Midterm Winter 2026 Survivor

Challenge Video

 For our midterm I decided I wanted to do the second option of talking about a streaming show, specifically the show Survivor. I watched the most recent season starting September 24th and the finale streamed December 17, 2026. I have been watching every season since I was about eight years old but I am focusing on this past season and the season that is starting to stream on February 25 of this year. Survivor is a mix between reality T.V. and a gameshow.

 The plot of the show is that about twenty people, in this upcoming season it will be 24 people going to an island in Fiji that will be competing to win One million dollars. In season 50 there will be three starting tribes where they will compete for immunity in very physical challenges that will most likely have some sort of puzzle involved, the first two tribes win immunity and the last tribe will need to go to tribal council where they will need to vote someone off the tribe. Until this process continues and the remaining cast merges into one tribe and essentially the same process continues but in hopes to win individual immunity. At the end the tribal members who were voted out after the merge will vote on the final three as to who they believe deserves the million. The host of the show is Jeff Probst and the creators of the show are Mark Brunett and Matt Van Wagenen. 

When it comes to analyzing the show I think there is a lot of good information to look at, firstly looking at how the newest season and upcoming season relates to the audience because of the people on the cast competing for the million. Everyone in the cast that was just released are all ordinary people with nothing special about them and I think it gives people a sense that if they wanted to they could have a shot of signing up and getting into the show if they want. The producers are also always advocating year round for people to sign up and compete for the million. I think what makes the show in general and this upcoming season different are the circumstances that the people are competing in, most of the people are literally starving, surviving off of coconut and water for a long time and in horrible conditions. 

Interpreting the show I think that I have not seen any stereotypes in this upcoming season, I do think that based off the cast coming up I think the are trying to avoid having one specific group of people on the cast I think they are trying to have people from many different minority and majority groups involved in the show. The demographics of the show and how people act on the show is very sneaky and the short clips of the cast that they have put out have all been the competitors' crap talking in a sense and trying to get the audience excited for this new crazy season. If I was a visitor from another country I would think that it is crazy people like to watch people starve on T.V. and maybe think that the United States is crazy without enough 

Evaluating the show I think that the strengths of this upcoming season is the marketing they have, a lot of past competitors are also trying to advertise the new season like the most recent season a woman slammed Soph and a man whose nickname is Rizzo have been on tiktok a lot trying to market the new season. A weakness I think that I could see is that this is the 50th season of Survivor and it's essentially been the exact same for all 50 seasons so an argument could be made that as the world changes and is more modern the producers should change the show to evolve with the world. Personally I engage with the show a lot, everytime a new season comes out my dad and I watch it every Thursday together and I make sure to come home on Thursdays so that I can watch it with him. It's been a part of my life for a long time now and for me personally it's more like a bonding experience and I happen to really enjoy the show as well. 

The first article I found about survivor was written by Sallie Tisdale, trying to read this from as much of an unbiased standpoint but obviously it won't be 100% unbiased, I still disagree with what she says but I can understand why she feels the way she does. In this article she expresses her dissatisfaction with the backstabbing in the show. I can understand how it can feel offpudding and inhumane in a sense the lying done in the season, however I think it is just dependent on how personal someone takes the show. I think the people going into the show should know that there will definitely be lying and backstabbing and that it's part of the show. I do find it interesting that in the article she writes about how she feels like the show is more related to the real life and not so much fiction, I can agree with her in the sense that I do feel like people lie a lot in the real world we just dont always see it because its not being shown to us on T.V.

The second link that I found about the show was very informational because it pointed out some wrongs that needed to be pointed out. Written by Garrrett Schlichte talked about sexual harassment complaints that have been made and nothing done about them, I think its important for this to be talked about because in no show or world should something like this ever be brushed aside. 

The last article I read was about this most recent season competitors being kicked off the show before the first episode did not air because of some rules they broke before the first episode. I think this is an important aspect because it brings up rules watchers may not know about if they just watch what they stream and not read into the show. 

Overall after my project I am even more excited to watch this new season coming out on the 25th. I think it's important to notice the flaws in things especially in some of our favorite things so that we know the downs of our favorite things are. I think the biggest thing I learned was that there have been multiple sexual assault reports against cast members it definitely makes me view things differently and lead me to wonder what else they might not be showing. 

Tisdale, Sallie. ““Survivor” Is Deceptive. That’s What Makes It so Real.” The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2022, www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/01/survivor-reality-tv/621001/.

Schlichte, Garrett. “Garrett Schlichte.” Garrett Schlichte, 19 Oct. 2020, www.garrettschlichte.com/survivor/2020/10/19/survivor-has-always-been-a-show-about-who-can-be-the-shittiest-person.

https://www.facebook.com/entertainmentweekly. “Jeff Probst Says Players Cut from “Survivor 49” Were Disrespecting the Rules.” EW.com, 2025, ew.com/jeff-probst-players-cut-survivor-49-disrespecting-rules-118162

50. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.