In Part 1, I took a chronological look back at all the twists and advantages thrown into Survivor in the first 34 seasons. Now in part 2, I’ll take a look at the much more twist/advantage-laden seasons 35-50 in which most of the developments inhibited independent game play as opposed to simply presenting players with intriguing decisions to make.

But first, I must address two items I missed in last week’s column. Call it a massive brain fart (but not as bad as Ozzy’s last season).

Exile Island

Beginning in S12 Panama: Exile Island, after each vote (usually after a Reward Challenge), one player would be banished to spend a night on Exile island. This season was initially divided into four tribes (by age and gender). The “younger women” lost a Day 1 foot race run by Danielle DiLorenzo. She volunteered to spend the first night alone on Exile Island, but Sally suggested they use a fairer method. Misty lost a Rock/Paper/Scissors throw and was chosen to go to Exile. Losing that early bonding time was a huge setback, but there was an upside. After Misty was chosen, Probst told everyone an Idol that was good until the Final 4 was hidden somewhere on the island.

This one was the Overpowered Idol that could be played after the votes were read. Misty would get the first clue to its location. She didn’t find the Idol but tried to bluff that she had it. She made it to a swap but got voted out in part because her bluff made others think she was much smarter than they thought. Pilot Terry Deitz was sent to Exile Island multiple times as the opposing Casaya tribe sought to weaken his tribe’s strongest member for the Immunity Challenge. It backfired as Terry found the Idol. The Exile Island twist has been used several times since S12, and evolved into Ghost Island, then into Journeys, used in the New Era.

Ghost Island

In S36: Ghost Island, producers put a new spin on the Exile Island concept. After each Immunity Challenge, the winning tribe could send one member of the losing tribe to Ghost Island. Some of the players sent to Ghost Island would be Immune from the Tribal Council vote. They also sometimes had the option of playing a game (usually breaking open urns in a specific sequence) that would give them a chance to earn an Idol or Advantage used in a previous season that was misplayed by earlier players. As Probst explained it, the Ghost Island players had the chance to “reverse the curse of some of the worst decisions in Survivor history.” Jacob Derwin got the Legacy Advantage misplayed by Sierra in S34: Game Changers. Kellyn Bechtold won a game and got the Extra Vote Michaela Bradshaw missed while sitting out of a challenge in S34.

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Now on to season 35 and beyond.

Final 4 Fire Making Challenge

The fire making challenge had existed in Survivor since S10: Palau, but had only been used when a tie couldn’t be broken. This had only happened six times before S35: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers. But beginning in this season, those who made it to the Final 4 wouldn’t have a Tribal Council vote. Instead, the Final 4 Immunity winner would select two of the other players to compete in a fire making challenge to determine who the third finalist would be. The problem in this season was none of the players were told until after Chrissy Hofbeck won the Final 4 Immunity Challenge. Everyone had planned on voting out Ben Driebergen, but instead he was handed another chance to save himself. Ben beat Devon Pinto, then won the game. Chrissy, Devon and Ryan Ulrich had defeated frontrunner Ben for Immunity, but were robbed of a clear opportunity to vote him out. In subsequent seasons, players have simply targeted the front runner before the Final 4.

Give away an Idol

In the premiere of S35, Ryan found an Idol that was only good for one Tribal Council. If his tribe won Immunity, he had to give it to a member of one of the losing tribes. Ryan gave it to Chrissy after watching her vomit during the first challenge. She didn’t use it at Tribal Council and sat on it until the end of the game when she unsuccessfully tried to fool Ben into thinking it was an active Idol – an idea handed to her by Dr. Mike. This Idol evolved into the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol in S50.

Block A Vote

Also in S35, Jessica Johnston received an Advantage after swap at Final 15. If her tribe went to Tribal Council, she could cancel a vote or block someone from voting. If one of the other two tribes went to Tribal Council, she had to block one of their members from voting. She caught a lot of flack over how she shared the information when she told her partner Cole Medders about it, then he blabbed to everyone else. Her tribe won Immunity, so she blocked Devon’s swing vote which forced a 2-2 tie between pairs of original tribemates. Joe Mena saved himself with an Idol and Alan Ball was voted out. This was nothing but a negative for Devon, who famously said “This is NOT an Advantage” after reading the note at Tribal Council. Through no fault of his own, he lost his vote. It didn’t do anything to help Jessica’s game either. The Block A Vote returned in five more seasons to varying results. Most recently, Savannah Louie got voted out while holding one in S50: In the Hands of the Fans. To date, the Block A Vote hasn’t had any impact post merge.

