The 'Survivor 45' contestants give EW their 'Survivor' hot takes about seasons past and present.
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00:00 My Survivor hot take would probably be this new era.
00:03 People want to see the old stuff,
00:05 but I really think the new stuff is more inclusive.
00:07 I think it's more of like storytelling
00:09 and I think it's more invigorating.
00:11 I like it.
00:12 I think it's just stick around.
00:13 This new era is something else.
00:15 [dramatic music]
00:18 - I mean, I think Michelle definitely deserved
00:21 to win "Ko-Rong," hands down, easy.
00:24 I got a couple more hot takes.
00:26 I can keep going.
00:27 I think Phillip Shepard, A-tier player.
00:29 I think he's great.
00:30 I guess I'll just leave it at that.
00:31 Those are my two hottest takes.
00:32 - My Survivor hot take is that "Edge of Extinction"
00:35 is actually a really good twist.
00:37 I think it adds a lot of pressure
00:39 to the way that you treat people when you vote them out
00:41 and before you vote them out.
00:43 And I mean, it's always fun to see people come back
00:45 and have a second chance.
00:46 So "Edge of Extinction" for me.
00:48 - I rewatched a lot of seasons before I came here.
00:50 I have a ranking of all the seasons.
00:52 And every time that I rewatch,
00:53 which has been a couple of times,
00:55 "Survivor 38," "The Edge of Extinction"
00:57 is a top 15 season.
00:59 And "Survivor," I am obsessed with it.
01:01 If I leave here, I wanna do a rewatch podcast about it.
01:03 I'm sure Rick is available.
01:05 He has other podcasts that he does.
01:06 Me and Rick side by side.
01:08 It's such a good season.
01:09 Everybody on it, aside from the guy who's in "Kunai" now,
01:12 everybody else has something that they bring to the show
01:14 and it's great.
01:15 And I'm so in on "Survivor 38," "The Edge of Extinction."
01:18 There's people here walking around
01:19 with "Edge of Extinction" merch, and I want it.
01:21 I keep telling them, like,
01:22 "Can I have that after you're done here?"
01:24 - My Survivor hot take would be that
01:26 the younger generation might not get my jokes.
01:29 They might not get where my sense of humor falls in.
01:33 And I gotta be able to read the room on that.
01:35 Life is about having fun, and I'm all about having fun.
01:38 If my generation has a different level of fun,
01:40 then it is what it is.
01:41 But, you know, that's my hot take.
01:43 - I love Tony.
01:44 I feel like a lot of people didn't like him,
01:46 but I thought that he was so fun to watch.
01:49 He always had a reason for why he did something.
01:51 And, like, I've listened to podcasts that he's done
01:54 and, like, people would ask him, like,
01:55 "Oh, well, you didn't win because you didn't do this.
01:59 You just got lucky."
02:00 And, like, no, I think he was a hustler.
02:02 But I definitely just, like,
02:03 he's the first person that pops up to mind.
02:06 - I'll tell you that my favorite Survivor player right now,
02:08 it's gonna be, it's not one you expect at all.
02:11 I love Brad Culpepper.
02:12 I'm a big, you know, Culpepper fan, Culpepper maniac.
02:15 I like them both.
02:16 I'm especially fond of Brad.
02:18 In terms of, like, the seasons themselves,
02:20 I think that Vanuatu, extremely underrated season.
02:23 I love Vanuatu.
02:24 It's one of my favorites.
02:25 In terms of maybe the gameplay itself,
02:27 I think that this inheritance advantage,
02:30 and I just spoke to somebody else about this,
02:32 but people have not really thought about the full potential
02:35 that this item has.
02:36 And I think it could be a major, major piece in the future,
02:40 especially if somebody gets it who already has advantages.
02:43 - This is definitely a hot take.
02:45 And you can probably tell it
02:45 by just looking at me physically.
02:47 But my Survivor hot take is, you know,
02:49 I don't think you need to be physical to play this game,
02:52 not even to win this game, but to play this game.
02:54 We've seen in the modern era of Survivor
02:56 a lot of these challenges and, you know,
02:58 people say, "Oh, we need to keep the tribe strong.
03:00 We need to have these big, well, usually guys,
03:02 but mostly people."
