‘Survivor: San Juan del Sur’: Jeff Probst on Nicaragua return, Redemption Island change
There are so many different things that we can say about “Survivor: San Juan del Sur,” but for now let’s just start off with this: Was there no better name option available? There’s no way that anyone is going to really remember that, and we suspect that more are going to end up calling it “Blood vs. Water 2.”
So why the name? The simple answer to that is that the show doesn’t want to call itself “Survivor: Nicaragua” again, since this season is going to be in the same location. Given that this was the site for both “Survivor: Nicaragua” and also the first “Redemption Island,” two of the worst seasons ever, we understand why there could be some reason for concern. After all, there were no water challenges really in those seasons! Luckily, the show has figured something out this time. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on this subject, Jeff Probst had the following to say:
“That was the mandate from the moment we decided on Nicaragua … The one thing I kept asking our scouting crew for was updates on how the water situation was looking, and between our art department and our challenge department, they’ve got it under control. We’re going to have a lot more water challenges and be in the water more —and really that’s the only concern we had about Nicaragua, is that it was a little dry last time.”
Probst confirmed that we would see Redemption Island back since it proved to be great with the family member twist, but there would be some sort of change to it. Hopefully, this means either fewer three-person duels after the merge, something different with the immunity idol clues, or stopping it at around the merge. He is also not concerned about the fact that no one knows any of these people yet and will not care about their relationship, saying that there is something planned early in the game where that will be focused on.
We’ll have more on this upcoming season soon, but we will be posted our extended final four interviews throughout the week at the link here. Also, be sure to sign up to get some additional TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS