Sigh, this season was going along so well. Casting seems to have improved on last year, or at the very least, cast seems happier to make some moves rather than shoot down anyone challenging the status quo. I just really dislike that our version of Survivor seems to always go back to the "shock twist!" well. The US version usually does things so well and I think Jeff Probst sums things up perfectly when he says you could almost play the same game, with the same people, multiple times and people would still enjoy it. It's because viewers are intrigued by the social interaction and gameplay between players. Although, a look at some Aus Survivor Facebook posts seems to suggest that a fair portion of their audience enjoyed the twist. I don't get it personally though. I don't really watch other reality/competition shows (i.e. The Block, Bach, cooking shows etc) but is the "shock twist!" a staple of those shows also? Is this just something tailored to Australian audiences versus US audiences?
Sure, the US version have had plenty of their own twists over the years. I struggle to remember twists in the US show that take place after a vote though (idols the obvious exception though)? Seems really cheap to me and almost goes against the spirit of a game that is all about social interaction and outwitting other players. Think the season will still be a good one but hoping they can just let the game play out as is without a reliance on twists, especially as tribe dynamics still seemed pretty interesting before the swap anyway.