No one is happy about one part of the ‘Survivor’ 50 trailer
Survivor is on the precipice of its fiftieth season, and the long-running reality series is celebrating in style. A number of fan-favorite contestants are being brought back from previous seasons, including two whose journeys just wrapped up on Season 49 earlier this week. A nationwide Pokemon Go-like contest is even being held early next year, where winners can find hidden idols that seemingly give them a trip to the season’s live after show.
But one aspect of Survivor Season 50, which was showcased in a teaser trailer released on Wednesday night, is already starting to rub fans the wrong way. In between some dramatic slo-mo shots and a perfect one-liner from veteran contestant (and The White Lotus creator) Mike White, the footage reveals that Season 50 will have a celebrity component.
A cameo from country singer Zac Brown is teased, the words “Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol” are said aloud, and Season 37 alum Christian Hubicki remarks that “Jimmy Fallon may decide my fate in this game.” If all of that wasn’t dizzying enough, the kicker arrives after that: Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson walks into frame, armed with a briefcase.
The Survivor fandom has had a field day with this aspect of the trailer, for multiple reasons. Eilish and Fallon’s involvement, even as omnipotent sponsors providing contestants with an advantage, is already funny out of context. It’s also a little frustrating, as one of the biggest selling points of Survivor Season 50 has been that it’s placing power “in the hands of the fans.” Online voting was held throughout Season 49 to decide certain things: tribe colors, rice as a reward, and what level of advantages might be available to the contestants. This trailer not only reveals that the advantages will be aplenty, but the celebrity sponsorship aspect of it was not something fans could have foreseen… or probably would have voted for, if they were given the opportunity to.
Why is MrBeast here?!
With MrBeast specifically, his presence on Survivor is provoking a lot of strong feelings. Sure, it makes sense on paper: earlier this month, an official crossover was announced between the show and Donaldson’s (arguably dystopian) Prime Video competition series, Beast Games. A few former Survivor contestants will be joining Beast Games in Season 2, and one of the challenges will involve them traveling to the longer-running show’s Fijian island. But Survivor fans hadn’t necessarily anticipated their side of the equation to happen in such a landmark season.
Donaldson could just be delivering the money that contestants use for the semi-recurring seasonal food auction, or he could be following his YouTube gimmick and gifting an additional sum of money to a certain lucky contestant. We really have no way of knowing right now… but either way, it already creates a tonally-dissonant moment going into Season 50.
A lot of the chatter around Survivor has been how it has (or hasn’t) evolved over the course of its run. The show literally admits to being in a “New Era”, with shortened seasons and certain changes made to supposedly liven up the gameplay. Fans each have their own personal feelings about it, and those feelings were probably already going to come to the forefront with Season 50, as iconic contestants from the “Old Era” come back and play the game in this context. By appearing in just a few frames, MrBeast has already exasperated that divide even further.
(featured image: CBS)
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