Rating New Era Survivor Twists and Changes

Something I still need to do, being a big fan of Survivor, is rating the new ERA twists and changes.  I'm gonna recall from memory each twist added or change made to the game since the start of 41, and then give it a rating out of 10.  A 10/10 is a perfect idea, and I honestly don't know if I'd give that to any twist in Survivor history, including the hidden immunity idol, so you won't be seeing that here.  A 0/10 would be an idea that is so asinine, whoever came up with it should be fired.  

There may be the occasional advantage that I have forgotten, but if I forget it, it's because it had such little impact on the game, and therefore isn't worth rating.

26 Day Format: 3/10
I don't think I'll ever fully come around on this.  Leave it to Survivor to stick with the 26-day format after COVID restrictions end since it's cheaper.  The bad thing about it is that it doesn't allow for close bonds to form or for people to struggle out there.  There's no time for the game to breathe, in a sense.  It feels like when Survivor reduced its quantity, it also reduced its quality.

No food/losing flint if immunity is lost: 5/10
I'm okay with teams suffering a penalty if they lose, although going to tribal council should be penalty enough.  But taking away flint doesn't have the impact it used to, since they are given access to clean drinking water, and the pre-merge lasts no more than 2 weeks.  Meanwhile, odds are each player will eventually get access to food via some sort of reward.  It seems like taking away flint is just for show, and honestly shouldn't even be mentioned anymore.  It's not an awful idea, just an unnecessary one that adds nothing to the show.  Also, I might add, taking away flint from the losers only increases the chance that they'll lose again, thus creating a "disaster" tribe that enters the merge with only 3 or even 2 members.  

Hourglass Twist: 1/10
The hourglass twist is easily one of the dumbest things Survivor producers have implemented.  The worst part is that people who rightfully won immunity had it stripped away from them.  If anything, the hourglass twist should have made them replay the challenge, and see if we get the same result--although that wouldn't have made for as good of TV: seeing the same challenge done twice.  Maybe they could've used a different challenge.  But heaven forbid Survivor pay for another challenge set.  

Knowledge is Power: 5/10
This is an advantage that has yet to work, other than causing people to swap their idols and advantages.  That effect really made it confusing to track who had what.  It did create some good moments, such as Dwight going home with Jeanine's idol in 43 and her shock at finding out, even though the KiP wasn't shown on that season.  I wouldn't hate it if they brought it back, but I'd rather it be tweaked a little.  My suggestion is that if the owner of the KiP can correctly name who has an idol or advantage, you get an extra vote.  I don't think people's idols/advantages should be able to be stolen.  

Reunion not live/held right away: 2/10
I understand not being able to do it in the early stages of the new era due to COVID, but just like with 26 days, again Survivor sticks with it since it's a cost-cutting measure.  I really hate it because players are not given the chance to think about and digest their games.  I also love hearing the audience's reaction to the votes being read, and without it, the result always feels subdued.  It's like seeing the final out of the World Series but no one in the stands to cheer on.  Bring back the live reunion!  

Most idols being beware advantages: 6/10
I can live with this.  The reason I kind of like this is that it doesn't allow players to keep finding idols easily and playing them one after the other, like Ben in HHH.  It makes players work for it.  Idols were getting too easy to find, so adding steps to "activate" or find their idols made it more difficult.  I wish players didn't lose their votes until they fully found or activated their idol, but there's got to be some "punishment" to it, I guess.  I was not a fan of having to wait for a certain phrase to be said at the immunity challenge mat chat like we saw in 41 and 42.  I much prefer having to accomplish something, like getting beads in 43 or the cage twist in 44, and not having to rely upon someone from another tribe.  

Amulet(s): 4/10
Again, another idea that just falls flat.  We've seen this now in 42 and 45, and each time it just seems to put a target on people's backs.  I think if the showrunners try it a third time and the players are given the option, I think they'll choose not to have it.  I get that they're trying to create cross-tribal alliances, but all they're doing is making them targets for one another.  They should change it so that the combined amulets become more powerful so long as all owners are still in the game at certain points.  All three make it to the merge?  Extra vote.  Final 10?  Steal a vote.  Final 6?  Full-blown idol.  But they haven't really laid out who gets control of the advantage once it gets those points, so that'd be interesting to see...

Shot in the Dark: 7/10
The "SitD" as I call it, is one of the better new era ideas.  It creates drama when there likely is none.  Obvious boot?  Well, there's still the shot in the dark, which could save them!  It also adds a layer of strategy, because you have to decide if losing your vote is worth it.  For example, in 41, if Sydney hadn't played her shot in the dark and instead had voted, she likely survives.  I just can't rate it higher than 7/10, because, to me, it overcomplicates the game a bit.  With SitD's being transferrable and only able to be played once, I now have to keep track of who currently has their SitD?  There comes a point where there's just too much to keep track of.  

