Survivor 48 premieres on Wednesday, February 26 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS. We don’t know much about the upcoming season, but the teaser trailer promised grueling challenges and a dynamic cast ready to shake up the game. The new season has big shoes to fill. Fans loved Survivor 47 and many viewers felt Rachel LaMont was the most deserving winner of the “new era.” I’m crossing my fingers that another iconic player takes home the prize this season.
In honor of Survivor 48, I compiled a wishlist of everything I hope we see on the upcoming season. Here we go!
The return of the Survivor Auction
Season 45 featured the return of the beloved Survivor Auction. The twist, first introduced in Season 2, disappeared after Survivor 30: Worlds Apart to the dismay of fans. Host Jeff Probst explained why production chose to discontinue the twist on a November 2023 episode of the “On Fire” podcast, telling fans he felt it was “broken.”
“We did feel we had broken it, and we broke it by introducing advantages, which did work for a while and gave us some great moments, but then the players wisely started to hold onto their money until an advantage came up. And that was kind of the end of the auction,” he shared.
Production revised the twist for Survivor 45 by removing advantages from the Auction and making it a Food Reward. Fans were delighted to see the return of the Auction but their enthusiasm was cut short when Jeff announced via Us Weekly that the twist would not return for Season 46. Thanks for giving us trust issues, Jeff!
He explained that the Auction is labor intensive and production didn’t have the resources to make it work in Season 46.
“That’s a gigantic lift from production,” he said. “It looks simple, but you’ve got a chocolate shake, and you’ve got a bag, and somebody pays with money. Now there are so many departments involved.”
Thankfully, the Auction was not lost forever. It returned in Season 47 and it was a joy to watch. Andy Rueda found zero dollars and Rachel found an advantage hidden in her cheeseburger. Love it.
I’m hoping we see the return of the Auction in Season 48. It’s a nice respite from the game and its comical watching the castaways foam at the mouth over a plate of veggies.
More chaotic gameplay in Survivor 48
A common criticism of the “new era” of Survivor is that it is too earnest and the castaways are too aware of the cameras. Fans feel that villains are missing from the game and everyone is playing it too safe. Thankfully, we’ve seen bigger personalities in recent seasons. Survivor 47 introduced a villainous wildcard name Rome Cooney and a chaotic underdog by the name of Andy Rueda. They played messy, unpredictable games and viewers ate it up. After all, that is what makes the show fun. Inspiring stories are great, but what is Survivor without a little drama? The Survivor 47 cast took huge swings, which made for a great season. Few players played it “too safe.” They devised blindsides, made fake Idols, and flipped on alliances. I want more of that in Survivor 48. I need the mess!
A successful woman’s alliance
There are countless seasons with a “woman’s alliance” but so few are successful. They almost always fall apart and the members usually opt out to work with the men at some point. We haven’t seen a truly great woman’s alliance since the Black Widow Brigade in Survivor: Micronesia. I don’t think any alliance could live up to the Micronesia alliance, but I would still like to see one. Women have dominated the new era of Survivor and personally, I would like to see that continue.
Jeff Probst yell at someone
I loveeeee when Jeff gets angry. Some of my favorite Survivor moments are when Jeff blows up at one of the castaways. I’ll never get tired of watching him bury Osten Taylor for leaving in Survivor: Pearl Islands.
The beloved host has gotten calmer with age and it’s a rarity to see him go off on one of the castaways these days, which is a real shame. In addition, the new bunch of castaways are more respectful than they were in the earlier seasons. I think it’s because most castaways nowadays are superfans who have been watching Jeff on TV for years. They respect him, so they really don’t want to piss him off. I don’t expect we’ll see Jeff lose his lid in Survivor 48, but I’m hoping we do. I love it when Jeff gets involved in the drama.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
TELL US – WHAT IS YOUR SURVIVOR 48 WISHLIST? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE ON THE NEW SEASON?
