Survivor: Season 47: The Off-Balance Review.
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.
The finale of Survivor’s 47th season aired on December 18th. This review will discuss the season in detail, including the winner. Please consider this your spoiler warning.
And as always, thanks for reading!
Ryan
True to its name, over its near quarter century on the air, Survivor has shown a remarkable resilience.
A forerunner of the reality TV boom that defined the early 2000s, it is now, in 2024, both a product of undeniable familiarity but evolution, too.
And yes, some of those changes are more noticeable than others.
While globetrotting was once a hallmark, the production has been based in Fiji full-time since 2016. Similarly, since 2021, seasons are 26 days in length, not 39, as was custom for over two decades (with the exception of the second season, which was 42).
Structural experimentation (thematic branding and rivalries, Exile Island, Redemption Island, etc, etc) has been a longtime calling card too but even so, advantages, twists and in-the-moment shake-ups are far more woven into the fabric of the game than ever before, even if such “produced” drama, paradoxically, often begins to feel, with too much of a push, monotonous or even repetitive: the gears of the machine turning, as it were.
Heck, even the tribal council music, a pretty definable staple, has changed in the years since the show’s debut.
Though when he spoke to Matthew Roberson for GQ in 2023, longtime host, producer and show-runner Jeff Probst candidly acknowledged Survivor‘s revamped reality: in order to truly endure, on various fronts, the show simply couldn’t rest on its laurels as the broader framework it helped develop continued to grow, in dealing with controversy and creative shifts in equal measure.
So the adage goes, adapt or die.
The result then, is what has been dubbed the “New Era” by both the larger fandom and Probst himself. The layout, the contestants, many now, often younger than the show itself or an openness that says, “yeah man, I’m playing Survivor”.
Because at the end of the day, all the key elements that make Survivor, well, Survivor are still there.
Eighteen people, from various walks of life, dropped on an island and divided into tribes, lacking any sense of modern convenience. Working together and then, if they make it far enough, individually, for food, comfort and safety rewards as they steadily pick each other off. Aiming for the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize as they (all together now), outwit, outplay and outlast.
All of it, the bedrock for one of television’s most compelling, long-lasting social experiments.
And on Wednesday night, as Rachel LaMont was crowned the winner of Survivor’s 47th season, in a 7-1-0 jury vote, this was true once more - if not without a few missteps along the way.
As Day 25 begins, there is little tension, in a big picture sense.
Rachel, continuing to do what she has made her M.O over the past few weeks, wins 47’s final immunity and guarantees her spot in the final three (while making Survivor history in the process, becoming the fifth woman, all-time, to win four individual immunities in a single season).
But back at camp, she refuses to pull any punches: she’ll be taking Sue with her to Final Tribal Council, leaving Teeny and Sam to duke it out in the fire-making challenge. Rachel, knowing Teeny is the better second for her strategically, coaches her the best she can, while Sam, in contrast, can hardly get anything going.
And later that night, with the jury watching closely, it seems Teeny, who hasn’t made a genuine competitive impact all season will finally do so - but even with a massive head start, she finds herself left to the mercy of an unforgiving wind, as Sam comes from behind to lock down his spot in the final three (and sends Teeny to the jury in the process).
The rest of the episode though, is, despite how much the editing wants to suggest otherwise, nothing but semantics.
With their fill of the Day 26 breakfast, the finalists head to tribal come sundown to make their pitches to the jurors but try as they might (Sam especially), there isn’t much debate to be had: Rachel, becoming the latest Sole Survivor as she pulls out a near-clean sweep with seven votes in her favour (with one for Sam and none for Sue).
It was however, much of her game in a nutshell.
An astute social player who, while initially struggling as something of an underdog built effective alliances both pre and post-merge that weren’t wholly binding either. Maintaining her ultimate loyalty to the most important person (herself), while, in doing so, cultivating respect not resentment from virtually the entire jury.
That, forever to be Survivor’s toughest task, as week-by-week, tribal-by-tribal, everyone else had their torch snuffed out.
Such work, it helped her navigate the season’s numerous twists and toughest barriers (like on Day 13 when Sol bestowed her Safety Without Power), while being a fantastic, history-making competitor and strategist in her own right, particularly when it mattered most. Whether it was sneaking through the bush, in classic Survivor style, to do some eavesdropping or winning four of the final five individual immunities to secure her place - alongside her idol and Block-A-Vote plays on Day 23 which turned the tables and sent Andy to the jury.
