Survivor is arguably one of the best reality shows ever, and it's inspired countless other competition series over the years. The 49th season is currently airing on CBS (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), and it featured another disastrous tribe with Kele. And while they failed so much that it triggered a tribe swap, I'm actually super happy with how this worked out.
Survivor 49's premiere introduced three new tribes of contestants. While it remains to be seen if it becomes one of the best Survivor seasons, the OG Kele's failure actually solved an ongoing issue I have with the show. Namely, that I'm not a fan of the three-tribe format.
I Prefer Two Tribes Over Three.
As someone who watched Survivor from Day 1 back in 2000, I recall the simpler times. There were no crazy twists and advantages, and traditionally, the action began with two large tribes. But this hasn't happened in years, with the show instead favoring three smaller tribes for the early stages of the game. But I'm someone who has always found two-tribe seasons to be more interesting.
While some fans wonder how much money Survivor contestants make, I'm left wondering why the New Era insists on starting with three tribes. While this format allows the audience to get more time with players who are losing tribes, it also means that those early votes are limited in numbers. It only takes four people to become a majority when there are tribes of six people, and it's becoming common that one of the tribes sucks and ends up going back to Tribal over and over again.
I prefer two-tribe seasons because I find the group dynamics to be far more interesting with larger groups. And even if one loses a few Immunity Challenges, there are enough numbers that twists and turns can still happen when it comes to scrambling and forming voting blocks. By comparison, a tribe with just a few people has very limited options. Just as the Kele majority had to pick each other off. Talk about a snooze.
So while it was frustrating to see Kele fail time and time again in the first few episodes of Survivor 49, it ended up working out for me. Now we've got two larger tribes, and no one is safe from heading to Tribal Council. This is how I would have preferred the season to have started, so now I'm especially set and ready to see what goes down in Fiji.
Survivor airs new episodes on Wednesdays and streams the next day on Paramount+ as part of the 2025 TV schedule. I have to assume that things are going to heat up, especially since two members of the cast are expected to return for Season 50.
