‘Survivor’ May Be Reviving Some Past Themes

CBS The cast of 'Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chance'

The “Survivor” producers are thinking about reviving some classic season themes like “Blood vs. Water” and “Second Chance.” Here are what we know so far and some of our dream cast members.

‘Survivor’ Is Considering ‘Blood vs Water 3,’ ‘Second Chance 2,’ or ‘Fans vs Favorites 3’

According to the reliable CBS spoiler account SpoilerGirl1, CBS has been “talking about ‘Blood vs Water 3’ or ‘Second Chance 2’ or ‘Fans vs Favs 3’ season for season 43 or 44 or 45.”

If you’re wondering why there is no mention of the 41st and 42nd seasons, that’s because they have already wrapped filming — season 41 is currently airing — and there are no returning players on either of those seasons. Both casts are comprised entirely of new castaways.

Seasons with returning players have become quite common for “Survivor” in recent years. In the first 20 seasons, “Survivor” had returning players four times — season 7 (“All-Stars”), season 11 (“Guatemala”), season 16 (“Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites”) and season 20 (“Heroes vs. Villains”). But in the next set of 20 seasons, almost half of the seasons had returning players — season 22 (“Redemption Island”), season 23 (“South Pacific”), season 25 (“Philippines), season 26 (“Caramoan — Fans vs Favorites 2”), season 27 (“Blood vs. Water 1”), season 31 (“Cambodia — Second Chance”), season 34 (“Game Changers — Mamanuca Islands”), season 38 (“Edge of Extinction”) and season 40 (“Winners at War”).

Casting Ideas

We don’t really know how any of these people’s relatives would feel about going on the show, but we would love to see Carolyn Rivera from “Worlds Apart,” Trisha Hegarty from “Cagayan,” Francesca Hogi from “Redemption Island,” Janet Carbin Jamal Shipman, and Elaine Stott from “Island of the Idols” get a chance to play again. Cirie Fields has played four times, but her son is old enough to play now — they might make a great duo for “Blood vs. Water 3” and Fields has said that she still really wants to win “Survivor.”

For “Second Chances,” we would love to see Rick Devens and Victoria Baamonde from “Edge of Extinction,” Bret LaBelle and Hannah Shapiro from “Millennials vs Gen X,” Hayden Moss from “Blood vs. Water 1,” Shane Powers from Panama,” Teresa Cooper and Kim Johnson from “Africa,” Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien from “Marquesas, Helen Glover from “Thailand,” and Greg Buis from “Borneo.”

For “Fans vs. Favorites,” here’s our idea — get nine favorite returning castaways to be the “favorites” and get “Big Brother” players who are fans of “Survivor” to be the “fans.” There are a number of “Big Brother” players who want to go on “Survivor,” including heavy-hitters like Danielle Reyes, Rachel Reilly, Janelle Pierzina, Da’Vonne Rogers, and Nicole Franzel. Now they just have to find a few men who have played “Big Brother” to round out the tribe and they’re all set.

Honestly, “Fans vs. Favorites” always feels a little unfair. We think “Survivor” should either have all newbies or all returnees, not a mix. But at least with “Blood vs. Water,” the newbies could be paired with a returning player (though “Blood vs. Water 2” was all newbies). In fact, “Entertainment Weekly” did an analysis of seasons where there is a mix of returnees and newbies and found that “returning players are 3.5 times more likely to make it to day 39 than newbies.”

So using “Big Brother” players as the “fans” would at least give the newbies a leg up in the sense that they’ve already participated in an endurance reality TV show.

What do you think of our ideas, fans?

“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on CBS. The 42nd season will air in the spring of 2022. Seasons 43 and 44 are casting now, so if you’ve always wanted to apply, now is your chance!

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