CBS The cast of 'Survivor: Game Changers'
We have pinpointed the moment that “Survivor” changed forever and funnily enough, it was during “Game Changers.” Watch below as we witness the birth of “live” Tribal Councils, plus what host Jeff Probst has said about letting people talk at Tribal Councils nowadays as opposed to the old days, when he shut that down very quickly.
The ‘Live’ Tribal Councils Started During ‘Game Changers’ but Not With the Castaway Fans Think
On Reddit, fans have wondered about the first time people started getting up to talk to people at Tribal Council. Not just standing up in general, but the pulling people aside and whispering so as to completely change what is happening, often to the confusion of the viewers because it’s so hard to hear what’s going on.
The general consensus on Reddit and also on Twitter is that was during the third episode of “Game Changers,” titled “The Tables Have Turned,” which is an appropriate episode title for such a game-changing moment. That was the episode where two of the tribes, Mana and Nuku, went to a joint Tribal Council and voted one person off. But the fans are giving credit for getting up to J.T. Thomas and that’s not correct, on a couple of fronts.
In the above video, it looks like the whispering actually starts with Hali Ford and Sierra Dawn Thomas, then it continues for a while before eventually, people start getting up out of their seats. But the first person to actually physically leave their seat is Debbie Wanner, which is funny because on Twitter, Debbie told a fan that the first person to get up was Hali Ford — but you can clearly see in the second video that Hali is still seated in front of Brad Culpepper when Debbie gets up to talk to him.
“Actually [Hali] got up first & went to her old side; then JT got up. I was there – you just got the edit,” wrote Debbie on Twitter, so that’s a weird mystery. Maybe she meant that Hali got up and then went back to her seat and we didn’t get to see that on the edited episode? But even if Hali did get up first, the first person the viewers got to see do it is Debbie, not J.T.
Either way, this Tribal is bananas. The look on Jeff Probst’s face as it devolves into chaos is priceless. It was incredibly good TV because it was so new. As “Entertainment Weekly’s” “Survivor” expert Dalton Ross wrote at the time it aired:
I still am not entirely sure what the hell transpired in what has to be considered the most chaotic Tribal Council ever, and I’m not sure the players involved in the melee have a clear idea either. …
We think we know, but the truth is, we don’t really know. At least not for sure. Which is what made this joint Tribal Council such a stroke of brilliance. It put us as viewers right in the place of the contestants themselves — scrambling to uncover the truth and consider every possible angle. I honestly think I bruised my thighs by clutching them so hard while watching, that’s how tense it was.
It was absolutely a joy to watch unfold, but now Tribal Councils like this have become commonplace and fans are starting to get a little sick of it. A lot of them long for the day when Probst never let castaways talk like this at Tribal Councils.
Probst Used to Lay the Smack Down
Remember when players were not allowed to huddle and whisper at Tribal Council on #Survivor because it was deemed a “public forum”? Here’s Kathy getting shut down by Probst on Marquesas.
After one of the chaotic Tribal Councils during season 41 this fall, Ross tweeted a video that he captioned, “Remember when players were not allowed to huddle and whisper at Tribal Council on #Survivor because it was deemed a ‘public forum’? Here’s Kathy getting shut down by Probst on Marquesas.”
Indeed. In the video, Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien and Vecepia Towery talk about how they have a deal, but then Kathy says, “I need time to talk to V about who we’re voting for … my conversation I’d prefer not the jury to hear. These are conversations that are [normally] on the beach and the jury doesn’t hear it,” to which Probst responds, “You’re making a deal in a public forum.”
In the replies to Ross’ tweet, two-time “Survivor” player Eliza Orlins responded, “When I tell people we weren’t allowed, they don’t believe me. They’re like no, but Jeff loves it! I’m like well, Jeff wasn’t an executive producer until many years later. Can’t speak to the changes, just can say it wasn’t permitted back in my day.”
In response to Eliza, “Survivor” expert David Bloomberg from “Rob Has A Podcast” replied that he and Jessica Lewis have “discussed this multiple times” — “it would’ve been so different if people could’ve gotten up and whispered and figured out how to NOT go to rocks!”
Letting people get up and speak privately at Tribal Council has certainly changed the game. Probst told “Entertainment Weekly” after that episode aired that it was “thrilling” to watch.
“Tribal was electric. It was thrilling. For me, the reason it was so exciting is because I had a ringside seat to watching some truly great players going full tilt boogie knowing they were risking everything with every move they made. What you saw is exactly what happened — it just broke open. … It doesn’t take much for the panic to set in and people begin to call audibles,” said Probst.
But Fans Are Over It
It was exciting at first, but now, a lot of fans are tired of “live” Tribal Councils because it’s so hard to follow what’s happening, plus it negates a lot of what came before Tribal in the episode.
“The amount of time the players have split off into groups and whisper to each other, change plans, only to change them back and again during tribal is making the show not fun to watch. The drama is diffused or removed because we spend the episode with one-on-one’s which ultimately amount to nothing,” wrote one fan on Reddit.
Some fans think that talking is fine, but the whispering and the getting up is what makes it less fun. Others think it was only fun for a while, but “live Tribals have played themselves out” and that they’d be OK if they were less frequent. But how do you control whether a Tribal Council is “live” or not?
What do you think, fans? Are you in favor of live Tribal Councils or not?
“Survivor 41” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on CBS. The 42nd season premieres Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Seasons 43 and 44 are casting now, so if you’ve always wanted to apply, now is your chance!
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