Survivor 43: Fun but Forgettable

Survivor 43 falls somewhere in the middle between 41 and 42. The inspired casting continues to be this eras saving grace. 43 is filled with a diverse group of superfans, with no shortage of personality and charm. Yet, the season was a bit of a slog. The new metagame encourages players to be passive, which inherently creates boring TV. And we've reached the point of critical mass, where these superfans are hyper aware of the new meta.

First, allow me to obsess over the cast. Cody is an S-tier all-time Survivor character. The guy oozes charisma and he sweats charm. I need Cody to play again, more than anyone else from this season. Sami had me audibly laughing every episode, I want to be his best friend. Other players like Elie, James and Karla all proved to be huge forces of nature, with Jesse being the new posterboy for fallen angels. And I think having a bizarre winner like Gabler is hilarious, and ultimately good for the history of the show.

Production also continues to listen to fan feedback. Do or Die and the hourglass are both gone??? I could almost cry from gratitude. And the new bracelet beware advantage is way better than the silly phrases. I also have to shout out the challenges this season. 43 had some intense team challenges and a vast array of individual ones. Last gasp, house of cards, cool puzzles, and a good mix of the classic endurance stuff. The production team deserves credit for breathing life into the challenges.

The pre-merge was... boring. Let's look at the boot list: Morriah, Justine, Nneka, Lindsay, Geo. None of them got any development, which left their votes feeling inconsequential. The entire story of the pre-merge was propping up the late game players. They really focused on telling the story through the perspective of people like Jesse, Cody, and Karla. But I'm not a fan of leaving half the cast as supporting characters. Those pre-merge votes were at the level of kindergarten nap time strategies. Time in the edit could have been made to bolster their stories.

My biggest complaint with Survivor 43, and the new era in general, is how stale the gameplay gets. It's not a secret that the best strategy is playing under the radar. But 43 at times seemed like a competition of who could be the most squirrely, stealthy gamebot. The breaking point was when Jesse claimed to be under the radar. Are you sure about that Jesse? Are you sure dictating four votes in a row makes your game under the radar? The result is an island full of neurotic superfans too scared to sway the status quo.

If the gameplay is so stale, surely they're choosing to show things like camp life or social drama instead. Surely they wouldn't show 10 minutes of confessionals explaining the obvious decoy vote, then manufacture a story of why it swapped to the real vote at the last second. Sigh. I praised season 42 for its wholesome friendships and compelling rivalries. Cody and Jesse barely scratched that itch for me.

The underlying issue is an overflow of public knowledge advantages. Noelle goes on a journey, takes a risk, and everyone knows she has a Steal-a-Vote. James finds Knowledge is Power in front of everyone. Karla, Jeanine and Cody all have very public idols from their beware advantages. There's strategy paralysis that comes with so much power. It becomes easier to take the safe route. "Vote out Dwight, he has no advantages." "Vote out Sami, he has no advantages." Players are happy to zombie march to the endgame. Aggressive players get sniped, and it's a no-brainer to target the vulnerable outsiders.

That was a pretty critical rant, but I honestly did enjoy Survivor 43. Like I said, these criticisms are more about the new era in general. 43 had a fun cast that seemed to vibe together well and it's not their fault for playing optimally. 43 will age as a largely forgettable season, but I bet some of these players will return and cement themselves as legends (fingers crossed for Cody).