Discussion Main / Survivor

I feel that the show hasn't been the same since All Stars, really. There have been good seasons throughout the intervening years, but the magic was gone after Season 8. While the strategy has improved by leaps and bounds in the newer seasons, the storytelling and character development have declined in equal proportion. And I agree with you that the Hidden Immunity Idols are more trouble than they're worth. I wish they would make the idols either very difficult to find, or have the idols "go away" every other season or so(like the spring season having idols, but not the fall seasons).

The show has really been going down since Tocantins when they hired terrible editors. Tocantins was a nice season but it practically revolved around Coach. Samoa was interesting for a couple episodes, but got boring after seeing Russell Hantz beat a bunch of bloody clowns week after week, and only got interesting when Brett emerged from the shadows and made him think Oh, Crap!. Heroes vs. Villains was alright, despite the obvious slanting. (Puzzle immunity challenges, Polo challenge, Box stacking...) Nicaragua was a brief reprise from obnoxious arrogant personalities and terrible editing. (The only person we never saw in Nicaragua was Purple Kelly.) Then Redemption Island was everything bad about Samoa, Heroes vs. Villains, and Tocantins cranked Up To Eleven.

I know some people have said that they need to stop re-using locations, but I read a response to this by Probst. Probst said that they admittedly have to do it because they have to house&feed about three hundred people, are essentially taking over an island for a couple months so they need the local government to work with them. They also need to pick a stable environment.