03:03 And I'm like, "Well, the puzzles,
03:04 or the challenges always come down to the puzzles.
03:07 Who matters if you push a block
03:08 approximately 30 seconds faster than the other team
03:11 if you're going to spend 15 minutes solving a puzzle?"
03:14 So everyone's always talking about
03:16 keeping the tribe strong,
03:18 voting out the stronger players later in the game.
03:21 When push comes to shove,
03:22 I think the people who are the biggest threats
03:24 in those challenges, like the assets to a team
03:26 in some instances, are those who, you know,
03:28 are able to solve puzzles really efficiently.
03:31 - Survivor hot take,
03:32 my all-time favorite players have never won.
03:36 And so I don't think the greatest players of all time
03:38 are the ones that win.
03:39 Sometimes I think people are dragged to the end.
03:41 And listen, you gotta get like the right jury votes,
03:43 and I'm sure they matter too,
03:45 but my favorite Survivor players
03:47 are the ones who are cunning and smart and bold
03:50 and not the ones that just play it safe to get to the end.
03:53 I think that's kind of bull (beep)
03:55 No one wants to watch that.
03:57 - Here's a hot take.
03:58 This one's a throwback.
03:58 I think you'll like this one.
03:59 I think Chris Daugherty is a higher tier winner
04:02 than people give him credit for.
04:04 I think people don't give that game enough credit.
04:07 I think the stranglehold that Amy Cusack had on that game
04:12 and the very strong women in that season,
04:17 the way that Chris Daugherty was able to
04:19 take over that game and win,
04:20 I think is more impressive than people give it credit for.
04:23 - I think this is gonna be extremely unpopular,
04:26 but I think Shot in the Dark,
04:28 I would love to see a season where Shot in the Dark
04:30 had better odds,
04:32 because I think the spirit of Shot in the Dark
04:34 is really cool in that you can't predict for it.
04:36 So as a tribe, you have to have a go-to plan
04:41 and then a backup plan,
04:41 otherwise you and your alliance might get screwed.
04:44 But I think that would be actually more exacerbated
04:48 and it would be cooler to watch
04:49 if the person playing their Shot in the Dark
04:51 had more of a chance of actually using it.
04:54 So that's one of my hot takes.
04:56 I brought that up with some other Survivor watchers
04:59 and I think they've all been like,
05:00 "No, we don't really like Shot in the Dark to begin with."
05:03 I'm like, "No, it's a great concept,
05:04 but you need to lean into it more."
05:05 So that's my first.
05:07 And then my other hot take is that
05:09 I would love to see more challenges that are physical.
05:13 One of my favorite challenges is,
05:14 I think from Survivor, Kagaian,
05:17 and it's a challenge where there's a pole
05:19 and people hug the pole
05:20 and then someone's just trying to drag them off the pole
05:24 within a certain timeframe.
05:25 There's that challenge, for example,
05:27 I think in Fans vs. Favorites,
05:29 where it's an obstacle course,
05:30 but you're tied to the person in front of you
05:32 and you have to chase after the person.
05:34 I think those kinds of challenges are so fun
05:36 because you can't prepare for them.
05:38 You can't study beforehand.
05:40 There's no way to be able to prepare.
05:43 You just have to go in with grit and a can-do attitude
05:46 and see what comes out of it.
05:47 And I think that's just fun.
05:48 I think the more unpredictable the game is,
05:50 the funner it is.
05:51 So this recent season that I don't know the ending of,
05:54 I'm really annoyed that the producers are making it
05:57 so easy to make a fake idol.
05:59 What the heck?
06:00 This game isn't hard enough.
06:02 So now I get to find an idol and I get to do the,
06:05 "I found an idol dance."
06:06 No, I don't.
06:07 No, I don't.
06:08 Because then I look like an idiot.
06:10 Because now I found an idol
06:11 and I don't know if it's real or not.
06:13 Now, I mean, bravo to the first person
06:16 to make the fake idol.
06:17 Like, genius.
06:19 But why are we gotta make it so easy now?
06:21 I think if I wasn't gonna be on the show,
06:24 maybe I think it was awesome.
06:27 But because all I can do when I watch that
06:30 is think of me finding it
06:32 and not being able to be excited.