"Merge-atory": 4/10
Jeff says that you have to "earn the merge".  You know what, Jeff?  They earned the merge by getting that far in the game, you dick.  Fortunately, it's a lot better without the hourglass twist, but I'm still very against the idea of likely only 6/13 people being eligible to be voted for.  I also do not like when they add a layer of luck to the game, because some good players can get unlucky and have to leave the game, and a layer of luck is added when they randomly divide them into two teams.  

Split Tribal at Final 12 or 10: 2/10
Just... stop this.  Please.  I get having to have two people be voted out in one episode.  But instead of dividing them into two teams of 5 or 6, just have two tribal councils with all 10 or 12 people.  We've lost some decent players because of this awful twist, such as Matt in 44.  It adds another layer of luck that I am not a fan of.  And I think they've done this in seasons before 41 (Ghost Island, for one), but since it's been used every season since the start of the new era, I consider this a "New Era" twist.  

Three tribe format: 4/10
The worst part of this three-tribe format is that they never swap into two tribes.  I'm okay watching three-team immunity challenges, because there's usually some drama, either between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd.  But only having 6 players per tribe is getting very tiresome.  There's not much room to maneuver as a player, and if you are put on a struggling tribe, you will likely not make the merge.  Also, if there is one tribe having a lot of success that never goes to tribal council, the whole tribe could end up getting purpled, like we saw with the Coco tribe in 41.  If we had a regular two-tribe format, we likely see J.D. in 41 at the merge.  But because his tribe struggled so much pre-merge, he was voted out.  

Do or Die: 1/10
I almost gave this a 0/10, because it was that bad.  What saves it from that 0 mark is the fact you can opt out of the challenge, therefore not risking elimination via a game of chance.  I wish everyone had opted out of one of these, just to spite the showrunners.  Fortunately, each time the Do or Die did not work, saving Deshawn and Lindsay.  Thank goodness they stopped it after 42.  But much like with the hourglass twist, it breaks a Survivor cardinal sin.  This time, you can get eliminated from the game without a single vote against you.  You could be playing a perfect game, but because you wanted to compete in a challenge, you get eliminated from the game.  If it had eliminated someone, I wonder if Jeff was going to say, "The tribe has spoken".  Probably not.  

Choose Your Champion: 7/10
We've only seen this once, in 43, and unfortunately, we might not see it again.  Essentially, you choose who you think will win an immunity challenge, and if they do, you win immunity as well.  I wish the reveal was done sooner, rather than at tribal council.  I think people should know if they can vote for you or not.  But I guess it's like an idol, which a lot of people don't get to know about.  But I liked the element of how well people know their tribemates.  I think they should incorporate these for reward as well.

Sweat or Savvy/Earning Supplies: 4/10
I'm just not a big fan of having to "earn" your supplies.  As viewers, what do we care if someone has their supplies or not... honestly?  They kept tweaking the sweat vs. savvy challenges.  At first, they were too easy, then they were too hard, then they just got rid of it.  They clearly couldn't design sweat vs. savvy to be the right difficulty.  For 47, they made a "captain" from each of the losing tribes compete in a kind of scavenger hunt, which is slightly more fun to watch.  But again... why do we care?

Average: 3.93/10
The twists and changes in the new era have largely been disappointing.  Survivor's at its best when its a slowly evolving game, and I felt like in the new era, they did too much too fast.  I like how bad ideas were phased out, such as the hourglass or "Do or Die".  I wish they'd go back to two tribes or 39 days, but we can't always get what we want, can we?  Anyway, that's all I have for now, but if there are any others, I'll add them to the list and give my thoughts.

Top 20 Survivor Players who (still) deserve a second shot

Survivor is my all time favorite reality show.  They've now gone on for 40 seasons and 20 years.  There have been 487 different players in Survivor's 20 year run.  103 have played multiple seasons.  Of the remaining 384, there are certainly some who deserve a second shot.  Some are interesting characters and some are actual good players.  I have come up with 20 players who deserved a second shot.  I even went to the trouble to make it 10 men and 10 women, with some diversity as well, as if this could be a future season of Survivor.  And to make it even more interesting, I divided them into two tribes: Characters and Players.  

The ten on the character tribe are known more for their interesting personalities than being good players.  This certainly would be an interesting and fun to watch tribe.  Would they struggle?  Probably.  But it would be so much fun to watch.

Characters:

Shane Powers (Exile Island/Panama)
I believe Shane was in the running to be a Villain on "Heroes vs. Villains", but was a last minute cut, probably for Russell Hantz.  Who knows if he even is on good terms with CBS, but it still would be interesting to see Shane return.  He might be on the cusp of being too old, but we've seen older returning players.

Nate Gonzalez (Cook Islands)
Nate was sure fun to watch and I liked his personality.  He also gave us some of the best jury member reactions we've still ever seen.  I would love to see Nate brought back, if just for his reactions as a jury member.

Erik Cardona (Samoa)
Erik would definitely be a "villain" type of player.  He did, however, do his best to persuade the jury to vote for Natalie to win over Russell, which may have resulted in Natalie's victory.  He would have been a great player that could have potentially stopped Russell Hantz had he not been blindsided when he was.  

