‘Survivor’ 49: Jeff Probst Teases ‘Bonkers’ Post-Merge Game in Hottest Season Since ‘Cambodia’
Q&A
The Tribe Has Spoken
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It’s too darn hot! Jeff Probst says an “oppressive heat” plagued the first 10-15 days of filming Season 49, making for the hottest season since Season 31, Survivor: Cambodia. Probst’s exhaustion will be visible in the pre-merge episodes. As for the 18 players, he says, “It hit their cognitive ability so fast” and greatly impacted strategy.
“The merge hits, the weather cools down, and the game play ignites,” the Emmy-winning host assures. “The back half of the season is bonkers.” In the first half, some “polarizing” personalities will emerge. “Out of the gate, there are a couple of players that absolutely, capital letters Cannot Read the Room,” Probst reveals. Could one of them be the Marvel producer, or perhaps one of the two alternates put into the game 12 hours before filming began? Maybe it’s the pair that will be back in Season 50, whose identities are still secret.
Survivor Season 49 premieres Wednesday, September 24 at 8/7c on CBS. Here, Probst teases what’s to come, including an in-depth explanation of why they asked two players to come back and play again in Survivor 50 just weeks after 49 wrapped filming.
You’ve said that the two players pulled up for 50 made such an impression that you had to bring them back. What makes them stand out?
Jeff Probst: It’s a really good question because it’s so subjective, but really what happened was we went into 49 not fully locked with our cast for 50. We were open to the idea that if a player really impressed us in 49, we would invite them into 50, and then that would be a really beautiful bookend to have somebody, Jenna [Lewis-Dougherty], from Season 1 and then somebody from 49. But we were never going to force the issue if somebody didn’t step up. Around the merge, we started really looking at the players to see if there was anybody, and there were a few players, but two did stand out.
What we were looking for is people that we thought could fit into what we knew we were building for 50, which was this composite of our entire history. I think that’s one thing that maybe a lot of fans aren’t really clear on. This is not a season that was going to be categorized by words like “legends” or any other thing. It was simply, if you look at 25 years of Survivor, let’s try to taste a little of all of that. And so the players we were looking for in Survivor 49 would be the essence of the new era. And the essence of the new era is a faster, more dangerous style of gameplay. What we look for is players who are willing to play this game to win. And that’s very different from playing to not lose.
Even today in the new era, we still end up with players who I can see get tentative the longer they last. We were looking for people who were doubling down the longer they lasted. We found that, and two players emerged almost at the same time. We weren’t anticipating two players. We really thought if we get lucky, we’ll find one person from 49. But there were two and we couldn’t really decide between the two of them. So we just ended up expanding how many players we were going to take for Survivor 50, which then made room for another player or players who had been in the mix and hadn’t yet been put on the cast, so it was this state of flux.
You’re looking for two players who want to play Survivor and that you think can mix it up with people from all different eras and generations and styles of gameplay. That’s what we’re looking for in 50: taking players, going back to the first season, but putting them in the new era game. So with players from 49, you wanted people who represented that. Who are the players that are willing to show up, double down, go for broke, knowing they may lose, but also understanding the only way to ever win is to play without the fear of losing? We saw that in two players, and it became more and more clear to us that they should be on 50.
Do you think viewers will be able to predict who those two players are at some point in the season?
I think it’s going to be a very fun game to play along, probably starting around the merge as to who you think the two players are and maybe even more importantly, why as you’re doing your armchair analysis of this fun sport called Survivor. Who would you put on? I think that’s what a lot of fans are going to be asking. “I would put that person on and here’s why,” and “I would never put that person on and here’s why.” I don’t know if fans will be able to guess which two we picked, but I do think they will agree with the two we picked. When you see the announcement of who is on 50, I think it will make sense. I think people will be excited to see them play.
Robert Voets / CBS
Does this season have a villain?
Villain’s a really interesting word to me. It keeps getting brought up. I think it’s probably because a lot of other shows in the genre cast for villains, and we used to do that, too.
You had a whole season about it.
Yes, exactly. We had Heroes versus Villains. We don’t do that anymore. So for me, I don’t ever see people in a category like that, but I absolutely understand the essence of the question. Where I think today’s villain comes from is subjective. One person’s villain is another person’s hero. That’s not me dodging the question. It’s really a different way to look at who you put on the show. The group will decide who the villain is, and it’s fascinating to me. In fact, to your question, I can think of one person that I think will be very polarizing in terms of people either absolutely loving them and the way they play the game or thinking they’re a villain and therefore not liking the way they’re playing the game. And that’s what’s fun because it really doesn’t matter what the audience thinks. It matters what the players are able to discern about how everybody else is seeing them.