06:33 Like the first time that,
06:34 like I'm like having high,
06:36 it's when I watch it, I'm like, "Wow, what is this?"
06:38 But so I guess it's just another take
06:41 that I gotta adapt, which I will adapt.
06:44 But that is for sure an annoyance of mine.
06:47 Another is because they give you a risk,
06:52 doesn't mean you have to take it.
06:55 Like risk my boat,
06:57 risk the only power I have,
06:59 just 'cause I don't think that you should have
07:02 to do something just because it's offered.
07:05 I think that's a little bit crazy.
07:06 I just wanna be smart.
07:07 I don't think, I mean, it's gonna have to be huge.
07:09 Like a guarantee for sure.
07:11 This risking thing.
07:13 I mean, I'm doing enough risking.
07:14 I'm on the show.
07:15 I mean, come on.
07:17 But I don't know if I wanna risk
07:20 one of the biggest things I have.
07:22 It's gotta be bigger than that.
07:23 And I still think the vote is the most important thing,
07:25 but maybe I'm showing my age.
07:28 I probably am showing my age.
07:30 So maybe that's why it's a controversial take.
07:34 - I don't know if this is gonna be
07:36 as hot of a take anymore,
07:37 but I'm for the new era.
07:38 The way I see it is,
07:40 it's kinda like in sports.
07:41 I feel like there's a lot of old heads in survival.
07:44 Like people hate the three point line in the NBA
07:46 and like all the offense and the points that's creating.
07:48 They hate the offensive rule changes in football
07:50 with the QB and everything else.
07:52 To me, survivor's in that place where it's evolving.
07:55 It's changing.
07:56 And now people are saying,
07:57 "Well, it's not the same game.
07:58 "I can't just like watch 25 seasons,
08:01 "walk in there and know how to play it perfectly.
08:02 "Like I'm gonna actually have to come up with something."
08:05 Like I think there's more opportunity for originality
08:07 with the things that are happening.
08:08 And yeah, there's a chance that you go home
08:10 from an unlucky twist to the roll of the dice,
08:12 but that's life.
08:13 I'm a gambler anyways,
08:14 whether it's at home or whether it's here.
08:16 And so it's like, if you're okay with the idea of loss,
08:19 then you're gonna be more open
08:21 to I think all of the opportunity
08:23 that actually is the new era.
08:24 - I don't know if it's a super hot take
08:26 'cause it just happened.
08:27 It's actually new from Survivor 44,
08:30 but I feel very strongly about it.
08:32 I do not like, and I disagree with the concept
08:36 of the producers creating fake idols
08:39 and then putting them in the game.
08:41 Like you were supposed to be like a fake idol
08:44 is supposed to make you say,
08:46 "Well, if you were dumb enough
08:47 "to fall for a carved out stick, you know what I mean?
08:50 "Then that's your own fault."
08:52 Not like beads that are actually sourced from somewhere
08:55 that literally could be an idol
08:57 or in Survivor 44's case,
09:00 literally I think they use the same things
09:02 that were a real idol for one tribe
09:04 and made them a fake idol for another.
09:06 Come on!
09:08 That is just, that just takes away the weight
09:11 and the power of the idol.
09:13 Like the idol is supposed to be powerful.
09:15 If you see one, it's supposed to be able to be like,
09:18 "I know this is real and if I don't know that it's fake
09:21 "because I'm not able to recognize twigs
09:24 "and random beads put together as fake,
09:26 "then that's my own fault and I deserve to go."
09:29 But you know, it's not really your fault
09:30 if you fall for an idol that literally looks exactly
09:33 like a real producer-made idol.
09:36 Oh, and obviously we need the Survivor auction back.
09:38 Like, come on, it's getting out of control.
09:40 When I watch the season that's happening right now,
09:42 season 44, my friends don't really feel the same way
09:45 as I do, so maybe it's a hot take,
09:46 but Carolyn is underrated.
09:49 Not underrated, but I think she's like undermined
09:51 and people don't like give her as much credit as they should.
09:54 And then other hot take,
09:56 I feel like we should be not in the small of teens.
09:59 I want it to be like 10 and 10.
