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.  Also, I hate how anyone who doesn't make the jury doesn't get to reflect back on their season.  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?

Journeys: 3/10
My biggest gripe with journeys isn't how they often result in a player or two losing their vote(s), although that is a close second.  No, my biggest gripe is how they used these journeys to replace tribe reward challenges.  It was a Survivor staple for the longest time: reward challenge, immunity challenge, tribal council, rinse and repeat.  Then, as we got into the 20s and 30s of the seasons, the tribal reward challenge slowly started to get phased out.  Sometimes they would have something to replace it with (Redemption Island duel, for example), sometimes they would just incorporate more camp life.  But once the new era hit, they fully did away with tribal reward challenges for these journeys.  I know it's a lot cheaper to make a set for a journey than it is a full tribal reward challenge, but come on, Survivor.  One of my biggest issues with it is that it takes away a chance for a struggling tribe to win something.  Now, on top of losing immunity, they lose reward to, since the pre-merge rewards are combined with immunity.    

Average: 3.6/10
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.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker Thoughts/Review

I have now seen the final film in the Skywalker saga of Star Wars films.  Honestly, I'm pretty bummed it's over and there won't be another.  We won't ever see Luke, Han, Leia, or Lando again; at least not played by their respective actors and not in a Star Wars episodic film.  However, the final film tied up the saga, but the question is, did it do it well?  In my opinion, it did.  It answered a bunch of questions, had drama, and kept me entertained throughout.  Also, from here on out there will be spoilers, so you have been warned.

I have to admit I read some reviews of The Rise of Skywalker before seeing it, and most of what I saw was pretty negative.  One person even called it the "worst Star Wars film".  No way is TROS the worst Star Wars film, but it is not without its faults.  I want to get these out of the way first.  This is not a perfect film, or even excellent.  I think this film is going to divide fans for a long time.  It currently has a 6.9 rating on IMDB and a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes.  I think it was better than what those scores indicate.  But I certainly don't think it was close to perfect.

First off, I had trouble accepting such a light and goodhearted character we've grown to know and love could be descended from someone so despicably evil in Palpatine.  It's nothing against what JJ did, but if this was the direction they were going to take, I would've liked a hint of it in "The Last Jedi".  Another thing I didn't particularly like was how Rey and Kylo could transport matter.  We saw a hint of it in "The Last Jedi" when rainwater from Ahch-To got transported to Kylo's hand far away.  Then, in this film, we had a necklace and a lightsaber be transported from Rey to Kylo.  I just can't wrap my head around it, and it seems like something that should be in Star Trek, not Star Wars.  Also, I've had trouble accepting that Force Ghosts can influence matter as well.  We saw Yoda cause a lightning strike in TLJ, and in TROS we saw Luke block a lightsaber from being thrown into a fire, and we saw him levitate his old X-Wing out of the water.  They're called "ghosts" for a reason.  Heck, if they're going to go that route, they might as well have a Force Ghost army in some Star Wars spin-off TV series or film.  They can't be killed, after all.  Finally, I just did not like the opening space fight scene in the Millennium Falcon.  WAY too many jumpcuts and it was paced WAY too quickly.  Too fast-paced of a scene way too early in the film.  Every film in the original trilogy started out slow, or at least not that intense so soon.  Those were my main four gripes.

Here's what I thought they did well: The handling of Princess Leia.  If I had not known, I would've thought they filmed Leia's/Carrie's scenes especially for this film.  JJ and Chris did a great job of incorporating what they had of Carrie into this film.  And her passing was done very well and tastefully.  I hate that she never really got to see her son, but I think had Carrie not passed away, JJ had it mind to have her meet Kylo/Ben, or at least project herself to him so that she could try to turn him back to the light.  I think they used Harrison Ford/Han Solo in her place.  His scene with Ben mirrored their scene on the bridge in "The Force Awakens", even down to some of the quotes.  This time, instead of Kylo going from confused to dark side, he went from confused to light side.

I also liked Kylo/Ben turning back to the light.  You could tell he was conflicted and when Rey saved his life after stabbing him, he knew he had to be on her side from that point on.  Him going after her on Exegol with as much haste and determination as he had shows he cared about her.  And his sacrifice to her, very touching.  I was hoping he would be able to survive, because how often do you see a redeemed bad guy character that doesn't die?  However, the Skywalker saga had to end and it still technically could continue with Ben still alive.  And to be honest, I was a Rey/Ben shipper so their kiss was definitely something I wanted to see.

Now to go over technical aspects.  To be expected, visual effects and sound were top-notch.  Costumes and makeup were very well done, although I think I noticed Kylo/Ben's scar on his face disappearing, but that could be just it fading over time.  I'd be surprised if TROS didn't get an Oscar nomination for something, with their likeliest nomination probably being visual effects.  Acting was decent; my favorite was Daisy Ridley as Rey.  The writing was less than stellar, but they stayed true to the characters at least.  Perhaps the best was John Williams' score, his last time scoring a Star Wars film.  I always felt the music perfectly suited the scene at the time.

Hard to say if I enjoyed this more than "The Force Awakens".  I know I enjoyed it more than "The Last Jedi".  I definitely want to see it again in theaters.  I wonder if people's second viewings of TROS will make them like it more or less.  Based on how the IMDB rating for this film is going up (It was at 6.8, it's now at 7.0), it seems like people like it more on multiple viewings.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Star Wars fan, and if I say this is a satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga, then it probably is.