So after a few years if the worst survivor to date, this season seems like they are heading back in the right direction. However, I am not sure all the gimmicks are really spicing up the show. A million idols and off balanced rewards and advantages still need to be reigned in.
Casting seems to be better but at this point I am not sure if is the cast or the production that has me ambivalent towards the cast. Like are the that dull. Or is the production team bad at making me excited about the players...or even care enough to learn their names
And this only seems very alarmingly different than Australian survivor which is spectacular. Every season has been dynamite. Without effort I memorize the players names. I truly care about not just one or two players...but many. And for different reasons. There is movie like suspense. Balance seems to be the key. They use the old formula and add just enough new things to shake it up without the gimmicks being the whole show or the determiner of who wins. The cast is a range of average to really beautiful people. The show sexes it up but without being Pervy. All cast can compete strongly in at least one manner or another. It has a wide range of types if people without feeling a political movement. Women and older people have a real chance to win. And they are fabulous winners. And zero 4th wall breaks about what it feels like to be in survivor. Talking about survivor like it's a person in a self licking ice cream cone kind of way. I don't often favor foreign tv, but survivor AU is a never miss. While the American one can sit in the DVR for when I have time to catch up.
I hope survivor can find its roots again. And copying the Australian blueprint might be the best approach.
If there is only one thing I don't favor for both. Is the celebrity and sports heroes or actors as cast members. Mainly because the had their chance to be rich. I'd rather see a blue collar person earn it.