Survivor: Redemption Island Experiment Fails

Survivor: Redemption Island failed miserably. Sure, the show was enjoyable to watch with a new share of controversial characters. The CBS reality show was extremely watchable once again but it missed the mark with the new twist called "Redemption Island." People who watched the show had to tune out in disgust at what the show put one of the contestants through-all for nothing.

The theme of "Redemption Island" was a new twist on the old version of the game. What happened after a certain point was that contestants who were voted off instead of leaving got to be cast off on to "Redemption Island." The new twist was horribly uneventful and didn't change the outcome of the game one bit. Here's why.

Matt, who was originally back doored by a group of "Boston" Rob cult followers, was sent to "Redemption Island." What did he do? He won like 10 competitions in a row against others who were cast off to "Redemption Island." Matt, somewhere in-between, also went back to the main island before being cast off once again. Matt said in the summary of events that he got even closer to God. That may be true and a truly awesome religious experience for Matt. But as for the game, it did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

In fact, later in the game on Survivor: Redemption Island Andrea made it back into the final 4. How long did she last? One vote was all it took to send her back home. So the "Redemption Island" theme failed miserably to have a direct effect on the game. It might have made for some compelling television but it was all for nothing. Nothing was gained by the people cast aside in "Redemption Island." Nothing.

So perhaps "Survivor" will have to drop the "Redemption Island" theme or revamp it completely to where the people cast away actually have a chance to directly impact the game. Maybe in a different set of circumstances with different contestants the whole idea would have panned out differently. But it didn't. And it leaves many "Survivor" fans wondering why "Redemption Island" was ever created? Did the producers of the show mean to agonize the viewers by casting people off who literally had little opportunity to come back and be in the hunt? Was it just not a well thought idea or did this particular group of players opt to keep it that way.


I guess there may be a school of thought that someone who was close in an alliance with the "Redemption Island" castaway could get a chance to hook up with that person. There's a chance that could impact the game tremendously.
But it just didn't work this time around. Maybe two people from "Redemption Island" should be allowed to come back to the Final Five and that would give that group an opportunity to steal away votes-because they would already have two.

Either way, as a "Survivor" fan, I'd rather stick a fork in the "Redemption Island" theme if that's the way things are going to pan out each year. The show gave the contestants and viewers false hope of a potential game changer. It was awful in this situation watching Matt weather 10 contests as champion only to get kicked off once again. Then we had to watch him lose the additional $100,000 prize to "Boston" Rob who stuck knives in the backs of just about every person on the show. I think it's safe to say that "Boston" Rob did play one of the best games ever in "Survivor" history and manipulated every single person into keeping him around-when he should have been voted off just like Russell.

The show will go down as very interesting because of the way he slyly played everyone. It will also mark the debut of Phillip-one of the more interesting characters the show has ever seen. So it wasn't a total loss--not even close to it.
Overall, it was very enjoyable to watch. Just please drop or retool the "Redemption Island" so that it matters and doesn't waste our time next season. The idea is good but needs to be revamped so it has the potential of having a more major impact on the show.