‘Survivor’: The Real Problem With Season 43
The reactions to the first seven episodes of Survivor Season 43 have been a mixed bag. Some are enjoying the third installment into the “new era” of the CBS reality competition series, while others call it one of the worst seasons in the show’s history. And based on the first handful of episodes, we understand the conflicting reviews. There’s potential for season 43 to be great because of its dynamic cast, but there’s no doubt that CBS is majorly fumbling the ball due to one glaring problem.
A brief recap of ‘Survivor’ Season 43 through episode 7
Survivor Season 43 began with producers dividing the 18 castaways into three tribes — Coco, Baka, and Vesi.
The Coco tribe consisted of James Jones, Lindsay Carmine, Ryan Medrano, Geo Bustamante, Karla Cruz Godoy, and Cassidy Clark. Elie Scott, Mike Gabler, Morriah Young, Owen Knight, Jeanine Zheng, and Sami Layadi made up the Baka tribe. And Dwight Moore, Nneka Ejere, Cody Assenmacher, Noelle Lambert, Jesse Lopez, and Justine Brennan were on Vesi.
Baka was the first tribe to lose an Immunity Challenge, and they voted Morriah out of the game. Next, Vesi went to Tribal Council in back-to-back episodes, and they got rid of Justine and Nneka. Finally, Coco’s strength ran out, and they lost two Immunity Challenges in a row. They voted out Lindsay and Geo.
During Survivor Season 43 Episode 6, the final 13 castaways entered the fake merge phase of the “new era,” and Elie was its victim. After the sixth Tribal Council, the remaining players officially made the merge. And individual immunity was finally on the table.
Gabler won the first “individual” Immunity Challenge in episode 7 after he shouted out every person he’s ever met. And at Tribal Council, Cody and Jesse blindsided Dwight and sent him packing. But that’s just a very brief overview of the first seven episodes of Survivor Season 43.
The season feels off-balance thanks to the bizarre storytelling and editing
As we mentioned before, the cast of Survivor Season 43 is a very intriguing group. They are diverse, competitive, strategic, and entertaining personalities. And it seems like CBS is determined to waste their potential by focusing on matters that aren’t important to the season’s story.
For example, the Immunity Challenge in episode 7 gobbled up 20 minutes of screen time, equating to almost half of the episode. And the only thing the segment informed viewers about was Gabler’s work as a heart valve specialist. Oh, and the castaways are decent human beings who wouldn’t leave someone trapped in a net to fend for themselves.
Instead of focusing on challenges and twists, the editors should highlight camp life and the dynamics between the players. We have no clue why Sami voted for Dwight in episode 7. And the audience would have to pay close attention to realize that there was an agreed-upon alliance between the former Baka and Vesi tribe members.
Plus, it was shocking that some castaways gave other players their advantages for safekeeping in episode 7. When did Dwight and Jeanine become so close? Or Noelle and Owen?
The storytelling in Survivor Season 43 is a jumbled mess. And it’s no wonder why some viewers are put off by this season so far. If the editors shifted their focus away from each individual’s sob story to showcasing the dynamics and happenings of camp life, this would be one of the best seasons. Instead, we’re just confused about what is really going on in the game.
‘Survivor’ fans explain their issues with season 43
Following Survivor Season 43 Episode 7, one fan started a Reddit thread to discuss their problem with the show.
“I’ve been generally enjoying the latest season of Survivor but watched the new episode last night, and it seemed to symbolize everything wrong with modern Survivor,” they explained. “We barely hear from Dwight in his boot episode, not much insight to current alliances, which are confusing, and we barely see the players interact with each other.”
They continued, “Instead, we get significant screen time devoted to a ham-fisted sappy moment with Noelle that just felt exploitative and some bizarre aside about how much Gabler respects the troops.”
A Reddit user commented, “Have to go back to longer seasons (which isn’t gonna happen), less twists and gimics. That’s the only way to get more natural conversations at camp and time to show characters. Or else they have to go the way they are going now.”
“I like the inspirational stuff when it was initially introduced; it’s nice getting some back story and whatnot. Now it seems to be over the top, and we are losing out on actual content,” another fan added. “I think cutting it back a bit AND making episodes 90 mins would help a lot.”
Survivor Season 43 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
