Survivor’s new age has introduced a lot of twists and advantages designed to keep the game interesting.
But it turns out that there were more advantages hidden in recent seasons that castaways didn’t even know about.
This season, Jeff Probst is hosting a new podcast where he talks about the show and what goes into filming it.
New episodes of the podcast come out each Wednesday evening following the new installments of Survivor 44.
After that dramatic Tribal Council this past week, Jeff dropped a new podcast episode called Advantages and Idols.
On Advantages and Idols, Jeff took a deep dive into why Hidden Immunity Idols and Beware Advantages are a part of the game.
But what might be most interesting to some Survivor fans are the advantages that didn’t get used by the castaways.
Jonathan threw away an advantage on Survivor 42
Survivor 42 castaway Jonathan Young nearly had an advantage that could have changed the entire game. It turns out that he accidentally threw it into the Pacific Ocean, nullifying the potential of it entering play.
As Jeff explained it during his podcast, the producers tried out the idea of hiding an advantage inside of one of the fish that were given out at a Reward Challenge.
Back at camp, Jonathan cleaned out the fish, which was something he was already comfortable with doing, and accidentally tossed a scroll (along with all the fish guts) right into the ocean.
The advantage was an Idol Nullifier that could have been very valuable to him as the game started winding down.
For fans who want to check it out, the moment arrives during Survivor 42, Episode 11, roughly 11 minutes into the installment.
A secret advantage in plain sight on Survivor 33
Jeff also spoke about an advantage that was meant to be introduced at the merge for Survivor 33. He explained that there was a note within the merge basket that was a huge clue, but about which the castaways didn’t think hard enough.
“Most all initial liaisons begin relaxingly. In new groups, societies always disclose very advantageous news to all. Gregarious, engaging, flirtations, indifferent, narcissistic, defensive, inauthentic. The facade is revealed starting today,” read that intriguing note from Survivor 33.
And as Jeff explained it, the first letter of each word spelled out a new clue that instructed the merged tribe members on how to find a big advantage.
“Mail brings advantage. Find it first,” reads the message using the first letter of each word in that note.
But nobody solved the clue, nobody checked the Tree Mail right away, and thus the advantage wasn’t given out during Episode 8 of Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X.
It will be very interesting to see if the Survivor 44 cast finds all of the advantages that have been hidden, or if Jeff is going to be talking about some of them not being found in upcoming podcasts.
And for any fans who haven’t heard the news yet, Jeff invited Bruce Perreault to return to Survivor. Bruce is the competitor who had to be medically evacuated during the season premiere.
To catch up on episodes from Survivor 44 or to check out the scenes that Jeff Probst talked about in his podcast, all past episodes are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Survivor 44 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.