Extend the life of an Idol

In S36: Ghost Island, Chris Noble found a note that sent him to Ghost Island while the rest of the tribe was asleep. He was awarded an Idol good for one Tribal Council. He could play a game to extend the life of that Idol up to three more Tribal Councils. If he broke the correct Urn, his Idol would be good for one more Tribal Council, but if he broke the wrong Urn, he’d lose his vote. He played twice, extending his Idol for one additional Tribal Council, then losing his vote. He then got voted out while holding it at Final 13. This twist was used (with different mechanisms for extending the idol's life) in Seasons 37, 45 and 47. Eva Erickson played a similar game that involved different advantages in Survivor 48.

Idol Nullifier

In S37: David vs. Goliath, the players were swapped from two tribes to three. Carl Boudreaux wasn’t assigned to a tribe and was sent to Exile Island. While there, he was awarded an Idol Nullifier. He could anonymously write down the name of a player who would either play an Idol for themselves, or have one played for them by another player and nullify that Idol play. After consulting with Nick Wilson, Carl played it on Dan Rengering, whose Idol was nullified. Carl took credit for his move by raising his hand and saying “Bing!”

The Idol Nullifier returned in S39: Island of the Idols, S40: Winners at War, and returned but was unshown in Survivor 42 (Omar Zaheer found one but got voted out before he could use it to nullify Mike Turner’s Idol).

Advantage menu

Much like the Medallion of Power, the Advantage Menu was one and done. On Day 1 of S38: Edge of Extinction, Ron Clark found an Advantage as the tribe scrambled for supplies. It was an Advantage Menu. Ron could choose between three options: 1) A Reward Steal, 2) an Extra Vote, and 3) Immunity. But this was only good through the season’s third Tribal Council. Ron’s tribe won the first four Immunity Challenges. His Advantage expired but he held onto it in case he needed it. His first chance came on Day 30. He tried to earn trust from Rick Devens, and gave it to him, thinking he’d secured a partner. Devens was suspicious, but he actually tried to play it at Final 7. Ron was snickering when Probst told Devens it had expired. But Devens had the last laugh when he played his real Idol, and labeled Ron and Julie Rosenberg “villains” for lying to him. Devens negated the four votes against him, and Ron got voted out 3-1. Devens voted for Aurora McCreary, so he was at least fooled a little.

Create a phony Advantage

In S39: Island of the Idols, Jamaal Bowman found a note in the jungle. As soon as he grabbed it, his game was damaged because he immediately lost his vote. He was sent to Exile (which cost him time with the tribe) and received an “Advantage,” which was actually a disadvantage. He was forced to create a phony Advantage – written in his own handwriting – which he had to give to another player. Jamaal created a phony Legacy Advantage, claiming it could be used at either Final 9 or Final 6. He gave it to Dean Kowalski, who didn’t like receiving it. Dean played it at Final 9 but didn’t need it. He planned on trying it again at Final 6, but Dan Spilo’s disqualification cancelled the Final 6 Tribal Council. There was never an upside to holding this “Advantage,” and is probably the worst “Advantage” in Survivor history. No matter how it played out, Jamaal’s position would be worse than before. He’d anger whichever future juror he gave it to, whether or not that person was fooled by it.

Safety Without Power

Also in S39, Janet Carbin was offered chance to play a game in which the prize was a new advantage that would enable its holder to leave Tribal Council without casting a vote. It was in fact equal to an Immunity Idol. Janet chose not to play. This Advantage was brought back in S40: Winners at War. Jeremy Collins got it and used it to save himself at Final 10. It returned in Survivor 45, S47, and S48. A team version of this was used at Final 11 in Survivor 44.

50/50 Coin

Yet again in S39, Dean was sent to Exile where he was given a chance to flip a coin. If he lost the flip, he’d lose his vote. But if he won, he got the choice of three Advantages: 1) An Extra Vote, 2) an Idol Nullifier, or 3) an Idol good for one Tribal Council he’d have to give to another player. Dean took the Idol Nullifier and used it to nullify Janet’s Idol. The coin returned in S40: Winners at War, and again in S50 (sponsored by MrBeast) when Rick Devens flipped it and doubled the first place prize to two million dollars.