It seemed simple enough. Everyone, understanding she was far and away the biggest remaining threat as they extolled the way she played the game. Her going to the jury, a necessary evil to protect their own chances. It was something Rachel expertly leaned into (sad goodbyes, speaking to her “Survivor funeral”) before she reminded them all to underestimate her at their own peril.
Of the finalists, she positioned herself as the clear-cut frontrunner, given the game she played. A completeness in all facets that neither Sam or Sue could match:
Sam seemingly ran Gata for much of the early season but in losing his closet ally, Sierra, to the jury, he was almost immediately boxed out. Forced then to reevaluate his approach in the merge, he instead worked from the relative bottom, playing a more hard-knock strategic game contrasting it with, at times, a far too straightforward (read: arrogant) social touch. Despite that? Even if he had the veneer of an all-encompassing player, he couldn’t pull out an individual immunity win and stuck around while more critical threats were taken out ahead of him (let’s be real - if he was that much of a barrier to another person’s success, he would have been sent home long before he made it to the final three). His resume then, as a supporting player in “Operation Italy” be dammed just didn’t have the same heft. Unable to regain his original footing, no matter how much he tried nor how strongly he plead his underdog case to the jury.
Sue, leveraging a series of alliances, spent most of the season as a quiet number in the majority, even with her competitive chops considered. She was always in the mix, an immunity winner and frequent runner-up, in addition to being the holder of the game’s longest-simmering idol. Her larger edit, however was almost exclusively defined by a rivalry that never got off the ground. As presented, her all-consuming vendetta against Kyle wasn't just totally one-sided but left almost entirely unexplained too (was she really that upset he voted for her on Day 5, before anyone had their legs?). To that end, she was repeatedly shown to be incredibly petty and close-minded strategically, to the eventual deterrent of her overall game. Even once Kyle was long gone on the jury, she couldn’t cultivate any sort of real momentum and made it to the end solely for Rachel’s benefit, as someone she could beat, not on the back of her own success.
Though that is what makes Survivor, both broadly and in a vacuum, so fascinating.
Navigating the game is one thing, the personalities, the characters, is another. All of it being, far harder than it looks on the surface.
Maybe it was Genevieve, who made no secret of her operating mode being the separation of “Genevieve the Player” and “Genevieve the Person”.
Her game was one that unfurled slowly, hardly given any confessional time in the season’s opening stretch of episodes, as she steadily found a rhythm. Though once she did establish that foothold, she was hard-pressed to give it up: the season’s wire-to-wire strategist, she made herself a standout, be it orchestrating big moves (like pulling Lavo’s strings in the tribe stage or later, getting Sol out) and being a viable challenge competitor to boot. She wasn’t quite able to pair those elements with an effective social game, however, even with her charismatic flair, though that isn’t to say she was disliked or of poor character. Instead? Her honesty regarding her approach simply saw her never build any long-lasting bonds. Numbers, the only goal.
Now, had she managed to win immunity on Day 24 and sent Rachel to the jury? Her pure strategic achievements no doubt would have seen her as the odds-on favourite but Survivor is a game of many moving pieces - and her active refusal to consider them all until the very end saw her dream come up just short.
On the other side of the coin, there was Kyle, who quickly became something of a fan-favourite, via his down-to-earth positivity, someone who just wanted to do right by his family back home. He didn’t have any sort of strategic approach, no, happy to let others do most of the scheming but he made himself integral due to his strong social game (despite Sue’s apparent misgivings). Most notably, he was a force to be reckoned with in challenges both in the tribe stage and on his own, as he racked up four individual immunity wins. The fear then, that he could potentially run the table alongside his feel-good persona would see him sent to the jury on Day 20, that in itself, a Survivor compliment of the highest order.
Ten, fifteen years ago?
Andy’s emotional breakdown on Day 3 probably would’ve seen him voted off without hesitation but Gata almost seemed to pity him. Choosing to keep him around despite his apparent erraticism and utter, meme-worthy ineptitude in challenges… but Survivor is never stagnant, either.
