Here’s How and Why ‘Survivor’ Changed Idols in Later Seasons
Since the turn of the new millennium, the Emmy award-winning CBS reality television series, Survivor, has captivated audiences with fierce competition and strategic masterminding. Contestants spend 26 days on an exotic, deserted island attempting to outplay challengers. They fight for immunity idols and the chance to be the lone survivor and winner of a million-dollar prize.
The show’s executive producer and host, Jeff Probst, has been with the series since its inception in 2000. He now runs a podcast where he talks about Survivor, its challenges, and the factors contributing to its long-running success.
As the franchise has evolved over the past several decades, the idols that play a key role in each week’s challenges have also changed. On a recent podcast episode, Probst talked about the reasons behind these changes and why the producers felt it was necessary to implement a new approach.
The importance of the immunity idol
Immunity idols were not part of the original competition, only first appearing in season 11. The symbolic tokens have since become a crucial element of every episode, granting players the ability to keep themselves safe or cast off another player at the Tribal Council. E News explains the idols “have arguably become one of the most consequential aspects of the show.”
Whoever holds the immunity idol at the Tribal Council is safe and cannot be voted off. Once the idol gets found, it cannot be stolen by any other player, making it a valuable “get-out-of-jail-free card.” But there is a catch. While players that hold the idol do not have to tell other players they have it, they must use it at the Tribal Council. They can keep it secret until the votes get cast, but must use it before Probst reads the results.
Now in its 44th season, Survivor contestants have seen many idols pass through the hands of ambitious players. However, as of late, some of the immunity idols have been fake, leaving viewers to question what’s going on.
Why ‘Survivor’ immunity idols are no longer ‘beautiful’
On a recent episode of On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast, the long-time Survivor host talked about designing challenges while exposing weaknesses and highlighting strengths.
Probst discussed the importance of changing the appearance of the idols. When questioned why two red sticks making an “X” could be mistaken for an idol, he explained, “The reason it worked is the 43 previous seasons of idols transitioning from things that were beautiful and perfect and, therefore, absolutely certain, because where else would it have come from, to idols that are now not so perfect. Sometimes they’re just beads on a string.”
Probst recalled talking with the art department several years ago about the need to stop making the idols so “beautiful” because they were “too obvious.” He explained the ultimate goal of the idol is to help players fake each other out.
Despite the art department’s resistance, they slowly started changing the idols, just a little bit at time, each season making minor alterations. The Survivor host explained, “Now here we are in season 44, where it is absolutely plausible and possible that two sticks painted red could be a clue to something.”
Can two red sticks hold the clue to something?
Season 44 of Survivor is taking advantage of the less is more philosophy when it comes to idols. It may just be the best new twist in recent show history. This season, the idol consists of a locked birdcage containing a mysterious bag hanging inside.
While the birdcage looks the same for each tribe, producers threw in a twist, adding a real and fake idol to each cage. The real idol for Ratu was beads, with the fake idol being a medallion. For Tika, the reverse is true, with the coin being the real idol and the beads being fake. For the Soka tribe, the coin is the fake idol, and the medallion is real. As if that isn’t enough to keep track of, in episode 4 of season 44, contestants must figure out the meaning of the red X placed inside the birdcage.
Probst appears to have gotten his wish with idols that are no longer “beautiful” and definitely far from being obvious!