Fire Tokens

In S40: Winners at War, each player began the game with one Fire Token and was given opportunities to get more. But at the start of the game, the players weren’t told (all of) what the Tokens could buy, which left them unable to form a strategy for using them. This was not only frustrating for the players, but boring to watch for the viewers. Players initially were told Tokens could be used to buy food, comfort items, or advantage in a challenge. But as they later discovered, they could also be used to purchase various Advantages, disadvantages, or even Idols. Those voted out had to "bequeath" their Tokens to players still in the game. Once on Extinction Island, players could compete to get Tokens to send to players still in the game, or to buy an advantage in the upcoming re-entry challenge. Some players used them to buy peanut butter.

Extortion Advantage

Also in S40, Natalie Anderson was sent to Extinction Island. While there, she got an Advantage that enabled her to demand a player still in the game to give her Fire Tokens at a price she set. If that player couldn’t pay, they’d not only lose their vote, but they’d have to sit out the next Immunity Challenge. She used it on Tony, but he was able to barter with players to get enough tokens to pay Natalie’s price. Then he won Immunity anyway. The downside for Natalie was that she’d make an enemy out of whoever she gave this to. This simply wasn’t worth anything she could buy with the extra Fire Tokens.

Beware Advantages

Beginning in Survivor 41, players could find a note around camp attached to a package. The note read “Beware Advantage. If you take it, it’s yours, and you must do what it says. Otherwise, leave it.” If the player chose to open the package, they’d immediately lose their vote until they completed some kind of task. The tasks varied from reciting a nonsensical phrase at a challenge, to collecting beads from other holders, to finding a key to unlock a birdcage, to deciphering coded messages. The downside is that with every Beware Advantage, others would know when its holder had activated their Idol. It became an invitation to target them.

Journeys

Also in S41, players on each tribe were surprised when a boat arrived and handed them a note. The note read “One person must get on this boat. You will then return to camp this afternoon.” In most cases, the player who went on a Journey immediately lost their vote. In other cases, the player was forced to play a random game of chance that could result in them losing their vote. The players who weren’t given a choice to decline playing the game were almost always negatively affected and there was nothing they could do about it. The best example of this being a negative came in Survivor 48. Justin Poppi’s tribe lost a challenge. The winning tribe, who knew nothing about the other tribe members, randomly chose Justin to go on a Journey. He was forced to play a dice rolling game to determine if he’d lose his vote. He lost his vote and got voted out on Day 7. Justin went from being the safest person on his tribe with the best relationships to sitting on the Ponderosa wondering what happened. He never had a say in his own fate. He couldn’t decide not to go on the Journey or not to play the game.

Shot in the Dark

Perhaps the best New Era twist was the addition of the Shot In The Dark. If a player thought they were in trouble, they could sacrifice their vote and put their Shot In The Dark dice in a container and pull one of six scrolls out of another container. If the scroll read “Safe,” that player would have Immunity at that vote. In Survivor 45, Kaleb Gebrewold famously negated 11 votes when he played his SITD successfully. Much like the rock draw and Knowledge Is Power, the FEAR of a successful SITD play has had a bigger effect on strategy than most actual SITD plays. Players have opted to make almost every vote a blindside when they don’t want their target to play their SITD. In other times, players considered holding onto their SITD so their alliance won’t lose a crucial vote. And last season, Christian Hubicki regained trust from Ozzy Lusth by handing over his SITD die. But when he tried the same move with Jonathan Young, he unintentionally enhanced a reason for Jonathan to go after him. The SITD forces players to make strategic decisions without forcing them one way or another. It’s one of the few New Era twists that has worked in multiple ways.

Knowledge Is Power

At Final 13 of S41, Liana Wallace and Shantel Smith were sent to a separate island. Shantel ended up protecting her vote, leaving Liana to compete for an Advantage. Liana got the Knowledge Is Power Advantage, which would enable her to steal an Idol or an Advantage simply by asking another player if they had one. Liana returned to camp pretending she didn’t get anything, but word of her Advantage leaked at the merge when Shantel asked Liana if she’d gotten anything while standing in front of Tiffany Seely. Tiffany then told several others including Xander Hastings. Word spread that Liana was gonna take Xander’s Idol, so he gave it to Tiffany. When Liana asked for Xander’s Idol, he truthfully told her he didn’t have one, and her Advantage was wasted. Since then, several players have held the KIP (most recently Sophi Balerdi in S49), but nobody has used it effectively yet. If anyone finds out you have it, it’s almost useless. The fear of the KIP has actually been more effective than the KIP itself, very similar to the fear of a rock draw.