Dave Ball (Samoa)
Yet another male player from Samoa, and they were on the same tribe, too.  Dave was an interesting character, and he had some great one-liners.  My favorite was "He [Erik] got clotheslined... by the clothesline!"  They should bring Dave Ball back.  Mostly because Jeff often used his full name.

Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water)
Hayden finished with the 2nd best position of any "loved one" on Blood vs. Water, yet he has never been brought back.  He played a hard game and even managed to sway Ciera to his side to force a rock draw.  I loved his banter with Tyson about "russelling feathers".  He would be an interesting character to bring back.

Heidi Strobel (Amazon)
I'm surprised they brought back Jenna but never Heidi.  Heidi was just as interesting of a character, if not more so.  I still think Heidi could come back, but instead of being the hot, ditzy blonde she's the hot, ditzy mom.  She stays active as can be gathered from her posts on Instagram.  Her being married to a famous baseball player (Cole Hamels) would probably work against her, though.

Michelle Yi (Fiji)
Fiji actually had a pretty good cast, despite only one player (Yau Man) ever returning to play again so far.  There's only a small handful that could work in bringing them back, and one of them is Michelle.  Michelle was screwed over by a twist in the game, which was an impromptu tribal council with a group of random players in which she was on the wrong side of the numbers.  She was adorable and also started fire with basically nothing, so she would be awesome to have back.

Natalie Bolton (Micronesia)
Natalie was definitely a villainess on her season, which didn't really show until after the merge and the Black Widow alliance formed.  She was the one who got the immunity necklace from Erik.  She also gave some confessionals to show her true colors.  I'm a bit surprised she was never brought back.  I'd love to see her back.  

Alicia Rosa (One World)
Sure, Alicia said some mean things and didn't seem like a good person, but she still made for an entertaining villain.  She went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy in the past few years, which probably made her appreciate the smaller things in life more.  I'd love to see her given a second chance.    

J'Tia Taylor (Cagayan)
She may have dumped out her tribe's rice, but I'm sure she's matured since then.  She has since gotten married.  Perhaps with a second shot, her tribe would do better?  Probably not, but it would be interesting to see her again.

Players:

Jonas Otsuji (One World)
Jonas was well-liked, which ultimately was the reason for his demise.  The guy reminded me of a good-natured Boston Rob.  I always thought he deserved a second shot.  He gave some pretty funny confessionals, too.

Ian Rosenberger (Palau)
I think Ian is someone CBS has definitely wanted back, and he was asked back for Cambodia: Second Chance but he declined.  He's still fairly young and could come back if he changes his mind.  

Rafe Judkins (Guatemala)
I thought Rafe was playing the best game of his season, and I'm a bit surprised he never played again.  He's a television writer now, so it's unlikely he'd ever leave that comfortable job to play Survivor again.  But Rafe seems like someone intelligent enough to adapt to the faster-paced game.

Kenny Hoang (Gabon)
Kenny was undoubtedly playing the best strategic game in Gabon.  He tried to make Bob out to the be the bad guy, but it backfired.  I would love to see him given a second shot.  I could see him controlling a game if he was brought back.

Reynold Toepfer (Caramoan)
Reynold was a huge part of the Three Amigos alliance.  He became a force in challenges as well.  He just got on the wrong side of the numbers.  He seemed like a strong and vocal player who was in hot water the entire game.  Yet he made it a lot further than people were expecting.  It might be hard to bring him back as Reynold has settled down and started a family.

Darrah Johnson (Pearl Islands)
I loved Darrah on Pearl Islands.  She wasn't a very vocal or strategic player, but she went on immunity run semi-late into the game, which once it ended, resulted in her being voted out.  She's still under the age of 40.  She also was the Morgan tribe member that got the furthest in the game before being voted out for the first time.  

Sherea Lloyd (China)
I remember Sherea being the strongest female of her struggling Zhan Hu tribe.  When the tribes had to pick the other tribe's two strongest players they'd like, Sherea was chosen.  Yet, she has never returned to play again.  I think she could still be a force.  

Ashley Underwood (Redemption Island)
Of the two girls under Boston Rob's wing, Ashley was definitely the stronger player, which resulted in Natalie making it to the end and not her.  She started being a huge force in challenges late in the game.  If she had somehow managed to take out Boston Rob and went to the end with Natalie and Phillip, I think she wins.  I would like to see her given a second shot.

Chelsea Meissner (One World)
I think Chelsea played a pretty darn good game.  It's just that Kim Spradlin was controlling everything and was playing an even better game.  I'd love to see Chelsea given a second shot if she wanted.  I think she would learn to be more vocal and more aggressive.

RC Saint-Amour (Philippines)
The funny thing is, RC was supposed to be on "Blood vs. Water" with her dad, but he had a medical issue and they couldn't go and were replaced by Candice and John.  So CBS has definitely wanted her back, yet she still has yet to come back.  She's still fairly young, so why not?