‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’: Examining the new immunity-idol twist
It seems like with every season of “Survivor” comes another innovation to the immunity idol these days, and for the most part, we’ve enjoyed the recent ones minus anything that contains the words “super idol.” Make sure the idols have limited powers, but at the same time make them reasonably accessible. Don’t just leave them in the middle of the beach with a giant X hanging over them.
What we like about the twist for “Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X” is that for the first time, anything could be an idol. That rock Francesca was going to each could be an idol! Whatever Rupert had in his shorts in “Heroes vs. Villains” could be an idol! Let’s go ahead and give you the quote Jeff Probst (whose shirt, in theory, could be an idol) offered to Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly:
“One of my favorite twists is what we do with the idols … Somebody had an idea on how to hide idols in nature and it’s brilliant. And it’s really fun because you’re going to get a clue and it’s gonna say, yes, there’s an idol somewhere down here amongst these shells. Good luck. And you’re gonna look out on a beach full of shells and you will not be able to figure out which one has it. How could a shell possibly have an idol? You just gotta work. You gotta think.”
In the end, it’s an idol twist that requires thought, which is a good motivator for the more cerebral players out there who pause and ponder over how to find these sort of things. Also, the mad dashes for them at camp could be glorious if players figure them out.
With that said, the mechanism needs a teensy bit more explanation before we really understand. For example, is there some sort of indicator to tell you that you have the right shell, to use Probst’s analogy? What if someone finds an idol and doesn’t even realize that it is one? The potential for unintentional comedy is high if that’s the case, but it seems hard to believe they’ll be that discreet since production clearly wants them to be played. We just hope this isn’t like “Big Brother” and the Secret Room where production blatantly tips everyone off and what little drama was there is completely gone.
Like with every other twist, this is the sort of thing that is worth waiting on to see how it is implemented.
If you missed it yesterday, be sure to head over here to see our first impressions of the cast / their photos! We’ll be starting spotlights as early as the weekend.
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