Turn Back Time/ Hourglass

At Final 12 in Survivor 41, the players were separated into two 5-person teams. Naseer Muttalif and Erika Casupanan weren’t chosen. The winning team was promised Immunity and could choose one of the two players left out to join them on their Reward. Danny McCray’s team won and took Naseer with them. Erika was sent to Exile where she was given a choice. If she broke an hourglass, the winning team members and Naseer would no longer have Immunity and would have to vote one of the six of them out. Erika and the losing team would get Immunity instead. If she didn’t break the hourglass, she or any member of the losing team could be voted out. It was a no-brainer for Erika, who chose Immunity for herself. Sydney Segal was voted out instead. Danny correctly accused Probst of straight out lying to them by promising they’d have Immunity if they won the challenge.

Do or Die

S41 also saw the introduction of the Do or Die Dice. At Final 7, if a player thought they were in trouble and they were the first one out of the Immunity Challenge, they could play a game of chance. If they won the game, they’d have Immunity. If they lost, they’d be eliminated. Four players chose to risk it, and Deshawn Radden fell out first in the challenge. At Tribal Council, he had to choose between three boxes. He chose correctly and got Immunity. But the uncertainty prevented all the other players from knowing how to strategize for the upcoming vote.

Advantage Amulets

Survivor 42 saw the introduction of Advantage Amulets. One person from each tribe was given an Amulet with the knowledge of the other two Amulet holders. If they chose to cooperate and combined their Amulets later in the game, they could get an Extra Vote. If one of them got voted out, the other two could combine to get a Vote Stealer. If two of them got voted out, the last one’s Amulet would turn into an Idol good until the Final 6. The Amulets returned in S45 and S47, but none of them ended up playing a significant part in the game’s outcome. In fact, in S47, Rome Cooney actually got to sit in Probst’s place at Tribal Council and explain why the Amulets weren’t very good for the players in the first place. The Amulets actually gave the holders incentive to vote each other out instead of working together.

Choose Your Champion

In Survivor 43, the Final 7 was told an Advantage was hidden in the jungle. Cody Assenmacher found it. His note said he had to choose one player other than himself who he thought would win the Immunity Challenge. It included a description of the challenge. If his chosen player won, Cody would also get Immunity. Cody’s choice (Owen Knight) won the challenge (in a tie with Karla Cruz Godoy), giving Cody Immunity too. Cody didn’t have to reveal who he chose until after the votes had been cast, but everyone else found out he’d get Immunity if he chose correctly, which provided them with enough incentive not to vote for Cody. Having Immunity was of course good for Cody, but the Advantage inhibited the rest of the players’ ability to strategize around it. It turned that Tribal Council into a guessing game.

Inheritance Advantage

On Day 2 of Survivor 44, Sarah Wade won a note on a journey that enabled her to inherit any and all Advantages and Idols played at a Tribal Council. She had to announce her intention to use it in the booth as she cast her own vote. This meant she had to anticipate someone using an Idol or Advantage. But Sarah got voted out before she could use it. The downside was that Sarah would have to try to find out who held an Idol or Advantage. Doing so could easily raise suspicion about her motives. This one could easily have been renamed Lack of Power with no Knowledge.

Control A Vote

This was also introduced in S44 and is another form of a Steal A Vote. At Final 11, the players were split into 2 teams. The team that won Immunity would all be safe and the losing team would have to vote a member out. But one member of the winning team (which turned out to be Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt) won a Control A Vote advantage, and could order a player to vote for whomever Heidi wanted. She ultimately forced Lauren Harpe to vote for Yam Yam Arocho in part because that move would make the fewest players angry at Heidi. She recognized the clear downside of creating multiple enemies if she forced anyone else to vote differently.

