinstead-Mayle won immunity for Ratu in Survivor 44 Episode 2 because he had built a replica of the snake maze at home.
Survivor castaways being open about being able to recreate challenges and puzzles at home has become a recurring theme in the “new era.” And the producers seemingly don’t care that the players are hacking the game. But we know that the contestants’ effortless triumphs in classic Survivor challenges means something must change in the show.
Survivor shouldn’t be easy. It should be demanding and shocking every day. And when producers use repeat puzzles season after season, they eliminate the element of surprise. So it’s time to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm new ideas for the Reward and Immunity Challenges.
We’re not saying that every classic Survivor competition needs to retire (we want to see Last Gasp every season). But when castaways like Carson from Survivor 44 can practice numerous puzzles at home (and he should — we’re not blaming him), producers need to see that there’s a flaw in the format. And they must adapt.
‘Survivor’ fans demand producers switch up the challenges in future seasons
We aren’t the only ones bothered by Carson’s triumph in Survivor 44 Episode 6 — fans are also calling for change.
After watching the episode, one fan started a Reddit thread and wrote, “Maybe Survivor will come up with new challenges and puzzles. It’s turned into a memory game more than a challenge.”
“Agreed,” a Reddit user commented. “It’s impressive that Carson prepared for the puzzle and executed under pressure. But that shouldn’t be what the game is about.”
Someone else added, “Exactly. I love Carson. And he’s brilliant for mapping them all out and practicing them, seems like more people should in this era, but the game is supposed to be about working with the unknown — that includes both people and challenges.”
“I am not a fan of people coming in practicing the exact puzzles,” another fan said. “I know Jeff is, but I always felt some of the fairness of the game was most of the challenges are things no one has ever done before. Sure, you can like puzzles and practice working on them but having the exact puzzle that will be used isn’t fun to me.”
New episodes of Survivor 44, starring Carson Garrett, air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