As Sam found his power all but lost come the merge, his and Andy’s dynamic slowly reversed, a mentee of sorts, coming to surpass his teacher. Yes, as the season’s wildcard on record he never gained any significant social traction but even so, he moved through the game with a quiet strategic undercurrent.
His crowning, pasta-fuelled achievement, “Operation Italy” saw him, with a mastermind’s ease, recruit Sam and Genevieve to reverse the balance of power on Day 22, thereby sending Caroline to the jury as he perfectly played both sides and saw the vote split in his favour. And even though he didn’t win (and probably wouldn’t have, based on the jury’s reactions to seeing him voted out), the move saw him firmly carve out his place in Survivor lore.
The guy who panicked during a challenge about not being applauded for opening a coconut had a redemption arc for the ages and evolved into a legitimate strategic option. Even if his fatal mistake, in expressing that confidence to Rachel (who saw that he was immediately sent packing) made everyone realize there was more to Andy than he ever let on.
There was Sol, who, after a difficult first two weeks on the island, pushed through with gusto once he actually had a chance to play the game. His easy-going demeanour, an appreciated contrast to Survivor’s forever-chaos. Gabe played a strong game, considering but was never quite able to line up all of his silos (physical, social, strategy) at once, while Tiyana, on a wrong end of a series of twists made the merge but not the jury, her time, bookended with a tough emotional vote.
In the pre-merge portion, there was T.K, who woke up on Day 5 thinking he was going to run the game - only to go home that same night (it is always funny, whenever that happens) or Anika, who will, more than anything else, be best remembered for her absolutely gobsmacked reaction to being voted out.
And then, of course, there was Rome.
Here is something to chew on - even as an indisputably poor player by any metric, Rome deserves credit on at least one front: rare is the player who becomes the biggest talking point of the Survivor season without even making to the merge but for better or worse, he accomplished just that.
He arrived on Lavo’s beach on Day 1 and decided he was going to blunt force his way to the end, no matter the consequences. It was remarkable then, that he even made it to Day 12 in the first place, with no visible instincts for the finer points of the game.
Volatile, argumentative and hot-headed to a fault, his person-to-person tactics amounted to little more than open threats and weak-standing intimidation, particularly against Sol (who was both greatly amused by Rome’s BS posturing yet frustrated by the strategic barriers it imposed). Insistent that he was the tribe’s “closer”, despite being totally inept in challenges. His puzzle performances alone, some of the worst in recent memory (if not up there on the all-time list).
But all that being equal: his ego, apparent lack of self-awareness and brazen confidence, wholly unearned given the way he played?
It made for some terrific television.
A true Survivor villain, albeit in the New Era style. Almost clueless and not completely malicious, but a dude who, basically right from the very beginning, saw any and all of his positive capital evaporate. Someone who you just couldn’t wait to see, rightfully, sent home.
His eviction episode then, which saw him lead the recap, sit on Jeff’s stool (!!) and monologue on the poor implementation of the amulet advantage, only to be all but unanimously blindsided, to his very real shock? It was a season-highlight, a reminder of what the show can be at its best, without too much focus drawn to production heavy twists.
And yes, undoubtedly within the right context, Journeys or Shots-in-the-Dark can provide genuine thrills, in keeping everyone, from the cast to the audience, on their toes - but when contestants are given the opportunity to just play, even within the barriers of traditional Survivor, it still works wonderfully.
The production, in fairness, has perfected its language so many times over. Be it the cinematography, music, editing and overall structure or even the challenges themselves: from balancing balls, digging up sandbags, untying puzzle bags to then build Survivor puzzles or balancing balls again, there is an inescapable familiarity. One can respect the decisions made then, in innovating on the formula - even if something like the 26 day season continues to leave the overall experience with little room to breathe (and ultimately, greatly minimizes the tribe aspect of the game).
But the train will carry on as, per Probst, the season’s gameplay style is “here to stay”, although such a declaration can’t be fully vetted until February, when Season 48 premieres. That, the continued build-up to the landmark fiftieth season, which is sure to be the biggest and most bombastic in the franchise’s history.
Survivor 47 wasn’t without fault, it is true.
Not all of its twists were effective and there was little drama to be found in the finale (with Rachel’s winning case being so airtight) but elevated, primarily by the strength of its contestants, it was tremendously entertaining - another impressive entry in the upper echelon of the reality TV canon.