Restore A Vote/ Goodwill Advantage

In Survivor 45, Kaleb Gebrewold was chosen to raid another tribe’s camp and steal one item. But he was also required to give one player a “Goodwill Advantage” which turned out to be the ability to restore a vote to a player who’d lost it. Kaleb gave it to Drew Basile, who in turn gave it to his partner Austin Li Coon, who had lost his vote after opening a Beware Advantage. Austin later sacrificed another vote to extend the life of an Idol he’d found. Then he used his Restore A Vote to help boot Brando Meyer after a swap. This Advantage helped Austin (and to a lesser extent Drew) but did almost nothing for Kaleb.

Take Your Pick

In Survivor 47, Sol Yi was part of a six-person team that won a Reward. While on that Reward, he found an Advantage he had to send to a member of the losing team. He had the option of doing it anonymously or not. The recipient (who turned out to be Rachel LaMont) had the option of using a Control A Vote or a Safety Without Power. She used the Safety Without Power to save herself at Final 12. There was potential for Sol to gain an ally in Rachel, and she indeed tried to keep him around. But ultimately it didn’t work out that way, as she helped vote Sol out at Final 10. This Advantage obviously helped Rachel a lot more than Sol. As Rob C. often says “Favors aren’t returned on Survivor.”

Tribal Challenge Disadvantage

In Survivor 49, Jawan Pitts went on a Journey with Jake Latimer and Matt Williams, and won a coconut throwing challenge. He was given the choice of stealing a vote from either Jake or Matt or giving his own tribe an advantage in the next Immunity Challenge. But the “advantage” came in the form of forcing each member of one of the two other tribes to run an obstacle course with a 20-pound bag of coconuts on their back. This was a no-win situation for Jawan, similar to Jamaal’s situation in S39. No matter what he chose, he’d anger someone.

And finally, there are all the twists introduced in Survivor 50.

The Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol

If you found this Idol, you had to send it to someone on a different tribe. That person would not know who sent the Idol to them. If that person was voted out while holding the Idol, that Idol would go back to the person who originally found it. Genevieve Mushaluk found two of these and gave them to Ozzy Lusth and Rizo Velovic, but she got voted out before any of those Idols were used. Christian Hubicki gave one to Aubry Bracco, who intentionally wasted it as a means of reducing the target on her back once she learned everyone knew she had the Idol. Nobody who actually found an Idol this season got any benefit for their effort.

Jimmy Fallon One in the Urn

One player (Christian) was sent on a Journey where they’d have to solve a puzzle. If they completed the puzzle, they’d be able to cast one vote for a player before Tribal Council began (pretty much an Extra Vote). But if they failed, they’d have to vote for themselves and tell the entire tribe about it. Christian failed at the puzzle and was voted out. In this example, the downside FAR outweighed any possible upside for the participant. Once everyone knew Christian had to vote for himself, it became a no-brainer to vote him out, which is exactly what happened. To be fair though, Christian didn’t have to volunteer to go on the Journey, and he had a fair chance to save himself. Just the same, nobody should ever be forced to vote for themselves, no matter what risk they take. And forcing him to tell the entire tribe he had to vote for himself eliminated any chance he could outwit his way out of his predicament. Christian was a sitting duck.

Power Broker

At Final 9, the Immunity Challenge winner would get to cast two votes – one each at separate Tribal Councils for two four-person groups selected by a rock draw. The Immunity winner would be the only one allowed to speak to all the players. Jonathan Young won Immunity, angered both sets of players by eating most of their rice, then helped vote out Emily Flippen and Ozzy Lusth. This Advantage is a little like the Overpowered Immunity Idol. If tweaked a little, perhaps by allowing all the players to communicate with each other, the Immunity winner would have a slightly lower ability to influence the voting. As it turned out, information Jonathan didn’t have (Cirie’s Extra Vote and Ozzy’s word vomiting to Aubry) decided each vote. But Survivor is most interesting when players can strategize around the upcoming vote. The Power Broker Advantage stymied that kind of interaction.

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So there you have it, every twist and Advantage that we could see returning to the game in the “Open Era” of Survivor, which begins soon. Let me know if I’ve missed anything. With the exception of the Idol Nullifier and Safety Without Power, I hope we never see any of the twists or Advantage I’ve recapped in Part 2 ever again. But I’m not naïve enough to believe that will be the case. Survivor is better when the players have a choice in the decisions they make.