‘Survivor: San Juan del Sur’: More on dropping Redemption Island

Thank goodness for Dalton Ross and the Entertainment Weekly team being in Nicaragua this week. After all, this is the most that we have learned about a “Survivor” season (at least the way that we like to hear about a “Survivor” season) before it airs really ever.

For this new season “Survivor: San Juan del Sur,” there is already one enormous decision made that we could really talk about on here until the cows come home: The flip-flop when it comes to Redemption Island. It was originally going to be a part of the season, and then it was scrapped and replaced with something entirely different and new for the show. You’re not going to find out what that is, though, until much later in the summer.

Jeff Probst said that the reason for the change was to primarily give this show a new flavor, and this is something that co-executive producer Matt Van Wagenen echoed in a chat with Ross released today:

“We like to keep things fresh. We have to keep things fresh … I think we like to keep it changing. The players do things that we don’t even anticipate, and that’s the fun thing for us.”

If you are someone who appreciates Dalton’s opinions on the show and puts them in high regard, he says that he is really a fan of the new twist. Given that he mostly disliked Redemption Island save for Blood vs. Water and his season rankings are traditionally pretty solid, we take that as a good sign that the show is heading in the right direction already.

Ultimately, we feel like everyone is really on board now with making this a great season. We’re coming off of three out of four amazing seasons and one pretty-good one in “Caramoan,” and when you look at the way that the competition’s ratings have fallen in that time, the fact that “Survivor” has maintained above a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo is incredible.

In case you are wondering when our “Survivor” season / winner rankings are going to be up on CarterMatt, we’ve waited longer than usual to let them percolate, and to not just make a quick decision for the sake of making one.

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Photo: CBS