‘Survivor 44’ Theory on Why the Season Is Edited From Carolyn’s Point of View
Some Survivor fans like reading into the edit of the episodes to see what producers are trying to hide or tell fans. Season 44 heavily shows Carolyn Wiger’s point of view and breaks the format multiple times. Here is a theory on why they went a different route.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor 44 Episode 6, “Survivor With a Capitol S.”]
‘Survivor 44’ is heavily edited from Carolyn Wiger’s point of view
Season 44 had a unique start, with a blooper of Carolyn doing a confessional. It certainly threw off the audience, and at the time, it was unclear what the editors were trying to say about the season. But after six episodes, the producers’ vision seems more apparent.
The following episodes returned to the show’s format of picking up with a tribe returning to camp from the Tribal Council. Two of which were Tika with Carolyn.
Episode 6 started with Carolyn’s voice over a scene of a boat hitting the shore. We see an unexpected editing choice later of Carolyn in a conversation with new castaways before the merge. She looks nervous, and we focus on her face as other people talk. Other people’s voices fade out with some echoes, and we hear Carolyn talk again.
“It’s a weird feeling right now,” Carolyn explains. “It’s like I wanna be in. You can’t force that. You can’t.” This differs from the hard cut to confessionals we usually get between other scenes.
Carolyn’s quotes also get a lot of attention. Episode titles “I’m Felicia” and “The Third Turd,’” are things she said. So why so much on Carolyn when there are some castaways we have barely seen?
‘Survivor 44’ castaways overlooking Carolyn makes her a great stand-in for viewers
Everyone loves to root for an underdog because most people see themselves as one. But Carolyn is much more than that. She is capable and knowledgeable, yet no one believes her.
We watch her in the first episode and immediately spot her position on the bottom of Tika. She doesn’t panic and manages to find her alliance.
Then she focuses on finding the key to the birdcage and gets her immunity idol and fake idol. No one suspects her, and the drug counselor plants a fake idol for Sarah Wade to find.
The next time Carolyn withholds information is when Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho comes up with the plan for her to be the decoy vote to get out Josh Wilder. He claimed to be the “bigger threat.” Carolyn warned Josh instead, and he used his idol. Sarah went home with her fake idol, leaving Yam Yam with one less ally.
The third time people didn’t take Carolyn seriously was her meal with Brandon Cottom and Danny Massa at the sanctuary. She tipped them off about Josh having an idol from his journey. Danny and Brandon knew Carson Garrett and Jaime Lynn Ruiz had one too from this. They excluded Carolyn instead of thanking her for the warning.
The last update is Carolyn at the merge feast. Everyone is talking about possibly voting out Josh, but they thought he had an idol. Carolyn corrects them, saying he used his idol, then made another with tree mail beads. But it doesn’t look like anyone believes her.
It’s possible that someone did believe her because Josh was voted out. However, the running story in these episodes is that Carolyn is one of the smartest people out there, and everyone underestimates her.
As a viewer, we’d like to think we know more than the castaways since we see more game perspectives. Carolyn is this thought process personified.
What does the ‘Survivor 44’ edit mean for Carolyn’s chances of winning?
Although we see a lot of Carolyn, it doesn’t mean she has a good chance of winning. The fact that we see castaways not picking her first for alliances or believing her would make a winning jury vote an uphill battle for her.
However, it’s evident that the editors know she’s an exciting player. Fans will have to keep watching to see how far she’ll go.
