Survivor 50 is already halfway finished, and viewers have had mixed opinions on the first half. The theme of Survivor 50 is “In the Hands of the Fans”. Before the season was filmed, viewers voted on various aspects of the game, such as advantages and tribe colors. While the game has stayed true to these requests, it’s also incorporated several twists of its own.
Fans haven’t been happy with all of the aspects of the game, including the new twists. They’ve also highly criticized the edit, which several cast members have echoed as well. Here’s everything you need to know about why Survivor 50 has become one of the most controversial seasons in recent Survivor history.
Survivor 50 has been criticized for predominantly featuring male players in the edit
One of the biggest criticisms of Survivor 50 has been its perceived gender bias in the edit. In the first few episodes, viewers noticed that the male players received significantly more screen time than the female contestants. During the first half of the season, Christian Hubicki and Ozzy Lusth notably led in confessional counts. Fans picked up on this quickly, and some were frustrated with how often their perspectives were featured.
On the contrary, the majority of female players were highly under-edited for the first half of the season. Tiffany Ervin had no confessionals for two of the first four episodes, which many fans were quick to criticize. Four other female players also had episodes with zero confessionals, whereas only two male contestants did. Angelina Keeley called out the lack of female confessionals after she was voted out, which other female players backed her up on. After some of the backlash from the first few episodes, more females have been front and center in the edit. It’s not clear if this is intentional or simply due to there being fewer contestants remaining.
Not all viewers have been happy with some of the twists in the game
Another aspect of Survivor 50 that’s received criticism from fans are some of the twists. The Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol has received backlash from fans, especially after Genevieve Mushaluk was voted out. The idol had to be sent to another player after finding it, and would only return to the original finder if that player was voted out while holding it. Genevieve found two idols and was forced to send both to other players. When she was voted out, she didn’t have the opportunity to play one for herself. Many fans were disappointed by this and felt that Genevieve’s game was unfairly ruined by the twist.
The Blood Moon twist was also not well-received by fans. In the shocking twist, the castaways were divided into three groups at random. Each group of six went to Tribal Council after only spending one afternoon together. This significantly altered existing alliances, which some fans didn’t feel was fair.
Zac Brown’s appearance received a lot of backlash from fans
Zac Brown appeared for a reward during Episode 4, which also received a fair amount of backlash from viewers. During the reward, Zac went spear fishing to make a meal for the winning tribe. He then played them a private concert, which received significant screen time during the episode.
The main issue fans had with Zac’s guest appearance was the amount of screen time he took up. During just one episode, Zac received more screen time than several of the female contestants received throughout the first four episodes. This annoyed some viewers, as they felt it took away too much time from the game.
Zac isn’t the only celebrity cameo of Survivor 50, as MrBeast is also set to make an appearance. This was criticized by fans when the first trailer of the season emerged. Survivor 50 was advertised as being a celebration of all fifty seasons; however, some feel that there is too much of a focus on things not having to do with the game. It will be interesting to see how much screen time MrBeast receives, and whether his cameo will be more welcomed than Zac’s.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SURVIVOR 50 SO FAR? HAVE YOU BEEN HAPPY WITH THE TWISTS AND ADVANTAGES IN THE GAME? WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLAYERS THIS SEASON?