If you can see that you’re perceived as a villain by this person, but as a trusted confidant by this other person, then you’re going to do well in the game. If you’ve got a blind spot and you’re full of hubris and you could never imagine anyone seeing you as a villain, then you’re probably going to be out early. The game tests your ability to read the room. Just thinking of myself, I’m fully aware that if I played Survivor, not everyone would like me. Some people would see certain qualities about myself that I think are great, and they might find despicable. But if I can understand that, then I’ve got a shot.
How quickly does that polarizing player emerge?
I would say early on. There are certain players that have a way of speaking or they come from a background that leans into an early judgment, just a knee-jerk assessment. Oh, I bet they’re going to be like this. I bet that woman’s going to be this type of person. Or I bet that guy thinks he’s all this. But if they last long enough, you get a chance to see all their layers. Once you start to see the depth of a person, you begin to understand why they are the way they are. And often you have more empathy and more compassion, and you realize, OK, I guess we’re not that different after all. But it’s often that first impression that you make in those first few days with a group of strangers that can set your course for the game. What you’re going to see in 49 out of the gate, there are a couple of players that absolutely, capital letters Cannot Read the Room.
They do not see how they’re being perceived by others, and they just keep going merrily along their way. The savvier player is able to see very quickly, that conversation did not go as I intended. I now have to take a moment and figure out how to re-approach that same person and recover what I might’ve just lost and start to build what I’m looking to create with them in terms of a relationship to build something new. And that happens straight out of the gate.
Robert Voets / CBS
In addition, this season is so hot. I know that doesn’t sound like much of a headline, but I’m telling you, this was the hottest season I can remember maybe other than Cambodia [Season 31], where we had three people go down at one challenge. It was so hot, but I felt it, and you’ll see it in me. You’ll see moments where I’m exhausted and was struggling to remember names and I’m sweating through my shirt. And I’m somebody who is going home at night and having dinner and going to bed, and I have air conditioning and all of the comforts. When you take what is already a very difficult game in the middle of a jungle and you add this oppressive heat, it hit their cognitive ability so fast. And now the test becomes, can I present the type of personality I want to present when I can barely remember my own name?
You’re going to feel that. And then the merge hits, the weather cools down, and the gameplay ignites. The back half of the season is bonkers in terms of alliances and fluidity. What’s true today is 100% not true even tonight, forget about tomorrow. I do think there was a correlation between how difficult the first 10 or 15 days were, and then when they got some relief from the weather, everybody stood up and went, oh, I’m ready to go.
You’ll see in the first five episodes. I can’t remember exactly where, but I mentioned it a few times. At one point, I think at a challenge, I made a point of saying to them, I just want to be a witness to what you’re going through. This heat is oppressive, and it’s impacting me. And I’m struggling, too, because I’m remembering 18 names and I’m trying to follow many, many, many different stories that are happening in real time at a challenge or post-challenge or at Tribal [Council], and I have to be sharp. And I, too, was struggling at times asking myself, wait a minute, what’s their tribe name? That’s how hot it was.
And you’re fed.
I’m fed and I sleep well. I’m not having anybody conspire against me. It’s very rare after a challenge for anyone on our team to approach me while we’re dissecting what just happened, but it became habitual for one of our Dream Teamers to come give me a cup of water after a challenge was over.
I thought, wow, that’s how hot it is. You’re kind of breaking through this inner circle of the team post-challenge because you’re worried that I need a cup of water. Oh my God, how are these players going back to that camp maybe with no supplies at all to endure another night of trying to figure out who’s going to go home at Tribal Council? Hope a storm doesn’t come. There is no food. You may not have flint, which means you have no fire. Your shelter sucks. And my team is looking out for me, the host of the show. It was pretty telling.
The thing about heat, it’s not bloody, it’s not a broken bone. It’s not something you can see. So that’s why when I say the heat was a factor, it doesn’t sound like much of a headline, but it is. You can only see it in behavior. You can only see it in how a tribe walks up to a challenge on day eight, and they’re already exhausted and we haven’t even run the challenge. Or when I ask a very simple question: “Tell me what happened today when you got back to camp.” You see a player asking me, “What was the question again?” That’s where you see it. It’s a very subtle thing, but I think if you watch for it and try to imagine what that would be like, then it becomes very clear the impact that it’s having.
Survivor, Season 49 Premiere, Wednesday, September 24, 8/7c, CBS
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