‘Survivor: Blood vs. Water’ debate: Talking tribes

Did you know that production is currently happening as we speak for “Survivor: Blood vs. Water“? It’s true, as Jeff Probst, his crew, and somewhere between 18 and 20 contestants (we’re betting on the latter) are out in a different part of the Philippines than what was used for the last two seasons. It is at least a slightly different locale, so we can’t begrudge production for staying reasonably close to what they know already.

What we are insanely curious about now is trying to make sense out of the whole “Blood vs. Water” twist. We know that it’s favorites vs. family members, and if you believe some cast lists out there, you may know some of the people that are on it. (We’re still holding back on that, mostly because it’s become much more difficult to figure out what’s actually true over the years thanks to people getting their pals to post for them on Twitter.)

But how will the tribes be structured? Is it a “Blood” tribe and a “Water” tribe, or pairings actually grouped together. There are arguments for each.

The case for keeping family members / friends together – It actually forces the twist on the cast, whereas keeping the pairs apart may not. If they had a late merge, say at 10 for example, then it would be hypothetically possible that everyone could make the merge without a family member in tow. This method maximizes drama, but also potentially makes for rather boring strategy with five two-person blocks.

The case for keeping them apart – We like the idea of forcing people to compete against their loved ones, and then coming together as a team when the merge takes place. That is far from a guarantee that this will actually happen, but it’s pretty likely that the merge will actually be at 12 or 11, and there will be pairs left in the game.

While there is a rumor the Redemption Island is back in play this season, we can’t confirm that (and we also won’t be talking about outcome or any other spoilers that potentially take the fun out of the game). We hate how the twist changes the voting structure of the game, but it would hardly be a surprise to see it return, simply for the sake of seeing someone and the person they brought with them potentially have to fight it out to stay in the game. Just as long as one of them doesn’t fall on their own sword for the other, since that would mostly be annoying.

In case you missed our list earlier this month of five ways to improve “Survivor” for this new season, just be sure to check out the link here.

Photo: CBS