10:01 I feel like six is just like, I mean, yeah,
10:04 it makes it exciting 'cause there's nowhere to hide,
10:06 but I like the idea of having more people for some reason,
10:10 'cause it just gives more people more opportunity, you know?
10:14 And I just, I think I like that gameplay better
10:17 with a little bit bigger teams,
10:18 maybe two teams instead of like three small teams.
10:21 - Russell Hance, he was a player that I look up to
10:25 and I feel like he's probably the best player to ever play.
10:29 And even though his story is more of the Joker,
10:35 it's kind of like, would you tell the Joker
10:37 he was a bad bank robber?
10:39 It's like, no, you wouldn't, 'cause he's the best.
10:42 You know, like he's perfected that,
10:45 that even though he's like a very, very like,
10:49 you know, goes bump in the night kind of character,
10:52 you can't take away that he's good at that.
10:54 And I feel like for Russell,
10:57 like he kind of got a bad shake, you know, with the media
11:01 because he has such a confidence
11:04 that like just surpasses himself, you know, bar none,
11:08 but he has the resume to back everything that he's done up.
11:12 And so I just feel like he was the most, I mean,
11:16 monumental, just like completely changed
11:19 the way people even thought.
11:21 People were sitting on their ass in the sand
11:23 until Russell Hance, you know?
11:25 People were waiting for the game to come to them
11:28 until he happened and played those two seasons back to back
11:32 and really forced people to get up and,
11:35 hey, like, if y'all are gonna sit here all day,
11:38 I'm gonna find an idol in your face
11:40 and you're gonna have to watch it on national TV
11:43 'cause it's gonna be embarrassing for you.
11:45 So either play or get left in the dust.
11:49 And I feel like his two seasons that he played,
11:52 even though he didn't win,
11:54 he went top three twice back to back.
11:58 That is amazing.
11:59 Like, just this little taste that I've had right now,
12:03 I can already feel how mentally exhausting this is gonna be,
12:07 how much my body is gonna change,
12:09 how much my mind is going to have to change
12:11 to even adjust to, you know, 18 other people
12:15 or 17, including me.
12:17 But for him to do it twice without mistakes, it is genius.
12:22 And I don't feel like people give him enough credit
12:24 just because of how America kind of like,
12:28 oh, we want a hero, you know, we want a Rupert
12:31 or we want a Boston Robber, a Kobe or, you know, a Tyson.
12:35 Even Tyson is kind of like low-key rude, you know?
12:39 But because he's funny, you know,
12:40 he kind of plays it off with the jester thing, you know?
12:44 But he was really mean to some of the characters, you know?
12:47 But he got a pass because he can make you laugh.
12:50 Russell just didn't care, you know?
12:51 He had enough money, I guess,
12:53 where he didn't have to leverage his, you know,
12:56 personality for likes, and I love him.
13:00 I'm a huge fan.
13:02 - My survivor hot take is that I actually really think
13:06 the format of "26 Days" is good for the game of "Survivor."
13:11 This is an unpopular opinion here.
13:12 There's a lot of people who are like,
13:13 "No, '39 Days,' that's the only way to play!"
13:17 But you know what?
13:18 There's an element of the "26 Day" game
13:21 that forces the contestants to think quicker on their feet,
13:25 to move faster, to play the game harder,
13:27 because you have such a finite amount of time,
13:30 more so than the "39 Days."
13:32 So, "26 Days," let's go.
13:35 - My survivor hot take would probably be this new era.
13:38 I mean, this new era is such a different thing,
13:40 and I think that it shouldn't go back to the old way.
13:43 That's not a common thing in this, you know, day and age,
13:47 because people want to see the old stuff,
13:49 but I really think the new stuff is more inclusive.
13:51 I think it's more like storytelling,
13:53 and I think it's more invigorating.
13:55 You know, you're getting more in-depth with the characters,
13:58 and you got some new twists that you've never seen before,
14:01 like the shot in the dark,
14:02 or the beware advantages and stuff like that.
14:04 You don't see those in the previous seasons,
14:07 and I think that would be something
14:09 that people are gonna have to get used to,
14:11 'cause it's sticking around in the game, and I like it.
14:14 I think it should stick around.
14:15 This new era is something else.
14:17 (whooshing)
14:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]