If you have been a longtime viewer of Survivor, you would know that there are twists and turns around every corner, with new ones being implemented each and every season.
The most recent twist occurred during the premiere of Survivor 45 this past Wednesday (September 27), during the infamous “Sweat vs Savvy” challenge that was introduced during Survivor 41.
The Reba tribe won the first challenge of the season, earning their pot, flint, and machete during the marooning, ultimately leaving the Belo and Lulu tribes to compete in a physical AND mental challenge to win theirs — to the surprise of Survivor superfans across the globe, the format for “Sweat vs Savvy” was slightly different than they had seen in previous seasons!
Where the castaways usually have the decision between Sweat or Savvy (with Sweat consisting of a physical challenge and Savvy consisting of a mental challenge) to earn their supplies, Survivor 45 raised the stakes. At the challenge, two members of each tribe were required to complete both Sweat AND Savvy within a certain time limit, with Sweat requiring the pairs to carry 40 logs across the beach and Savvy requiring the pairs to maneuver a key through a series of rings to free it.
The Belo tribe sent Brando Meyer and Jake O’Kane and the Lulu tribe sent Kaleb Gebrewold and Sabiyah Broderick, however, neither duo was able to complete the task.
Because of the lack of success, is this new format of “Sweat vs Savvy” a flop? Survivor superfans shared their thoughts on this new structure via Reddit — keep scrolling to read them for yourself…
In a lengthy post, @TantrumQween laid out the pros and cons of this new “Sweat vs Savvy” format. “I’ve been mulling over how to feel about this season’s variation of ‘Sweat vs Savvy’ today and wanted to ask others’ opinions,” the Reddit user prefaced, before diving into their reasoning.
“On the one hand, I enjoy the variety in format, as well as seeing someone finally fail. I also enjoy this game mechanic in general because it’s produced a couple really tight alliances of the 40s — Danny and Deshawn namely. Ryan and Geo also were airtight and would’ve likely stayed that way had they not both been terrible at Survivor and lasted longer lmao. I also didn’t miss the journey per say, and this longer variation definitely took that airtime,” @TantrumQween explained.
They continued, “On the other hand, with it being upgraded to a full on challenge, I don’t know that I needed to see 3 challenges in one episode. I also didn’t like the timed aspect — if it’s going to be a head-to-head challenge, then I think someone needs to win. As it was, we just watched 15 minutes of log carrying and for what 😭 We even heard Brando say how it was his time to prove himself on the brains side to complement Jake’s brawn, but with both tribes getting to the puzzle so late, we didn’t get to see that play out at all, and it seemed like an actually interesting, original brain teaser gone to waste. I also would’ve liked the challenge design to include some element of encouraging them to form a cross-tribe alliance, similar to Survivor 42’s amulet.”
While there were definitely positives and negatives surrounding Survivor 45‘s rendition of “Sweat vs Savvy,” one thing remains true regardless of the structure — seeing someone push themselves to the max to accomplish a task is such an incredible thing to witness from afar!
“Whether it be these new versions or the Edge of Extinction ones in Survivor 40, watching someone accomplish something difficult makes me root for their perseverance,” @TantrumQween concluded. “In the same way I was proud of Ethan pushing himself to carry those logs, I was proud of Sabiyah — her grit, self-motivation, and how she used a hard in-game moment to tell us about herself organically have all made me an instant stan. Could she and Kaleb be our Denise and Malcolm of this seemingly inevitable, Matsing-ish, trainwreck of a tribe? I will be watching to find out — Tell me what you think!”
Naturally, Survivor superfans across the world shared their suggestions, many of which were similar to that of the original poster.
“I’m cool with the idea, but I would’ve preferred it if they knew in advance they had to do both so they could’ve strategized their picks better (Brando volunteered 100% because they thought they could pick Savvy), and if it’s a duel, let the duel go on until one team wins. It should be either Player vs Player or Player vs Clock. Player vs Player vs Clock is just too much,” @thekyledavid wrote, garnering nearly 70 upvotes.
On the other hand, users like @the_palindrome_ did not mind the twist, however, they had some criticism towards the puzzle that was selected: “I think the puzzle they picked was a bad one… I’ve seen a video of how to solve that rope + hoop puzzle online before, but I still doubt I would’ve been able to remember how to do it out there, and it seems like the kind of thing where if you don’t already know the trick it could take hours to stumble into it. I don’t love the concept anyway, but I feel like if they had picked a slightly easier puzzle we at least could’ve had one tribe finish on time.”
Lastly, users like @gussets want to see “Sweat vs Savvy” removed from Survivor altogether. “I’d like to see them get rid of ‘Sweat vs Savvy’ entirely, or at least have the entire tribe participate. As a viewer, I found it to be the most boring part of the episode. I understand that it has a part in driving social dynamics, but they’re all going to be paranoid as hell anyway. Just let things happen naturally,” they shared passionately.
With “Sweat vs Savvy” taking on a new life this season, who knows what other twists Survivor 45 has on the horizon…
To see how the rest of Survivor 45 unfolds, tune into CBS Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT — it is certain to be a season for the books!