Survivor fans have had it with a new game element that’s popped up in the past few seasons and without giving it a second thought, they decided it was to air their grievances and spare no one in the process.
Specifically, they’re talking about the extended hidden immunity idol hunts that came into existence during Survivor 45. CBS had timeslots to fill because of the writer’s strike in 2023. Showrunner and host Jeff Probst long advocated for lengthened episodes, and he got his wish. Survivor shifted from 60 to 90 minutes. Fast forward two more seasons and fans are still getting hour-and-a-half episodes weekly for Survivor 47.
With the extra real estate, Probst and his team decided to introduce multi-step idol hunts that sometimes play out over a few episodes. Well, we got two different castaways searching for immunity during season 47’s two-hour premiere on September 18 — fear not, I’ll keep this article mostly spoiler-free. The separate tasks featured one of them searching in his tribe’s water well, while the other found multiple keys on the quest to secure one himself.
The idol hunts are fueled by the “Beware Advantage,” which takes away the contestant’s vote until the idol is found. Further, the castaways must complete more hunts to extend the idol’s life, further putting themselves at risk of getting caught by their tribemates.
But, even the high-stakes twists have people yawning. Reddit user @rowlandchilde wrote a post on the platform titled “Does anyone aside from Jeff/production actually disagree with this?” In it, they lambasted the scenes and called idol hunts “by far the worst parts of an episode and it’s not even close.”
“Idols/Advantages by themselves can be fun to mix up the gameplay but these pointless winding searches through the island as the camera is locked on one person with a generic “I HAVE to find this idol” confessional spliced over it are unbelievably boring. The fact that you needed FOUR separate hunts to get a full-power idol on THREE different tribes is f****** stupid.”
Many backed the Survivor fan as well. “I wanted to die during those idol hunts,” someone chimed in. “So f****** boring.” Another suggested that it would be fun if, during these hunts, the player was in danger and running for his life.
However, not everyone shamed idol hunting. Many came to its defense, with some saying that the thrill of the search coupled with the anxiety of possibly getting caught was good television.
“Honestly, I enjoyed the idol hunts from this episode more than usual. I think the editors did a great job of showing us aspects of the player’s personalities through the hunts.”
For what it’s worth, I also like idol hunts. Yes, they can get repetitive, but there are so many “what-ifs” that come with it. Also, finding an idol, perhaps the most powerful advantage in Survivor, should be difficult to acquire. And that’s half the battle — playing it correctly is a whole other story. Can they be shortened without taking away from the quality of the show? If Survivor has any ideas that would keep both sides of this argument happy, then we are all ears!